DIY Cake Stand Soap Holder

A little while ago I stumbled across this nifty, little DIY craft.

It's so cute right?! Totally genius. The soap containers always make rings on the sink, and sometimes they get kinda icky. So I tracked down the blog to figure out exactly how it was put together. I should have been a detective. 

Turns out....it's not that hard! 

I didn't have a random candlestick just hanging around though. Or a plate I could glue to said imaginary  candlestick. So I browsed Targets lovely clearance section.

I'm picky though. I wanted it to be cute. I ended up buying a $9 candle stick, and a $3 plate.

Oh, and some spray paint. I think like $4. I think that's a pretty cheap craft. 

It was originally black. So I made it purple! I'm in love with that Rustoleum stuff. It's the best spray paint EVER. I spray paint everything. 

I waited oh so impatiently for it to dry. It took awhile because of the little groves. I had to turn it upside down after the first coat and do a second to get all the spots. Then I put LOTS of hot glue on the top of it, and yes, stuck the plate on. I even squished it down. 

I know. Amazing.

I'm on the hunt for a pretty little towel, and some cute matching soap dispensers. For now though, I think it's pretty cute!

I'm sooooo crafty! 

Adventures of a little pup!

My little pup is growing up! This week he is just shy of 5 months old, and weighing in at 40lbs. I feel a little sad at the loss of a tiny, floppy eared pup...... butttttt.....

 I LOVE that he's getting big enough to have adventures with me. 

This week I took him to the dog park for the first time. He found a friend who was just right to play with, and for a good 45 minutes I couldn't even catch his attention. Daegan really loves all dogs. All people too. Poor guy is always trying to find someone, anyone, to play with him. I'm considering training him to be a therapy dog. He's that loving to everyone.

On Tuesday we set out on our first BIG adventure. 

I was headed on a 6 mile round trip hike to what the locals call University Falls with a bunch of friends. It's a set of natural water slides and little pools. Some are pretty stinkin steep! I couldn't go without the pup though, four other dogs were going! I knew he'd love it. 

Now, up until now, we have never walked more than a mile. He's gone maybe two with Dad. But I couldn't stand to leave him behind. I was prepared to walk behind the group with him on the leash, and take rests when he needed them. Less than a minute into the hike, I knew the leash had to go! He was pulling to catch up to the other unleashed dogs, and he's so STRONG already! 

He was going to take me down. It was seriously only a matter of time.

So....

YUP

I unhooked the leash

and prayed. 

He ran ahead to play, of course. About every 2 minutes he circled back to check in with me. A behavior I seriously encourage. His teenage time really hasn't been that bad. He was so amazing. 

Off the leash the entire time. 

He kept up with the big dogs all the way there, and all the way back.

He sure was tired at the top of the falls though! 

He napped for about 3 hours up there while I went sliding and hung out with my friends. 

Ok.

So we napped together for part of the time. 

I like naps.

Who doesn't like naps?!

He looks like a wolf pup on the prowl. I'm so proud of my little pup, and his big pup adventures!

Strawberries!

Awhile back I ordered strawberries from Stark Bro's nurseries, and had it in my head to build them a raised bed. I'm quite running out of room to grow all the things I want to grow, and raised beds are the perfect solution!

When I realized my berries would be here by last wednesday, I had to put that bed together quick! Josh and I headed to Home Depot with a quick sketch I had done of what I wanted. 

* Two 8ft by 2ft boards

* Wire

*Two pieces of framing wood

* Staple Gun

* Nails

* Hinges

* Plywood

I cut the 8ft boards to 6 feet, and used the remaining pieces to make the sides. Plywood makes up the bottom. I framed out the top after I painted the pieces white. I like pretty!

They were also 8ft long and I did the same thing of cutting them to 6ft and using the 2 ft left overs for the sides. 

I wish my instructions were a bit more technical. I really just kinda make things up as I go along. It's a lot of trial and error, and of course the right size board! My Ryobi power drill is probably my most favorite thing. 

Looking closing you can see where things aren't perfectly aligned. I'm no master carpenter! But it works for me =)

I used the staple gun to get the wire onto the frame, and regular door hinges to attach it to the bed. We have birds and squirrels in the area who I know would just LOVE to get into those berries. 

I filled the bed with potting soil, compost, and chicken manure. The strawberry roots arrived looking VERY STRANGE to a rookie gardener. They were just the root with a little nubbin on top! I had to soak them in water for about 3 hours and then I planted and prayed. This is about 5 days later, and leaves have sprouted! 

Of course I wanted things to be pretty. So in addition to painting the lid frame white, I ordered a strawberry cabinet knob offline. I know, it's totally silly. It needed a little touch of me though!

Yay berries!

You know what else would be great?! If you followed this blog! =)

Seeds!

Getting things in the mail is the BEST! 

Anyone feel especially excited by this? I mean, it's usually junk mail or bills. So getting fun things in that mail box just perks up my day!

Seeds from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds came the other day. I popped into the front yard to survey the boyfriends yard work duties, and saw an envelope from them. yard work surveying was promptly put on hold =) I had ordered broccoli, a fun white summer squash, tiny melons, hot peppers, and morning glories for my front yard. 

I also got a free gift of red romaine seeds! Free gifts make me smile.

I abandoned the seed starter kits I bought. They just didn't allow the plants to get big enough to realistically transplant. I have an empty planter right now and so I added some chicken manure and compost, mixed it up, and added it to my red solo cups! I started at least 3 of each plant and put them in to a plastic storage bin to serve as a green house. I'm winging it here so I hope this works!

Later on I had to add 2 watermelon seedlings to the bin. Daegan dug them up while I was building my sweet potato hills. He is such a ninja dog when he is up to naughty stuff. I never even noticed him. The root systems were pretty mangled, so I popped them into cups to try and salvage them. Here's to hoping! 

Sweet Potatoes

This year I really wanted to grow sweet potatoes! They aren't grown from seed potatoes, but from "slips". Little sprouts with roots that grow off the potato. It seemed difficult to do that myself, so I ordered a 12 pack from Steele Plant Company.  They have a great website with lots of varieties to choose from,  growing tips, and even recipes! They ended up sending 15 plants instead. Nice little bonus. They came in that little box with the roots wrapped in wet moss. So crafty! It said to get them planted ASAP, so I set to work.

I put the plants in a area where I was going to grow pumpkins. I dug out the sprouts because I decided to order an organic seed pack so I could harvest the seeds for next year. So I re-tilled up the area, added some chicken manure and extra dirt! 

I needed the extra dirt for building the little mounds. I think they should be a few inches higher, we'll see how this works. I did mine in two rows of 7 plants each. One little guy had a pretty poor root system so he went into the compost bin. But hey, I still had 2 extra plants!

 I dug an area in between the mounds I could fill up with water. Days get up to 110 degrees yikes! in Sacramento and I wanted to be able to water without scorching them.

I cut a bamboo stick to measure the spacing between plants, and then to dig out the side of the mound. I laughed at myself after trying to dig a hold with the bamboo. I couldn't make it deep enough, and just kept ruining the mound. 

It made it MUCH easier to just slide the plant in and reform the mound around it. Oh I am such rookie gardener! =) haha

They are a little weepy =( I think it's from the shipping, and it's also been 90+ these last few days.  Hopefully in about 3 months we'll have sweet potatoes!

I also saw my first honey bee in the squash patch! So exciting to see bees and flowers popping up on plants I started from tiny seeds =)

Go away bugs!

I love to sit on our patio. LOVE. I have spent countless hours and dollars making it a haven, and I spend most of my time in our backyard. It has come a long way. When I moved in with Josh the only things in the back were two old couches I swear were left over from his days at Davis. 

I even bought a picnic table. I put that thing together, sanded it down, and painted it white to match the rest! I added pool chairs and lounge chairs and tiny tables. That green bench in the background? I refinished that as well. 

It would be such a nice place to sit and relax if it wasn't for all the bugs! Mosquitoes, flies, little knats.... I hate them all. I don't want them in my food, my hair, or on my skin. So naturally I bought some citronella candles. I lit those babies up! I noticed a few days later the bug problem hadn't really been resolved, but my yard sure smelled like those candles. Turns out, most of those commercial candles DON'T really have essential citronella oil in them! They are simply scented and sold at a high price.

So I returned them. Ordered essential oil ($20-I bought other scents) Brought out a few canning mason jars and candle wax ($10ish at Michael's), and set to work. You can also melt the remaining wax in candles around the house and add it to your mixture.

I cut the wax into smaller pieces so it would melt easier. I used a double boiler and poured the hot wax into a glass measuring cup to make pouring easier.

 I used hot glue and pens to keep the wicks in place. 

They aren't this bright in person. I added citrus essential oil as well to make them smell a bit nicer. It gives it a yellow tint. Some batches were darker. I don't measure =)

I think I'll add the twine stuff to them all. They are cuter than store bought, and the smell is somehow nicer!

Daegan was very interested in the smells coming from the kitchen. He sure did want to be right in the thick of it!

Night Crawlers!

One of my most favorite blogs are gardening blogs. More so, the blogs where the write has a full blown farm! I dream of a bigger space where Josh wouldn't even notice chickens, more dogs could run and play, and I could plant all the things my little heart desires. One of these blogs is Hickery Holler Farm. It's SO much fun to read, and they sure seem to have everything on that place! 

A Holiday Weekend to Remember, her post today, was about the rain storm they just had and how it affected her plants. I sure do take our mild weather and climate here in Northern California for granted!  One of the photos she posted had all these little worm highways from when they had come up after the rain. It occured to me, I have NEVER EVER seen a worm in  our backyard! Not after the heavy rains of winter, not after we tilled up extra soil, not after we mixed in manure, just never.

That just can't be normal. I remember seeing worms come up after rains my entire life. My parents always had lush grass and gorgeous backyard veggie gardens. My mother can grow flowers people will tell you are impossible to grow out of their native regions. Yet, I can't the new rose bushes to look healthy. The grass is patchy and the seeds are not setting as well as I would have thought. The ground is dense and hard in a way that makes no sense. 

So it can't hurt, I ordered worms! Online ordering is my extreme addition. There is just so much more available! I chose Uncle Jims Worm Farm and did a little research on the best type of worms for a yard and garden. His website also gives great little descriptions. 

I settled on 250 "super reds".  I'm not sure if this amount is enough for a yard my size. I plan on distributing them to all areas and hoping they get down to some worm reproduction. We'll see if it helps the yard!