I have to admit, after having Memorial Day off, it’s been hard to get back into a schedule this week.  You mean we have to go to work and school after Monday?  We don’t get to play the whole week?  I made some recipes I wanted to blog about and then a few things got in the way of them actually making it on the blog!  I pulled out my popsicles before they were ready.  Do not do this.  It’s very disheartening.  Then, I was trying to photograph bread minutes before my dinner guests arrived.  Again, do not do this.  It stresses your family out when they can’t eat the appetizer, BECAAAAUSE I have to photograph it.  SO.  I will be sharing something else today.  Don’t worry it’s cute.

My friend, Heather, asked me to pick up a stick for her the last time I was on a stick-collecting mission.  She was going to be making a bow-holder for her girls’ hair accessories.  I was looking for big straight sticks for the tent I was trying to create.  I picked up a cute little stick and handed it off to her the next time I was running by her house.  The last time I was there she showed me the finished product.  It’s the perfect addition to her girls’ room!

Her directions are:  Paint stripes on  the stick with acrylic paint in various colors and widths.  Leave some of the wood showing.  Tie pieces of fabric or ribbon on the stick to clips the barrettes to.  Lastly, tie a piece of twine to both ends and hang on a nail or the edge of a frame (as shown).

What a fun way to display hair accessories and an easy way for the girls to grab them on their own and easily put them away!

Oh Mondays.  How do you seem to be so difficult to trudge through, yet slip through my fingers before I finish my to-do list?  Today was one of those days that I started out with a fire in my belly to accomplish a lot and ended up with an empty tank.  But, I was determined to blog about what I’ve been up to.  Because it’s been a while!

On a personal note, we had a great week of school, a speech meet for Jillian, out of town friends, in town friends and lots of great meals.  Work was wonderful and I got to see so many great clients that I now consider friends.  Here’s a bit of what I photographed…

My friend Heather is crafty.  She effortlessly makes the mundane into a scene stealer.  Her little girl came over one day in the cutest gold-colored flats.  She told me her mom made them.  I asked her to take them off this instant and let me see!  What I found inside was the printed words that told me these were simple ballet slippers from Payless.  Heather spray-painted the shoes gold and they were transformed.  I told her I loved her idea and wanted to blog about it.

So, we set off to Payless to buy a $20 pair of ballet slippers.  Jillian wanted hers to be sparkly, so I went picked up a bottle of glitter spray paint at Michaels.  The can told me it was going to be deep purple with tons of glitter.  Well, it was like clear nail polish with a few pieces of glitter.  So, I dug through my cans of spray paint around the house and found one that would work.  We ended up spraying them purple, then topping with the glitter.  It’s hard to see in the photos, but there is a glittery sheen to the shoe.

I cut out a piece of parchment paper and stuffed it in the shoe so there wouldn’t be sticky spray paint on the inside.  Heather tells me that the paint really does hold up well, so don’t be scared to try this!  I did two coats of purple and one coat of glitter.  Then we let it dry overnight.

I had Jillian try them and felt they were cute, but just a little too plain.

So, we added a fun red/orange bow!  Now this is Jillian’s style!