Fresh Asparagus Recipe

Ahhh, spring is in the air, birds are chirping, flowers are blooming and the world is coming alive.... And asparagus is ready to be harvested!!!

This asparagus is not from our garden (we planted our crowns last year so they won't be ready for a couple more years), but it was locally grown and so delicious and fresh.

Here is a super easy, delicious recipe to help you enjoy your fresh asparagus from your garden or from the store!

Fresh Asparagus

1 lb fresh asparagus (chop off ends that are tough and fibrous)

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp soy sauce (optional)

1 lemon wedge

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil on medium high heat in large skillet.

Add aspargus, garlic and seasonings.

Saute over medium high heat until asparagus is tender.

Sprinkle with lemon juice from lemon wedge.

Enjoy!

If that doesn't make you want to eat your veggies I don't know what will!

I will be linking up with some of these parties!

Have a great day!!

Water Color Pencil Drawing of Hello Kitty

This weekend I got the chance to hang out with my niece Marley. My sister was working on some of her book illustrations and Marley was really wanting to help her paint them so I decided to draw her a picture she could help paint on.

She asked for a pink and purple girly kitty. So it had to be Hello Kitty! I am a huge Hello Kitty fan so I was totally ok with this :).

I sketched the outline of Hello Kitty, then outlined it with Sharpies.

For the coloring I used Water Color Pencils. I had never used them before but they are really fun.

You just color in an area and then use a wet paint brush and the colors bleed like painting with water colors.

The best part about this is that Marley helped me paint this picture and she had a lot of fun with it. It will be hanging in her room.

This is a fun activity to do with kids that also has good results!

I will be linking up with some of these parties!

Have a great day!

I am on Project Recycled!!!

So last week I found out that I am going to be a contestant on Season #2 of Project Recycled over at The T-Shirt Diaries.  The first challenge goes live April 2nd!

 I am really excited but also a little bit nervous.  My main concern is time- how am I going to get all of the projects done on time and not neglect everything else in my life?

I already have started on a few of the challenges and I am excited about the ideas I have for the rest! And this gives me a chance to clear out my "Upcycle bin" and make some new clothes!!

I will be posting updates periodically and I will really appreciate your support during this challenge. The projects are anonymous so I can't tell you which one is mine- but I will be asking you to vote for your favorites!!

Wordless Wednesday- Spring Happenings

Linking up with MamaDweeb.

DIY Jute Wrapped Letter with Flower Accent

This post was originally a guest post at White Lights on Wednesday for the Trading Blogs Series!

The project I am going to share to day I am very excited about. My husband and I bought a house last May and I have been working on DIY projects both large and small. I actually bought this letter "R" at Hobby Lobby back in May- just getting around to finishing it now!

 (Yes, my style is a little old fashioned- love me some (fake) Hummels!)

My original inspiration was this Yarn Wrapped Letter from Pictures of Happy and I thought I would wrap my letter in a pretty fluffy yarn.  But then I saw these DIY twine wrapped bottles at the Kurtz Corner and I knew I wanted some of that rustic goodness in my house!  So I merged the two projects and added a pretty felt flower for interest.  So here is the basic How-To:

DIY Jute Wrapped Letter with Flower Accent

What you will need for letter:

A wood letter, or other shape

Twine or Jute- I used jute- it is really fine (I bought 3 rolls- 1 was plenty!)

Hot Glue Gun

Patience

Flower:

Plain felt for backing

Green Felt for leaves

Colored felt for petals (I chose maroon!)

Yellow felt for flower center

Hot Glue Gun

Jute Wrapped Letter:

Start covering the letter by heating up hot glue gun and putting a dab of glue on the back of letter close to where you want to start wrapping.  I started on the upper left corner of the "R", but I don't think it matters where you start. Place end of jute in glue and hold until it is dry, careful not to burn your fingers. I also used a piece of scotch tape, just to make sure it stayed in place.

Run a line of glue parallel to the lines of the letter and lay jute across tight. Wrap jute around the back and lay close to the first line you laid down.  You will continue this process until the whole letter is covered.

Once you have the front covered you need to cover all of the edges that didn't get covered (Like the top of the letter, the bottom of the letter). This will vary from letter to letter.

Some Tips:

Take a break every once in a while- this is a tedious project!

To make it go faster I didn't glue down every line I did on the straight parts- I did about every 3rd-4th line. 

On the curved parts- like the top right part of the "R" I glued every line (and a dab of glue on the edge) so that it holds in place better.

If you are doing a mostly curved letter like "O" or "C" you may have to glue more.

Felt Flower Accent:

The sizes and amounts of the flower pieces will depend on how big you want your flower to be.

Cut out a small circle for the backing of the flower.

Cut out leaf shapes out of the green felt.

Cut out petals from your colored felt. Place a dab of hot glue  in the center of the petal and pinch together to give the petals a three dimensional shape.

Cut a small rectangle of yellow. Fold in half lengthwise. Cut small slits about 1/4" apart. Make about 3 of these.

Assemble the flower- gluing leaves on backing first, then petals, then middle section.

Attach the flower to the letter with hot glue.

Enjoy!!!

I am now looking for other objects to cover in jute! No decorations is safe :). 

Hope this inspires you to create something today!

I will be linking up with some of these parties!

Have a great day.