First Tomatoes! (Victory Garden weeks 12/13)

The first cherry tomatoes ripened this week! It was so exciting. Uli’s reaction was priceless. “Ahhhhhhhh!!!” followed by a big bite and then another. I’ll have to wait till the next ones are ripe to tell you how they taste. Uli gobbled up all three of them. I’m glad she’ll have something else to pick strait from the garden. The snap peas are almost done. They’re not so happy in the heat. I’ll be pulling them out this week to make room for the cucumbers.

The zucchini’s threatening to take over the garden! Next year I think I’ll give the zucchini it’s own bed. Another lesson learned…

I also planted some herbs in their own pot. They’ve almost filled it in. Uli and the pups like to hang out under the tree right behind it. It’s the yuckiest part of the yard and they love it!

Here’s Uli Belle by the zucchini monster. I hope she’s eating peas in this picture… The dress I just made her turned out so cute. I’ll be posting directions for how to make it this Friday.

Bright Lantern How to

The front of our house needed a little more life. This is the inspiration for my front porch makeover.

I’ve been seeing these beautiful powder coated lanterns. They come in really bright colors like lime, yellow, and orange. And they are surprisingly difficult to find on the internet. I’ve come across them at TJ-Max and various small garden shops. The first place I saw them was this place in Lake Leelanau, MI called Jack of the Green. ( If your in the area. Stop bye. Good stuff.) So, I know they’re out there.

This links for one good example I found.

http://www.ningbojc-crafts.com/html/Moroccan-candle-lanterns-with-green-color-JML1165-SML-green.html

This project took about two hours. Then two days to dry.

You will need:

• a lantern
• masking tape
• an exacto knife
• sand paper
• alcohol prep pads
• brightly colored spray paint (you may want primer if your lantern is dark)
• clear gloss spray paint

If your lantern is painted or has rust. Start by sanding it down. (If it’s new and relatively smooth you can skip this step)

Next thoroughly clean any surface you will be painting ( a damp rag should work fine for this).

Cover any areas you don’t want to paint with masking tape. ( You can see the chairs I painted to match in the background here)

Use your exacto knife to gently cut around the window opening. Do this for all of your lantern windows.

Cover the inside of the windows too. (You don’t have to be so exact here. Just make sure they’re covered)

If you want to be really tidy. Wipe all of the surfaces you want to paint with alcohol prep pads.

Now your ready to paint! Paint following you spray can instructions.

It was so hard to wait until the paint was completely dry to hang this! I’ll show pictures of the front porch a little later in the season when I have some flowers blooming.

Fancy Sandals! No sew, sandal, craft project

This project was inspired by the wonderfully warm spring we’ve been having. My sandals were in sad shape when I pulled them out of the basement. They needed help or it was time to get new sandals. Wanting to avoid buying new unless absolutely necessary, I opted for a sandal update. I think I did it in less than an hour. It was super fun and easy!

You will need:

• a pair of sandals to fix up ( If the sandals you want to fix are plastic, they may melt. Check before starting. If your sandals melt you can prabably do the same thing with glue. I used the stitch-witchery because it’s fast and easy to control.)
• 1/4 yard fabric ( I recomend cotton, linen, or hemp. They handle ironing and abuse a bit better that other fibers)
• 1/4 yard stitch-witchery
• scissors
• iron

My sandal before it’s makeover.

Outline the sandal

*Cut out a left and right side from your fabric using your pattern piece. *Cut a diagonal line for the toe strap (if you put it back toward the inside of the sandal it will be hidden) *Press outer edges

Using your fabric with pressed edges as a pattern piece (you will want the stitch-witchery to line up with the finished edges) cut two pieces from the stitch-witchery.

Lay the stitch-witchery so it lines up with the fabric.

Line both the stitch-witchery and the folded fabric up with the edge of the sandal.

Press gently around the outside edge (this way if you have to make any adjustments as you go, you can)

On the first sandal I had to add a small piece of stitch-witchery to the seam by the toe opening. *To prevent having to do this press the back side first, holding the front out of the way *Then line up and press the front edge ( I left the edges on my toe opening flat so they would lay more smoothly. The stitch-witchery will keep the fabric from fraying too much)

After you tack down all of the edges press firmly all around the sandal untill the new liner is stuck. Done! Yeah, “new” sandals!