What Can Happen in 4 Days?

In this house?!? Turns out, a LOT! *LOL* On Wednesday, I got a wild hair and decided to use up some apples sitting in the crisper to make homemade applesauce. I took SIX softball-sized locally grown apples, peeled them and put them on to boil for about 30-40 minutes. Mashed 'em up with my potato masher, tossed in a teaspoon of cinnamon & stuck them in tubs for the freezer. I did sneak a taste before freezing...it turned out so good!

On Thursday, I went to Michaels for their "Friends and Family Event" and picked up a couple more packs of mini misters and a pack of Ranger Alcohol Inks (Farmer's Market) to make some more of my homemade glimmer mist sprays. These are the ones I made last month, using Tim Holtz's YouTube video:Pearl and BronzeGold and copper. These are the colors (below) that I made from the Ranger Inks and two Stampin Up! colors this morning.I numbered the bottle tops as Cordell asked me, "How are you going to keep track of what you're doing with those, Mom?" Good question! I've also got a pretty good solution...Remember that little hardcover book that I altered a while back...the one with the blank pages inside?Well, I figured I'd write down my recipes in there! {NOTE: I changed the "4 drops of color" to 8-10...when I did my first tests, the colors were pretty thin.}I'll share under each "mix" the color combination that I've used, in case you'd like to recreate it.Mix 1 - 8 drops of Ranger (Lettuce), 1 small scoop Perfect Pearl (Pearl), & 1 small scoop Perfect Pearl (Gold)

{NOTE: 1 small scoop = enough to fill the end of a small craft/popsicle stick}

Mix 2 - 8 drops of Ranger (Eggplant), 1 small scoop Perfect Pearls (Pearl)

Mix 3 - 8 drops of Ranger (Currant or Cranberry), 1 small scoop Perfect Pearl (Pearl), & 1 small scoop Perfect Pearl (Bronze)

Mix 4 - 10 drops of Stampin Up (Soft Sky), 1 1/2 scoops Perfect Pearl (Pearl)

Mix 5 - 10 drops of Stampin Up (Groovy Guava), 1/2 scoop Perfect Pearl (Gold), & 1/2 scoop Perfect Pearl (Copper)

Here's what they tested like on plain white carstock:

You can easily alter these mixes to suit your tastes (more or less color, more powder). I like my color sprays to be subtle and soft, almost translucent, and I really think that these will fit the bill.

Today, was yard working day. Chris dug up a rose bush right outside the back door. It had to go...I pruned it down when we first moved in last October, because it was a monster, but the thing was right up against the house and every time you went out the door, it tried to snag you. Aidan played with the neighbor's kids. Devin weeded my front and side flower beds. Cordell pruned my lilacs...the one on the southeast corner was so overgrown that you couldn't see the gas meter. Sweet boy brought me the clippings so I could have that lovely smell in my house for a day or two. Aren't they pretty?
Aidan brought home some seeds that they started in class. We'll get some potting soil and transfer them from the glove into the peat pots tomorrow & give them another week or two before putting them in patio planters. We'll have tomatoes, peppers, carrots, radishes, and maybe a cucumber or two.
On Thursday morning, I had a reply from Mandy of Little Birdie Secrets...turns out the rayon ribbon she uses in that vintage tutorial is called "HUG SNUG" and you can order it from ZipperStop (see the Shopping Section in my right sidebar for the link). I ordered it as soon as I read her reply and it arrived TODAY - I don't know about y'all, but I absolutely LOVE that kind of customer service!And it FEELS...OMGosh, it feels absolutely fantastic! This spool was 100 yards, so I'm splitting it with a friend of mine...50 yards is plenty for me to play with for now & I can order more from them later. This eggshell color is just gorgeous (they had OODLES of colors to choose from if you don't want to color your own & the prices are GREAT!). I can already tell that I'm going to have so much FUN making up some vintage ribbon for my cards & other projects.Now to get 50 yards of ribbon wound around some of my antique clothes pins...
Oh! Before I forget, I've posted a list of stamp sets that are retiring from The Angel Company's "Big Book" - 25% off. The list is on my KILLER DEALS page up top. I'll get the May Specials put up there for you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!