Spring!

So we have had crazy weather in the midwest, as I think most of the country has. Our girls spent the second week of March eating popsicles on the front drive wearing shorts. We've already spotted mosquitoes and had to break down and turn on the AC for a couple of days. It's made it tough to stay inside in front of the computer and network. But I am working on a set of letters and some wall posters for a nursery based on a beautiful quilt that was handmade by the sweet little boy's grandmother. I'm excited to share the results with you soon. In the meantime, don't forget to check out the Seasonal Set for Spring that's in the shop!

The Creative Process

Sometimes you start on a project and go with what you know only to discover you've tripped down an unintended path. I had to share this funny moment with you all.

I have a client who saw my recent product of a Bible verse posted here on my Facebook samples page, and requested that I do one for her nephew and his soon-to-be-bride as a wedding gift. Based on the green kitchen towel on their registry and her knowledge of the living room having white walls with light brown carpet, she decided she'd like the plaque to be green, so it would be able to go in either the living room or kitchen. I put this together for her to review:

And this was her reply:

It's funny, but although I liked the plaque when I first looked at it, thinking only that I might want the background just a bit lighter & the words just a bit darker, plus maybe some watermarks like the crosses you put on [the other Bible verse] plaque, I looked at it again just now & had a strange impression. The plaque looks almost like a dinner plate, which is okay for displaying in the kitchen, but then the Bible verse makes it kind of funny. If it's a dinner plate, then "we will serve the Lord" takes on an unintended meaning! 

Ha ha! Back to the drawing board.

Pinterest Projects

I posted this on my other blog, but since my Pinterest account is through my Jaborandi Grove name, I thought I should repost it here! These are my frugal projects as we are on a tight budget right now.

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First, for Valentine's Day, I made these cute butterfly cards for S's party at preschool. I skipped buying the googly eyes, so all I had to pay for were the suckers. I would have had to buy some kind of candy anyway, so that worked out well.

Then, I've really been wanting to make a menu board I had pinned, and the only thing I needed was a frame. I found a mirror on clearance at Target for $5 that would work perfectly, and the price was right to move forward with completing this project. I did end up having to buy the gingham paper for the edging to cover up the mirror since the size was off. But the paper was on sale and only $0.30.

I used a suggestion from the comments on the original pin, and put velcro on the backs of the clothespins. I decided to color code our recipes with red for beef, blue for fish, orange for pork, yellow for chicken and green for vegetarian main dishes. I usually make one of each every week with a pizza day and a leftover day thrown in.

I customized it to include sides, too, since some of our favorites (mushroom barley, edamame salad) are more complicated and require more ingredients to prepare for. I color coded those as well - yellow for starches, green for veggies. I try to have one starch and two vegetables with dinner.

I love how it turned out, but I do need to find some more recipes to include!

Finally, DH had bought a generic brand of Tide the last trip to Costco in an effort to save money, so I decided to try making some laundry soap since I'd found a recipe that was supposed to be $20 for 9 months of soap. I've used it a few times, and so far, no complaints! Our youngest has very sensitive skin, so hoping it all works well. Just did a load of sheets, so we'll see if there's anything to report.

What have you pinned to your "I Did It!" board lately? Check out mine to see the original pins for these projects.