the last few days..

The last few days I have been working around the house. I rehung the pictures going up the stairway. They look so much better. I still have a few more to hang and then I need to pick out pictures to print for the frames. 

I also hung pictures in Jason's music room, he loves them! 

I started to paint the kitchen stools and after painting them all one coat I've decided I'm going to spray paint them a country red. I think they will look real good. 

Hunter is still using the potty! Last night my mom came over for dinner.

Then we went to target to get a different potty. We got this fisher price froggy potty.

This one was recommended by a bunch of mom's I know. The one we had was not very user friendly. So hopefully Hunter will transition to this one easily.

Then we went and got jason birthday present. I hope he's going to like it. I'm pretty sure he will and it will give us a game to play when we have friends over. Kan Jam Official Game Set we have played it a few different times and he always spends a lot of time playing it and has a lot of fun so I figured this would be  good present!

 

flowers.. pottys and seedlings

Today was a big day for us! Hunter learned how to use the potty! I'm so shocked and excited! He went pee pee 7 times.. yes I counted... and yes I'm blogging about it! hehehe

oh and yes.. i took pictures.. oh man.. totally laughing at myself 

I hung my first screen door! It worked well. We love it. 

Hunter LOVES it!

notice his onesie buttoned over his pants.. it's the only way he will keep them on

We have a robin making a nest in my wreath.

 It's amazing how she used this rainy day to collect mud to pack into her nest.

I am doing my best to not scare her away and give her a safe place to have babies.

We took a nice walk tonight and I finally got some of these beautiful flowers I have been eyeing up for weeks.

We had a great day!

xo

Tie dyes (continued)

About 18 hours after dying the shirts I rinsed them. 

This is the fun part, opening up all the shirts and seeing how they turned out :) 

I rinse each one real good.

And then throw the into the wash. I fill the washing maching with cold water before I put the shirts in. This is so the shirts won't sit on top of each other and the dye won't seep. I wash them twice in cold water and then dry. 

The final product.. I wasn't super happy with how these turned out. But they are pretty good for the most part. Each shirt has it's own character and you have to try really hard to mess up a tie dye ;) 

xo

good things about our day

1. It was beautiful today, warm & sunny!

2. Jason and the band playing on the back deck for 3 hours, it was beautiful and we love the live music

3. All of our visitors today! My mom, anthony, grandpy, aunt judy, steven, dylan, kayleigh, cory, karen, jason, potter, maria, lauren.. and then the band.. jeff, ben & jim... it was a full day! we had so much fun

4. Hunter running around all day, having a blast

5. I'm exhausted though, so pictures to come tomorrow :)

xo

Happy Earth Day!! How to tie dye

I am so excited that the weather is warm again. The winter's in Buffalo, NY are long and cold! It is tie dye season again, and making tie dyes is one of my favorite things to do. I have been tie dying for nearly 10 years. I have sold tie dyes in many states when I've traveled across the country following Grateful Dead related bands. Now that I'm a mama, I don't go very far anymore, but I still love to make tie dyes and I find venues closer to home to sell them.

Ok so here is my tie dying process... 

I fold and rubber band the shirts, this is what decides the design of the tie dye.

I have 42 shirts folded.

I quick checked at Dharma Trading Co. to review the dye formulas. 

It has been a while, so I wanted to make sure I still had it right!

I add soda ash to my water. 

Get out my dye bottles and dye. I ordered all of this dye from Dharma Trading Co. They are awesome and have the best dye! I use procion dye only. It's top shelf and the colors stay bright for a very very long time.

Then I put the shirts into the soda ash and water mixture.

I manage to fit 18 shirts in my bucket. I let them soak for at least 20 minutes.

 The soda ash helps the shirts to absorb the dye easier. 

All ready to go! 

I fill my bottles with 1 1/2 cups of luke warm water.

And add 1 1/2 tablespoons of urea. The urea makes the colors brighter and last longer!

Then I add the dye. I used 4 heaping teaspoons of dye per container.

Ring out all the shirts and lay them in the yard. This was my second time tye dying at our new house. But this was the first time tie dying here in the spring, I love it here!

I love all of our wild flowers growing :)

18 shirts dyed!

They are all bagged up and in our mud room. I will let the dye absorb for about 18 to 24 hours. Then I will rinse them, wash them twice and dry them. I will post pictures of the finished product tomorrow. I can't wait to see how they turn out! 

Thanks for looking!

And in honor of earth day! Here are my seedlings. I am ready to plant them outside in my container garden, but I'm concerned that it could snow up here again. You never know with Buffalo. 

enjoying the wonders of nature.. 

xo