Photo Challenge #2: What Makes You Smile?

Ok. I have to admit something. I DID take these pictures...However, I didn't take them this week. These are actually from earlier this summer while on vacation. This week was my first week back to school after two months of vacation. (I teach 5th grade.) It's been soooooooo busy, and I have been sooooooooo tired, that I have come home and CRASHED every night this week.

Next week will be better!! Hopefully, my body will be back on the "5:15 am wake up call" routine, and won't leave me in a slump by 5pm everyday. :)

Enjoy the shots anyway. They are plants from my grandparent's house. I love their structure and repetition.

Linking with:

Fried Green Tomatoes-Guest Post

Ya'll have quite the treat today! I attend a book club once a month with 6 other fabulous...FABULOUS...ladies. We have been meeting for SIX years now! Anyhoo, I love these ladies so much that I wanted to introduce them all to you all.

(Me and Julie a couple of weeks ago.)
I am proud to call Julie my dear friend, and I know you all will love her recipe. I look up to Julie as a teacher and a mom. She is a beautiful woman of God, and I totally appreciate her love. Meet Julie and enjoy her southern hospitality!!

Hi everyone!! I am Julie, and I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes with you. What says the south better than fried green tomatoes? Don’t be put off the word fried. It is a nutritional requirement to have something fried every once in a while.

What you need:

4 large green tomatoes

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 quart vegetable oil or bacon grease

What to do:

1. Slice tomatoes ¼ to ½ inch thick.

2. Whisk eggs and milk together.

3. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate.

4. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat.

5.Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture.

6.Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.

In cast iron skillet , pour vegetable oil (or bacon grease, if you have some) so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan, and heat to a medium heat.

7. Place tomatoes in skillet. The tomatoes should not touch. *If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, any skillet will do.

8.When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.

Serve with some fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and iced tea and watch the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

Thanks Tracy, for letting me share today! It's been fun!!

Double Braided Headband

While perusing Pinterest a while back, I came across this braided necklace from Cakies. I loved the rawness of it, and how it mixed colors through the weaving of fabric. Starting out to make my own, I ended up cutting the fabric too short. My headband idea then began to tape shape in order to salvage the time spent on the project already. I ended up with a really cool headband that I have been wearing for days now. Here's how you make it, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :)

What you need:

6 strips of fabric- 27 in long and about an inch wide.
hot glue gun
elastic hair band
3 small squares of felt (or other material)
needle/thread


1.First, cut your 6 strips.

2.Place three strips together and tie in knot.
3. Braid the strips. It made it easier for me if I placed the knotted part under something heavy, like my laptop, to weigh it down. You want the braid to be tight.

4. The 27 inches may end up being too big, so use the braid and measure against your head. When you have reached a good length (braid should reach behind and slightly lower than your ear) tie the end off as you did the beginning.

5. Repeat steps 2,3,& 4 with your second set of strips.

6. Now you need 2 of your little squares of felt.
I took the ends of my two braids and hot glued them onto the felt, then folded the felt over the top of the braid adding a little hot glue. I left the sides glue-less to make the stitching easier later.
Do this for both ends of your braids.
Sorry. I know this picture is blurry!

7. Cut third felt square in half. You will attach your hair elastic band to both felt pieces by placing the half piece over the elastic, then stitch the sides.
YAY! You're done!

One thing left to do....go show off!




Ps- I do still plan to make a necklace, and I thought this might also work as a necklace if you added a longer piece....
Pss- This is my fav way to wear my hair when I am being lazy and DONT WANT TO fix it. It takes two minutes. I do this A LOT!

Happy Sunday-
Tracy

Linking to:

Bitter+ Sweet does NOT = Bittersweet (TODAY)

Hellllllllllooooo!
Here it is...Friday. Monday I go back to work. (insert conflicted sigh.) I am really excited about the new school year because I will be teaching at a new school, and it's an awesome place to be. (AND Cash will be attending KINDERGARTEN there, too!!)
However, I am kind of sad cause it means that life is going to get crazy busy again. Days at the pool will be practically non-existent. No more pretending I am a stay at home mom, with a blog on the side.
It truly is BITTERSWEET.

However, here's something that is not bitter in ANY way! It's quite sweet, actually.
It.Made.My. Day.
Fo Realz.
Brandi over at B.Cheniful gave me the coolest shout out ever, and it's made this last Friday of my summer stand out.
Check it out here. In fact, check her blog out while you are at it. Brandi has some freak'n rock'n cool tutorials, and of course, always interesting to read about her Annual White Trash parties. Pretty entertaining stuff. :)
Isn't she just a cutie patootie? She doesn't look white trash at all, does she? :)
Thanks B. Chen!!

Big Grins-
Tracy

Photography Challenge # 1

Week 1: Self Portrait




This self portrait was kind of an accident, but when I saw it I thought it was a cool shot. Kind of dark, but interesting. :)

Didn't get a chance to participate this week? There's always next week!!! Check it out!

Another Summer Wreath!!

I finally got around to making a wreath for my own front door. I bought the yarn (at Big Lots for super cheap!) at the VERY VERY beginning of summer, but I am so very A.D.D. I ended up starting multiple projects, and this one ended up last on the list. Ahhh, like I always say...,"such is life."

It's pretty cute, and my ode to the ocean. :)
I used the same technique as I have for my other yarn wreaths to wrap it, but since it was a rectangular frame the corners were working out kind of weird. I ended up just leaving as you see, and I am ok with that.

The rosettes were made with left over fabric from all the stuff I have been making for my new classroom. (Will post that stuff later when it's ALL done.) I am totally in love with these prints and colors.
What's that? Want to know how to make the rosettes? Is that the murmur I hear from the crowd? Well, you are in luck. I posted a tutorial back in the spring, but plan on posting another one with pics later in the week. Stay tuned.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week! It's bitter sweet for me. I go back to work on Monday after being off for two months. I am trying to get every little drop out of this free time this week!


Summer lov'n ...had me a blast...-

Tracy

Linking to :

Hardware Gone Pretty

Since it's summer (no work!!), Kristy and I have tried to get together weekly (or so) to do some crafting. I say this loosely, cause it's kind of tricky trying to craft when there are 3 kids 5 yrs and under running around (or crawling) making demands of us two ladies. Awww...such is life. :)

Annnnnyyyyyway...Kristy came over with a tutorial from Tiny Sparkly Things using washers bought from Lowe's. I highly suggest you check it out. There's no way I could show you how to D.I.Y. this necklace as accurately as she did :)

You can see Kristy's version here.

I am sure you have noticed, if you have looked at the other links, that my version is slightly different....ummmm, yeah. I realized WAY too late that I didn't have any ribbon on hand that would work, so I did what any self respecting DIY girl would do.
Cut. Up. A. Skirt.
Strips of fabric. WaaaLaa!
Make it work. (Gotta love that Tim Gunn)

It turned out ok, but I think I like the original version best. Suppose I will just have to make another one.... :)


DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE PHOTO CHALLENGE!!

OH! ANNNNND....more guests will be stopping by Paper Wings soon....

ANNNNDDD....another giveaway coming soon.....


Summer Smiles-
Tracy