Living on Cypress Hill: May 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

Can I Keep Anything Green and Healthy?!?

Can you grow plants? Well, I ... really can't. I do have ONE plant that I've had for a couple of years, but it doesn't look great. I've tried lots of plants over the years and ... I struggle.

Then after reading The Nester's series on plants - and terrariums - I thought to myself "maybe I can grow one of those!"

I decided to make one with a lid, for one reason and one reason only. Mickey. The cat. He doesn't pose for pictures the way Inky did, so you'll have to wait to see him. I gotta get lucky.

Anyhoo, I was on a trip - the same one where I visited Bass Pro - and I bought an apothecary jar at Michael's with my 40% off coupon. Then went to Home Depot and picked up three little plants to fill it up with. Since I'm not a plant person, I have no idea what they are. I lost the little thingys that came stuck in the pot.

Oh I see me! At least sorta. It's really, really hard to photograph a glass.

I do know one is some type of fern. I mean geez, I have some plant sense. :)

I may try to find some miniature thing to go in there. I think a tiny church would be awesome. But considering I live MILES from any cool stores, it might take me a while!

Well, we'll see how long this green thumb lasts. These are supposed to be easier than a regular plant and believe me - I'm the perfect guinea pig to test it out!

So can you grow plants? If you can - lucky you! :)

I sometimes join the following parties -

Sunday
http://debbie-debbiedoos.com/

Monday
betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/ 1st & 3rd
Tuesday

http://cedarhillranch.blogspot.com/

http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/

Wednesday

http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/
www.houseofhepworths.com/
http://kristenscreationsonline.blogspot.com/

Thursday

http://whipperberry.com/

http://www.myrepurposedlife.net
http://www.thenotsofunctionalhousewife.com/

Friday
http://www.atthepicketfence.com/
http://missmustardseed.com/
http://too-much-time.com/
www.fivedaysfiveways.com/
http://www.doodlesandstitches.com/
Saturday
diyonthecheap.blogspot.com/ 1st Sat of the Month

Monday, May 21, 2012

Wedding Shower

In a recent post I mentioned that my daughter and I hosted a wedding shower for a friend. I thought I would show you a couple of pictures of the decorations. We didn't do anything fancy and our church isn't real fancy, but it all still made for a nice shower.

We had a candy bar. I loved using the Cricut to make the hearts with the holes already in them.

We painted a flower pot to put the utensils in.

We had cupcakes instead of a cake. It's so much easier that way!

The lighting wasn't good and it was really hard to get a nice picture.

Simple table decorations.

This was early. There were a LOT more presents than this!

A towel cake my daughter made. It's a twofer - a nice gift AND a decoration. :)

We also made a burlap banner. More Cricut fun! :) And we used one of the large paper mache letters from Joanns. We mod podged different sized pictures of the couple all over it. This was a surprise - well most everything was - but we printed pictures from both of their facebook accounts in order to get plenty of shots.

Like I said, nothing fancy, but still a nice afternoon and a couple of decorations that she can maybe use somewhere along the way.

Stay safe until next time!

Linking up at -

Monday, May 14, 2012

Bass Pro - The Original

Nowadays, there are Bass Pro shops in many locations around the United States. I have been in several different stores, but in my opinion, none compare to the original store in Springfield, MO.

Source

Hubby and I made a stop in there this past weekend. I've been many times, but I can still spend quite a bit of time just looking around at all of the neat displays. And they are constantly adding on, changing, etc.

So for those of you who have never been there, I took just a few pictures to let you see what you're missing out on. And I want to preface this by saying that I took the pictures with my phone, so they for sure aren't the best, and I had a hard time taking pictures at all because I was trying to keep the other people out of them! NOT an easy thing to do! :)

In this pic, I'm looking down on a display of bears and other animals with live fish and ducks.

Here is the bear from the back of that picture.

There's a white alligator. Well, actually there's some discussion in my family on whether it's white or it's the lights. I say it's white and that's all that matters! (It really does look white and black in person.)

Hard to see, but there are some ducks floating around there. They were napping. I didn't disturb them. :)

Here is a pic from the front side of the tank with the ducks.

And the water wheel that's also part of that display.

Just to the left of the water wheel, is this big ol' bear! And it was the funniest thing.... people are allowed to bring dogs on leashes in the store. There was this huge part bull mastiff, part something else big honkin' dog whose "mommy" showed him this bear. Oh, you should have heard the deep voiced barking! He would look away and just wag his tail, and then look back and give another deep woof! So cute!

Here's a big waterfall and the see-through elevator.

Here's a set-up they have in the camo section. Where'd the boat go? (lol-eye roll)

One of the many items to buy there. I didn't get a good pic of the fish pillow because it was in someone else's buggy and I was having to hurry!

Hemingway's restaurant inside the store.

This is really cool. It's the ceiling in one of the rooms. It's like we're in the bottom of a lake. See the little boy's feet up there like they're hanging in the water. You can also see his fishing lure and in another spot (not in this pic), it's the bottom of a boat!

In that same room, there's a tank with a alligator snapping turtle. A plaque by the tank reads: Alligator Snapping Turtle – In 2010 this male Alligator Snapping Turtle was estimated to be over 75 yrs. of age and measured 65.7cm along the shell and weighed 185 lbs.

He was moving around and a little camera shy!

Two alligator gar are in the tank with the turtle. I have no idea why the color is this way and because of all of the people, I couldn't get a good look at the noses... or whatever you call them on a fish.

The turtles are enjoying the sun! They don't care that it's fake. :-D

Here's a display over the front entry doors.

One of several massive chandeliers.

Another second story display. Look at the cute tongue! :)

And that concludes my little tour! There are so many things that I didn't get to take a picture of, plus all of the hunting, camping, and fishing equipment, and have I mentioned clothes? And gifts? Lots of those! And some delicious homemade fudge plus other snacks! Oh, you've just GOT to stop in if you're ever in the area! You won't regret it!

Has anyone reading this been there? I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions. :)

Linking up at -

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Burlap Wreath

Hi all! Mom has been busy with all of the end-of-the-school-year stuff, so I thought I'd share with you a project I did this past weekend. I know these wreaths are out all over blogland, but I still want to show it off anyway! ;)

I took a wire hanger out of my closet and bent it to form a circle. (Yes, sadly, I still have a couple of those wire hangers in my closet…YIKES!) I cut 4 inch strips of burlap and threaded the wire through it folding the burlap over itself 5 or 6 times.

I didn't worry about having the strips perfectly straight nor the folds facing the same direction. I love this wreath because you have lots of room for error! That’s what makes it unique and fun!

It took about 4 yards of burlap to complete the entire wreath because I wanted it really full. Once I got to the end of the wire, I wrapped the ends over each other using needle nose pliers. I then taped it a little for extra reinforcement ;) I pulled some of the burlap over the tape to hide it.

When I bought the burlap at Hobby Lobby, (be sure to show them the 40% off coupon on your phone if it isn’t already on sale!) I also picked up the cute flower to put on the wreath. I just cut the stem off and hot glued it over the area that the wire ends were connected.

Sorry I don't have the best pics! I only have my phone to use. :(

Thanks for letting me share with you! I'm sure Mom will be back next week!