Much Shorter Than Gilligan's Three Hour Tour.

The Lake at sunset.

I make friends wherever I go.  In the grocery store line.  At a restaurant.  At the YMCA.  At the DMV.  Waiting at a stoplight (that's only happened once).  Rarely though, do I find that I make friends online.  I have friends that are online, but most always I already knew them and these days use the web as a means of keeping up with them.  

Smitty and Lark hanging on the dock.  Well, Smitty was having to just hang out.  Lark was doing her best impression of an otter all weekend, as usual.  

But this is a crazy world in which we live and things are changing all the time.  For example - this blog.  If you'd told me a few months ago that I'd be writing and posting regularly to a blog, I would have said no way.  No time.  Who's going to read it?  What would I even write about.  But look at that.  I have a blog.  I write when there's a spare moment (which is often after 11pm) and it's a bit unorthodox (sitting in front of the TV maybe with my laptop on my lap).  But I write because it's a creative outlet for me, I seem to stumble across cool stuff that I think other folks might like to know about and crazy stuff seems to happen to me on a regular basis.  All good blogworthy stuff.  A bit neurotic and all over the place, but blogworthy in my mind (and maybe that's the problem) nonetheless.  

This was our Friday night and the very glowy-like figure at the front of the stage is Lyle Lovett, not a ghost.  Although there could be ghosts nearby, since we were at the ATL Botanical Gardens next to Piedmont Park in Atlanta and I'm sure there was a battle there once upon a time.  It's Atlanta after all.  

In starting out this blog, I decided I wanted to see where I could take it beyond just my friends and family (those kinds souls that are stuck reading the crap I write and don't have a choice).  With a gentle push from a good friend who said, "Hey, you needed to know how to make homemade dog food.  Someone else likely needs to know too," I jumped in with both feet and started to try and find ways to expand my audience.  

The view from our dock this weekend.

I have other blogger friends (yes, I also admit you may read other blogs other than mine.  It's ok - you and I have an open relationship.), so I asked around about what they were doing.  And one friend (both real and online), Michelle (you know her as the inventor of the Friday VHH and maker of all things yummy at The Whole Smiths), invited me to join a blogging group on Facebook.  Through that group I've found lots of help, new ideas and great support.  It's through that group that I've been taken underwing and introduced around.  And made some new friends.

Amy from Stow & Tell You

One blogger, Amy E of Stow & Tell You has done one better that just giving me some advice.  She introduced me last week on her blog.  It's what we bloggers like to call a Blogland tour.  Unlike Gilligan's little excursion (please tell me you all know who I'm talking about when I say Gilligan.  He had his own island/show for goodness sake.) this is quick and you don't get stuck anywhere.  Unless your computer hangs on you.  But that's probably because you have a virus or some creepy spy wear or you have WAY too much music on there.  Not because of the tour. 

VHH Cocktails ATL style compliments of The Whole Smiths whole (craft)cocktail recipe this week.

So anyway, while I've been working on the new storefront, learning how to make a sugar wrap to heal wounds and Virtual Happy Hour-ing with The Whole Smiths, she was exposing my blog to her followers.  I'd like to return the favor and ask you to click the link above to her blog and go check her out.  
She's got the DIY thing down!  I'm envious of all of the projects in her project gallery.  She makes it all look so easy!  I've got a few ideas of hers that are on my "I'm going to try it list" now.  And she's been blogging for a while with a great following.  Something else of which I'm envious.  So go check out her blog and then come back and leave me a comment and let me know what DIY projects you might want to try now.  Maybe we can do them together!

Lark is contemplating if she can paddle board AND carry the ball at the same time (she's very ball focused).  Smitty is contemplating why he has to have a sister that wants to chase balls all the time.

And because it's good to pay it not only forward but backwards sometimes too (even if I do get confused about which is which), I'll be introducing a couple of my other blogger friends to you guys in the coming days.  Stay tuned for that.  The Labor Day Weekend may have snuck up on them but we'll be hearing from them soon.

The Hubbs and his four legged mini-me.  They do remind me of one another often.

Until then, get back outside and go enjoy the remaining days of summer.  The Hubbs, Smitty and Lark say Happy Labor Day for those of you in the US and Happy Monday to the rest of you.  I've included a few photos from our Labor Day Weekend just for fun and to completely throw you off, since there really aren't good photos to go along with talking about why I blog and the Blogland Tour thingy.  Think of it as a mini photo tour.  That's two tours in one, folks.
You're welcome.

 

Kids and Clorox - Who Knew They Mixed Together So Well?

If I were to say to you, "Hey, let's give the kids Clorox pens and see what happens!" you would probably shoot me one of those "she's lost her ever-loving mind" looks, turn on your heels and walk away.  But I'm rogue like that.  I like to toss a tiny firecracker into the crowd (figuratively speaking, folks) to shake things up a bit.  
We've been highlighting (mostly) crafts this week and I've mentioned that my friend Jody came up from Atlanta a few weeks back.  She is the queen crafter (no really, you should see the embossed note cards she made me - amazeballs!) and she brought up some really fun crafts for the bonus daughters to make.  The koozie/coozies (never will know which is the correct spelling) were all her idea.  And a big hit.  She also brought up a lucha libre mask kit (click here if you have no idea what I'm talking about, of if you'd like to order a real mask of your own) and we ALL made them (pretty sure the ensuing photo will make the front of the Christmas card this year).  

Rocks can be helpful for holding the shirts down.  So they don't fly away. (????)

But I also had a trick or two up my sleeve and told the bonus daughters and the lake neighbor kids to get a colored tshirt and be thinking of a phrase or saying that's important to them (the shorter the better).  I bought Clorox bleach pens and we were set.  
Turns out these handy pens aren't just helpful in the laundry, but also keep bored kids under the age of 15 occupied for at least a solid half an hour.  

You can use other markers to enhance your design (see bow tie above).  And yes, that's wine in that glass.  For the grownups supervising the bleaching.

Here's how:
We took their shirts and put a piece of heavy cardboard between the front side and the back side, inside the shirt (just like with the tie-dye shirts, which we did the same day).  Now take your pen and carefully write your saying or message on the shirt.  It looks like this at first.

The Clorox looks very white while on the shirt, but on black at least, turns the fabric gray.

The key here is (once again) patience while it dries.  Which is harder than it sounds with ten (I think it was ten - there were tons of them and they move quickly, so it can be hard to count them) kids running around.  That's why we had the second craft - the tie-dyes.  Once the Clorox is dry on the shirt (about an hour or so), you very carefully take it to the sink and quickly wash out the bleach by running cold water straight through it at first and then a quick general soak.  Have the washing machine ready to go, so you can pop the shirts in there to get any trace of leftover bleach out.  

It almost looks Halloween-ish with the orange outline around the letters.

Key tips:  
1) Make sure you know how to spell what you want to write. 2) It may be a good idea to "sketch" out what you want to write on your shirt first.  We did it  with our fingers, just to make sure the words would fit, but you could do it with a pen or pencil. 3) You can't really do the front AND back, so choose carefully. 4) Bleach is still bleach.  Even when crafting.  So, be careful with whatever clothes you're wearing. 5) 100% cotton shirts work best.
Now, go turn your kids loose with some bleach pens, get a glass of wine and call it a day.  A win all around.  You're welcome.