Monday, August 29, 2011

I Was on TV...

So, um, last week I was on tv.

{that's not me on tv...}

Over a year ago, I did a segment on BYUTV's show, Fresh Take, called "Dare to Dream".  My friend, Casey, works for BYUTV and was looking for someone to share their dream on the show, so I said I would do it. 

I know you are all dying to know what my dream is, right?

Well, I've always loved children's books and writing and from the time I was little have had verses pop into my head.  Every know and then, I would write them down, and dream about sharing them someday, and maybe being "discovered" and becoming a real author. 


The show had an expert come and give us tips on how to realize our dreams AND I got to have my hair and makeup done, and was served a yummy dinner!

It was fun to go and do the shoot, but to be honest, I have had a little anxiety the past year about when it would come out and

A. How I would look,
B. How I would sound,
C. If I said anything stupid,
D. If, when I posted my writing, that people wouldn't like it,
E. If people I know didn't like my writing, that they would feel like they had to lie and tell me it was awesome.

These are all kind of vain insecurities, but real nonetheless.

Since it aired, everyone has been really sweet and said some really nice things about my writing, so I am thankful for that...and since one of my stories is already on the BYUTV blog, I thought, what the heck, I might as well share another on my own blog...and I would love some feedback--even negative feedback if you have it.

Farmer Petumpkin’s Mighty Big Pumpkin
by Kathy Dye
Farmer Petumpkin had a lovely farm just outside of town. He lived quite happily with his wife, Ma, and his children. Farmer Petumpkin’s garden never had any weeds and his plants were the envy of all his neighbors.

In the springtime, Farmer Petumpkin planted his seeds. He took very special care to space them just right, so that they would have plenty of room to grow. He watered and fertilized and played classical music for them.

In the summertime, Farmer Petumpkin tended his growing plants. He made sure that the plants were protected from bugs, so that the leaves would remain healthy. He watered and hoed and shaded them from the heat of the day.

When it was autumn time, Farmer Petumpkin was ready to harvest his garden. He was overjoyed by his onions. Transfixed by his tomatoes. Elated by his eggplants. But his pumpkins! His pumpkins were perfect!

Farmer Petumpkin’s perfect pumpkins were just the right shade of orange. They were shaped just right—not too tall, not too fat. And they were big! The biggest, most perfect pumpkins that Farmer Petumpkin had ever seen!

Farmer Petumpkin got straight to work. He harvested his onions, his tomatoes, and his eggplants. He got to work on his pumpkins, carefully pulling each one from its perfect vine. It was getting late as he came to the last, largest most perfect pumpkin of them all.

Farmer Petumpkin carefully twisted and pulled, but the pumpkin did not budge. “I must be getting tired,” thought the farmer, and he called for some help. “Ma!” Farmer Petumpkin shouted, “could you please come help me?”

Ma Petumpkin came out to the garden. “Well!” she said, “that’s a mighty big pumpkin!” Farmer Petumpkin agreed, “It’s so big, that I need help to pull it off its vine.” So the farmer and his wife tugged and pulled and twisted at the vine, but still, the pumpkin did not budge.

They decided to call for reinforcements. “Children!” they shouted, could you please come help us?” The children came running. “Wow!” they said, “that’s a mighty big pumpkin!” The Petumpkin parents agreed, “It’s so big, we need help to pull it off its vine.” So the farmer and his wife and the children tugged and pulled and twisted at the vine, but still, the pumpkin did not budge.

Farmer Petumpkin was puzzled, but soon he had an idea. “Ma,” he said, let’s get the horse to help us.” So they got the horse. “Neigh!” thought the horse, “that’s a mighty big pumpkin!” Now the farmer and his wife and the children and the horse tugged and pulled and twisted at the vine, but still, the pumpkin did not budge.

“How about the cow?” Ma Petumpkin suggested. “Excellent idea!” said Farmer Petumpkin, and they got the cow. “Moo!” thought the cow, “that is a mighty big pumpkin!” Now the farmer and his wife and the children, the horse and the cow tugged and pulled and twisted at the vine, but still, the pumpkin would not budge.

Farmer Petumpkin was getting worried, but decided that maybe the pig could help pull. “Oink!” thought the pig, “that’s a mighty big pumpkin!” Now the farmer and his wife, the children, the horse, the cow and the pig tugged and pulled and twisted at the vine, but still, the pumpkin did not budge.

This was serious. Farmer Petumpkin knew his only hope would be to get everyone at the farm to help. So he got the sheep and the goats and the ducks and the chickens to help. “Baa! Naa! Quack! Cluck!” thought the animals, “that’s a mighty big pumpkin!” Now the farmer and his wife, the children, the horse, the cow, the pig, the sheep, the goats, the ducks and the chickens tugged and pulled and twisted at the vine, and it started to move just a little bit.

“Pull!” pleaded Farmer Petumpkin as the pumpkin wiggled more and more, but all of their efforts were just not enough. “We need everyone! Everyone to help us pull!” Out came the dog and the kittens and the mice from the barn. “Woof! Meow! Squeak!” thought the animals “that’s a mighty big pumpkin!” Now the farmer and his wife, the children, the horse, the cow, the pig, the sheep, the goats, the ducks, the chickens, the dog, the kittens and the mice from the barn tugged and pulled and twisted at the vine and SNAP! Off came the pumpkin as everyone tumbled to the ground.

“Oh! Thank You!” cried Farmer Petumpkin, as everyone went home to bed. Later that day, Ma Petumpkin got busy in the kitchen. She made pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin pies. The mighty big pumpkin was big enough to feed Farmer Petumpkin and his wife, the children, the horse, the cow, the pig, the sheep, the goats, the ducks, the chickens, the dog, the kittens and the mice from the barn.

(They even had enough to feed the neighbors.)

THE END


What is your dream?



Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Yesterday afternoon...

...I made a book wreath.


I've seen these all over and wanted to try one, so I found an old atlas at the thrift store and bought a wreath form at the dollar store and fired up the glue gun.  In the end, it cost about $5, and 2 hours to make.

There are a billion different ways to make these, but I used Emily's tutorial over at Jones Design Company. 

The first step was hardest for me.

Before you can start gluing your pages to the wreath form, you have to tear them out of the book.  Problem is, I love books.  Especially old books with that old book smell.  I love the yellowish hue of the paper that only can be achieved through age.  I knew that this step would be problematic for me, so I deliberatly chose a book where the information was outdated and tried to convince myself that really, I was doing a good thing by repurposing something that was headed to the landfill. 

I still almost cried {twice} while ripping the pages out.

You could use any kind of book.  It does work a little better if you choose a book with regular paper as opposed to a heavier cardstock-like paper.  Also, have A LOT of glue on hand.  I think I used around twenty glue {gun} sticks. 

I am happy with the way it turned out, though and I really like the maps mixed in.  I think the colors are fun.  I'm planning on hanging it on my big blank wall by the kitchen table.  For now.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

....aaaaand, I'm back!

2 weeks!

I can't believe it's been that long since I posted last!

Well, we've been wrapping up summer around here and things got a little crazy for awhile.  But I have managed to get in a few fun crafts and wanted to share with you my office chair redo.

Remember that it looked like this:


It certainly was not hideous, but it wasn't really my taste, and I must confess that I had a moment of doubt when I was taking off the "leather" {and found out that it really WAS leather...albeit vinyl-looking maroon leather} but I forged ahead anyway.

I found some really cute zebra upholstery fabric and was going to use that for the cushion, but when I set it up next to the freshly-painted chair, it didn't feel right...so I looked through my fabric and found my old friend, Burlap, and it clicked.   I'm not sure if I will like it forever, but it was a pretty simple job, once I decided on fabric. 

Anywho,

here's how it turned out!


For those of you with extra-sharp eyes, you may have noticed that there is no trim.  I'm still deciding what to do...leave the stapled look {which I think goes nicely with the rusticity of the burlap}, find a good coordinating fabric trim, or attempt upholstery tacks...which my daughter thinks are fun to pull out...

What do you think?

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Apricots!

Yesterday night we picked apricots!


Our friends' grandmother had some extra, so we loaded up the kids and headed out.


The kids ate a ton of them right off of the tree,




and we brought a bunch home to make jam and to dry.



Thanks for the fun night Amie & Brian & Grandma!
{and for the yummy apricots and veggies!}

Oh, and here is the bug Jesse found close to the garden...


*shudder*

Friday, August 5, 2011

Woooo!

IMG_95791

I won this beautiful fabric in a giveaway from Cluck Cluck Sew!
I am in love with this color scheme right now and can't wait to make something with it.
Any ideas?

Thursday, August 4, 2011

IKEA

The other day, I received my 2012 IKEA catalog in the mail!
First of all, I was excited because it's always great to get something that is not a bill, but also because I really like perusing this catalog.  It gives me lots of great ideas.  And because most things are a steal!

I don't love everything at IKEA, but there is a lot of great stuff there!

Like the Children's Tableware...6 cups for $2!  And these babies are tough.  We've had some for years and the only thing I don't like about them is that they aren't all blue, because everyone wants the blue one for some reason.  And not the light blue one.  The DARK blue one.

KALAS Tumbler, assorted colors Volume: 7 oz Package quantity: 6 pack  Volume: 20 cl Package quantity: 6 pack


I also love this couch.  I do not own this couch, but I've always admired it from afar.  Actually, anything with a white slipcover on it is awesome in my book.
 EKTORP Sofa, Blekinge white Width: 85 7/8 " Depth: 34 5/8 " Height: 34 5/8 " Seat depth: 19 5/8 " Seat height: 17 3/4 "  Width: 218 cm Depth: 88 cm Height: 88 cm Seat depth: 50 cm Seat height: 45 cm
I also do not own this chair.  But I think that 4 or 5 of them would look neat on a patio or deck with pillows.  

While drinking a smoothie.
KARLSKRONA Chaise lounge, rattan Length: 59 " Width: 28 3/8 " Height: 33 1/2 " Seat width: 22 7/8 " Seat height: 9 7/8 "  Length: 150 cm Width: 72 cm Height: 85 cm Seat width: 58 cm Seat height: 25 cm  VEJEN Rug, flatwoven, brown, natural Length: 7 ' 10 " Width: 5 ' 7 "  Length: 240 cm Width: 170 cm
I love this rug.  Love.

I also love SOME of their fabric.  Some of it is a little weird.  It is.  But there is still some good stuff there.
SARALISA Fabric, multicolor, blue Width: 59 " Pattern repeat: 35 "  Width: 150 cm Pattern repeat: 90 cm

SY Pinking shears

 I recently bought some scissors there as well and they. are. awesome!  And were only $6!  So I got the pinking shears too!  For $7!  Have you ever priced pinking shears, ladies?  They are more than $7, I can tell you that.

BYHOLMA Basket, brown Width: 9 ¾ " Depth: 11 ½ " Height: 6 "  Width: 25 cm Depth: 29 cm Height: 15 cm   

And their baskets. are. excellent.

Here's what I have decided about IKEA: You have to be selective, but for the most part, they have some great stuff!


What have you bought from IKEA?

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Bag Dump

My friend Katie's most recent post inspired me to open up and share the contents of my bag with you all.

I myself am facinated at these types of posts, because I am nosy like that.

Although Katie had waaaay cooler things in her bag than I do in mine {hello, glasses for every occasion!  WD40!  Rubber gloves!}, I thought it still might be fun to share.

This is my bag this month.  I got it on clearance at Old Navy.  I usually switch bags every month or two, depending on my mood, or how heavy {and messy} it is getting with all of the crap that accumulates.


For your information, my bag weighed in around 3 pounds, which is why I am still using it and haven't switched yet...

...and here's what was inside:


My wallet
A flashlight
A vintage pterodactyl dinobot with a missing head
Lotion from the hotel in West Yellowstone
Feminine supplies
Gum
My favorite chocolate
 A butterscotch sucker from the bank
My nephew's mission address
My most recent shopping list
Diaper and wipes
Hand sanitizer
The conference cds from April 2010 General Conference
and 2 pounds of garbage...candy wrappers, receipts, etc. etc. {which I didn't photograph...you're welcome}
Usually, I also carry in my bag an extra pair of underwear for my son {just in case}, lucky for you, there weren't any there this time.

My bag also smells like there was some kind of sunblock spill in there...dang kids!

What's in your bag?
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