holiday weekend fun

Hope all of you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!  Mia and her family spent it camping in the cool pines, while me and my family took a trip to Snowflake to visit my parents.  We cut and hauled two big truckloads of wood for the upcoming winter.  I love the crisp air and the smell of the chainsaw and fresh cut wood.  It brought back childhood memories of doing the same thing with my parents and five siblings.  I'm so happy that my kids got to experience it too.  My cute and determined sister tried her hand at running the chainsaw this year under the watchful eye of daddy and she did a great job!  The little boys found an elk bone and a horny toad which completed the grand adventure.

We also celebrated the 10th birthday of my sweet boy Jake.

The birthday menu included hamburgers on the grill with homemade buns, bright red tomatoes from the garden, and ice cold juice from grapes picked and pressed by my hardworking parents.  Mommy never disappoints in the way of desserts and made two of Jake's favorite pies: rhubarb custard and peanut butter with fresh whipped cream, just to show him how special he is. The peanut butter pie is so simple and good, I thought I'd include it, just to be sweet. It does have Cool Whip in it, which I don't prefer, but it just doesn't work as well with real whipped cream so just use it!  Trust me, no one will mind.

Peanut Butter Pie
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup milk
4 oz. cool whip

Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar til smooth.  Add the peanut butter and milk and mix well.  Fold in the cool whip.  Pour into an oreo crust.   Chill for several hours.  Always top with real whipped cream!

Me and my mom can always sneak a little bit of "us" time into a busy weekend.  In our spare moments we gave two brass Goodwill lamps a facelift for my mom, and made a slipcover out of a dropcloth for my piano bench.  We also brainstormed about making some simple roman shades for her family room and are really excited about the impact it will make in her space.  I need to make some for my home as well, and have found a couple of really good tutorials that I'm going to share with you.

The first comes from Jenny of Little Green Notebook.  Jenny happens to be the daughter of my mom's doctor, and she lives in NY with her cute family.  She is a talented designer with a keen eye for clean, colorful, modern design.  She creatively came up with a way to turn cheap miniblinds into custom roman shades.  {tutorial}

The other comes from Natty, of Natty By Design.  I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Natty back in July for the I Heart Thrifting party.  She is even more adorable in real life than she appears on her blog, if that's possible!  She turns thrift store finds into heirloom quality pieces for her clients and her work is meticulous.  She has a detailed, three part {tutorial} for roman shades with great pictures and instructions.

The good ideas and tutorials in the blogosphere could keep a girl busy for a lifetime.  Blogs are such a wonderful resource for learning how to do things, and I learn from talented women like Jenny and Natty every day.  Thanks for all the fun tips and creative solutions from all the dedicated bloggers out there.  I certainly appreciate all the time you spend to help people like me with my many design dilemmas!