The Four Seasons Photo Gallery

I love taking photos of anything and everything.  And lately my favorite thing is playing around with the many fun photo editing apps.  Instead of just keeping all these great photos on my phone/computer, I wanted to display them.  This is how the four seasons photo gallery was borne.

Sorry about the not great photographs of the gallery.  It is in my little half bathroom where there is no natural light and not much space to get a great photograph.  And the wall color is actually a very pretty blue, not the less than eye pleasing gray that it appears to be here.

The frames are from Michaels and I painted them a winter white.  Originally they were ivory but I wanted a more pure white to match the vanity in the bathroom.  The coat hooks are from the Home Depot.

When I originally came up with this idea, it was with just three photos.  But as I was looking through my instagram for those photos I came across a fourth that would beatifully complete a set of seasonal photos.  I am quite happy with the outcome.

Here are the four seasons as seen in my instagram account:

I would love it if you followed me on instagram as well.

Have a great weekend.

Flower Photo Gallery

Once upon a time there was a television show called Trading Spaces on TLC.  I watched it every Saturday night.  It was from this show that I got the awesome idea of hanging pictures on a curtain wire hanging along one wall across the entire length of the room.  The idea was that you would be able to change out the photos whenever you wanted and not have to worry about nail holes all over the wall.  I decided it was time to spice up the photos I had hanging on my wire and I was inspired by all the great photo apps to fancy up some of my favorite flower photos.

I purchased the curtain wire from Ikea many years ago.  It came with some clips and I had purchased another box of them at that time as well.  And I am going to have to pick up some more of them now too because I chose more photos than I had clips for.

I selected about two dozen of my favorite original flower photographs.  Using the Camera360 app, I added the cartoon effect to them.  I'm super happy with how they turned out.  

I had so much fun playing around with it and picking just the right filter for each one.

Then I simply printed them out on photo paper on my home computer and hung them up.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

I love how this photo gallery adds so much color and fun to my guest room.

Now it will always look like a pretty summer day {even in the middle of a cold and snowy winter}.

I am sharing this project at my favorite parties.

Road Trip {MN-WI-IL-IA-MN}

Sorry, no new craft project this weekend.  Partly because I was out of town for nearly a week this month and partly because I just haven't had the right motivation to do anything crafty.  But fear not, I have something for you.  The reason I was out of town was because I took a road trip to Illinois to see my sister.  And I documented it with Instagram.  So, in case you aren't following me on Instagram - here are some highlights from my trip:

My plan was to follow along the Mississippi River as much as possible on the way to my sister's in East Peoria, IL.  My first stop was Hastings, MN but before hitting the Great River Road (and the aforementioned Mississippi River), I stopped to see the Vermillion Falls.

Next stop - Red Wing, MN.  Home of Red Wing Shoes and the world's largest boot (size 638 1/2 D in case you are wondering).

This boot is on display in the downtown Red Wing Shoe Store along with the Red Wing Shoe Company Museum.

Continuing down the Mississippi, I stopped at a little wayside area in Lake City to check out Lake Pepin.  Lake Pepin is a naturally occuring lake and the widest naturally occuring part of the Mississippi River.  Neat, huh?

And also apparently the birthplace of waterskiing.

Next stop - Wabaha, MN.  You may be familiar with the town from the Grumpy Old Men movies.  But I wasn't looking for any grumpy old men.  I was there to visit the National Eagle Center.  I learned a lot of interesting information about eagles at their eagle program, including an upclose look at a couple of bald eagles and a golden eagle.

Step out the back door of the Eagle Center and you are right on the banks of the Mississippi River.

I headed south for a little bit and crossed the river at LaCrosse, WI.  There I made a stop at Olive Juice Quilt Shop and had a very late lunch/early dinner before continuing south on the Great River Road on the Wisconsin side of the river.  {Apparently there was nothing interesting in Wisconsin because I took no pictures.}

Past Prairie Du Chien, I headed away from the river and stopped in Galena, IL for the night.

After the overnight stop in Galena, I continued south and back on the Great River Road in Illinois.  That was until I came to Interstate 80 and I finished my trip to East Peoria on the always exciting interstate system.

But not before a little photo op of the Mississippi River from the rest stop.

Apparently there isn't really anything to do in Peoria, so on Saturday my sister and I went to Chicago {about 2 1/2-3 hours away}.  Since we had both been to Chicago a few times previously, we tried something new - a Stray Boots tour.  If you are not familiar with Stray Boots {and I wasn't until I stumbled across them while researching things to do in Chicago} just think urban tour + scavenger hunt.  And it was a lot of fun!  {They are available in about a dozen or so cities and I highly recommend you check it out.}  We actually did two - Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier.

Before leaving the city, I made sure we stopped for ice cream at the Ghiradelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop.  So yummy!

Sunday, we went to Starved Rock State Park for some hiking.  {That was after we got lost trying to find another park.}  The park is known for its interesting rock formations, canyons, and waterfalls.  The hiking there was really good and the scenery was pretty.

Before I knew it, my long weekend was coming to a close and it was time to head back home.  The return trip went through Iowa.  First, a stop in Iowa City for a quick look at my alma mater - The University of Iowa.

The old capitol was looking picture perfect.  Then it was off to my parent's house in northeast Iowa.  

I stayed overnight and in the morning got in a nice walk with their dog, Sasha, just before a quick shower hit.  Then it was back home but not before one last stop - The Spam Museum in Austin, MN.

Now before you start laughing, let me tell you that this is a really good museum.  If you are ever in the area, you should definitely check it out.  Besides, they give out Spam samples there.

That was my road trip.  Thanks for letting me share it with you.  Have a great weekend!

I am sharing this at some of my favorite parties.

Butterfly Collage

I think it's time to think spring.  Those ten inches of snow we got on Tuesday will be the last of this season.  Yeah, that's probably not true but it's nice thought anyways.  Last weekend I made a project that totally got me thinking summer.  {Forget spring, I went right to summer.}

When you think of butterflies, do you think of flowers?  I do.

One of my favorite spots to enjoy the beauty of flowers is my mom's gardens.  Every spring and summer I spend hours there taking photographs.

Her flower gardens have been the inspiration for a few of my projects - Flower Photo Block Quilt and Earth Laughs in Flowers Tray.  And now they are the inspiration for my butterfly collage.

I know I'm a Johnny - come - lately to the butterfly collage scene but this idea has been in my head for about a year.  But I think my butterflies are unique.  In fact, they are one of a kind.  Why?  Because they are made from my original photographs of flowers in my mom's garden.

After selecting the photos that I wanted to use {not an easy task as I had hundreds to chose from} I simply printed them from my home computer on presentation paper.  Since an actual butterfly has colors on both sides of their wings, I flipped the images and printed on the back side of the paper.  {Of couse, no one will see this detail - it's just for me.}

Then using a butterfly paper punch, I punched out 42 butterflies.  {Actually, more than 42.  I just couldn't decide which I liked and narrowed it down later.}  I scored each butterfly along the body and slightly folded the wings up to give each one some dimension.

Then I glued them to a piece of heavyweight drawing paper and put the collage into a shadowbox frame.  {I got the frame at Jo-Ann's - 40% off sale + 20% off coupon}

 I absolutely love how this came out.  The hardest part was deciding on the 42 butterflies.  Like I said, I had many choices - enough that I could make another.

Here are close-ups of the butterflies:

Do you have a favorite of the flower butterflies?  I think the pink lupine is my favorite, which is why I put it in the middle.  But I love them all.  

Now if spring would hurry up and get here...

I am sharing at my favorite parties.

{Not So Confidential} - December in Review

Happy New Year!  Mother Nature decided to ring in the new year here with a deep freeze.  Brrrr!  I would have much preferred a nice snowfall like this one earlier in December.

{What I made} Craft Projects

And in case you missed the posts on a couple of them:

{Handmade Christmas} Pinecone Ornaments

{Handmade Christmas} Felt Ornaments

{What I made} Yummy Eats

• Chicken Pesto Lasagna Rolls from Tracey's Culinary Adventures
• White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod - My second thought when I first tried the white chocolate peppermint M&M's was that they would be great in a cookie.  And they are.  {My first thought of course was mmmm these are yummy.}
•  Pomegranate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod - I love pomegranates and they add a fun pop to these cookies.
• Chocolate Fudge Pomegranate Cookies from How Sweet It Is - Two of my favorite things - chocolate and pomegranates.  So good.
• Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction - This recipe takes the chocolate chip cookie to the next level - awesomeness!
• White Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cheesecake from Baked by Rachel - I didn't make this one but I definitely eat it.  I suggested it to my mom for Christmas dessert and she was nice enough to make it for us.  We all loved it.  Probably one of the best cheesecakes ever.

{#FMSphotoaday} Favorite

4. Black & White...#dearsanta #fmsphotoaday

{Not So Confidential} - November in Review

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.  I sure did.  I spent the long weekend at my parents.  Every morning I would go for a walk with their dog, Sasha.  Saturday morning I spied this bald eagle.  Perhaps he was waiting for his breakfast?

{What I made} Craft Projects

{What I made} Yummy Eats

• Oatmeal Brulee with Brown Buttered Pears and Cinnamon Ginger Cream from Simply Scratch - I knew when I saw this recipe it would be good.  Turns out it was great.  So yummy and delicious.
• Low-Carb Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs from Iowa Girl Eats - I probably had spaghetti squash when I was a kid but I don't remember so I'm considering this the first time I've tried it.  And guess what - I really like it.  This recipe was really good.
• Homemade Meatballs from In the Kitchen With Stacey - I made this with turkey and had them with the spaghetti squash (see previous bullet point.)  So easy and so tasty.
• Roasted Pear and Chocolate Chunk Scones from Smitten Kitchen - Yes, I'm a sucker for scone recipes.  I love to freeze them to bake later.  These were good.
• Sausage and Quinoa One-Pot Supper from Whole Foods Market - Aren't one pot meals great?  The fewer dishes to wash the better.
• Harvest Chicken Quinoa Soup from Iowa Girl Eats - So many great things in this soup. No wonder it tasted so good.
• Cauliflower Rice from Delighted Momma - I like cauliflower but I just don't buy it very often.  I suppose that's because I don't like it cooked.  This might change that - what a great way to eat this vegetable.
• Potato Parsnip Mash from Skinnytaste - I made this for Thanksgiving dinner.  I also made a rookie mistake - forgot to drain the vegetables before mashing.  My mom had to rescue it with some potato flakes.  They were still really good though.
• Sausage, Sage and Apple Stuffing from Eat Yourself Skinny - Another Thanksgiving dish.  I liked it but it wasn't a favorite for everyone.
• Fresh Green Bean Casserole from Brown Eyed Baker - Hands down my favorite dish at Thanksgiving dinner.  We have never had green bean casserole before but with this recipe, I forsee lots of green bean casserole in our future.  Our version omitted the mushrooms as we are not big fans.

{#FMSphotoaday} Favorite

16. The view from my window...good morning #nothingtoseehere #fmsphotoaday

Wednesday Pick-Me-Up #11

Wednesday Pick-Me-Up #10

{Not So Confidential} - October in Review

Goodbye October.  Goodbye walks in the park with beautiful scenery like this:

Hyland Lake Park Reserve

{What I made} Craft Projects

{What I made} Yummy Eats

• Stuffed Acorn Squash from Rachael Ray
• Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto from the Star Tribune - At first I thought this was a lot of work for something that only tasted all right.  But the leftovers changed my mind because they tasted great.
• Apple, Sage and Turkey Meatloaf from Whole Foods Market
• Orzo with Parmesan and Basil from My Tiny Oven - This reminded me of Pasta Roni only homemade and better.
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins from Tracey's Culinary Adventures - I loved these.  They were great for breakfast and for dessert.

{#FMSphotoaday} 

Last month I joined the fun that is the Fat Mum Slim Photo a day challenge.  While I haven't managed yet to complete a whole month of the challenge, I love playing along when I can and putting my creative hat on.  I post my photos on Instagram and would love to have some followers {I'm lynnbodensteiner}  I'll follow back.  Here is my favorite from October:

20. 4 o'clock #lateasusual

Wednesday Pick-Me-Up #9