A Rain Barrel at Last!

I've been trying to talk my husband into helping me make a rain barrel for a couple of months now.  Last weekend I finally wore him down. It's a slightly hillbilly rain barrel without a spigot, but hey it will work.  Well at least I hope it works, we haven't had rain in weeks, so it's really anybody's guess if this thing is going perform as it should.  I'm quite proud of it despite it's looks.

Here the boys are completely ready to help me.  They are so serious in their task.

This was the best place to place our barrel.  We needed to do a little pruning.

Why yes, that is me wielding a hack saw. 

Ty had to chop the gutter thing and refit it. (My terms are so technical aren't they?)

We cut a hole in the lid of the barrel, screwed and caulked some netting to the top of it, and voila. I can't wait for it to rain to see how it works. Super excited.  If it ever rains I will just have to open the lid and dip my watering can in to fill it up with the caught rain water. (I'm hoping to wear Ty down into putting a spigot on it next spring. We'll see how that goes.)

I Sort of Rocked this Tinker Bell Cake

My daughter turned 4 last weekend.  My sister and I have this tradition where we try to make an epic cake of the child's choosing every year.  Usually we do okay, but this year, I must say we totally rocked it.  My daughter requested a Tinker Bell cake, and after perusing Pinterest looking for ideas, we had a plan.

Haley came over the afternoon of Lilly's birthday, and we got the cakes I had baked earlier in the week out of the freezer, and got to work.

We mixed up the frosting

Then after applying it, I did this new trick I learned here, and smoothed the frosting with paper towel so it looked as smooth as fondant.

My sister added the trim, and I did my best at the curlicues.  Not to shabby.

Haley had the great idea of getting edible sparkles, so my son helped blow them on the cake

Here's the birthday girl showing off her new swimsuit and goggles on her way to her birthday party.

And here is out masterpiece.  Kind of awesome right? Haley and I are pretty sure it's the best cake we've ever made.  Maybe we should just retire now.

Lilly loved her cake, and had a fantastic birthday. Two points for me!

Dog Slippers for Babies

I have successfully made adorable dog slippers for a baby. I can know cross that off my bucket list. Okay, to be seriously, I had never really thought about dog slippers for babies until I came across the book called, Cutest Ever Baby Knits and found this pattern in it.  The timing was perfect since I had a baby shower I was suppose to go to that weekend.  I whipped these slippers up in no time, and have to admit they are pretty darn cute.