Salsa'N'Guac Pasta Salad

It's hard to get inspired to cook when it's 90 degrees outside.  I basically had to force myself into the kitchen to make something for lunch.  I somehow managed to whip up this AMAZING pasta salad that was cool, refreshing, and super easy to make!

Warning: I never measure when I cook, if you are the type who needs exact cooking measurements, I am not your gal.

What you'll need:
1 box of a pasta of your choice (I used about half a box for this batch and have leftovers)
1 Hefty spoonful of Guacamole (I used Wholly Guacamole but homemade would be delicious too)
3 Hefty spoonfuls of salsa (the kind that is more veggies than sauce see image below)
3 squirts of Ken's Italian dressing
1 Hefty spoonful Parmesan cheese
1 scallion, chopped

 Salsa with small diced veggies

 Add the dressing, salsa, and scallions to the pasta

Add your heaps of cheese and guac

Stir it up

Enjoy!

Yum!
-M.

Spray Paint Can Make Anything Pretty

Ever have things laying around the house that need a fresh new look? Well, I swear to you, Spray Paint fixes anything.

When we moved, I bought these window box liners that were the wrong size for our window boxes (note to self - always measure).  The box liners have been sitting in a pile with my garden stuff collecting pollen. I decided it was time to make them useful!
The liners are made of sturdy plastic, and have holes in the bottom for water drainage, but boy are they boring!

 Solution: Spray paint.  I used Rust-Oleum Ultra cover paint that is safe for outdoors and holds to plastic.

 And Viola! Window boxes with character!

You could always jazz the boxes up with stencils!

Enjoy!
-M.

DIY Tipsy Plant Pots

I've been wanting to add some color to our front garden and I love using potted plants in gardens.  I have seen these "Tispy" pots before and decided to make one!
You'll need:
  1 large pot for your base
  1 8" pot
  2 6" pots
  1 4" pot
  one 4' piece of rebar
  spray paint and primer
  potting soils and plants

 set up the pots on a drop cloth.

 I used this Rust-oleum primer and paint that is good on any surface and is safe for outdoors

 Once the pots were primed, I realized I was getting high off fumes so I moved the project outside

 ahhhh that's better. Once the primer dried, I did two coats of color.

 Using a mallet hammer and some muscle, plant the rebar into the ground so that it is nice and sturdy.  It needs to be steady enough to hold all the pots.

 Take your base pot and feed the rebar through the hole on the bottom.

 Add soil to the bottom pot and then start stacking the smaller pots, alternating which way they tilt.

 Once you have soil, all you have to do is plant!

 I had a few inches of rebar at the top, so I used some tall flowers to cover!

 Pretty!!

-M

Fred the Rooster

Hello again!
I thought I'd share a portrait I did of an unlikely subject! A rooster! Painting portraits does not have to be limited to humans.  How many fuzzy/feathery faces have you seen that you would like to capture?
A dear friend of mine has chickens.  Among her flock is a hard-headed rooster named Fred.  This cocky rooster (pun intended) has quite the personality. So when my friend got engaged I knew I wanted to give them a painting as an engagement gift.  Who better to paint than the boss of their household, Fred!

Because I wanted to be able to layer the paint to add texture to the feathers and wattle (who knew that dangling thing was called a wattle?!), I started with the dark tones. Once I had the darks down, I started adding lights and layers. The feathers were the hardest part. By alternating shades and using coarse and fine/feathery brushes, the texture began to develop.

Smoothing, blending, and adding highlights.

 Fred the rooster deserves to be the star of the show, so I chose a blended color background.  Once the painting was dry, all he needed was a gaudy frame and a signature!

- M.