Thursday's Tutuorial - Bird Bath from Dream Book

This Thursday is a double whammy for not only am I sharing Thursday's Tutorial but it comes from a project I featured on Dream Book - Mother's Day Edition thus resulting in a Dream Book Experiment.  I'm thinking I may need to change my blog name from Texas Monkey to Monkey See Monkey Do since basically I just see amazing ideas you come up with and go and try them out myself, see, Monkey See Monkey Do. 
For Mother's Day I decided to make my Nana a bird bath that I saw over at The Darling Diva.  Once I saw this I knew I wanted to do something similar for my very special Nana.  My Nana has many bird houses, humming bird feeders, and a very large and HEAVY cement bird bath.  So I thought a handmade one made by her very favorite granddaughter (it's OK to say that I'm her only granddaughter) to add to her collection. 

This is very cost effective and so easy to do.  First grab your supplies:

• 
  
  Spray Paint
• 
  
  Glue (Gorilla Glue or E6000 will work great)
• 
  
  Bowl (size to your liking)
• 
  
  Platter (size to your liking)
• 
  
  1/2 inch threaded cast iron pipe (I used 4 ft long one)
• 
  
  1/2 inch cast iron flange
• 
  
  Water
• 
  
  Bird Seed
• 
  
  Rock

1st:
Apply your glue to your flange and adhere it to the bottom of the platter.  Make sure you center it.

Now place something heavy on top of it while it dries.

2nd:
Spray paint your pipe (and plate and bowl if desired)

3rd:
Adhere your bowl to your plate with your glue of choice and let dry.

4th:
Hammer your pipe into the ground using a rubber mallet and small piece of wood then screw on your bird bath.

5th:
Add water, rocks so the birds have a place to perch into the bowl and birdseed onto the plate.  If you're ghetto like me and don't have any birdseed but need to take a picture for your awesome readers then simply use crushed up crackers!  Yep, that's how I roll, anything for my readers. :)

Enjoy watching your little bird friends enjoy a bath and good meal. 
Cost:
Rod = $8
Flange - $4
Plate = $1
Bowl = $2
Glue and spray paint I had on hand
Total = $15.  Not bad considering I've seen bird bath's for $100's and my Nana will love that I made it for her and not just bought it. 

Happy Thursday Ya'll.

Yay You Did It!

One of my favorite and most popular posts to date is my Dress Up Cakes with NO Stress where I share how you can take the stress out of decorating a cake but still get the ohh and awww factor when you bring it out.  I love to bake and decorate cakes, I pretty much suck at the decorating part but I still enjoy doing it and wanted to make cakes look professional and great without hiring a professional.  This post generated so many comments (70 WOW, that's a lot for me), emails, and even pictures and posts of your very own little masterpieces.  To me this is one of the great perks of blogging, to have a reader see something you did and find inspiration and motivation to redo it them self.  I know that my blog is filled with projects I've done that I've gotten from you wonderful talented folks so you can imagine how honored and flattered I have felt having some of you do the same with my little cake how to. 
Monkey gets real excited if she does something like put her shoe on or sees you do something like put your shoes on and she jumps up and YELLS and claps "YAY YOU DID IT" or "YAY I DID IT" she gets tickled pink to see an accomplishment come to pass and that's exactly how I feel seeing these cakes so hence the title YAY YOU DID IT, but when you read it, be sure to yell it and clap, I'll know if you didn't. :)

Rachel at Mommy Topics did such a fun barrel cake adding bright colors and a step by step tutorial even teasing us with pictures of the half eaten cake.  She's a lover of peanut M&M's so she used those on top.  See how it's so easy to tweak it to you or the recipient's desire?

Midwestern Gone Idahoan made one for her dad, awww, and since he loves wafers she used that instead of candy bars, I love this twist and again it really shows the receiver you know them and love them!  Plus people thought she bought it and couldn't get over that she made it. 

Tori sent me these pictures, she did not 1, not 2, but THREE cakes, wow don't you want to be her friend!  And she too added a different element by using Twix, now that's a girl after my own heart, Carmel, chocolate, wafers, and cake OMG!

Jalinda at The Craft In Me went all out and did a sheet cake, she needed to feed a bunch of hungry co workers this did the trick!  It just yells goodness doesn't it!

I hope you enjoyed seeing how easy this process is and how fun it is to step back and receive so many compliments.  Did you make one?  I'd love to showcase it!  Grab my "I've been featured" button ladies. 

Happy Wednesday Ya'll.

Dear So and So

Hello and welcome to Dear So and So, you know where I get to say what I wanted to say but didn't....
Do you have some?  Let me know so I can come read yours.

Dear Monday:
I am thinking that we are seeing way too much of each other and should maybe take a break, clear our heads and then get back together in a few months or so.  Sound good?
Love,
So Over You

Dear Couple at the Restaraunt Last Night:
While I appreciate sweet comments about Monkey and even a little small talk before or after a meal with the table next to me, I really don't enjoy hearing all about the messed up kid that lives down the street to you and how you have to be the parent to them because his own parents do not, nor do I enjoy hearing every story about your 5 year old grandaughter and all the trouble she gets into and how you have to threaten her.  It's really not dinner time conversation with strangers and because I tried to be so polite and listen, I missed enjoying my hot dinner and instead left over half of it.
Regards,
Very Annoyed Me

Dear Poppa:
Thanks a lot for getting up and leaving me with the oversharing couple next to us to go pay the check, I saw that grin and look you gave me, I knew you thought you were being funny and leaving me to find some way to say good bye and get out of there, but you didn't count on me playing you back by sitting there and talking to them and waiting for you to return so that the elder gentleman could keep talking to you.  Oh snap, got you back!  Don't mess with a hungry Momma!
Love,
Your Trickier than You Wifey

Dear Diet:
You can thank the oversharing couple at the restaraunt for not allowing me to finish my meal thus leaving me to stick to you and stay within my calorie intake for the day.  But you still can go suck it!
Love
Me hating but loving you

Dear Cleaning Fairy and Self Cleaning House:
I'm getting real tired of your laziness lately.  Once again the cleaning fairy got stuck up in the cobwebs and I had to rescue the flying freak and fire her and the self cleaning house feature seems to be malfunctioning because the dust bunnies are taking advantage of Spring time and multiplying faster than I care to keep up with so you too are being fired and instead I'm starting up OCD support group meetings at my house, not becasue I'm OCD but because I want a house full of people eager to clean and I want a clean house so problem solved!

Dear Cricut Expressions:
Oh how I want you, the pull and power you have over me is scary.  But know this, I will have you one day, oh yes you will be mine, until then, until we finally meet, I'll keep you in my dreams where you will be safe.
Loving you!

Dear Self:
Try to remember and enjoy each moment with Monkey, don't become a stick in the mud mom, embrace the moment, laugh, and milk it.  Remember to have water balloon fights, and food fights, and stop stressing over toys left out and make memories. 

Dear Readers:
You rock, I love your support and comments and visiting your blogs, keep it up, and what's your this week's Dear So and So?

Happy Tuesday Ya'll.

Me Monday - A Tribute To My Mom

As Mother's Day quickly approaches I can't help but have my mind filled with thoughts of my mom.  Not that I need a special day to think of her, just in light of the occasion approaching and the fact that I have a blog to write down my thoughts I figured why not dedicate this week's Me Monday to my mom. 
I will try to keep this short so not to bore you with facts on someone you don't know but I may find it difficult to sum up quickly what my mom means to me so please bear with me.  Also still clueless on what to get her so got any ideas, send them my way.

A teacher gave her class of second-graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day, in a written test, she included this question: “My name has six letters. The first one is m. I pick up things. What am I?” When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word mother.

Yes, mothers do pick up things, but they are much more than “magnets,” gathering up clothes and picking up toys around the house. As willing as many mothers are to do such chores, they have a higher calling than that.
A good mother loves her family and provides an atmosphere where each member can find acceptance, security, and understanding. She is there when the children need a listening ear, a comforting word, a warm hug, or a loving touch on a fevered brow. And for the Christian mother, her greatest joy is in teaching her children to trust and love Jesus as their Savior. ¾R.W.D. from Our Daily Bread

I must admit that when I read the question the teacher gave her class my first thought was mother too.  That's what a mom does, not only picking up toys and clothes and such, or picking up kids from sleep overs, school, parties, and such, moms also pick up the pieces of broken hearts, tears shed, and low hanging heads.  I want nothing more than to be the kind of "magnet" mom to Monkey that my mom was to me. 

I've always had a best friend relationship with my mom, I've always loved her to the point of it hurting, I've always appreciated every little sacrifice she made for me growing up and as an adult.  However it wasn't until I became a mom myself that I truly understood why she did it.  What a precious Mom I am blessed to have! She loves me with an intense mother’s love that under girded me every day, and still does.

One time when I was younger, maybe 6 or 7 my mom and I were riding in the car and I asked her what is that word she uses all the time, it starts with an F, what's that F word you use all the time Momma, I kept asking over and over, her eyes got so big and she'd just say I don't know what word you mean.  Can you imagine the terror! haha.  Finally I said FRISTANCE momma, FRISTANCE, I was referring to the phrase For instance, but you know that East Texas accent combines words making it fristance.  I love hearing my mom tell that story even today, it makes me laugh so hard when she describes the terror she was feeling as she thought I was referring to THE F word.  

I remember when I was around 8 still having a very small bike that I no longer fit on but oh so wanting to ride around the block with kids from the neighborhood so I would ride that bike and hit my knees on the handle bars.  I would cry but didn't want my mom to see that and make her feel guilty.  I don't even remember asking for a bigger bike but one day I came outside from piano lessons with my aunt and out in the street were all the kids and my cousins riding their bikes and there in the middle was this beautiful pink and white bike being ridden by my mom.  She didn't need me to ask to know what the desire of my heart was at that time.  So much like our Heavenly Father knows before we even ask. 

My mom was famous for being the loudest cheerer in the crowd and always having her big ole camera with her.  I sometimes would get embarrassed by this but the other players seemed to love it, she wasn't just yelling for me but for each one.  And she wasn't just taking my picture but theirs as well as printing them out and giving to them the next day.  I remember when she came late one time and the other girls were so concerned that they wouldn't get their pictures for that week's game.  She of course got there and all was right and we could start the game LOL.

As you can tell I have a very giving mom but that's not all she's great for, so what kind of mom do I have?

• I have the kind of mom that at first glance upon her child she was in love.

• The kind of mom that realizes that every moment with her child is a precious moment and gift from God that should be celebrated. 

• The kind of mom that sees the inner beauty in others. 
• The kind of mom that worked 2 and sometimes 3 jobs to not only make ends meet but to give her whiny and sometimes bratty daughter things that I just swore I needed and had to have. 
• The kind of mom that had to be a mom and dad and never once complained. 
• The kind of mom that offered any and every opportunity that seemed interesting to me growing up. 
• The kind of mom that provided an atmosphere where I could learn the greatness of God's love.
• The kind of mom that was at every pep rally, volleyball game, basketball game, cross country meet, softball tournament, track meet, every tryout, every school event.  Not only was she there, she was the loudest cheerleader, picture taker, and supporter to the other girls whose mom wasn't there. 
• The kind of mom that was there for every heart ache and ready and willing to whoop some butt for making her child cry. 
• The kind of mom that when her only child announced she was moving 5 states away to be with the love of her life, she knew she had to let me go. 
• The kind of mom that paid for plane tickets for me to visit any time, and went without pay to take off to fly out and see me. 
• The kind of mom that when her only child got married 5 states away so many arrangements and decorations and took care of cost where we couldn't. 

• The kind of mom that showed by example that it's never too late to follow any dream or desire you may have.
• The kind of mom that understands the hurts of life that take a toll upon the human soul and has compassion and empathy to those in need of it.
• The kind of mom that knows good home cooking and laughter can be like medicine to someone in need.
• The kind of mom that makes the best kind of Grandma. 

• The kind of mom that leaves you wanting to be a mom like her. 

To simply state that I'm so grateful and thankful to have a mom like mine just doesn't seem to express my heart enough.  Shouting it from the mountaintops would be closer but still not enough.  Showering her with gifts doesn't seem to cut it either.  I don't think there's enough time, energy, or money in the world to help me express my love and thankfulness for mom.  I can merely strive to remind her everyday that she helped mold me into the mom I am to Monkey and the woman I am today.  I honor her this Mother's Day and every day, for she is a woman, a mom that deserves that and so much more. 
I love you mom!
I'll always be your baby!
Do you have fun memories of your mom or have a post sharing about your mom?  I'd love to come read it. 
Happy Monday Ya'll.

Dream Book Children's Edition

Before we get into this week's Dream Book I would like to invite you over to Jessica's blog at Mia Ma Miah's Diaries where she's featuring little ole me and my store Texas Monkey Boutique. 

Hop on over there and tell her hi!

And now for this week's edition.  If you're new here and wondering what Dream Book is, it's a post on ideas I find around blog land from some very talented ladies that I think I can do someday just may not have the time to do today so I capture the ideas here in Dream Book posts.  You know things I dream about doing. 

This week is full of children's ideas, I hope some of them leave you inspired as well.
With Spring apon us and summer quickly apporaching you may find your Monkey's closet full of winter stuff that still fits or even has tags on them.  Not quite ready to get rid of them yet?  Well then turn a Turtleneck to cute shirt in no time flat and get more use out of clothing and your money spent.

I'm constantly looking for cute ways to display Monkey's artwork and masterpieces without cluttering the fridge and stuffing them in boxes to never be seen again.  So you can imagine my excitement when I came acorss this Art Display Center as well as this Art Display.  Both are so simple and you can decorate them to you and your child's personality or room theme.

And what little girl's room doesn't need pops of pink?  Want to make something homemade? Then this Artwork for A Girl's Room is perfect and easy enough to let the princess herself help you make.

We don't have a play room in this house but when we move I hope to get a house that has a playroom/game room where I can also use as a school room since I plan to homeschool and when that day comes I so want to dress up the wall like this AAAAAmazing Dressed Up Wall and what's even better, it was only $13, yeah baby!

And last but not least I love finding ways to make learning fun and since Monkey loves learning and loves putting coins in piggy banks and blocks in buckets I think she will love this ABC's in a Can and I think you will love it too!  I can't wait to do this and by "I" I mean Grams. :)  Hey don't judge me she's the one with all the scrapbooking tools to do this with.

That's all folks, hope ya'll enjoyed it. 
Happy Saturday Ya'll.