Guests Wanted!!!

Hey everyone!

Sorry for being absent been having a lot going on getting ready to leave on our vacay, but I promise at least one more great post before I leave.

Remember my most awsomest Christmas present?

Well its hapening in 4 days!

Yay! I'm so excited and can't wait!

Anyway, I am in need of guest posts while Im gone... anyone up for it?
I already have a few linned up, thanks guys!!

Email me at collectionsfrommyheart@gmail.com

I'll be gone from June 2 - June 14

Shoe Deal....

Here's a great shoe deal for ya'll, bummer I can't take advantage of it, being that I'm from Hawaii. We miss out on a lot here, but thats no reason not to pass on the great word!

Go check it out!

a new begining

Whew, this past weekend came and went way too fast.

Yesterday,  I felt refreshed and renewed even if I didnt rest one second.

I talked previouslly about the evictions my mom was facing.

The residents held a Mahalo Party on Sunday for the community that stood behind them and supported them.

It was a beautiful day. We told stories about growing up there and how simple life was back then. How happy, safe and secure we all felt.

We had a number of very talented musician's who lived in the camp perform.

Our neighbors, they arent just neighbors, they are our family.

Then, on Monday morning, they went to court.

It's been a long and hard fight. Sunday was fun and emotional all at the same time.

Part of me feels like it's not over yet. Just the hardest part is over.

I am so greatful for the chance to grow up in a place like the camp.

You can't understand how it truly is, unless you've lived it.

I am sad that the children today will never experience life in the camp, dissapointed that my son will not experience the life I had, the life my mom had growing up.

Growing up we had a sense of community, Ohana.

We were respectful to our elders.

We were resourceful.

You didn't hear of idiots putting their children in washing machines on spin cycle!!!

What is this world coming to!?!

fishing tales

The hubs entered a fishing tournament this past weekend and if you follow me on instagram you probably saw who took his spot in our bed while he was gone.

We had a nice time just the two of us this past weekend even though I was fighting off a cold.

Daddy came home on Sunday and cleaned up and took my lil guy with him to the weigh-ins which gave me some much needed down time alone in a quiet, peaceful house.

Perfect for getting my rest, except....

I had a long overdue project that I just couldn't ignore anymore so out came the sewing machine.

 

I'll share the details on what I made later (here's a hint) but when my boys came home from the weigh ins lookie lookie what they brought home with them.

 

Dinner AND cash!

Now thats what I'm taking about!

Apparently that fish won him 1st place in that category, yea baby.



Remember my chairs that I was soooo happy so score on Craigslist for $10 a while back?

Then remember that I had to say good bye to them because of termite damage?

I saw this on craigslist today

Two of these chairs for $75... um no thank you.

Happy Mother's day!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!!

We may have the hardest job out there but atleast its the most rewarding!!

Have a great day!

Crossroads

Ever feel like you are standing at a crossroads in your life and you just don't know where to go?

I find myself right now facing that crossroad.

Do I take the daring leap this way or stay on the safe path that I have always taken.

I wish making decisions like this were easy.
I wish there was some sign.
Maybe there is a sign, tons of signs and I just havent slowed down enough to notice them.

Sometimes life just happens and you do what you have to do and not what you want to do.

Is it my time?
Should I do want I want to do without worry of what I have been doing all this time?

It's obvious that what I have been doing all this time isn't working out or I wouldn't be so stressed, I wouldnt be standing here at this crossroad asking these very questions.

God show me the right path to take that is best for me and my family.

thanks for listening guys, I'm pouring my heart out today with Shell.

Play kitchen Pt. 2

Ok... Ok.

I admit it's been a year, yup a year since I first started this project.

I'm a bad blogger sometimes.

A year ago, we made my lil guy his own play kitchen.
Dont think that I made my son go a whole year without his play kitchen, he's actually gotten a ton of use out of it and loves it.

But over time, it has also become just something else to pile things on top of it and under it making that corner of my living room look like a hurricane hit it.

Shameful I know.

I painted it a light grey that matched my walls.

You already saw that the hubby attached a faucet for $5 and the sink, aka room service plate cover, for $1.50.

I used red paint that I painted circles for burners, the paint I already had on hand.

My son had all of his kitchen accessories, the micro, the frying pan was an oldie the pot holder he stole from our kitchen and we never got it back.

Just the other weekend I had some free time to myself and an extra half a yard of fabric so I sewed a seem along the edges and a small pocket for a tension rod.

Tada!

What a difference, I don't know why it took me so long to complete!

I just love that all his mess is now hiding behind that pretty curtain!

Alright so are we keeping a tally here?

From my last post about the play kitchen we were at $6.50.

I bought a can of grey spray paint - $4.00 approx

gorgeous Waverly Fabric - $7.00 actually left over from another project

Total cost: $ 17.50

I say we have a winner winner chicken dinner!

Thanks for checking it out I'll be linking to the parties at the bottom of my page!

Table lamp re-do

Last week Friday I had the pleasure of guest posting over at Mammy Made.

Adele is the cute hip mom behind the blog. Hope you had a chance to check her out and her blog. I wanted to share with you guys (FINALLY) the project I shared on her blog.

So, the long awaited lamp project.... dun, dun, dun...

Here is the post!

Today I want to share my long awaited lamp re-do project.

I always see these great lamp projects all over blogland and of course I had to do one myself.

I had searched the thrift stores for a while before finding the shape that I liked.

I found this one a while back and it's been on my project to do list since.

I decided to do a light yellow, and for the life of me I can't figure what motivated me, but I like the color. Breaks up all the black and grey in my livingroom.

I lightly sanded the lamp base and sprayed it with about 3 coats of spray paint.

After searching and searching, I found a shade I liked from Target. Bleh, I had to pay shipping and it costs almost as much as the 2 oz shade!

When I saw my package I got excited all over again, and my fabric arrived at the same time!

And time to get bummed again.... the shade was totally damaged!

I debated returning it but for the hassle and the price I paid I decided to just pop it back into shape as best as I could. I'd be covering it anyway so hopefully it would cover up the damage.

It looked ok when I poped it back into shape and there was only one tiny hole.

I cut out a rough patter to cover the shade, that kinda sucked to be totally honest.

It was kind of intimidated to do this project, not sure why.

I think it had something to do with trying to cover the shade with that kind of shape. I was hoping to find a drum style that was even all the way around with no taper, but no such luck.

Once I got started though it wasn't so bad. I used craft/fabric glue and just glued the fabric to the inside just below the black trim. I used clothes pins to hold it in place as the glue dried.

Yes, this process took a while, here I am working into the night.

When it was all done, I was both relieved and so excited to finally finish it.

The fabric and the paint matched perfectly!

Sorry for the dark pictures, I kept forgetting to take daytime photos.

I used the same color yellow to spray paint a letter M for the wall as well.

This is the table that sits in our entryway.

The look of it keeps evolving.

I'm not done yet, but it's slowly getting there.

Before:

Well, thanks for having me and joining me for my lamp re-do project.

Come by and visit sometime, I'd be happy to have you!

Aloha!

Guest Posting today at Mammy Made

Hey everyone!

I'm guest posting today over at Mammy Made

Adele is such a sweetheart.

She has two daughters,  loves doing crafts and sewing and cooking.

Reminds me of myself!

Go over and check out her blog and give her some love!

Ho'onani - to make beautiful

My Aunt is a wonderful lady, love her to pieces.

She is so thoughtful.

This past Christmas she bought herself a necklace from a co-worker of her's that makes jewlery. She was wearing it one day and my mom pointed it out to me and I thought it was a little snowman.

Cute thing aint it? It's not a snowman. It's a Kagami Mochi.

Kagami Mochi is a traditional Japanese New Year's decoration. It is used to bring good luck and fortune in the New Year.

Below is what it traditionally looks like when it is sold in mass production.

It is made from 2 mochi (rice cakes) a small one in placed on top of a larger one.

A daidai, a bitter orange is placed on top of the two mochi.

Sometimes they are placed on Konbu (kelp) or a mirror.

They are kept in the house until the second saturday where it is broken, never cut with a knife, and shared with the family.

Source

How's that for a quick little bit of history of my culture.

(yes I am part Japanese)

Well I'll give you one guess who has the most thoughtful Aunty who got her one of her very own.

Yup

me!

Of course when I wear it I get asked if its a snowman too, but then it gives me the chance to explain its meaning and share a bit of my culture.

still alive... but barely

Several months ago I shared how we would be loosing our town's history and also our loosing our homes.

It has been a rough several months and the community has really rallied and shown their support in helping to save the camp.

It has been an emotional ride and many of the families have reconnected and has made everyone Ohana again.

Grove Farm has completely disregarded the pleas made by its residents and community to work together to save these homes. Infact they gave their tennants an eviction date of Easter Sunday!

Well, long story short, we spent the entire weekend at my mom's cleaning and digging up a bunch of plants that were first started from my great-grandmother.
A little packing and throwing out junk, did I mention my mother is borderline A&E Hoarder status. Don't call the show yet, I'm trying my own kind of intervention and as of last night it's sorta working.

Anyway, I'm exhausted, my alergies are full blown right now and my body aches in places that havent ached in years.

I'll check in with everyone soon I promise!

I'll leave ya'll with some pictures around the camp!

Have a happy hump day everyone!!