DYI Ceramic Firepots!

I just love these two little ceramic fire pots that I got for my birthday! Somebody really knows what I like!

They use gel fuel to create an instant fire feature....so fun!
Whenever we lit them.....I would think to myself-  there has to be a way to do a knock off version.
I researched the Internet and the only thing I could find was
the bigger fire pit version that
Karen at The Art of Doing Stuff  posted last September.

I you haven't visited Karen's Blog....I highly recommend you do so soon...she is sooo funny and does some amazing projects!

But back to my project!

Tonia and Michael's Wedding!

 What a Wonderful Happy Day!

A beautiful happy couple!

Family!

Friends!

Laughter!

Joy!

Brilliant!

Come along and share some of the images of this fabulous celebration!

Marimekko Art On the Wall For Less!

Marimekko — means “Mary's dress”

maybe that is why I have always been drawn to these iconic patterns!

I think I may be a little "old" to wear a Marimekko dress.......

BUT:

If you look around my house or in my fabric stash you will see that I often pick patterns that are reminiscent of the designs from this Finnish company.
My research for this post took me to the MarimekkoWikipedia entry and I found the history of the company fascinating.
Read on to see the way my daughter found to have a piece of Marimekko art on her kitchen wall!

Wedding Flowers for Less-Making it Happen!

If you are in the midst of planning a wedding, you are surely worried about the budget for flowers....and you should be!
I did a little research and discovered that the average cost for wedding flowers is a whopping $1500...Yikes!
Wait 'till you see what we were able to do for a fraction of that!


Tonia and Michael's Wedding was two days away.


We were off to Market Flowers at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market:

We had a plan....
We had vases.....
We had ribbon, raffia, floral tape, floral foam, packing boxes

And
The Bride and her faithful worker bees.

We just needed the flowers and some time to make the vision a reality!
Come along and see the fun we had!

Disguising a Goodwill Find!

I keep promising to share the ways I incorporate my thrift store treasures into our home.
I realized that I have not been doing this often enough!
It is time to fix that...so here is an example.

Take a look at this butt ugly end table!

Found this at Goodwill a couple of years ago,
Cost-probably $5 or I wouldn't have bought it.

Seems like there are lots of these 1970's end tables donated to thrift stores.
Don't let the missing hardware and cheapo Formica top scare you.











You can simply hide the ugliness with a little fabric disguise! Read on to see how!

Cute Little Gift Bag Tutorial

This little gift bag is made with a single sheet of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper.
With a few simple folds and  some embellishments you will have a inexpensive, handmade alternative to a purchased gift bag.

Read on to see how it is done.....

Recycle Your Yoga Mat-Make a Rug!

I used to make fun of my mom for reusing aluminum foil and washing out bread bags to use as plastic wrap.
Mom, it is your turn to make fun of ME!

I used my old yoga mat to back the new rug I made!

I did it the same way I showed on this post.


 Check it out if you need specifics.
 The really cool thing what I discovered about the new rug when it was finished and in place!

Happy Friday-Sharing TIme!

I am putting on my librarian hat!
I'm doing what all good librarians do....


".... picks liberries from wild liberry bushes and makes a liberry pie. Mmmmh! Mmmmh! So delicious!"
R. Lee Hadden


No actually a librarian's whole job is finding stuff  you just have to read or learn!

I have been doing my research just for you!



Isn't this picture interesting?
I made it using a new FREE App for my iPad.


Read on to learn more!

I Did It-Recovered An Ugly Office Chair!

The 12 year old blue office chair is the first thing you see when you come down the stairs to the lower level in our house.  Yuck!

I saw this tutorial at Made by Meg and knew that I could "just do it"!
Here is the inspiration photo. Meg's tutorial showed me the way! 

Photo from Made by Meg

Add caption

Here is our ugly blue chair!

See why it was bugging me!

You will have to read on to see how it turned out!

Fabulously Thrifty Wedding Mantle!

Isn't this great looking?

Tonia and Michael's wedding reception was held in the beautiful Theodore Wirth Fireplace Room in Minneapolis.  The backdrop for the head table was the fireplace.  We wanted to have a simple and elegant frame for the wedding party.  I think we nailed it!

Of course, we wanted to find a way to do this at minimal cost!

 Read on to see how we did it....

Picture Books-Great Baby Shower Gift!

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."  ~Anna Quindlen 

Every nursery should have a shelf of the best picture books.

Isn't this wall of books from Frugal With a Flourish amazing?


The next time you are invited to a baby shower-think about giving one, two or more of these treasures as your gift.

The next time you host a baby shower-think of having a Book Shower!

I LOVE PICTURE BOOKS!
Because I am a School Library Media Specialist-I KNOW PICTURE BOOKS!

And hey....you don't have to wait for a shower to give a book to a child!

Sometimes the best reason to give a child a book is "Just because I want you to have one!!!"
Read on...I will share some of my recommendations for some of the best picture books as well as some links to great book lists.

Almost NO-Sew Box Cushions

Last week I covered the cushions for the chairs in the living room.
I did the whole nine yards....zippers and welting.

They turned out great....but it was a real pain!
It took me 2 afternoons to get it done-and I am a pretty good seamstress!

That got me thinking about all the blog posts telling about how easy it is to do stuff like this!
Well it can be done but it isn't EASY!











Now look at these cushions!

I did them in about an hour!
I didn't use a sewing machine!
They look pretty good too!

 Now that is Sweetwater Style!
AND-Like it says in the blog header...."You can do it too!




Read on to find out how!

Dazzling Dahlias!

It's my birthday-whoot whoot!

Couldn't think of a better way to start the day than a walk in the garden!

So I am sending YOU flowers to celebrate!

Oh...I also have a tip to share about a clever way to save money on flower arrangements too!

Project-Personalized Wedding Shower Candle

Don't you just love the flower design that was on the wedding invitation for Chad and Stephanie's wedding?

I did and of course I knew that the bride and groom to be must love it too.

I wanted something personal to add to my shower gift of white towels.
I came up with a way to add this design element to a candle.

Read on to find out how and see a celebration of my new favorite color.....GUAVA!

Gift Wrapping-Tips and Tricks

Paper and tape and ribbons....oh my!
Seems like every other day this summer I have been wrapping a present for some wonderful occasion.
Look at some of these amazing packages.
NOT WRAPPED BY ME!

Great huh?  The reality is that if you are like me, you probably buy the gift you need on the way home from work or errands and need it wrapped and ready to go immediately.






Here are some tips and tricks I use to make it looked like I actually planned ahead!

Planter Water Feature-GoodWill FInd!

GoodWill Find:  Tarnished copper table top fountain. $6.99

Transformation:  Simple water feature for the deck.

TIme:
2 hours scrubbing the yucky mineral deposits off of the fountain.
20 minutes arranging the elements in the pot.
10 seconds to plug it in.
2 hours totally wasting time sitting on the deck listening to the splashing water.

This was so simple!
Try it!

I love the idea of a water features.

 The Sweetwater Daughter has a waterfall!

 My brother and sister-in-law build water features and have an amazing pond and waterfall at Willow Ridge Gardens.

Several of our friends have beautiful fountains in their yards that make me soooo jealous!

Mr. S  says, "We don't need a fountain.  The pond in the backyard is the water feature!"

Maybe so, but I still wanted a fountain!

I have found all kinds of plans for building fountains in planters.  In all honesty, when I look at the plans they give me a headache!  The plans involve way too much work, supplies and time to do.

Now using the little copper fountain, some Bar Keeper's Friend, a planter I already had and some plants.... I have my fountain!

It looks like I need to find some paint to touch up the planter....that's what happens when you blog...all the little imperfections in life are out there for YOU to see!

So keep your eyes open the next time you are out at a garage sale or GoodWill....or maybe you have a little fountain tucked away in your closet.
Or....GASP you could always go buy a little fountain!


Have a great Thursday!

Technology Tip Too Good To Miss!

Really...when I finish this post I am going outside to the garden!

The Internet service in our area is DOWN!
Tech support says it will come back in 8 to 24 hours! Yikes!
So you might ask how am I posting this?

That is my techy tip for you today.

Did you know you can use your PHONE as a Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot?
Here is how:

My Monday Mishmash!

Let me tell you how my Monday morning has been going!

Cancelled my golf date because there is a 95% chance of heavy thunderstorms right at the time we were going to golf...rescheduled for no golf...just lunch!

Then for the REAL excitement:

I Took some great pictures of stuff for this post and then stuck the memory card in the CD Slot instead of the card slot! Arghhhh!

See....anyone could make this mistake....RIGHT?

Researched on the Internet to see if anyone else has ever done anything soooo stupid....and YES there are many other stupid people who have done this!
Tried the credit card retrieval...no luck!
Tried the paperclip retrieval....no luck!
Tried the unplug and turn computer on it's side and shake it retrieval.....and no kidding....this actually worked. 
Bet you wish you had a video of me doing this! But hey-it was better than hauling the computer into the shop and it proves that the Internet isn't just for playing Scrabble.

The rest of this post is a mishmash of things I have found on other blogs, some thrift and consignment stores finds and some other random stuff I thought you might like!