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You are visiting: Home » Archives for Lindsay Ballard » Page 356

Let’s Go Fly a Kite

by Lindsay Ballard on March 6, 2009 661 Comments

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s, um, a whole sky full of kites!

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This many kites at any one time can only mean one thing…it was time for the 81st Annual Zilker Kite Festival in Austin, Texas. Residents of the greatest city on Earth look forward to the festival all winter long, as it’s our first sign that Spring has arrived.

We had never before visited the Festival, but we decided that this was the perfect year to start a new family tradition. We grabbed the super cool airplane kite that Zack received for his birthday and headed down to Zilker Park.

When we arrived at the Festival, we were in awe at some of the very cool kites. My favorite was this pirate ship.

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And this was the coolest kite EVER (I have no idea who this dude is, but he looks kinda cool in my photo).

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Look, Mom! Twins!

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We had a great time checking out all the kites. There were even “professional” kite handlers there who were doing kite tricks and even waging combat with Japanese Fighting Kites. Who knew there was even such a thing as that? Not me (but apparently Tom knew…’cause he knows EVERYTHING. LOL)

Once Zack visited the Port-a-Potty half a dozen times, we decided that we were ready to join in the fun. Tom and Zack put the airplane kite together.

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We should have known that when you have to read the directions to assemble the kite, there’s going to be nothing but trouble afterward.

Tom tried to fly the kite.

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And tried.

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And tried.

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And gave up.

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So, I tried.

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And tried.

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And, I gave up, too. Zack decided he wanted to try it on his own.

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And we all know how that ended, right?

Being as that we didn’t see any other airplane kites in the air, we decided that they were too hard to fly. You know, the kite was the problem, not the pilots. Clearly.

Luckily, they were selling kites at the park, so Tom bought us a new one.

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Again, Tom tried.

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But this time, he had success!

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Woo Hoo!

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Look at our kite way up there with the big boys!

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After all of that hard work, we were sunburned, exhausted, and ready to go home. We had to ride shuttle buses from a Park-and-Ride to get to the park, but since we were leaving the Festival so early (you don’t get to stay anywhere very long when you have a 3 year old!), we figured there wouldn’t be a long line to get back on the buses.

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We were wrong. At least I took the standing in line opportunity to scavenge the park for some more Spanish Moss to use around the house, ’cause yeah, I’m totally that person…and the other people in line thought I was insane.

Oh, well. Sometimes you just have to throw your inhibitions (and a couple of kites) to the wind and do what makes you happy.

This is just one way I’ve lived a Beautiful Life with my family this week. Chec
k out The Inspired Room to see how others are living a beautiful life.

Are You Ready for a Challenge?

by Lindsay Ballard on March 5, 2009 113 Comments

Spring is on its way (or already here for some of us!), and I feel like my home needs a little overhaul. Sure, I need to put away our winter coats and start my Spring cleaning, but what I’m really excited about is adding a little Spring into my decor.

If you’re anything like me, you find a thrill in a challenge. Or maybe I’m just over competitive. Regardless, I love trying to decorate my home as beautifully and as cheaply as possible. In these tough economic times, it seems that thriftiness is more important than ever.

There’s nothing quite like the flutter in my heart when I find or create something wonderful for very little or no money. It can definitely be a challenge, but thrifty home decor can be done and can be done beautifully.

What do you think? Do you like that thrill? Are you ready to meet the challenge? Do you want to win a great prize? Yeah, I know you do.

I’d like to introduce you to The Five Dollar Challenge.

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I challenge you to create something beautiful and Spring-y for your home by only spending five dollars. Do you think you can do it?

The Rules:
1. You may only spend $5 out-of-pocket (not including sales tax) on this challenge.

2. Your $5 may only be spent at a “dollar store,” such as The Dollar Tree, Everything’s $1.00, Family Dollar, Dollar General, or similar stores you may have in your town. Yeah, I’m trying to make you think outside of the box. Get creative!

3. You may also use items you already have around the house, such as tools and supplies.

4. On Monday, March 30th, post “before” and “after” pics on your blog and tell us all about your new treasures. If you don’t have a blog and would like to participate, I’d love for you to email photos to me and a little blurb about your project, and I’ll come up with someway for everyone to see them. My email is LivingWithLindsay [at] gmail.com.

5. Check back here and post a link to your entry. I’ll provide further instructions later if you haven’t ever used Mr. Linky. It’s really easy.

6. Be sure to visit the other participants’ links and remember to leave comments! The more links you visit, the more great ideas you’ll discover.

7. One participant will be chosen at random to win the Grand Prize.

Did you see that last part? A GRAND PRIZE? Woo hoo! I’m going to reveal the prize piece by piece as we get closer to the big challenge date…’cause I like to draw things out like that. I promise you’re gonna love it, though.

So, are you up for the challenge? Leave a comment below to let the world know! Also, I’d love for you to grab the button and add it to your blog so your readers can know how to participate, too.



If you have trouble posting the button on your blog, please let me know! Sometimes Blogger is a little wonky with the code. Or maybe I’m the wonky one. 🙂

Need a little inspiration? Check out Dollar Store Crafts for lots of fun projects! There’s even a Home Dec section listed there.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

P.S. I’m so excited that Heater at Dollar Store Crafts has added a link this challenge to her site. Welcome to everyone visiting for the first time!

P.P.S. I’m totally hooked on this challenge! I’ve had so many ideas running through my head, and I just don’t know where to start. Check out Hooked On Houses to see what others are hooked on this week. 🙂

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About Makely

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.


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