Holy Macaroni. . .

Look what Mother Nature brought to our home last night.

Is it April (almost May) or Nov.?

Mother, you know your big Mother’s Day celebration is coming up soon.  You should be in a better mood than this!

Speaking of Mother’s Day, don’t forget to sign up as a follower and comment so that you will be included in my give away.

I love and appreciate your comments.  They brighten my day!

Two paper birdhouses.  One large and one small.  They would be sweet under a cloche.

Here’s a peek if you didn’t see what they are.

This is just a sample of a couple of them.

I will be doing the drawing on Mother’s Day.

This is what I did with mine.

Looking at this pic makes me think, “Hmmm, those living room walls are in dire need of some color.”

Maybe come Fall.  Too busy tackling outdoor projects right now.  Bead board on the ceiling would be SWEET!

Flutter-by Give Away. . .

I shared a link of my birdhouse tree with a new blog I found, ‘French Country Cottage’.  Be sure and check out her darling pergola.

In celebration of Mothers everywhere and to thank my followers I will be doing a give away of two of the birdhouses.   Check them out on my ‘Project Complete’ post.  Drawing will end on Mothers Day.

Your name will be put in for becoming a follower.

I will also add your name every time you leave a comment on a post between now and then.

GOOD LUCK! 

Thanks for fluttering by!

What’s next?

Whenever I start to put the decorations away after a holiday my hubby always asks,” What’s next?”

Funny thing is that this time the question came from my sister, Jeanne. My hubby didn’t say a word.

It’s sort of a garden theme, I replied.

If Mother Nature is going to be so slow to bring the garden to me, I guess I’m going to have to bring it to myself.

My poppy plants out back are getting so large.  I can’t wait until they bloom!

Keeping the table décor pretty simple for a change.  Giving my family a break.  Usually it’s pretty busy and takes a while to clear it whenever we need table space.

I LOVE my nest and bloom pillows!

Mantles pretty simple also.  What’s wrong with me?  I must be sick, have I got a fever?

I’m such a sucker for dishes!  Poppies!!

Roses!

The days that it’s too chilly to work outside the bowls and apron are ready for me to whip up something sweet.

Kitchen windowsill. I made the herb alphabet sampler years ago.  My friend, Joyce gave me the pattern.  Still one of my favorites!

I shared a link on ‘It’s a very Cherry World’ be sure and check her out.  It’s obvious she loves cherries and red.  A girl after my own heart!

Oh BABY!

About a month ago I went with my friend, Joyce to The Star Mill in American Fork.
Look at this gem that I came home with.

Isn’t that the cutest baby scale you ever did see?

This sweet baby motif is on both sides of the scale.
It has been tucked away in my basement just waiting for the Easter décor to be put away.  Now it was able to make it’s debut.
Let me tell you a little about how I acquired it..
When I first walked in I spied this baby and my eyes were affixed on it. 
I ran right over and looked at the price.  Oh wowzer, this thing was much more than I expected.  Also, much more than I was willing to pay.  At least I thought.
I immediately tried to get Daniel, the shopkeeper to give me a better price.
Nope, he wasn’t budging.  I knew he would give me 15% like he always does, which I appreciate; but this time I was hoping for more.
He just kept telling me how rare it was and that he’d never really seen one with a wicker basket.  Got me there, I hadn't either.
I made up my mind it was too pricey and that I was going to pass.
As we walked around I couldn’t help thinking about it.
Then to top it off – Connie, one of the employees proceeded to tell me that there was another lady that wanted it and how she didn’t care for her and that she would much rather see it in my home than hers.  She even did some hilarious imitating.
I found myself saying, ‘Heck, I spend that at the grocery store every time I walk in.
I’ll never tell what I paid for it.  My hubby would think I was crazy.  Oops, he does read my blog.  He even has an app on his I-pad that tells him when I’ve done a new post.  Isn’t that sweet?  Is he listed as one of my followers?  Nope, he’s not going to go that far.
You know, he is an avid fisherman.  Think I can use the excuse that they got me hook, line, and sinker?
Crazy or not, look how cute it is filled with fruit!  Did you happen to notice that it is red and turquoise? Oh baby, baby, baby!


I will be sharing this post with Angie from Knick of Time for Back to the Past.
http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com/2012/04/knick-of-time-tuesday-32-vintage-style.html

Easter. . .

From my table to your table. . . Hope you enjoy the feast!

Wishing you a day full of

Easter eggs and sweet smelling blossoms.

Let’s not forget what Easter is all about.

And last, but not least. . .

Wishing you:

Enjoy!

Project Complete

Last week I went over to my sister-in-law Laurie’s with my birdhouses in hand. She made one using some of my ideas and I made this one using hers.

I loved the jewel hanging from the roof.

I knew that I had to use the soar ticket and the clothesline. SWEET!

Also loved using corrugated cardboard for the roof.

She gave me a piece of this cool paper by Tim Holt. It is just a natural color with subtle images. You apply colored stains and then the images pop. So cool! She always has and knows the latest and greatest.

Like I say, my birdhouses are cute, but hers will be to die for!

No bird village would be complete without a few birds flying in the branches. I bought a package of chipboard birds at Archivers. I covered three of them with paper and added a few embellishments.

This musical song just happened to be about a Robin. I couldn’t possibly cover that up.

I kept this one real simple because I loved the paper.

Now, to show you what I did with all of these little birdhouses that I created.

I placed it in my entry for a TWEET meet and greet.

Stop by and hopefully it will put a song in your heart!

I must give a shout out of thanks to my friend Joyce. She brought me the branches. She actually brought four of them and I used two. They were just what I envisioned!

Groovy. . .

It was a nice day so these two birdhouses took a trip outdoors.

This birdhouse is taking me out of the Beatrix Potter era and into the ‘Hippie’ era. Wouldn’t you know, it’s one of my daughter, Kylee’s favorites.

I had two of my grand daughters over night when I made it.

After I put the fringe and the crochet flowers on I told my 12 year old g.d., Taylor that it looked like a hippie birdhouse.

She replied, “grandma, I don’t think there are hippie birds.”

I answered, “oh Taylor, I bet there are.

She said, “oh yeah, those birds with that fluffy thing on top.” Made a believer out of her.

Notice the music note? Can’t you hear those beatniks in there strumming some instrument?

I decided that no hippie home would be complete without a name. There you have it. . . ‘Hippie Haven’.

This one belongs to a clepto bird.

You know how birds gather the most random things for their nests. That’s what’s going on here. The picture is a little washed out so it’s hard to tell. There is an old heart earing, a silver ring, another rose, and a little bow.

Tomorrow I will feature the last birdhouse and the completed project.

Till then, don’t forget to feed the birds!

Birds of a Feather

Today is a new day and just like always, I can hear the morning doves cooing whenever I walk out onto my deck,

What better sound could there be to introduce my next two bird houses?

This sweet music bird perched upon twigs brings a song to my heart.

I picked up the silver rose at Roberts in the jewelry section.

I made the music flower to coordinate with the bird.

The burlap flower (made from tree wrap) started out as a rose, but then it just kept unraveling to be some kind of a funky flower.

I placed pearls in the center of each to give them a bit of pizazz.

I found myself really enjoying the little houses.

You couldn’t add as many embellishments, but there is just something so sweet about them.

The entrance is adorned with sequins. The silver rose and bird were in the same package as the larger rose.

Glittery polka-dots! Sigh!!

I made the little rolled flower from a scrap of turquoise wool.

Fly away little birdie. . . there’s a great big world out there to explore!

I hope you take a moment today to enjoy this beautiful world we live in.

Ta-ta, till the morrow!

I know a bit corny, but remember I am playing pretend. So why not pretend that I live in another era.

Something like the land of ‘Miss Potter’ would suit me just fine!

Besides, my sister Julie calls me ‘Bubble Girl’. She says that I live in a bubble and can only remember the good things of my childhood and not the bad.

All I can say to that is, “I like this bubble of mine just fine!”

Birds of Paradise

As you know, I struggled with embellishing my first birdhouse.

Finally, last weekend the embellishing gods were smiling down on me.

I felt as though I was in PARADISE!

You know how it is, sometimes the creative juices just seem to flow better than others.

I now am the proud owner of 9 little castles for birds, as my cute friend Peggy put it.

I will share two of them with you each day and then, hopefully the finished product will be revealed.

These are pretty simple, but sometimes simplicity does the trick.

As you can see, a sparkly turquoise butterfly beat some unlucky bird to his perch. Or who knows, maybe he just stopped by for a visit. I feel like a kid playing make believe. Oh, such fun times!

I bought the lime green reindeer moss at Sun River Gardens to use in some of my Spring decorating. I can’t get enough of it.

I love this paper with the writing on it.

This was the first small birdhouse I made. Everything that shines is not always glitter. Sometimes it’s just bling. Such is the case with the jewels circling the entrance to this little birdies home.

Actually, this birdie is not so little. Occasionally it’s fun to exaggerate things a bit.

Why stop with the bird? I decided to do the same thing with the flower.

Sometimes you just need the three B’s: BIG, BOLD, and BEAUTIFUL!

I know that I got the big and bold going, just hope the beautiful is there too.

Hope you enjoy my first two birdie retreats and I’ll share a couple more with you soon!

Till then, don’t forget to “Spread your wings and fly”

Shine On

Last Saturday I went to Lowes with my hubby to get a fan light for his office. His room is upstairs and we thought that might help to keep it a little cooler when the hot weather finally arrives.

Look what he bought me for my sewing room. Now it truly is a man cave for women!

This little light of mine…I’m gonna let it shine!

Look what it does when you turn on the switch…MAGICAL!

Chore Girl

A chore chart as cute as this couldn’t help but make anyone a tad excited to dig in and clean.

My daughter, Karrah is hoping that it will do the trick at her house.

A while ago she asked me if I would help her make a chore chart to go in the frame of the Advent calendar I made her for Christmas.

Who knew it would turn out so darn cute?

First of all she started out by making a list of things she wanted done each day or week. Things like: Feed the cat, change the litter box, read, check the mail, dust, clean the bathroom and you know, all those little household jobs.

From there is was off to the craft stores to see what we could find. We found a few items at Hobby Lobby, but we hit the BINGO at Joannes.

We were able to buy a lot that we just embellished a bit and placed them on a tag or some other background. A few we had to create. What do you think of our handmade feather duster and broom?

We only had to work on it two days. The first day we made most all of the magnets. The second we decorated the chart itself. Saydee is only 18 months old but I’m sure Karrah will have her cleaning closets tomorrow.

I simply love the lime green and black! It’s so cute that it almost makes me want to go down to their house and do chores. I said almost!

Here’s hoping that it works a little magic with Taylor!

Happy Cleaning!!