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!!

Bad Hair Day

Every year for Easter I plant pots of grass. It helps to bring a bit of Spring into my home. This year they all seem to be having a ‘BAD HAIR DAY’! Every time I look at them they make me giggle just a little.

Bad hair day or not, they still managed to find a place among my Easter décor.

This one seems to be enjoying himself (hmm…maybe it’s a she) next to my cute little toad stools.

I’m sure that my chocolate bunny wishes that he could escape to that field of grass he spies just outside his window. So sorry Mr. bunny, not gonna happen!

This one has got to be the most hilarious of them all!

I planted this one to go outside on my porch. What happened to ‘WELCOME SPRING’? I’m sure that you couldn’t help but notice that snow in the background. That’s Utah for ya!

No matter what the weather my little pots of green grass bring me joy and make me smile!

Home Tweet Home…

Look what tweet little project is next on the agenda…paper birdhouses.

My sister-in-law had this bird brain idea that she wanted to keep the large canvas advent calendar we made at Christmas out all year. Certainly, ornaments weren’t going to cut it. Think, think, think…(rub chin, tap forehead) what could she hang on it? What could be better than birds and birdhouses? Was I in? What do you think?

I’m not going to leave my calendar out, but have anticipations of something fun to do with them.

I’ll share that with you when the project is complete. I still need to make a few more. Wish me embellishing luck! That’s the hardest, but yet the funnest part. Is funnest a word? Probably not, I don’t think so. Oh well, you get the jest.

It’s all about the details! A little bow, feather, flower, and glittery bird help add to their charm.

I refuse to tell you how many hours each house takes. But then maybe I’m just a little slow. Hopefully, I’ll get faster with the next one. Did I mention that I love that bejeweled perch?

The first house I made with my sister-in-law and she had already figured a lot of it out. Last night I decided to make another one. At first everything I tried to do for embellishments just didn’t make my heart flutter.

Finally, I liked the finished result. What do you think, I done good, right? It’s a little simpler than the first one, but I like.

I love the little glittery bird perched atop. Everything looks better with glitter!

This is not where they will nest permanently, but thought that they would look cute on this swag made by one of my friends; Mrs. LaCognata herself.