Spring has sprung and It is officially time to begin the Spring cleaning. So let’s start with cleaning your Spring front porch. Here in North Texas it has been a pollen fest for about a month now. I’m talking yellow powder so thick you could write your name in it. The allergy count is off the charts. I say it’s time for pollen to hit the road!

Clean

I would never tell you what cleaning products to use, as we all have our favorites, but I will share how I get my porch ready for Spring.

As with any room you start cleaning at the top and work your way down.

My porch was relatively clean so I just swept the ceiling with a broom, getting rid of any dirt, dust or cob webs.

Once that was done, I did the same to the walls and floor.

Every other year I power wash the entire porch.

While I’m up on the ceiling I also clean all light fixtures.

Wash Windows and Doors

After cleaning the entire porch, I wash windows.

Since my front door also has a window on it, I go ahead and clean that as well.

Make sure you not only get the window and door, but also the handle and lock as well.

It’s amazing how a clean front door can change the entire look of your front porch!

Clean Furniture

If you have furniture on your front porch now would be the time to clean it.

If you look directly below where I’m cleaning you can see just how thick the pollen is!

Clean not only the hard surface of the furniture, but also any cushions or pillows  as  well.

Plant Flowers

Now that we’ve finished cleaning your Spring front porch, it’s time to add the front porch jewelry!

Plant flowers.

Clean out your pots, dust them off, load them with new potting soil and plant away.

Decorate

Sweep the front porch one more time, then bring out the Spring decor.

I like to start at the front door.

Add a rug for some color and texture.

Then, on top of the rug, add a fun door mat.

There are so many fun ones out there it’s hard to choose which one to use.

This one is from last year.

I’m going to use it until I find a new one for summer.

Add a Wreath or Door Hanger to your front door.

Nothing screams welcome like a pretty front door.

I recently joined classes to paint front door hangers and I am having so much fun!

We paint 3 new ones each month.

This one was from last week and I can’t wait to paint this weeks door hanger.

I can tell that I will need to gift a few of my hangers, cause I only have so many doors to decorate.

It’s a good problem to have!

Sit back and enjoy your Spring porch!

We’ve cleaned everything from top to bottom, we’ve added new plants and gave the front porch a few decorations.

Now, all that’s left is to enjoy the fruits of our labor!

One “room” down 13 or so more to go.

Until next time….

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Welcome to the  first Spring Blog Hop. What’s a Spring Blog Hop?  Two talented ladies, Cindy from Cloches and Lavender and Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip rounded up a group of fun bloggers that get together every season and share fun crafts, decor, recipes etc. that exemplify that season. I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see what all of the ladies on this hop  are sharing for Spring!

If you are coming here from Michelle’s at Blessings By Me, Welcome! I’m so Glad that you are here.

Today I’m sharing my Spring mantle with you.

With all of the sub zero temperatures that we’ve had in Texas this past week I am so ready for Spring!

However, I’m not ready for a full blown Spring/ Easter theme quite yet, so while you will see a few bunnies and eggs, you are more likely to find lots of fun color and the fresh green plants against a neutral back drop.

I started decorating in our living room this year since we’ve been huddled around the fireplace so much.

Section 1:

When I decorate my mantle, I think of sections.

Section 1 is the left side when I’m facing it, Section 2 is the right side and Section 3 is the middle.

It just wouldn’t be spring without a few stems of Spring flowers.

These sweet carrots are a few of my favorite things.

I purchased them last year, here, and will probably purchasing a few more this year.

Section 2:

On the opposite end of the mantle from my flowers, you will find the sweetest white bunny.

I’ve had him for many years and he’s still a favorite of mine.

His basket has sported all sorts of fun treasures.

Candy, flowers, and eggs are just  a few.

Section 3:

New to my Spring decor this year is this reversible Spring sign.

If you flip the boards around to the back side you will see the word Easter!

It was so fun to make and I’ll be sharing how I did it with you soon.

Also new, the fun Spring wreath.

If you’d like to see how it’s made, you can see the video here.

It’s hard to say which piece of decor is my favorite, but these  felt ball garland are way up on the list.

Honestly, every time I look at those brightly colored balls they just make me smile!

I couldn’t forget about the hearth of my fireplace.

No big decor switch up here, just add a few eggs to bring Spring down to the hearth.

My Spring mantle is very simple this year.

Which leaves room for me to add in more fun stuff when it’s time to decorate for Easter in a few weeks.

That concludes the tour of my Spring Blog Hop.

I hope that you will join me in hopping over to Corine’s at Junk to Gems.  She always inspires me and has the most beautiful home!

Also, below you can see a list of all of the participants, don’t forget to check them out also.

Until next time……

CLOCHESANDLAVENDER | DECORATEANDMOREWITHTIP | DIYBEAUTIFY

THECROWNEDGOAT | THEHOUSEONSILVERADO | B4ANDAFTERS

BLESSINGSBYME | PATINAANDPAINT | JUNKTOGEMS

FRENCHETHERAL

                                                 If you loved it, be sure to PIN it!

 It’s time for April’s DIY Challenge. Can you believe that it is already April?  Our challenge this month is Grapevine Wreath Inspiration.

I want to give Terrie from Decorate and More with Tip a huge shout out for hosting the DIY Challenge. I love that each month she puts out a fun, creative challenge that makes me stretch my creativity.

Yay, Terrie!

If you are coming here from Through A Vintage Door, Welcome!!!

Now, on to the challenge!

The rules of this months challenge were simple. Take a grapevine wreath, any shape or size, and create something fabulous! No pressure there! lol!

The first thing I did was to determine my color palate. Since I recently painted my front doors black, I thought that I’d stay in the neutral zone. After checking out my craft closet, I came up with these pretty ribbons. Black and white check, a neutral ribbon with a gold beaded trim and raffia.

For greenery, I used some eucalyptus garland that I already had. I simply cut 6 inch sections off of the garland, then hot glued them to the wreath.

Next, I wanted to make a small welcome sign out of wood to put in the middle of my wreath.

One small problem, I didn’t have the correct size of wood. However, I did find several blind slats that we had removed from our living room blinds when we installed them.

 The blinds have these notches where the blind strings go. Fortunately for me the middle sections were the perfect size to make a small sign!

Using a small miter saw I cut the excess wood off, using the notches as a guide.

Now that I had my faux wooden sign for my wreath, I needed to put my wording on it. I could have just hand painted welcome on it, but thought that it would look better if I used vinyl. I designed and cut out my welcome using my Silhouette. If you don’t want to hand paint and don’t have a vinyl cutting machine, you could always use a stencil for this part of the project. 

Once my Welcome was cut out, I simply  applied it to my faux wooden board.

With my sign ready to go, I hot glued it to my grapevine wreath! After that was done, I made a bow from my ribbon and glued it to the wreath also. For the life of me, I thought I took a picture of this step. But, no! Serioysly? For the love!

This is what my wreath looks like finished.

I think its the perfect addition to newly painted front door!

I love how simple and clean it looks, as well as how easy it was to put together. I don’t think my wreath took more than an hour from start to finish to complete. And, while I didn’t intend to do this, I used everything I had on hand. So my wreath cost my nothing!

Next on the hop is Paula from Sew Sassy!  Please hop on over and check out her beautiful wreath and when you are done join me in visiting the other talented DIYers.

It’s day ? – who knows how many – of quarantine. Sorry, I’ve lost count. Some days I’m not even sure what day of the week it is. I’m trying to watch just enough news to keep up on the issue, but not enough to depress me even more than I already am. I’m trying to stay busy, finish up old unfinished projects and plan new ones. Which is proving harder by the minute, since all my favorite stores are closed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I’m all for social distancing and hope that you are too! It’s just that supplies for projects are getting harder to find than a unicorn on the moon. Because of that I’m finding that my days are filled with a little of this, a little of that.

I pulled out all of my Easter decor and started to do a little decorating. This poor bunny wreath was a hot mess.

So I fluffed her fur, gave her ears a facelift and made her a new bow. Now she’s ready to rock the front door!

I love this bright turquoise color this yea.

It’s just so happy!

Plus, this ribbon may possibly be my favorite ever. It has tiny poms on the edges.

So cute.

I found the red and white version last year at Hobby Lobby and loved it as well. Today I was surfing a blog that I love and she was sharing a darker blue version of it.

LOVE!

Must have… some day.

I’ve even done a few Easter crafts, which I hope to be sharing with you soon. If you look super closely at this picture you might even see some packed boxes.

From last October.

I know, but I’m waiting on The Hubs to build shelving for that room, as the boxes are full of books. The Hubs is waiting for them to start our pool so that the fence can be built so that we can put in a shed. Because there are boxes in the garage in front of the saws.

If you give a mouse a cookie…One vicious circle…

Before being under quarantine, I started sprucing up the front porch. I painted the front doors, bought new door mats and a few plants.

Recently I found the perfect black and white cushions for the chairs. I was so excited, as I’ve been on the hunt for black and white cushions for months.

I quickly ordered the cutest hot pink throw pillows to go with the cute cushions. And then the virus happened and now my pink pillows are on back order. Til next fall.

Not sure I’m going to need them then…

All of the flower beds are horribly over grown here at The Castle. To the point that we feel like we needed to pull everything out and just start over.

We started with the north bed. We cut down small bushes that became trees, dug up a year – or two – worth of weeds and planted new plants. I even ordered the prettiest Japanese Maple for the north end of the bed.

Only for The Hubs and I to decide that we don’t like the shape of the beds or the faux Austin stone around them.

Back to square one.

I didn’t get discouraged about the beds. At least we made that decision before we did the other 3 or 4. And it was a beautiful sunny day. This cute Tree frog hopped in for a visit. They aren’t native to North Texas, so I have a feeling he hitched a ride in with the new plants. Isn’t he so vibrant and pretty? For a frog….

Not to be outdone, this lightening quick Anole did an Olympic sprint by the bed we were working on. He’s super fast, which may be why this photo isn’t quite in focus!

This might add a little humor to your day, I know it did mine. My sis-in-law, who has 3 kids at home with her now, and I have been sending each other memes.

It started with toilet paper memes and has quickly progressed into other areas. I sent her the above meme and her response was that the fire drill was already on her agenda along with a tornado drill. Which consisted of the kids locked into a closet for 30 minutes…at least! I told her that the closet was considered a “safe” room and that she should go for it.

And maybe a little wine wouldn’t hurt her either.

We ARE just kidding!!!

This is the meme she sent me yesterday. I believe that it is not only humorous, but that she has officially won our meme off.

Cause we both know that if Hobby Lobby were open that this just might, or might not, be the truth in my case.

Yes, we are a couple of crazy girls!

Or maybe we’ve just been quarantined a little too long and have officially lost our minds…

I’m thinking that maybe that wine might not hurt me either!

One more thing before I go…

This isn’t the best picture, so just know that this cute Easter basket from Viv and Lou is tons cuter than this photo. And it, along with several other equally cute baskets are on sale for $9.50!

I had never ordered from them before, so I was so happy when I received it in days, it was made well, the colors were so pretty and the monogram was perfect.

Could not be happier.

I stuffed it full of fun Easter things for Beep and can’t wait to give it to her.
As you can see, all I’ve gotten done here at The Castle this week has been a little of this, a little of that.

Hopefully, next week will be better!

Stay healthy and safe my friends!
Until next time…

I can’t believe it’s almost the middle of March! Which means two things. 

One, it’s almost March 20. Which is the first day of Spring and just so happens to be my birthday. 

And Two, it’s time to get out all of the fun Spring decor. Woo Hoo! Let the fun begin!

I want to apologize up front for this post being so long. But, it’s really not my fault that I happened to be shopping at Market Street and they had so many beautiful Spring things that I couldn’t decide what to share with you.Like this carrot kitchen towel. So many beautiful details…

Or this appliquéd egg kitchen towel. I’m really loving the turquoise that I’m seeing in a lot of Easter decor this year.

Have you seen the Round Top Collection?If you haven’t pull it up on your computer.You’re welcome!I love all of it.One of my favorites are these “charms”.Small paintings that are displayed on boards.There are so many to choose from, it’s almost overwhelming.

This is their Gallery Art Display Board. Normally the charm would hang from the hook at the top of the board.Isn’t this just the cutest? They have “charms” for every season and occasion!

This is their vertical HOME display board.Which is my favorite. I can see this on my front porch, or in my entry.So cute!

Turquoise and glass? So speaking my love language!

Of course, I couldn’t leave without checking out the the Mud Pie section. This sweet bunny can hang out at my house anytime!

I have to admit that this duck made me smile! In fact, there isn’t anything in this picture that I wouldn’t love to have here at the Castle!

And last, Mr. and Mrs. E. Bunny. Just too cute!!! If this isn’t the epitome of fun spring decor, I don’t know what is. I wanted to take all of it home, but I didn’t. So what did make it home?

Before I share my haul, I want to show you one more thing. This amazing easter egg carrier from Michaels. It definitely came home with me!

A little raffia, some soft blue eggs and this sweet kitchen towel make me happy every time I look at it! Yes, this towel was part of my Market Street haul.

I also couldn’t resist this Bunny Head Charm.

And as I was walking to the check out, I spied these faux tulips. I knew that they would be perfect in my Dollar Tree Bunny arrangement.

Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself! Although, I have to admit that I’m already thinking of heading back for a few more things. Nope, I am not addicted to shopping at all!

Until next time…

Woo Hoo! It’s Ten on the 10th. If you’re new here, each month on the 10th a group of talented bloggers get together and share ideas that cost under $10!

This months theme was Spring/textiles. At first I wasn’t sure how I was going to share something that fell under the category of textiles and if I did what would it be? Most of the ideas that popped into my mind were well over $10.

Then I found the perfect felt flowers for Spring!

I found these cute felt flowers on a recent shopping trip. I wasn’t even sure what I was going to do with them, but I knew that I loved them enough to take them home and find out.

Turns out that I found a lot of places to tuck these little gems. Such pretty shades and the tiny bits of clear glitter just remind me of dew on flowers early in the mornings of Spring and Summer.

On the back of each flower is this convenient clip that lets you attach these flowers to just about anything!

I plan on using them as a part of my Children’s Easter table centerpiece. They are the perfect size and color!

They were the perfect addition for my dollar tree rabbit vignette that sits in my entry.

They were also just the absolutely perfect touch to the ends of my Easter banner on my fireplace.

And my sweet little rabbit looks so cute sitting next to this pink blossom! I am so glad that I listened to that tiny voice that said “Yes! Take them home!”

Not only are these felt flowers pretty, but the price is pretty awesome too. They are priced at $2.97 each. These beautiful blossoms come in multiple colors: Pink, Hot Pink, Lavender, Red, Yellow and a pale Turquoise. I tried to find you a link, however they are in-store purchase only at WalMart. (not an affiliate)

Felt Flowers for Spring Y’all! Now I hope that you will join me in visiting my fellow bloggers and see their fabulous ideas!

Decorate and More With Tip

Let’s Add Sprinkles

Pandoras Box

It’s the first Wednesday of the month and you know what that means? It’s the DIY Challenge and this months theme is Easter Egg inspiration.
 
Thanks to Terrie from Decorate and More with Tip for being our  egg-straspecial hostess! 

If you are coming here from Danya’s Barnhouse Mess, Welcome! I always love to meet new friends.

Can you believe that it’s March already? I couldn’t be happier about it. I am so ready for Spring!! Sorry Winter, but it’s time for you to go.

With Spring on the horizon, I’m already thinking about Spring and Easter decor. One of my favorite things to do is set a cute children’s Easter table for all of the littles in our family. With the DIY Challenge being easter egg inspo, I thought it might be cute to make the children’s table place cards out of eggs.

No boring little white cards for this table!

Supply List:

*Small clay pots
*Acrylic paint
*BBQ Skewers
*Plastic Easter Eggs
* Hot glue gun and hot glue
*Easter grass
*Alphabet stickers
*scissors
*ribbon

Step 1:

Take your clay pots and paint them the color of your choice. I didn’t worry too much about complete coverage since I was going for a rustic look. Once I had painted them with one coat of paint, I used white acrylic paint to dry brush over the base coat.

Step 2:

Next, grab some plastic Easter eggs of your choice and some BBQ Skewers.

Using your hot glue gun, put some glue into the hole that is at the bottom of your Easter Egg.

Quickly insert the skewer into the hole before the glue dries. I added a little glue to the outside of the egg and the skewer to make sure the skewer was firmly in place.

Don’t worry about a little glue on the outside, as we will hide that later.

Next, since the skewer was a little too long for my craft, I cut off a couple of inches of the skewer.

I used wire cutters, but heavy duty scissors would work also.

Step4:

I didn’t care for the natural wood color of the skewers, so I painted the skewer a soft grass green. Be sure to paint the glue at the top also.

Step 5:

After your green paint has dried, it’s time to attach the egg to the pot.
Normally, I would put a piece of styrofoam into the bottom of the clay pot and just stick the egg in. However, I didn’t have any styrofoam and I was too lazy to go get some, so I improvised.

I put a big dollop of hot glue into the bottom of the clay pot. Then stuck the end of the skewer into the glue. Hold the egg upright for a few seconds until the glue dries enough for the egg to stand up on its own.

A friend asked me why I used glue? Wouldn’t it ruin the pot if I ever wanted to use if for another project? No, it won’t. A little heat from a hair dryer and the glue will pop right out! In all honesty, either way works just fine.

Once the glue was dry enough, I took a half sheet of paper towel and wrapped it around the stick to help keep the egg in place and to fill up my pot.

Step 6:

I let the glue dry for a few hours, just to make sure that my egg was firmly attached to the pot. Once this was done, I tied a bow at the bottom of my egg around the skewer.This adds a little fun color and helps hide the glue.

To fill up the inside of the pot, I added shredded Easter grass. I also think that filling the pot up with jelly beans or M&M’s would be cute too. I just love all of the fun bright color.

Step 7:

I added a colorful  alphabet sticker  that was the first letter of each child’s name to one of Easter eggs. 

For a little extra, I also thought these cute tiny carrots finished my place cards off nicely.

Honestly, these Easter egg place cards are one of my top two favorite things on my children’s Easter table. I love that these cute, colorful and sweet  place cards remind me that Spring is just around the corner.

BRING ON SPRING!

Next up, Michelle from Blessings By Me!

Also, I hope that you will join me in checking out all of the other talented bloggers and see what their Easter Egg inspiration is!

Decorate and More with Tip / Jessica B. Simmons / Just Another Farmhouse /Patina and  Paint

Blessings By Me / DIY Vibes / Sew Sassy by Paula / Sweet Southern Grace

Laissez le bon temps rouler! Let the Good times roll. Happy Mardi Gras my friends.

I don’t do a lot of decorating for Mardi Gras, but I can never resist doing a little here and there at the Castle.

A wreath on the front door, some decor in the entry. Maybe even on the mantel. Or a festively decorated table or two.

But we always celebrate the day with King Cake. 

First of all, did you know that here in the United States Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is a coastal celebration of the Three Wise Men finding the baby Jesus? Which is why you will most always find a baby hidden somewhere in the King Cake.
It is also a seasonal celebration that begins on January 6, which is The Epiphany. The Mardi Gras season lasts all the way through Fat Tuesday, which is the day before Lent.

Sometimes, instead of a baby you might even find a bean. In some areas, finding the baby is a sign of good luck for the coming year, or it means that the lucky finder is responsible for bringing the King Cake to the celebration next year.

Along with the baby you might see all sorts of treasures, like plastic rings or coins, hidden inside.These treasures represent the gifts that the Kings gave to the baby. It is also why you will find beads and coins decorating the top of the cakes. Every year I make King Cakes to share with friends and family.

On a funny note, I bought these babies on sale last year. My youngest son sent me a text that read something like this: MOM! What the heck? Why are Donald Trump babies hidden in the cakes this year?

LOL! Well, I have to admit that they do bear a certain resemblance…Oh, well, I bought a ton of them because – I make a lot of Kings Cakes every year AND they were on sale for .88 cents a dozen. So we will be seeing Trump babies for quite awhile! I made a total of 8 this year. 4 mini cakes and 4 big ones. Whole lota bakin’ goin on!

As you might guess, my favorite part of making King Cake is the decorating.Well, and the eating too…

Traditionally King Cakes are oval shaped to show the unity of all Christians. Almost always the colors green, yellow and purple are used because they are the official carnival colors.

Green represents Faith.
Purple represents Justice.
And yellow represents Power.

Have you ever been to a Mardi Gras parade? If you haven’t, get yourself to one soon. So much fun, so many beads, so much food! My husband’s best friend is from Biloxi and many years ago we attended not only a parade but also ball as their guests. I have not been to such a wonderful event hosted by fabulously gracious people since and probably never will again! Truly a fun, family event. Our boys, who were 7 and 5 at the time, still remember that parade. No Bourbon Street or boobs, which was fine with me!

Did I mention how much I love eating King Cake? All I can say is that thank goodness it only comes around once a year!

The breakfast of champions my friends. And maybe lunch…snack… dessert?

LOl! Again – Happy Mardi Gras.

Laissez le bon temp rouler, y’all!

Until next time…..

Now that spring is here it’s time to add a some new decor to the castle. I don’t know why, but I always seem to start doing a little tweaking and rearranging for each new season or holiday in my kitchen. It’s almost always with my table or hutch. This time I went with a Spring tablescape as my first project.

I’ve had these bunny plates for several years now, but haven’t used them as much as I would have liked.

For some reason, I was determined to use them this year.

Normally, I would start with a place mat and then add a charger.

However, this time I used two placemats instead of a charger.

I love how the navy “string” placemat adds some much needed texture to the place setting.

Next, I added my white hob nail plates, followed by the blue and white bunny plates.

Everything you see here, with the exception of the bunny, silverware, and glassware all came from Home Goods over the past few years.

The silverware is from Southern Living at Home and the glassware is from The Pioneer Woman collection at Walmart.

I had several different napkin rings in mind, but in the end went with a simple blue and white check ribbon.

I used simple white bunnies that I found at Walmart and drew on the name with a sharpie for my place card.

This is super easy to do!

If you mess up, no worries.

I may have shared this tip before, but it is worth a repeat share again.

Simply take a paper towel and some nail polish remover and wipe off the sharpie.

Super easy and doesn’t harm the ceramic finish on the rabbit.

Note: you may want to test this on the underside of your ceramic piece just to make sure your piece is safe to write on and is safe to use the remover!

My centerpiece has been pretty much the same the past few years.

Mainly, because I love this bunny so much. He’s my favorite!

I think that this is one of my most favorite Spring tablescapes ever.

Mainly, because everything I used I had on hand.

Which is really rare for me!

I was determined that this year I would be a little more thrifty and be a lot more responsible in my purchases.

Sometimes, adulting is so hard!

Until next time…..

If you like it, don’t forget to pin it!

Happy Spring, y’all! Well, it’s almost spring… I know this because my birthday is on the first day of Spring. Okay, I also know it because my garden is starting to green up and my trees are budding. I am so ready!

It is also Ten on the 10th! A great big thank you to Benita from Chasing Quaintness for hosting this month. If you don’t know Benita, hop on over to her site and check her out. Not only is she talented, she is hilarious. My kind of girl!

This months theme is Spring. When I think of Spring, I think of Easter and gardening.

So naturally, I couldn’t help but focus on those things this month!

Normally, on Ten on the 10th, I try and share a new project, however this month I’m going to share a few great buys that all cost under $10.00!

I was recently in Oklahoma City at the Basket Store, aka Hobby Lobby’s outlet. It’s always a hit or miss as to whether I find something, but this time I hit the jack pot.

This sweet little salt and pepper shaker set was only $2.99.

These little bunnies will be perfect for place card holders or even to mark dishes on an Easter buffet!

At $1.00 each, they were a steal!

I’ve been slow to get on the banner train, however lately I’ve fallen in love with all of the beautiful choices out there.

I love this banner because it has beautiful spring colors, as well as being beautifully monogrammed.

Not only is it cute, but it was a mere $6.00!

Recently, I found a beautiful runner similar to this one online.

The only difference is that the bunnies online had three dimensional tails.

Oh, I have plans for these bunnies!

The one online was well over $40.00, my runner was a bargain for $5.99.

My last great find was not found at the Hob Lob outlet, but rather at the regular Hobby Lobby store.

These sweet Easter eggs speak my language.

Don’t you just love the soft colors with the warm gold!

At first glance, I thought about how easy it would be to make some like them, however since they were only $5.99, less 40% when I used my coupon, I realized that I couldn’t make them for that.

If you are thinking that you don’t live near the Basket Store, don’t be discouraged.

I saw all of the items I shared, with the exception of the bunny place card holders, currently at Hobby Lobby for a slightly higher price. If you use your 40% off coupon it’s almost the same discount!

Happy Spring, y’all!

Please join me in visiting my Ten on the 10th friends!

Ann at Apple Street Cottage 

Barb at French Ethereal

Benita at Chasing Quaintness

Carol at Bluesky at Home

Cindy at County Road 407

Kim at Exquisitely Unremarkable 

Katie at Let’s Add Sprinkles 

Laura at Decor to Adore 

Patti at Pandora’s Box

Susan at Homeroad 

Have you seen Southern Living’s floral arrangement video on Facebook? It may be my favorite spring flower arrangement ever! It’s so fresh, fun and looked so easy that I had to try making one for myself!

So I gathered all of the supplies that I would need and got to work!

I need your help! It was raining yesterday so I decided to browse through all of my catalogs that have been piling up. I was looking at my Pier 1 catalog when I came across their Easter place settings.  They are so pretty ,soft, and totally beautiful.

This one really caught my eye! I was drooling over this spring theme with it’s soft colors. I could just see it on my table!

How was your holiday weekend? Here at the castle I’m dreaming of Spring in a big way!

Everywhere I look there are signs of Spring. In the garden, shopping and on-line, it’s everywhere.  I even won these pretty garden tools and gloves at Po-keeno a few nights ago. I guess I’m not the only one dreaming of spring.

I don’t know about you, but there are times when I want to shake things up a little in the decorating department. Okay… let’s be honest, with me it is more often than not! Thing is – I don’t  always have a lot of extra time to pull it all together. But it can be done. Today I want to share with you what I call 15 minute decorating.  You know, the little things you can do in a short amount of time to decorate your home. Today I am working on a floral arrangement.

Peonies are some of my favorite flowers! I saw these and decided that these were perfect for what I had in mind.  Nothing to big, low ,but with a lot of impact.

I try to shop what I already have before I buy anything new and this vase was one of many that I have stashed.  Oh, come on, you know you all have a ton of vases gathering dust somewhere in your house! Don’t you?

I didn’t want to see the stems this time, so hiding it was my best bet. I had this black and white scrapbook paper that I thought would be perfect. I just wrapped the paper around the vase, using glue dots to attach the paper to the vase.

One tiny problem… I wanted the stripes to go horizontally and the paper didn’t quite go all the way around.

So I added this piece of scrap ribbon. Not bad, but a little plain.

So I did what I always do when I need to add something – I added a crown.  Shocking, I know. Y’all KNOW I love crowns! This crown can be a pin or hung on a necklace. I just took a piece of small black ribbon and ran it through the necklace loop, then taped the ends of the ribbon inside of the vase.

TA DA!! Instant bling.

I wanted the flowers to just sit just above the vase. I held the stem up to the vase to get a good idea of how long the stem needed to be and using wire cutters, cut the stems off.

The peonies were pretty large so I only used three flowers for the arrangement.  After cutting the stems I just plopped them into the vase and did a little “fluffing”.

I honestly don’t think it took me 15 minutes to put it all together.  Super easy! The only hard thing about it was deciding where to put it!

I made it for the kitchen table….

But it looks pretty good in the guest room too! Hmmm… where to put it?

Until next time…..

                Tammy

Hey Y’all! It is a beautiful day here. The sun is shining and it is 74 degrees. Woo Hoo! Now, THIS is spring.

I am working on a ton of projects right now ( if only I could finish just one!!!) but I wanted to share with you my latest Spring wreaths. 

One wreath to bring a lot of color to the outside, and one to bring some green into the inside.

The first one is a Pinterest find.  I couldn’t find who to give this pin credit to, so if you know- let me know, so I can let y’all know!

I have to say that where Pinterest is concerned not all things pinned actually turn out like the pinned photo. GASP! I know you are shocked! This one did. Here’s what you are gonna need…

1. White Styrofoam wreath. I couldn’t find a medium size white one, so I went with the green one. Trust me white would be better on this one, but the green isn’t terrible. You just have to make sure the green doesn’t show through your paper loops. I think mine was $6.99 at Michaels, less with coupon.

2. 14 different patterned scrapbook papers – I used a lot of scraps from scrapbooking

3. Glue gun

4. Ribbon

So darn  easy even a monkey could do it while jacked up on Mountain Dew!

Cut 4 – 1″ X 12″ strips out of each piece of paper. Then cut each of those strips into 3 – 4″ strips. This gives you a ton of strips.

Using a glue gun, loop each 4″ strip making the ends meet and glue. This gives you the loops you see in the photo.

You are now ready to assemble the wreath.

Starting on the “top” or center of the the wreath glue the loops to the wreath, try to stay in as straight of a line as possible. Glue the strips all the way around until the wreath is full.I did not put loops on the back. If it touched my work table, it didn’t get covered!

Once done go back and check for “holes”, if you find a few, tuck in a loop to hid the wreath. This is where having a white wreath would have been a better deal!

I added a bow to the front, and a loop of ribbon glued to the back, to make it easier to hang.

My finished wreath! Cute, yes?

The Pinterest one had a birds nest with eggs hanging down in the middle, but I like to be able to see out of my peep hole, so I left that off. Ya never know who will come knocking on the door! Instead I added this sweet little blue bird.  Awww….

My second wreath is in the dining room. I was working on my Easter table and looked up and thought my boxwood wreath looked a little bare hanging on the front of my small armoire. It sits in an alcove and it’s a little dark there.  I added this gold initial… nothing earth shattering, but it was like adding jewelry to a plain dress!  I love it.

This letter has been many colors, this time I  spray painted with Rustoleum’s Metallic gold. It looks uneven here in the photo but in person it looks even and shiny…go figure!  Truly my favorite gold spray paint!

That’s it for now… I have so many project to finish up  – some small like these wreaths and some BIG life altering  projects that I can’t wait to show you!

Until next time…..

                  Tammy