Pretty Spring Banner

This was a year-long project. It all started last spring when I found these cute little stuffed bunnies and carrots for 90% off. I knew I could do something with them, so I bought them and came up with the idea of a spring banner. No point in making a spring banner during summer, so I saved them until this year.

So when I pulled everything out this year, I also picked up some wooden letters, scrapbook paper in pretty colors, and jute string in two different sizes.
I painted the on both sides letters using some acrylic paint.
Then I traced the letters onto scrapbook paper that I planned to use to cover the front side.
Using Mod Podge, I glued the paper onto the wooden letter.

Now comes the handy hubby part. I had him help me drill holes in the top of the letters so I could hang them. Of course, us girls can use drills on our own, but I'd rather not have him make fun of me when I mess up!

I used the thinner jute to tie bows onto the letters...

and then I tied them onto the thicker piece. I tied all the letters, cute little bunnies, and carrots to the thick piece of jute and made sure to have some extras on the end to hang it.Very hard to get a good picture of this because it's so wide.




Happy Spring!

Felt Flower Spring Wreath

After the popularity of the felt heart wreath for Valentine's Day, I wanted to do a new version for spring. It was pretty easy to do and doesn't require much thinking, so it's a fun craft to do while you watch tv!

Supplies:
• foam wreath
• small pieces of felt for flowers
• approx. 1/3 yd. felt to wrap the wreath
• dressmaker pins (standard pins are too long and will go through to the other side)
• Elmer's or Tacky glue
• ribbon for hanging

I started out by cutting strips of felt to wrap around the wreath. My strips were about 1" wide, but I didn't measure each one. I just tried to make them all the same and it worked great. The more strips you have, the more gluing you have to do, so I would suggest using long pieces of felt to make these.
Using glue, I started wrapping felt around the wreath and overlapping each piece a little.
Keep going...
I tried to keep all the ends of the strips on one side of the wreath so they would be hidden.
Here's the finished wreath
For the flowers, I used a mug to trace circles onto the felt.
Each of my flowers is made of 3 circles and I used 4 different colors.
To make each flower, I folded the circle in half.
And then in half again
I used a pin to attached them to the wreath.
I just attached and moved them around until I was happy with how they looked.
The pins can be hidden if you arrange them correctly
To hang the wreath, I added a ribbon on the back and pinned it in place.
Here's my finished wreath! Happy Spring!

Happy Little Pleasures

I think everyone needs to remember to take some time to focus on the Happy Little Pleasures in life. I'm guilty of hardly ever doing this, so I decided it was time for another HLP post. Here's what made me happy recently...

Pesto Sauce
I recently re-discovered pesto when we had some left after a recipe. I used to eat this stuff all the time in high school and I kinda forgot about it. In the last week, I finished off the jar and now I'm onto the next one! I love it mixed with some fresh cold pasta and a little parmesan cheese. Not the healthiest, but it's SO good!

Spring Crafts
Winter sucks. We just had a major blizzard and I'm over the snow and the cold. For the past few weeks, I've been inspired to start working on spring crafts to get ready for next season. Get excited because there's some cute & springy crafts on their way! For right now, I'll just daydream about the garden flag I made last year and hope I can put it out soon!

Trader Joe's Ravioli
I could do an entire post just on the amazing food at Trader Joe's, but I'll start with this one fabulous meal. These seem so simple and ordinary. I don't know what it is, but they are awesome! I dream about these things! They're good hot or cold, plain or with sauce, and fresh or leftover. I have to refrain from eating these every day!
Blue Bloods
I haven't been very impressed with a lot of the new tv shows this year, but this one got my attention. You may not have heard of this great tv show, so I wanted to share a little about it. Dramatic, great acting, good storylines, etc.

Here's some info from CBS: BLUE BLOODS is a drama about a multi-generational family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. Frank Reagan is the New York City Police Commissioner and heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. A source of pride and concern for Frank is his eldest son Danny, a seasoned detective, family man, and Iraqi War vet who on occasion uses dubious tactics to solve cases. The sole Reagan woman in the family, Erin, is a N.Y. Assistant D.A. and newly single parent, who also serves as the legal compass for her siblings and father. Jamie is the youngest Reagan, fresh out of Harvard Law and the family's "golden boy;" however, unable to deny the family tradition, Jamie decided to give up a lucrative future in law and is now a newly minted cop.

What are your Happy Little Pleasures this week?

Lovely Spring Surprises

We moved into our house in September, so we only saw the plants that were around in the fall. Nothing to special so we planned to make some changes this summer.

So imagine my shock when I found these outside one day!

Ok, so there's only one blooming plant right now and 2 that are still maturing, but I love them!

We have a small tree in front of our house and I never thought much about it. So I was shocked when I noticed purple flowers starting to come in. I have always wanted a tree with flowers ever since I was little (and purple was always my favorite)

I wish the flowers would bloom all summer so we could enjoy them even longer!

And this surprise is Kitty's favorite - We have a family of birds that lives in the tree against the house. Kitty spends hours sitting in the window watching them, so I decided to get them some bird seed. A squirrel got to it way too fast and knocked it down, but hopefully the little birds got something to eat too.

Happy Spring!

From old curtain to springy, cute scarf!

I'm loving all of the pretty, light scarves out for spring this year! But paying a lot for a simple scarf? NO WAY! So I found this really pretty textured fabric from a thrift store for $2- and it's actually an old curtain!

I cut a 70" x 9" piece of fabric for the scarf.

Then I cut small 2" x 18" strips of fabric for the ruffles. I used 2 strips for each ruffle by layering 2 pieces on top of each other.

To make ruffles the easy way, I thread my machine with white thread on the top and elastic string in the bobbin. (For more thorough instructions on how to create ruffles, see my winter scarf post where I explain everything in detail.)

Then I set the machine for the widest stitch (5.0) to create the ruffles.

Layering 2 strips on top of each other, I sewed each strip along the middle to create the ruffle. Once all the ruffles were done, I pinned them to the scarf.

Then I switched my machine back to normal thread and a normal stitch width to sew the ruffles to the scarf.

Add as many ruffles as you'd like!

The sheer fabric is perfect for spring!

Linking up to:
Blue Cricket Designs: Show and Tell
Thrifty Home: Penny Pinching Party
A Soft Place to Land: DIY Day
Sew Much Ado: We Did It Wednesday
Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday
Hooking up w/ HOH
Just a Girl: Show & Share Day

Signs of spring...and my TRUTH

I am SUPER excited about winter being over. There are signs of spring popping up everywhere and it puts a smile on my face.

I switched out our front door decor to this leafy green wreath.
I love hanging this as my first hint of warm weather to come!


Our little plants haven't been doing so well lately, so we decided to give them a new home. These pots were old, cracked, and dirty, so it was time for something bigger & better.
We found these pretty textured pots at Ikea.
Using some new potting soil, we replanted our plants in these larger pots.
And all the snow in our yard is GONE!
I'm looking forward to breaking out the spring clothes, opening windows, and enjoying the warm weather!

• • •

And on another topic, earlier this week I posted about my first blog award.

I was given the task of writing 7 statements about myself - one true and 6 false.

So here's my answers in case you were curious:

1. I enjoy watching The Weather Channel.
FALSE - It can get pretty boring to watch that and I'm too impatient. MTV, E! and TLC are more my style

2. My husband and I met at a fraternity party.
TRUE - Neither of us were Greek, but we ended up at the same party one Feburary night in 2002. I still have the sequined hot pink halter top I was wearing that night!

3. My cat lived on a farm before we adopted him.
FALSE - Kitty was actually found abandoned in a patch of chrysanthemums. He was brought to a rescue in Iowa where I saw him and fell in love!

4. I love going to see movies.
FALSE - I hate going to movie theaters. I'd rather be in bed with my feet up and watching a tv show.

5. My favorite food is ice cream.
FALSE - While I do love me some ice cream, it's not my favorite food.

6. I played soccer as a child.
FALSE - Are you crazy? I'm way too much of a girly girl for that! I was a dancer and gymnast.

7. I wear glasses when I read.
FALSE - I don't wear glasses at all, but sometimes I think I should...

Thanks for playing along!