Where does the time go?

I am sitting here, listening to the laughter of my daughter and husband as they relax watching an old episode of King of Queens and it strikes me that the time is going so fast. I remember the time when we first time that she laughed, I mean truly laughed from the core of her little being. Amanda was just months old and we were on a quick weekend trip with my beloved mother. Mom and I were relaxing on the bed with Amanda. We were talking to her and tickling her and then Amanda laughed so hard that before you knew it, we were all laughing until tears streamed down our faces.

There are so many times that I look at my daughter and I thank God that she is a happy and healthy young woman of 17. Before you know it, I will be crying at her high school graduation, but they will be tears of happiness. God has entrusted us to raise this wonderful young woman and for that, I will be eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father.

Denim and Burlap

I continue to have an obsession with burlap. I don't know what it is about it...the color, the texture, the feel...all I know is that I am enjoy crafting with burlap. Well, the latest creation is a table runner. Several blogs have shown a multitude of burlap runners, each so creative and lovely in their own right. This one that I made for our table is a simple strip of burlap that I have fringed the edges and then added denim flowers. The flowers are those rolled type that are all over the blog. I was just pleased to be able use up a leg of an old pair of jeans. Recycling at it's finest.

Warming Up

I enjoy this time of spring...when the weather warms up just a bit, but not too much for me to turn on the a/c to survive. The plants and the trees sprout their new growth, the people of town come out of hibernation and you begin to hear the whirl of the lawn mowers. We sat in the living room and watched our neighbor's tree burst from the browns of the winter into a thing of life with green leaves and movement in the wind within maybe three days. This is the time of spring that I enjoy. The miracle of rebirth.

Spring Banner

We are not fortunate to have a mantle to decorate with the seasons, but I have made a compromise. I decorate the top of our entertainment center. For Spring, I made a Spring Banner made of jute twine, clothespins, and tag cards. I covered the top of the clothespins with scrapbook paper, sanded and then antiqued the edges. I strung them onto the twine and then clipped an assortment of scrapbook tags that I made printing them out from our color printer and then mounting them onto paper. A great source of graphics is the Graphics Fairy who generously shares a multitude of designs. You can find at http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com

Decorating for Spring

I made this bunny silhoutte with the inspiration from eighteen25. Out came the St. Patrick's Day subway art and in the frame goes the bunny. With one piece of 12 x 12 reversible scrapbook paper, a hand-cut white silhouette popped off the paper with some foam dots, and four staples...here you go! A cute little piece of framed art for our entry.

Happy Spring!

Welcome Spring, and in celebration of this change in the seasons, I made this wreath for the front door. I love, love, love it! All I had to do was to purchase a grapevine wreath from Michael's using my 40% off Hobby Lobby coupon (love that they will take those coupons). I made a nest using Lolly Chops Mini Birds Nest and Eggs tutorial at http://vimeo.com/19615893 I made a larger nest and the egg that I used was a paper mache egg that I had painted and splattered. The wreath definitely needed something, so I printed out butterfly pictures, trimmed them out, bent the wings where they meet the abdomen for some shape, and voila! A bit of Martha ribbon and we are in business.

Did I say how much I love this wreath?

Tie Dye Cupcakes

My dessert of choice is usually a New York Cheesecake. I will request this for my birthday year after year; however, this year I asked Amanda to make me something different...tie dye cupcakes. I had seen these done in different places, so I knew this would be something fun for all of us.

Amanda prepared the cake mix as directed and then divided the batter into five different cups. She mixed the colors using gel coloring and then added a spoonful of each color to each cupcake liner stacking the colors as you go. She baked them as directed on the cake mix box and they were perfect! She topped them with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles...yummy and fun!

Tie dye is near and dear to our family. My husband wears tie dye t-shirts on his down time from his job and they travel on vacation with us. This is always a plus because we can find him almost anywhere. In fact, the joke is, "Do you see Dad?".