Monday, April 2, 2012

My Boys

I really wanted to get outside to take some pictures of Henry and Oliver last week.  Everything is in bloom in our city and I wanted to take advantage of it!  Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating.  The warm sun from the week before was gone and was replaced by sharp, cold wind and rain.  We made do by having a silly photo shoot in the nursery.  The lighting was poor but we did it anyway.  The boys were happy to wear shorts for awhile on such a chilly day!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that day.
























The weather has much improved this week and we'll be heading outside to take some more pictures.  Hopefully we can find a quiet park somewhere with a few flowering trees and tulips!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Chalkboard Easter Egg Place Cards



These chalkboard egg place cards are an easy, inexpensive, and fun way to decorate your Easter table. 

For this project you will need: 
plastic eggs
chalkboard paint
ribbon


Simply paint the eggs with a couple of coats of the chalkboard paint and let dry.  Use the ribbon to cover up the seam where each egg half joins together.


After your Easter table is set, write the names of your guests on each egg and place at each table setting.


This project was free for me because I already had all of the supplies on hand.  However, here is a little cost projection for you in case you do not have any of these items in your home already.

Plastic Easter Eggs from Target, Walmart, or the Dollar Store:  $1.98 or less
Chalkboard Paint from the Home Depot:  $4.98
Ribbon from Michaels:  $3.00 or less
Estimated total cost:  $9.96
(Obviously, the cost amount of this project is subject to what you are willing to spend or what is available to you at each store).

There you have it!  Have you completed any Easter or spring projects lately?  Let me know because I would love to see them!

Have a wonderful Monday!

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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Clay Egg Ornaments



I have been in the mood to work with clay ever since I saw my sister Amelia's moon mobile, which you can see here.  (Yes, it is as magical as it sounds).


I thought it should be easy enough to create my own Easter ornaments for our little Easter tree.  Growing up, my mom always had a little Easter tree in our living room.  She (or my dad) would spray paint a big branch white and that big branch would be stuck in a big Terracotta pot filled with dirt.  Pretty pastel lights were strung on those branches, bunny and egg ornaments were hung, and grass seeds were planted in the dirt.  That grass never failed to arrive just before Easter and it was lovely.

I really wanted to recreate that memory for my boys in our home.  So, here is what I did to make my own ornaments.

I shaped that clay into a little flat egg.  Then, I carefully pressed various plants into the clay.  In this picture I used some thyme.  I also used rosemary, boxwood, and fern.  I used a wooden skewer to do the polka dots. That skewer was also used to poke a hole in the top of each egg so that I could hang them onto our tree.




I baked the clay according to the directions on the package.  After they were done, I tied some thread onto each egg and hung them onto our tree.  They are by no means perfect, but I like them nonetheless!



I also decided to experiment with some color on a few of the ornaments.  I called Amelia, who happens to be a pretty amazing little artist (I can say these things because I'm her big sister) and asked her if I could borrow her supplies.  She kindly brought over some wax pastels and some tiny paint brushes.




I simply colored onto the eggs and lightly brushed them with a bit of water to soften the color a bit.






I'm not sure yet if I like the simplicity of the white ornaments or the splashes of spring color that the painted ones have.  I think I'll experiment around a little yet with both options.  I'm sure you know already that I'll keep you posted...  I'll be back soon with another Easter project I'm excited to share with you!

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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Touches of Spring

Happy first day of spring to you!

Here are a few signs that spring has truly arrived in our home and we are so happy about it!












Thanks so much for stopping by!

I'm linking up to:

Monday, March 19, 2012

Monday Close-Ups

Here are a few snippets and snapshots from our weekend, which was pretty amazing!

On Friday, my mom, my sister Liesl, the boys, and I helped celebrate my sister Amelia's birthday by having lunch at her cute apartment.  Afterward, we walked to a cupcake shop for a birthday treat and made a quick stop at Anthropologie, where we took in all of their pretty things for spring.


On Saturday, Jason made the boys shamrock shakes for St. Patty's day.




On Sunday, Oliver read books until it was time for church.


After we got home, we spent the majority of the day outside.  Taking a bike ride, retrieving all of our outdoor patio furniture from the garage, and trimming bushes in such warm weather seemed very strange for the middle of March.














For dinner, we grilled barbecue chicken pizza and ate outside.








Happy spring to you tomorrow!