look and listen

I've been noticing

Spring

sights and sounds.

So much of the snow has melted away.

I spotted a female bluebird on Monday. :)

The sound of songbirds fills the morning air!

I'm counting my blessings!

1...

    2...

3...

tutorial for a rainy day

Click on any image to view it larger.

Imagine how pretty these would be in in PINK

or a color to match a party theme

or white with yellow centers added to make daisies

(the mr.'s favorite flower).

Oh, What *F*U*N*

Inspiration from

Jess at livingtheswelllife

and marthastewart.com

Thank you!

semi-homemade student Christmas gifts

I purchased inexpensive hats

($1.50 a piece)

for the kids in my class

and added their names to personalize them.

I used alphabet beads to string their names

and added a silver bell to the very

top

of each hat.

Then I tucked in a * sweet treat *

&

Voila!

An easy-peasy lemon squeezy

Christmas gift for my kiddos

to wear outside for recess on

*chilly *winter * days!

hallmark, step aside! :)

My colleague at school has several breeds of chickens.
She often shares their eggs with me.

At Eastertime she made sure to include a nice variety of colors.

To thank her, I made up a set of notecards from pics that I had taken of them. I started with:

my photos

an inexpensive set of white stationery with matching envelopes,
a set of photo corners

(I really wanted white, but couldn't find them, so settled for greens and blues,

which, as it turns out, I really liked!:)),

glue,

and organdy ribbon.

I chose several of my favorites, edited them and added text at picnik.com, then,

I tucked the pics into the photo corners and carefully glued them to the stationery.

Choose a half dozen to give and

place the card that says Thank you" on top.

Tie with ribbon.

Voila!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

p.s. my friend really liked them! {sigh}

happy new year!

Having been inspired by Tracey

from Notes From a Cottage Industry ,

my friend Teresa and I,

along with a few very special kiddos,

spent part of our

New Year's Eve

making

 party

hats

!

Olivia had a little help from the boys.

That white crayon just didn't cut it!

I jazzed up this photo using picnik.  {fun}

We spent some time eating fancy foods...

I had never seen cheese in

*snowflake*

shapes!

YUM

and we talked

and played

'til the

ball

dropped

in

Times

Square

!

Today I'll spend some time recounting events from the past year,

planning improvements for the next,

and counting my blessings

which includes

 all of you

who have opened up your lives

to inspire

and

to share

and

to encourage.

Happy

2010.

*peace*

seeing stars

I was home today.       
*first*snow*day *of *the *year *
So...

Olivia and I hung out while her mom was at work,

playing peek-a-boo, tickle monster, and dancing to

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

But,

while she was napping,

I tried to refresh my memory

and make a few moravian or swedish or german???
stars.
It seemed a lot easier when I made them in the past.

They came out so much more polished.
I'm thinking it must be the paper I used.

I wonder what paper is best for making

Christmas stars

(That's what I'll call them.)

any suggestions?

a little birdie...

I want to make this centerpiece,

marthastewart.com

but with white, shades of green, and pink.
Oooohhh! I love it!