Best of Spring...Part Two!

I am blown away by the inspiring ideas I found when I went huntig for ways to freshen up my home's decor for spring. Spring has sprung, love is in the air and the flowers are in bloom. Check out some of the neat ideas that I am going to recreate for my home!

Chevron Crush...

Like Amanda from Dixie Delights and so many others in the design world....I have a total crush on Chevron. No not the gas station, the zig zag pattern seen in textile design. It truly is as haute as Subway Art. My problem is that my home is very transitional in design and filled with treasures from our travels, mostly European. How do I mix some Chevron in as most of what i am seeing is in vibrants. I was blown away by Amanda's subtle contrast with silver and gray in her bar....love it!!! I am thinking...laundry room.



Easter Bunny Silhouettes..


Emily, an interior designer from Fireside Studio created this fantastic silhouette to hang on her gallery wall. I love the whole project. Check it out! This is so on trend with the use of silhouettes in design on all spectrums. I love it!

Paper Magnolia Wreath...So Fresh



I have to say this is the most origianl idea I have seen in a long time. How beautiful is this wreath. And living in SE Texas, the magnolias bloom. I love taking elements of nature into my home. Craftberry Bush gives a complete tutorial on her blog on how to create this masterpiece. This is a great sit down on Sunday with my sweet princess and bond type of craft. I am excited to do this with my princess.

Spring Has Sprung Monograms



Kaitlyn at The Goodey Knot created these gorgeous sprouting monograms for her nieces. I love the idea of being able to incorporate this fun design through my kids spaces. Lovely!

Well that's my list of To Do's. I am going to be one busy girl and I can't wait to get cracking! I hope you have found some great ideas to inspire you as well. Cheers!

Some of My Favorite Ideas For Spring...

I love the freshness of Spring. It is a season of new beginnings from all standpoints both physically, mentally and spiritually. We come out of the Winter solace and give our spaces a good clean, celebrate the return of color to naturescape, relish in the new arrivals. And most importantly bring in a whole new color pallette into our homes.

So...in the spirit of spring and the desire to freshen up my tired home...I did what I always do and went through my favorite blogs and linky parties looking for the very best ideas that I would like to bookmark and add to my To Do list.

Today, I thought I would share some of them with you too!



How fantastic is this Spring sign from Creative Try Alls?? I love the font she used and the moss is so on trend for how top designers are incorporating natural elements into their spaces. Go to the link for the full tutorial on how to make this beautiful project. The best part is..it was almost all recycled materials and creativity!

Button Easter Eggs

How beautiful are these eggs and so creative. Something Creative Everyday made these gorgeous eggs out of items that she thrifted. I also love the reclycled candleabra (not pictured) that she made in another post to display decorated eggs in. These are on my list to make!

I Love Pennants and Burlap...Tan and Black...the new Pink and Yellow.


So While My Sailor's Aweigh created this gorgeous, simple, natural pennant to celebrate spring. If you like a look that encompasses Spring without all of the pastels...this is for you!

Easy Spring Wreath...with feathers..oh la la!


Kathie's Like a Box of Chocolates created this beautiful wreath that again, encompasses the natural elements of the eggs in the nest trend that is so hot right now. Once I read her tutorial, I am so excited to created this for my home as it looks so easy and affordable despite it's uber chic appearance. Love it!

Nest Specimen Art...fabulous!!!


Midwestern Sewing Girl created this beautiful wall art for the season. She created simple burlap rosettes to symbolize nest and attached three eggs to one for interest. I love this. I am going to create this to go with my bird in the nest tablescape in my formal dining room.

I hope you have been as inspired as I have been! Stay tuned for part two of my Favorites for Spring feature!

Turn Your Scrapbook Pages into Wearable Art!!!

Good Afternoon! I am very blessed to be the mother of a beautiful daughter and wonderful son. It is easy to say that my kids are my world. With that blessing comes the challenge of raising two very different individuals and making their activities a family affair that everyone enjoys...

My son is the ultimate athlete. He loves all sports and baseball is his passion...We play baseball three days a week, 9 to 10 months out of the year and we are all involved. Mr. Bohlen, after a couple of seasons as Assistant Coach is now the Head Coach of our team. I am a busy dugout mom. This is how I spend so many of my days...

That being said, my daughter is the consumate girly girl. The princess. I have no idea where she gets it....lol. She dutifully, without ever complaining accompanies us to many nights of baseball...(don't feel sorry for her. She has a very full dance card of her own.) From the day she was born she was always happy to be wherever her brother was. She is his number one fan!

Being the fashionista that she is...she pointed out that we all had shirts for our team. Will had a Coaches jersey, I had a team t-shirt as the team mom. She wanted to have a Go Keaton shirt. This got my wheels turning....

Since I created the team's banner with a digital scrapbook page of the boys, blew it up at the local printer and laminated it and it worked out really well, why couldn't I do the same with a t-shirt????

So I got online and using a template from a local designer called Binty's Baseball Kit, I found my favorite pictures of Keaton playing baseball and added some beautiful pink paper and the message that she wanted to share with the world on her shirt on a 12x12 digital scrapbook page.

If you are a paper scrapper, you can scan the page you would like to use into a PDF or JPEG and create a digital image to use for your shirt. If you do not have a scanner that will scan 12x12, you local Office Max will scan it for you for about $1.00.

Then I went to my local Michaels and picked up Wilton's Photo Transfer Sheets for an Inkjet printer. It is important to know what your shirt you are going to use so that you can determine if you need to purchase a dark or light colored transfer.

Load your transfer paper into your printer with the dark blue line facing the proper direction. I then reduced my image to an 8x8 size of choose Fit to Paper in the printing menu so that your image fits on one sheet. For light colored shirts you need to click the Print in Reverse option on your print screen.

Heat your iron to the Cotton Setting without steam and place your shirt on a hard surface to iron. Do not use an ironing board. Peel the design from the backing paper and place the design on your shirt. Place the enclosed parchment paper between the iron and your design and place your iron on your desing and hold for 20 seconds on each section to adhere the design to your shirt.

Now, being that my little fashionista loves her clothes to sparkle as bright as her personality, I decided to girly it up by adding some bling...

So I was able to pick up a Rhinestone Heater setter for $12.00 and some lovely red and clear rhinestones and I embellished the frames of the photos on my page for dimension and gave it some sparkle.

This was a very simple process and I am excited by all of the endless possibilities for this tool. Simply pick the right size of tip for your tool depending on the size of your rhinestone. Let it heat up for 10 minutes and begin your application.

Using the enclosed tweezers I place each rhinestone where I wanted it on my design and then placed the heat tool gently on the stone to set it.

It took me about 30 to 45 minutes to adhere all 200 stones to the shirt. But in the end she was beyond happy with the final product.

And she found her perfect role on our team the first day she wore it...Ball Girl. Everyone loved watcheing her run across the field in her shirt to collect the bats after the boys hit.

I can only imagine the possibilties for this...family reunions, class trips, Girl Scouts....You can do it too!

Fantastic Easter Basket Cupcakes...I am going to use these as placecard holders

All I can say is FABULOUS! I found these on Disney's Family Fun Magazine. What a great way to dress up your Easter Dinner table and make each guest feel special. I have incorporated the whole natural element of the birds and the nest in my Spring Table decor that will take my table from Easter all the way through to Summer. These cupcakes are the perfect extra touch!

Ingredients


1 dozen cupcakes

1 bag jelly beans

2 cups white icing

Sweetened coconut, colored with green food coloring



Instructions

First, frost the cupcakes with white icing. Bend a pipe cleaner or a piece of red licorice into an arch and push the ends into the sides of each cupcake.



Shake the shredded coconut in a stainless steel bowl. Sprinkle on food coloring bit by bit, mixing vigorously to distribute the color



Place a pinch of shredded coconut on each iced cupcake. Now place three jelly beans on the "nest" of coconut.



Tie a small ribbon bow on the pipe cleaner or licorice handle at a jaunty angle.

Put one cupcake basket by each place setting at Easter brunch or give them as gifts

Blog Hops and Parties....One Stop Sources for Inspiration

I am often asked, "Where did you get that idea?" or "How on earth did you do that?". Honestly, I am a serial recycler of all things creative. I learned through my fantastic Bethany Baptist MOPS mom friends that women are so diverse in their talents and when you bring a collective group of us together we can create amazing things. Whether it be a mood to a meeting, the vibe of a party, a great meal, a wonderful recipe. The year I was Coordinator my wonderful blessed friend Melissa politely suggested that I let her do all of the baking. She is a master! She is one of those rare beautiful souls that can both bake and cook mouth watering items. And she is right, she is far better than I in the culinary arts. It was her gift. My friend Stella, was the ambiance queen! She could make any room ooze with elegance and make any mother feel like she had escaped into a tranquil retreat for a couple of hours. My friend Heather has the gift of sweet presence. She loved you through cards, gifts, a good laugh. She was always looking out for the one who was in need of encouragement and came up with the most creative ways to do so.

When I moved overseas all of these fantastic women loved me in their special ways from afar. But I was missing the inspiration I drew from them through our chats over coffee. In this, I found the gift of Blogs.

I found myself drawn to the inspiration posted by these amazing women. I had a new source of inspiration for my creative recycling. I was drawn to those that hosted Link Up parties. It was one stop creative shopping. My favorite was the Weekend Wrap Up by Jen at Tatertots and Jello. It was huge. She often has several hundred creative projects posted to her party every week. I found great ideas and added them to my favorites and came back to them later.

Often I found that I was coming back to my new favorite blogs for inspiration and began "following" them. And now I have wonderful circle of creative women that I have seen transform their homes, families and make every Holiday special.

I would encourage you to look to the sidebar of my blog. I have buttons to my favorites ready for you to click on. Take a look at these great blogs for the chance to be inspired!!! This week I am adding a new one...check it out!

Happy St Patricks Day

This year we really got into the spirit of this fun holiday that often goes by in a flash. We decorated our table setting. Mr. Bohlen brought home a fresh shamrock plant for the kitchen. The Mom Squad, as I affectionately refer to the greatest group of moms in Katy, TX that I am blessed to call friends and I were having coffee the other morning and since our fearless Girl Scout Troop leader was going to be at the Rodeo for our meeting, we planned a St Patrick's Day themed meeting. We had the girls make the most adorable Blarney Stone and read the Legend of the Blarney to them. the girls were hooked. Jen collected some river rocks out of her garden and we had the girls dip their finger in glue and stamp out the shape of a shamrock. They coated their shamrock in green glitter and Bam! They had a cute Blarney Stone.

Next we had the girls make a Leprechaun Trap. We told the girls about the Legend of the Leprechaun. And since they are curious, we decided to build a trap to lure them to find the gold at the end of the rainbow. We found this fun idea here Disney Family Fun. The girls had such a great time putting together their traps and scheming ideas as to where to set them up.

We provided the moms with chocolate gold coins to place in the traps from time to time and on St Patricks Day. My daughter checked her trap constantly and was so excited whenever she found her gold coins.

Which brings us to this morning. I welcomed the family to get into the St Patricks Day spirit with rainbow pancakes that I found at Tablespoon.com. The recipe calls to place your rainbow fruit skewers across the top of your pancakes, but my skewers were too heavy to stand and I wanted to incorporate clouds and a Shamrock and gold Coin into my design. The kids LOVED them. These could really be used to brighten any day!

So I will incorporate these colorful rainbow skewers into our lunch or dinner to keep the celebration alive and read the Story of the Shamrock.

Are you short on time today? Are you on the run? Looking for a fun way to get out of the house on Spring Break? Chic Fil A is serving green ice cream and lemonade today! Happy St Patrick's Day!

Whoopdwhoop!!! It's Awesome!

I know so many talented creative people that really have their niche and maybe admirethe creative vision of others in other mediums. I have found the perfect answer. Whoopdwhoop

What is the Whoopdwhoop about Whoopdwhoop....well it was the creators vision to create a community where artisans could share their talents, creativeness and creations with others not through money, but through swapping. We wanted a place where people could list their handiwork (photography, paper crafts, jewelry, art, sewn items, basically anything that they have handmade) and then swap them for other's handmade items- completely eliminating the need for money.


It was this idea that sparked the life of whoopdwhoop.com. Whoopdwhoop is a unique, currency free marketplace where individuals can both list their creative endeavors and 'shop' for other's creative endeavors- all without the use of money. Points (whoops) are earned by both listing and swapping your handiwork. You can then take the whoops that you have earned and 'shop' within the whoopdwhoop community. It's the perfect way to partake in some retail therapy and not feel guilty! It's free, it's easy, and it's fun.

Whoop it up with whoopdwhoop!