Congrats to my sweet friend Andrea!

 Every Sunday since my sweet friend Andrea left for the coast guard I have written her a letter. She can only receive letters until after graduation then we can send packages =), I have missed her SO MUCH! Well, I found out yesterday that she has passed all her exams and will graduate in 2 1/2 weeks! Yay! I am so proud of her!

 We also found out where she will be stationed... only about 4 1/2 hours away by car, or even better my hubby can fly me to see her in only 1 hour 10 minutes! So happy she will not be too far away!

 We have had snow every day the last four days! Ugh! Thank goodness I decorated for spring last week =) even my african violets are ready for spring.

 I've had these african violet plants for 3 years... they keep me full of pretty little flowers from early spring to late summer.

 I have been collecting things to take over to the old house to decorate a little while it is on the market. Keep your fingers crossed in sells quickly! Any way, I put this little grouping together to put on the kitchen counter over there... but I kinda fell in love with it on the dining room table! So it may not be going over!

 I love white flowers in galvanized pots =) purple would look good too! Oohh and pink!

 I am loving the look of grays and muted colors together like the flowers above, helps that it is a trend right now! Ha! These are going over to the old house and put in the bathroom with some pink towels =) Wait till you see the family room! I am almost done painting it! It turned out perfect! It is just how I wanted it to be when I lived there! haha! As usual things don't get done until I am either moving out or have already moved out! But not going to happen in the new cottage! Can not wait to be done with the old house projects so I can finish a few at the new! Once I finish staging I will share a few pictures.

 I added a purple candle and some white tulips in a glass vase to my little sofa table. Still need to get a few things for underneath.

 These may end up at the other house too... maybe.

 Fell in love with the wire star fish (?) tied on with the twine.

And who can resist flowers in an old or new canning jar? Not me!

While out this morning I picked up a few of my favorite magazines to spend the afternoon tomorrow reading while I am at the old house. I am having the carpets cleaned and need something to do for 2 hours in an empty house! These should do nicely! Come on SPRING!
Have a creative week!

PS Need to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to JON! Hope it is one of the best! HUGS!

Spring decor and mantle 2011

 Since we moved into this house we have used the hottub almost every night. We bought a patio heater to keep our heads warm when the temperatures are too cold and an umbrella to keep our heads dry in the rain. The temperatures this week have been too cold to make it enjoyable when you have to get out to get into the house! So I spent a couple evenings this week bringing some crafty stuff up to the media room to do while the hubby and I watch TV.

 Yesterday I decided to stay home where it is warm and decorate for spring! I also did a little more in the temporary craft area and worked on some crafty stuff =) My sweet friend Jessica and her sweet hubby bought this cartridge for me last year. I hadn't gotten to use it before it had to be packed up. (Thank you again guys LOVE it!)

 These are the wreaths I scored at goodwill for $3.99 a piece! More on those tomorrow!

 Here is a shot of some of the goodies I got to add to them. I am still working on them, hope to finish them today... but of  course will have to wait a few days to hang them ;) Hoping to get to Michael's for some little eggs to put in the nest, JoAnn didn't have any.

 And... here is my spring decor for this year! Yes, I did use the purple pillows last year too! I tried to use things I already had, unfortunately some of the things I planned to use are still in boxes in the studio.

 I also took the pillows that I had on my bed...

 Close up of the mantle and my new spring banner for this year. LOVE how it turned out!  I used the cupboard chalk board I made a while ago. I wrote THINK for now for Think Spring but will change it to Welcome March 1st =)

My gardening books are in my favorite spot so when I have a few minutes I can dream of little seeds being planted to produce our own food. Corn, potatoes, beans, lettuce, cabbage... the list goes on! So excited to plan out the garden this year! Just hope the hubby can keep it watered in July when I am with the grandbaby my daughter. haha! ( Can. Not. Wait. to meet my grandson!)

Remember the coffee sack pillow I made last year? It's back in the living room for spring.

For the banner I made pompoms out of yarn, then tied them on a piece of yarn, cut some triangles out of old book pages and sewed them onto the yarn in between the pompoms. Yes sewed! I even got my sewing machine out!

Added the letters I cut with my Cricut using the Songbird cartridge then added a decal or sticker to each pendant next to the letter... easy peasy!

On this side of the mantle I used a mirror that resembles a window that I have had for many years, a wreath I also have had for many years (in fact, both were used in Genna's room at one point when she was going through a girlie phase) I filled one of the apothecary jars with left over green yarn, and the other with moss covered balls, last touch is one of the nest's I picked up while at JoAnn.

On this side is a cast iron statue I received as a wedding present, a couple of moss balls and a galvanized bucket filled with a few stems of iris. The galvanized bucket I've had since when we owned the gift shop in Nevada it's one of my favorites.

Down here I left the candle and holder from Christmas, left the cupboard chalk board but changed the saying and added a glass and wire container filled with the leftover purple yarn.

I brought in the throw I purchased at Pier One on clearance after Christmas and added the pillow I made last year.

Now what to do with this area?! Still working through some ideas! Haha! So what do you think so far?

I will leave you with a shot I took out the back door of some chickadees munching on the seeds I left for them. Well the hubby gets off early today so I better get something done before he gets home! I am hoping to get him to go bed shopping with me this weekend! The kids are coming in three weeks and I would like to have the second guest room done before then. Stay warm!

Reminder: Mother nature says when it is spring, not me!

 Yesterday I had to run to the Post Office to mail some packages off, since Salvation Army and JoAnn Fabrics is on the way home  just around the corner, I stopped in. I found 3 wreaths for $3.99 each (didn't take a picture yet) that I thought would be perfect for my spring decor on 3 of the doors into my home. Then I ran over to JoAnn to buy some pretties to springify them.

 While walking up and down the aisles I came across this cute set! Perfect for a baby boy, on sale too!

 I made a list before I went so I knew what I needed to buy to get a couple crafty things done. No, I am not knitting or crocheting anything! Haha! I will show you tomorrow :)

 We woke up to snow this morning. UGH! I HATE snow. It is almost March!

 I am ready for spring! Little green bulbs are popping up all over!

 Birds are chirping and flitting about eating the seeds I put out for them.

 The squirrels are out tormenting Koko when they come to the feeder to eat the giant peanuts I leave out for them.

 My sweet hubby shouldn't have to get out of a warm bed at 4:30 am to shovel the driveway before leaving for work... when it is almost March!

 We left this kind of weather behind us in Nevada... 24* temperatures, snow on the ground and blue skies.

 I want spring, I want cute little colored flowers all over.

 Not this white stuff! Well, as my title suggests, I've learned my lesson (for now) I am not the boss of Spring! Haha!

The good thing? The drive way at the old house is icey and snow covered, so guess I can't paint over there today. Guess I will stay in the house where it is warm and have a craft day! Later this afternoon I am meeting my friend Lisa for an early dinner ( as long as she is willing to brave the roads) at one of our favorite places... Pepper Sisters, YUM! Stay warm today!

PS Maybe I will decorate for spring too! Haha!

Cupcakes, baked beans and potato salad

 Yesterday I did something I haven't had a chance to do in MONTHS! I spent the morning cooking and BAKING! We had plans to have some friends over from Oak Harbor, Jeremy, Amanda and their two little boys Danny and Brayden. Jeremy just returned from Afghanistan in December so it had been a while since we had seen him. Amanda was coming to B'ham for a couple doctor appointments so we had plans to have an early dinner as soon as the hubby got home so they would have plenty of time to get home. After a quick trip to the grocery store... I got busy baking. Amanda LOVES Red Velvet Cake, so I decided to make cupcakes. YUM!

I made a big pot of baked beans, and potato salad (not sure what happen to my picture of the potato salad?) About noon Amanda called to invite me to lunch, but I had to decline due to baking and cooking.  Well, unbeknownst to me, she had sent me an email in the morning letting me know that Jeremy was sick, so she was coming up to B'ham with just little Brayden. I told her no problem and to stop by when she was done with her Doctor's appointments.

Well, the hubby and I don't need ALL that food, so I packaged half of it up along with hamburger patties, hot dogs and buns. I even included the lettuce, tomato and onion so all she had to do was cook up the meat when she got home and dinner and dessert were done!

It was a perfect afternoon for an early barbeque! Too bad. Oh well. Did I tell you we got new neighbors? The house across the street, that we originally had looked at, sold a few weeks after we bought our house.

Our neighbor Mary, is trying to get them to cut down these trees so we can have more of a view of the water, such a sweet, sweet woman!

It has been snowing on and off today, YUK!

I am soo ready for spring, this nest fell out of the wisteria vine by the kitchen window, so now it is part of my spring decor...

I have slowly been piling up some spring treasures to begin decorating for spring.

I am not sure how many more weeks days I can wait.

Here is a peek at the garage craft area, have a little more to do before I can show it all to you, but ... I did get out the cricut and cuddlebug. I spent this morning at the old house painting so now I am headed out to try to finish this area and maybe do some crafting.