Flowers, Easter and a Birthday Boy

 My honey surprised me with these lovely flowers!

Wisteria...  

makes me think of my Papa, his patio is covered in it. Whenever I go to visit I can usually find him out there. When it's in bloom there's nothing more beautiful than sharing in some good talks and listening to the gentle hum of the bees. 

A few pictures from Easter

The kids loved their bubble guns from Grandma and Grandpa

Lillian in her eyelet dress

Shane was a smiley boy on his 5th Birthday at preschool. He planted green beans that morning in the garden near the playground, then hammered nails into wood with his class as they learned about construction from another student's dad that came for show and tell. His class sang and prayed for him, we shared homemade cake pops and dad surprised him with balloons. We are looking forward to his Lego Star Wars party this weekend!

Linen Ruffle Wreath

Here is where I found the inspiration and tutorial for my wreath 

http://jonesdesigncompany.com/decorate/a-spring-wreath/ 

My thought process after scrolling through the pictures, I can make a ruffle, I can make that wreath!

 picture from

  http://jonesdesigncompany.com/decorate/a-spring-wreath/ 

 In the tutorial she uses a 10" foam wreath, I chose a 12" and added an extra ruffle. Making the ruffles was the easy part and took no time. I happened to make my ruffles separately and missed the step needed to sew them all together to make one long continuous ruffle, this probably would've been easier, but was no problem to do after reading through the directions;). The part I found challenging was getting the ruffles somewhat of an equal distance apart from each other and trying to angle them just so without having them slide, I ended up using a small dot of hot glue to secure each ruffle in place. I made a very simple bow and also hot glued it to the wreath.

I saw an idea like this on pinerest and thought it was adorable!

I used tall clear treat bags that I had on hand from packaging Christmas cookies. I tossed some cotton balls inside the sugar cones not wanting to waste my precious peanut butter M&Ms where they wouldn't be seen, so it would give me more to inhale later that night while I was up making my wreath
( those suckers are dangerous!)

I like the pop of spring cheeriness these projects brought to our home!

Our puppy Maddie snoozing away under the kitchen table.

The Lilly Magnolia tree we planted a few years ago,

is now one of my favorite first signs of spring. 

Which reminds me

Image from http://southernpiphi.tumblr.com

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

This recipe comes from the Martha Stewart Cookies cookbook. It requires a little extra work,  grating  the carrots and chilling the dough, but its end result is absolutely worth the effort! They are a fun twist on an old classic, this cake like cookie gets a slightly chewy texture with help from oatmeal, and its cream cheese frosting is just divine! I can't wait to share these tiny inside-out carrot cakes with our friends and family! 

I've linked the recipe at the bottom of the page, enjoy:).

Happy Easter!  

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.marthastewart.com/259010/carrot-cake-sandwich-cookies

http://www.marthastewart.com/282958/cream-cheese-frosting

Pioneer Woman's Flat Apple Pie and Easy Caramel Sauce

I was inspired to make this "pie on the go" as she calls it. Slice, serve on a napkin, and be on your way. Not that I really go around eating pie in my car or anything......yet... anyway. The main reason I wanted to make this was because the recipe seemed simple to follow, without too many fussy steps. I know, pie, simple? But yes, there really seemed to be nothing to it. So I gave it a try.

 but I can't take all the credit, I had a little help

                                               

When the dough's been just combined, she halves it and places it into two separate Ziploc bags, once inside the unsealed bag, she beats the top of it with just a few whacks of her rolling pin. I think for the reason being that when it's done chilling it's easier to roll out and you don't end up over working your dough.

                                                   

                          I  would recommend wrapping your baking sheet with foil for                  
                     easy clean up, as you can see I didn't do this, my pan was toast.

       

                     
                         What can I say, tender and flaky crust, the way all pies should be,     
                        the apples had a little bite to them and the caramel sauce was a hit. 

                                             

                  
                                                                                     
                           
              Here are the links for the flat apple pie and easy caramel sauce recipes
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/flat-apple-pie-with-perfect-pie-crust-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/easy-caramel-sauce-recipe/index.html

Chiffon flowers and Lillian's toes

 Well I've wanted to start a blog for years, so with baby steps, I'm excited about my first post! I hope you enjoy it and find a little inspiration, I know I've found so much from blogs I visit regularly.

 Creating your own kind of beauty is like medicine for the soul. There's no other words to describe it. Being a stay at home mom I feel surrounded by possibilities to express that, and yes at times I've driven myself a little crazy and it's even gotten ugly, but creating an environment that captivates what your heart loves and sharing it with others is one of the things I love most about making our house a home. From the meals we eat , activities we do, places we go and the memories we make, home is so important. I see these as opportunities like blank canvases to make our own story. To know, or find who you are, what you believe, create, and value, all starts at home. I hope that through this blog I can bring to life, well really 'web' those canvases and they can be a reflection of what I love and who we are.

 Making things out of colors that catch my eye or being inspired by others creativity is one thing I love, and feels rewarding when you have a vision come to life.

 

 I love the look of chiffon, it's delicate look makes me think of spring. 

                                       

Since I originally made these flowers to be worn in your hair or as
          a brooch, I wouldn't recommend your little one running around with them on their 
feet because of the exposed end of the alligator clip. You can choose to completely 
cover the alligator clip with ribbon, or use Velcro for a safer more comfortable
 wear. An added bonus with the Velcro is that the flowers can be interchangeable.

                     

                                                                                                     

I painted my girls toes for the first time today!

O.P.I.'s Pink Friday

My toes were already painted this color

so it seemed only fitting to match her's with mine:). I love how they turned out,  I kept finding myself trying to sneak a peek at them throughout the day only to grin at them. It's the perfect barley there soft ballerina color.