The Blessing Tree…..

After Easter was over and our Passion Tree was completed…I had another idea for the branches that we had used. I thought it would be fun to create a Blessing Tree.  I originally was on the lookout for an old, wooden violin case….let me know if you see any!…..to use for our ‘blessings’; but since I hadn’t found one that I really liked yet, I thought the branches from our Passion Tree would be great!

I wanted to create little cards or tags of fun little blessings….or things to do….or things to ponder and then have them in a convenient location in our home….So, each time someone comes over or visits they can pick one and take it with them.

I still want to use the old wooden violin case idea; but for now I think this is super fun!

Our Blessing Tree sits in the middle of our living room/entryway area…perfect for people to grab one as they go or come.

 I added some fun vintage French dictionary pages so it wouldn’t just have little tags hanging on it……and I’m always looking for excuses to use vintage book pages.

 For the summer I created a list of fun things to do….to slow people down…..things to be enjoyed or savored.  They are printed on vintage French sheet music……I’ve included those lists/printouts for you below in case you would like to create your own tree.  Feel free to print them out, cut them into little strips and put them or hang them somewhere neat in your home.

 We tell people there is only one rule…..you can’t read the strips of paper and pick out one.  You have to just pick one and be surprised! 🙂 No choosing.

Here is how we created our Blessing Tree:

{See our Passion Tree post for how to set up the branches}

1. Print out a fun list of things to do or ponder, or scripture, or encouraging words.

2.  Cut them into strips.

3. Punch small holes in one end…I used a teardrop hole punch for ours.

4. Using any kind of wire {or leftover Christmas ornament hooks} bend the wire into a hook to create a hanger for each strip.

5. Hang away…all over the branches!

Here are the two sheets of printouts that we used:

{You can enlarge or shrink them depending on your preference.}

{Click here or on image for printable}

{Click here or on the image for the printable}

 If you were picking a strip….which one of the above would you want to pick?

Blessings~

Sharing with:  Tip Junkie, Not JUST a Housewife,  Between Naps on the Porch, Thrifty Decor Chick, Funky Junk Interiors, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z,  a.k.a. Design, Serenity Now, Savvy Southern Style, My Romantic Home,Uncommon Designs

Friday Favorites……

For the weekend….

some of my favorites that I’ve come across lately.

I’m loving the wonderful spring weather we are having…

and I have a thing for nests!

Hot Cross Buns!

Fun printables for Easter gifts….

The wonderful spring wind….

Dying and decorating eggs….

I hope you weekend is full of springtime!

Irish Blessing {Free Printable}

We are still recuperating here…..

but I wanted to share this fun free printable

that I found…perfect for March.

It’s from The Girl Creative.

Click here to go to her site and download it for free.

Hope you have a super weekend~

Fun Valentine Ideas & Discoveries

I thought I’d share with you today some fun Valentine’s ideas

and inspiration that I’ve found lately.

{Click on the pictures to be taken to the source.}

I LOVE these printable stickers that you can

put on fruit and give as a fun, unique valentine!

This is a super fun printable…I might have to print this one out!

Love this idea of using paint chips for Valentine coupon books

or for fun bookmarks. I wonder if Lowe’s would notice if I took

oh, say, 40 or more red paint cards???

My kids used to do this each year….and would use them for their schoolwork, etc.

Some more fun printables……

My kind of Valentine table setting….love it!

Hope you have a super weekend~

Desktop Calendar {Free Printable}

I love that all of my calendar events sync between my devices….

It is so convenient and I am grateful to be able to be organized in that way.

BUT, I still like to write down with pen and paper what each day holds so I can scratch it out.

I love scratching things off my list!

In fact…..I completely scratch through something when it’s done…

so, nothing is left to see/read!

Ha!  I’m sure an analyst could have lots of fun with that!

So, at the beginning of each week I open up my techie devices and copy

what is in store for each day on a calendar on my desktop.

I love these non-dated large desktop calendars that only show one week at a time.

BUT, it started to get difficult to find them.  This year I couldn’t find one at all.

So, I made one.

And, I actually like it  better than the ones I use to buy.

It’s 11 x 17 and has 52 sheets….one for each week in the year.

I used a scan of a lovely vintage French postcard and made

columns for each day of the week….labeled at the top with the day.

Here it is for you if you would like to use it!

Just e-mail it to your favorite printer and have them print

color copies in the size that you wish……5 x 7, 8.5 x 11, 9 x 14, 11 x 17…

or whatever!  Be sure to tell them to ‘pad’ it……

to turn it into a pad for you.  That way you will have a pad of calendars pages…one for each week of the year; and you can just tear off each week as it is done.

{And scratched off! :)}

You can check out the room that this project came from here!

Blessings to your day~

Sharing this with:  Skip to My Lou, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Tip Junkie,Today’s Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife,  Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Whipperberry, The Idea Room,  Between Naps on the Porch, French Country Cottage, The Lettered Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, House of Hepworth’s, Remodelaholic, Funky Junk Interiors, At the Picket Fence, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Stuff and Nonsense, Common Ground,  DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z,  a.k.a. Design, Someday Crafts, Creations by Kara, Yesterday on Tuesday, Organize and Decorate Everything,  2805, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Craftomaniac, Carolyns Homework, Fireflies & Jellybeans, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Tatertots & Jello, Be Different Act Normal, I Heart Naptime

Russian Tea

Yesterday I delivered all the neighbor presents.  This year we made jars of Bay Leaves from our yard for everyone.

Each year I come up with a different idea for Handsome’s coworker presents; but each year

he comes home to let me know that everyone is expecting Russian Tea. ha!

If you haven’t ever had Russian Tea…it really is a treat;

and people love it as a present.

I like packaging it in these little 8 oz. mason jars…purchased from Target.

They are the perfect size to fill for gifts.

So, in case you need some last minute neighbor, teacher, friend, hostess, etc. gifts….

Here’s the super easy recipe:

2 cups orange Tang

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup Nestea {instant}

1 pkg. Lemon Twist {or Lemonade Koolaid}

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

Directions:  Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and store in an airtight container. If you cannot find instant Nestea..you can substitute any other instant tea….and if you cannot find Lemon Twist you can substitute one package of Lemonade Koolaid. You can also substitute Splenda for regular sugar if you need to due to health concerns, etc.

To make:  put 2-3 spoonfuls into 8 0z. of hot water and enjoy!

I made these little vintage paper tags to go on our gifts this year.

Here is the download if you would like to use it.  You can either sign it or upload it to Picnik and add your name to the picture.

Be sure to print it on cardstock.

I used Marcelle Script, in case you want to match the print.

Merry, Merry~

Sharing this recipe with:  Skip to My Lou, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Tip Junkie,Today’s Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Blackberry Vine, Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Whipperberry, The Idea Room,  Between Naps on the Porch, French Country Cottage, The Lettered Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, House of Hepworth’s, Remodelaholic, Funky Junk Interiors, At the Picket Fence, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Stuff and Nonsense, Common Ground, Somewhat Simple, DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z, Passionately Artistic, a.k.a. Design, Someday Crafts, Creations by Kara, Yesterday on Tuesday, Organize and Decorate Everything, The Inspired Room, 2805

Snowballs with No Snow!

My daughter & I had a fun time a couple of weeks ago making snowballs to use for decorations. I thought I would pass along the how-to.  We don’t get too much snow here in Eastern NC….so we decided we would just make our own. 🙂

These fun snowballs dry in 24 hours and you can use them anywhere you’d like….inside, outside, etc. {Make sure they are protected outside..they shouldn’t get wet.}

Here’s what you need:

1. Styrofoam balls in various sizes

2. Snow Tex {you can find this at Michael’s}

3.  String to use for hanging the balls on while they dry

3. Wire….to use as ‘hangers’ to hang your snowballs on the string

4. Some kind of spreader….a butter knife, spreader, etc….any will work.

Here’s how ya do it:

1. Hang your string somewhere OUTSIDE {it’s messy!}…enough that all your snowballs will be able to hang from it.

2. Insert a piece of wire through each styrofoam ball and bend it at the top to make a ‘hook’ that will hang on the string

3. Using the spreader…spread the Snow Tex all over each styrofoam ball until it is covered well.  Make sure you make it thick in some places and thin in others…to make it more realistic.

4.  Hang your finished snowball on the string and allow to dry for 24 hours before using them.

If you’d like to display as we did..in a basket or container….you can use our sign.  Just click here to download and print in whatever size you need.

Happy Tuesday~

Sharing with:  Skip to My Lou, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Tip Junkie,Today’s Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Blackberry Vine, Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Whipperberry, The Idea Room,  Between Naps on the Porch, French Country Cottage, The Lettered Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, House of Hepworth’s, Remodelaholic, Funky Junk Interiors, At the Picket Fence, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Stuff and Nonsense, Common Ground, Somewhat Simple, DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z, Passionately Artistic, a.k.a. Design, Someday Crafts, Creations by Kara, Yesterday on Tuesday, Organize and Decorate Everything, The Inspired Room, 2805

Thanksgiving Mantel……

It was fun to change out the mantel a bit for Thanksgiving.

We’ve only had this mantel for a few months….15 years of living in this house and we’ve never had a mantel!

So, it’s like a fun, new toy.

Here’s a peek at what it looks like right now…..

{Pictures in this room always look so dark…but, it’s not actually this dark in here. hmmmm……}

Here is the Thanksgiving Printable that I shared a couple of weeks ago.  You can print it out for free here.

The silver turkey that is holding it is actually a place card holder from Pottery Barn. {In stores only.}

Love this turkey that I found at Pottery Barn this year! 🙂

“Eucharisto” is the Greek word for ‘thanksgiving’……giving thanks to God.

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago when it was still 80 degrees outside…now that it has cooled off we have removed the books and been enjoying wonderful fires in the fireplace.  yay!  Fireplace fires are pure therapy.  The sounds. The smell. Soothes the soul.

So you have a mantel?  If you do….do you change it several times a year, or do you keep it the same year round?

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is just 9 days away!

I’m ready….

Thankful~

Sharing this with:  Skip to My Lou, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Tip Junkie,Today’s Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Blackberry Vine, Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Whipperberry, The Idea Room,  Between Naps on the Porch, French Country Cottage, The Lettered Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, House of Hepworth’s, Remodelaholic, Funky Junk Interiors, At the Picket Fence, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Stuff and Nonsense, Common Ground, Somewhat Simple, DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z, Passionately Artistic

Some Fun Thanksgiving Printables for You……

I found some fun Thanksgiving Printables around the great web….

thought I would share them with you.

Click on each picture for the source…and to be taken to where you can print them out!

{Don’t forget to head on over to Home Stories A to Z to enter our “Let it Snow” banner/pennant giveaway!

                                                                                                                                                         Source: blog.catchmyparty.com via Daune on Pinterest

                                                                                                                                                                    Source: iheartnaptime.net via Daune on Pinterest

                                                                                                                                                 Source: rebeccacooper.blogspot.com via Daune on Pinterest

                                                                                                                                                             Source: kindovermatter.com via Daune on Pinterest

                                                                                                                                                             Source: silverboxcreative.com via Daune on Pinterest

Happy Day~

Autumn Inspiration {Day 28} ::: Thanksgiving Printable

I found these wonderful silver {pewter?} turkeys at Pottery Barn not too long ago.

They were meant as place card holders…but I purchased just one and used it

on our Thanksgiving mantel to hold this card that I made last week:

Here is the PDF:

ThanksgivingPrint

Feel free to click on it and print it out to the size you wish and enjoy! If your computer shows it as a very small size…choose to print it at a larger percentage!

The weekend is almost here!

Linking this printable to:   Skip to My Lou, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Tip Junkie,Today’s Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Blackberry Vine, Blue Cricket Design, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Whipperberry, The Idea Room,  Between Naps on the Porch, French Country Cottage, The Lettered Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, House of Hepworth’s, Remodelaholic, Funky Junk Interiors, At the Picket Fence, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Stuff and Nonsense, Common Ground, Somewhat Simple, DIY Showoff, Home Stories A to Z, Passionately Artistic