Mar 22 2008
Happy Spring! Happy Easter!
Happy Happy Hippity Hoppity!
Tag Archive 'Easter'
Mar 20 2008
Show and Share Thursday: Vera Bradley…an Addiction
Hello, my name is Michaele, and I’m an addict. A Vera Bradley Addict.
What’s surprising is that I wasn’t aware of the extent of my addiction until today, as I went through the hutch in our dining room to find Easter-ish or Spring-ish place mats or tablecloths for this weekend.
I kept pulling out set after set of VB place mats and realized that there were still *more* sets packed away with the Christmas decor! In fact, the photos I’m sharing today don’t include my VB tablecloths, napkins, table runners, purses/handbags, or clothing items… and the sets shown above aren’t ALL, since I’m using several sets in our barrister bookcases and throughout the living room and kitchen for spring accents:
I’m guessing my love of Vera Bradley table decor is linked to my love for quilts- each of these place mats are quilted with a coordinating fabric on the back. I’m always on the look-out for retired patterns and colors on Ebay, Petit Point, Black Walnut, and Maison Blue especially:
What’s not to love? They’re machine washable, patterned enough to hide a small stain here or there, and instantly dress up a table or other surface beautifully. With a toddler and busy family, EASE and FUNCTIONALITY are essentials in our home, but in case you were wondering, no, I simply cannot resist PRETTINESS.
No, no, I’m NOT a Vera Bradley salesperson or store representative- though I wish I were if it would get me a discount on the new line of RUGS available online! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
If you’d like something a bit more romantic, “foofy” even for table decor, try April Cornell, another favorite of mine!
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Easter/Spring Projects:
~Kelli at There’s No Place Like Home has made some beautiful egg-shaped pocket cards and walks you through, step by step…
~ Lisa at Celebrate Creativity in All its Forms shows us how to decorate a new vase, just in time for those spring bouquets, though I think I’ll use her techniques and advice on a few storage containers I’ve been saving up lately for my desk…
~ Terry at Bent Objects expresses some Easter humor with a chocolate bunny, some raisins and Raisinets, a nice change from the deluge of Peep dioramas that many others have produced this year…
~ Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen tells us how to make perfect hard boiled eggs (still on my to-do list for today!)
~ Angry Chicken shares a recipe for birds’ nests (edible!) that kindergarten teachers, their students and families are sure to enjoy!
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Recent Blog Discoveries:
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I forgot to mention that while I was playing with Scrabble tiles and tongue-twisters the other day, I also made a Scrabble rack to go with my Easter decor in the epergne:
Happy Spring!
Mar 10 2008
Buttons Bunnies and Carrots…
… on a wreath! Apparently the sugar rush experienced after my earlier Rocky Road indulgence provoked a crafting urge. Should I list it on Ebay?
It’s those felt bunnies and carrots I made a while back, along with some fabric left over from my heart wreath. Wreath form, tulle cut into strips…
But who wants to see a plain ol’ brown wreath form? I wrapped it with muslin…
…and *then* added the tulle and fabric strips!
Bunny, bunny, where to put the bunny…
Hey, buttons!
Add a strip of fabric for hanging, and…
Ta Da!
Plain. Simple. Cute.
Feb 28 2008
Simple Spring Centerpiece
This is probably the simplest dining room table centerpiece yet (at least for me!), and all it took was:
1 basket
1 pip berry wreath (light lavender, purple, and white berries)
1 length of recycled lace (this came off of the skirt of a well-loved dress)
1 bunny figurine
Could it get any cuter?
By the way, I’d love some ideas for the lace… it’s not sewn, glued, or tacked in any way (I have about three yards of it), and I’d love to be able to use it, see it, daily. Suggestions and inspiration are most appreciated- thanks!
Feb 27 2008
Left You Hanging
Apologies! I showed you all of those bunnies, eggs and other spring decorations piled on top of my kitchen counter, wondered where I’d end up putting them, and then… left you hanging! A little bit today, a little bit tomorrow, how about that?
You know I enjoy vignettes:
Some of you have wondered about my blog’s new banner (those of you reading me in an RSS feed might want to take a peek just once to see the pretty photo I put up at the blog site itself), so here’s where the photographs were taken:
I hope you enjoyed the peek at my spring decor- I’ll have the simplest table centerpiece for you tomorrow, but I’ll give you one element of it now- lace salvaged from one of my “fairy tale dress up day” outfits- no longer worn…but still put to good use:
Oh yes, I’m happy that at least here at home (indoors), SPRING HAS SPRUNG!
Feb 22 2008
I’m Wondering
… why husbands and children don’t close what they’ve opened. Closet doors, dresser drawers, kitchen cabinets…
… why as I get older, inconveniences come in threes: fungal nail infection, bronchitis, allergies… boom (gross), boom (cough/hack), boom (sneeze).
… which Master’s Degree Program I should look into once we are finally relocated. Curriculum and Instruction (will I get to implement something non-scripted?), School Administration (not only no but heck no), Early Childhood Education, Child Psychology, or Advanced Glitter-and-Glue Applications?
… if there’s anything better than a duckie blankie on a chilly morning during cartoon time? (Special thanks to Rissa!)
… which wreath to make next (Easter? Patriotic? Floral?)…
… how many parents of students in the Bordertown really read the school district’s “report card” info, considering it’s a document of 400+ pages. I certainly found Daughter’s school info, and knew enough to shudder at what it did and *did not* report. I haven’t heard any other parents asking things like “how, when the school’s scores have dropped two to twenty percent in writing, math and science from 2005-2006, does this school earn a rating of ‘academically acceptable’?”
…where all of these bunnies and eggs will go…
