A New Addition

 Exciting times for our family!

Dollar Store Craft Challenge - Welcome our New Neighbor

Many of my followers know we have a favorite neighbor, Emery.  Well, Emery just welcomed  a new baby brother! 

Do you love me this much?

This post is about a very sentimental gift.  We've known this sweet girl since she was two and she has been special to us ever since.

Garden Guest: Baby Robins 2017

The north side of our front yard is a certified  National Wildlife Federation Backyard Habitat.  Really!  We have a certificate!  You can do the same by providing food, water, cover and places for wildlife to raise their young.  It is so much fun to see all of the critters that stop by for a visit.  I have a series of posts to show you our Garden Guests.

If you would like to see more posts like this one, please hop over to my Garden Page.

These cuties are just about ready to fly.  

Their parents built the nest in our Southern Magnolia tree.  You can see the large waxy leaves provide nice cover.

I love the little puffs of down on top of their heads!

'So sweet!

What's happening in your back yard?

;-)  -Marci

Woodland Baby Banner for Baby Shower

Work is still crazy busy, so I haven't had much time for new projects much less writing posts about them.  It's a good thing I haven't published all my projects from the Baby Shower we hosted way back in January!  ;-)  

Here are some of my previous baby shower related posts:

Ten Steps to Hosting a Stress Free Baby Shower

Woodland Babies Centerpiece Tutorial

Cheesecake Bar

Aunt Margie's Punch Recipe

The Big Day

We had such a fun day!  What do you enjoy most at baby showers?

This simple banner came together so quickly.

The adorable card stock animals and mushrooms were snipped from the leftover invitations.



I also used the same sweet felt woodland babies from  The Centerpiece and threaded both onto raffia.  The white spacers are cotton balls.  

As guests arrived, they were given pretty little shapes of paper and asked to write advice or encouragement to the Mommy-to-Be.

Then they hung their note on the banner with a striped paper clip.

It made for a sweet activity and a cute backdrop!

After the shower, we gathered the notes into a small basket.  All those sentiments are still being cherished by our beautiful guest of honor!



What advice do you like to give new parents?

;-)  -Marci

The Big Day

Ya know all those baby shower posts I've been publishing?

Well, guess who's here!

Isn't he just perfect!

Welcome, Little One!  We are so happy to meet you!

;-)  -Marci

Woodland Babies Centerpiece Tutorial

This little twig bouquet was the centerpiece for a baby shower we hosted in January.  The theme was woodland babies.  Would you like to see how I arranged it?

Here's the tutorial.  ;-)

Of course it begins with a vase.  You can see this one is 10 inches tall.  For this type of arrangement, I prefer to work with containers that have a narrow neck. 

Baby showers should be colorful, right?  ;-)  I added mult-color glass beads for weight as well as holding stems in place.  (No water will be needed.)  Beads don't work well for soft stems, but the twigs will be OK.  It will require a bit of twisting back and forth as the branches are pushed into the beads.

A good rule of thumb for height proportion is keeping the finished bouquet above the container between one and two times as tall as the vase.  So, with the vase at 10 inches, my finished arrangement should be 20 to 30 inches tall.

We recently had some lower limbs removed from a grand old oak tree in our front yard.  I snipped these twigs from it. and then spread them across our sidewalk to see the shapes.  I left a few leaves here and there. 

Using the curved ones first, I begin working.  Three are pushed down into the glass beads, equal distance apart around the vase with stems crossed.  

Three more are pressed into the glass beads equal distance apart with stems crossed.  Repeat until full.  ;-)  As I get closer to the center, I use the straighter twigs.

Once the bouquet was this big, I did some snipping and trimming, just to even the sides a bit.  The wind is blowing the leaves.  ;-)  Now for the fun part!

How cute are hedgehogs?!  I purchased these felt ornaments the second I saw them.

Woodland babies were snuggled here and there using a small loop of raffia pinned on the back.

A few things were added to complete the centerpiece.  The evergreens shrubs are small pots of rosemary.  The touch of lace is a crocheted collar that belonged to my daughter when she was a baby.   I also added a ceramic fawn and a huge acorn.

A large chopping block added some height.

Here's my centerpiece and all the tasty treats!



Previous baby shower posts:

Ten Steps to Hosting a Stress Free Baby Shower

Cheesecake Bar

Aunt Margie's Punch Recipe

We had such a fun day!  What do you enjoy most at baby showers?

;-)  -Marci

Napping with Grandad

 

 

;-)  -Marci

Super Model in a Tu Tu

 

You've seen my Tu Tu Tutorial.  I also wrote a post about Rumple Free Tu Tu Gift Wrap.

 

Take a look at this Super Model in one of my designs!  Can you see her little toes?

The black and yellow Tu Tu was made just for her before she was even born!

This adorable sunflower is our neighbor.  Look at that smile!

A little ray of sunshine!

;-)  -Marci

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Three Dollar Makeover

Our small town in Arkansas recently had their city-wide yard sale!  We were so excited to see what everyone was selling!  The deal of the day was this swing for only $3.00!!

 

 

 

Granted, the cover did need a little updating.  (Can you tell it had rained all day?)

 

 

  

There was fabric left over from the Bassinet Cover and from these curtains.  That's free fabric, right?  Right!  So, I got to work!  The old seat cover was used as a pattern.  Before long, a new one was ready to go!





Now for the REAL test.  Will Wee Fashionista like it?

 

 

Yep!  She loves her "new" swing and it meets her brother's approval, too!

 

What bargains have you been re-vamping?  I'd love to hear about them!

 

;-)  -Marci