Love Is In The Air

A few weeks ago, Stephanie, the Community Coordinator from Bloom Nation contacted me about writing a post about the different ways we celebrate love, especially on the ordinary days, as opposed to holidays, birthdays, etc. Have you heard of Bloom Nation? I hadn’t. They support local communities by partnering with independent florists and showcase their handcrafted arrangements in their marketplace. What a cool idea!!  This is actually a concept I know very well! It’s something I’ve adopted in my own life for quite a few years. You’d be amazed how even  little  30 second effort can brighten an otherwise mundane or stressful day.

When we were dating, and working conflicting hours, the romance seemed lacking and I gently suggested to my Sweetie that he didn’t have to make grand gestures all the time, but a little note here and there would really help us feel more connected while we were both working. Even a short note on a piece of scratch paper would work. It helped that we worked at a Christian Conference Center and could drop off notes easily. And I worked at the Registration Desk which ALWAYS had scratch paper available. AND, Pass It On cards were hugely popular at the time. Ever since then, we leave little notes for each other regularly. Of course there are dry times, but we always pick it up again. I pick up cute Post Its when I see them and they work great for a simple “I Love You” on the bathroom mirror or kitchen counter/cabinet as a surprise in the morning. Or his lunch box. The same with these pretty, already written notes from a notepad I bought a while back. Last weekend our church had a couples dinner and gave us 3×5 cards to write notes on for our sweeties. Several years ago I bought a little valentine mailbox and we started using it to leave little notes or pustichalks (just a little something), a term we learned from our Russian family members. This year we received this adorable mailbox from my husband’s wonderful cousin as the gift box! Perfect for this gingerbread lover. So this is our new giftie mailbox. And bonus, it’s bigger, so we won’t have to leave bigger things next to it instead of inside. 🙂

Of course, we still love to celebrate the regular stuff, like our anniversary this Sunday! And who doesn’t like getting flowers for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and just to show you care?! Sometimes we give flowers, and sometimes we do other things for each other. Sometimes we watch a special movie, go to a favorite location, have a special meal, anything that means something to us. For example, for our Irish related anniversary, we might eat Shepherd’s Pie and Soda Bread, watch something Irish related or honeymoon related like Ever After because we watched it on our honeymoon, listen to Irish music, watch or perform Irish dancing, you get the idea. Or watch our wedding video or peruse our wedding album. And enjoy the shamrock plant from our reception that was a table centerpiece. The main thing is, we like celebrating each other and people in general. Relationships are precious and special, so we like to celebrate that in little ways as well as big ways.

And I love Irish Belles, usually found at Trader Joe’s these days.

Because flowers ARE pretty and cheerful!

We apply this same idea when remember those that aren’t with us anymore. By doing an activity that reminds us of them. I drink black cherry Pop Shoppe Pop when I’m thinking about my dad. And I think of him when I have non-chocolate cake, because we were the only two family members, including all relatives, who didn’t choose chocolate for our birthdays. And sports always make me think of him and all of the different games we went to with my brothers, because I didn’t have a sister until I was 9, and she was a baby! My dad and I had a lot in common, including personalities. 🙂

***** All of these months later I’m finally finishing this post after many health struggles, family emergencies, travels and stress! ****

I have a couple of little girls in my life and we like to connect by crafting and drinking tea together. Quality time spent chatting while doing things we love! Quality time is actually one of my Love Languages.  I often deliver flowers to one of the girl’s friends/neighbors on May Day that I’ve bought or we’ve made together. She loves it! 🙂

When we remember and celebrate our Chelsie we like to look at her photos, say her favorite phrases, listen to her favorite song (Diving In by Steven Curtis Chapman), set up the train, watch Mary Poppins or The Gnome Mobile because she looked like Karen Dotrice, etc.

All of these probably reveal my love of themes! 🙂

A few other things we’ve done are kissing and saying I love you when we part, having a date most weeks, texting as a way to check in and stay connected during the day (including fun emojis the other might like 🙂 ) and just trying to be conscious of being considerate to each other. Helping each other out when needed, or anticipating needs are some of the best ways of showing someone you care, in the most important ways.

The BEST way to let someone you love them? Show them you care about their needs, thoughts and lives. Throwing in a card, flowers or a gift are just the icing on the cake. The Lord really wants us most of all, to show we care though our actions! 🙂

How do you show people in your life that you care?

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Lucy and Nora’s Dollhouse

 

 

A few weeks ago we saw JJ Heller for the first time!!!! Whee!!!! Have you heard of her? She’s fabulous!  We both LOVE Dave and JJ Heller, so we were pretty excited!

 

 

They DID NOT disappoint! 🙂

 

 

And during the meet and greet? They made each and every one of us feel like we were their friend! You can discover JJ Heller HERE ,HERE and HERE.

 

About a week before, I decided to make a dollhouse for their ADORABLE little girls, Lucy and Nora, as a way to bless their family in return for all of the blessings they’ve given us. Hurry, hurry! So it was a bit of a rush job, but I did it! Then, two days before, my Sweetie pointed out that they may not be able to get it home. And I realized he might be right now that they live in Nashville and probably flew. 😦 I plugged away at it anyway, wrote her a message and took it along…just in case.

 

Lucy:

 

 

Nora:

 

 

Aren’t their names adorable too?

 

So I made them a house. And when we met Dave and JJ after the event, I told them about it, presented the issue I hadn’t thought of, and…she said, “We’ll figure it out!” Yipee! Two things going through my head here: They’re as excited as I am about it, and good, because I forgot to bring Finger Puppet Stages as a backup. So I sent my Sweetie to the car to retrieve the house and the look in their eyes when they saw it made all of the rushing around to finish worth it!! 🙂

 

So…here’s the house. I forgot to take a photo of the entire house, but here are the individual rooms.

The Bedroom:

 

 

 

A dresser made out of mini nerds boxes and flower thumbtacks, The dresses the dolls came in on hangers from a Dollar Tree pack that included the doll, bed, desk, stool and nightstand. The guitar, perfect for this family, and bear are party favors from DT. The drum is an ornament and I crocheted the blanket for the bed.

 

 

I straightened out a a paperclip and stuck it into the cardboard as a rod for the hangers. The Micky and Minnie artwork came from a Valentine box. 🙂

 

The Bathroom:

 

 

 

Here’s one of the dolls. I took off the cheap, plastic dresses (but I’ve learned that the girls want them anyway) and made new dresses out of ribbon trim and lace. The dressing table, hair dryer and perfume bottles came in the pack from DT. The sink is a pizza riser, juice cap and a bit of pipe cleaner as the faucet. The bathtub is the container from fake Dippin’ Dots.

 

A scrapbooking sticker becomes another piece of art.

Aren’t these dolls adorable?

 

 

The Living Room:

 

 

 

 

An H for Heller! A mini paper umbrella becomes an overhead light. I made a davenport from jewelry boxes and contact paper. A floor lamp from a spool, wasshi tape, paper, a Que tip, mini cupcake liner and flower thumbtack. The other doll, a coaster as a rug and an entertainment center,grandfather clock, baby carriage, baby, baby bottles and rattle from  DT packs. I made a tiny dress out of ribbon with elastic along the side, which is now the top of the dress.

 

 

 

The Kitchen:

 

 

More of that contact paper, an apron made from fabric backed with Heat ‘n Bond and hung on a thumbtack. The table is made from a spool covered in washi tape with a thrift store coaster glued on top. Plates and butter churn(used to me part of party favors) and chairs from DT packs.The cake is two lids glued together with a fabric flower glued on top. The stove is made from a small gift box, stickers I cut down and Velcro circle stickers. The fridge is another small box with food stickers inside. And this time I made a MAILBOX!! I’m super happy with the way it turned out! It’s scrapbook paper and glue posted on a small box covered in contact paper. Then I made letters out of textured scrapbook paper.

 

 

 

The Mailbox:

 

 

 

 

The Patio “Stuff”:

 

An umbrella table from a Kuerig cup (with the top cut off, coffee emptied, cleaned and top put back on), a pool made out of plastic bracelets and scrapbook covered cardboard and a fire pit with sparkly pipe cleaner and twig bits.

 

 

A tire swing from popsicle sticks and a tire themed yoyo, a cupcake topper turned giraffe toy and a yogurt spoon turned shovel.

 

 

 

And a condiment cup becomes a toy box with more DT favors.

And here’s the outside:

 

 

The patio folds up and latches at the top for storage and transport. Here’s the front door and the scalloped roof.

 

 

 

I cut trees from scrapbook paper and glued them to the walls. Then added this cute owl. 🙂

 

 

So, there you have it. An adorable dollhouse for two adorable girls!! 🙂

You can also see Evie’s and Abby’s Dollhouses!

 

 

 

Abby’s Shoebox Dollhouse

I finished another Shoebox Dollhouse for another young friend! And I’m already halfway finished with my third. It’s getting faster and easier as the routine is built and the supplies are gathered! 🙂

Above is the Bedroom for the kids. The parents don’t get one. Haha! Of course, there are only kid dolls anyway. 🙂

Here’s the happy girl with the entire house in my fuzzy Instagram photo. I think this is the only photo that shows the American flag flying. See it on her cheek?

The Bedroom:

I had a few pieces of furniture I had gathered from somewhere, including a toy box, so they moved in. Little baby doll, a “stuffed” bear and carriage(with a little mattress I made) are party favors from Dollar Tree. A gumball machine my Sweetie found for free at a garage sale. A sticker for a mirror, a crocheted blanket and sewn pillow and a matchbook dresser with flower thumbtacks from Daiso backed with little beads to cover the point. A sweet doll completes the look, with her fabric dress I made from pretty trim and lace to replace the ugly, plastic one she came with.

I used scrapbook paper and wrapping paper for the wallpapers and floors. I love the little hat that was on some clearance cupcakes at our grocery store. a couple of years ago. I bought them for the hats!! 🙂

Mickey and Minnie from a valentine heart box, and a clothesline holding dresses I cut from fabric after adhering them to heat and bond so they won’t fray. They’re hanging from little hangers I made from paperclips. And a paper umbrella is the light fixture.

The guitar is another Dollar Tree item and the lamp is from a furniture pack (which also included the doll) I found there, after the plans were already in motion for her house.

Here’s the Bathroom: A toilet made from an aloe vera bottle top, glued to a juice top, I think. I save all tops these days, so who knows? The rug is a coaster, the sink is a top glued to a pizza riser, and a faucet fashioned from a pipe cleaner. Another sticker mirror and a cram cheese container covered in washi tape for a bathtub. Also another paper umbrella as a light fixture. Stickers for artwork and I needed to build a shelf out of a jewelry box for a hair dryer, mirror and spray bottle from that furniture pack again.

Here’s the Living Room:

My little lamp made from a mini cupcake paper and Q-tip and flower thumbtack, sitting on a Dixie cup and cardboard circle. Another coaster rug, a chair made from a box cut in half and glued together and a nut cup is a stool. A grandfather clock and another bookshelf holding pretty perfume bottles and a mini frame holding a “Frozen” picture becomes a TV. 🙂

A mini frame from the craft store with a bumblebee sticker as the artwork.

And the Kitchen:

I forgot to take a photo of the entire room, ack! A sample cup from Hot Dog on a Stick becomes the base for the table, with a cardboard circle covered in washi tape for the top. Mini frisbee party favors become plates. This also highlights the Animal Cookie Circus cages on her patio. 🙂

An apron, broom and butter churn (really a ball catcher turned upside down). A hutch and one of the clothespin dolls I made before I found the other dolls.

A stove with Velcro circle burners and a fun fridge and cake made from more tops.

The stove and fridge are boxes covered with paper. I made the oven door with stickers and cut a door for the fridge, using pins I cut and bent away the sharp edges for the handles.

A few years ago, our VBS theme was camping and I created a “firepit” for my classroom. I recreated that in mini form here, with twigs, sparkly sequins and pipe cleaners hiding underneath.

What do you think of my tire swing and swing set sitting on the walkway here? A Yo-yo is the swing and Popsicle sticks with notches make the set. I thought I would need to hang the swing in front of the kitchen, until the last second when I finally came up with this idea!! YAY!!! 🙂

Plastic bracelets make a pool and a spool, a Q-tip and umbrella provide some shade.

Annnnnd…the outer walls:

The patio folds up and closes the house for transport. This box didn’t have an attached lid, so I masking taped a large piece of cardboard to the main box. It works as a great hinge. I cut the window, trees and flowers from scrapbook paper. Originally I thought I found the perfect box, that even had the mom’s name on it, but it was too beat up, so I did this instead. 🙂

The front door.

The clasps.

When I saw this paper at our craft store at 10 for $1, I immediately thought…ROOF!!!

She’s a happy girl, with hours of play time ahead!! 🙂

And here’s the First House I made!

Our Irish Party

Ack! I’m finally sharing about our Irish party with our friends! I started it days ago, but kept getting interrupted by more urgent things. Anyway, here it is!

We have some friends that love to celebrate the Irish culture like we do, so we sometimes have get-togethers in March and mix the American with the Irish cultures.

So here’s our serving table with drinks, dessert and the food I forgot to photograph as I was hostessing. My mother-in-law brought some green carnations for the table. We had Bewley’s tea (my favorite tea!) in our Carrigaline shamrock tea cups, punch made from rainbow sherbet and 7up for an American touch, Shepherd’s Pie, Steamed Cabbage and White and Brown Soda Bread, served with Dubliner cheese.

For dessert we had a field of shamrock cookies and some rainbow cupcakes. All yummy!!!! 🙂

And here’s our table, festive and fun!

Some of the decorations:

Gnomes, mushrooms and egg cups as tea lights.

Shamrock and flower plants and this adorable painted rock my Sweetie found for my anniversary gift!

I made this table cloth several years ago, and collected the napkins from somewhere?

We had loads of fun eating, visiting and listening to Van Morrison and The Chieftains. The girls were even surprised to hear they ate Brussels sprouts sneaked into the gravy of the shepherd’s pie…and didn’t hate it!!! 🙂

The girls spent hours in the Bear House and Secret Garden, on the swing and saying hello to the horses next door. The adults spent that time catching up, visiting, eating and cleaning up.

And HERE are the recipes if you’re interested!! 🙂

Brownie Shortcake

Last weekend I made an early Valentine celebration dessert since we’ll be at a wedding on Valentine’s Day. Let me say, a wedding is going to be a fun way to celebrate!! 🙂

I didn’t make anything heart shaped or dyed red or pink. I just made some brownies, topped them with sliced strawberries and finished it all off with whipped cream. This is now a new favorite dessert!! There’s something so refreshing about this lighter dessert. The yummy chocolaty-ness paired with the fresh strawberries and sweet whipped cream.  It’s the perfect combination! I was dreaming of another bite! 🙂

Brownie Shortcake

Ingredients:

*Brownies baked to your liking

*Strawberries, sliced and mixed with a bit of sugar to create a syrup (you could skip this step if your berries are super ripe)

Whipping cream, whipped with a bit of sugar (or not). I like to over whip my cream a bit as it holds up better and is more luxurious).

*Layer and enjoy! My Sweetie LOVED it!!

Always perfect with a cup of tea!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Spend some time with your Sweetie, and your little sweeties too! 🙂

Evie’s Bootbox Dollhouse

We don’t do much shopping on Black Friday anymore, as the deals aren’t as great and too many stores have tried to take over family time on Thanksgiving, just as they’ve done on Sundays. But there are a few things I shop for on that day, and after a few years of searching, I FINALLY found a new pair of boots to replace my worn out old ones I’d had for longer than I should have. I knew I needed new ones, but it was hard to find what I wanted, and in my size. So many brands of shoes do NOT make my size…ugh! Any way, I finally found a pair and I love them!

Here’s comes the real reason for this post though. You don’t want a big, long post about my boots, right?! 🙂

Before I throw out things like shoe boxes, I try to decide if there is any reason to keep them, like for storage maybe. So I let it sit as I pondered. (I love words like ponder)! A couple of weeks later I had the idea of making a dollhouse with it for a special 7 year old in my life for Christmas. It sounded like so much fun I couldn’t wait to start brainstorming and collecting items I could turn into furniture and such!! I won’t tell you how many nights I was up too late because I just couldn’t stop working yet. I was having too much fun! 🙂

So I’ll try to share with you all of the details of how I made everything and created this adorable Bootbox Dollhouse that was a hit!

Here are the basics. Because it was a nice large box, I was able to create four rooms and a pretty front yard with the attached lid.

The front of the house with a front door:

And a bonus dollie for her:

She likes toadstools just like me, so I covered her house with this scrapbook paper.

The back of the house:

The side:

And I made a clasp with these pretty flowered thumbtacks I found at a Japanese store in LA and a hair band so she can close up the house:

The yard:

With flower gardens, grass and a path…

A shady umbrella, a pool and a kitty cat..

I made the pool from an idea I found online out of four plastic bracelets with some cardboard and paper glued to the bottom.

And a baby carriage from the Dollar Tree. I also cut the “stem” off of a cupcake pick or something from there to use as a toy teddy bear and threw in a horse.

The kid’s room…

Plastic bottle lid (I saved a lot of these) as a toy holder with baby bottles, a butterfly and a rocking horse. All party favors from Dollar Tree.

A matchbook dresser covered with washi tape and those same tacks as drawer pulls. I glued beads to the other ends to cover the sharp points.

I didn’t take a photo of it, but I made a mattress out of a foam piece mailed with something, and covered it with a piece of stretchy fabric.

Furniture from DT and embellished with washi tape. I crocheted a little blanket for the bed and decorated the wall with some clearance flowers from Michael’s I had. Then I threaded a string through two pom poms, made a tiny loop and hung them with a cut off sewing pin.

I used a little crocheted throw rug and hung two hats that like to fall down, on more flowered tacks I poked through four tiny squares of cardboard and super glued to the wall. The girl’s hat is from clearance cupcakes I bought just for the hats! The boy’s were found by my Sweetie somewhere.

The hat hooks. And I call this little bear a balloon!

The bathroom:

I adore the floor in this room! I glued an aloe vera lid to a white lid to create the toilet, a pizza box spacer with a lid glued to the top for a sink (need to add the faucet I noticed after I gave it to her), a frame sticker for a mirror, another Chinese umbrella for a decoration and a raised yogurt lid glued to a cupcake paper for a bathtub.

I poked a flowered tack through the center of a miniature cupcake liner, attached a string and used my same trick to glue it to the ceiling.

The living room:

A cute washi tape bunting adorns this room. 🙂

Another matchbook dresser, a chair made from a jewelry box, a twig heart from my stash and a frame sticker with Elsa added. (Anna’s my favorite, but Elsa’s my buddy’s).

The lamp was both challenging and fun. It’s probably my favorite of everything I made!

A flowered tack through another mini cupcake liner, poked into the end of a q-tip, with the other end poked into the rubber base and a cardboard square base is glued on so it stands.

The chair is a nut cup glued to lid that is decorated with more washi tape. Washi tape is your friend! 🙂

I created shelves out a of one half of a jewelry box and a couple of cardboard pieces. And my husband brought home two mini frames free from a garage sale. One of these, plus another picture from a Frozen tag became a TV. I wasn’t planning on including a TV, but when I saw the frame, it was too perfect!

The Kitchen:

More Dollar Tree furniture decorated with washi tape and a paper doily tablecloth. A brrom in the corner from an old dollhouse stash I found recently. Another sink. A fridge made from jewelry boxes and cardboard, with food stickers glued inside and a stove made from a box covered in paper, with  sticky velcro circles as the burners. Another internet idea. ( I discovered some ideas when I was nearly finished implementing my own ideas). 🙂

I made a cake by gluing two different sized lids together, then gluing some mini pom poms on top. And fused the apron fabric to another piece of fabric so it wouldn’t fray, then cut it out and hung it.

I had SO much FUN working on this and figuring things out! SO FUN!!

Now my 8 year old buddy wants one, so I’m on a search for another bootbox…and the wheels are turning…

Dollhouse Preview

Okay, it seems like it’s taking me nearly as long to edit the photos as it did to make this sweet dollhouse for my little 7 year old buddy for Christmas. Not really, but longer than expected, so here’s a bit of a preview for you!  I’ll try to get them finished, posted and all of the little details for you real soon. 🙂

This was one of the most fun projects I’ve ever made!

I Believe God is My Healer

I LOVE this Pooh and Piglet view I took of the unsuspecting granddaughter with her Poppie!!

Listening to Kari Jobe today, I came across this song that has been a big part of my healing over the past couple of years. I am so thankful that God is my healer and He is helping me move on from losing our precious daughter…finally. I mourned, hard, for ten years, before I finally, really began to heal, thanks to a few different things. You can read more HERE and HERE. As she turned 17 two days ago, we have hope that it won’t be long before she’ll have the choice on whether she wishes to see us…or not. But it definitely helps, along with these other things pushing me through life.

I cry a little less, enjoy the memories a little more and have been able to separate my desire to see her again with my desire to welcome another child into our lives.  For a long time I wasn’t sure if I just wanted our darling girl back or still wanted a child in general. And I think I made her memory more important in my life than anyone else, including Christ.

This song is a constant reminder running through my head of where my focus needs to be and who it she be directed to!

You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
and heal all my disease
I trust in You
I trust in You

CHORUS:
I believe You’re my healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe
I believe You’re my portion
I believe You’re more than enough for me
Jesus, You’re all I need

BRIDGE:
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible
Nothing is impossible for You
You hold my world in Your hands
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible
Nothing is impossible for You
You hold my world in Your hands

Fun and Unique Gift “Bows” DIY

Last year I found a super fun idea for the “bows” on our Christmas gifts! I love doing something different and unique, and I even changed my “bows” from the original idea I found. It takes some work to find the miniatures for this project, but I was able to find enough variety by going through my house, Christmas stash and finding a few in stores. I LOVED making these, and the result!!!

So adorable! And I hung the tags from this one. :>

I like cute and different paper too!

I also used some other creative cuties for my cousin-in-law: a felt acorn, holly branch and cute tags made from the paper. :>

This box always makes me smile!

I just hot glued each decoration onto a clothespin and decorated packages, so easy and fast!!

I went completely out of the box for this one: simple and cute, and smudged, ugh!

Here’s my cousin-in-law’s adorable gift to me. She knows of my love for all things GINGERBREAD!! And those ice skates…how adorable!

Fun gifts under the tree!

Our tree!

**Here’s where I found the original idea I modified: Creature Comforts**

Do you have some fun and unique packaging ideas? Happy crafting!!

Coupon Code

Oops! I completely forgot to give you the coupon code for FREE SHIPPING! So I’m extending the sale through Tuesday with code: CYBERMONDAY2014

Pop on over to the SHOP and start perusing now!!!

Don’t you just love these Finger Puppeteer Stages? :>

Happy Tuesday!!