Baby's room button tree

These trees are quite addicting!

This gift is a little more subdued than my 1st button tree, though it still says girl, maybe she'll still want to hang this in her room when she's a teen :)

Seasonal Button Trees

A sale on buttons + a sale on canvas = a great teacher gift idea!

Since the swirly button tree I've had the idea of making a teacher gift she could use in the classroom or split up with her assistant and they each get a set.  These two ladies that taught the 3yr old preschool class at our church have had both of my boys and I can never thank them enough for the loving guidence they have provided! 

Gavin was so shy and had speach concerns but by the end of preschool he actually sang his first song all on his own one morning while lying in bed with me, Open my Eyes Lord, it was such a special moment I'll never forget!  And this year Carter has retained so much information he's able to say the Our Father with us at church and sang the song Emaculate Mary he learned at school so perfectly for my Mom, which is her favorite song, that I'll never forget that moment either!

Just hoping to give them something that won't be a dust collector, won't be used and forgotten and everytime they see it they'll think of the boys and smile.

Each boy had their hand in creating the trees, though Carter sat the longest so I only got a photo of him :)

Winter/ Spring

Summer/Autumn

Carter's Farm Party

I have a feeling that the these crepe paper party favors are the only orange this part of the garden will be seeing.  Fingers crossed for real carrots this summer, probably won't grow too straight with the stony soil that's there but one can hope, right!

Thank you to the Martha Stewart website for this awesome idea!  And to Party City for the 10cents candy to stuff it with!  Inexpensive cuteness is always great!

 

Last Friday and Saturday I was all party mode, from the printouts for the plastic ware to the decorations for the house and cake.

These tootsie roll fence posts came out better than I thought they would.  Gotta love when you have an idea and it actually works!

Then it was off to make the 'sheep' for the sheep herding game..

... and to decorate the house so it screamed birthday party!

As I was capturing memories of this sign I noticed the view out the front window

And what peace it brought me, not just the serenity of the view but the fact the boys sat on the porch and watch Mr. Francis bundle the hay so I was able get things done without being sidetracked!

I was able to get a picture of him and use that too to decorate for the party, but this is one decoration that will stay in it's frame and not go into storage.

I was glad my last minute barn cake came out pretty decent.  I spent so much time making all the different cupcakes that I hadn't given thought to the cake for the adults besides the fence that went around the sides. 

Carter also had a great birthday photo shoot so I couldn't help resist putting some of those photos out either!

And it worked out great that his pre-school just finished a barnyard theme week so I had tons of artwork to decorate the house with too.

Here are some sheep herders trying to get their sheep back in the barn.

But of course I didn't pre-plan for the sheep to start popping 10 seconds into the game :)  If you try this, make sure to blow up alot of sheep!

And I had found a weighted chicken balloon at Party City that was a big hit.  Carter enjoyed taking it for a walk around the yard and the girls at the party were so nice to make sure it was safe.  It's lasted 3 days now and I have to say that I kind of like the extra company meandering around the house, reminds me of when we had a dog :)

Then there was a hayride by the farm down the street that had the breeze we all needed!

 I was able to get a quick shot of the party favors before the rest were scooped up to be taken home.  The plastic cups from Oriental Trading were a perfect size and made quite well.  Just stuffed them with a bandanna, the carrot treats and farm lollipop to make a great thank you gift!

Happy 4th Birthday Carter!  Hope you had as much fun as I did putting it all together!

Our 1st veggie garden

"It will never rain roses. When we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses." -George Eliot

It was a great Mother's Day earlier this month, the start of my very own vegetable garden!  I have wanted one for years but with the kids being so young and demanding of my time I never got the chance to tend to anything other than them and my many flower gardens. 

Mike graded a patch of the yard with the tractor and the boys helped when they could, mostly getting the large rocks out of the way and making piles of dirt like any boy would.

I had purchased some seeds late April and started the tomatoes out in an egg carton as they needed to be established before being planted.  Needless to say now that they are in the ground the plants should have been started in something deeper, after a weeks time only a few of the 12 survived being transplanted.  But it's okay, it'll give me another excuse to go to the local nursery and do some tomato plant shopping!

I did mix in bags of garden soil with the land and made rows of mulch so I knew where I could walk and wouldn't disturb the seedlings.

I'll see how these signs hold up this summer, I saw them at Michael's craft store in the Wedding isle and knew I had to get them b/c of the cute factor.  They actually have chalkboard paint on them so you can write table numbers or names on them.  The crafty side of me opted to use my paint pens and draw on them, but if they don't last I'll stick with my Grandfather's easier idea of sticking the seed packet on a stick and poking it into the ground!

Not expecting too much with it being the 1st, it's definatly a learning experience!  Especially not knowing what type of soil we'll find, some spots are pure clay, some stony and others sandy because of having to bring the grade of the land up when we 1st bought the house.

Next year I may have to buy tons of bags of soil and try it out again fresh, for now it's just a waiting game to see if any green pops up.  I think I'll be more excited than the kids if this works!

Bird's Nest Treats

This week I needed some fun Easter treats to make for a pre-school party but didn't have much time for prep.  Thus, these were super easy to make with things I had around the house!

Rice Krispie Bird's nests

Make cereal treat as directed on box

 Press into mini muffin tin to make nest and add some chocolate eggs, that's it!

For an extra treat I added a dollop of Nutella and stuck 2 mini eggs inside.  This helped so the candy wouldn't fall out of the next while transporting to the school, as I knew Carter would want to help carry the goodies in to his class :)

Today I'll try my hand at Chinese noodle bird's nests for family to try tomorrow, also something I have on hand and looks super yummy!

Bird's Nest Cookies

Makes 2 dozen cookies
12 oz. package chow mein noodles
12 oz. package butterscotch morsels
Bag of egg-shaped chocolate candies

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
Pour the butterscotch morsels in a microwave-safe bowl and place them in the microwave.
Heat for 30 seconds then remove to stir. Repeat again for 30 second intervals until melted. 
Mix in the chow mein noodles until combined.
I used a mini muffin pan but you may also use a 1/4 measuring cup to scoop out the batter onto a wax lined baking sheet. 
If the mix gets hard to mold just reheat it for 15 to 30 seconds.
Place the egg-shaped candies in the center of each nest.  Let set for a few minutes so it won't be sticky or stick them in the fridge.


But first up is baking the annual bunny cake we'll enjoy tomorrow and thanks to another great blog I can't wait to try Ressurection Rolls now that the boys are older and understand more about the true meaning of Easter. 

Easter blessings to everyone!

Swirly button tree

The best place to seek God is in a garden.  You can dig for him there.  ~George Bernard Shaw, The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God, 1932

I've been thinking of an idea for a friends baby shower coming up and was so happy that I was able to get creative this week... for a girl!

Sketched out the idea and did a light pink wash to complement the swirly theme tree branches- so girly!

Added buttons to the final design and it looks ready for a nursery!

 

Can't wait to use the rest of my button stash in making some awesome teacher gifts over Spring Break!

Jungle theme cake

If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom. ~Audra Foveo

In February it's supposed to be winter... tell that to the dandelions sprouting already!  Maryland weather never ceases to amaze me, I love experiencing each season to it's fullest so I feel kind of jipped with no real snow this winter!  But, if it's not going to snow, I'll take weather in the 60's any day!  It's lifting my spirits to see the Spring flowers ready for bloom already, and what better way celebrate then to make a 'dandy of lion'cake for Gavin's jungle theme birthday.

Glad we saved the Noah's Ark figurines, they came in handy so I didn't have to make anything out of fondant!

How fitting for a jungle theme party than a zebra slice of cake too! 

Make one batch each of chocolate and vanilla cake mix, box or scratch, and drop 1/4 cup vanilla batter in the middle of the pan, let it spread and repeate with dropping 1/4 cup chocolate batter ontop, and alternate until pan is 2/3's full.  

I did this using one large Wilton petal pan (that I also used for the Lion cake in prior post) plus two regular 8" round pans for the second layer.  If you're making a sheet cake or using just 2 round pans you can make a vanilla batch of batter, divide in half and add cocoa to the divided batter.  

And what a surprise to guests when there's zebra stripes inside!

I covered the bottom layer with dutch chocolate buttercream... Mmmm!

Then piped on thick swirls on the sides with tip 21, thinking of the chocoholic adults at the party like me who would appreciate the extra indulgence :)  Then a simple scroll for decoration with added candy leaf from Wilton that came in a jungle set.

Then the same swirls with the top layer of vanilla buttercream.  This was my first time trying something other than flat sides to a cake so if and when I try again it would work better if the buttercream was thicker.  I was worried about consistency and added a little too much milk so gravity took hold instead of it staying in place.

It ended up yielding about 50 slices.

There was so much fun at the party, from creating jungle sticker scenes to Pin the Nose on the Lion.  It also looked as though some other worldly orbs joined in on the fun too as I caught them on camera throughout the day :)

And I HAD to frame some artwork for display that Gavin created days before the party.  I sat with him and drew an animal on my piece of paper and he drew one on his paper...ALL BY HIMSELF!!!!  Which if you knew him is totally unheard of, the drawing part or actually sitting still long enough to make anything at all :)  I was super proud of him!

Happy 5th Birthday!