Spring-a-licious

The birds are a-chirpin', the sun is a-shinin'.

What glorious weather is ahead!  I love Spring and so should you!  :)

Mother Nature was very kind this past winter, I just hope that she does not get her revenge with a brutally hot and sticky summer!  I'm hoping for the bestest!

I took these photo's last year at this time at a nearby park.  Enjoy! xoxo

 

~ This was a mother with her little girl, they were priceless together! ~

Unconventional Family Scrabble

~ We love Scrabble ~

*CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE

The kids and I decided to play our own game with the scrabble squares.  Actually it was more of a fun "Photo op" of course!

Anywoo getting back to our letter-y fun... 

We grabbed whatever embellishments the kids were already using from our massive scrap collection and went from there.  Here is what me and the kiddo's came up with.

This is a really fun little project to do with the family.  We even had them printed- now they need to be framed! xoxo  * CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE

 

Vintage Goodies

I went to a church sale in the Long Beach area of Long Island this past weekend. 

I decided that I would limit myself to $20.00, which for me is somewhat a challenge!  I pretty much know the value of things from years of experience as a flea market junkie and I always do my research.

  Well, it was a successful shopping experience and I came home with quite a few goodies worth about $500.00.  

My favorite purchase was a huge vintage silver cruet set that has 6 decanter holders.  3 of the Red Bohemian glass decanters were with the cruet.  I love this piece, it is quite stunning!  Now I am on the hunt for matching decanters for the set!  I also found a lovely brand new piece of Kosta Boda Sweden glass that retails for over $100.00 which I scored for $2.00.  Another find was a lovely old wine decanter from the company Bischoff Cherry, probably worth a little bit under $100.00.  Next was a gorgeous vintage pewter lotus compote bowl with a 3 candle candelabra ( I cannot find anything similar on the internet so I have no idea of it's value but I would estimate it to be worth atleast $200.00) .  I collect lotus items so this was a major big deal for me!  The last purchase I made was a lovely milk glass bowl to go with my milk glass collection! 

I realize that I should have photographed my items before I packed them up for storage!
 
The value of the items is not all that important to me, because I never sell any of my finds.  I love the story that antique and vintage items tell.  

Tweenage party!

Okay so this post is a tad late, as my tween-agers birthday blast was in February. 

Turning 11 can be a rough one when in the "birthday party theme" thought process.  Too old for character and too young for a party bus cruising around Manhattan!  We kept it simple and threw a delightful "Rock n Roll" themed party at my mothers house as per her request.

I knew I wanted a candy bar, and I knew that I wanted that to be the main focus of the party.  I used the red, black and white color scheme for the most part.  I collected many jars, used my grandmothers old mason jars and also purchased the cutest jars at Duane Reade (cost was 2/$1).

I designed labels, printed them and stuck them on each jar and purchased colorful candy and treats to fill up all the jars.  

I love crafting so I decided to make 2 big lolipops!  I used foam plates, a sharpie, heavy cardboard (for the sticks) paint, and when they were complete finished them off by wrapping clear cellophane and ribbon.

I made tons of birthday related signs and created a banner for my moms fireplace:

To create the banner I printed out each letter on parchment, I dipped them all in tea for a more rustic look.  After they dried I cut around the borders and then glued them to heavy black stock paper.  I then went ahead and decoupaged them.  When dry I used a hole puncher for the ribbon holes, pulled my thin black satin ribbon through and wallah... you have a creative personalized banner.

~ You just CANNOT ever go wrong with paper lanterns!!!!! ~

Although I am not the best cake designer, I do love to bake and get creative with frosting, fondant and sprinkles!  I didn't use fondant on anything here, but later I will post my younger sons LEGO fondant cake!  I am a cupcake Queen, so I had to make both cupcakes and cake...actually my sister was kind enough to help me and baked everything, I decorated!

                                     ~ whats a party with the mustache? ~

The birthday boy had his cake, and ate it too!

I am so excited that his party was a success!  There were twenty something boys and girls plus about 15 parents.  We ate, drank (fruit punch) and were merry! xo