My Cheery Spring Mantel and a Topiary Tute

Happy Spring!  Now that we're officially in the season of new life and rainy days and pollen and blooming things, I'm ready to share my Spring Mantel.

I wanted something that could transcend seasons, so I assembled a colorful display with some touches of Spring that can easily be switched out for seashells in a couple of months:

My new subway art is stealing this show.  It lists all the places my hubs and I have lived  together (current address bleeped out).  We didn't know each other when both lived in Fairfax, but it still counts;) 

The long view shows off my new fireplace screen, too.  I was tired of worrying about a boy faceplanting on that hot glass.  Now he'll just faceplant into some sharp wrought iron. 

As for my touches of Spring, I have  a sweet little nest in my cloche:

Split peas for St. Pattie's Day in my candle-holder:

 And moss galore, including my little egg-shaped moss topiaries:

Speaking of which, I made these sweeties in about 10 minutes, want to know how?

Supplies: styrofoam/plastic eggs, sheet moss, floral foam (all from Dollar Tree), embellishment such as my green ribbon, skewers (mine are painted champagne from a prior project), cute little pots and hot glue.

Pop some floral foam in your pots, and attach your skewers to your eggs.  My eggs had a very hard plastic surface so I had to pierce them with a sharp object first.  Use extreme caution, please!  Then comes the fun part: pulling apart the sheet moss into small chunks:

...and just glueing them on.  Its fun 'cause its like a puzzle.  And maybe that's just me, but that's fun.  Wild times, indeed.

A little ribbon, and there ya go!  Vaguely egg-shaped moss topiaries for Spring!

Thanks for stopping by and checkin' me out today!

My Baby is Three!

Happy Birthday Littlest Boo!!!

I can't believe you are three years old!  Seems like just a few minutes ago we brought you home and I knew right away you were a little angel.  Daddy likes to say you're an imp, too, you headstrong thing.  You are so smart, so sweet, and so cute with your blond curls!

Your favorite song is "Ants Go Marching," and you love "This Little Light of Mine" too.  Your favorite cartoon is Thomas the Train, and you love letters and numbers and playing with anything that rolls.

We love everything about you, our little Poo-Pie, Sweet Little Guy!

On Mothering More than One

I got to spend significant one-on-one time with each of my boys this past weekend (thanks Grandma!) and it got me thinking:

Why am I such a great Mommy when I only have one at a time?

Why can't I be equally great when I have them both?

When I just have one boy with me, I am so much more patient.  I listen not just to his words, but the meaning behind them.  See not just his behaviors, but the motivations behind them.  I hear the jokes more, see the needs more, and pay attention more.  I am nicer.  I am able to express more love.

And it feels just terrible to think that I am not measuring up in these categories pretty much all the time, because I am with both my children pretty much all the time.  I would like to be the Mommy I am with one child...but with two.  But how?

{And, by the way, what do moms do when they have three (or more)?  Are you moms of many just blessed with more patience?  Do you work harder at it than I do?}

Anyone feel me?  Have you been there before?  And how did you do better?  I would love your words of wisdom...

Monogram Winner!

I am announcing the winner of a personalized monogram today!  Fun stuff!



And the winner is...(imagine me opening the envelope and pausing dramatically...)  Keisha!  She said:
"If I won the monogram it would be for my best friend who just had her first baby, a little boy named Hunter. She loves monogrammed items, so I think she would love one to put in his room."

Keisha, email me to claim your monogram!  Thanks to everyone who entered!

Pinned It and Did It!

Are y'all sick of hearing me talk about Pinterest yet?  Hmm...so anyhoo...enough talking...how about some doing?

Rain Gutter Shelving

Pinspiration:

Source

My Version:

The low-down: so easy, so cheap, very sturdy!  I put one shelf on each level of our bunk beds, and they are perfect since there's not really room for a side table with the bunks.  *Love* this project!

Ikea Spice Rack Shelving

Pinspiration:

Source

 My Version:

The low-down: Love these!  We (obviously) use these for coloring books, and they are perfect for that.  

Baked Avacado Fries

Pinspiration:

Source

 My Version:

The low-down:  Eh.  Not worth the effort.  They were crispy.  They were dippable.  They just weren't very good. And I love avacados!  I think they were just bland.  If you try these, add some major spice, mmmkay?

Green Beans with Bacon

Pinspiration:

Source

Mine:
Aww, snap!  I didn't take a picture!?!?  That's terrible, because the low-down on this one is that it is the best thing in the whole universe.

Dawn & Vinegar Cleaning Solution

Pinspiration:

Source

Mine:

The low-down: This is that miracle cleaning solution for soap scum (et cetera) that I have seen time and time again on Pinterest.  So I finally tried it, and yes, it worked really well.  But it requires more effort than spraying on some Lysol All-Purpose, and for me isn't quite worth that effort.  Is it better for the environment?  I dunno.  If you tell me it is, I will use it again.

In conclusion, actually doing some pins over the last three months recently has been so much fun.  It has yielded some great results, and some "so-so" results.  In any case, its your turn!  Go get some pinsperation of your own;)  You can always get started by following me here!

Mirror, Mirror: Before and After

Y'all know I have been working on my Dining Room (next up: painting the walls).

One little project I did for this room was to customize a mirror I got for half-off at Hobby Lobby.

I actually liked the black finish, but it lacked the "pop" I wanted in here, and I had visualized something shiny, so I decided to make it so:

Please disregard the patched-up holes in the wall...like I said, painting soon!

All I did was paint it using a dry paintbrush, dipped into metallic acrylic paints (FolkArt Metallic Sahara Gold and FolkArt Metallic Taupe).  I used a combination of the two paint colors with each coat of paint, doing about three coats total.

I didn't bother taping it off, and discovered that a plastic knife wrapped in a paper towel will scrape dried paint off the mirror, easy breezy.

Maybe you've noticed...I just love painting things.  What have you painted lately?



P.S. Don't forget to enter my 100-Follower Giveaway, right here!

P.P.S. Lovin' the Linky's at:

        

        

100 Followers = A Giveaway!

Hey friends!  That Mommy Blog just hit 100 followers, and I feel like celebrating!

As my way of saying thank you, I will be giving away a custom cut-paper monogram (unframed) in the color scheme of your choice.

These monograms are 12" x 12" and make beautiful gifts, or you could use yours in your own child's room.

All you have to do is:

Make sure you are following my blog!

~and~

Leave me a comment telling me who your monogram would be for.

That's it!  I will leave this giveaway open through Sunday, March 18th, and announce a winner on Monday the 19th.

Y'all, I love my readers.  Thanks so much for being here and celebrating with me!

Ya Gotta Check these Ladies Out!

Well sweeties, my Faux Zinc Table has been getting some attention this week, and wow, I am so thankful!



Meg at Nutmeg Place featured my "zinc" table on her Showoff Saturday this morning!  Thanks Meg!

Lauren at West Furniture Revival featured my table AND my gilt chair, woot!

Ya gotta check out her awesome furniture projects...girl's got it goin' on.

And Stephanie at New Again honored me with the Liebster Blog Award, which is a sweet little award for smaller (still growing!) blogs:)

Thanks Stephanie!  So, I am passing this award on to these three awesome ladies!  Please go check out their fabulous blogs!

The Nuthouse Five

Miss Flibbertigibbet

The Inspired Collection

Now listen, I am not particular about y'all following rules around here, but if you care to pass this award along, please do so to 3-5 other blogs with 200 or fewer followers.  Thanks!

Baking Cookies and Fighting Cancer

Happy Monday!  And if you're new here, welcome!  It's so nice having you!

Yesterday morning I made my grandmother's Chewy Oatmeal Cookies, and smiled as I read her recipe.  She emailed it to me about a year before she passed away, and as always talked about praying for me and my husband.

She was such a fun and loving Gramma, and I miss her dearly.  I think she'd have wanted to know all about the bake sale I'm cooking for.  Heck, she probably would have sent me six dozen more cookies herself!

This particular bake sale is benefiting the Queen City's Mom Prom.  Have you heard of it?  It is a night out for us moms, and the proceeds go to the charity Cookies for Kids Cancer.  So, basically, you get to dress up, have a drink and yummy snacks, get an amazing goody bag, AND help a worthy cause.  Awesome.

     

It's happening on April 27th, and tickets are on sale now!  Just click here, and I will see ya there!

If you don't live near Charlotte, here's something else you can do.  Watch this video starring my son's sweet friend Eli (I apologize in advance for ruining your mascara):

and then give.  Give at whatever level you can, but please consider doing something, however small.  Children's cancer can be beaten, with adequate funding for research and treatments.  It starts with us.  To help fund research and defeat pediatric cancer, just click here.

And...thank you.  I don't post this kind of stuff much, but I wanted to share both of these opportunities to make a difference.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.