Sunday Thoughts

Watercolors, Take Two

Random

I made this bunny pillow about a week ago using a bunny from a placemat as a template.  I really like it.  It will probably stay on my couch all month even though Easter has passed.

My visiting teacher brought this for me last month!  Isn't it awesome?!

Ammon has been using my camera lately...there are tons of pictures of toys, the floor, blankets, and his cute little face.

The nectarine tree outside my window has blossoms all over it!  I hope that means lots of nectarines this year...they were so good last year.

Jefferson has lost 2 more teeth in the past 3 days {he pulled them himself}.  The tooth fairy will probably be going broke soon.

For some strange reason, my 3 year-old daughter has started insisting she take a picture of all of her food...I wonder where she gets that?

Large, tree branches in your foyer...neat or weird? {they are high enough to not poke out anyones' eye...unless they are over 6'3"...}

I found this bag at the thrift store the other day...it is really cute.  I bought it for $10 which is steep for the DI, but got home and did a little bit of research and found that it is a "Petunia Pickle Bottom" bag from her "cake" line, and they sell brand new for {you better sit down} $395.00.  Seriously!

Although I love it, it is generally used as a diaper bag, and since I don't really carry one, I will probably sell it.

What's up with all of you? 

I hope you have a great day!

P.S.  I've been approached from some companies about doing some giveaways...anyone interested?

How to Make a "Real" Nest

When I decided I wanted to make a "real" nest for my VT project this month, I started looking for some good tutorials to help me.  There were a few really good ones, but most of them included more work that I wanted to do.

So I decided to start with a small basket {I used 6-8" baskets...but by the time they were done, they were 10-12" wide} and just wrap nest-like stuff around it.

My basket had a handle, so I cut it off and got started.

I bought a 20' grapevine garland at Hobby Lobby {with a 40% off coupon it was $6, and it made 4 nests} and started wrapping.  I envisioned cutting 8-10" pieces and weaving them into the basket...I soon realized that was not the best method.  The coverage was bad, and it. took. forever.  So I grabbed my trusty gluegun and went to work.  I decided that instead of gluing a bunch of small pieces, I would just spread and wrap the grapevine around the basket, and then fill in any holes at the end.

Using the gluegun seemed to be working pretty well, but I had to hold it firmly till the glue dried, and sometimes, the glue seeped through the basket and burned my fingers...so I grabbed some large clamps to hold the sticks and glue in place for me.

I left the bottom of mine uncovered so they would sit flat on a table or shelf.  If you will be putting yours in a tree, I would suggest covering the bottom.

After making sure the grapevine was in place, I attached some spanish moss {I ended up needing 2 bags for 4 nests} from the dollar store to the rim of the basket and down into the basket.

Then I added some green floral moss {also from the dollar store--I only needed 1 of these for all 4 nests}, and I was done!

Note: I did use quite a bit of glue, so make sure you have plenty on hand.

You could fill your nest with any kind of egg--plastic, wood, painted, candy, whatever you want.

In the end, this project cost about $11 for 4 "real" nests...just under $3 a piece.

Happy Easter!

I'm linking up here:

April Visiting Teaching Message

The title of April's Visiting Teaching Message is
Love, Watch Over, and Strengthen.

As I was thinking about all of the great points in the lesson, I realized that we should watch over our sisters like a bird watches over her nest.

A bird doesn't just check in with her eggs once a month, and neither should I.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to do a real nest, or a nest picture...so I did both.  I think I will be giving my sisters the "real" nests, but if you aren't feeling very crafty, you can just print the nest picture on one side with the message on the other, and stick on some eggs {I used eggs that were just halves from the dollar store}.

You will need eggs of some kind, treats, and paper {some brown if you are printing your nest, and another, Springy color} for the labels.  If you are making the "real" nests, you will need more stuff.  Watch tomorrow for a list of those things and a tutorial.

I also have just the message {print on the front of your sheet of paper} and what I like to call the "9 Habits of Highly Effective Visiting Teachers" {print on the back}.

9 Habits of Highly Effective Visiting Teachers-1 per page

Happy Visiting Teaching!