The Rest of My Easter Decorations for 2013

The only Easter decorating I did this year was in the dining room.  I showed you my chair backs a few posts down. Today I will show you the rest of the dining room.


Bunnies and carrots on top of this cabinet.

A white fenced real egg Easter tree on top of this curio cabinet.

The cabinet with the bunnies on top has quite a few real eggs inside it.

 Here is a cluster of three green eggs.

 Look at these spikes!

  I like the spike decorations and put them a number of eggs. Here is another one:

It almost looks like a medieval weapon!

 

This old sugar shell has a much less sinister-looking egg tucked inside:

 

 

 

 This egg reminds me of  a ballerina.

I decorated this room when I was contemplating having an Easter brunch at my home.  Then I decided that I did not feel like doing all that work.  So nobody but my blogland friends will actually see it. :)

Lamp Shades Lengthened with Fringe

I had a stay-home-clean-cook-bake weekend.

I  finished the two lampshades with the fringe I bought earlier in the month.  You may recall that I purchased two shades which were too short for the lamps.  Instead of returning the shades, I decided to find some fringe to add to the bottom.  Here is a side-by-side of the too short shade and the fringe I added to lengthen it.

 

All I did was hot glue the fringe on. Super duper easy!

 

DH had the taste for a raspberry jello poke cake, so I  made him one on Saturday.

Jello poke cakes are so moist and colorful!

 

Since I was baking a cake, I decided I may as well make a few  Snickerdoodle cookies, too.

It has been a while since I have cooked, baked & cleaned as much as I did this past weekend. Sadly there is still a ton that could be done to keep the orderly home I like to have.  It really never ends, does it? :)

Proven Winner Site - Great Inspiration

I found a great site to while away a few weekend hours.  It is the Proven Winner site and there are a number of clickable magazines with tons of inspiration ideas for your garden.

All of the issues can be found here.

 

 

Have fun! I am heading back to read another magazine.

 

Spring Fever

Once the calendar says spring is here, I get antsy to work out in the garden. I have spent a bit of time seeking inspiration in the wee hours each morning before going to work.

Love these giant tropical containers!

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I love alliums and thought this grass combination was unique.

Alliums and stipa tennuisima
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Just 3 alliums in each container really bring this planting to life.

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Wouldn't you love to stroll this path on a warm spring day?

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I know many of you are already able to begin your 2013 season. For me, it will be at least another six to seven weeks before I can plant anything.  All I can do now is ogle the gorgeous pics I find on the net.

What a Unique Container Planting!

The first day of spring makes me think of container plantings.  When I got home from work today, I searched Pinterest for container gardening pics.  This one really made me smile.   I have seen the blue jean planters before,  but never in mass like this one.  If I lived in an apartment with a teeny tiny balcony, I would so do this!

What a great privacy screen!

Photo credit goes to this Pinterest pinner.  I have no idea where it originally came from.

Denim & Diamonds

Today I wore the big bold diamond-like flower necklace that I showed you in my last post.  I wore it with black pants, black top and a white denim jacket. 

 I bought this jacket at the same time I bought the necklace, hoping they would work together.  The combo looked just the way I imagined it would and I loved it!  I think the Bling-bling from the necklace added just the touch I needed to elevate a jean jacket to wear-to-work status.

I even got a few compliments.  After work I went to get my hair done and two hair stylists commented on how much they liked it, which made me feel good. 

I also wore a CC belt with silver accents that I bought a few years ago.  I needed some silver on the belt to go with the silver snap buttons on the jean jacket.

I am planning to wear this exact combo again this weekend.  It is always nice when my purchases turn out to be exactly what I had planned in my mind when I hit the order button!

That is not the only good luck I had today.  I had 15 min. to spare between leaving work and my hair appointment.  Last week I bought two new lamp shades for my living room.  When I got them home, they were a tad too short.  I have been trying to find lamp shades for months and there is just NOTHING in my small town.  So I decided to keep the too-short shades and just add some trim to the bottom. 

The only place I have to buy trim in my town is JoAnne's Fabric store. I ran right to the back of the store to see if they  had any trim in the close-out section.  They had only one---it was exactly what I wanted!!  No kidding............look at this..................

I could not have had a better match if I hand dyed it!  It was $6/yard less than the same fringe in other colors.  I really should forget about this post and go buy a lottery ticket!  My luck just does not get better than it was today.

Bling-bling

Last week I received a few pieces of jewelry that I ordered from *C*oldwater *C*reek during their closeout sale.  You all know I stalk the CC site daily and pounce when I see a great sale event!

   I left the price tag on this necklace, aptly named 'Brilliant Blossoms', to show you what a great bargain it was. I would never pay  $100 for costume jewelry .  Fortunately it was at the outlet price + 60% off  and I found a coupon code for $30 off a $100 order. .................   .................   ...................... .........................................................drum roll please.................................................................

This big ol' hunk of bling was mine for just $17.55.

This is more the true color:

I also bought  a few other bold pieces:

Love this one!

 

 

 

Not sure about this set-- the pic on their site showed a totally different color - I thought I was ordering the aqua color below.

 Every now and then I get something that is not as I expected. I never return anything.  I am sure I have something in my closet that will coordinate with the more green color.

I also bought some cute gloves (for next year) & a couple of belts:

 

 This morning I added these  Easter chair backs to my dining room .

Today we are expecting rain and snow.  It's a good day to stay inside and finish up the Easter decorating. 

Life is good in my little corner of the world this weekend. :) I hope it is in your corner, too



Vase of Real Eggs and Ornamental Grass

I did a bit of spring/Easter decorating today.  I removed my winter burgundy sofa covers to reveal the lighter spring/summer color palette.  Then I replaced the pine cones in my sled coffee table with Romantic Home magazines with covers in colors to coordinate with the sofa and love seat.

  I also replaced the pine cones from the vase of ornamental grass heads with real eggs that I decoupaged years ago.

I am liking the lighter look.  It's about 40 degrees and sunny today...feels like spring is in the air....kind of nice..........

Still Itchin' to be Stitchin'

Saturday morning I decided to design some type of border to put around the six witch blocks I showed you last week.

I am trying not to buy new fabric, so I raided my stash and found these green and purple pieces that I thought would work.

After a day or so of contemplation I came up with this 3" x 7" block to add to all four sides of the witch:

Here is the completed witch block:

Now I just need to make 20 more of these frame blocks and all six witches will be framed.

Saturday morning I also added a polka dot fabric binding to this little tabletop quilt:

 I had a very productive Saturday morning!

Spring is Almost Here

You would never know that by looking outside where I live. We have been getting heavy wet snow for the past few days. I hate driving in this stuff.

 Here I am pulling into work yesterday morning.

That's a big snow bank directly in front of where I park.  Yes, it's quite early - 6:30 a.m.

In the late afternoon light the snow looks much prettier.

All of my flowers are finally able to enjoy a warm winter covering. 

I hope the weather is a bit nicer where you are.

Would You Stay Overnight in a Haunted Lighthouse Crew Quarters?

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DH and I were given a gift certificate to spend the night at this lighthouse in Michigan's upper peninsula.  We will sleep in the old Coast Guard crew quarters that have been turned into a bed/breakfast to raise funds for the preservation of lighthouses.  The place looks pretty calm and serene, don't you agree?

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Through the years, close to 100 tragic deaths have been reported along the shoreline near this lighthouse, including the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald where 29 men were lost in a violent November storm on Lake Superior in 1975.

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These old Coast Guard crew quarters are reported to be haunted.  Even though the ghosts are said to be friendly, I am a bit skittish about sleeping here!  The ghosts combined with trying to sleep two in a double bed (I have slept in a king since I was 18 years old--I need my space!) is making me wonder if I really want to do this.

 

On the other hand, I have never seen a ghost.  If one decided to visit on the night I was there, it would certainly be a unique experience!

 

What would you do?

 

 

Hibernating

We have been having rainy days with freezing nights causing dangerous travel on our roads.  Our schools have been closed more than they have been opened lately.

 

I go to work, come home and hibernate until the next morning when I have to go to work again.  This makes for a very dull Zoey!

 

I have no desire to cook, bake or clean any more than is necessary, so all I've been doing on my time off is putter with my sewing machine.  In the past seven days I  have made all of these blocks--everything from 3-inch snowmen to Valentines and  Halloween witches. 

 

On Sunday I made six of the witch blocks to use for dining room chair backs next October.  I will be adding more to these--just not sure what yet.  I have no idea what I will do with all the other blocks.


When I wasn't sewing on Sunday, I was wrapped in  a quilt reading old quilting magazines while watching Food TV.  It was a cozy, stressless day.  I need more of those!