Mini Birdhouses

Good morning friends!

Little by little, I have been trying to grow my decor collection with neutral pieces that can change seasonally, be usable in different rooms in the house and for more than one holiday, etc. So I am always on the lookout for things like that. These little birdhouses that I made fit right into that category and they are so easy to make. They are a fun little add-in piece for Spring decorating, but they can also be used for Summer, Christmas decorating, placed in the bathroom or hey, even in the garden. How cute would they be on the potting bench? I don't have a potting bench, but if I did, these would be so cute there.

You will need:
Mini birdhouses (found at Micheal's for $1)
Light wood stain (or brown craft paint)
Moss
Hot glue gun
Paint brush

1. Start by cutting off the string from the top of the birdhouse. You won't be able to see the top when we are finished so don't worry about getting the whole thing out.

2. Stain the house(s). Carefully! I once got stain all over my clothes when I was closing the can, so be very careful and if possible, do outside or in the garage.

And once again, don't worry about staining the top, because you won't see it in the end.

3. Use your hot glue gun to apply moss to the top of the houses. Cover the roof(s) completely.

4. Allow to dry; then you are done!

Aren't they cute!?

That's all for today. I hope to get a few more posts out before we leave for Palm Springs/Disneyland on Thursday! I am so excited! Yay!

Flower Headbands

Happy Friday friends!
Hope everyone is getting splashes of Spring sunshine here and there. Yesterday it was absolutely gorgeous here and it made me so happy! It certainly puts me in the mood to get stuff done! Gosh, I vacuumed the whole house, organized a few cupboards and I even had time to do a little crafting. :) I have wanted to do some "Lana Del Rey style" floral headbands for the girls for awhile now. And now that it's Spring, I thought it was the perfect time to do it. And has anyone seen the current theme of "festival wear" going around? My question was, "How many festivals does one go to?"  Apparently enough that you need whole outfits for. Well festival go-ers, these headbands I made just happen to be perfect, "festival wear".

For 1 headband, you will need:
1 cheapo headband (I got St. Patty's Day one's from the Target bins)
1 bouquet of fake flowers (Micheal's)
Green ribbon
Hot glue gun

1. First I ripped off the green clovers that were on mine, but I kept on the dark green ribbon that was on them because you wouldn't see it once it was all covered with new ribbon and flowers.

2. Using the hot glue gun, secure the end of ribbon (and I just cut about 3 feet of ribbon to start) to the end of the headband. Then glue and wrap the ribbon around the headband over and over until you get about a quarter of the way up.

3. Then start adding your fake flowers. You can make any pattern with the flowers that you like. And I suggest preparing the flowers ahead of time, by cutting off any excess parts. The flowers I used had all this green tubing that was really unnecessary. So just cut off any stuff like that so that the headband is not so bulky. Lay the stem of the flower along the headband, then put some hot glue over it, then wrap the ribbon around. Keep wrapping and gluing the ribbon until you can't see any of the stem. Repeat with more flowers, saving bigger ones for the next step.

4. After you have a good base of flowers, continue wrapping and gluing the ribbon all the way to the opposite end of the headband. Cut any excess ribbon and glue the end down. Then take any large flowers you have left (I used the large roses) and glue them right on top of the headband in any places that look sparse. This will really fill it in to make it look complete. The whole point is to have gobs of flowers on your head.

5. Peel away any stray parts of glue, then you are finished!

This one was conveniently "sick" yesterday morning and got to stay home from school, so I got my professional model for the day. :)

Such a little ray of sunshine!

These would be perfect for weddings or music festivals or just wearing for fun in the Spring and Summer.

Here is my other (rather squirmy) sweet model.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Ways You Know You're A Mother To Girls

Now that we are having 3 girls, I have been doing a lot of thinking about having three girls. It's just a lot. Of girls. Not that I don't enjoy the thought of having my own "Little Women" scenes played out every day. Like that will happen! Anyway, I came up with 10 ways you know you're a mother to girls. Because its funny and true and some of you may be craving a break from crafts. :)

10 Ways You Know You're A Mother To Girls

1. Glitter....Everywhere. You sweep it up every time you sweep the floor, it ends up in your food (wow, that meatloaf is sparkly!) and somehow on your face...after the shower. But it's pretty status quo.

2. A "Frozen" song will come on on your Pandora station and you don't even flinch. You sing along.

3. Speaking of "Frozen", Elsa was a name you (briefly) considered for your third daughter. j/k.

4. You don't have a separate load of laundry for "reds", you have a separate load for "pinks".

5. You get excited to see the new Disney princess movie remakes like Cinderella. Probably more excited than your daughters. You stuff your purse full of a large assortment of candy for the event, because hey, this is a big day. Rob Stark lives!

6. You have at least one fight a day about outfit or hairstyle choices.

7. And after all that drama, you still ask your oldest daughter for HER opinion on YOUR outfit choices.

8. Impromptu dance parties are a common occurrence. And dancing on the coffee table is encouraged.

9. You've mastered the French braid, the Elsa side braid, the fishtail braid and painting nails on moving hands.

10. You have dolls, hair bows, clips and days of the week undies in your purse (not yours).

BONUS

11. You love getting your hair done, but your daughter playing with your hair feels way better, even if she pulls sometimes.

12. A tea party with your girls sounds better than a girl's night out.

13. You love getting compliments, but when your daughter says you're pretty, you want to cry.

14. You have already imagined her wedding (several times) and you can't wait!

Have a great day!

Spring Front Porch

Spring is here! It is finally here and I couldn't be happier. We seemed to have the dullest of Winters. There was just nothing special about it. We had snow exactly 1 day and it was gone by the next day. So dumb. So not cool. And since we didn't have a good Winter, I figure, onto the next season! I love seeing all of the flowers sprout from their hiding places in the ground and I adore the cherry blossoms! I keep kicking myself, because I walked by our neighbor the other day who was trimming his cherry blossom tree and I really wanted to ask him if I could have some of the branches that he was just throwing away! But I chickened out and have been sorry ever since. Anyway, since I have been in a Spring-y mood, I went out and got some new flowers for our front porch and decided to get it all cute and styled for Spring. Here it is.

Never mind the gray ball of fluff that is seen throughout the pictures. :)

There has been nothing but dirt in these flower pots the entire time we have lived in this house, so I figured it was time to do something about it. And I got pink flowers! Surprised? I couldn't resist the Ranculus, which I love! And I don't know, pink was just speaking to me that day.

I finally got some new pillow cases made for these outdoor pillows and I know one little kitty who was extremely happy about that. She always flips them over and uses them for a bed. I decided to get a little bit fancier than I usually do and I added a girly bow to the gray polka-dot one. I think it turned out sweet.

I love this fun butterfly fabric I found. Don't worry people. It's still me. I'm still deathly afraid of butterflies. But these ones are dead. In fact, they were never alive to begin with. I will make an exception for never-been-alive butterflies.

I had a lot of fun with this little corner. I wanted the porch to have a little something extra. I searched and found loads of gorgeous front porch ideas on Pinterest. So many to choose from! I loved the ones with lots of fresh flowers (some with pots and pots full of flowers all over the porch!), but I didn't want to go overboard, or spend a ton of money. So I took a few of the ideas that I found and simplified.

My homemade wreath from last year. You can see the tutorial for it here.

And that's our Spring Front Porch. Hope it inspires you! Have a wonderful day.

Source List:
Wreath: Made by me!
Welcome mat: Homegoods
Lantern and candle: Micheal's
Small terra cotta pot: Micheal's
Flowers: Home Depot
Crate: Micheal's
Pillow cases: Made by me!
Small chalkboard sign: Micheal's