Spring for a Break

Taron and Keaton are on Spring Break and we got to share it with them earlier this week. Nothing grand, just some home time and outside time and together time :)

Cooper and I both were home from Church with strep throat and less than 24 hours on antibiotics last Sunday. While Dad and the older boys were gone, he and Ryder hid some empty plastic eggs for them to find when they got home. It was super tough on them ;)

Lots of tramp time now that our trampoline is in tact! Ryder came in the house and said, "Ryder needs a cape!" very excitedly during this session above. (He's been talking in third person quite a lot lately for some reason.) So, I got him geared up and out he went again, more like Cooper and happy to be so! I think little boys in capes is one of the cutest things ever :)

Keaton and Taron rigged this wagon/ car train for the boys and took turns pulling it- pretty darn cute and clever! One things for sure, they are really great at entertaining the little guys :)

Cooper and Keaton had entirely too much fun finger painting! And Stephen set up a target in the yard for everyone to have a turn shooting the bows :) We were glad for patches of good weather- could've been worse by far!

Pinspired Pinwheel Wreath

I'm just drawn to pinwheels- I love how fun and catchy they are! I originally got the idea for this wreath at Neverland Nook. 

I had this paper that I've kinda hung on to not wanting to cut apart except for just the right thing. Are you like that too at all? Things that I particularly like become sacred for some silly reason! Same goes for fabric! Anyhow, I thought this was just the thing that was worth using this paper for, ya know, more than a year after I bought it. For anyone interested, it's the Salt Air Collection from Cosmo Cricket :)

I have a tutorial for actually making these square style pinwheels within this post HERE. Or you might try the circle style I recently made also, found HERE.

For this wreath, I used 5"x5" squares/pinwheels, pinned them into the foam wreath form with straight pins, hot glued buttons at the centers, then added a coordinating piece of ribbon for the hanger.

One thing that did perplex me a bit as I was getting it all laid out seemed to be the fact that not all my pinwheels were "turning" the same direction. As in, I had folded the right side to the center on some of them and the left side on others. That probably doesn't make any sense unless you've made these pinwheels! But, if you make your own, try to fold in one side or the other for all of them- I think it'll help when it comes to getting them all to fit just right on the form :)

Anyhow, there you have it! I love that this came together fast and really pops with color and "Springyness!" It's balanced and symmetrical enough, but not perfect or prim. Just plain fun really! I don't realistically have the time or the right space to create anything fancy, so this fits. :) Thanks for looking and have a great week!

Home Time

There's not really been too much happening to speak of around here lately... I've been enjoying whoopdwhoop, making wreaths as they sell on etsy, and dealing with strep throat- bleh! We have Taron and Keaton with us for part of their Spring Break this next week and have a few simple, fun things in mind to do while they are here! Here's just a few pics of us lately...

 Ry is an acrobat, you know. :) And these below are a few pics from Coop's Camera once again- he's always begging me to take a picture of his sweet bathtub tricks, so this top one I took with his camera. Nothing like sharing your kid's tushie with the world!

My sister said that my niece, who is just older than Cooper, told her once while they were driving that she "spends her entire life in this car!" Made me laugh! And when I saw this picture I wondered if Cooper thinks so at times too. :) I'm actually a pretty big homebody, so I doubt it. :)

Easter Printable: Death is Conquered

"He is Risen, He is Risen!

Tell it out with joyful voice.

He hath burst His three days prison,

Let the whole wide earth rejoice.

Death is conquered, Man is free.

Christ hath won the victory!"

LDS Hymns No. 199

Happy Easter time all and happy first day of Spring!

I've had these words from an Easter hymn milling around in my head for a printable.

Crazy, but I'll lie in bed at night when I should be asleep

and think of different typography designs or of pieces of songs

that would make interesting and useful prints- nuts, I know!

Quotes from movies or lyrics from songs always seem to be my fav :)

I love Easter time!

Filling the boys' Easter baskets is one of my favorite, favorite things all year!

I love getting them duded up for Easter Sunday,

love egg dying and hiding, love freshening things up with bright colors again.

And love that for us this holiday is esteemed, protected.

I'm pretty happy with how it looks on my mantle, which is certainly still a work in progress!
See that fun wreath?!? I'll have more to share on it before too long too :)

I hope these printables will be some you can enjoy during this special holiday!
I liked picking colors that were brighter and using fonts that were more pretty and swirly :)

Followers can click the link below to get to the color desired in Google Docs,

then download and print at 8 x 10- Enjoy!

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : daisy yellow

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : spring green

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : soft purple

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : sky blue

Death is Conquered, Easter Print : peachy keen 

Happy Birthday, my Love!

Stephen is turning 39 again today! ;)

He is just about always stronger than me, more optimistic and more capable- he is my everything!


Yesterday Cooper went around the house compiling things into a present for Dad.
Well, when Stephen needed his headlamp to do chores last night,
we were both getting frustrated that it wasn't where we remembered.
Suddenly I knew that it must be inside the present box and indeed it was!
We were both so heart-warmed at his sense of giving and how he knows his Dad!
The present ended up being a little love treasure hunt :)

Happy Happy Birthday, babe! We love you and appreciate you so much!

Hope it's a great day- I know you will make it that way!

And our yummy dinner and birthday cake will hopefully help ;)

Happy Birthday!!

The Everyday Games

"Where are Cooper and Ryder? ;) Where have my sqeaky clean boys gone? There's these big rocks on the floor, but I don't see my boys??"  This is what I say after almost every bath- to which the "rocks" immediately start squirming and laughing, even pop up and become the boys again! :)

What on earth?? That's what you're thinking, eh? :) All this menagerie was actually a fixture in the living room for a day known as Cooper's Store. He gathered up all sorts of things across the house and then we got to come along and buy them! I found an old stash of change in my drawer that I used to shop and shop. I tried to talk him into playing with play money, but he wouldn't even hear of it! He's no dummy :)

Another fun little thing we tried recently was a simple little play dough fossils game- I flattened several small mounds of dough and then punched a mark in them with different objects while Coop wasn't looking. Then the items I'd used went into a basket and he matched them up with the marks in the dough! Really simple and fun- he did some for me after he figured these out on his own.:) Here's a few examples that were favs:

And check the flowers that my thoughtful husband sent to me on our temple anniversary!

They were the highlight of the day for sure!

I'm so blessed and grateful to get to spend eternity with you, Stephen!

Little Fabric Bucket

Awhile back I saw this fabric bucket (above) on Pinterest. Why it sunk in with me more than some other project, I don't know, but it did and I set out to make one. I just think they are super cute and useful too! The first one I made was sent as a gift, so I went through my fabric scraps to make another this past weekend. This Mary Engelbreit fabric is some that my Mom made an apron for me out of when I was in college! Now the leftovers are a new little thread bin for my sewing table :)

You can find a nice tutorial for this bucket HERE, but I did make a few alterations, so I'll share them too...

So, here's the thing: Math and I don't get along all that well. I'm capable of dealing with numbers, just not necessarily willing. :P (My engineering-Masters-degree-brother got those genes!) So, I didn't actually do the equation to figure out circumference/ length of my sides.  Instead, I just wrapped my measuring tape around the bowl I used for the bottom! Ta da... solved... kinda... you'll see what I mean in a sec.

I also used the medium weight interfacing I had on both the lining and the outside wall pieces, rather than heavyweight on one side. Mine was fusible, so I didn't baste either. Then I clipped around the bottom like she says to, only without the stitching steps. Pin to the circle: (I like how the pins look for some silly reason!)

And here's what I mean about my dodge-the-equation trick only kinda worked:

Maybe I was just too generous in my measuring, but I did end up having to re-stitch and trim the outside tube portion after I got it pinned. No skin off my nose- I admit, I'd still do it this way over the equation! :P

Another thing I altered on my bucket was adding some coordinating trim to the top, where the edge would be turned over- at this stage above, where the sides and bottom are ready to be attached to the lining. I just cut a small, thin strip the same length as the side pieces...

 ...and pinned it, right sides together, to the top of the outer tube piece. When the lining and the outside are put together, ready to make the combining stitches, it'll look like this:

And once it's turned and ready to be folded down, all done:

Ta da! All finished. I actually topstitched around the turned edge, like this:

But then I decided it took away some dimension from the bucket or something, so I picked the seam and after all. My sewing skills are pretty hodge podge, I know. :P

I think I could make a lot of these in the future- they would make fun, re-usable baskets for giving gifts. I'd also like to try adding a handle for the boy's Easter baskets. :) Tons of uses for these simple little baskets!