Just a Quote for Friday

Bunnies are cuddly

The large and the small

But I like the chocolate ones

The best of them all.

~ author unknown

Little Glow Bugs for Easter

Glow little glow worm, glimmer, glimmer...

♥

The first time I saw these I knew I wanted to make a few of them for Easter! The original source had some really cute photos but no in-depth tutorial. And although these aren't rocket science, it did take a little trial and error to get them to hold together. I thought I'd share some tips in case you'd like to give them a try yourself.

The original source used duct tape for the wings, but I wanted something transparent. So I used clear packaging tape and sprinkled a little glitter on it before adding another piece of tape on top to enclose the glitter. Then I cut the little wings shape and used another small piece of packaging tape to adhere them.

I cut pipe cleaners in half, and then I used a sharp pushpin to make small holes for the pipe cleaners to feed through. My first try was done with a heavy duty hole puncher which worked great, but the pipe cleaners didn't hold well so I switched to the pushpin. Then, the holes were really small so I had to feed the tip of the pipe cleaner into the hole and use a pair of pliers to pull them through. It was a little tricky, but the result is a nice strong hold on the pipe cleaner keeping the antenna and legs firmly in place.

The googly eyes are held on with tacky glue, and I used a Sharpie marker to draw the mouth.

Add a battery operated "candle" for the glow and

you're ready for some night time Easter camping fun!

♥

Little Chick Tea Towel

Happy Thursday, my friends!

♥

Remember those tea towels that I embellished for Christmas gifts? Well my sister-in-law, Meta, loved hers so much that she asked me to make her one for every season. I didn't get around to stamping one for Valentine's Day, but I did make an Easter/spring towel to add to her little collection. {Surprise, Meta Skeeta!}

I knew that I wanted to stamp this towel with little chickies marching along one end, but I didn't have a chick stamp in my collection so I carved one using this product. It's easier to carve than you might imagine, and I found this video if you'd like to learn more about that.

I ended up attaching my stamp to a little acrylic block because it was a bit awkward to hold onto without it. In fact, a towel that is now added to my collection has one little chickie tipped over on her back amongst the others marching in a straight line. :o\ We'll just say that chick had too much wine. And my collection of towels that didn't make the gift-giving-cut is growing. ~sigh~

Anyway! Any stamp will work for this project - you don't have to carve your own. I used yellow fabric paint for the chicks, and a black fabric pen for their little dot eyes.

I buy these towels at Target - they come four to a package and are fairly inexpensive. I do pre-wash and press them before I embellish, and they are a super fun, quick and easy little project to put together.

 

Are you whipping up any Easter crafts around your place?

♥

A Bunny and a Naughty Cat

Last Friday night while having dinner, Doug and I had a serious conversation about Whiskers Jay. To put it mildly, he's been a pain-in-the-neck cat lately. He's a been bit full of himself and pretty bossy and slightly mean. Like, whenever I get out of a chair he immediately takes my place. Then, when I try to shoo him off? He hisses at me. Sometimes, he even bats his paw at me. No respect, I tell ya.

I've had a little dish garden with some succulent plants sitting by our kitchen sink. Whiskers is notorious for nibbling on plants, so I thought I'd outsmart him and put some ground white pepper on the plants to teach him a lesson. Apparently, he likes his succulents with a dash of white pepper.

We actually had a conversation about finding a new home for him. On Friday night, I was mad enough about my destroyed precious succulent plant that I really meant it. I texted Carrie and told her about our conversation and she replied, "I don't think you are going to be able to do it."

And then, just like magic, Whiskers turned into the sweetest cat on the planet. He followed me around all weekend, nudging me to pet him, rubbing against my legs while I washed dishes, and keeping me company while I made this bunny on Sunday afternoon - purring constantly I might add. And when I asked him nicely to get out of my chair? He did so without complaining.

Phew.

That was a close one, Jay-cat!

♥

Easter eggs and fireplace color.

Me to Doug last week: "Honey? Will you get our Easter decorations out of the attic when you get a chance?" Doug's reply: "We have Easter decorations?" We do have a few decorations, but not many. Truth is, I don't really go all out on Easter decorations, but I do like to have something on our fireplace mantel.

This plastic egg garland was super easy and inexpensive to put together.

:o) Note the cat in the background. {Love me some Whiskers Jay!} Putting this together was really scientific, as you can see. I used a highly sophisticated method for evenly spacing the eggs: {I know, everyone on the planet has an iPhone except for me!} {How embarrassing...} Then I enjoyed the pretty light coming through my kitchen windows and took a ton of photos that all looked the same when I uploaded them. :o]

Me to Doug last week: "Honey? Will you paint the fireplace white for me?"

Doug's reply: "Really? I like it brown."

My reply: "But my decorations would look sooooo much better if it wasn't brown..."

It's always something, isn't it? :o)

Happy Easter!

This little birdie has flown to Glendale, Arizona

to live with my sweet niece, Savannah.

♥

Happy Easter everyone!

Jelly Bird Cookies

I've been re-visiting my vintage Betty Crocker cookbook and pulled this recipe out that I haven't made in a long time - probably since Carrie was little.

Aren't these fun?

Thumbprint Cookies

1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 egg, separated
1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. finely chopped nuts *
jelly or jam *

* I used shredded coconut instead of chopped nuts,
and jelly beans instead of jelly or jam.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix brown sugar, shortening, butter, egg yolk and vanilla. Mix in flour and salt until dough holds together. Shape dough into 1-inch balls.

Beat egg white slightly. Dip each ball into egg white; roll in nuts (or coconut). Please about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet; press thumb deeply in center of each. Bake until light brown, about 10 minutes.

Immediately remove from cookie sheet; cool. Fill thumbprints with jelly. *

* I used a tube of decorating gel and squeezed some onto the center of the cooled cookie for "glue" to hold the 3 jelly beans on.

xo

Hopping to a mailbox near you...

♥ !

Congratulations, Emilie!!! You are the winner of my Easter giveaway! And yes, this little bunny would love to move to Louisiana!!! It was so fun to read the comments in the original post to hear where each of you are from. I'm in awe at times when I think about the vast circle of friends I have been so fortunate to gain through blogging. Go figure - I love to blog and the bonus is friends from all over the planet.

So...send me an email, Emilie and I'll mail your prize right away! My e-address is paperturtle[at]cox[dot]net.

Hooray!!!
♥

An Easter Giveaway

I know we haven't passed St. Patrick's Day and I really should be posting green stuff and shamrocks, but...well...it's my blog and I get to pick the giveaway schedule and prize. :o) That's the beauty of this thing, eh?

♥

I've had this bunny idea in my head for a while now, and I finally sat down and sewed it together. I thought about doing a tutorial, but am pressed for time these days, so I'll save it for next year's Easter. :o)

If you'd like a chance to win this little bunny (along with some other spring-themed goodies), leave me a comment and just tell me where you're from. I'll randomly draw a winner on Friday, March 20, and send him your way.

Good luck!
♣ ♣ ♣
(Here are your shamrocks!)

PS: Yes, family members, you can play too. xo