Love handmade? Don't miss these adorable creations..

You are going to love these. For me it was love at first sight. These little knitted plants are too cute - and the mushroom terrariums? *swoon!

via Covet Garden, where I first discovered these gems...


The toadstool terrariums are the work of Holly Procktor. You can visit her blog Holly Handmade to learn more about her creations.

via Holly's photostream


The knit cacti were created by Shannon Gerard, when she tried and failed again and again to grow her own plants - so she decided to make her own!

LLLLLL

oooooo

vvvvvvv

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You can view all of these adorable cacti on her site - Plants you can't Kill

A super easy DIY that makes a great Mother's Day gift

The new home networking site - Link My Home, was awesome enough to publish my post today on turning a Mason jar into a soap pump. Link My Home connects home owners globally to chat, share inspiration, and buy/sell - check it out.

Below is my post and DIY

Decorology DIY: Turn a Mason jar into a charming soap pump – A great Mother’s Day gift too!

via Country Living

I’m far from the first one to present this idea, but it’s really great and perhaps some of you out there have yet to discover it. All you need is a soap dispenser pump (reuse one from your last soap bottle or purchase one from a supplier like onedreamdesign.com), a mason jar, and the jar’s lid. It is also helpful to have a drill, as you will need to create a hole about half and inch wide to accommodate the soap pump. Other supplies you may want to have on hand include scissors, a marker to mark where you will drill the hole, and some 2 part epoxy to seal the cap of the soap pump to the jar of the lid.

(via Apartment Therapy)

Directions:

1. Use marker to measure and mark a circle in the lid of the mason jar the width of you soap dispenser pump
2. Drill hole where you marked in lid of mason jar
3. Mix epoxy and apply to the lower rim of the soap dispenser pump
4. Insert the pump dispenser through the jar lid (if the tube is too long for the jar, just snip it to size with some scissors)

5. Let the epoxy dry according to the instructions
7. Fill with your favorite liquid soap – and enjoy!

Here are some examples of what you can create:

(via Apartment Therapy)

If you don’t have a Mason jar they are pretty easy to find at thrift stores.

via Décor Chick

So cute right? I think I’ll be making a couple for my mom for Mother’s Day!

Spring bliss

The weather has been so wishy-washy. Teasing us with a 70 degree day, and then bringing us back down by dropping to 50 overnight! But, the leaves are finally on the trees, and the days are longer - so it's safe to say Spring is here.

I love the longer days...so beautiful
via KML Design

Domino Mag

...and fresh flowers. The first image is flowers in tea tins. I do this, but my tea tins aren't water tight so I put a juice glass with water inside the tea tin and just put the flowers in the glass. The second image is a cute idea: use some glass bottles (they don't have to match), wrap some jute or hemp around them - and you get a lovely handpicked, country centerpiece.
via Country Living

....weekends in the country....
via NiKreations

Love the lanterns hanging from the trees!
via Scandinavian Chic

Meals outside..
When I was a kid, we out outside every evening in the summer. We didn't have a patio, so we just set up chairs and a table right out in the yard

2 images above via Rue Magazine

The ultimate---poolside...
via Design Interior

How do you enjoy spring?

driftwood boats

Last week while I was in California, I spent a good amount of time collecting driftwood on the beach.  I brought an entire basket home and decided it would be fun to make boats out of the different pieces.  After making two one evening for myself, I thought it would be a fun project for all the kids to get involved in, so I set up a table in the backyard on Easter with all the supplies and everyone had a wonderful time making them.  And, I must say, I think they all turned out amazing.  

I gathered sticks from my yard to use as the masts for the boats and drilled holes into the driftwood, so it would be easy to stick the mast right in and secure with a little glue.

Everyone cut out their own sail template based on the size of their driftwood and mast and then cut the sail from any of the fabric scraps I brought out for them to use.  Everyone embellished theirs differently with fabric, trim, stamps, etc.  We twisted eye hooks into the mast and sewed the sail to these little hooks.  And there you have it.  An easy, lovely and highly satisfying craft project.

  

 And, I must add, they look awfully cute sitting around the house...

It was a great outdoor project that the kids from 3 year old Finn to 13 year old Peter and all the way up to the adults, all seemed to enjoy.

Peter certainly got the most creative with his.  He even gave it a test drive in the pool and it stayed perfectly afloat...

Let us know if you try one of your own!  We would love to see how they turn out!

a garden gift

I found all these crates at the flea market last time I went and I thought they would be so fun to use for plants or even as little herb boxes.  So, as usually happens with me when I am sitting in my craft room, I start to think of what fun little bags and packagings I can make to go with these boxes to create cute little individual gifts...  I have said it 1000 times, my craft room is my therapy.  And I had a lovely little session last week putting all this together...  I am going to put seeds in the little bags and fill the big "grow" bag up with some of our super fertile soil from the garden.  Throw in a watering can, some tools and even a cute little tablecloth and there you go.

Would you think it was fun to receive a vintage crate full of gardening supplies as a gift?

here's my heart

A very sweet friend of mine made this lovely little hanging heart for me last year.  It makes me happy every time I walk pass it.  So, if you are looking to make someone's day (or even your own), here's a quick little project that will make your home feel festive and lovely.  You can follow the same tutorial we put together for the hanging pumpkins we made for Halloween (right here).  Easy right?  I just made a couple myself, only decided to try some black and white ones.  What do you think?

We heard lots of people made the pumpkins, so if you decide to give the hearts a try, let us know!  We would love to see how yours turn out!
And I promise I will put together a little how-to on the book pages wreath!  Stay tuned...

my own little bit of valentines

Just a few of the little bits of Valentine lovelies I put out around the house.  Ok, so the above one is not specifically for Valentine's Day, but I still felt like posting it.  Here are the few little things I actually put out to be festive...

Back to the craft room to see what else I can come up with...  Have you spotted any fun crafty Valentine's Day ideas this year?