Spring--A Giveaway!

The CSN giveaway I did was just plain fun.

So I want to do another one!

Here is what you can win....

A pretty spring journal....

Blank notecards and envelopes to say "hello" to your friends....

A vase for all those spring flowers....

And a stamp with a sweet spring saying....

The perfect spring package! 

To enter (please leave a comment for each entry):

1). Be or become a follower of Till Death Do Us Part.

2). Tell me what you've enjoyed most so far about spring's arrival!

3). Post about this giveaway or place a blurb on your sidebar.

4). Visit my Etsy shop and tell me your favorite item.

Four ways to enter!  Giveaway will run until 10pm CST on Sunday, April 10.  Winner will be announced here on Thursday!

Happy Spring!

Antiqued Picture Clip Signs

Here I am again attempting style + function.

These "picture clip signs" are a neat way to display pictures or greeting cards. I like the idea of having it in the kitchen to hold to-do or grocery lists.

I suppose spring has me in a grass green mood.  I think it's an interesting color to antique with a stain and came out with a very unique look.

Small wooden accents from Lowe's add a lot of character!

This clip sign has triple the "storage."  I painted it a warm white and antiqued it with gel stain as well.

Pretty and useful.  Pretty useful!

To see what parties I'm linking to, click the Blog Parties tab at the top of the page.  I'm also linking to Tutorial Tuesdays, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays, Feathered Nest Friday, KISS, as well as:

Kitchen Whimsey

The sign-making kick continues....


A little something for the kitchen.

I'm up to my same old tricks.  My only "new trick" is to use a cute 2.99 stencil I found at Hobby Lobby.  It has cute little recipe phrases like "measure 1 cup" and "preheat oven."  (This was my first time stenciling....oh my word, it's so much easier than hand-painting transferred outlines! If I weren't too dang cheap to invest in a collection of stencils....)

A kitchen sign with a little something extra!



I'm linking to KISS!
To see where else I party, click the blog parties tab!

My First Tulip

I'm a wannabe gardener.  Maybe it's the farmer's daughter in me.

Gardening is something I dabbled with on and off for many years and have only been "serious" about for three years.  It's definitely an art and something that can't be learned overnight.

I decided that this year, I wanted tulips.  I bought and planted ten tulip bulbs at the beginning of this past December (although you really should plant them a tad earlier than that, according to your region.  We are in southern Mississippi). 

There are actually a lot of factors that go into successful tulip bulbs, one of the most important being a cooling period.  The bulbs have to have an extended period of cold weather in order to grow.  They also need well drained soil to prevent bulb rot.

I fretted over whether or not I'd been successful, and I was thrilled when, at the beginning of February, I began to see this. 

Success is sweet!  I watched as over the next week, the bulbs all sprouted and grew as the weather warmed. Part of the fun was seeing what colors would appear.  My purple beauty added a beautiful hue to a still-bleak, winter-weary yard.

And now it adds color to my house since Coy "picked" (trampled) it.

Ah, the joys of pets and gardens!

New Craft Assistant (We Got a Dog)

It's true.

We are no longer an exclusively human/cat household.

My husband showed up a few days ago with this nine-month-old cutie.  Totally unexpected.  His job takes him to vet clinics on a daily basis, and this sweet lab mix was about to head to a kill shelter because his owner's apartment didn't allow larger dogs.  Britt heard the receptionist at the clinic discussing the sad tale and of course, he stepped in.  What a softie. :)

We both wanted a dog but had decided (or soooo I thought, ha!) to wait till we had a bigger house.  But I can see why Britt said "I'll take him."

Who could bear the thought of this guy being taken from his home and sent there.

We named him Coy.

He and Amos are "figuring each other out."  He actually gets along pretty well with both cats.

Coy, with his loving demeanor and desire to be at your side and in your lap at all times, has already proven to be such a huge help with crafts and decorating.  Sure, we'll go with that. :)

We love him already!

Shabby Clip Sign

I been wanting to create something useful and pretty.

So I made a sign with clips!

It's great when things that looks good are also functional.

The humble beginnings.... (I'm a big fan of before-and-afters.)

I cut, sanded, painted, and glazed the wood.  This was my first all-over glaze, and I like how it turned out.  I painted a medium-thickness coat of oak acrylic gel stain all over the piece, then wiped it with a damp paper towel until it was the shade I wanted.  The glaze collected nicely on the edges and in cracks to add to the worn look.

I attached the metal clips (from Hobby Lobby) with 9001 glue.

I printed out my letters in paint.net (a free download).  I transferred them to my board by tracing them with a pencil, positioning it on the board, and scribbling on the letters with a pencil to transfer the graphite.

Then I filled in with a chocolate paint.

You can use this to hang anything--pictures, seeds, lists, etc.



Pretty and useful!  Isn't beauty better when it works for you?



To see what parties I link to, see my Blog Parties tab!  I'm also linking to:
Tutorial Tuesday
White Wednesday
Share the Love Wednesday
Under $100

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I love living in The South for many reasons.  One being that you can start your garden early without fear of snow or frost.

The soil here in our area of southern Mississippi, I determined last fall, is rather poor.  Dead pansies and shrubbery told the sad tale. Gardening, though, is something I can't do without!

Everyone says that raised beds are the way to go.  Armed with a saw and drill, I went to work.

I am by no means an expert here, but I will tell you what I used--deck screws, 1x6 lumber, and yardsticks.  I didn't use any brackets or weather-treated wood, because we (probably) won't be living here next growing season, so I needed something less-than-permanent.

(You can tell I used scrap wood for these end pieces.)

Measure, saw, drill, and fill!

My inspiration for the square sections was Mel's Square Foot Gardening.  I didn't have the money for any of his fun products, but I liked his method of planting in squares.

(The dividers are cheap yardsticks from Home Depot.)

The fun part is watching the plants grow!

Strawberries

Onions

Green beans

Seeing the plants break the surface and raise their heads is so rewarding.

I also planted zuccini, basil, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, and lima beans.  And of course, some zinnias (my favorite!) and ranunculus.

What are you planting this year?