Guest Post--Kelly from Running with Glitter

Hi! I'm Kelly from Running With Glitter. Mamma to two and wife to one. I love to create and blog! My blog always shows how I make my projects, hosts a

 weekly link party and offers a Friday Spotlight. 

Today I'm going to share my Butterfly Garland Tutorial.

 It is one of my favorite projects.  

At night when the house is quiet and the kids are in bed I craft. I love to create and have time just to think. Last night I made this butterfly garland for my daughters dresser. I think it turned out simply beautiful. 

This month I'd love to work on getting her room spring cleaned and a decorated. I think these butterflies add a touch of spring! Now if I can just get motivated to go thru her closet!

Here is how I made it...

{Look at my little helper.

 As soon as I went to take the picture of the supplies needed 

Blueberry hopped up on the ottoman. 

He wanted to be on the Glitter blog I guess!}

Supplies: 

Scrap Book Paper 

Needle

Scissors

Heavy White Thread

Paper Punch{see below}

Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Large Punch, Monarch Butterfly

Punch out several butterflies. 

Thread your needle and thru the top two holes string you buttlerfly. 

String away!

Hang your garland. 

I secured mine to the back of the dresser mirror with clear tape. 

To create a scalloped look hang a second row of butterflies then lift from the middle of the garland and tuck over the top row.  Now step back and see how beautiful! 

 You can chase a butterfly all over the field and never catch it.

 But if you sit quietly in the grass it will come and sit on your shoulder.

Author Unknown

I truly love this!
 {i would love it if you followed me and liked glitter on facebook}

An SOS from My Yard

We have a tiny back yard (not at ALL like the farm where I used to live!).  It's been quite an adjustment.  Not only is it tiny, it was, um....sad.

Yeah.  That sad.  And this sad....

*Sigh*

We moved into this house on Labor Day weekend of 2010.  By the time we got settled in (new house, new state!), "yard season" was over.  Though I was able to do a little Fall gardening, I knew I had to wait till Spring to really get in there and get my hands dirty.  By Winter's end, I was so terribly tired of gazing out into my sad little yard.

I am happy to report, though, that a wind of change has blown in. 

Though most of my focus has been on building, planting, and tending to my raised beds, I've made some time to bring some life into the backyard.

See?

We are working on it....definitely getting better!  Amos of course refused to opt out of the shot.

I would love to get some more outdoor furniture to make everything a little more "homey."  Our chairs are mismatched.  I'd like to get an entire matching dining set, like this Oxford Garden dining set, or an outdoor sofa.  Our friends have one, and it's so fun to be leisurely outside while sitting on it!  Britt fancies himself to be the host with the most, so he might go for something more along the lines of a Bamboo Tiki bar.  

Does anyone else find themselves wanting to spend all their time out in the yard?  And does Spring, therefore, seem to be a time when y'all want to spend all kinds of money??  It is for me!  I need to put some of these cats to work!

Thoughts of Summer--An Entrance Table

Green grass, petunias, ocean breezes.  I love summertime.

The only part of my home that absolutely without question gets a regular seasonal makeover is my entrance table.

Here she is all ready for summer.

The pops of grass green here are what really reminds me of the warm season at its finest.

Here is a summery trinket tray. (It's also in my Etsy shop!)

A little metal bucket from Hobby Lobby. It's filled with packets of vegetable seeds (how about that for cheap, use-what-you-have-lying-around decorating!).

Silk tulips (from PB a million years ago when I worked there), and a framed bulb graphic from The Graphics Fairy.

One of my favorite silver platters, a topiary, and my trash-to-treasure apothecary jar.

Here is an adorable toile bird I found on sale at Hobby Lobby.

I just love this little faux mercury glass jar I found at Tuesday Morning.

Long, warm days are ahead!

In addition to the parties on my Blog Parties tab, I'm linking to:
Feathered Nest Friday
Show and Tell Friday
Vintage Inspiration Friday

Blueberry Delight

One of my favorite desserts growing up was blueberry delight.  It was that thing my mother always brought to every event, and everyone always looked forward to it!

I decided to make my first blueberry delight for our weekly bible study.  Here's the (surprisingly enough to me!) main crust ingredient:

Ingredients:

5 egg whites, beaten stiff

2 c. sugar

1 c. chopped pecans

1 large container Cool Whip

1 can blueberry pie filling

1 stack of soda crackers (saltines)

Directions:

-Combine stiff egg whites, sugar, chopped nuts, and crumbled soda cracker.  Mix together gently but well.

-Press into the bottom of a well-greased 9x13 baking dish, and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or just until set.

-Let crust cool completely on a wire rack.  Spread Cool Whip on crust, and then spread blueberry filling on top of Cool Whip.  Chill and serve.

Y'all, the crust is just perfect! Gooey and sweet.  It's the perfect light, fruity summer dessert.

Enjoy!

The Other Man in My Life

I love dogs but have always been more of a cat person.  I still am.

But I've definitely been swept off my feet by the new man in my life.

Coy has been such a joy!

He loves to go wherever we do.  We took him on a recent trip to Lake Martin in Alabama.  Before we could turn around, he'd already chosen his place in the car.

Though we're not sure what our sweet "mutt" is, he is definitely part retriever.  He loves to swin.  Maybe some labrador? 

We only adopted him two months ago, but I already don't know what I'd do without him!

Regardless of what he "is," we love him.  I'm far from a dog expert, so I'm no good at speculating.  Any ideas, y'all?

Check Coy out at the Pet Party!

Joy in Order

I derive a lot of joy from order.  Organizing drawers.  Stacking books.  Making lists.  Matching socks.

That sort of thing.

One of the top, if not the top, room I like to organize is my kitchen.

To be such a small house, we have a pretty large kitchen.  I'm wanting (unbeknownst to my husband) a kitchen cart/island to help me get even more organized (I have a LOT of dishes and bakeware).  Since organization brings me joy, he wouldn't want to deny me joy, would he??

I've already started looking at butcher block kitchen carts.  And granite top kitchen carts.  And these work tables, which I personally think would look wonderful as a kitchen island.

I'm convinced all my "stuff" would look fantastically organized in one of these:

He doesn't need to know yet.



Are you a lover of order like I am?? 

Have You Entered the $125 Giveaway?

The amazing giveaway at Beatrice Banks has been extended to May 3rd.  What are you waiting for??