Bunnies Are a Hoppin' (Spring Hutch)

Hello!

Can I start by thanking all of you for your 

kind words about my Redbook Magazine feature?

You are all the best and really know how to make

a girl feel special.  

♥♥♥

It's time to get this whole Spring/Easter thing going,

so let's do it!

Today I'm sharing my dining room hutch.

Pretty simple, using everything that I already own.

I'm sure you may recognize some of these items

that turn up in my vignettes from time to time.

I love the white bunnies that I bought from Hobby Lobby last year.

Funny, my husband is always telling me I have too many birds...

as if anyone can have too many birds!

Now he tells me that he thinks I may have too many bunnies!

Really?  Really?

Where does he get his stuff from?  

Too many bunnies!

Who ever heard of such a thing?

:)

Here's a closer look:

I am absolutely amazed by how quickly the time is flying.

Can Easter really be just over a week away?

My goodness, we're still waiting for Spring to

arrive here in New York!

Thanks for visiting me today.

Have a bunny hoppin' kind of day!

Honored & Excited

Hi friends! 

I'm not sure how to write this post or even if I should be writing it.

I hope you don't all think me shameless. 

 I can't help it really. 

 I'm excited!

A few months ago, 

I was contacted by the Home Editor of Redbook magazine. 

 She asked if they could potentially feature my umbrella wreath

in their April edition.

" Are you talking to lil' old me?" 

 Why yes!  

Yes, of course you can feature it!  

I tried not to get excited just in case

the whole thing didn't work out.  

However...

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself on page 142.

Many thanks to Redbook Magazine.

I am both honored & excited to be featured in their publication.

Many thanks to you, my friends,  

for visiting me often, 

leaving me wonderful comments, 

and allowing me to blow my own horn.  :)

I'll be back to share some Spring decor soon.

 

A Spring Vignette

My home has been officially Spring-ified!

(Yes, I know that's not a real word.)

The snow is finally beginning to melt,

although there is some of the white stuff in the

forecast for today, and it looks like there

might be light at the end of this very cold,

very snowy Winter tunnel.  

I'd like to share the blue dresser in my sitting room today....

I wish the background you see through the window was 

green instead of white, but this is New York after all.  

 Everything I used here was stuff I already had on hand.

I always love it when that happens.

Have a wonderful day friends

and 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A Simple DIY Sideboard of Sorts

Hello sweet friends~

 March is finally upon us

and with any luck, 

it'll bring some Spring like weather to us all,

because man, this Winter is getting old!

♥♥♥♥

Anyway,

 I wanted to share a simple DIY for the Dining Room.

 If you're an avid reader of the old blog, 

you know I often share my dining room chalkboard with you.

I always saw a major problem with my chalkboard and

you may or may not have noticed it yourself.

The chalkboard is hung on a fairly good sized wall,

with no furniture underneath it,

so I always felt as though it was "floating" in space,

with nothing to ground it.

I always wanted to add a sideboard or buffet,

but my husband was always against it.

He would give me a speech about how the last

thing we needed was another piece of furniture

in the dining room, or that it would be an obstruction and

  stick out too far & block people's ability to walk,

or how it isn't necessary to fill every available inch 

of  space with something, blah, blah, blah.

So, what is a girl to do?

 Get creative & improvise something with

a narrow depth!

Ikea shelf to the rescue,

along with some brackets, 

just because.

Then, 

I got some fabric & sewed a simple skirt,

added some pretties....

and the chalkboard no longer floats!  

See?  Simple is good!

And now I want to officially declare-----

if I MUST see nothing but Winter whenever I look outside,

if I MUST freeze whenever I step outside,

then I MUST refuse to see Winter inside as well.

Spring decorating here I come!!!

 

Four Chip Muffins

I had to have a procedure done a few weeks ago.

After said procedure, I was given a diet to follow for one week by my doctor.

Foods NOT on this diet....

whole grains, fresh fruit, fresh veggies.

Foods ON this diet....

refined white grains, cookies, cakes, muffins, butter, ice cream, 

bacon, carbonated beverages, etc.

Honestly.

I kid you not.

So what did I do?

I threw all caution to the wind & had a grand old time!

 (Yes, in hindsight, I now see this was not a smart move, 

but I'm happy to say I am back on track with my healthy diet.)

I've have always loved to bake & with my new healthier lifestyle 

over the past year, I just don't get to bake as much as I would like.  

So I remedied that...doctor's orders.  :)

Enter this delectable muffin:

I bought a muffin cookbook a decade ago and I have pretty

much been happy with every muffin I've ever made from it.

Here's the recipe:

FOUR CHIP MUFFINS

2 cups all purpose flour

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup milk

½ cup butter, melted

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup white chocolate chips

½ cup butterscotch chips

½ cup peanut butter chips

½ cup chopped walnuts (I didn't add the walnuts)

Heat oven to 350°.  In a large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder & salt.  In another bowl, blend together milk, butter, eggs & vanilla.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Add the milk mixture and stir just to combine.  Stir in the chips and nuts (if using).  Fill greased muffin tins.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.  Cool.

Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Grab a muffin and a hot cup of tea (or coffee) 

and

have a great day!

 

Winter Doldrums

I've got a bad case of the Winter doldrums.

It's so cold,

we never made it out of the negative digits today.

It's -2°,

factoring in the wind chill, 

it's -26°.

I swear if I didn't have to go to work,

I wouldn't want to leave the house at all.

I'm beginning to feel like a bear in hibernation this Winter.

When we are lucky enough to get up to a balmy 20° or so,

(yes, 20° feels balmy around here now)

it ends up snowing at least 8-12 inches.

If we don't have snow,

then we have to deal with sub zero temperatures.

We can't win.  

I just pray that this Winter ends soon.

It's so discouraging.

Anyway,  hubby & I have been working on a project &

I can't wait to show you what we've been up to!

It will be a bit yet before I can share it;

there's still so much to do.  

I hope the weather is much better where you are.

If not, stay warm & hopefully Spring will make

an appearance real soon!

Here's to hoping anyway....

Valentine's Day Mantel 2015

I have to be honest, 

I had to force myself to decorate for Valentine's Day this year. 

Not that I "go all out" or anything, 

but I just wasn't feeling it this year.

My remedy?

Just keep it simple.

I only spent about $10.00 total here.

I bought the banner & the heart shaped tags 

(on the branches) from Hobby Lobby for $6.00.

I spent $4.00 at The Dollar Tree to make

the square candle votive holders for Debbie & Shannon's 

crafting for $1.00 party.

Everything else was stuff  I already had on hand.

I kept the white lanterns from my Winter mantel

& changed all the other items.

Simple.

I stacked up a basket & a crate for the hearth.

I added my kid's Valentine's Day related books

& the pillow I made a couple of years ago.

Simple heart gift tags hang from a few branches.

You can see the square glass votive holders that I made 

right here.

The heart shaped plates are from Target  (on clearance)

a few years ago.

Keeping it simple meant it was a quick

change out from Winter to Valentine's Day

and it will be quick to change back to Winter

once Valentine's Day is over.

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day

or do you skip it?