Look what came in the mail...

I have to give a little shout out to my Rabbit Romp Exchange partner... Kyla from Funky Polkadot GiraffeWho by the way authors one awesome blog, I love her style! She makes me smile, she makes me want to do things, and she makes me just happy.  I was SO excited to have her as my partner...I received the most perfect gift for a house full of girls! 

 Aren't they AWESOME!!! Here's the story...My 3 yr old and I returned from dropping off the 5 yr old at school to find a package waiting on the porch.Giddiness followed by a mad rush to find something to open it with.I opened the box to find these super sweet hair clips and headbands, a darling little spring green metal bucket filled with yummy treats (chocolate covered marshmallows!) and best of all...SWEDISH FISH EASTER EGGS!!! What?My heart be still, how did she know that swedish fish are my true weakness in life? I'm pretty sure I didn't tell her, oh but the joy that filled me! I immediately hid them so I could savor every single one later that night. (And I did, and they were heaven!!!) In my excitement, I forgot to snap a picture before the treats were devoured by said 3 yr old and my sister, okay, and me! And I would have posted this earlier but had to track down the hair goodies from my daughters who each claimed one as soon as they got home from school. They have worn them to church, to school, to play dates, to the store, I even found one of them wearing the pink headband in bed the other night. The compliments have poured in, I can't blame them, they are SO cute! THANK YOU  Kyla-you made my exchange so fun and very special! 

It's Officially Spring...over my Dining Table!

My little house is slowly becoming more me. When you can't paint you have to look elsewhere for color.I was given this idea by an amazingly talented woman at church... 

...I forgot to take the boring "before" picture. Just imagine the lonely little light, naked and cold...

Can I just tell you how big of a difference this this makes! I love it!

It adds a little distinction to the dinning area (our floor plan is VERY open)

and  actually makes eating a little more intimate even for my family of seven!

 I started with a grapevine wreath form, wired in the ivy and bead garland, then added the individual hydrangea, Persian rose, red berry stems, and grass picks.I tied the wreath to the chandelier using burlap ribbon, leaving the ties a little long, and last used craft wire to add a handle to the glass globes and then tied those to the light with a green sheer ribbon. The tea lights are battery operated-I don't trust my 3 yr old with fire! And they are so fun. I'm thinking I need one more globe and a filler of sorts to hide the tea lights a bit. But aside from that, I'm a happy girl!(AND, my husband didn't even complain that it was in the way-success!!!) Happy Crafting. Wreaths and Door Decor...

It's Wednesday already?

Oh, how I love this time of year! So close to summer, so close to vacation, so...chaotic!It's been another crazy busy week here but I was determined to get something done, that and I need to document a few things for next year when I'm struggling for things to do. So here goes, another "What Wendy did Wednesday..." 

First, my sweet little munchkin here was baptized this past weekend!

It was wonderful. We were surrounded by family and friends and such an overwhelming sense of love. I absolutely enjoyed every moment,  but am SO glad it's over!

Then it was Easter!

 I had a friend ask me about helping her to re-create a super cute basket she had seen over at the

 Crafty Sisters.  

 Um, yeah I was going to help-it's was super cute!

I copied the rabbit, and then went a little crazy with it and came up with the lamb and chick.

Such fun Easter baskets-I used the little white rabbit for my Rabbit Romp Exchange Basket!

I will share the how-to's later, it was really easy and surprisingly inexpensive.

I was asked to help decorate tables for our Relief Society Birthday Celebration. We were focusing on service in our community and the heritage of the organization, so super simple decor was the idea.

I found an old beat-up 1x6 in a field and put it to good use. I made a set of candlesticks and a flower box from it. The flower box is a bit of a teaser for May's Wood You Like to Craft?

The event kicks off Monday if you want to play along...

...and last, one more little detail to cross off my "to-make" list. I ran across this idea while thumbing through a catalog and loved the look of it. When I won a $30 gift certificate to Angie's Country Chic Cottage and found that she carries vintage paper of all sorts, it was fate! I took an old vase, the vintage dictionary sheets, and some  mod podge and gave that vase a new, modern look. Quick, easy, and totally worth it. And now, I'm ready for a nap!Have a great day, and happy crafting...

Monday Munchies...What to do with all those EGGS!

Oh my look at the time!

I had to get my holiday company out the door and on the road to home before I could tackle a post, thanks for your patience!

 Did you have a great weekend and Easter? Did the bunny find you?He did us, and left a TON of hard boiled eggs in his wake, so now what do we do with them...   

Deviled Eggs anyone? Always a hit at my house (and a quick and easy way to get rid of a bunch of the little buggers fast!).

ingredients

• 6 Hard-Cooked Eggs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• Paprika or parsley sprigs (optional)

directions

1. Halve hard-cooked eggs lengthwise and remove yolks. Set whites aside. Place yolks in a small bowl; mash with a fork. Add mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar; mix well. If desired, season with salt and black pepper. Stuff egg white halves with yolk mixture. Cover and chill until serving time (up to 24 hours). If desired, garnish with paprika or parsley.
2. Makes 12 servings

Now get crazy and mix it up with a variation or two...that way when you're still eating eggs a week from now, you won't hate them quite so much!

1. Italian-Style Deviled Eggs: Prepare as above, except omit mayonnaise or salad dressing, mustard, and vinegar. Stir 1/4 cup creamy Italian salad dressing and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese into mashed yolks; mix well.
2. Greek-Style Deviled Eggs: Prepare as above, except fold 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese, 1 tablespoon finely chopped pitted kalamata olives or other pitted ripe olives, and 2 teaspoons snipped fresh oregano into yolk mixture. If desired, season with black pepper.
3. Curry and Crab Deviled Eggs: Prepare as above, except omit mustard and vinegar. Stir the mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard, 1 teaspoon snipped fresh chives, and 1/2 teaspoon curry powder into mashed yolks; mix well. Fold in 1/4 cup drained, flaked canned crabmeat.
4. Chipotle Deviled Eggs: Prepare as above, except omit mayonnaise, mustard and vinegar. Stir 1/4 cup dairy sour cream, 1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion, and 1 teaspoon finely chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce into yolk mixture.

If that's not getting you "egg"cited, give this one a try...

Egg Salad Sandwiches

ingredients

• 4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
• 2 tablespoons sweet or dill pickle relish
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red sweet pepper
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 1-1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 4 croissants, split
• 4 leaves red-tipped leaf lettuce
• 4 to 8 slices Colby and Monterey Jack cheese or cheddar cheese (4 to 8 ounce)

directions

1. For egg salad, in a medium bowl stir together eggs, pickle relish, sweet pepper, mayonnaise, and mustard. If desired, cover and chill for up to 6 hours.
2. To assemble sandwiches, layer the bottom halves of the croissants with lettuce leaves. Spread egg salad over lettuce; top with 1 or 2 cheese slices. Add top halves of croissants. If necessary, use wooden toothpicks to secure sandwiches. Makes 4 sandwiches.
3. Curried Egg Salad: Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon curry powder to the egg salad. Cover and chill for 2 to 6 hours.
4. Honey-Dill Egg Salad: Substitute honey mustard for yellow mustard and add 1 teaspoon dried dillweed to the egg salad.
5. Egg Salad Wraps: Prepare egg salad as directed. Substitute four 8-inch flour tortillas for croissants. Lay lettuce leaves on tortillas; top with egg salad and roll up.

recipe source BGH.com

Don't forget to keep adding your recipes to the Simple Salads link! Maybe by summer, we'll have an entire Summer's worth!

Happy Crafting.

Guest Posting at The Scrap Shoppe and T.G.I.F. Party #14!

I'm sharing a fast and easy last minute Easter idea here today:  

But before you go, be sure to link up your fantastic
ideas, projects,

recipes, tips, re-makes, re-dos or just plain old awesome-ness!

Grab a button, spread the word, the more the merrier,

Happy Weekend and HAPPY EASTER!!!

(I hope the bunny finds you...)

<a href="http://www.wmcraftgoodies.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n563/Wendy_Gardiner/tgifbutton.jpg" border="0" alt="Craft Goodies"></a>

(Cheap) Easter Family Fun!

I love my family! Not just my hubster and kiddlets, but my first family-parents, sisters and brother.Getting together ALWAYS results in a good time.Easter is no exception.  I wanted to share a few of our traditions with you just in case you need a little somethin'-somethin' to count down the minutes until the bunny arrives Sunday morning!  Have an Easter Egg Hunt... (duh!) 

Ours happens very much like our Christmas Candy Cane Hunt.We use (and re-use) the plastic colored eggs. Everyone is assigned a "color" to hunt, and we're all given the same amount of eggs.The older you are, the harder your eggs are to find.We usually have 2 of the adults hide the eggs while the rest of us are busy dying a few hard boiled ones. That way, it's still fun for the "big kids" to hunt, and the two hiders to laugh at us. 

The best part...hunting for the "Silver Egg"!
(I'm not sure why it's not gold?) It contains cash, good old-spending cash. And it's fair game to all.  

SO MUCH FUN!!!Once the eggs are all collected and our bellies are on a sugar high we move on to... The Egg Decorating Contest!This is my favorite, I seriously look forward to this ALL year.Here's the basics: Gather a collection of odds and ends from around the house. The plain to the odd, anything goes.(Buttons, feathers, pipe cleaners, glitter, markers, crayons, yarn, thread, fun foam, felt, stickers, tp tubes, tissue paper, candy, toothpicks, q-tips, clay, fabric scraps, etc)   Add to that a few basic crafting standards like glue (hot and cold), scissors, markers, paper and pencils, and the like. Everyone gets one hard boiled egg. One. That's it.You brake it or crack it, no matter, that's it, you get one!

Set the timer for 30 minutes and then GO! Use the supplies you gathered to quickly create the most amazing EGG you've ever seen. Again, anything goes so long as you incorporate the egg into the design. This has a tendency to get a little crazy and a lot competitive at our house. I'm talking first come, first serve at the supply table, trash talking, egg breaking craziness! Oh, but it's fun. My dad offers a running commentary on each others designs as well as the time, and also serves as the official judge. Once we're out of time, the real craziness begins. We each get to present our creations, kind of a little egg show-and-tell which always includes more trash talk, explain a little if necessary, and {kiss up to the judge}! Then we're kicked out of the room to leave the judge to his decision making.  Award Ceremony is next...we are divided into age groups. The 18+ group, the tweeners 12-17, and the little peeps 2-11. My dad comes up with some seriously lame titled award for each of us. Kinda like if you made a dinosaur (which I did one year) you might end up with the "Dino-mite Diddy of an Egg!" award (which I did, thanks dad !).We all moan and groan with each award cause they only get worse the longer it goes on... they are printed out onto certificates so we have a little souvenir of the event and are "officially" signed by the Easter Bunny!You can find some cute FREE ones HEREBut then come the big ones...An Over-all Grand Champion! (one for the kiddies and one for the "BIG" kiddies)This just gives you bragging rights, but it is SO worth it. The funny thing is my sisters and brother are so talented, that this is seriously a HARD competition.One year my brother made a fish using a Dr. Scholl's gel foot pad! He even put it in a bowl. We've  made fairies, Mr. Potato Head, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, baskets with flowers, Dora, a horse with a rider, frogs, birds, and you should see what the little ones come up with. Oh how I wish I had access to pictures of them. They are amazing!  Give it a try. It's a super fun way to spend an evening with your family!Happy Crafting...  

Got 5 minutes?

If you have a few minutes to spare, I'm asking for your help. I've got a friend who could use a little online love. Her husband was laid off last week. He is the sole income provider for her family of 7.(My family went through this very thing 3 years ago, sometimes just knowing someone has your back is the best thing!)She found and entered an online contest that would reward her family with $500 in gas!!!She is currently in second place, all she needs is you to "like" her picture- check it out (and three of her darling five girls)  It's super easy to help out and it will make you feel better! Go here:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150213316110799&set=o.57313552308&theater

Do this:

1) like Bradsdeals.com on Facebook

2) like my photo

  The contest ends tomorrow!!! Good Luck Angela!!!