the glittered nest

Spring Rose Party

  I had a little spring soiree' with my family this weekend.  I have been so excited making the crepe paper roses that I had to have a party to celebrate and they are so bright and festive. 

      You can make little crepe paper roses as cupcake toppers.  Just cut the floral wire shorter and stick into the cupcake.

 

This little rose was a great little pick for the cheese.

sewing ruffles in crepe paper is so easy to do and looks great as a tie around napkins.

 Marshmallow peeps are so fun to use because they are so colorful and cute.

 

My little birdie rose pots were so much fun to make. Each guest picked one as their party gift.

   

 

This one is my absolute favorite color combination!

 Looks like sushi but tastes like rice crispie treats!!!  Yes...you roll dried papaya and some gummy fruit in your rice crispie treats.  The outside wrap is...you guessed it...a fruit roll up!  Aren't these cute. 

    I just love hanging a pretty cone from the door!

   

More crepe paper roses coming!   Check back for a spring giveaway! For now...on to the studio!

Little Crepe Paper Posies

I had so much fun making this little posie for my girls' bathroom.  I think they will love the colors.

 

 

 I am hooked!  These were so much fun.  To learn how to make these go to:  marthastewart.com

Children's smiles and laughter

 

 There's happiness behind these eyes.  Hold on to these images and just smile.  I love Kenny Chesney's song that says: "Life goes faster than you think...Don't Blink".

Nature Nature everywhere!

 

After living in Steiner Ranch 6 months...we finally decided to find the nature preserve behind our section.  We were so excited!  We couldn't believe this amazing trail was just a two minute walk from our front door.  Come along with us on our journey!

 

This little pond is situated right in the middle of the trail.  

 

     

We found wild chamomile growing on the outside of the preserve.  We took some home and decided to end our nature hike with a little pancake party.  The girls loved floating the chamomile in their fizzy drinks.  

   

   

After dinner the kids ended their day with a chamomile bath.  Simply put the blossoms in a mesh bag and hang under the faucet.  I added a few drops of vanilla to the bag.  Nighty Night!

San Antonio Riverwalk

 

I've been to the Riverwalk 100 times in my life but never saw it the way I did on this trip.  I have such wonderful memories walking down the colorful paths of the river with my parents.  Stopping to eat great Mexican food with Mariachi bands playing and buying the most fabulous giant tissue paper flowers for my room were just a few memories.  On this trip with my husband, I saw things through an adults eyes....Beauty, Calm, birds chirping, children giggling..families everywhere.  I woke up early one morning and walked the Riverwalk by myself.  Restaurant employees were setting up for lunch and the first riverboats were getting ready for the day's tours.  I can't wait to bring my family here so they can start building their Riverwalk memories as I did at their age.

 

There are so many beautiful waterfalls and little gardens thoughtfully placed everywhere. I found myself taking pictures of everything...walkways,tunnels,bridges,plants.  I couldn't get enough.  I really owe my attention to detail to the blogging world.  Since I've started blogging I notice little things that I never really thought about before.  I think about how the wind is blowing a tree branch, how my children are playing or how pretty a cupcake looks.  I feel I must record everything and place it in my online journal. 

 

This is the most amazing restaurant called Mi Tierra Cafe and Bakery.  It is the most vibrant and colorful place you will ever see.  

   This is an altar for the dead, a tradition in the Mexican culture, placed outside of the bakery.  You will find skeletons dressed and posed all over the place. Guatemalan worry dolls are easy to find in every store.  I bought some for my girls.  The tradition is that you tell the doll a worry and place it under your pillow.  They take your worries away.  Whether they do or not...they are just plain adorable.

 These crepe paper halos are also traditional.  Little girls everywhere on the riverwalk had these on.  I bought some for my girls.  They are made out of crepe paper.

 

One last photo before leaving my wonderful trip to San Antonio...the look on my son's face when we returned home:

   Click on the link to the right to see more photos from the trip.  Thank you for taking this journey with me through San Antonio.

Animal cookies

What else do you do with three antsy kids cooped up in the house from the rain?

BAKE BAKE BAKE!

so we did....easy animal sugar cookies with melted chocolate and sprinkles.

 

These little cookie cutters are from Wilton, purchased at the supermarket. We used a pre-made sugar cookie mix but you could also use the refrigerated dough.

I found it much easier to melt the chocolate candy wafers you can get from any craft store.  Microwave them for a minute and stir.  This gives you the same glossy look that royal icing does. Add some sprinkles and you have made your own animal cookies. 

 

My son kept stealing and eating the dough off of the table when we weren't looking!

These little cookies would be great party favor treats in a cellophane bag tied with bright colored ribbon.  Have a great and wet day!

Life's Little Miracles

 

I made this painting for my friend Jennifer and her daughter Ashleigh.  This is a picture of Ashleigh and Abigail when they were little girls. 

 

The quote under the picture says: "Life reveals her beauty one precious miracle at a time."  -Flavia

Jennifer is my Texas Family in Tennessee.  We moved there together with our husband's jobs from Texas.  Her family will always be a part of ours....no matter where we live. I hope Miss Ashleigh likes it for her room.

ONTO THE NEXT PROJECTS....always something around here:

Yeah for Rainy Days!

  I'm so excited for the rain today!  I actually took a picture of it from our upper balcony this morning:

 

Then we had some smiley pancakes to celebrate:

After school is usually a time where my girls go outside and run around.  Well, not today.  I made homemade play dough Download for my two year old and found how much my 7 year olds still love it!  They made pretend cupcakes with it:

 

The greatest thing about this play dough is that it lasts much longer than store bought and you can create your own colors.

 Yeah for the rain!  Have a happy day!

Wedding crafts

Today I helped my girlfriend Jill make a wedding cake money box for her Niece's wedding.  We bought three round boxes in different sizes at Hobby Lobby and worked our magic.

 

This is where we started.  We painted the boxes white.

Then we used Gesso and decopauged some paper onto the tops of the boxes and around the lip of the box.

 

      Here is our finished product.  We will cut a slit in the back of the box for guests to insert their envelopes.  We offset two ribbons and Jill attached a key to the bottom tier and a family brooch to the middle tier.

  The top tier has a little bird nest with two eggs symbolic of the bride and groom.

 

I also made a paper cone that will hang on the brides chair that coordinates with the cake.

 

These are so easy to make.  Just take on 12x 12 piece of cardstock and roll into a cone shape.  Attach with hot glue and add your paper creations.  I inserted some straw and added a satin ribbon by punching holes on either side of the cone.  These would be great treat holders for Easter.  

 Here's one I made  for my girls' first holy communion.  I will hang these on the children's chairs at our celebration at the house. I will add little cross and dove shaped cookies in the cone and a little prayer.

 

The paper flower can be found at Michaels in the paper embellishment aisle.  Made by K & Company.

   Thanks Jill for a great craft day!

Catstudio geographical collection

You will love this designer.  They make dish towels, aprons, glasses, pillows and trays by city,region or country.  I bought this dish towel for a girlfriend's birthday.  Go to their website.  They even come enclosed in  a linen envelop.  Enjoy! catstudio

You will also love these little hair bands for your little girls.  I found these at the Beauty Store in Austin but they do have a website: smoothies

These are the ones I bought for my twin girls: