It's My Party!

I was happily surprised when my girlfriends decided to throw me a  birthday party!

It wasn't a milestone birthday, just a regular old, birthday.

I am not gonna lie......Mary Ann and Maria out did themselves!

The table was lovely! My favorite color red was the dominate color....daffodils added a little yellow.....

and a little green was added with the dinner plates, and favors.....

tomato plants in silver buckets!

So clever!!

And guess what???

We were sent home with treat bags too! Filled with all sorts of goodies!

A girl couldn't ask for better friends!!

chris



Missing My Mom and Loving My Girls!

My Mom Bevy....

1936 Malibu Beach California

1963 Mountain View California

2006 Campbell California

The McKinley Girls....Meghann, Meredith, Erin Rose, Liz, and Katie

2008 Campbell California

I had a wonderful day......Mr. Math took me to breakfast, and I spent the day doing what I love.....I went to the third day of an estate sale, and worked in the yard. Flowers from my girls and dinner at my favorite fish house with two of the girls and Mr. Math completed the day.

I hope you enjoyed your special day!

chris

I Couldn't Decide........

Which nest to send to Laura, who was my swap partner in Viv's Nest Swap.

This one....

or this one

or this one

Once I sat down and started thinking about what do for this swap, I couldn't stop!

Can you guess which one I decided to send Laura?

Which one is your favorite?

And Now.....

Will the nest that was sent to Laura please stand up?

This is the one I decided to send!  I made a bird out of felt and set her on a nest built on a china saucer....a vintage umbrella to keep the little birdie out of the sun, and off she went to Laura...... said she liked whimsical, so I'm crossing my fingers that she likes it!

chris

Sharing My Nest!

I'm sure you've noticed...once we are done crafting for Easter, there's a little lull in blogland.

And then along came Viv, with a great idea.....

A nest swap!

My partner for this swap was Laura who blogs at Vintage Bettys.

Laura was kind enough to ask me what kind of look I wanted. I said I liked the realistic look.

Well...Laura hit it out of the park!

When looking around the Internet, I saw lots of different things with nests and birds....

tea cups, tiered stands, pillows with nests added to them, cloches with nests under them and nests with all sorts of different things in them....

BUT

I never saw a mason jar with a nest and a bird in it!

So clever!

Laura painted the lid, added darling paper, and a daisy flower trim.

Laura made the bird and the eggs, which I couldn't seem to get a good picture of, out of paperclay! I can't get over the bird....Laura did such a great job of painting this bird! Love the colors!

Such a fun swap with another blogpal!!

Thank you Laura!

chris

Supply Swap!

Mary, who blogs at Mary's Meanderings was my Supply Swap partner.

Elizabeth from Creative Breathing paired us up......in the email she sent telling me who my partner was she mentioned that she thought it was a good pairing....

Well, she wasn't kidding!

When I received Mary's package, I realized that I had included some of the very same items in the package I sent to her!

Mary decorated an ice cream box, and stuffed it with amazing crafting goodies!

I couldn't wait to untie this little package and see what was packed so carefully.

A hankie with a little cowboy...so cute, ric rac, bias tape, a sewing kit and a bunch of vintage flowers!

Three different shaped vintage tart pans held a child's tea pot, beads, painted china pieces, and baker's twine. Mary so cleverly wrapped the baker's twine around vintage spools!!



Flash cards, decals, post cards, vintage layaway tags, decals and so much more!

Mary also sent a tart pan, filled with small vintage Christmas ornaments...pink and aqua...two of my favorite colors! 

The tart pan that held the ornaments has been used already!! It was just what I needed to finish a project for another swap I've joined!

Mary even included something sweet! Mr. Math sure was happy! He loves chocolate too! Since Mary sent two chocolate bars, I shared one with him!

So much fun to receive a package of items to craft with!

Mary did a great job sending me things that I would enjoy.

Hoping she likes her Supply Swap package too!

chris

May Day Supplies!

I work in the manufacturing department of a medical device company.

And there are only five women who work in manufacturing.

Working with a lot of men can be a little overwhelming at times.....

So I decided a May Day celebration was called for...a little boost....put a little smile on our faces.

A few small vases, lavender and a few Cecil Brunner roses make up my May Day supply kit!



Happy May Day!!

chris

Out Of Control!

I have two Cecil Brunner roses in the backyard.......and they are blooming like crazy!!



Cecil Brunner is a climbing rose, an old garden rose, with a wonderful fragrance!

The Simplicity rose is a hedge rose.....I have them planted along the fence in the backyard, as well as along the front of the Xavier Ct. house.

I love planting lavender with my roses...the two plants grow well together, and you can't believe how wonderful the yard smells!

Maybe I love these roses so much because they remind me of my Dad.....I helped him plant them our first weekend in the Xavier Ct. House....19 years ago this month!

chris