Pretty in pink

The dogwoods are in bloom, and we have a bunch of the white-blossomed trees growing wild in the woods behind our house. They are BEAUTIFUL, and they look like snow-covered trees... in he middle of March!

We also have a purposefully planted pink dogwood in the front yard. I can't say that I've ever been partial to them, but this tree is just doggone gorgeous! I can't get over how rich the blooms are... and how many of them there are!

I had to snap a few pictures before it's past its prime!

Plate Painting

My friends, Season and Shelly, and I (AKA the "Real Housewives of Chelsea, Alabama") recently went to Do It Yourself Crafts to paint some plates. Yep... PLATES! I saw this adorable, little bluebird plate design on the DIYC Facebook page, and it was just too cute to pass up, especially since we got an amazing deal from Living Social! ;) So, we headed over one night... and had a blast!
What amazing ideas they have in there! Here is an absolutely adorable idea for Christmas ornaments with kids' hand prints. I SO plan on creating this with Jaiden's and Iain's prints for Christmas 2011! PRECIOUS!


Annnnnnd, here is just the cutest little crab I have ever seen! How clever! (And I don't even like the beach!)


Now, keep in mind that we started out with an all- white plate. Then we painted both sides black and started working on some really neat techniques. One thing that impressed me was that we cut out the little birdie shape from regular, old paper and outlined the shape on the plate. After painting in the bird, we put paint on the paper itself and then put THAT on top of the bird we just painted. It created a really cool texture!
Here is my finished product.


The plate is displayed on the top shelf of the hutch in my dining room. And I LOVE how it goes along with my favorite Willow Tree angel!