Cupcake Wars....

I blame everything (that goes wrong) on age.

 The fact that Easter is one week away. Age.

The fact that I need to get my butt(!) in gear and get some things done. Age.

Anything I forgot to do or did not get done. Age.

 Despite the "age" thing, I am sharing several different quick and easy ways to make cute, fun Easter cupcakes. These cupcakes are totally edible. The "grass" is really some kind of candy. It came in longer lengths and I just cut it with my (kitchen) scissors. All ingredients were found at Wally World. 

(Yes, even the little bunnies are some type of candy.) 

 Who doesn't love to use Peeps at Easter? 

 I made "real" frosting, but they could have just as easily been canned frosting tinted green. Kids don't care! 

 My aunt made these cupcakes. I have no idea how I got away with only one picture. Maybe because they were getting scooped up so quickly. 

 I used a white cake mix and tinted the batter various pastel colors. I baked them in a mini muffin pan. Some I used wrappers on and some I did not. Personally, I kind of like how they look without the wrappers. You get to see all the cute colors. 

 Some I lined up on a cute little Easter platter. I used a star tip and just squiggled lots of white frosting on top of each one. Then I put a few sprinkles on each cupcake as well. 

 A few cupcakes got places of honor among the Easter decorations.

 Then I used a bunch of them and put them in the push-up tubes. Kids really love these. Two mini cupcakes fit inside each tube perfectly. You could also put one cupcake and one Peep rabbit. 

 I ordered my push-up containers on line. I do not remember where I got them, but I am sure they can be googled up. I bought a lot at once and have used them with all kinds of desserts. 

 To display them I just put them inside several little Easter buckets filled with grass. Simple. Fun. Easy.

I promise I understand about time constraints and holidays that sneak up. Each of these recipes are fast and easy, yet fun for all the kids...and big kids. 

Linking with:

Metamorphosis Monday
Stone Gable's Menu Monday
Wow Us Wednesday

Florist Fun!

My sister always has fresh flowers at her house.

Not the little $5 bouquets like I sprinkle 

throughout my house, but the 

real deal. 

 They are always beautiful and cutting edge. ("Cutting"...get it?)

She has a wonderful florist that arranges things just for her.

 My sister has two young children, so there is always something with some whimsy. Such as this cute rabbit. Yes, he is really all flowers.....except for (ironically!!) the little bouquet he is holding! How cute is he? I just loved him. 

I have noticed that her florist always puts in some kind of unexpected greenery in all the bouquets, no matter what time of year it is. This time it is cabbage leaves. How appropriate. 

Don't you just love how the colors of the various bouquets all tie together, yet are different? Swoon. Swoon.

I knew you would enjoy these! 

Linking with:
Metamorphosis Monday
Wow Us Wednesday

Spring Into Green!

On this first day of spring,

I thought it only appropriate

to share 

the green-ing of my house. 

 I guess it is only natural that some of the green would be attributed to St. Pat's Day. 

 But the rest of the green is purely the soul's desire to "spring" things up after a hard winter. 

 It was not the winter weather that was hard this year, but unexpected losses of a dear dear friend and a dear dear cousin.

 Not only were those two surprise losses hard to take, but my mother-in-law is suffering from one of the diseases that takes your mind before your body....and is so hard to watch transpire. 

 It is when I was standing at one of the doorways and I could see through three or four rooms that my eye caught sight of all the green. How refreshing! 

 All that green made me think of spring and the rebirth that spring also heralds. That was just what my soul needed. 

 The green was not consciously put out like I often do with colors. I must have just felt it deep down and without thinking sprinkled it throughout the house. 

 I took down the little bit of St. Patrick's things I had out and replaced them with Easter..and spring. 

 Rebirth. Renewal. Hope. All spring eternal with Spring. 

Welcome Home Spring! 

Springtime Fruits of the Spirit

When I think of the Fruits of the Spirit I always think of spring.

And good things.

 And friends that walk the walk and are true examples of Fruits of the Spirit. 

 My little chalkboard-makin-student asks me repeatedly if I have "something for her to draw". So this time I gave her the Fruits of the Spirit.  She gave me back Wonderful!

 The ceilings in my house are very tall. They lend themselves perfectly for big pictures/boards/ideas on the upper part of a wall. 

 So that is where my Fruits of the Spirit has gone to live for the time being. 

 In my mind the perfect crown for a hutch decorated for spring. How better to celebrate spring than seeing a daily reminder of the fruits of a gentle, loving character? 

 It's easy to live a few of the "fruits" but harder to live all of them. It is even more hard to live them on a daily basis, not just when things are going well. That's why I love this simple but  full-of-goodness chalkboard. It speaks to me each day as I walk past. The Fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 

As you can see, I continue to change the hutch. I added lavender to it this week. Not only is the color beautiful, but the smell is divine as well. I might have changed the hutch around, but the Fruits of the Spirit remain the crown! 

Linking with:

Metamorphosis Monday

Spring Thing Blog Party
Stone Gable TTT
No Minimalist Here
Wow Us Wednesday

Birds of a Feather

 As I have stated before, my brain works in such a way that when March 1st hits, it is Officially Spring. Nevermind the fact that outside may be cold-enough-for-a-coat-kind-of-weather. Or even (heaven forbid) some snow, but come March 1st it is springtime inside the house. And in my brain!

 I think it is from all those years of living in northernmost Kansas and the brutal (in my eyes) winters we would have. 

 I longed for blue skies (as opposed to gray), green leaves (as opposed to dormant bareness) and the sound of birds singing. 

 Each winter, come February, I feel that same need. I need blue, green and birds. 

 So if an impatient girl can't find them outside, then inside she must! 

 So I pulled from my dish closet things that would transform my hutch-top to a simple springtime. 

 Nothing fancy, just simple plates and bird things. 

 I am sure that it is of no coincidence that my grandmother's birthday would fall on March 1st as well and she was a huge bird lover. She decorated with birds long before it was vogue to do so. 

 So I thought of my Grammie as I decorated the hutch. I thought of the hutch (top) that I had dragged around for over 30 years (and four or five colors). 

 That made me think how quickly and easily things could be transformed and updated with a little paint. Which then made me think about the fact a person can really update on a budget. Which took my train of thought to what bargains every single thing on the hutch actually was when I bought them. Or better yet, got them for free. 

 Which then made me think about the many different ways I have purposed and repurposed those cute little urns. And how I love that white plates can go with everything. Even if you have to stick a nest on top of a stack of white salad plates so that one doesn't see the embossed snowflake. 

 Which then made me think of how much I love warm weather and was glad that it was SPRINGTIME, because it was officially March 1st, therefore SPRINGTIME in my world. Which made me think of how March 1st was also my grandmother's birthday and how much she loved bird decor too......

Which made me think, "Isn't that what decorating is all about? Simple solutions that make you smile and bring all sorts of memories flooding into a (springtime) brain. Bring on spring!!"

 Linking to:

Metamorphosis Monday

WOW Us Wednesday