Spring decorating ideas

Okay, first of all, I am soooo sick of winter!!!
I was at a soccer game this morning and froze my bottom off!!!!
I was sitting there....teeth chattering... thinking...hhmm.....I wonder if we will ever get spring....and I have come to the conclusion that we have about 10 months of winter and then 2 months of blasting hot!! So no, I don't think we are ever going to get spring, but maybe if I decorate enough, I can enjoy it in my little mind!!

I decided to look for some ideas to decorate my house for spring and try and get some spring feeling in my home.
So, I came across this fabulous blog this morning and fell in love with so much that she has posted!
Here are just a few pictures of some of the wonderful things she has!

I love brown eggs, that is all we had growing up~ It takes me back!

Isn't this green so wonderful!

I ran upon another great blog, called Color Sizzle with wonderful spring ideas!
The next six pictures come from her blog!

This just makes me want nice weather sooo bad!

I love hydrangeas!

I love lemons and limes in a vase with flowers!
It is so summery!

I love topiary's, and these are just too cute!

I am going to pray for spring!!!! I love warm weather....no more snow!!!!

An awesome idea!

Do you remember this plaque I did for our friends? If not you can see my full tutorial Here!

Well, Amy from One Artsy Mama wanted to try one of her own! I absolutely love the way hers turned out! Check out her tutorial Here. She has a fabulous blog, and has some great ideas!
I am so excited to that someone was inspired to create something from one of my creations!
It just gives me that extra boost to keep going!

Thanks Amy for sharing this with me! It's beautiful!

Pencil Bag

Remember this zipper pouch????

Well, I decided to make another one for my older daughter to take to school for her colored pencils!

I used a white fabric for the inside. I used the tutorial from Here

I love these little zipper pouches! They really are pretty easy!

Easter wreath

I absolutely love Easter!
I love spring colors, all the pretty pastels!
So fun after a drab winter!

Anyway, I wanted an Easter wreath, and this is what I came up with!
It was so easy, it took me just a few minutes!

supplies:
1 wreath (I just used an old one that I already had)
1 package of eggs (I bought mine at Joanns with my 50% off coupon)
1 bag of moss (purchased at the dollar store)

First I hot glued my eggs on.
Then, I hot glued moss on around the eggs.
This was the tricky part, it is really hard not to burn your fingers off!
I just would glue a little at a time!
Then, I took some Easter ribbon and hung it up!

So simple!

I love Jewelry!!!

I love jewelry!! I have a ton of jewelry, and the last thing I needed was more...but I really wanted to try making some, so I did. It was a lot of fun, and I might have to make more!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my tutorial....the pictures are horrible, I need a new camera, but hopefully you can understand the basics of it!!!

I started with the necklace,
then had to make some matching earrings,
and then off coarse you need a bracelet to complete the set!!!
So here it is!!!

For the necklace, these are the supplies I used!
I got most of them from a dollar store her in town called Honks.
The metal medallion came from Walmart, and the stretchy cord came from Joanns!

So take your cord and measure about how long you want your necklace to be.
An easy way I did it was, I strung the medallion on the cord, and hung it around my neck and positioned the medallion where I wanted it to hit my chest.
Then give yourself a couple of extra inches to tie it off.
Cut your cord.
Then start placing your bead on however you want.

Once you have your bead placed where you want, then you can either tie it off, or attach your lobster claw clasps.
I chose to use a clasp, because mine was short enough I didn't want to stretch it over my head each time!
Make sure you add some super glue to the knot!!!

Now for the earrings!
Here are the supplies I used.

Take your straight pins and add your beads...like so...

Then I took some little wire cutters I had and bend the end of the pin over into a small loop.

I don't have any proper tools, so you can use just about whatever you want to make it work.

Then take the part that goes in your ear (I know, I am so official), and use your needle nose pliers, or whatever tool you are using and open the little loop up on the bottom of it.

Then put the loop that you made earlier on the straight pin with the beads on and pinch the loop closed again with your tool.

I hope you are following....it should look something like this.
And of coarse do it again for the other ear!!!

Now for the bracelet....actually three bracelets! I did three separate bracelets so I could chose whether I wanted to wear 1 or 3!!

So, I started with three strands of the stretchy cord.
I measured it around my wrists, leaving a couple inches extra so I could tie it easier!

Make sure you tape down your strands or I promise you will have some spills....and nothing makes me more mad than spilling all my work...I have no time for that!!!

So add your beads how you want, and you can add a lobster claw clasp, or just tie them off.
Since it is stretchy cord, I decided just to tie mine off.
Make sure you add some super glue to your knots to ensure you won't be redoing it all!
I really pulled on my knots too, just to make sure they were secure!

The finished product!!!

Cheap and easy and fast!

I love how they turned out!

Absolutely hate these pictures of me....my daughter even told me they were bad, but they will have to do!!!

Broccoli Cheddar soup

I got this recipe from my sister and it has been one of our favorites for years! It is so good!

Ingredients:

1 small block of Velveeta, cut into cubes
2 head of broccoli, steamed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery
1-2 stalks of celery
milk, just enough to thin it as much as you like
salt and pepper
mushrooms (this is something I add, but it actually isn't in the original recipe)

Steam your broccoli, set aside. In a big pot, add all the ingredients and let simmer for 20-30 minutes.
I actually do this in the morning and put it in a crockpot and let it cook on low all day.
I like easy!!!

And I like to add some bacon bits....everything is better with bacon!

Blog Swap!

Today I am doing a blog swap with Laura from Live.Laugh.photograph! She is very talented and has some great ideas over at her blog. I am super excited to be doing this with her today, so go check out the post that I am doing on her blog today!

Hi Everyone! My name is Laura, I am the woman behind live.laugh.photograph, and I am super excited to be featured here on A love 2 Create!!

Trina has been so kind as to let me share a fun creative craft tutorial here with you today! But, before I being... I have to gush about how awesome Trina really is. I mean, her rainbow tutu, potpourri holders, and decorative plates are just some of my favorite projects she's done! She is definitely talented and oh so creative! But, then again, if you are a follower of her blog then this is nothing new to you!

Let's get started shall we?!

Today I will be showing you how to make these cute little clothespin magnets.

Now, I am a digital scrapbooker which means that I do all of my scrapbooking and get all of my papers and elements online. If you are not a digital scrapper, and have no idea what I'm talking about, have no fear! You can still do this project with any cardstock or papers you have lying around at home. For the flowers, you can trace them on some paper, or even use silk flowers. The options are endless! For those of you out there how know what I'm talking about, I got the flower templates and digital scrapbooking kit here.

So, first I gathered some materials I needed. I used photoshop to print out the papers and flowers.

Now, cut out the papers and elements you will be using.

We are going to glue the paper onto the clothespin. So, take your pin and generously put glue on it. You can use a hot glue gun or gluestick. I prefer gluestick :)

Press it down firmly and then set aside to dry.

Now we are going to move onto the flowers. After I cut them out, I like to distress them a bit. I folded the edges up and then down, just to make them a little messy and worn. Then I inked the edges using a walnut stain.

Here is what they will look like after the previous steps.

Now it's time to break out the mod podge! Oh how I LOVE this stuff!!!

Take a brush {note I'm using a different one than pictured above.... it's just because I change my mind a lot. I'm a woman. And it's my prerogative! hehe}

Anyway, take your brush {or a different one if you choose} and mod podge the flowers! Make sure you get the back and front.

Set those aside now and pick up your clothespins. It's time to trim the edges.

Take an exacto knife, or scissors if you want and trim around the edges of the clothespin.

Now wer're going to sand the edges to make them more even. I used a sanding block but you can use a nail file or a piece of sandpaper. It's really up to you!

ink the edges.....

Once those are sanded and inked, it's time to put the magnets on. I used little strips that you buy in a pack. I had to trim them down a bit so they wouldn't over lap the edges. I used my glue gun to attach them because in previous attempts, the glue on the magnets just doesn't cut it!

This is what it should look like when it's finished.....

Now lets put it all together! Glue your flowers to the top of the clothespin.

Add any extra embellishments you choose! Ribbon, buttons, stickers, etc.

And there you have it! Cute little clothespin magnets for your fridge.

You can even use pictures of your kids to make as a present for the grandparents.

Like I've said before, the options are endless for this project!

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and if you want to see more, check out my blog!

I have a ton of new tutorials in the making and on their way. So head on over and follow because you won't wan to miss out!

Thanks again Trina for letting me take over your blog for the day :) And I hope to see you all over at live.laugh.photograph!

Happy Crafting!

Thanks so much for doing this Laura....that was great! Remember to go check out her blog!