Season of Jelly Beans

Around our home lately we've had a lot of loose jelly beans, but quickly caught and popped into our mouths!  From two projects I have enough leftover beans to last until July 4th.  You see, when playing house I often take a moment (or two) for craft-i-ness.

The first project was copied from a blog called, www.theidearoom.net  She has a lot of fun ideas and I check her blog daily.

I had to sacrifice a few calories to drink up all the Starbucks in order to have enough bottles for my Easter table and a few co-workers.  Heh - what's 1800 calories?   (The calendar page is a Linnea Design www.linneadesign.com and is not the right year; I just ADORE the drawing.)

Every bunny deserves a tail!  The ears were pink chenille pipe cleaners folded and adhered with white electrician's tape (can't recall the blog that had the pipe cleaner idea as www.theidearoom.net jars had paper ears).

The lids were painted white and I added a tag printed out from www.theidearoom.net blog

The jelly beans were a combination of regular and tropical Starburst. 

My next project acknowledges a parent's happy news.  A co-worker announced that she was having a 2nd child and then later was excited to say that the baby would be a GIRL.  I have given the baby bottle filled with jelly beans several times before to reflect whether the baby was to be a girl or a boy.
These photos were hurriedly taken before leaving for work since I wanted to present it to my co-worker this morning.   In other words, no time for bow fluffing. 

The bottle can be purchased at a grocery store - with pink or blue caps.  The ribbons I had on hand as well as the makings for a tag.  Flavor of jelly beans is Cotton Candy.   "D" stands for their last name.

Better shot showing the 2nd ribbon with the sweet baby footprints - also can be purchased in blue.

I think these are adorable, if I do say so myself.   A gift such as this seem to say, "I'm excited FOR you!"  Oh, these make fun gifts for the grandparents too! 

The season of the jelly bean is ending.  Jasper is kind-a sad as he likes the ones that hit the floor!

Theresa

Yardstick Love

Why does one fall in love with an ordinary object?  I'm talking about a yardstick - as Webster's describes it, "noun: a graduated stick or rod one yard in length, used in measuring."  Or, the "ruler" one grabs when one has to measure more than 12 inches.  One normally finds the yardstick hanging in the laundry room, or the garage, or the pantry closet, and if lucky to have, a sewing/craft room.  It's a little forlorn, a little rough around the edges, marked with pencil, and paint splattered perhaps.  But...it is ready to do the job whenever you are - no buttons to push, no levers to switch, lay it down and it's good to go. 
I remember when my crush began.  It was a magazine photo of a half-bath with the walls on the bottom half covered - not horizontally mind you - but with side-by-side yardsticks.  Yep, that was the fall.  What a graphic colorful room!!  I wonder if people entered the room, and forgot to come out - too much to read vertically!
The crush was fed by the blogging world!  Yardsticks are being used for covering footstools, folk art, boxes and so on and so on.  Hmmmmmm, maybe I'm not alone....
So my husband and I got busy.  We started collecting yardsticks.  I was surprised at the number I already had tucked away.  My first project was to cover the tops of two metal yard tables.  
I was ready to play house on my outside, covered patio.

First I had to enlist the help of Larry's cousin, Bob.  You see Bob has this fabulous woodworking shop.  It's full of saws and machines and smells wonderfully of sawdust.  Bob is a master with working in wood; he's created tables, frames, flag display boxes, and pedestals, to name a few items.  Larry and I dropped off our yardsticks and tables, and Bob did his magic.  The tables in a word are "awesome."

 
Not only did he create the tops out of our yardsticks, but inserted pieces of special kinds of wood and framed the top. 

To point out a few of the sticks -
Handy Dan - long gone home and garden center in Dallas - years before Home Depot and Lowe's
Baton Rouge - where I went to LSU and my dear friend, Louise, still lives
The Best Rule is to Save - need I say more??

2nd table
Park Cities Baptist Church - where my marriage occurred
Yardbirds of Texas - another pre-Home Depot store
The Royal Standard - favorite shop in Baton Rouge

Here's a side view - the metal legs were sprayed painted black by Larry.

This transformation happened back in December.  The tables were better than I ever could have imagined.  Thanks Bob!!!  The tables have been waiting for spring to arrive to be placed on the patio.  Their intended purpose is no longer to measure, but to provide a colorful, graphic place to rest a drink.  

PS - The pieces of yardsticks leftover? - stayed tuned - another project is brewing.  

Theresa

Closet Turnover

What do you look for as a sign of spring?  Is it daffodils bowing in the breeze, forsythia bursting out in yellow splendor, or a robin hopping on the ground?
For me, it's what I call "closet turnover."  Spring has arrived when I can no longer stand my fall/winter clothes and devote a weekend to closet turnover.

This past Saturday morning, I played house.

What's behind sheet #1 in the below photo?  Scary isn't it?  Those are spring/summer clothes hiding behind the sheet thrown haphazardly over the clothes to protect them from dust.
After a trip to Ikea, I had hanging clothes bags to protect and organize my clothes.  (To give a shout out to Container Store, I DO have individual hanging bags from them for certain items.) 

However, first comes the purging.  One cannot have closet turnover without purge.  Quite a pile of clothes to go to Goodwill this week.  I also had an overflowing trash can holding the wire hangers that seem to multiple like bunnies in the closet.

Mid-Purge

All done!  Nice and organized - for now.  Spring/summer wardrobe in the ready. 

Next up - ironing marathon.

Enjoy Spring, Theresa

Easter Decorating

Welcome to my inaugural post!  

I created my blog to be able to show my family and friends how I “play house” in our new home.   We all lead such busy lives—the folks who are near don’t drop in and the ones who are far certainly can’t.  What better way to show what I’ve been up to than by posting photos on my blog. 

Spring and Easter are here, along with spring storms and allergies.  Let’s face it, you have to take the good with the bad!   However, the season promotes decorating.  As usual, I’ve been playing house.

I first saw a similar wreath made by Smith & Hawken on Kara's front door.  I've had mine for several years now.  I recently added the monogram (Southern Proper Monograms). 

Dining table (Jasper welcomes you - photobombing in top left corner.

) 

Another view of table; lettuce soup tureen was a wedding gift; small bowls recent purchase at Tuesday Morning. 

OK - here is what everyone is calling a "vignette." Bunny plate (along with 5 others) new this year from Kroger.

Lantern from Kay; love to use.  Lanterns aren't just for candles!  Bunny and egg from a potter in MS.

Newest bunny & carrots from Pier I.  Dressed her up with pink ribbon and a created bead necklace that says Happy Easter!

 Whew - hope I did this right!   Actually I must confess, my first post on this subject with these photos was lost in cyberspace.

Thanks for visiting.  

By the way, if you sign up using your email, when I post a blog you are notified.  

Welcome, I decided to start blogging as a place to share photos of "playing house" in my new home.  I realized after a couple of years of reading blogs I've been building tablescapes and decorating my home for the holidays for years and years.  As youngsters, my sister and I loved to play house outside.  We would be very creative with objects while building our pretend homes.  Having to pretend fed our creative juices.  I live with my retired husband and dog.  We have 2 adult children.