American Honey Home: April 2017

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Spring Has Finally Sprung!

After the crazy winter we had this year, I didn't think Spring would ever get here! It's definitely late in its arrival, but it's finally here! We've been spending weekends cleaning up the yard. We lost quite a few trees because of the snow so there has been a lot of chain saw action around here. I have all of my hanging planters filled with new plants and am slowly adding more flowers wherever I can. I also decorated the front porch to celebrate the season.

My mother-in-law made this wreath for me and it is perfect. I love the colors and the flowers and it looks so perfect hanging on my front door.

I already had my address buckets filled with my favorite color of hydrangeas so the wreath was the finishing touch that my front porch needed.

We haven't had cows in the back pasture since November and I was surely missing having new little friends out there. These new neighbor cows showed up a few weeks ago and they are the friendliest ones that have been out there so far. They are the cutest twin brothers, properly named 56 and 56.2!

Our Asian Pear tree is blooming beautifully and I caught this little bee buzzing around the blooms. Unfortunately, our apricot tree didn't make it through the winter and it was one that we had to cut down. I am lucky I got one harvest out of it last year.

And my most favorite part of Spring, the lilacs are finally blooming and ready to be cut! I went out this morning and cut a big, beautiful bouquet to bring inside and enjoy. I wish you could smell these amazing lilacs, my house smells divine!

I also decorated my vintage gate with my Spring Monogram Wreath and my framed nests. The decorated gate goes perfectly with my Spring coffee table vignette that I put together on my made over tray. Spring is finally here and I am so happy that it is!

Linking up with:

Dishing It & Digging It

Monday Social

Amaze Me Monday

The Art of Homemaking Monday

Cooking & Crafting with J & J

Show & Share

Inspire Me Tuesday

Centerpiece Wednesday

Feathered Nest Friday

Pink Saturday

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Thrift Store Tray Makeover

This morning I was browsing Pinterest and someone pinned a tray makeover that I loved. I had the tray and was just waiting for inspiration to strike. Today was the day!

I bought this tray after Christmas at the Idaho Youth Ranch for $3. As cute as the snowmen are, I think my made over tray will get a lot more use!

The sun is shining and the spray paint dried really fast. Next time I would prime it first because those snowmen were hard to cover up.

Next up, I took some twine and wrapped it around the handles. Super easy makeover that makes such a big difference!

The twine handles are probably my most favorite part.

I had this vignette on my coffee table on a different tray and I switched them out. Bella refused to get off the couch, I guess she wanted to be part of the photo shoot!

I have done a similar coffee table vignette using these elements before but I changed this one up just a little bit. I added the lantern and put the little nest and eggs inside of it.

Another picture with Bella in the background. My tray makeover turned out great and makes this vignette even better!

I have 2 more trays that need to be made over. Hopefully inspiration will strike soon for those too!

Linking Up With:

Dishing It & Digging It

Amaze Me Monday

Monday Social

The Art of Homemaking Monday

Cooking & Crafting with J & J

Centerpiece Wednesday

Feathered Nest Friday

Anything Goes Pink Saturday

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Spring Tea Cup Exchange

This is the 3rd Teacup Exchange I have participated in at The Enchanting Rose and as usual, it was fantastic! Stephanie does an amazing job organizing this and I have always been so lucky to receive wonderful packages in the mail.

Esther sent me a beautiful box of goodness with this Vintage Snack Tea Set. The pretty aqua background is accented by purple violets and little splashes of gold. I do not have a snack set like this and I love the shell shape of the plate.

She also included a ruffled baking dish in my favorite color, tea, cocoa, chocolates, mini whisks and a sweet notebook. Everything was wrapped in pastel colored tissue paper and it was so fun to unwrap it all.

The markings on the bottom of the plate and cup helped in finding out more information about my newest tea set.

My collection is growing and growing and I think it's time to figure out a new way to display all of my lovely tea sets.

I had some fun taking photos of my new tea set. Here it is with a little birds nest and eggs in it. Perfect for spring!

All decked out in pretty pearls.

And sitting on a luscious bed of hydrangeas. I had a lot of fun playing and finding ways to show off my beautiful new tea set.

I sent a package to Jennifer. who I just found out is one of the bad apples that doesn't play by the rules. She didn't send a package but gladly received one. It makes me sad that I gave her this and she didn't return the favor to someone else. She also hasn't communicated with Stephanie or me. I love the vintage looking roses on the tea set I sent her. I also sent some tea, a vintage doily, some lights, washi tape and a sparkly letter J.

A big thanks to Stephanie for another awesome tea cup exchange and to Esther for all of my goodies!

Linking up with:

Dishing It & Digging It

Monday Social
Amaze Me Monday
Show & Share
Cooking & Crafting with J & J
The Art of Homemaking Monday
Tuesday Cuppa Tea
Tea Cup & Mug Exchange Reveal

Monday, April 3, 2017

60th Birthday Party

My dad turned 60 on March 15th and we threw him a surprise party to celebrate! When my mom and I first started planning this, she didn't know that she was headed to the ER soon to have her gallbladder removed. So at first, she was planning a small little party with nothing too special. Once she had her surgery and started feeling better, the plans for the party grew and grew.

Trying to find ideas for party decor for a man's 60th birthday party wasn't very easy. So using my very favorite picture of my dad as a little boy, I decided to create a theme using a picture of him as a little boy and a picture of him now. I created this invite and sent out over 60 of them to all our friends and family.

I made a fun fact sheet about the year 1957 that I framed. This picture was used on his birthday cake, which I didn't get a picture of. My camera was stuck in my sisters car so I didn't get pictures of the food set up or of the party and all of these were taken with my phone.

The place where we had the party has a mantle that was perfect for decorating. The centerpieces were double-sided and I placed one on each side of the mantle. The fact sheet was in the middle along with a picture of my dad then and now. I also made a fun little banner to hang.

I have a huge craft closet at work where I keep all of my event inventory. I knew I was going to be using black so these boxes that I used at the 2015 Scholarship Gala were perfect. I wrapped some twine around them, glued a piece of styrofoam in the bottom and stuck a dowel in that with some kraft paper basket filler on top.

I bought a roll of kraft paper at the Dollar Tree and made the medallions with it. Black poster board was glued to the medallion and then a cut out of the picture was glued to both sides of the medallion. I set these on top of a slice of wood and used these as centerpieces on all of the tables. Each table had a black tablecloth as well.

The banner used the same elements: kraft paper, black poster board and pictures of my dad. We were able to keep this party a surprise which we didn't think we would be able to pull off. My dad and the boys went shooting that morning while the girls set out to decorate and prep food for the party. My brother told my dad he needed to go look at some shelves and when my dad said he would just stay in the truck, my brother had to tell him no. Then my dad saw his cousin's truck and knew what was up but he was still surprised!

For the second surprise of the day, my dad was honored with a Quilt of Appreciation from the American Legion. He had no idea that he was receiving the quilt but the biggest surprise came when he turned around and saw us all there. We all drove up to see him receive his quilt and he was so surprised!