Tea cup swap spoiled me!

Wow did I ever get spoiled this Easter! I participated in an Easter Tea Cup Swap hosted by Teri at Artful Affirmations and Martha at Martha's Favorites. I got an absolutely wonderful partner, Debi at Life in My Studio. She put together the most beautiful Easter basket filled with the loveliest items. I was so excited when the box arrived I could hardly wait to open it. Two of my nieces were with me when I opened it and they were excited too-mostly for the candy though!

The tin aqua basket had the cutest Easter Bunny on the front. There was sweet lace tied in a bow and it was filled with pink Easter grass. Inside were so many treasures. Vintage Bingo cards, a vintage flower post card, an old wedding photo, seam binding and lace, some sparkly eggs, flowers, an antique tea spoon, lot's of candy, a beautiful tea cup and inside a pretty Rose Chintz box was a necklace made just for me featuring Cinderella-one of my favorites! This was the most amazing basket full of goodies! Thank you so much Debi! I am still drooling over everything in it!

Here is the necklace that she made me. This in itself is a fantastic gift! I was so amazed to see this! She really listened to what I liked and spoiled me rotten.

And here is the beautiful tea cup that she sent. I just love the roses and the beautiful shape of the cup and handle. It is perfect for me!

This is the cup that I sent to Debi. They look almost identical! Great minds think alike!!

I found some vintage hankies, a doily, a brooch, some eggs filled with candy, tulip suckers, some chocolates and I embellished a spoon to match her teacup. I don't think I sent her nearly enough, but now I know better for next time!

I made her a pretty little basket that wasn't too Easter-y so that she could use it all year round.

It was so much fun doing this swap-I can see why so many of you are addicted to swapping! I can't wait to join in on another one, equipped with many new wonderful ideas!

Don't forget-I am having a giveaway and would love it if you won! Click here to go to the giveaway!

100 followers~100 posts giveaway!

You may or may not have noticed, but I have reached 100 followers! 100 posts!

When I started this little blog of mine, I honestly NEVER thought I would have a single follower, let alone 100! So this is a pretty big deal to me. Yes, some of you have hundreds, even thousands of followers, so 100 is just small change to you, but to me-it's HUGE! I want to shout it from the roof tops! I want to celebrate it so I am doing a giveaway to celebrate YOU-my followers!

Little did you know that I have been collecting some treasures to give to one lucky winner. Some very pretty, pink, pampering treasures. Included in my giveaway is a very cute black and white damask makeup bag with ruffly pink trim, rose scented lotion, a pink striped bath fizzie, a soft pink wash cloth and a beautiful pink candle that I have embellished that smells like the freshest, prettiest, pinkest rose in the garden. I wanted something beautiful that anyone would adore, because I adore all of you-my followers-old and new!

There are 3 easy ways to enter my giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this post.

2. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. If you are already a follower-thank you!! You are automatically entered but feel free to leave me a comment!

3. Tell people about my giveaway on your blog and let me know you did.

I will be announcing the winner on May 2nd. I might be throwing in a few extra goodies so you will probably get more than you see here...surprises are fun!

Happy Pink Saturday to you all and thank you so much for making me feel like the little things I do really matter!

Happy Easter!!

Madisyn in Wonderland Birthday Tea Party

Our niece Madisyn turned 2 years old on April 9th, so on April 17th, she had an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party. When her mom found an adorable tea party cake, she knew a tea party was in order. Her cake was a team effort: grandma baked and frosted the cakes, mom made the fondant and I rolled out the table cloth and decorated it! It was a lot of fun to make!

The tea party was outside at my sister-in-laws house. We showed up extra early to get all the food made, cake decorated and table set. I took over a lot my pretty servers to serve the tea party food on. We had 4 different tea sandwiches, scones, mini quiche, fruit salad, lil smokies wrapped in bacon, lemonade and of course 5 different, yummy teas.

I had a lot of fun setting the table with all my pretties and lot's of flowers. Everyone had a tea cup and saucer to drink out of...what kind of a tea party would it be without them?!

Here is the Birthday girl sipping her lemonade like a lady. She was wearing a pretty dress and lot's of bling!

Here she is blowing out the candles on her cake. She blew them out before Happy Birthday was done being sang to her, I think she just wanted some delicious cake!

Here are her tea party guests. If you ask Madisyn if she had a great Birthday Tea Party, she will tell you "No" even though she means yes!

Happy 2nd Birthday Miss Madisyn!

Spring Salsa

As soon as the Spring weather decides to show up around here, there is nothing I crave more than sitting on the patio with a margarita in one hand and some chips and salsa in the other hand. Making homemade salsa that is as good or even better than a Mexican Restaurant salsa is so easy to do. Before I figured it out, I was too intimidated to make it on my own. Now, I refuse to buy store bought salsa!

I am not a big tomato fan but I love salsa. So I use canned tomatoes for my salsa, crushed so there are no big chunks. This batch is made with one large can. Then I cut up one onion, one bunch of cilantro and one jalapeno pepper-more or less depending on how hot you like it. Then I add a little garlic salt and regular salt to taste. I like salt so I probably add more than I should! And the only way to really get the yummiest salsa ever, is to get the best chips ever. I can only eat Juanita's tortilla chips with homemade salsa. They are so salty and crunchy, you have to try them if you haven't!

Be warned, making homemade salsa will spoil anyone who tries it and that is all they will ever want again. I am going to go sit out on the patio with my margarita and chips and salsa...won't you join me?!

My first matchbox swap

I recently participated in a Matchbox Swap hosted by Laura at Decor to Adore. It was my very first swap of any kind so I was very excited and a little scared. I wanted to make sure that I gave my swap partner something wonderful that she would enjoy. My swap partner was Michele at Nook and Cranny. Look at this beautiful box she created for me. The box was covered in a beautiful blue and green paper with sparkly hydrangeas. On top she tied a lovely bow adorned with a very pretty rose.

Inside were some wonderful treasures. It seemed like the box had no bottom because I kept pulling out more and more great things. There was vintage lace, buttons, a broach, a magnet, an old wooden spool, a fun straight pin and a pair of pretty diamond earrings.

She also included cute little bunny picks, beads, paper cut-outs and a sparkly binder clip!Some very pretty tags, an old clothes pin wrapped in the cutest blue polka-dotted ribbon all nestled in a sheer pink bag. I love every single item that she included! Thank you so much Michele for all the wonderful things you sent me. My first swap was a success!

Here is the box that I sent Michele. She told me that she loved birds! On top of her box, I made a cute little nest holding 2 aqua eggs, tied with a pretty little bow.

It was so fun filling the box with lot's of fun things for her. I found a very cute rusty birdhouse with a rusty little bird to match. Some vintage ribbons and lace, tiny little Easter eggs, many silk flowers, buttons, beads, vintage playing cards, a vintage cloth tape measure, bubbles, some flower picks and two tiny little blue birds. I lined the inside of the box with a sewing pattern. I really hope that Michele liked all her little treasures because I sure had fun putting it all together for her!

And our wonderful host Laura sent this sweet little box filled with lot's of little goodies. I love the gold bunny holding a basket of flowers on the front. These boxes gave me lot's of ideas-thank you both for your generosity!

What fun it is to participate in a swap like this. I can't wait to do it again!!

Spring indoors

Spring is in the air at my house! I have been trying to decorate to make the inside feel like spring, even if it still feels like winter outside! I don't have a mantel, so I like to decorate the top of my TV. I found these cute little glass vase things at work and brought them home with me. I knew they would hold an egg perfectly! I purchased some real looking eggs made out of a ceramic material at a craft store and painted and glittered them. Then I added a bow and a flower. They are very springy!

I couldn't decide if I liked the vases empty, so I put in some jelly beans to see if I liked it better. I almost think empty looks better, what do you think? Do you notice the car in the bottom left of the picture? My husband likes to add his own touch to my decorating, mostly in the form of his matchbox car collections! I humor him since he pretty much let's me do whatever I want with our house!

I took Friday off since my little Bella girl got spayed on Thursday. I wanted to be home with her because I am sure it is a pretty scary things she just went through. Of course I can't just sit and do nothing, so I made this SPRING banner to hang in my window. I used 6 different colors and patterns of scrapbook paper and added lace, flowers, pom poms and ribbon. I like the way it turned out and it adds a nice springy touch to the living room!

And one more spring touch is my teapot full of spring flowers. I added in a few eggs on sticks to bring in the Easter aspect! Thank goodness for silk flowers this time of year!

I hope that you are enjoying spring like weather where you are! I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. There are always so many lovely pinks for everyone to enjoy!

April in Paris

I never knew the charm of spring
Never met it face to face
I never knew my heart could sing
Never missed a warm embrace.

April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom
Holiday tables under the trees
April in Paris, this is a feeling
No one can ever reprise.

I never knew the charm of spring
Never met it face to face
I never knew my heart could sing
Never missed a warm embrace

Till April in Paris
Whom can I run to
What have you done to my heart?
{Lyrics by Vernon Duke & E Y Harburg}

I wish I was spending April in Paris. I know that my heart would fall instantly in love and I would never want to leave!!

But since Paris isn't in my near future, I can dream and create. This is a banner I made with images of the Eiffel Tower from The Graphics Fairy. My guest bathroom is done in a Paris theme, so this banner fits right in hanging on the mirror.

I can't wait to visit Paris one day, be it in April or any other month. Visiting will be a dream come true for me! Until that day, I will fantasize about the lovely city that she is and dream a little dream of April in Paris!

I am joining up with Frenchy at La Chateau de Fleurs for the French Obsession Party!