'Laissez les bons temps rouler' (Let the Good Times Roll)

Oh yes....it's that time of year again and we LOVE it!! What time you ask? Mardi Gras time of course. ^_^

Did you know that Mardi Gras began first in Mobile, AL in the year 1703? Oh yes, it's a long standing tradition and one we just can't get enough of. All the parades, the beautiful bright festive colors of green, purple and gold and Owwww Weeeee...the food!! Ohhh and getting to decorate for it too. Gotta so LOVE that!! I don't go all out but it's enough to make folks smile when they walk in the door.

Some of the beads we caught at a parade (standing in the rain) last year.

Oh yeah....we love our parades rain or shine...hehe

Now this handsome fella is Mr Ted E and he gets dressed up for several holidays around here..like Halloween and Christmas. Click on the links and see if you can find him.....hehe!! He is sporting more of the beads we caught from last year and his sweet owl mask. It fits us humans too but he likes wearing it the most. I LOVE making things and thought I might do a small "How To" on this mask. Want to learn? Well, let's get to it. 

What you will need:

Cardstock

scissors

pencil

black markers

paint

glue

string

feathers

I used a butterfly shape on the cardstock and cut it out. If you aren't good at drawing, no worries because I have a template you can use. (it has several different mask templates just in case you want to make several different mask)

These were found HERE

After you cut out the mask then you need to cut out 12 feather shapes....making one a bit larger than the rest. (it's going to be the nose) and then start gluing them on. I used regular Elmer's school glue (and no it doesn't dry purple..hehe) on just one end not the whole piece. We don't want our feathers laying down completely flat now do we? 

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Here's the way I glued mine so you will have a pattern to follow.

Now once all the feathers are glued on and we have let it sit for about 5 minutes to dry, we are going to do some detail work. I used yellow for the beak and I used off white for the feathers we just glued on. 

Once you have detailed using your paint you can see that the feathers are pulling up......just like real feathers...all fluffy!! If some are sticking up more than you would like simply put a tad bit more glue. Now you can do some detailing with the black markers.

I glued some real feathers at the ears and the crown and then punched holes on either side of the mask and used my green string so that I could tie it on Mr Ted E. (or the Chazman's) head.  If this mask is going to worn and taken off a good bit then I would put some clear tape over the holes before you punch them out. It gives that area a bit more strength. I also tie knots on the front side of the string to keep it from pulling back through. I added some pretty beads just to give it some Umph...boy style. ^_^  If you didn't want to do the tie on the mask you could glue or tape a straw to it so it can be held or perhaps a smooth tiny branch to let it keep that outdoor feel or you could make your own holder out of paper. Just take a 12x12 piece of paper and starting at one corner, roll tightly on the diagonal. Once you have rolled the entire piece take and tape the end down. If little hands are the ones that are going to be holding this then I might even neatly tape the whole thing. Just a thought!!

There are so many ways to make cute mask. You can use paper plates....simply cut plate in half, cut some eye holes and decorate. Did you know that letting your kiddo do an outline of their hands and then cutting them out makes a cute mask to be decorated?. Ohhhh, I kid ya not!!

Found this cute idea HERE.

It makes a great rainy day project or snow day project (for most lately it's several snow days inside) and one I hope that you will do and have fun with it. 

Until next time.........HUGS,

Regi

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Happy Friday and Happy HAPPY chocolate Valentine's Day!! I hope that you have someone special that will give you that BIG box of chocolates today and if ya don't...well.....give yourself a BIG box. HEY....I have a mister but I will probably still have to buy my own...hehe  That's alrightie though because then I will get the kind I want. Hmmmmm, I might even buy me some pretty flowers too while I'm at it. ^_^

I wish that I could give each of YOU a special Valentine's because I adore each and every one of you that come to visit me in my whimsical world. You don't realize it but some days just coming in and seeing that someone took their time to drop in and make a comment....well....it brings some light to a day that might have stayed dark. THANK YOU!!! OK....enough mushy stuff.  Since I can't give all an individual Valentine gift I can still give you something. A delicious ohhh soooo yummy recipe that is ohhh soooo easy to make.

 Oatmeal Ohhhh soooo Yummy Muffins

(makes 12 regular size muffins)

Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup milk

1 cup self rising flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

cinnamon (how ever much YOU like)

1 lightly beaten egg

1/4 cup oil

2 tablespoons vanilla flavoring

In a small bowl mix the oatmeal and milk, let sit for about 15 minutes

In larger bowl mix all the dry ingredients together.

In small bowl mix lightly beaten egg, oil and flavoring.

After the 15 minutes is up mix the egg mixture with the oatmeal mixture then pour into dry ingredients.

Stir just until all is moistened.

Fill paper lined muffin cups with mixture to almost the top. Pop in oven that has been preheated to 350.

Cook time is 25-30 minutes (or until toothpick in center comes out clean)

These are the best muffins to fix anytime and I do mean anytime. For breakfast, snack, dinner, dessert. These have ya covered and like I said ohhh soooo easy to make. You can add more ingredients like walnuts, raisins, apples, blueberries, and/or bananas. If you are wanting to use them as a dessert simply mix up some confectioner sugar drizzle (confectioner sugar, water, lemon juice) or even drizzle some sweetened condensed milk over the tops. I promise once you make one batch.....it will become a favorite recipe.

Happy Valentines!!!!

Regi

l'amour est dans l'air (Love is in the air)

Happy Thursday and welcome to my whimsical world under the old Southern ooaks tree. I hope that you will wander throughout to see just what I'm all about...hehe  (WARNING: I truly am a whimsy at heart and it shows)

L'amour est dans l'air......Love is in the air!! Well....I hope for all of us it's in the air all the time but that one day where it truly is all around us is almost upon us. Valentines Day!!

This cute card can be found at the Graphics Fairy

As those that visit here often, it's already known that I LOVE to decorate for any and all holidays. I say it's because of the kiddo but in reality....I will always decorate even when the Chazman is grown and out on his own. Of course, I'm sure I will have to remake my decorations because he has already informed me that HE is taking them ALL with him...hehe  (makes this heart feel so good that he loves them that much)

I didn't go overboard with Valentines decorations this year. If you remember, last year I decorated our Christmas tree I had left up....hehe......for Valentines and Mardi Gras. I didn't keep the big tree up this year and all my cute cards I made to go on the tree were given away last year. I did want to let my mister and my Chazman know that I love them both so I made a cute banner to remind them.

Simple and cute and YOU could make one too. If you are one of those "crafty" people (saying that in the good sense people..hehe) then I bet you have everything you need to make one. Here's what you'll need:

Digital image sheet music

Digital image word "LOVE"

glue

Fringe yarn, ribbon or twine

Red glitter gel pen

German glass

Fingernail polish (yes, you read that right)

My digital images for this project came from Free Vintage Digital Stamps

You probably can make this much easier than this old gal did but I am one of limited means. (which means the mister allows me a very small craft budget....mean old man) Here's what I did. I printed off the images using brown cardstock for the music hearts and then cut them out. Brown because it reminds me of chocolate AND it was the only color of cardstock I  had. I printed the word LOVE out on regular white paper, cut the letters out and then colored some of it with my red glitter gel pen. Glued the letters to the hearts, then poked holes in the hearts to run my fringe yarn through.

Once I had the hearts on the yarn I layed it out to look at it and decided it needed just a little "Umph". Ya know what the word "Umph" is meaning here, ri iight? Glitter or glass...love them both. For this project I decided to use some of my german glass. This is where the finger nail polish comes in....crazy I know but hey...it works. Just brush the polish on and then sprinkle some of the glass on. The polish makes it stick and seals it at the same time. 

It's so hard to get a good pic of the german glass but it does make the letters look vintage and pretty.

I let it sit for about 5 minutes and then hung it up on the mantle. Simple and cute!! It's not much but it says a lot to the mister and the Chazman. That I LOVE them. They know that already because I tell them that every single day but HEY....I got to decorate for a holiday!!

Did you notice the little heart flowers sitting on the mantle? Those are really easy to make too. A clothespin and some of those little glitter hearts you can get from the craft stores or the Dollar Tree. Just glue them on the top of the clothespin and you have a cute heart thingie...hehe

I hope that YOU have a wonderful day today and that tomorrow (Valentine Day) brings you chocolate!!!

Ohhhh, I found these at Free Vintage Digital stamps too and just had to share. I mean they are beach themed cards. I love anything BEACHY!!!! Hmmmmmm, wonder why? 

Until next time..............keep a shell in your pocket and some sand between your toes,

Regi