How do your kiddos decorate their Easter eggs?

Happy Happy Friday ya'll. So so happy it's the weekend and very, VERY happy it's suppose to be a pretty one too. I guess I'm just happy all around. ^_^

Now the Chazman may have informed me that he is too old to take treat/goodie bags to school now but he definitely reminded me that he still loves and is young enough to decorate our Easter eggs. Thank goodness he hasn't outgrown everything all at one time....WHEW!!!

We have several ways we like to decorate our eggs and it kinda depends on the mood the Chazman is in with just the way we do them. Sometimes it's just dying them using the ever faithful Paas dye kit.

If we do them that way this year then I'm going to be trying out using my whisk instead of a spoon to do the dipping with. (Yeppers...found that nifty idea off of Pinterest) I think it will be a lot less messy that way but then again....I am talking about the Chazman...hehe  Boys do love to make a mess!!

One year, I totally forgot to buy any vinegar. Had the Paas kit but no vinegar....dang it all!!! No worries though because I thought of a different way to make them and a way I knew that Chaz would love doing. (yes, he takes after his momma....loves crafting) All it took was some glue....several different shades of glitter and lots of newspaper. (that was to capture all the glitter and yes, even young males love using glitter)

Here's one that I want to try out and I think it will be FUN FUN FUN and let the Chazman bring out the artist inside. Decorating using Sharpie pens. How awesome is that? Extremely AWESOME!! Found this on Craft Thyme's blog and OMGOSH...so many amazing projects can be found there. Go and take a peek!!

Talk about an easy way to decorate some eggs....what could be simpler than taking plastic eggs and some bracelet glow sticks? Not much as far as I'm concerned. When Chaz was really young (toddling around young) we would have loved this easy way. He would want to hide and hunt all day and these would have been perfect for the late afternoon or in the house.

There are so many ways out there to decorate and I hope that these few suggestions will give you some inspiration to try some new ways to do just that.

Now...we love to eat the eggs after we are finished hunting them. I'm sure some are saying "Ewww Regi" but I have been doing it since I was young and well....I'm old and still living..hehe  I would never be able to do the next two suggestions because....well....we all LOVE them right out of the shell. I might make some for a Easter gathering sometimes though. They are really cute.

Until next time..............Hugs,
Regi

Need some ideas for some Easter goodie bags?

Well......the Chazman informed me this morning on the way to school that he thinks he is to old to be taking goodies for every Holiday. WHAT??? When did this happen? My little boy is growing up....to to fast!!!

Since I won't be making anything this year (BOOHOO), I thought some of you might be and could use a few interesting suggestions. ^_^

This one caught my eye immediately due to the fact that I LOVE peeps. OMGOSH...I wish they would make some sugar free ones...hehe. This cute idea was posted on Pinterest and once I clicked on the pic I was taken to the website Spoonful. It's a Disney site and WOW...so much FUN can be found there. They have the HOW TO on this and even a free printable for the "You are one of my favorite PEEPS". Just click on the word Spoonful above to get the free printable.

Here's another cute idea....snicker snicker...that was on Pinterest. No link when ya click on the pic though. Kiddos love jelly beans and when they find out they are really (looking around) bunny poop...well...they are going to love them even more. I wish there had been a link because I don't like not giving credit to who ever had this funny and cute idea. If I WAS being allowed to make some goodie bags this is one that I would so use. Taking some card stock and printing off the cute saying and then doodling one of my own bunnies. Oh well (big big sigh) I won't get to make them but YOU can!!!

Now here's a cute idea and one that I did use in the past for the Chazman and his classmates. I got my bags at Wal-mart and the rickrack ribbon too. I'm sure they still carry it and if not then there's always Hobby Lobby and Michael's. ^_^    I think his teacher was really happy that year that I didn't bring candy but yummy goldfish.

Ok...this will be my last one for today (even though I have several, several, SEVERAL more). This is so cute, ri iight?? Powdered donut holes as bunny tails!! I couldn't find a link to the original but I know that YOU are so talented and can do this one without any directions.

I hope I have helped stir your imagination up a wee bit and that you use some of these ideas. Let me know if you do...I would love to see them.

Until next time...............Hugs,
Regi

Pinterest addict here!!!

Good Golly Miss Molly.....I have become addicted to Pinterest!! How in the world did that happen? hehe

Thank you for stopping by today to visit and please forgive me not being here under the old Southern ooaks tree as of late. As you discovered in my last post I am working part-time (and making real money...woohoo) and something you didn't know......is that I am also dealing with what might be a tear in my ACL. No fun..no fun at all BUT since I have to sit and have RICE (that's not as in rice you eat...although, I do love rice....it's Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) I have really been doing a good bit of drooling looking at Pinterest here lately.

Ya'll know how much I LOVE to decorate for holidays and we have one of my favorite coming up. Easter!!!
I love what Easter represents to us as Christians and I also love the fun that can be found in it too. Since I haven't been able to move around as much when I'm home I haven't done as much decorating as I normally do but I have done some.....to make the Chazman happy happy and me as well.

Here's my pretty wide ribbon wreath transformed yet again...hehe. All the materials I used to add to my wreath were found at the Dollar Tree. LOVE, love, love the Dollar Tree. Even the pretty lil rabbit hanging above is a Dollar Tree find.

Once you step in the front door you are entering the Regi B&B area. Which is really our front sunroom but it can accommodate a guest, hence the nickname.  Mr Bear gets dressed up for so many holidays and loves wearing his Easter beads. Which are really Mardi Gra beads.....love that we can use them for so many more holidays than just Mardi Gra. Laissez les bons temps rouler!!!

If ya didn't know about the B&B already then here's the proof.....yes I have a bed in the sunroom. ^_^  The bowl next to the cute vintage bunny basket is filled with more Mardi Gra beads in pretty Easter colors. Plastic eggs from several years use are sitting on top.

Our family area......a cute Easter garland with tiny glitter eggs hanging from the mantel is my banner for this year. Here is why I mentioned Pinterest earlier. So many cute ideas and I found one that is going to take me to Dollar Tree to buy several plastic eggs. Just look what Kelly over at Electrically Vintage did with some.

If you look at my mantle and to the left you will see a grouping that is small, simple but holds memories for me.

The tiny glass bunny was my mom's and using it makes me feel as though she is here with us. The hanging egg is one I made several years ago. This one I made using a paper mache egg as the base but I have done them using real eggs. Here's a HOW TO link if you would like to give it a try.....have FUN!!!

Here are two more photos of our home decorations. Can ya tell I love bears? Ummmm, probably just a wee bit, yes?

That's all for today but for the next few days I'm going to be posting about cool things I discovered on Pinterest for Easter. Hope you will come back to visit!!!

Until next time...............Hugs,
Regi

Did ya know elephants love Easter?

I hope ya'll are ready for either a totally relaxing weekend OR a totally crazy weekend because it's FRIDAY folks....oh yes it is!!! The weather is suppose to be really nice this weekend and I have a beach house to clean tomorrow soooo we will get to go shell hunting afterwards. I mean....we will be there already and there's no good reason not to...ri iight??

I have been reading a really, really, REALLY good book for the past few days. (Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness) I just needed a little bit of me time. Oh who am I kidding. I'm one of those that once I pick up a book you have to pry it from my fingers to put it down. Ooohhh who am I kidding again...all the Chazman has to say is "I'm getting kinda hongry mom" and I'll put the book down lickety slip. HeHe   I do have to put it down from time to time to stretch a bit from sitting so I worked on some of the Easter clay charms. I didn't like the way the little bear turned out so he is in a box waiting until my muse tells me how she wants to use him. (can't stand throwing any of my clay away) The rabbit and the elephant charms turned out cute though. I attached them to a child's hair twist and boy oh boy...or should I say girl oh girl...they would look so cute for Easter.

I only made these three BUT if there's an interest in them then I would be happy to make more. I could make them into charms on hemp bracelets or even a pin that could be worn on a shirt or maybe in a fabric flower corsage.... possibilities are endless.

Now...I hope you have a fantastic weekend and until next time.................Hugs,
Regi

Happy Tuesday!! pssst..it is Tuesday, ri iight??

Happy Tuesday...the sun is shining...no wait...it's behind a cloud...ooohhhh there it is...it's shining. Nope...it's gone again..hehe  Seems Mother Nature can not make up her mind today. One of our "AWESOME" local photographers, Steve Jones, caught Mother Nature having one of her "I just can't decide" moments on his daily beach walk this morning. Steve has captured some amazing photos of our beautiful area and I think you would love to take a peek at them. Just visit HERE to see more of his work.

So you can see I'm not just making up this peek a boo game with the sun at the moment. Would I kid ya about something like that? Oh nooooo...not muah!!! Stop pointing that finger at me...ya know I wouldn't...well...not often anyways. HA!! Thank goodness the sun shone brightly this weekend for us but I have to admit it was a bit chilly. We didn't let that stop us from going on a beach walk though. HEY...that's what hoodies are made for and sweatpants and thermals and thick socks. Yes, yes..I told ya it was chilly!!! Our beach has been undergoing a sand restoration and if you take the time to sift through the sand they blew up on the shore then you can find some wonderful treasures the ocean gave up. The Chazman and I definitely took the time to sift through and here's some of the beautiful shells we found.

These are called Olives and I bet ya can guess why..hehe!! Do you see the sewing pin? I put that there in some of the photos to give you something to judge the size of some of the shells. Tiny little shell there and just think that most folks just walk over them or on them. It's the perfect little size to put inside one of my glass vials, don't ya think?

 These are called Whelks. You don't find the big ones complete very often but even the broken ones are so pretty and can be used to add to your beach decor. There's another tiny one!!!

These little beauties are in the Nautilus family. I would so love to find a BIG one of these. Wouldn't have to be as big as the one Dr Doolittle rode in (although that would be AWESOME) but a nice size one would be great.

This is a Canarium shell and probably the biggest one we found (The Chazman found this one while digging a hole in the sand..hehe) It's three inches long and the photo does not do the colors running through it any justice.

These are Moon shells and I love these. I see dragon snails coming out. How about you? We found one that was perfectly flat...you could see the spiral on top but I think that it just couldn't form itself into a shell. My camera wouldn't pick it up but it is a pretty little thing.

These are Auger shells and I have no clue as to why the photo came out a bit fuzzy. I know that my faerie muse said that these were not shells at all but (looking around) unicorn horns. Perhaps she was trying to keep anyone from seeing them. ^_^  She has given me some inspiration though...hmmmmm!!

These are wing oyster shells. I have been collecting these for a good while now. These in the photo we found this weekend though. Of course since my faerie muse jumped in about the auger shells my mermaid muse had to put her inspiration on these. They are really mermaid scales!! See where this might lead?

Of course no beach walk would be complete without finding some of these scalloped lovelies. Yes..these are called scallop shells or as the Chazman calls them 'FAN" shells.

Now all of the above are just a few of the shells we found. We love to find the broken ones that show all the beautiful twist and curves that are inside some. I found this one right when we were leaving and I'm so happy that I looked down.

Isn't this beautiful?  The twist inside....the perfect spots on the outside. I see a mermaid tail curled up and I'm hoping what I have envisioned....I can sculpt.

WOW....I'm writing a novel today aren't I and I'm not finished just yet either..hehe!!  I promised to show some photos of this month's Holiday tree. If you haven't been following me long, let me explain, in short version. The Chazman and I wanted to keep our Christmas tree up and decorate it for each Holiday during the year. Was that short enough? HAHA  Here's this month's....St Patrick's and Easter!!

Simple but pretty I think and the Chazman loves it. That's really what counts...making my little man happy. How do you like the Mardi Gras beads we twisted and used. Purple, blue and pink for Easter and green and gold for St Patrick's. Each year we will add more to our monthly trees but for now we will enjoy what we have.

I also worked on some cute clay charms to put on some hair twist for little girls. I have them sculpted out and am going to get them bakes and painted today. Wait....I think perhaps a little kittie got hold of the bear...his nose looks a little smushed. Ohh I need to resculpt him and hopefully, I will have them listed in my Etsy shop by tomorrow.

 I'm listing this cute little rabbit too. Come and shop...please and send friends...lots and lots of friends...hehe

Until next time..........Hugs,
Regi

Spring Break is over!!!!

WOW...what a fun week with the Chazman!! It went by wayyyy to fast though so we are counting down til summer break is here. YEA!! I just love having my lil guy at home with me but I am so happy that he loves going to school too. He was looking forward to getting back I think...he has made some really good friends and he was ready to find out what they did over the past week as well as tell them what he did. Ohhh to be young again.

Yesterday was a BLAST!!! We met up with my sister and her family for the Easter brunch over at The Hang Out. What's "The Hang Out"....you ask? Well, it's probably one of the oldest establishments here on the coast. Been around since the 50's (yes that almost makes it antique but we so won't go there..ri iight??)     It of course has been updated over the years and is a really cool place to go eat and play. Yeppers, I said play. They have games outside, a HUGE sand pile, a small bungee jump (one that let's the kiddos jump up and go higher and higher) a bubble maker and for the adults an awesome stage and sound system to hear some really awesome bands play. Of course since it was Easter...there was a surprise visit from the Easter bunny himself and a HUGE egg hunt. Our group of kiddos had a blast....take a peek

Now that the break is over.....it's time to get back in the studio and get some work done....or play done...depends on who I'm talking to and who's asking...hehe!! I have so many whisperings from my muse since she apparently  had taken a break too. Don't ya just hate when that happens. I know I do, she is a constant chatter bug for a week or two after. Mermaids and babies seem to be her favorite topic....perhaps merbabies even. I know I have been collecting some beautiful shells on our beach walks of late and I think it's time to start using them. What do you see when you look at them?

 I did finish up another gypsy corsage this weekend. I love finding inspiration in the things that surround me, especially our town. Foley has some beautiful gardens and landscaping scattered all around the Uptown area and a few weeks ago in the flower beds on the corners they had some awesome looking plants. I grew up with them in my great grandmother's and grandmother's gardens so I knew what they were. Do you know what these are called?

They are called "Hens and chickens" and aren't they pretty and so so unique. The botanical name is Echeveria. One of the simplest plants to care for because they don't need care. Just water them once a day, once a week, it doesn't matter because they will thrive no matter what. I wanted to capture them in a corsage with a Southern Ooaks twist of course. Here is my "Hen and chick" corsage.

Mine even has mother hens face in the middle....LOL!!! It has such a Springtime look to it and like all my corsages it won't fade or wilt....ever!!!!

So I  guess it's time to push away from this computer and get some work ummmm playtime in today. I hope that you have a wonderful Monday and until next time..........

Hugs,
Regi

Happy Easter!!!

To me and my faith, today is a day of remembrance. Remembering what my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, did for me...for all mankind. He died for our sins, came back to life and is now waiting for us in heaven. 


It is also a time to be with family....following long traditions laid down many years ago or even beginning new traditions to be followed in the years to come.


I hope that this Easter Sunday is a blessed one for each and every one of you. 


Until next time......Hugs,
Regi