Fix It Up: FAB Folding Chairs!

You may have to break out the folding tables and chairs for Easter guests, 

but here's an option for doing it in STYLE:

 Give them a shot of color with a fresh paint job and new upholstery!

Take the upholstered back and seat cushions off of your chairs,

spray paint the metal chairs a bright, happy color,

cover the upholstered cushions with fresh new fabric and re-attach with screws.
Protect the fabric with Scotchguard spray - or use oilcloth fabric!

My Mom was inspired by this idea when she saw it on Pinterest
[ she loves a good project as much as I do! ]
and now several of her 'drab' folding chairs have been transformed into FAB decor accents - 

ones that most likely won't be going back into storage

because they match her colorful tropical decor out on the patio!

[ Have you seen my Weekend Makeover of her patio? Check it out HERE ]

Not Just a Cookie Cutter!

"Can't see the forest for the trees".
Ever heard that?

Something has happened to me REPEATEDLY over the past three weeks.
At first, I thought 'huh?'. Then I laughed. Finally, I got creative.
And that's when I realized my brain was trying to tell me something....

So, here's the situation:
In my new position in retail at the Happiest Place on Earth, 

I see a LOT of certain products. The ears, for example. They are EVERYWHERE.
And there's this ONE item that is right by the registers, 

where people routinely pick it up. They look at it. Some buy it.
But many - and I mean MANY  - many more than you would expect -
pick it up and look at cashiers and ask 

'What IS this? What's it FOR?'
every.single.day.

May I present said item?:

words FAIL me.

I just don't get how people do NOT know what this is.

I am not talking about people from far-flung foreign lands here, friends...
These are people from first-world countries with stores and books and web shopping.

It's a cookie cutter. 

In the shape of Mickey Mouse ears.

Pretty standard item. At least, I THOUGHT it was!

Anyway, after wiping the astonished look off of my face and replacing it with a suitable Disney smile,

I began to share different ideas for using this apparatus with those who asked about it.
I solve the mystery for guests and expound the versatility of said item,

sharing 'value added' uses with them.

The guests and my co-cast members have repeatedly told me that 

I have a very unique way of seeing things.
Is that a compliment???!

... and that's when I realized that the reason I HAVE this blog

is because I do not think like other people do,

and I need to take the things that smack me across the face on a daily basis 

and turn them into blog fodder!

continue reading to find out the ideas I had for the Mickey Ear Cookie Cutter

[ which are borne out of things that I've done for YEARS in my own home ]
because they are applicable to ANY cookie cutter at ANY time of year...

Even MORE Easter Eggs on Parade!

OK, this really is the last of it!
I just keep finding more and more great ideas to share with you...

 Surround a pillar candle in a glass vase or trifle dish with plastic eggs.

 Gather up your real or plastic eggs and display them by COLOR!

Use all one color containers - white or clear glass, for example - 

or use containers in colors that coordinate with the eggs, as shown above.

*** One of the BEST Easter Egg Hunt ideas I have seen recently is along these lines:

Assign each child one color - They can only collect eggs of that color.
This enables you to hide eggs by age/ accessibility, 

and make sure even the youngest children find eggs!
I think it's BRILLIANT! ***

 Coordinate your eggs with a vignette of special items...
this simple display focuses on warm colors that coordinate with a vintage container.

My Mom found this little manzanita branch mounted in a box at the craft store,

and she decorates it for every season using purchased mini-ornaments...

You can hang regular-size eggs from a branch gathered from your yard or roadside,

using thread or ribbon:

image from thedomesticcurator.com

One Last Idea for you:
When my daughters were young, they would clip plastic eggs into their long hair!
(no image, sorry - the girls would kill me!)

shared online:

Cupcakes & Crinoline | Project Inspire{d}

Common Ground | Be Inspired

The Grass Is Greener When It's Not Plastic!

I have a deep-seated dislike of plastic Easter grass.
With four children, the mess was just more than I could handle!

(and I can't even begin to tell you how many vacuum cleaners that stuff destroyed!!)

So years ago, I started finding alternatives....

the easiest one is just cutting up paper into small strips and crumbling it a bit.
Vintage sheet music, construction paper, wrapping paper - anything works better than plastic!

Another is shown above: fuzzy green 'eyelash' yarn, piled luxuriously in a basket or bowl.

My favorite solution for an abundant bed of 'grass' for a large Easter basket?

It's a BLANKET!
Made from soft, fuzzy green yarn, it's always reminded me of grass...

 I used it to cover a footstool in my home one Spring years ago:

A fuzzy green (or pink, or yellow!) SWEATER would work as a basket liner, too!

One final option is HAY. Yes, REAL hay!  

OK, maybe I mean STRAW.
Grab a mini-bale at the craft store, break the strings that hold it together, 

and fluff it up by shaking it around in a paper grocery bag.

Then fill baskets, galvanized pails, etc. with it to nest your eggs in!

Gorgeous image from Aunt Ruthie's Sugar Pie Farmhouse