Bunny Hop Swap

I recently participated in a swap for Easter & oh what fun to get my own Easter basket of goodies!!

My hop swap partner, Cherish, sent me some lovely goodies. Just take a look...

Candy + Mags + Crafty Supplies = a happy Nikki!

I can't wait to attack that box of cards with glitter & stickers & ribbon & needle-n-thread & paper & glue & stuff!

Here are the things I sent...

Thanks for a happy swap, Cherish! And thanks, Pippy, for being a great swap hostess!

♥ Nikki

{To see what other Bunny Hop Swap partners exchanged, check out THIS link.}

Happy Easter!

This isn't a picture of a cross. But, out snapping pictures one day, I approached this from a distance & immediately thought it looked like one. An example that there are simple reminders all around me of Easter's true meaning: the resurrection of my Saviour!

Happy Easter!

♥ Nikki

Baskets REmixed

I recently acquired several baskets &, though I'm not a basket girl per se, I decided to refashion these plain ole containers into something special for Easter rather than toss them into thriftworld.

1--Pink ribbon woven in & out of a basket & tied in a bow.

2--Vintage light blue rik-rak hot glued around a rectangle shaped basket & embellished with creamy-colored vintage buttons.

3--Oval basket with vintage strips of pastel printed fabric knotted around the rim.

4--Three equal lengths of ribbon are spaced & knotted evenly on both sides of a basket as a nifty handle.

And rather than using faux Easter grass, this year I'm using colored tulle in its place. It makes a fun filler dontcha think?

♥  ♥ ♥ Nikki

Easter Chocolate Treats

I purchased a candy making kit this week. I have always wanted to try making chocolate candy lollipops. It was soooo easy! Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Pour it in the molds. Insert lollipop sticks. Done. Seriously!! The girls & I made them up for their school classmates. I put the treats in tiny sacks with twistie ties & stuck simple labels on the back of each that read "Happy Easter!"

(I got this particular kit at JoAnne's for about 10 bucks.)

♥ Nikki

Dyeing & Roasting.

I knew the day would be busy, but I was oh-so-glad it was also fun! The girls enjoyed an Easter egg hunt at church & my friend Tia was there snappin' photos of everyone.

The girls & I made it home to decorate eggs & bake cheesy biscuits for Easter lunch tomorrow with aunts & uncles, grandma, grandpa & cousins. They were so simple to make & so fattening to eat. What a bummer that they're soooo delicious. Of course.

And, last minute, I TOTALLY forgot that, unless I wanted the girls to wear their scuffed-up & dirty tennis shoes with their pretty new Easter dresses, I needed to scoot to the store in a JIFFY & get them some fancy duds for their feets! So, while daddy took them to a birthday party, I ran to Target.

Our day concluded with some good friends & yummy s'mores.

Look at my happy little backyard! Those new birthday chairs are the perfect start to the whimsical atmosphere I want to create. I can't wait to funk it up some more this Spring & Summer!

I accidentally flung a freshly roasted, flaming marshmallow at Scott. We all could not stop laughing!

Ok, gotta get rest for another big day tomorrow!

(Tia took about half the pics in the post. Thanks T-Uh!)

Busy Weekend

• Easter egg hunt at church today. (Oh, there will be bouncy castles for the kids too! Do you think they'll let me bounce?)
• Birthday party to attend.
• Must dye eggs. (I didn't get creative this year. I just bought those cheesy plastic tubs with the dye tablets already inserted.)
• Wrap up the girls Easter basket goodies. (Even though I had all the goodies purchased, Scott went out & bought the girls each a big stuffed chickie plushie to add to the loot. He's so cute.)
• S'mores party (Yay! I get to test out my new chairs! And, the hubby mowed the lawn yesterday. I totally heart that.)
• Can't forget to make cheesy drop biscuits for Easter lunch at my brother's house. (Bummer, grandma is out of town. She always has an egg hunt for the adults--with MONEY eggs! And you should see me us play rough when it comes to the adult egg hunt. Really, all I do is run around the yard squealing & screaming while doing this hyper skipping thing as I'm frantically looking for the eggs.)
• Guess who gets to be at church at 7:15 A.M. on Sunday morn'? (I joined my church choir. No, don't think "robes" or "hymnals".)

But I will take some time this weekend to chill out & relax & be with my family & celebrate Easter.

Happy weekend! And Happy Easter!

Haystacks

Yesterday I made this really quick, super sweet, sugary snack. They're called "haystacks", but I made some look like "nests". They'd be cute for Easter treats & you could even incorporate those really sweet pastel candied eggs for a whole Spring themed treat.

Anyway, here's the easy-peasy recipe:

Melt 2/3 CUP peanut butter & one bag (11 or 12 oz.) of butterscotch chips. Then, add 6 oz. crispy chow mein noodles. Drop by the spoonful onto wax (or parchment) paper.

**cough cough** Hi guys!

Today I see a tiny little sliver of germ-free light at the end of this sickie tunnel. Thank you all for your kind words & comments & emails & prayers & thoughts. They were MUCH appreciated & gave me happy & grateful flutteries inside. Pazely is doing well & we're all slowly on our way to being healthy.



I'm even up for a bit of show-n-tell....










I was inspired to make these when Jeanetta left a comment about my vintage button rings:

"...and i need to get you to turn those buttons into a broach for me. i am not
much of a ring wearer but love me some broaches!"

I used to make yo-yo's (& then I saw that Country Living magazine had a spot about yo-yo's in the April issue!) so, all that smooshed together & turned into my "Sassy Yo-Yo Brooches".
I worked on these while in the hospital with my wee one. They were the perfect little project to keep my fingers (& mind) busy!

This was our view at the hospital. Though the jungle animals became our friends, we were anxious to get home!

After breakfast at the hospital, Pazely came home & the girls & I decorated eggs. Our Easter was a little different this year. And that's OK. I like to mix it up a bit anyway. It was almost bedtime before we had an egg hunt in the living room.
Before little teeth devoured these chocolate bunnies, I quickly snapped a picture. I thought they looked like big sister/little sister bunnies. So cute!

Zoey was heartbroken when she found out that we wouldn't be going to our church Easter morning due to her sister's recent hospital visit & most of us still being sick. She'd been so anxious all week to wear the new dress she received from her grandma in Arizona. So, I let her wear the dress all day at home. And she did. Shoes & all. ALL day. We had some fun outside with a little photo shoot. It was quite chilly & lightly sprinkled rain the whole time.

And I just had to show Pazely's Easter photo. She wasn't able to actually wear the dress, so I laid it right on TOP of her--stockings & shoes too. We thought it was funny.

Oh, & I found out that even the tiny little hospital gowns are rather revealing too.

***Don't forget to enter my One Year Etsy Anniversary Contest! Click HERE to read & enter!