Happy Easter

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I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!  Can you believe that it is April and Easter is already here?  I don't think I have ever been so happy to turn the calendar from March to April - it felt really good.  Also, we broke a record today here in Michigan.  It was 82 degrees! 

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Baby Sister and I are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning on a road trip to Indy to the Final Four to cheer on our Spartans. 

GO GREEN!!!

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Spring Wreath

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Have you noticed all the beautiful moss wreaths out in blogland lately?  I love the fresh, Springy look of the green moss, so I decided to make my own version.

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Here's what I used:

- Styrofoam wreath form

- 2 1/2 packages of sheet moss

- branch with bird's nest

- plastic eggs

- craft paint

- silk flowers

- glue gun

- ribbon to hang

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I couldn't find any eggs that I liked, so I bought some and painted them blue and then added speckles with brown paint.  (My speckling technique wasn't so great - I got more on the paint bottle than on the eggs!)

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The eggs looked like this:

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And after painting, looked like this:

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Much, much better. . .The pastel, sparkle eggs weren't really doing it for me.

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Next, I started covering the wreath form with the moss.  I put the glue on the moss and then wrapped it around the wreath.

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The branch I used looked a little bare, so I added a few silk flowers.  I pulled the flowers off the original stem and used the glue gun to attach them to my branch.
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I wasn't sure about the flowers at first, but I definitely like how they look now.
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I glued the eggs to the nest and then attached the branch to the wreath.  I used wire and pushed it through the wreath and twisted it together on the back to attach.
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I hung the wreath with ribbon on cabinets in a nook in my kitchen. 
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I am linking up to:

- Room to Inspire

- Sew Much Ado

- My Backyard Eden

- Remodelaholics

- Cottage Instincts

- It's Fun to Craft

- Funky Junk Interiors

Boys in Green. . .

Just a shout out to my boys in green. . .My alma matter, Michigan State, is going to the final four for the second year in a row!
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Final Four, here we come!  Go Green!!!

Seeds from Italy

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If you've been around here for a while you may have noticed my love of Italy (fondly referred to as 'The Homeland' by Baby Sister and I).  You can imagine how excited I was to come across a source of seeds from Italy here in the U.S.  Seeds From Italy is located in Winchester, MA and imports more than 350 varieties of traditional Italian vegetable, herb & flower seeds. 

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I purchased two varieties of tomatoes, basil, oregano, flat leaf parsley, mint, and zinnias.  I am especially excited for the San Marzano tomatoes and the basil. 

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I purchased a really inexpensive shop light from Lowe's to use as a grow light and installed it in my laundry room underneath wall cabinets. 
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The light is hung by chains on a pair of hooks, so when I'm done with the light I can take it down and store it away until next season.

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I planted the seeds in an organic seed starting mix in peat cell packs.

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The seeds are planted, the light is on, and now I'm just waiting to see some growth!

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I've never started tomatoes from seed before but I always grow a couple.  I love having fresh tomatoes & herbs all summer long.  With a little luck, I'm hoping the seeds will do as well as my plants did last summer.  At the height of the season I picked a bowlful almost every day!

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Signs of Spring. . .

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Spring is finally making an appearance around here.

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The tulips are popping up and growing quickly.

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About this time of year I start looking through all my gardening books and dreaming of what I will plant.  I live in a condo, but I mange to garden quite a bit.

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The flags are back out on the golf course.

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The branches are swelling with buds.

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It's not March unless I have one Shamrock Shake. (On a side note, why are they now serving the shakes in a fancy plastic cup?  Personally, I like my Shamrock Shakes the old-fashioned way; in a waxy paper cup.)

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This little oxalis plant adds a little Spring to my house.
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And a sure sign of Spring in Michigan?  The March 30th release of this year's batch of Oberon.
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Yes, Spring is definitely here.  I just hope it's here to stay.
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Easy Decorative Letters

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I was inspired to make these decorative letters after seeing so many great ones out in blogland. 
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Supplies:
- Wood letters (mine were 99 cents each from Hobby Lobby)
- Scrapbook paper
- Craft glue
- Craft Paint
- Gloss varnish (optional)
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Step 1: Trace letters (face-down) on back of paper.
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Step 2:  Paint the edges and sides of letters with craft paint.

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Step 3:  While the paint is drying, cut the letters out of the paper.
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Step 4:  Glue paper to wood letters.  I usually dilute the craft glue with a little water so that it's easier to brush on.
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Step 5:  I had some gloss varnish so I decided to brush it on.  I don't think this was really necessary, but it does add a nice sheen to the painted wood edges.

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Step 6:  Let letters dry and you are finished!

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I decided to put the letters in a nook I have by my back door. 
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This was a quick, easy project, and for less than $6.00 added a nice pop of color.
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I'm linking up to:
- Frugalicious Fridiays @ Finding Fabulous
- Remodelaholics Anonymous @ The Remodelaholic
- Finished for Friday @ Lit and Laundry
- SNS @ Funky Junk Interiors
- Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots & Jello
- Make it for Monday @ Cottage Instincts
- Making the World Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter
- Trendy Treehouse
- It's fun to Craft

St. Thomas & the Virgin Islands

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My Mom, sister, and I spent eight wonderful nights in St. Thomas to celebrate my Mom's 60th Birthday.
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We rented a condo on the East end of the island through VRBO.  My sister wrote a nice post on VRBO if you want to know more.  We were really pleased with our condo - we felt right at home.
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A view of our condo complex (We had a roof balcony & two other balconies - how cool is that?!):
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We rented a Jeep to get us around the island and also took it over to St. John two times on the car ferry. 
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Driving on the left was kind of fun - the only bad part is the roads are EXTREMELY narrow and EXTREMELY steep. 
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We went to a different beach everyday.  I spent most of the week like this:

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Our favorite beach (by far) was Trunk Bay on St. John.  It was the most beautiful beach I have seen anywhere.  Here I am with Baby Sister at a senic stop overlooking Trunk Bay:
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More pictures from Trunk:
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My Mom looking great @ 60!

(I hope you don't mind me posting a picture of you in you bathing suit, Mom, but you look great!  Was this before or after you went under?!)

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We also really liked Cinnamon Bay in St. John.  The water really is that blue!

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We spent one day on a boat tour to the British Virgin Islands (Another stamp in the passport. . .Yes!).  We stopped @ the Baths in Virgin Gorda, and also went to Tortola, Soggy Dollar Beach, and went snorkeling @ Diamond Reef.

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The Baths:

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We spent lots of time looking for shells:

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And plenty of time drinking local beer:

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One of the locals told us about Lindquest Beach.  We really liked it and there was hardly anyone there (Although there were plenty of roosters who were interested in our lunch).

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Dinner in Red Hook:

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Our last night in town and Mom's Birthday:

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We had dinner at a restaurant called Mafolie.  It's high above Charlotte Amalie and has wonderful views.

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We had a really great trip!

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