Spring Headband

Spring Week: Household Hint Spring Cleaning

Have you ever used about.com? I love it. You can find answers to so many questions. For Spring Week I wanted to write something about Spring Cleaning. This can be a daunting task. You might make your list so long and overwhelming and when it is left incomplete you feel bad. I typed "Spring Cleaning Tips" and about.com brought a great list with many links to other topics. You can find it here. The thing that caught my eye was how to get the family involved. Who said that it is up to the mom and/or dad to deep clean and organize? To see the full article go here. It is totally worth checking out.

I'll summarize a few of my favorite points:

• Plan ahead. Be sure the family knows to keep the scheduled day open. Even if it is just for the morning, don't plan anything for that time.
• Be sure to have all the supplies you'll need prior to the cleanup day.
• Turn off cell phones. (Remind your kids that they won't die if they miss a text.)
• Make a playlist with every ones favorite music.
• Be sure chores are age appropriate.
• Hide tokens the kids can find as they clean. Have a reward for who finds the most. This adds a little competition and gets them going.
• Plan a reward for when the job is done.

I'm not a big Spring cleaning person. I don't want to do it all at once. It makes me tired just thinking about it! This article did inspire me for our regular chore day, however! I hope you find inspiration as you plan to tackle your chores!

Spring Week: Stenciled Placemats

I wanted to add a little spring to the dinner table, and have been really wanting to give the freezer paper a try, so I made some new placemats. If you haven't given freezer paper a chance it is definitely time! This is a really easy, kid friendly project, that brings great results.

I went through my fabric stash and found this great linen material and cut it in 6 different pieces. Mine ended up being 9.5" by 12". I also cut my little girl a piece out of different fabric so that we could make them together and she could have one that she made.

When cutting your freezer paper design, don't forget that you are using it as a stencil not a pattern. As sewers we are trained to think of patterns.

I like to use my regular paints and just add a fabric paint medium. I found this idea when looking up details on fabric painting.

Iron on your stencil and paint the exposed fabric. With my flowers, I used a sponge and made the paint un-even to give it the older look and feel.

This is such a great activity for kids!

We added a little washable glitter to my daughter's placemat. Anything glittery and pink is her favorite thing.

After painting, iron, wash and dry your fabric.

I put a piece of light vinyl plastic on top of my little girl's placemat, so that it will be easy to wipe off.


There are so many different binding techniques you can use for this project. (I don't know a lot about binding, and feel pretty inadequate in this area.) I could have added a back piece of fabric and gone for the pillow case look but I wanted a secondary color on the placemats. There are oodles of options for finishing these up. I went with this one.


These placemats definitely help make a darling dinner setting. I can't wait to put them on the patio table and eat outside. One of my favorite childhood memories is of eating dinner outside, during Spring. Until it is warm enough, inside works just great.

Happy spring to everyone!

Easter Egg Wreath

I was doing a search on a spring or easter door wreaths, and came across two I loved! Something Wonderful, had a brilliant idea for putting paper mache over her eggs to give them texture and a different color. Debbie Doodlings, had a darling idea of putting easter grass in between the eggs as a filler. I had just the plan...

I began by making a flower and water paste, and then used it to glue my paper to the eggs.

I painted my eggs the color I wanted them. If you don't have a pastel paints don't forget you can add white to any color to make it lighter. After I painted them, I speckled my eggs to give them extra texture and color.

I made a frame from cardboard like Debbie did. I hot glued my eggs down and added a little grass and a bow, and it was all ready to hang on the door!

The great part is, not only does it look beautiful and very full, but I only spent $4 at the dollar store!

I hope you find this inspirational!