Our Annual Valentine's Party

The girls and I look forward to this day every year.

We started this sweet tradition 3 years ago, and every year it's a little different.

It's so fun to deck the house out in hearts and cover anything edible in chocolate.

 One lil' tip I have if you're going to throw a crafty party is to always cover your work tables in paper.

It makes clean up easy peasy!

We set up extra tables in the classroom and lay out all the goods needed to create a few fun crafts.

We keep the craft ideas pretty simple so the girls won't need too much assistance.

Then the mommas fill their coffee mugs and go hang out with all the food.

Here are a few of the crafts we made:

 First up was this adorable Love Bug

Supplies Needed:

yarn

googely eyes

pipe cleaners

hearts for the feet

and a way to make pom poms

AS you can see from the picture they are quite simple to make.  If you're unsure on how to make a yarn pom pom, pinterest is FULL of tutorials.

Next:

 Jar Tissue Paper Candle Holders

 Supplies:

jar

tissue paper

glue

an old lid or paper plate to squirt your glue into 

paint brush

Again, super simple.  

Cut your white tissue paper into squares.  

Cut hearts out of various colors. 

Glue a coat of white tissue paper to cover the jar, using a sponge brush.

We watered down the glue a bit to make it more spreadable.

After the white dries, glue on your hearts!

 They really do put off a beautiful glow.

And the girls feel so proud when I light them.

Next on the list:

Heart Bouquets!

I think this one  might have been a favorite.

Supplies:

jars

shish-ka-bob  skewers

pretty paper hearts

ribbon and lace

 (tip: we used Starbucks Frappacino bottles.  The bummer part about that is you have to drink a case load of those delicious mocha frapps.  The things we do for our children's happiness)

All you do is glue two hearts between a skewer and plop it into your cute jar.

Tie on some ribbon and lace and you have a beautiful bouquet!

Wouldn't these make a fun teacher gift?

Or Grandma gift?

Or piano teacher?

Next up: 

 Doily Bunting!

I've said it before and I'll say it again,

doilies make EVERYTHING cuter!

 Supplies:

doilies

twine

glue

felt hearts

Could NOT get any easier then this.

Ready? 

Cut twine to desired length.  Fold doily in half. Glue halves together. Glue on hearts. Repeat.

Done and done.

Aaaand the last little crafty diddy:

 Stapled heart banner

Supplies:

cute paper cut in strips

stapler

this fun tutorial

We had such a FUN afternoon.

The mommas vowed to do this with our girls more often.

AND . . . I decided to host a craft night for the mommas once a month!

Starting at the end of this month!

I'm so excited!!

Remember in yesterdays post I talked about squeezing in more time for the things that bring me joy?

I'm breathing deeper all ready.

A Fresh Start!

You found me!

Welcome to my new blog!

I am so excited 

about this fresh beginning.
(and nervous . . . because I'm weird like that)

Without writing a novel, I want to explain why the new digs.

I started Blissful Blooms just about 3 years ago with a heart full of wistful dreams.

I had just starting selling  fabric blooms at a local shop and quickly had visions of a booming Etsy shop . . .

where I would make bazillions on my fabric petal creations . . .

I would make enough to help pay the bills . . .

and need to build a huge studio to keep up with the demands . . .

and Country Living would highlight my product . . .

and because of all this my blog would have a bazillion followers . . . 

and I would become friends with all the 'popular blogger girls' . .  .

oh. dear.

Did I just admit those visions outloud?

Silly me.

I can laugh at myself.

I need to a lot actually.

Keeps me humble.

So all that to say the beginnings of my first blog came from a vain gooby wishful heart.

But in the midst of all my nonsense, my blog became a place where I met real down to earth, amazing  friends.

(which still feels weird, but it's so true)

Friends that I would hop on a plane and fly across the country to meet and hang out for the weekend!

It became a place for me to document the sweet 'ins and outs' of life with my precious family.

It became a place to share crafts, and recipes and pretend like I'm a photographer.

It inspired me to take pictures,

lots and lots of pictures.

 Eventually my blog content didn't match up with my gooby blog name.

And all the while, life got really busy.

Too busy.

A sweet friend shared an illustration with me that makes perfect sense to my heart.
We each have our own size plate- unique to how God created us.
Some of us have large platters and we're able to fit a lot on our plate.
Others of us have little saucers, and it doesn't take much to overfill our plates.
I, my friends, have a very small delicate china saucer that fills up quite quickly.
And when it starts to overflow, it's not pretty.
This school year I thought I could handle a platter load, but my little saucer heart is not surviving.

I allowed the business of life dictate what I thought I had time for.

I stopped making time for the little things that bring me joy.

Don't get me wrong, I am SO VERY (very very very) thankful and happy and love this life I have been blessed with.

My sweet family makes me laugh every single day.

My heart is overflowing with blessings.

I just want to be more intentional with the precious time I have been given.
And even if it feels a bit selfish, allow myself to take some time to do the things that bring me joy.

This blogging gig brings me joy.

So here I am.

Starting fresh.

My hope is to encourage you to find time to do the little things that bring you joy.

I would love for you to hop on over to my About Me page to read my vision of this lil blog.

Cheers to a fresh start!!

Always My Favorite

Oh the pumpkin patch!

 We look forward to this day every year.

It is such a sweet tradition for my family.

 I know my head's chopped off 

but it's better than this one.

I think I'll still be attempting toe touches when I'm a granny.

I tell you . . . I LOVE this day!

I will probably make my girls go with me 

even when they're in high school.

So blessed.

So thankful.

Take A Moment To Refuel

Happy Friday!

I hope you've had a wonderful week.

Ever since school started, our weeks have been flying by in crazy light speed.

Our weekends haven't felt long enough to get everything done.

Ya know the feeling? 

Last weekend I was reminded that it doesn't take much to refuel your heart.

Sometimes I fall into the trap of thinking I have to plan a big hoopla outing to feel like we had a good weekend.

But most times, the hoopla outings can add more stress because of the time it takes.

Last weekend we packed our water bottles and headed to a little trail just a few miles from our home. 

 It was a beautiful day to take in the beauty of God's creation.

We hiked, talked, giggled, tried to catch frogs,  and took many replenishing deep breaths.

It was exactly what our family needed.

I was delightfully reminded that a simple hour can do wonders for the heart.

Admittedly, as I begin this Friday morning, my heart feels full of anxiety.

We have a FUN and full day planned today

but I have A LOT to accomplish this weekend.

 So before I allow the 'to do list' get the best of me, 

I am joyfully planning a simple way to refuel this weekend- 

even if it's just an hour.

God rested on the 7th day for a very good reason.

 I hope you're able to find a way to refuel this weekend!

My Cute 2014-2015 Class

Happy Monday friends!

Today we're starting our third week of school
and
we've had a great start to our school year!

I am so incredibly blessed to be their momma and teacher.
I am so thankful.