Celebrations: honey facial mask {easy mother’s day gift}

Facial scrubs and mask are always popular and recently I’ve been seeing so many pretty diy homemade scrub ideas for Mother’s Day. One of the recipes that caught my eye was based on honey and I loved the idea – mainly because I had everything I needed in my cupboard.

Celebrations: mother’s day blog hop finale & giveaway

Thank you so much for following along on our Mother’s Day Blog Hop. I hope you enjoyed all the projects and found some inspiration to create a diy Mother’s Day gift.
 In case you missed it, I created a Mother’s Day Gift Box made out of an oatmeal canister. You can check out all the great ideas from my co-hostesses at the bottom of this post.


Now on to the giveaway.

Celebrations: mother’s day gift box

Mother’s Day is around the corner and a homemade gift is always special. This year I’m going to make some treats and fill up this embellished box that I made.

Celebrations: a blue mother’s day

I don’t think I mentioned that I had a blue Mother’s Day. Blue as in accent color.

My brother gave me this pretty dish. I love it!

And my mom saved this cobalt blue water bottle so I could make something out of it. I wanted the bottle to match the swirls of my new glass dish, so I put a few drops of blue and white paint in the bottle, added a little water and swirled it around. It’s a borderline craft fail – not exactly what I had in mind. But is still looks pretty with the dish.


Here’s a better photo of the swirls but the actual color is closer to the photo above this one. It’s amazing how glass changes color depending on the lighting. I took dozens of photos and the color is different in each one.


And while we were celebrating Mother’s Day at my parent’s house, I spied this beautiful bowl outside on their deck. It was once a centerpiece with three large orchid plants in it. My mom didn’t want it anymore so this came home with me too. The bowl is huge, it could hold at least a dozen-plus apples if I use it as a fruit bowl.

I already have blue accent pieces in my living room, so I created a few mood boards to incorporate my new blue goodies. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my “blue” Mother’s Day!

Thanks for visiting.

Carolyn

I link at the wonderful parties listed here and 

 

Celebrations: mother’s day

Carolyn

Celebrations: a gift from the heart

This Mother's Day, I'm working with Clever Girls in support of Macy's Heart of Haiti to shine a light on the "trade, not aid" program, which provides sustainable income to Haitian artisans struggling to rebuild their lives and support their families after the 2010 earthquake.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner and as always, I’m stumped on a Mother’s Day gift for my mom.



It’s not until you become a mother yourself that you fully understand what being a mother really is. The love, joy, frustration and a level of patience you didn’t know existed. There’s really no gift that can express the gratitude we have for our mothers.

I think a Mother’s Day gift should come from the heart. Whether it’s an extravagant gift or a simple homemade gift, it should honor a mother’s love and sacrifice.



I was thrilled to receive two matching hearts from Macy’s Heart of Haiti collection. I’ll give one to my mom and I’ll keep the other. Matching hearts that symbolize that we are both mothers and connected.



The hearts are beautiful and I’m really pleased to be able to tell you about Macy’s Heart of Haiti. Heart of Haiti is a “Trade, Not Aid” initiative launched by artist and social entrepreneur, Willa Shalit, The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and Macy’s. Heart of Haiti has already led to employment of 750 artists in Haiti, providing financial benefits for an estimated 8,500 people in the country.



Each item is a one-of-a-kind design and handmade by a Haitian artisan from raw materials such as recycled oil drums, wrought iron, papier-mâché and stone. The collection features more than 40 home decor items including quilts, metalwork, ceramics, jewelry and paintings and is made almost entirely from recycled and sustainable items such as old cement bags, cardboard, oil drums and local gommier wood. Heart of Haiti products are available online at Macy’s.com.

I can’t think of a more fitting gift, than a gift from the heart and a gift that gives back.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

PS – sorry I cropped Dad out of the photo but this is your day!

Thanks for visiting.

Carolyn

I link at the wonderful parties listed here

Thank you to Macy's Heart of Haiti for sponsoring my participation in this “Share Your Heart" promotion. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Celebrations: mother’s day centerpiece

I found these sweet pink birds at the local dollar store. I was at the checkout and had already paid for my items when I saw a box of these by the register. Yup – I was that person – I held up the line so I could buy some of these birds.

Photo Source

I wanted to make a topiary birdcage like the one above but ended up creating a simpler project that I can use as a centerpiece for Mother’s Day.


Since I already had an ivy plant in a pot, I decided to make a scaled down version of my tomato plant cage. You can see that post here.

Once the cage was constructed out of twigs, I gave it a light coat of white spray paint.

I love how the natural wood still shows through but the twigs are now lighter and brighter.

Since I may want to reuse the birds, I used a little dab of Quake Hold to secure them. Quake Hold or Collector’s Hold is a putty that secures items but is removable. It’s great for plates or décor items that are breakable – especially if you live in a quake zone like I do.

A little piece of vintage ribbon softens everything up.

Once the ivy starts growing up and into the cage, I think it will look even prettier.

Thanks for visiting.

Carolyn

I link at the wonderful parties listed here and

   

The Dirt: dollar store steamer to flower basket

Photo Source

 

Here’s a fun and budget friendly idea for a Mother’s Day gift {or any occasion gift}. 

I found this wire steamer basket at the dollar store. You could do so many things with this basket. Hang several for kitchen storage, use them for ribbons or scraps of fabric, or actually use it to steam vegetables.

I decided to use mine as a planter for a Mother’s Day gift.

I lined the basket with moss and gave it a good soaking. 

The steamer basket handles double as legs. Or, you could hang the basket using the handles. 

Once filled with potting soil, I planted Forget Me Not seeds. 

Photo Source

Forget Me Not flowers are so pretty and delicate. I love the gorgeous blue color and the cheery yellow center. Here’s how legend says the flower got it’s name.

According to Wildflower Information.org, legend says that the forget me not received its name when a medieval German knight picnicking with his true love along the banks of a river decided to gather some blue flowers at the water's edge. As a flash flood appeared and swept him away, he threw the bouquet to his lover and cried, "Forget me not!"

 

Photo Source

I can’t wait for my basket to start growing and I’m envisioning an abundance of pretty blue flowers like the ones above. Fingers crossed!

In the meantime, this dragonfly plant stick will stand guard over my seeds. 

P.S.
{One week later...}

 

Thanks for visiting.

Carolyn

I link at the wonderful parties listed here and