Winters in Colorado are usually cold and long.  They last from late October into mid to late April.  This year has ben unseasonably mild, with temperatures 20 to 30 degrees above normal and hardly any snow.  None the less, I still enjoy any opportunity to bring Spring into my home.


I of course asked my scrapbooking extraordinaire daughter, Adrienne, to make me a bunny banner for our mantle.  I suggested using flowers and butterflies as the tails on the bunnies and Adrienne couldn't have done a better job!


Here are her simple steps to making this easy bunny banner.  She has even supplied the bunny template for all you DIYers out there (link at the bottom of the post)!


Start by cutting out the bunnies on white cardstock.

Next, cut butterflies out of patterned cardstock using a punch.  Adrienne's punch is by Fiskers and was purchased at Micheal's.  Gently bend the wings up to create more dimension.


Then gather up some paper flowers.  You can purchase these from your local craft store in the scrapbooking section.

And using hot glue, an artist's medium or some other type of really good adhesive, glue the butterflies and flowers onto the bunnies to make their tails.


For hanging, Adrienne glued some small clothes pins onto the backs of the bunnies to clip them onto the baker's twine.  She said you can also punch holes into the ears and string your ribbon or twine through instead.


Once it's all assembled, use some small, clear command hooks to hang your banner!



Want that bunny template? Head over to Adrienne's scrapbooking blog, Alice Scraps Wonderland, to download the file!

Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean, roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain;
Man marks the earth with ruin; his control
Stops with the shore; upon the watery plain
The wrecks are all thy deed, nor doth remain
A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,
When, for a moment, like a drop of rain,
He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,
Without a grave, unknelled, unconfined, and unknown.

This is a stanza from "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" by Lord Byron.  It speaks to the power of the ocean and those watery depths that seem so mysterious.  When you stand on the shore, the salty air blowing through your hair and watching those waves crash on the beach, you feel like just a small part of the world.  The vastness of the sea is compounded by seeing sky meet water.

This 18x20 canvas is full of color and texture and includes seashells from Fort Bragg as well as some from our mother's trip to Cancun.

Hello everyone I hope you are all having a great day! I think winter has finally come to Colorado Springs and I have been snowed in a few days this past week. Since I was not able to really go anywhere I was able to take some time to let my creative juices flow and think of a blog post for you all. Today's post will be about how I make my soap, essential oil and water spray solution. This is so simple you should be able to re-create this very easily.

I got my soap and water spray inspiration from the place I used to work at. I worked at a Child Development Center as an Early Childhood Teacher and we would use soap and water in a spray bottle to first clean the surface and then use bleach and water solution in a spray bottle to sanitize the surface after it was cleaned with the soap and water. (We, of course, could not put any scented oil in the soap and water spray because of state regulations.)

One day I was cleaning at home and I had gotten my cleaning cloth wet with warm water and then pumped some soap on to it, dropped a little bit of lemon essential oil on the cloth and started to wipe my counters down. I then thought why am I not making the soap and water solution in a spray bottle like at work! Ever since then I have been using this spray to first clean off my counters and then go in with a disinfecting spray such as the Method Antibacterial.

I change up the essential oils I use in this quite often, but this go around I decided to try peppermint oil and Grapefruit oil together. Usually I only put in one essential oil, but I deiced to be bold this time and mix two. The oils that I use and are familiar with are doTERRA and Young Living. I know that Bed Bath & Beyond, Walgreens, and some natural grocery stores sell essential oils as well. I have never tried any of those so I am not sure about the quality of them. I do enjoy the doTERRA and Young Living oils. I think that Young Living's oils might be a little better quality but they are also more expensive than doTERRA.

To make this solution you will first need a spray bottle I got mine from Walmart, Dawn dish soap or any dish soap of your choice (I just really like Dawn the best) and any essential oil sent you like.  My go-to is Peppermint. I know some essential oils have antiseptic properties to them such as lemon and grapefruit but I really just like using them for the sent. I loved that my bathrooms and kitchen smelled like peppermint and grapefruit instead of an obnoxious chemical sent.