Using eggshells as little vases, make a simple and cute little centerpiece for Easter.

We love our chickens, and we love the eggs they lay. 
Their eggs taste great and I believe they are healthy too. 
And I think they looks adorable....   :)
So for Easter-time this year, I decided to make our chicken's eggs
the focal point in our table centerpiece, turning their eggs
into tiny little vases to hold tiny flowers.

These little eggshell vases are easy to make:
Just gently tap the top of your egg.
Carefully peel some of the eggshell away, till the hole is the size you like.
Poor out the contents.
(Your family will love the goodies you will make with those eggs...!!!)

Carefully wash out the eggshells.
Arrange them in an egg-carton
or other container that will keep them upright.

Fill your empty eggshells with water.

Cut your flowers to a short length and place them in your little eggshell vases.

Enjoy your pretty little Easter centerpiece!

Happy Easter!

FYI: eggshells from roaming chickens are a bit tougher than those you buy
from the store, so they make perfect little vases. 
However, I am sure store-bought eggs would work just fine....

This video above is such a beautiful quick rendition of the last week of Jesus' life: Palm Sunday through Resurrection Morning.  Well-worth your seven minutes of time!  I promise....   :)

Crystelle

Partying with these bloggy friends.... & the Charm of Home, Coastal Charm, Savvy Southern Style, Today’s Creative Blog, Home Stories A 2 Z, The Shabby Nest, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, Between Naps on the Porch

I taught the beehives (12 and 13 year old girls) in church on Sunday, and the lesson was on "Why do we have adversity?"
I made a sock monkey to illustrate the point that Brittany makes in the enclosed video:  We may have difficult times, but we still have received blessing and talents to bless the lives of other people.  
One of the things Brittany does to keep her life in perspective is to make sock monkeys and give them to hospitalized children. 

The girls LOVED the sock monkey, and we will probably end up each making one as a class sometime soon.  After all: I learned a few things while I was making it;  for instance:  the arms and legs (and tail) are super-duper long if you use knee-high socks! 
I think I will use crew socks next time....

But he's still cute....!  :)

Brittany receives her nutrition through a feeding tube.  Every morning she prepares her daily meals and must carry them with her always.
Watch her inspiring {sock-monkey} message below:

This is the pattern I used to make this sock monkey

Something cheerful and colorful this time of year to celebrate the lovey-dovey holiday in February: Valentines Day.
Using my favorite: mixed media

Nice bright colors
vintage finds:

• printed papers
• game-pieces
  
• sheet-music
• flashcards
• measuring tape

For Valentines Day I decided to focus on the love that exists at home between family members:  the safe haven for kids and adults alike.
Taking titles and phrases from kids songs that center around loving families,
I made three pieces:

• Love at Home
• Love is Spoken Here
• Home is Where the Heart Is
  

It was so fun to select three different types of vintage flashcards: 

• the traditional math flashcard: addition
• the "teaching shapes" flashcard: triangle
• the unusual ACT studying card: vocabulary

Making these pieces was like a happy mini-vacation for me in the middle of the cold-snowy month of January...
Boy has it been super cold around here this year...

So sock-monkey and I are excited....
Here's to a bright and shiny new year: full of promise to be a wonderful and happy.
Especially on Valentines Day!

Well, that's about it for new decoration for Valentines Day around here....
What fun new decor items have you come up with?

Linking to a number of these bloggy friends.... as well as to the Charm of Home, Coastal Charm, Savvy Southern Style, Today’s Creative Blog, Home Stories A 2 Z, The Shabby Nest, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, Between Naps on the Porch

Well, I am such a lucky girl,
because the publishers of (apron∙ology) magazine
thought they would publish my apron in their newest issue!
YAY!

Apronology is a fun magazine with all kinds of super cute hand-made apron ideas in it: 
and this issue also has one of my creations featured...  :)
Oh my....

I made the Lisa Apron when my friend Lisa moved away.  She was moving from around the corner to all the way in Montana!  And I would miss her!
It's been a while now since she and her family moved, and I still miss her; but I'm happy to report that we did go visit them this summer and had a great time...! A super-great time!

I'm also happy to report that I am working on writing up a free sewing pattern for the Lisa Apron, so all of you who would like to can make one of your own....
I will post it here on the blog shortly.

I am just amazed every time other people think my creations are worthwhile....
And honored....!
How did I get to be so lucky...???

Jody is my inspiration.  She is the Angle Tree Angel here in this community.  She has put herself in charge of making sure that every child here in the Ucon, Idaho area has a gift to open on Christmas.  Jody works endless hours collecting names and information from local school officials and church leaders.  Then she sets up angel trees in the local churches.  All we have to do is pick a tag or two (or more) with the information of the child that we will be buying gifts for.  Often the tags are so humbling:  the child just asks for underwear and socks.  What a good reminder for us to count our many blessings.

Jody then collects the gifts, wraps them, and makes sure every family is well taken care of.  She is also in charge of the deliveries. 
Now, if you thought that this is the only thing going on in her life:  think again.  Jody has a busy family of 5 children, and she works as an LPN as well.  But she makes the time for this important work of the heart. 
Jody is my inspiration.

According to Jody, the greatest blessing is seeing how her own children now view Christmas.  They are so selfless in their desires and spend their time and energy worrying about these sweet children whose names are on the tags.  Their wishlists are just for them...!

Like I said:  Jody is an angel:  the Tree Angel!

I've been wanting to so something special for her,
so I decided to make her a little piece of mixed media art with her as the subject. 
"The Angel Tree Angel"
Hope she likes it.....

From THE FAMILY: A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD comes this quote:

I was asked to teach a class on the subject of families in church, so naturally, after studying the subject for a couple of weeks, my creative juices started flowing....

I got busy and upcycled a cheap-o canvas clearance "painting" I had purchased at Target for just a few dollars and re-painted my family on it.
As you can see, my hubby has gray hair....
And our oldest daughter is just a bit taller than I am, PLUS she has been blessed with voluminous hair....

We are a lucky family of five:  two parents, and three awesome kids....
We have been so blessed. 
They are all three great kids

In my first few sketches I had everyone holding arms around everyone else, but as I made the final product, only mom and dad kept their arms.  The kids felt a little left out, but I explained to them that it is not their responsibility to take care of the family:  that is ours as the parents.  Daddy is largely in charge of providing and protecting, while mommy is the nurturer.  The kids' responsibility is to grow up and become happy and independent, responsible adults.  And along the way we help each other as much as we can....  :)

Anyway, this is my first "large" mixed media attempt and though I am picking it apart in my head all the time, I am kinda happy with all the symbolism behind it...  :)

What mixed media projects have you made?

I link up to a number of these bloggy friends.... as well as to Today’s Creative Blog, Home Stories A 2 Z, Funky Junk Interiors, The Shabby Nest, My Repurposed Life, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Thrifty Decor Chick, Between Naps on the Porch

This is SUCH a fun after-school snack, I just HAD to share it with you. 
We had a great time being creative together, talking, visiting, and then eating our snack to hold us over till dinner time.

• Easy
• Quick
• Fun
• Tasty
• Filling
• Healthy

My peanut even got creative and 'made' new colors:  orange {one drop each of red & yellow} and purple {one drop each of red & blue}....

I used more 'paint' than my daughter did, and was worried that my toast might be a bit "soggy," but then happily discovered:  it was not:  it was perfect after toasting....!  Yay!



Painted toast!
With a little honey on it....
YUMMY!

I'm thinking:  it would be great to make toast for special occasions: 

• a fall leave in autumn
• a Christmas tree at Christmas time
• a heart for valentines day
• a number on a special birthday...

What other special occasions can you think of?

Linking up with my bloggy friends right here....  :)

My daughter is having a birthday in a few days, but we will not be together......  We will miss her so much... :(
During the summers she works in Rhode Island to earn enough money to make it through two semesters of school...
We are so proud of her for her hard work and the wonderful lady she is turning out to be....  and the wonderful young lady she has always been.
{We love her:  does it show....???}




That said, I put together a little care package for her:  just some simple little things she might enjoy.  We will celebrate her birthday for real when she arrives home {for a couple of days} next month. 

To make her birthday more festive for her made a super-simple little garland to decorate her bedroom with... It turned out pretty cute, if I say so myself!

This is how I made it: 
I went through my scrap fabric box and picked out a few cheerful happy colored scraps.  I was surprised at how little fabric I needed. 
I folded the fabric over {pressed the crease real quick} and cut out a triangle, square or rectangle at random.  sometimes I didn't even use a cutting ruler:  I just eyeballed it.

Then I folded each shape over a string of jute cord and sewed along the edges using a bright colored zig-zag.
In the little garland I made, I used orange and green thread. 
I must say I am really happy with the cheerful results!

• Cost: nada {nothing, zip} ~ I had all these things laying around and almost threw them away many times {for clutter control purposes, I'm sure you've heard of it....}
  
• Time:  less than an hour
• Result:  pretty dang cute happy cheerful celebration decoration!!!

linking to:  It's a Blog Party, Trendy Treehouse, Savvy Southern Style, House of Hepworths, the Shabby Creek Cottage, Somewhat Simple, the Brambleberry Cottage, Delightful Order, Our Delightful Home, SevenThirtyThree, a Creative Princess, Firefies and Jellybeans, Bear Rabbit Bear, Live Laugh Rowe, Two Sasters, Whipperberry,  Strut Your Stuff, Just Us Four, Happy Hour Projects, The Dedicated House

I painted a 1950's gossip seat in my favorite color:  seafoam green.  Seafoam green was my favorite color when I was a child, and it still is....!!! And it certainly is making a come-back!!!!  Lucky me....
I love it!
Added some flowers and bird on the front and one on the back.. Super cute, if I say so myself.
I you are interested int his piece, it is for sale ....  I have a tendency to paint more furnishings than I have room for in my house....  Oops!

Just let me know if you're interested... 
{I would love to sell it locally....}

Have a terrific day!
Crystelle

What.....??!?!!!????
Crystelle Boutique is going out of business?????
Well, yes and no.....

After some considerate consideration {lol!} it has become time for me to slow down a bit with my Etsy shops and spend more time on the everyday Mom stuff....
I am a lucky girl!  My husband has worked hard in order to be in a position that his children can have a stay-at-home mom....  And what does mom do?  She spends all her 'free' time listing, selling and shipping Etsy products....  Hmmmmm.....
So I decided to 'quit business' so to speak, and get with the program....






The Vintage Market we held last weekend was the kick-of to my Etsy clearance sales.....
It was a HUGE success.  Lotsa  people came, lots of old faces were warmly greeted, and new friends were made.    We drank lots of lemonade {thanks kids!!} and good times were had by all.... 

And so many people said:  "This is so fun!  You should do this every year!"  Well, let's just say: I would LOVE to but.... that kind-of defeats the whole purpose of the event in the first place.... {heeheehee!!!}

So if you have seen something in my shops that you absolutely love and can't live without, let me know, and I will give you a good deal.  In the mean time:  my website will continue, as I will keep posting about my creative projects.  Can't just turn off my creative spirit....!!!!

Have a great day! 
Marijke

p.s.  posting some photo's of some of the fun displays from the Vintage Market....
Au revoir!