Birds and Butterflies

Hello Blogger Friends!

I wanted to share the beautiful butterfly and bird ornaments I made for my spring tree in my kitchen/dining area.  For those of you that haven't been following my blog, I decided in December not to take my Christmas tree down but instead to decorate it for every holiday and season throughout the year.  If you are interested you will have to look at later posts of the tree.  I made these ornaments after I took my Easter decorations down and I absolutely love them!  They are so encouraging and cheery!  I hope they inspire you!

 Here are a few other ornaments I made and added to the spring tree.  I made a pinwheel on a stick for the topper!  Isn't it cute?

I hope you enjoyed all of the miracles of springtime!  Now it is on to summer.  I have been working all this week making beautiful summer ornaments for the tree and decorating the house too! Plans are also underway for Lucie's Mermaid Birthday Party!  Lots of summer fun to come!  I hope you will check back with me soon! 

I want to say a special "Thank You" to all of you that have posted comments on my blog about the Tea in Paris post.  I truly appreciate your sweet comments and feedback!  You all are a blessing to me!

Many Blessings Back to You!

Love Tammy

Tea in Paris

Hello Blogger Friends!

I wanted to share my lovely "Tea in Paris" I held for my mom and grandma for Mother's Day last weekend. 

 I had a week of vacation the week before Mother's Day and I spent the entire week, cleaning, shopping, cooking, and preparing for this tea party.

 My fiance is moving out of his house and we were in my old barn that sits on my property, trying to decide if his things would fit in it.  Then I got a brilliant idea! I decided to clean that nasty barn out and hold my tea party there.  My mom has loved that old barn since I moved here so I know she was so excited when she saw it all decorated up so pretty!

 I made these delicious lemon cupcakes for dessert.  I made the "Paris" cupcake picks stuck in each one.  The cupcakes are white cake with lemon curd filling and lemon creme frosting with pink pearl sprinkles and custom-made picks.  I LOVE the paper liners that look like lace.  Aren't they just beautiful?

 Here is the tea table all set up.  I love everything about it . . . the ivory lace tablecloth, the pink placemats, the rose dishes, the pink glasses, and the sweet favor buckets I made for each of us.

 I made a place card for each of us with a Paris theme.  I had so much fun making those ornaments.  I think I need to go in to business!

 I filled each bucket with some Paris Amour lotion, a Flower Shop candle, and a tube of raspberry vanilla lip gloss - all from Bath and Body Works.

 I painted the buckets pink, then stamped PARIS with brown ink.  Then I painted roses, leaves, and rose buds on each bucket.  Then they got a nice coat of German glass glitter.  So darling!!!  They were so fun to make and I was squealing with joy when they were done.

 I also made a darling PARIS banner from chipboard, scrapbook paper, and embellishments.  I wish you could see it in person because the picture does not do it justice.  It is absolutely gorgeous!

 The barn had shelves along the north wall so I covered them with fabric and lace, then decorated them with spring and French things.  I also added some special pictures of me, my mom, and my grandma.  They were very special.

 I wish you could have seen this barn before the transformation.  It was gross!  But after some TLC it became a wonderful place for Tea in Paris!

 I had a little water fountain running during the tea party and it smelled like fresh cut roses in the barn.  It was a very calm, sweet, serene time.

 I bought French Macarons for the tea from The Macaron Store on the internet.  I ordered raspberry, almond, pistachio, and chocolate.  My favorite was the almond, second favorite the raspberry.  The others were good too.  I would like to try to make my own some time.

 I also made a delicious chicken and rice casserole, spring salad with pomegranate dressing, and French croissants.

 We had the cupcakes and macarons for dessert . . . and our tea of course!

 Here is my mom, Ginger, and my Nanny.  I enjoyed their company, especially since the tea was in their honour!

 Here I am with my sweet mama.  You should definitely check out her blog too!  Lots of great stuff to see there!

 We had a wonderful conversation, we had fun taking pictures, and we enjoyed all of the tasty food too!  It was a fun Mother's Day Tea in Paris!

I still have some cleaning to do out there in the barn and then I am going to have a mermaid birthday party for Lucie in a few weeks.  Her last day of school was yesterday.  She will be eight-years-old this year.  I can't believe she is growing up so fast!
I have been very busy working on a lot of things.  I am getting married on September 22nd so I have been working on wedding plans, I am working on a business plan with James to open a candy and gift store with a cupcake boutique, and I am preparing to redecorate the house for summer.  Lots going on!  Exciting times!  I think I need a nap.

Thank you for viewing my blog.  Please leave me a comment if you will!  I would love to hear how you are doing! I hope you have a blessed weekend!

Love Tammy

Easter Tea Parties

Hello Blogger Friends!

I wanted to share my sweet Easter tea party I had last weekend. My mom, grandma, and Rebecca from "A Gathering Place" came to my tea. She has a great post about the tea on her blog as well. I wanted to keep the decor light, sweet, and pink.

I just adore the centerpiece. Aren't those Easter baby angels just the sweetest things?

I filled ceramic bowls with treats for each guest and I made an ornament for each of us too!

I made these napkin rings from cardboard, scrapbook paper, vintage images, and sweet pink trim. I just love how sweet they turned out and that they matched the decor perfectly!

Here is the dessert table with all the sweets! I made Easter basket cupcakes with little Lindt bunnies and chicks. I also made marshmallow pops that were so sweet!

Here are some cookies I made that look like Easter nests with pastel eggs in the middle. I would love to see the pretty bird that laid those eggs!

I made cheesecake-filled strawberries. Mr. Rabbit guarded them well! I also made strawberry and walnut salad and chicken salad sandwiches. Everything was so delicious!

The best part of the tea was my company. Here is my sweet Mom, Ginger. She is a very talented lady and passed her love of creating on to me. I am so blessed to have her for my mom.

My grandma Mary came too! All of the grandkids have called her Nanny for as long as I can remember. She passed her love of creating and making things beautiful and special on to my mom. She is a very sweet grandma and I am blessed to have her too!

My dear, sweet friend Rebecca joined us for tea this time. I was so honored and blessed to have her company. She is a very talented, beautiful, loving lady. She encourages and inspires me and I am blessed to know her and to call her my friend. She has a daughter that is about my age and she was going to come but did not. I hope I get to meet her soon. If she is anything like her momma, I know I will like her a lot. I am planning another fun tea party this summer . . . definitely iced tea, and I hope they both can come back!

I had such a fun time planning and hosting this tea. All of the resources required to have a tea are so worth it after it is over, because of the beautiful memories that have been made. I know I will never forget this one!

Then the next day we celebrated Easter with Maggie and Lucie. We got the girls an Easter basket and filled them with goodies. They were so happy and excited when they found them under the Easter tree.

I redressed the table with new linens, dishes, and a sweet centerpiece. Everything looked so fresh and Eastery with all the sweet pastel hues everywhere!

I filled the bowls with some different Easter treats for each guest. A few years ago I made those sweet bunny napkin holders and I just adore them. I even sewed little white whiskers on each one!

We enjoyed our time together celebrating Easter as a family. I love this picture of all of us together.

I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed Easter holiday and are able to make many sweet memories with your family!

Many Blessings to You!

Love Tammy

St. Patrick's Day Party

Hello Blogger Friends!
I had a St. Patrick's Day Party on March 17th. I made this darling banner and hung it on my dining room window. I used scrapbook paper, paper doilies, green tinsel garland, and pretty green ribbon to make it. The sentiment is true! I feel so lucky to have the wonderful life I have! Here is my dining room table all dressed up for the occasion. It was a "spur of the moment" thing so it's not great but I thought it turned out pretty cute!

These are the favors I made. I used rainbow twizzlers (so delicious!!!), rolos on the bottom layer, and filled the center of the cups with skittles candies. Instant pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! Pretty cute, huh?

James, Maggie, and Lucie joined me for the celebration. Isn't Maggie the prettiest little girl? She is growing up so fast! She has chickens she is raising at her grandma's house and she is a very responsible young lady. I am blessed to have her in my life.

And her sister Lucie is growing quickly too. We still can't figure out why she won't smile when we take her picture. Isn't her little headband cute?

My sweet James is always so excited about my little celebrations. He is very appreciative of the fun things I plan for him and the girls. He is such a sweet man and good friend to me.

For our dinner I made baked potatoes, spring greens, blarney stones (rolls that were almost as hard as rocks!), and you know I made . . .

CUPCAKES!!!!

I used the cupcake display stand that James got me for Valentine's day and made two different kinds of cupcakes. I made Lucky Charm cupcakes and these cute rainbow cupcakes. I used those fantastic "Airheads" gummy rainbow strips. At first they were hard to find. I had never tried them before. I had a taste after I decorated the cupcakes and now I am addicted. I can't stop eating those delicious rainbow candies!

We had a fun time at our St. Patrick's Day celebration. We talked about who St. Patrick was and some of the traditions of St. Patrick's Day. It was a fun time to spend together.

I hope you had a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Blessings to you!

Love Tammy