Making Fairies...

 When you make fairy gardens,  you certainly need some fairies to tend them.  Again, I wanted something inexpensive, but quick and easy too.  We ended up using coffee filters, wooden clothespins, markers, and water.  

We used water color markers and colored on the coffee filters (you can do a sloppy job with this process).  When we finished we used a spray bottle with water and sprayed them.  This causes the colors to bleed and look pretty.  We actually ended up stacking some uncolored filters under the colored ones as we sprayed and we were able to get 4 finished while only having to actually color one.

 Then we made the fairy bodies using sharpies because now I didn't want the colors to bleed or fade.

 We hung them on the branches in the house for our guests to choose and I also left the supplies out in case anyone wanted to make their own.  We did, however, make all the coffee filter wings ahead of time so they had time to dry.

NOTE:  When making the fairy bodies, be sure to leave the slits for the wings on either side of the face.  We learned this in error and just used a hot glue gun to fix our mistake.

Fairies are invisible and inaudible like angels.  But their magic sparkles in nature.  

~Lynn Holland

Blog Banner...

If you get my blog posts through email or on your phone, click on over to my blog to check out my new banner.  It's pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

 Here are some of my others from the past year...I couldn't find all of them because I have a new computer and I'm not so hot at filing things properly.  

That is all!

Fairy Gardens

I have a lot of details to post from Little Miss' fairy party, but I have so many pictures from the fairy gardens that I decided they needed a post all their own.

 I set up all the supplies on the front porch, just in case the weather didn't cooperate.  It ended up being a beautiful day, but having everything contained in one area on the porch worked well.  

When I decided to do this as an activity at the party, I started gathering all the containers I could find, including baskets, wine boxes, pans, and pots.  The more unique the better.

 My aunt generously shared some plant clippings and she was the fairy garden expert at the party.

Those cute little toadstools were hand painted and assembled by me.  Purchasing some was too costly.  All of those cost me less than $5.00 and less than 30 minutes to make...really!  They are made with wood buttons like these.  I got mine from Michaels along with a dowel.  After painting the buttons,  I cut the dowel and used a glue gun to attach the two pieces together.  Other items to decorate the gardens came from the Dollar Tree or the Dollar Bins at Target.  I had dinosaurs, frogs and butterflies to help interest all the kids.

 My hubby cut a branch into those cute little disks to use as walkways...those are my favorite!

 This was such a fun project with very little cost.  It cost less than $20.00 total because we were able to scavenge most of the items needed.   I considered doing fairy houses, but thought that may be more difficult and more time consuming.  I definitely plan on making houses with Little Miss though; we can add them to our gardens.

A garden must combine the poetic and he mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy. 

 Luis Barragan 

Little Miss...

Along with it being Easter yesterday, our Little Miss also turned 6...I write it and still have a hard time processing it, 6?  The past six years have gone crazy fast.  Can we just slow down the hands of time?  Please?  

She had a fun celebration on Saturday with her family and friends, where there was a lot of fairy goodness.  I'll post more on that later this week.  

For now, here are some pictures of our fabulous, confident, friendly, happy, and kind Little Miss.

We love you bunches!

QUOTE FROM HERE

3.2 miles and the insurance man...

So yesterday my BFF and I ran 3.2 miles.  For some this may not seem like any big deal.  For me, however, it's a milestone.  I have never been a runner and I have never run in my entire life.  Having cancer made me do strange things...one of which was to set a goal of running a 5K.  I've been walking consistently, and recently I started running on the treadmill, but the most I've ever run is for 22 minutes which ends up being about 1.6 miles.  This past Friday, we ran 1.6 miles outside.  We were psyched about that...

And then yesterday we decided to do it again, only this time we just kept running, like Forest Gump.  

Never in a million years would I have thought I could run, but I'm happy to report that I proved myself wrong once again.Today my body is not so happy I ran the 3.2 miles, but it will recover and then I can do it all over again.  

After I got home I took a quick shower and had an appointment with someone for disability insurance (a little strange after just running over 3 miles).  However, the claim is being put in for when I was sick (obviously).  I had to regurgitate all the events of the past year;  he was empathetic and seemed genuinely interested in my story.   It was cathartic.  I don't know that I've ever sat down and gone through the entire story from start to finish.  I kept leaving out details and forgetting things.  I had to refer to notes on my phone and appointments on my calendar.   As I was retelling, I thought.. Sh%&!  I went through hell!  But, I survived!  

Looking back there really was no choice but to walk through the muck one day at a time...and somehow, someway, I made it to the other side. 

Carry On...

I'm loving this song...

Favorite Line:

"May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground."

-Fun

Conquering the Demons...

I should probably warn you that I may be pushing the envelope with this post and the information I'm about to share...



So about a month ago, when I decided to "investigate" what was causing me discomfort under my bra strap, I discovered a bump.  Before I go any further, everything is FINE!  

Of course, my initial reaction was, oh great!  What the @#$% is that?  Then my rational brain said, "it's your new body, you just had an MRI, it's fine..."  So for about 2+ weeks I went between feeling fine about this bump and panicking about it.  I decided to call the doctor's office (a week ago yesterday); the nurse told me I could come in on the following Wednesday.  Oy, an entire week to create nonsense in my head and battle those demons. Honestly, since my surgery, I think I've avoided that area of my body, both consciously and unconsciously.  When I did venture to it, most times accidentally, it would put a lump in my throat, very similar to when you put your finger in your belly button (not that any of us do this on a regular basis...and not that there is anything wrong with it if you do).  The nerves in that area are just all out of whack and things are strange to me.

Moving on...

Because I wasn't all that familiar with my new normal, I really couldn't determine whether or not this bump was something new, and forget comparing it to the other side....it's like comparing apples to oranges.  After I looked up pictures of a woman's anatomy online, my rational brain concluded that it was indeed a bone and/or muscle.  However, my anxiety driven brain still felt it was necessary to take a trip to the office.  So yesterday morning, bright and early, I found myself sitting in the waiting room.  After a check by the nurse, an ultrasound and a check by my surgeon, it turns out that the bump is my "new normal" body anatomy.  THANK GOD!!!   Although I really thought this was the case, the small doubt that I had was starting to weigh on me.  Hearing it from the horse's mouth helped a great deal.  Going to the doctor's was what I needed to do to rid myself of the uncertainties.

Why, you ask, do I feel the need to share this information? Well, I actually think that this kind of reaction is somewhat typical for people who have experienced the Big C, at least that's what I have seen and been told.  Perhaps me sharing (sometimes too much) information will in turn help someone else to not feel so alone while they fight to conquer their demons as well, and that sometimes it is okay to seek the reassurance and help from others in order to do this. 

You struggle with your demons and you conquer them.

Kinky Friedman