Valentines and Birthdays

So I decided to try this superfun activity with my kindergarten students from the Martha Stewart Sight:

http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/crayon-hearts

I let the children choose the colors and I did the ironing...safety safety!

They turned out adorable so we used them to decorate our classroom windows!

The kids loved watching the crayon melt in the wax paper!

I'm not the only craft one in the room! My teaching assistant and dear friend never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday for my birthday she made these AMAZING cupcakes. She knows I LOVE dragonflies!

Hopes of Spring

One of the downfalls of apartment/co-op living is no yard. Last year I achieved a beautiful deck container garden. It was truly a little oasis. My neighbor claimed he loved when the wind blew because he could smell all of the truly wonderful things growing there; basil, lavender, mint, peppermint, and rosemary among a few. It killed me as the fall came and only a few of my beauties made it to the inside. One of the most heart breaking things was my fig tree ( in an early growth stage) lost all of it's leaves and seemed to be dying. I have been nursing this tree ALL Fall and Winter. The other day during that horrendous ice storm....a few leaves popped out of a bud.

And, I also see a few more ready to come out as well. Few of my plants survived and I actually have a blueberry bush living outside still. Inside, I have a lemon verbena plant, rosemary, and lavender.

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A few weeks ago when I thought my poor fig wasn't going to make it, I bought another and while browsing on Amazon, I came across this little olive tree. I thought it would be perfect to join my collection. I'm already planning what else is going to join these darlings in my little garden!

Cut cut cutting away

So while waiting to muster up the courage to quilt the quilt top that I plan on giving as a gift I decided to jump into another project. I 've had two Verna Moda Charm Packs just waiting to be used...love them! I looked and looked and of course found the perfect quilt to make on The Moda Bakeshop Blog. I have to say, I'm a bakeshop groupie and a big fan of all of the chefs featured there. I chose this pattern:

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/10/ritzy-cracker-quilt.html

So I started cutting....I hate cutting! This project involves quite a bit of it!

This quilt also involves being immaculate with pressing your seams open. I've got a great system going and have completed a few blocks already tonight.

I love the blues in this collection...they remind me of a robin's egg! So excited to pull this one together. I actually have a bunch of Bliss charm packs that I may use to make this pattern again, but double in size for a bed spread. I guess I'll be teaching myself how to make pillow shams soon.