OCD...Yep that's me.

OK...so I probably shouldn't call it OCD. Maybe, perfectionist Maybe, obsessed? I don't know what to call it?!? But when ever I get an idea in my head, I HAVE accomplish it or it'll drive me CrAzY till I do!!

The latest idea was that I wanted all 4 of my boys to have different colored Easter baskets. I had 4 baskets already: 1 green, 1 yellow, & 2 blue. But I wanted each boy to have there own basket in there favorite color. So I needed to find a orange basket for my oldest son Parker. I've had this in my brain since last Easter. And honestly, I have been looking and looking and looking that long to find an orange basket...to no avail.

So last week, I decided, in order to have what I wanted, I was going to have to paint one of the blue baskets to orange. That is just what I did. I spray painted it first. Then added a little lighter color orange paint by rubbing it on with a wet rag so the basket didn't look too "painted." (if you know what I mean).

I then went to Hobby Lobby and got each of my boys first initial and painted it to match there baskets. I tied the initial onto the handle with matching ribbon. The baskets turned out just like I had them pictured in my head (which is always an accomplishment) and best of all...Parker LOVED that he had an orange Easter basket.

(Now for the OCD part...) So for our egg hunt on Easter morning, I have each of my boys only collect the eggs in the color of their Easter baskets.  (I know...I may need counseling) but it's the perfect way to make sure each of the kids gets the exact same number of eggs with all the same prizes inside. So there is no fighting, whining or complaining on Easter morning as to who got what!!

Easy Easter Countdown

This year, I wanted to do something special for my boys to get ready for Easter. Somehow, the real reason for the holiday, Our Savior and the miraculous gift of the resurrection, always gets lost in the holiday shuffle at our house. I don't know why?!? But every year, when Easter is over, I always wonder if my boys understood the true meaning of the holiday between the easter eggs & baskets. Christmas isn't like this but Easter is.

So I wanted to have something we could do as a family to talk about the real reason we celebrate easter. So I went a hunting...and I had found this DARLING countdown online...

{courtesy of eighteen25.blogspot.com}

However, I wanted to fill the eggs with more than just candy. I wanted to fill them with something that would pull the spiritual side of Easter into our countdown.

And I found it!! This great "spiritual" Easter Countdown

{courtesy of howdoesshe.blogspot.com} 

This countdown has a scripture for each day (starting 12 days prior to Easter) and a small item or "token" that coorilates with that scripture. I filled my eggs with 4 of each "token", so that each day, ALL 4 of my boys got a "token" to keep, to help them remember the scripture.

 Everyday, my boys have been begging to do the countdown. They've taken turns reading the scripture and passing out the "tokens." After reading each scripture, we talk about that scripture and it's meaning so that I know my boys understand it & how it pertains to the Easter Story & Easter's true meaning. I displayed my eggs on a cupcake tree in my kitchen so it was close and easy to access everyday.

Why YES, I think I like it...

This last week, I got a chance to help the mom of a friend with some gallery walls that she wanted to do in her house. First off, I must say, she was sooooo fun and EASY to work with. So laid back and also had great stuff in her house already to use. Kris YOU ARE AWESOME...call me anytime you need help!!

Here's how the 2 walls turned out...

This is a wall that is at the top of the stairs where we hung pictures of all her childrens wedding and engagment photos. Kris came up with the "Love is the key" phrase because she had an old set of keys that she wanted to hang on the wall. I ABSOLUTLY LOVE THE WAY IT ALL TURNED OUT.

Downstairs in her family room, we moved around some furniture to make her room flow better but it left her with this large blank wall where she wanted to display her most recent family pictures that they just had done. Wish I could take all the credit for this but Kris already had the rosettes and frames...I just bought the ribbon and figured out how to arrange them. It turned out cute!! It helped that her family pictures are just DARLING!!

 

THANKS KRIS...for letting me help!! Call me anytime!!

and a HUGE thanks to my hubby RJ, who hung it all! He is amazing with those geometry skills. He didn't not make one extra nail hole anywhere...AMAZING!!

I had such a fun time, I'm thinking that decorating "consulting" may be in my future as a business :)

Touches of Spring

I LOVE when the seasons change. It's so fun in AZ when its warms up outside just enough so the kids can play outside & we can keep the back door open all day. But hasn't hit those boiling temperatures that we have in the summer. Here are just a few LITTLE and free decorations I change around the house to welcome spring & Easter.

If you know me at all, you know that I have an obsession with plates.

 (I'm actually surprised that my cabinets haven't ripped off the wall yet from the dozens of sets of plates that I own).

These small blue flower plates are the ones I use for Spring. The small chick bowl holds yummy Easter candy favorites for my boys :) On my plate rack, I added small chick & bunny silhouettes in vinyl to some of my plain white plates.

 I added some floral filler and Easter eggs to my hurricane lamp that always sits on my kitchen table as a centerpiece.

In my family room, I have this small wooden trug that always holds balls as decoration. I just added a few eggs here and there, and now it looks very festive :)

In my hallway, I brought out a white milk glass vase and added some white silk flowers that I have. I also printed off some subway art that I found online (eighteen25.blogspot.com) and framed it in an extra blue frame that I actually had in the garage sale pile. GLAD I DIDN'T SELL IT!!

Lastly, I pulled out our large family Easter basket that I've had for years and put it in our living room so you can see it right when you walk in the front door. I changed my candles to white (they are usually cranberry) and wrapped them in festive papers that match the bright colored eggs in the Easter Basket.

Best of all, I didn't spend a dime. I had everything already!!

LOVE THAT!