A Last Minute Shamrock

We aren't big on celebrating St. Patrick's Day over here. When you aren't Irish and you don't drink, there seems to be little point. Anyway, I still thought I'd throw together a quick porch decoration.

 Cut out a couple of cardboard shamrocks. Paint the large one green if you wish.

Glue some basket lining moss on the large shamrock. Let dry. I glued scrapbook paper on the small shamrock. Just like I did for my faux wood heart.

I can't decide if I love it or hate it, but it does look festive on the front porch.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Porch in Transition: Winter Decor

Yesterday, between errands, taking care of the kids, cleaning the oven, doing laundry, making dinner, and baking rolls (oh, and all of the other daily minutiae) I managed to put together a new porch decoration. I'm pretty proud of myself, too. Okay, so I know I complained about people who rush by Thanksgiving in their hurry to get on to Christmas. Well, while this leans towards Christmasy, I'm going to say it's just a winter porch in transition.

My mom pointed out an article to me in a recent Better Homes and Gardens. The article highlighted some great floral porch arrangements.  There was one in particular that caught my eye. The center piece was a bunch of red stick dogwood branches surrounded by pine. It was very simple and eye catching. Going from memory, I visited a local home decor center and looked for some branches that would work. I found some! Not dogwood, but a lovely shade of red nonetheless.

We already had a big pot sitting on the porch courtesy of the previous homeowners.  We also had some pesky pine trees overhanging our fence courtesy of the neighbors. I snipped a few of those branches. The same pine trees love to drop large pine cones into our play area, so I collected those as well.

I dug down in the dirt, placed the branches and then stabilized them a little with some rocks. Then I cut apart the pine branches and stuck them in the dirt surrounding the red branches.

Finally, I laid the pine cones on top of the pine branches to add a little interest. I love the end result even if my husband's first comment was, "looks like a miniature Chihuly."

 The other side of the porch is still strongly leaning towards fall and Thanksgiving, I'll start to transition that next week. No rush.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Weekend Photos

Just a few phone photos from yesterday.

Last Sunday (Easter), my new nephew was born.  Jellybean is in love with him.  We got to see the little guy today at my parents' house.  Here's Jellybean checking him out. He's being held by his beautiful aunt (my sister-in-law).  D asked me if the new baby made me want to have one.  I said no.  Though, there is something particularly sweet about holding a newborn baby that you don't have to take home with you.

I have to make a note about Jellybean's cute outfit.  I scored this adorable Lauren Ashley dress and those sweet turquoise sandals at my favorite bi-annual consignment sale last week.  $6.00, not bad.

We spend a lot of time swinging on Grandma and Grandpa B's porch swing. Buddy, Jellybean and some of their wonderful cousins got to hang-out Sunday evening. They have so much fun together.

What a great start to the week!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Swinging With Papa

Easter Sunday, swinging on the front porch with Papa.

 and a video, too!

Swinging with Papa from A Happy Song on Vimeo.

Joining in on Wordless Wednesday!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Signs of Spring

The snow is falling outside and all I can do is long for the Spring-like weather of last week. The weather was so mild that I donned my new shoes and went hunting for the signs of Spring in my garden.

My New Shoes!

It is so fun to see what is coming up in my garden this year.  We moved to our new house last Fall when most everything had died back for the year. I'm finding all kinds of little surprises coming up. 

Besides the tulips beginning to peek out, I'm finding lots of pretty early flowers that I don't recognize.

Some surprises that I do recognize and am happy to discover that I didn't kill when I cut it to the ground last Fall.

Glad to see I didn't kill you, Russian Sage!

Maybe I should have cut you back more, Vinca.

I even took a little time and began to Spring-up my new porch. Which seems a little silly right now with snow on the ground.

There's my front porch looking slightly Springy.

I also bought a little backyard friend. Meet my new solar powered owl from Target.

Hi, little owl!

It's time to say goodbye, Snow.  Go away and let us enjoy a little more of that Spring weather!

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

This post is participating in: