Another excuse to celebrate!

 Wow! That is all I have to say when I experienced the weather earlier this week! I am now...seriously... just so excited for it to return for good! I have so been ready for spring that I have gotten way ahead of myself (and nature) and started going through the kids clothes to pull out shorts, flip flops etc when one nice day hits us...only to remind myself that we still have some cold days ahead. Darn. I have been doing some early spring cleaning which has been such a rejuvenating feeling! Cleaning, clearing out. A nice start to the year.

Among those projects we put in a new front door and I just finished painting it. Since I bought a gallon of really nice exterior paint and had quite a bit left over I ended up painting 5 more doors. So now all our exterior doors match. My neighbor thought I was going paint crazy when he left the his house mid morning, only to return home in the afternoon to find me painting the shed doors out back! ha ha

Just a tip for any of you who are wanting a simple face lift to your house. Painting your front door can be an easy quick way to add color and change to the look on your entry way. Doors can make a huge statement on your design style. And the costs can be less than $20.

If you aren't sure on a color they also offer $3 samples of paint in a little container that you can take home just to make sure you can figure out the right color. And then you can always use the leftover sample paint on other projects. And remember paint color swatches in the store can be a very different color when you take them home and compare them with the outdoor lighting near your door. So be sure to bring some home, and at the end of my post I will show you a quick way you can reuse your paint card samples.

I have so been enjoying the last few months going at a slower pace. I have been busy, but mostly been busy at home with my kids and digging back up my passion to find and cook delicious healthy meals for my family. I love variety!
  I have really had so much fun with my kiddos! As you know, I LOVE holidays! And love any chance I can get to celebrate and decorate for any occasion or holiday! And Valentines day is coming up. So the kids and I made valentines mailboxes.
We each made one and decorate it. They are now ready for next week when we plan to use them to put little surprises in each others throughout valentines day. And of course check our own mailboxes regularly. :) you can find the tutorial here: http://www.simplymodernmom.com/2010/01/special-delivery-paper-mailbox-tutorial-and-pattern/

My v-day decor I kept simple. But added a few pops of my favorite valentines day color. Hot pink! So up went a fun banner that I found last year, and a fun bouquet of pink flowers.  I  also made a little frame with a handwritten verse from 1st John 4:19 "We love because He first loved us" I thought it would be a great way to remind myself of what we want to ring clear and true as we celebrate valentines. We love because He is LOVE and He first loved us! And we all aren't that loveable at times. But we have Christ's example to love someone even when we don't get anything in return. I am so thankful for God's love in my life. Everyday!

 So now to my little mini project I came up with on one way to reuse color swatches from the paint store. They are all adorable colors and fun to put together. I am going to use a few for valentines cards. How to: Take 2 paint samples, staple together (colored sides facing out)  I then made a newspaper flowers that I glued to the top (you can find how to make them here: http://www.joybx.com/entry/17867.html. They are super cute for any other occasion as well. 

Blessings to you all! - Hannah Grace Winter