spring is almost here, and what better way to bring it in than to celebrate with a bit of gardening!  we are excited to get our garden started with much needed pruning and planting…but until the rain lets up…we decided we better create something else for our garden. so…we made the cutest garden stones!!!

here is what we did…

first, pick out a stepping stone kit. ( you can pick one up at any craft store.)  be sure to label the bottom of the kit so you know what child did each stone.  to do this i cut some plastic out and wrote the girls’ names on it with a sharpie.  you will want to read the instructions carefully, as each kit is  a bit different.  this kit required nothing but water to add to the mixture that came in the kit.

next, you will what to mix the stone cement and water, and poor it into the mold tray.  once the entire mixture is pored into the mold, be sure to tap it and flatten it out for the best results.

next you will what to embellish your stone.  you have to do this before it sets, so be sure to have everyhing prepared in advance.  you can use mosaics, marbles, recoiled glass bits, and buttons.  we decided to do our hand prints, and to decorate with sea glass that we found out the beach.

once your stones are decorated, and the bits are in place, you will need to let them set.  ours took about 24 hours.  then we painted them.  be sure to use a permanent paint base such as acrylics.  you can sand the edges of your stone, and if you are going to be placing it outside, you will want to spray it with a gloss sealant.

just a couple warnings…first, try not to paint on each other…and second, don’t eat paint!

then, your done!  have some fun placing your stone in your garden!

so if you would like to win a garden stone kit all you need to do is respond with your most favorite spring flowers!  mine are chamomile daisies!  so cute!

the simple how to:

first…find a locket!  then get some paper palette, scissors, adhesive, a poker, and a mini print of the images for your locket. (i just used a index card option to do mine!)

- tear a piece of palette paper and press it into the lock to get the exact shape.

- cut out the shape and use it as a template to trace it on to the front of your photograph.

- cut along the inside edge of your photograph around the traced shape.

- use a small bit of adhesive to hold your photo in place.

i embellished mine with a feather and a bit of silk ribbon. so cute!

here are some really cute lockets i found on etsy!

these amazing and artistic lockets are from: verabel+fox, erm originals, sora desings, manna celebrates, if you want to carry your little gems with you always…check them out!

here is that photograph for me…

it may not mean much to someone else, and to an expert photographer may seem quite sloppy, but for me it captures the very essence in each of my sweet gems, it reminds me where they are in their lives right now, and celebrates how wonderfully individual they are.

paisley: she LOVES her sisters…she more than loves them…she looks up to them and wants to be just like them.  she inspects their every move and eagerly prances her way toward growing up just as they have…and she does it all with a twinkle in her eye.

reagan:  her energy, her free spirit, and her spunk is beyond contagious…it’s addicting!  she is care free yet sensitive.  she skips through life with a magic that reminds me to love and cherish the pretty details in this world.

ireland:  she is hilarious!  she is one of kind, she marches to the beat of her own drum, and the music she makes is AWESOME!  she is deeply intuitive.  she is grounded and a firework all at the same time!

i was looking through this past months pictures tonight, and it was pretty amazed at how this little event paralleled our life right now.

the other day we looked out our window toward the hill by our house and little miss paisley saw this…

now, i must say this picture just does not do it justice.  what we saw was a HUGE kite!  and when i say huge, i mean like the size of an SUV, huge.  it was so cool!  i got a surge of spontaneity, rallied the troops, and we went over there to fly our kites too!  what i thought would be a fun and free spirited adventure…quickly spiraled into a bit of a mess.

reagan really did not want to be there.  kites stress her out because they might fly away forever, and said she would much rather watch a barbie movie…which we have banned until the sassyness lessens…

ireland had an attitude and did not want to follow rules…

and paisley, with no interest in the group, decided that this was her day to become little miss independent and wander off near the dangerous edge!

the girls had eaten nothing but easter candy all day, ryan was pretty maxed out trying to manage the kids, (none of which were heading in the same direction)…and i was hopping around on one leg, trying to get kites up while wondering if i am ever going to get this stupid foot brace off.  (really, i am only touching on the surface of the stressfullness.)

but within all of that chaos, and even though there was opposition at first…there was this…

little moments of bliss.

as is life i guess…seems to me that often we fight the winds of change (at least i know i do).  but through it all there are moments of joy, of clarity,  and of peace…reminding us of what really matters, even if the winds are changing…and for me, what matters…it is them!  and don’t you ever forget that miss grace!!!