Steel Lantern Surprise Package

I went out to check the mail a couple days ago and this was at my door:

My oh-so-sweet mom sent me 4 steel lanterns!  (Okay, so maybe they're not steel but the look like steel).  I was so surprised and excited so immediately put them out on my screened in patio.

They really match the 1960s Battleship Gray concrete floors and juxtaposed against the wooden lattice they give the patio a really modern feel.

At the bottom of the box my mom also put some Citronella tea lights for the lanterns (and all the dadgum buggies here in Florida!), plus a couple home magazines.  One of them was a landscaping magazine to help me with my backyard projects.

I realized this picture was blurry after I uploaded it and was too lazy to re-take.  Sorry!

 She even bookmarked the pages she thought I'd like.  Aww.  I <3 my mom!

Here's to hoping your day is full of surprises!  Happy crafting and thanks for reading. :)

--CC

May Day Flowers

I don't know if any of you celebrate May Day at all.  It's not a very mainstream holiday.  But for me, May 1st was always a special day.

Every year on May Day when I was a little girl my mom surprised me with a little bouquet of flowers hanging on my bedroom door after school.  When I graduated and went to college far away, she started having a florist deliver flowers to me on May 1st.

This year, I decided to share the merriment by leaving some flowers on my friend Alejandra's front door as a surprise.  I got the idea well in advance, so I had time to craft a hanging vase about a week ago.  All I used was a spaghetti sauce jar I'd saved and larger gauge jewelry wire.  I wrapped the wire around the neck of the jar and then made a tall arch above the jar so that it could hang on the door.  Then, I fashioned a tag out of some leftover jute from my St. Patrick's Day project, some corrugated cardboard and scrapbook paper to make a tag.

With my hanging vase ready, on May Day all I had to do was fill it with flowers and leave it on my surprisee's door.  I picked up a couple of small bunches of flowers from Publix and threw together an inexpensive, springy bouquet.

I chose pink and white Gerber Daisies with a leafy green spray, but my boyfriend had the idea to add just one yellow daisy (from the May Day bouquet he bought me!) for personality.  It turned out really cute and cheery! 

Then I sneakily and quietly left the flowers on Alejandra's door for her to find and snapped a few pictures while I was at it.

 

 

 

She told me this evening that she found the flowers and, basically, was thrilled.  It made me feel happy to have put a little joy in someone's day.

I hope all of you had happy May Days, too.  Until next time, happy crafting!

Surprise in the Mail

Since I'd been out of town, I checked my mail for the first time in five days today.  In addition to an array of coupons and statements, I was greeted by a lovely thank you card from my friend Raelynne who visited back in March.

 

How sweet of her to send it!  I love all the colorful flowers and the detailed embellishments on this card.  It was so well-made, I couldn't tell if it was hand made or one of those cards manufactured to look handmade.  I inspected closely and found this:

 

Thanks to Raelynne and her Grandma Connie for the beautiful handmade card!