Food

I am sooooo excited to announce our special event, in honor of Mother’s Day, for the month of May…

This is going to be a little different for WhipperBerry this month, but it is something that I have come to care for rather deeply.

I have found myself reflecting as of late about my journey as a blogger thus far.  I am in awe at what it has done for my life just in the short time that I have been blogging.  More than anything I have found that it has opened my eyes.  Eyes that have been clouded by many things.  Clouded by responsibilities at home, work, school, and church.  Clouded by depression, self-doubt, and low self-worth.  Clouded by the constant need to compare myself with everyone else.  Clouded by so many things.

I was in the shower the other day {apparently that’s where I do my best thinking} and I had the thought… I’m grateful that I have started WhipperBerry because it is helping me figure out WHO I AM!  It’s helping me to open my eyes to see the world around me, to appreciate the little things and to giggle at the silliness in the world.  It’ has helped me to develop my artistic side, to figure out what my style is, and to develop that.  It has helped me appreciate the kind of woman, wife, and mother that I am evolving into. 

My next thought was… I am so grateful for the bloggers out there who unbeknownst to them have help to shape and encourage my blogging experience.  So, I contacted some of them and asked if they shared the same experience—and if so, would they be will to share who they are to you, my FANTASTIC readers.  I was absolutely blown away by the response.  So many of you out there feel the same way!!  So, in honor of Mother’s Day this month—a holiday which I feel celebrates more that just mothers, but all women—I will be sharing who I am, along with the women out in blogland who I admire, who they are.  I’m so excited, giddy really, I have some real treats for you throughout the month!  So without further ado {I know this is way long}  Here is…

• I LOVE pretty things.
• I adore my cute husband.
• I can be rather irreverent at times.
• I am driven.
• My children are the light in my life.
• I have a strange secret obsession with Wheat Thins.
• I am a crazy mess.
• I love quirky.
• I have a fear of power tools.
• I will eat some of the strangest things because I love the adventure. It totally grosses all my friends out.
• However, you can’t pay me enough to put a water chestnut in my mouth.
• I hate writing {I know, I’m a blogger… weird!} 
• I admire people who put themselves out there.
• I hate my nose, and I still have a baby tooth.
• I LOVE to travel and I love to see the world through my lens.
• {Adore} is my new favorite word.
• I am the shyest, most outgoing person you will ever meet.
• My sweet husband is a much better Mom than I am.  Seriously, I’m rather free form—he’s the one who remembers to say don’t forget to brush your teeth.
• I say “kisses” all the time, because secretly I wish I were French and could go around kissing everyone twice on the cheek.
• I feel like grammar is no fun. So for all of you who take pride in your grammar skills, I applauded you for that, I however will put… where ever I like, and use {} for () because I think they are prettier!
• I would love to live in a cute cottage somewhere green and beautiful, dress my children in white and quietly create all day.
• I wish I could sew better.
• I LOVE shoes!!!  They are never mean and tell you that you are fat.
• I have a spiritual side that I keep close to my heart.
• I cry at EVERYTHING!
• I adore all of you!!

Who are you?  What are your hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes?  I would love to get to know you!  If you would be interested in sharing… {see there they are again} send me a quick email with a photo about who you are.  I will post some through out the month along with the others who I have already gathered.  I can’t wait to get to know you!!

I hope you didn’t miss this week’s giveaway for Baggu Bags! But we have our winner.

Our winner is (as chosen by Random.org)…

Amanda @ Frills and Frolic

Congratulations, Amanda!

Now we have some Flair! If you missed this week’s party, you can catch it here. But here’s a taste of my favorites:

Beautiful Tile Tray by Pretty Life in the Suburbs

Anzac Biscuits by 3 Pickles

Chinese Lantern Cookies by Joy in the Jumble

Mothers Day Plaque by Just Another Hang-up

Deviled Eggs with Bacon by Celebrations at Home

Profiteroles filled with Maple Mousse

Vitamin Bottle Apothecary Labels by Homework

Meaningful Map Art by Crafty Scrappy Happy

Crayon Favors by The Silly Pearl

Decorative Shutters by Two Friends Two Cities

Wire Nest Napkin Holders by Life is a Party

Outfit Makeover by Attempting Aloha

Butterfly Pillows by Lady Crafter 14

Teacher Appreciation Tote by Holiday Snob

Clay Hydrangeas by Craftberry Bush

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Cupcakes by Calm Crazy World

Birdie Bath Bowl by Pudel Design

Amazing? I know, right? I love our readers! You guys inspire me every week. Thanks to everyone who linked up, and grab a featured button from the side-bar if you were showcased today.

 

I grew up with a Grandmother who was a life long teacher.  She started teaching at a very young age back in the one room school-house days.  She was her youngest brother’s first grade teacher.  Imagine that… you start the morning wanting to pop his head off for not letting you into the bathroom early enough, head off to school and have the patience of a saint while teaching him how to read.

This is my sweet Grammy a little later in life… always the teacher.  She instilled a great love of teachers and of learning in me.  So… in memory of her, together with my girls, we put together some teacher appreciation gifts tonight for their teachers.

For all of you amazing men and women out there to choose to spend your days with my little rug rats and help them to become amazing people, THANK YOU!!

 

To put together the pencil flower pots you will need:

• pencils
• small container
• Styrofoam core
• shredded paper
• ribbon
• 1 inch Fiskars daisy punch
• pearl headed pins
• wire cutter

• Place Styrofoam inside small container cover with shredded paper. 
• Sharpen pencils and set aside. 
• Punch how ever many flowers you need.  I doubled my flowers to give it a more 3-D effect.
• Take 2 flowers, lay on top of each other. Bend the top flower’s petals towards you to help if POP!
• Place the pearl headed pin in the center of the flowers through the pencil eraser…

 

• Take the wire cutters and carefully snip off the remaining length of pin.
• Tie ribbon onto pencil to look like leaves.
• Now, arrange your flower bouquet as you like by pushing the sharpened pencils into the Styrofoam inside the container.
• Feel free to right-click and save the image of the tag if you would like to use the free printable.

By the way, the inspiration for this fun project came from my sweet friend EllieG from Less Cake More Frosting and her fun teacher gift! Thanks for the inspiration, my dear!!

 

We are linking up to…

• Tatertots & Jell-o
• Blue Cricket Designs
• Be Different Act Normal
• Made by You Mondays

 

Meet Maggie! She’s a cute lady I’ve had my eye on for a while now. Maggie is the Midwestern Sewing Girl.

She sews, she crafts, she bakes, she decorates, she photographs… the list goes on and on. Here’s a little taste:

 

She’s so much fun. Go on over and give her some love!

 

Now, it’s time for the party. Welcome to the Friday Flair at WhipperBerry! A place where you can link up all things tasty, fancy, and fun.

Show us what you have a flair for:

• Recipes
• Sewing projects
• Craft tutorials
• Dessert tables/events
• Photography
• Printables
• Gift ideas
• Décor/DIY Projects

We like to do it all—so we want to see it all!

Just remember these guidelines:

• Please link up only your own projects, and link to the specific post, not your blog home page. No Etsy shops or giveaways, please.
• You must grab a WhipperBerry button and include it somewhere in the post you’re linking, or on your home page (a text link is great too).
• Stay and mingle (remember, it’s a party!), and leave a couple comments for other guests!

We reserve the right to remove any link that we feel is inappropriate, or does not follow the guidelines. Thank you for understanding. 

Due to some fun things we have planned next week, we are going to close this party one day early (on Saturday afternoon), and feature our favorites on Sunday instead of Monday!

Let’s get started…

This may be the slowest project in blogging history, but that’s alright.  That’s how I roll sometimes.

Sarah has been crazy busy working on competing for the The Biggest Loser’s At-Home prize, so this room makeover has taken the slow boat!  However, I do have another little sneak peak. 

Not too long ago, I saw a quote on Pinterest that really caught my eye and screamed Sarah’s name…

Soooo, I teamed up with one of our new sponsors, Shelly from Say Anything Expressions, on a fun little project!

I have a sad old mirror that has been stuffed in a closet for years, because it was ugly, and I couldn’t find a place for it in it’s current state…

 

…but with a little love and some spray paint, I knew it would be perfect for Sarah’s room makeover.  So I dusted it off, rolled up my sleeves and went to work.

I covered the mirror with some old wrapping paper and painters tape. Sprayed on some primer and then a couple of coats of White Gloss Valspar spray paint.

Then I went to town with my trusty sander, and added some character.  I know, why was it called ugly before, but now that it’s white and roughed up we say it has character?  I don’t know, I don’t make up the design rules.  All I know is that It makes it look lovely…

I cleaned it all up and installed Shelly’s vinyl.  I wanted the quote to look like it was etched onto the mirror rather than opaque vinyl, let me know what you think…

Didn’t Shelly do a FANTASTIC job?!  I LOVE how it turned out!

Can’t wait to show off the final project!!

Linked to:

• Blue Cricket Design
• Sew Much Ado
• Women Who Do It All
• Organize and Decorate Everything
• Seven Thirty Three
• Someday Crafts
• Somewhat Simple
• Night Owl Crafting
• Creations by Kara
• House of Hepworths
• Fireflies and Jellybeans
• Paisley Passions
• Tatertots & Jell-o
• SNS & Funky Junk
• Creative-ly U