Hello April!

Welcome spring!  Ahh, you have been missed - and we have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Let me start by saying, A BIG THANK YOU to everyone for sticking with me during this time of rest and focus for my blog and Etsy business! I am SO EXCITED to rejoin you and to share lots of new things going on! My Etsy business is taking off!!  I have noticed that most of my business is with cupcake toppers, so I have taken this time to transition from garland to more inclusive party supplies, most notably cupcake toppers.  I'm selling them in batches of 24 mostly (some 12).  The best part is these are completely customizable for your event!  I think it's safe to say most everyone these days is watching their pennies a little tighter.  You can have a great party on a budget!  And I'm here to help you along the way.  Up & Coming to the Etsy store are COMPLETE Party Packs... YES.  You read that right!  A completely handmade, customized party - to go - on a budget (all you'll have to do is supply the food!).  Ask me how you can get yours today!!  I would love to work with you to find something that meets your needs and makes your day magical! I'm especially thrilled about these special cupcake toppers!  They perfectly combine my old profession (a teacher) and new one...  Know of a team of people you need to inspire?  Or who have been an inspiration to you?  These cupcake toppers I like to call "Believe" are full of empowering words for that special group of people.  Celebrate youngsters in your youth group or school group.  Can't serve cupcakes?  Stick these in some muffins or on top of an ice cream sundae.  Celebrate that group of women who are learning to believe in themselves for the first time!  I just love the "Hello My Name Is" approach. If I was picking I'd choose... "Hello My Name Is: self-belief"... I'm learning these days to believe in myself, my ideas, and the fact that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be right now.  And don't forget - they're completely customizable too!  Want to leave them blank?  Have guests fill in their own!  What a great singles mixer idea :) I'm not giving up the garland idea all together - you'll still see some cute shapes pop up every now and then!  I've had several orders for photography backdrops - these garlands make adorable additions to those newborn photo shoots, so spread the word to all your photography friends out there! And of course, if you are looking for something for your photography studio, classroom, business, or home - feel free to ask!!  As you can see from my sold orders, most of my stuff is made custom order style! And of course, stay tuned for some new recipes I'm trying - heading your way!  OurGreeneHome serves as my digital recipe box.  I can't tell you how many times I look up a past recipe under the Archives page.  Due to some newly diagnosed health challenges for myself over the past few months, my family and I are making the switch to eating healthier.  I do most of the grocery shopping and cooking for our family, so this change is up to me.  I realized we had a very high protein diet and I was bad about tagging on a veggie.  So far, I've been paying closer attention to portion size, making sure to load my plate with mostly veggies, and trying to make sure I drink plenty of water.  My biggest struggle still is late night snacking.  It has become a habit since we've had Little One. DH and I will plop down on the couch after Little One is in bed and enjoy one of our favorite shows that we've DVR'd.  Along with it comes a little crunchy, salty snack.  It is a stronghold.  But I am working on it!  So, as you can see we've still got a long way to go!  But it's a start!!  I'd love to hear if you have any recipe ideas you'd like to share.  What do you do about late night snacking? Thanks again for hanging with me!  I can't wait to see what the upcoming year holds! p.s. Enjoy the new cheery signature.  A special thanks to http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/ for all the great fonts I've been using here and on my items on Etsy.  You should check them out!  They're free - she makes your handwriting into a font.  TOO COOL!