Week 20: Mothers

{ Project 52 Week 20: Mothers }

I made cupcakes for Mother's Day. 

My husband brought a batch out to his mom and I brought a batch out to my mom. 

They were inspired by recipes and a decorating tutorial that I found on Pinterest. 

Unbelievable Chocolate Cake, The Best Frosting Ever and Rose Swirl Tutorial. 

They were yummy and fun to make!

{ Linking up with Kent Weakley for Project 52 }

Week 19: Still Life

{ Project 52 Week 19: Still Life } 

Setting up this still life shot was fun. I picked up this neat little vintage-looking oil can recently at a second hand store. I'm almost certain it's just a replica and not the real thing but I still find it incredibly charming. I thought I'd contrast the rustic-ness of the oil can with the danty-ness of some Lily of the Valley, which are in full bloom now. Unfortunately these tiny soft blooms last only a short time and are so hidden in my garden it's sometimes easy to miss them. I have to make a conscious effort to go out and search for them every spring. It would be a shame to miss these sweet scented blooms!

Week 18: Fiesta or Siesta

Last Friday my youngest son and I went to my parents house to help my mom with some garden work. While we were there my son found 2 caterpillars. One long and creamy yellow, one short and grayish. My mom put them in a small jar for him and we brought them home. The next morning I brought out a large canister glass jar and in the rain we went outside to fill it with sand from our sandbox and various leaves and branches from around the yard. It turned out to be a fancy looking habitat for 2 caterpillars!

Finally came the exciting moment, to introduce the caterpillars to their new home. 

When my son opened the little jar and pulled out the leaves we discovered that the small grayish caterpillar had morphed into a shiny brown-reddish cocoon overnight. The shiny new cocoon twitched and wiggled when we moved it. It was a bit creepy! The yellow caterpillar didn't appear well and healthy. The sluggish little guy seemed to be fading away.

{ Project 52 Week 18 Fiesta or Siesta }

We placed the caterpillars in the jar side by side and kept peeking in on them all day. The yellow one never moved again. My son thought it must be "napping" because "maybe he didn't feel good". By the next day it was clear that the yellow caterpillar was taking an eternal siesta. Too bad. Maybe we didn't move it to it's bigger home soon enough and it got cramped in that small jar? Or maybe we didn't have the right kind of leaves in there for him to munch on? And the other guy, in the cocoon, well, hopefully his siesta is only temporary. I'm not sure what it'll turn into if it pops out of it's cocoon, a butterfly, a moth or something else? But we're keeping an eye on it and excited to see what happens. We're also keeping an eye out for more caterpillars to add to this fancy new caterpillar home.