Spring Flowers

You may remember when I shared my Spring Mantle (here) that I opted to use real flowers that I found in our yard. Well, a week later they were starting to get a bit crispy. So I threw out the old, and set about finding new blooms...still from our yard!

I started with some beautiful dogwood branches in the vase on the entryway table. They had just bloomed and still look fresh!

 For the pitcher on the mantle, I did something I thought I would never do. I stole flowers from the outside! We planted parrot tulips a couple of years ago and they just came up about 2 weeks ago. I love the way that they dress up the outside of the house, but I figured three for the mantle was no biggie :)

 I love the way that they just sort of have a mine of their own. And they are a lovely pop of color!

 I also replaced the old branches in the mason jar with dogwoods.

 I think they are so cute! I really love the look of fresh flowers in the living room!

Also, for a little bit of accountability for us, I wanted to put this out there. Michael and I have decided both for the sake of our dietary changes and mainly for the sake of finances, we are going to take a fast from eating out (lunch, dinner, dessert, etc.) for the entire month of April. We figure we spend $300-400 a month on that junk and its something that we can live without for a month to help pay off other things. I am also hoping that cooking at home a lot more will give my diet another kick-start!

So, my local friends/family, if you invite us out and we politely decline, know that we love you and have a conviction and a reason for turning you down. We are totally okay with having people over or eating in at other people's houses, just trying to cut the money for a bit! :)