Spring | Lemon Love | A Few Lemon Favs

New on Simply the Sweet Life are Seasonal Themes of my favorite things! For spring I chose lemons, lemon love!

I’ve had a life long love of lemons. When I was very young around 4 or 5 when I went with my grandma and mother shoppping I would always ask for the plastic lemons with lemon juice in them for my treat. I love lemon yellow and and butter cream yellow colors. I love to scent of lemons and lemon essential oil.

To start off the Lemon Love Spring here are some of my favorite lemon things!

affiliate links included

Yellow Microplane Lemon Zester

I got this lemon zester a few years ago and it has been my go to zester for all things citrus. I use it for my Lemon Keylime Bars!

GET IT HERE

Lemon Vanilla Bean Soy Candle

This candle has creamy lemon vanilla scent, a 100% cotton wick and free from paraffin!

GET IT HERE

Lemon Pure Essential Oil

I diffuse the now lemon essential oil in my kitchen daily

GET IT HERE

Lemon Botanical Dish Towels

I love these dish towels and this set comes with a bonus lemon juice press!

GET IT HERE

EO Coconut + Lemon Body Lotion

This is my go to daily lotion. It’s a pure basic lotion free from petrochemicals.

GET IT HERE

So many more lemony good things coming throughout spring!

Hand Embroidered Valentine Bookmarks

Hello Everyone!!! I’m Abby over at A Feathered Nest blog which is kind of a collection of hobbies I like or attempt. I’m a mom with 4 kids - boy, girl, boy, girl, and a husband. I wish I had a puppy so bad. My baby girl is an animal so she will suffice for now. We live in Michigan {the most beautiful place on earth} but we’re getting ready to move back home to Sunny Arizona! I’m SO excited that Heather would ask me to put together a project for all of you. We’re going to do a Valentine project but not that kind of Valentine project. Let’s veer from the standard Valentine gifts and do something unique for our good friends & loved ones. Who out there doesn't love a good book?! Even kids’ books. They’re amazing. Don’t you love it when you find a good book and you’re sad when you finish? Wouldn't it be fun to give a good book to someone you love this Valentine’s Day?! With an adorable hand-made bookmark?! Even better. {add some chocolate to the gift and I’d say that would be the best Valentine gift EVER.} I’ll take a good book {and chocolate} over flowers any day.

Hand Embroidered Valentine Bookmarks

Aren’t they precious? How fun to use the bookmark as the actual gift tag wrap it around a gift card or if you buy a book wrap it around the wrapping paper. 

Supplies:

• Felt, cut in varying circles or shapes (I have a scallop pair of scissors) 

• DMC floss, needle, scissors 

• Fabric marker- mine has a disappearing ink side 

• Fabric glue 

• Elastic (you can dye your elastic any color you want using RIT dye - just boil hot water, add a few drops of dye, boil for a few minutes, rinse with cold water. Bleach your pot before using it for cooking.) 

This is a perfect project for those of you who are beginners to embroidery. If you need a practice guide, here is a handy-dandy Stitch Guide I put together a long time ago. This post also has some stitching help, another great Valentine project. I’m missing a few stitches on my site but if you google searched the following stitch names you’ll find more than enough help on how to do them.

Cut your shapes - I used 3-ply together, but stitched on 2-ply.

Trace/draw your design. The circles should be small, so you don’t need a whole lot on them - keep it simple. I free-handed everything so I don’t have patterns, but you can look at these and figure it out. They’re not very complex.

Embroider your design. Here are the stitches I used: Lazy Daisy

- French Knot

- Split Stitch

- Running Stitch

- Blanket stitch

Secure your elastic in a loop/circle, using glue or thread - make sure it’s straight. Nothing but the best from you.

Glue your front to the back.

Done! Now go make a whole bunch of these and you have plenty of time until Valentine’s Day! Wahoo!! These will also make great end-of-year teacher gifts too get a head start and be the admiration of the PTO moms. You’re amazing.

More Valentine’s Day Crafts

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Free Printable Dinner Planner & Recipe Cards

Keto Friendly

Wether you’re planning meals for your whole family or just for yourself it’s nice to make a plan. Since I’m on the keto diet I like to meal prepping on the weekends and plan out my meals for the week. It helps cut down on food waste and it keeps me on track so I’m not tempted to eat out or grab something that is off my keto diet plan.

For moms and dads it’s great to have a meal planner so that everyone in the household from you to your spouse to your nanny knows what’s in stock and what’s planned for dinner!

I made this simple meal planner for you! I included a couple of recipes cards too just in case you want to share one of your favorite recipes with a friend.

Gray Slope Arm Sofas - Restoration Hardware Inspired Home

One day last fall I walked into the SLC Restoration Hardware store and was struck with inspiration. This is the feel I want for my home redesign. I wanted it to feel light airy and full of well-designed pieces of furniture, tall palm trees, and plants, with a touch of a cozy relaxing home. A place my mind could rest and a place where my family could come and hang out. In addition to buying my beautiful Majestic Palm, I started to add one piece at a time. Although I LOVE the Restoration Hardware sofas they didn’t have a couple of things I wanted for my gathering space.

A few things on my checklist included both form and function. Anyone who knows me knows that if there is something in my home it must be deigned well as well as have a use. It’s not form verses function with my it’s form AND function.

• It must be aesthetically pleasing.

• it must be comfortable, the kind of comfortable where you can curl up and take a nap comfortably.

• It must be durable to withstand long hours of use and my cat Henri and my Taco Terrier Harrison (aka a chihuahua mini fox terrier mix)

• It must have a place to put my feet up, I debated back and forth over the chaise lounge end sofa and the reclining sofa.

The reclining sofa won out only because I finally after A LOT of searching found one that was in the perfect gray color and had a similar reverse slope arm as the restoration hardware sofa. I’m totally happy that I did choose these two because they come with USB portals and the loveseat has an outlet in the center storage area and 2 drink holders AND the headrest is adjustable too!

I’m not crazy about the pillow cover design of the pillows that came with it so I’m ordering these woven Baileywick Linen Pillow Covers in shell pink for some texture and these Maddie Textured Pillow Covers in mauve. I like that the colors are muted and soft pale colors that translate more as a neutral in the room. For the holidays and seasons, I will be adding a throw and lumbar pillows with a print.

Easy Hummingbird Food Recipe

It’s spring time which means the hummingbirds are coming back. Every year my grandma would hand a hummingbird feeder so we could watch the hummingbirds from her kitchen window. I carried on that tradition with my kids. Now that they are grown and off to college I look forward to the days I feed the hummingbirds with my future gandkids just likemy grandma.

Hummingbird food is really a simple recipe. It consists of sugar and water. You boil the water to make sure it is clean and pure for your hummingbird friends.

This is a basic plain sugar syrup. Do not use food coloring. The hummingbirds will love their freshly made nectar.

Info for feeding hummingbirds:

Hummingbirds eat the most during the early morning and about a half an hour before dark so it's best to check on your hummingbird feeder just after dinnertime.

Humming birds are drawn to the colors red and orange. To attract them to your yard plant bright hues of red and orange flowers. It's also good to make sure your hummingbird feed has red on it too.

A few good hummingbird friendly flowers are petunias, lupine, lilies, and bee balm in shades of reds and oranges.

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Hummingbird Food Recipe

By Simply the Sweet Life

This is a simple recipe for your favorite hummingbird friends..

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cups water

Instructions

• In a pot bring water to simmer. Add in sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Cool then place in your hummingbird feeder.

Yield: 5 cups

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 05 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 10 mins.

Total time: 15 mins.

Nutrition

• Calories: 773
• Fat: 0

Tags: recipes, hummingbird food

SAVE IT FOR LATER - PINTEREST

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DIY Christmas Pinecone Garland Decor

This post is sponsored by Command™ brand.

I love the holidays. Cheery Christmas music, gathering all my favorite decorations to tuck into every nook and cranny of my home and our favorite sweet treats we only eat once a year.

This year we live in a lovely pre-war home with two fireplaces which means I get to decorate two mantels. I'm so excited. I get to create two pretty Christmas vignettes on each one.

I love the fall/Thanksgiving decorations I have on my dining room mantel.  It's made of a beautiful old growth oak wood. To keep the pretty wood intact I am using Command™ Clear Mini Hooks that are easy to apply and easy to remove without hammering holes in the wood for a damage-free holiday.

I wanted to create a lovely transitional garland that I can have up with my Thanksgiving decorations that I can also have up for Christmas.

This simple pinecone garland is a perfect easy DIY Christmas decoration or Thanksgiving decoration anyone who can tie a simple knot and bow can make.

DIY Christmas Decorations - Pinecone Garland

• Gather an assortment of pine cones -wash and dry

• 2-3 yards of ribbon

• Holiday craft pick 

• Craft Glue

• Command™ Clear Mini Hook (to hang)

  Gather and wash your pinecones. Cut a length of 2 1/2 yards of ribbon. If you are feeling sparkly you can add some glitter to each pinecone too by simply brushing some glue on the pinecones and dusting with glitter.

Wrap the ribbon around the bottom of the first pinecone and tie it in a double knot. Repeat spacing the pinecones apart about 5 inches. Tie two bows from the ribbon leaving long tails to top each end pinecone. Glue the bow on the top of the end pinecones.

Using the Command™ Clear Mini Hook add adhesive back as directed. Place the Command™ Clear Mini Hook on the mantle to hang the garland as pictured above (I used the white mini hooks so you can see them better here in the photo.)

Next, I simply added a Christmas craft pick tucking it into the Command™ Clear Mini Hook to hold it in place. The nice thing about using the Command™Brand Hooks is you can quickly change your decorations if you change your mind without damage.

I'm also hanging my wreaths on my windows using Command™ Brand Hooks. Did you know you can use them on glass? Be sure to clean the glass well before adhering the hooks.

On my enclosed porch I'm hanging these pretty velvet and grapevine wreaths on the windows using the Command™ Medium Designer Hook which can hold up to 3 pounds which is perfect for hanging wreaths.

You can find more ways to use Command™ Brand Hooks for your holiday decorating here at Command™ Brand Holiday.

Happy Holidays!