November Ganache Floral Cake

November Ganache Birthday cake for my lovely Mother! She deserves the best. I love to put my two favorite things together. Flowers and Cake! What a lovely combination. Too good to eat!

Ganache Floral Birthday Cake

Chocolate Ganache Floral Birthday cake for a sweet friend!

Spring Tulips in Utah!

There is nothing more beautiful than bright red tulips blooming in the Spring! My yard has splashes of red and yellow in Spring! I love being a master gardener and enjoying the fruits of my labor! God created a beautiful world and I am happy to be living in it and working with the earth.

Dazzling Utah May Flowers

 POPPY'S!

Ready....

Get set....

 GROW!!!

 Here are some snapshots of flowers and shrubs that are displaying their beauty this month in my yard. Oh, how I love flowers. Each plant and blossom finds a way to my heart and energizes my soul! What would I do without natures beauty. I see the hand of God in all that nature has to offer.

 Georgia Blue Speedwell rockcress

 Variegated Dogwood Bush & White random flower

 Yellow Water Iris

 Variegated Dogwood Bush

 Siberian Iris

Purple Lamium

Variegated Hosta

 I am thankful for plants and the beauty they provide to this Earth. 

Concrete Column Flower Planter

This beautiful column flower pot used to be a bird bath. My sister gave it to me because I have loved it for years. I love her!!! I used the top of the pillar for months as a holding ground for my succulents. When I became brave...I decided to spray paint both pieces.

Here is the column before it got a fresh coat of primer. The column was pretty amazing how it was, but I wanted something more dramatic looking for my front door.

Here it is with a fresh coat of Kilns Primer. I love that stuff! I can already see a whole new look.

This column has primer on it then I sprayed a light coat of American Accents Stone spray paint on the right side. You can see the difference. I love what beautiful texture it adds to the column. It also ages the piece and makes it feel more Tuscany.

I really enjoyed this spray paint. The price of the paint was a bit steep. I am all about saving money, but it turned out to be worth the price once the project was completed.  I think the newly painted planter looks  lovely.

My husband glued the 2 pieces together with tile mortar. I sprayed it and left the garage and waited for it to dry. When I came back to the garage the planter was on the cement in 2 pieces, the column cracked around 8 inches and the bottom was chipped. I about died! I stood the 2 pieces up and decided to walked away for a day to think about what I would do with it now.

Soooo pretty!

The next day I thought I would use my limited skills to repair it. Using cement mortar I glued it back together and filled in the cracks with cement using a toothpick. That was a bit tedious so I lathered it on my fingers and  filled in the holes that way instead. I wiped the excess off with wet wipes. Did I mention that I love wet wipes! What did I use before I had kids. I can use wipes for just about everything! Then I spray painted it with a few extra coats of textured spray paint. It turned out in the end and I still love it.
Here is the finished project below.

 Here is the beautiful Tuscany column and I love it.

Simple and elegant! Just what I like.

 So the moral of the story is....don't give up when things don't go your way. There is usually a way to fix the problem if you think on it for a while.

August Sunflowers

Ahh.....the beginning of a garden sunflower in August. 

My kids and I have waited for this mammoth Sunflower to mature for months.

It looks like the sunflower is basking in the sun with windblown hair.

These sunflowers face the sun every day.

Mackinac Island, Michigan

I went on a lovely trip to Michigan this summer and here are a few of the beautiful things I saw. I hope you enjoy these pictures taken in Michigan. 

Frankenmuth, Michigan

A perfect German styled town with awesome places to eat and shop.

Not to mention the worlds largest Christmas store, Bonner's! You can really get lost in that place. It has so many Christmas ideas and decorations it is unbelievable! 

For those of you who are Christmas lovers....that is a store for you!

Doesn't this farm look dreamy?

Perfect sand on to walk in on Lake Huron. It felt so good on my feet. 

Lake Huron, Michigan

A frog jumped up on the screen door of our cabin. What a cute little guy.

 I think he wanted to join in on the fun.

Mackinaw Island, Michigan: "Somewhere In Time" the movie was filmed here. It is a very romantic island.

There are bike shops all over the island. Horse and bike are the only means of transportation on the island. We rented bikes and peddled around the entire island. What a view. No cars are allowed on this picturesque island. I think it makes the island a bit more cozy and friendly feeling. You have to see it to believe it.

I hope you enjoyed some of the pictures that captured my heart while I was in Michigan.