Ella’s Fourth Birthday

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Our Miss Ella turned four on Sunday and it was quite the celebration! With a flower crown, ball pit, and a birthday cake, this little lady had a dog birthday for the books. She even got to spend the weekend with her {birth} mother. More on that below 🙂

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^^Chloe sporting Ella’s flower crown and a sign that says she is the MOM! ^^

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Flower Crown Tutorial:
1 grapevine wreath
Flowers of your choice
Greenery of your choice {I used boxwood}
Ribbon
Hot glue gun

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Begin by wrapping the ribbon around the wreath to give the flowers a base. Leave a little excess ribbon after wrapping it around to tie a bow once the flowers are added.

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Using a hot glue gun, add the greenery around the wreath.

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^^ A flower crown for the birthday girl!^^

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Add the flowers around the greenery to fill in the wreath. Tie the remaining ribbon into a bow. Allow the wreath to dry completely before using.

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^^ Fun in the ball pit. I think she was a little confused!!^^

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^^Birthday cake is always a good idea 🙂 Ella approves!^^

For those of you who are new around here, I would like to introduce our {now} four year old Maltese/Yorkie mix, Ella Mae! This 15 pound ball of fluff has been a part of our lives since she was a little over 2 months old and it’s been the best {almost} four years of our lives. A fun, little background story about Ella: we originally found out about Ella because my cousin and his wife have Ella’s older sister, Maui, from a previous litter. My husband and I {well, pretty much just me!} were thinking about getting a dog and when we met Maui, we loved her spunky personality and knew if there was another litter of puppies, we were definitely interested. When we found out Chloe, Ella and Maui’s mother, was having another litter, we were so excited to meet Maui’s “little” sister. We met Ella for the first time when she was just a few weeks old, and I think it was at this moment Ella had us both wrapped around her paw. As it turns out, a few years ago, my aunt and uncle adopted Chloe and she was reunited with her daughters — at least for family get-togethers 🙂 And although Chloe and Ella look a lot alike, they have completely different personalities! We often wonder if they realize they are mother and daughter…Ella does surprisingly allow Chloe to eat her food, which is extremely rare given Ella’s very possessive and territorial demeanor around food! Maybe she does know it’s her mom! Needless to say, it’s quite the family affair 🙂

There is no denying Ella is one spoiled pup. Since we don’t have kids yet, Ella is our baby, and let me tell you, she knows it too! I’m sure people think we are crazy and Ella most definitely doesn’t think she is a dog, but we are ok with it. Not only is Ella probably one of the more spoiled dogs in the world, she is the most lovable, smartest, mischievous and cutest pup around. Most people say that their dog is their best friend, but, speaking for both my husband and I, she really is. Ella goes everywhere with us and if she’s not on my lap while my husband is driving, she loves riding shotgun in her leopard safety seat. In a few weekends, we are taking her on a long weekend trip to one of her favorite places: the beach. The way in which her eyes light up when she sees sand makes all three of us so happy that we have made this an annual birthday trip. I know, so spoiled, right?!

Ella is one special and spoiled pup and we wouldn’t change it for the world. We love celebrating her birthday each year and it was so fun for her mother to be there for it this year. Who would have ever thought they would be reunited and celebrating Ella’s birthday four years later!


Happy Birthday to this sweet pup, we are so lucky that you are ours! 

Moss Monogram

I love making wreaths. I have made one for each season for our front door, and frankly, I’m a little sad that all my wreath making is finished (until I get tired of my current rotation).

There is this annoying nail that is on the front of our house, presumably added by the previous owner to hang a wreath. I guess I could have taken it out or just ignored it, but in the almost two years that we have lived here, I’ve been determined to put something there. It finally hit me: I love monograms, initials, etc – I thought, why not hang an “M” on that nail. About a year ago, I wanted to make a “M” wreath for the front door, but was never able to find a big enough letter for the front door. But since this is hanging next to a wreath, the letter didn’t need to be so large. So I headed to Michaels.

Although you could cover the letter in flowers, I opted for moss, something that would go with each season’s wreath. It was a fun “arts and crafts” project for a Saturday and it turned out perfect!

Moss Monogram Supplies

Moss Monogram Supplies

1 letter (I used a wood letter)

Green outdoor acrylic paint
Foam paintbrush
Adhesive-backed moss

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Ribbon

Start by prepping the wood letter. I did two coats of the green acrylic paint – my letter was originally white and wanted to make sure that the letter was completely covered so no white could sneak through. Let the letter dry. Flip the piece of moss over and trace the letter.

Cut the piece of moss in the shape of the letter you traced. Carefully peal the paper off the adhesive moss and place on the letter.

Press down to make sure it is securely attached. Flip the letter over so it is moss-side down. Cut a piece of ribbon to desired length and using the hot glue gun attach the ribbon to the letter. Give the glue a chance to dry before hanging. Once the letter was hanging, I tied a bow around the top of the ribbon and around the nail to finish it off!

I love our new decoration…I really think it adds something to the front of the house 🙂