Celebration of Life

I wish everyday could be lollipops and gumdrops but that's not reality.  A very dear friend's mother passed away recently and I was asked to do a photo tribute to Gladys.  Gladys called me her 'daughter' and  I was honored to be a part of her life.  She was 94 and was out gardening the day before she was hospitalized.  I thought I'd share her photos in hopes that they can help others to celebrate the lives of someone special when the time comes. 

The 20" x 30" posters were very easily put together at Costco.  You just upload the photos you want to use and then arrange them in the easy-to-use collage maker.  You can even pick the border width and color! Can you believe they were ready in one hour???!!!  And, they were pretty inexpensive too.  I adhered them to some foamcore with spray adhesive and I was ready to go.

In honor of Gladys love of gardening, I came up with the idea of having everyone take a little of her garden home with them.  A friend and I cut succulents from Gladys' Garden, 'planted' them in plastic cups filled with dirt, wrapped each cup with two colors of tissue paper (Gladys loved jewel tones) and tied them with raffia. It brought some color to the celebration and were cherished by her friends and family.

Gladys, you are missed.

 2011 Costco Photo Contest Winners

Valentine's Day Breakfast Idea

Heart Shaped French Toast

Looking for a special treat to start off Valentine's Day (but seriously, why not any day)?  Here's a super easy way to add that specialness -  I placed some frozen Bridgeford bread dough (you have to let it rise before baking) in a heart shaped pan, baked it, sliced it, then did the typical French toast cooking.  To make it easier on yourself, use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut the shape out of a slice of regular bread!  Yummers!