4th of July Decorations

Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend. I spent some time putting out my 4th of July decorations. I will leave most of them up through the summer.


I found this door hanger at Hobby Lobby (patriotic decorations are 30% off!). I filled it with greenery, daisies and small flags.


Small pail lanterns line our walkway.


Flags in the flower pots.


I made this table runner last year and my anniversary roses match perfectly. They probably won't last until Friday though, so I'll get some fresh daisies.


For the table runner I cut a strip of fabric with pinking shears and hot glued some pom-pom trim to the ends.

Some of you will remember this patriotic banner I made last week.


I put the leftover table runner fabric on the back patio table.


The centerpiece is a silver tray with various jars filled white beans. The "sparkers" are actually straws with the tops cut off.


Star confetti.


Thank you for looking at my patriotic decorations! We are having a 4th of July cook-out with Phillip's family and some friends from church. We will be busy this week getting ready for all the fun. I hope you have a great start to your week!

Weekend Chit~Chat

Good morning! Thank you for stopping by yesterday and for your comments on my wedding treasures show and tell. Several of you asked for a picture of Phillip and I.


I shared this one in last year's anniversary post. Phillip refers to his look as "wolf man." ;0)


Phillip surprised me with these beautiful red roses.


I found the latest Victoria when we went on our bookstore date.


It's a wonderful issue and I especially love the summer pie pictures and recipes.




Phillip also gave me a new coffee maker that has a programmable timer. Since I've been up at 6:00am with puppy duty for the last few weeks, it's nice to wake up to an already made pot of coffee.


Speaking of the puppy, Daisy is on her second round of medicine for an intestinal problem, but it doesn't seem to be slowing her down at all. She loves her daily swim with Grace.


The summer heat has arrived. It was 100F yesterday and will stay around there until late September. Not much is blooming in the garden, although this pink geranium doesn't mind the sun.


This is supposed to be my Sunflower House, but the morning glories have taken over.


My wisteria is also growing like crazy.


This is a "surprise" Sunflower in Emily's garden.


It's going to bloom any day now.

We don't have any major plans for the weekend. We are having friends over tonight for a cookout. Phillip will grill burgers and I'm making Crash Hot Potatoes, corn on the cob and broccoli salad.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Show and Tell Friday!

Welcome to “Show and Tell Friday!” Do you have something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, or a treasured collection. Look around your home for something to share; dig through those boxes in your closet if you have to! Share photos and the story that goes with your special item.

Thank you so much for the wonderful anniversary wishes earlier this week! Today I'm sharing a few of my wedding treasures.


This is a picture of my wedding dress that I found in a magazine shortly after our wedding. My veil was very similar, but I wore my hair up.


Our ivory embossed wedding invitation.


I kept all of the cards we received and put them in a photo album after our honeymoon.


I also have our guest book.


It's interesting to read all the names and wonder about the friends we haven't heard from in years.


My mom and dad gave me these fresh water pearls for my high school graduation and I wore them on our wedding day. I also wore pearl earrings, but lost one of them a few years ago. They are resting on Phillip's tux handkerchief.


And this is the little house that we lived in. Oh, how I loved it! It was built in the 20's and had all of the original woodwork, a built in hutch in the dining room and a dresser in one of the bedrooms. It would be fun to go back to Sioux Falls, SD someday and see it again!

Thank you for looking at my wedding treasures!


Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate.

If you would like to join in, please leave your *permalink* below, along with your first name (this makes the list easier to read). If your link has been removed from Mr. Linky, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting. Have fun!

4th of July banner

I normally post a homemade card project on Thursday, but this week I am sharing a different paper craft.


A patriotic banner in honor of the upcoming holiday of Independence Day.


You will need:
Cardstock
Patterned scrapbook paper
Star Template
Embellishments (stickers, star confetti, beads, glitter etc.)
Ribbon
Scissors
Glue
Hole punch
Pencil


Cut out star template (outside the black line) and trace three stars onto cardstock.


Cut out.


Cut black line off star template, so you have a slightly smaller star.


Trace three times onto patterned scrapbook paper.


Cut out and glue to the front of cardstock stars.


Glue a strip of scrapbook paper across front of star.


Turn star over and trim off excess paper.


You should end up with this.


Print "Let Freedom Ring" (or saying of your choice) on white paper. Cut out and glue on slightly larger rectangles of cardstock.


Glue to front of stars.


Add embellishments.


Punch holes on both sides of stars.


Thread long length of ribbon through.


Hang and enjoy! I hope you have enjoyed this week's project!

Strawberry Lovers Pie

We are celebrating An Old-Fashioned Summer at Seasonal Delights for the next 10 weeks.  To start things off, I made a Strawberry Lovers Pie that Mrs. T from Across My Kitchen Table shared with me.


Lots of strawberries, chocolate and a cream cheese filling.  Come on over to Seasonal Delights for the recipe!

Birthday Pictures

Good Morning! I hope you all had a great weekend. We had a fun time celebrating Emily's 9th birthday.


At our house the birthday girl or boy gets to pick out a special box of cereal for breakfast. Grace decorated Emily's chair with red streamers.


One of Emily's favorite gifts was a Koala Webkinz.


She also loved her new Polly Pockets.


Phillip came home for lunch and we had a brownie cake and ice cream for dessert. Then Emily and I got to spend the whole afternoon and evening together. Phillip and Benjamin had a Boy Scout day camp all week and Grace joined them on the last day. Emily and I went to the movie store and stopped for pizza on the way home. We watched Milo and Otis and then Emily went swimming in our small wading pool.


Saturday evening we went to Nana and Papa's house for a cookout.


My friend Heather recently shared a recipe for Refreshing Peach Fizzy, which is perfect for the summer.


I couldn't find white grape and peach frozen juice, so I just used plain white grape. It was very good!


Opening more gifts.


And enjoying *another* cake! Thank you for taking a look at Emily's birthday pictures!