Red, White, & Blue

Happy Memorial Day! This holiday is wonderful because of what it represents. I am proud to say that both of my grandfathers and my Dad served in the armed forces but fortunately all were blessed because they were not asked to make the ultimate sacrifice that some have. I wanted to give my home a patriotic feel as we celebrated today so the kids and I planned a cookout that had lots of red, white, and blue!

We invited Papa and Ju-Ju (my parents,) and I enlisted Craig to grill. I copied my tablescape ideas from another blog and I loved how it turned out. Memorial Day is the perfect time to deck your house out in patriotic decor  which can stay put through the 4th of July to help teach your kids the history behind these holidays!

As always, I made some sweets. I found some super yummy red, white, and blue kettle corn. As we walked the grocery aisles today I also spotted cherries for the first time this season! They are one of my favorites. To me they says summer and Memorial Day kind of kicks off the summer season in my mind.

Homeade, sparkling stawberry lemonade (with blueberries to make it festive!) One of my favorites!

I ordered some paper straws off of Etsy. Aren't they cute? You can find them in almost any color.

And for dinner... When it comes to a burger, I say, if you're going to do it, do it right! I can't get enough toppings. Lettuce, tomato, pepper-jack cheese, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, pickles, bacon, and all of the standard condiments. It should make a mess. 

 

Although it was a very hot day (!) we spent some time out on the deck enjoying the summer temperatures in this, the end of May.

  

Even Sadie was looking festive today. (And check out that summer haircut!)

As the sun went down I felt myself staring out at the deck, dreaming of many more summer days filled with sunshine and cookouts, holiday festivities, and fireworks. I love summer and I'm so glad it is just around the corner!

One last shot...I took that material that you saw on my table and made a festive table runner. Very simple no-sew project! I'll share how to do this soon. Happy Memorial Day to all!

Easter Eggs-stravaganza

Tomorrow is Easter! One of my favorite holidays. I'm starting to feel that I may say that about all of them. I do just love holidays. Anticipation, traditions, and time with family.

Coloring eggs has always been one of my favorite traditions. Though this week has been very busy, we made time to color eggs (twice.) I love it as much as the kids!

We gathered up some of our best friends - my niece and nephew, Brevin and Allie, and our neighbor, Ella. I filled mason jars with all kinds of beautifully dyed water (with lemon juice instead of vinegar to make the eggs more pastel.)

And the fun began!

Patience is the hardest part. Waiting on those eggs to turn just the right color takes lots of it!

After round two we moved our little eggs-travaganza in the house because it was getting pretty hot. (We have had such an unseasonable warm spring this year.)

Finally our eggs were finished and looked like perfect Easter colors to me!

 Happy Easter tomorrow! No matter what your traditions - getting dressed up, going to church, hunting for eggs, or eating a big dinner with family, remember the reason we celebrate! "He is not here (in the grave), He is risen...just as He said..." (Matthew 28:6a.)

Simple Valentines Decor

Nearly every girl likes hearts. We start doodling them on our homework in elementary, we put them next to our name in high school, and we post them on Facebook status updates no matter how old we are. Valentines Day is the perfect time to use hearts in your home decor. I wasn't actually planning on re-doing my mantel since my winter snowflakes have only been up for about a month, but then my sister sent me a picture of her Valentines mantel, and I changed my mind. Here is her mantel - I love her window!

It has been an exceptionally mild January anyway, so I wasn't really feeling the snowflakes anyway. I decided to make another burlap pennant because this project is so simple but looks so good! Plus, I plan to use it for photo sessions with couples, so I'll get a lot of use out of it after using it on my mantel!

I added a small string of heart shaped lights and two red candle lanterns. All of these items are from the dollar spot at Target - love it!  I also added some heart picks to my arrangement.

I love them. I'm also in love with the lighted sticks which were an after Christmas clearance find.

I made my coordinating burlap place-mat as well since I had lots of burlap and its just so easy to work with.

I love stencils! It looks so good, but its truly so simple.

I spray painted some chipboard letters - we're talking 75 at Hobby Lobby and I love them! I plan to use these for photo sessions as well, so my Valentines decor is turning out to be really functional.

I attempted to make a no-sew pillow case for my couch...however...I wasn't thrilled with it so it got demoted to the front porch. It looks perfectly fine out there.

I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of my Valentine's decor! I would love to see yours! Upload a picture to my Facebook wall if you would like to share. 

How Sweet It Is

One of the best things about February are the sweets that come with it. I've always felt that food is a wonderful gift...especially on the heels of Christmas when, lets be honest, most of us have just received all of the presents that were on our wishlist. So how about a mini sweets bar for your sweetie, best friend, family, or co-workers?

It looks pretty...and tastes good. I know I've mentioned it before but I love photographing food! I think I would truly love to be a food stylist...and yes that is a thing! What a fun job.

These parfaits are my own little creation and they are super yummy. I'll be blogging the recipe later this week, but for now I just wanted to make your mouth water.

And don't forget all of the forms that chocolate comes in! Hot chocolate is perfect in the chill of February (*even though the weather seems to be slightly confused right now...) To make a mug of hot chocolate extra special just add some of these adorable marshmallows which you can only get around Valentines Day!

Pile some of these in a mug full of cocoa and take it to someone special. (Or go ahead and enjoy it yourself!) Also, my kids (and I...) really love snacking on these too - and marshmallows are fat free so they must be healthy... (ha)

A sweets bar doesn't have to be elaborate. A couple of bakes goodies and candy looks elaborate.

Iced home-made sugar cookies are a simple classic. (I got the cookie cutters in the $1 spot at Target.)

I also made these cupcake bites which were really fun to make but definitely for special occasions as they are a little bit time-consuming. If you've ever made cake pops, this is the same concept.

Are they cute or what? I got the recipe and instructions for these on one of my favorite blogs - Bakerella. I thought instead of trying to explain it all myself I would just link you to her amazing site. To make these just follow this link (and be sure to check the rest of her goodies while you're there!)

Mine didn't turn out perfectly, but it was my first time, so its a learning process. They taste amazing!

Don't you love how everything changes with time? Even candy conversation hearts now include phrases like "Sup Babe?" and my new favorite - LOL. Love it.

Thank you so much for checking out this post. I know Valentines Day is a couple of weeks away, but I wanted to share early just in case anyone needed some inspiration.  To all of my blog readers, I love that you take the time to come to my site on a regular basis! I just want to say...