Patriotism

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.  

- Erma Bombeck

{I thought I would share a few of my Pinterest pins - you can see all of my RED, WHITE & BLUE pins here.} 

Despite the imperfections, we live in a wonderful country and we should all celebrate the freedoms and opportunities we have and be ever so thankful for those who have sacrificed for us to have them. 

I couldn't say it any better than this .... so in the words of Bill Clinton, July 4,1996 (via):

"Today we are living through another period of profound and historic change: change in the way we work, the way we live, the way we relate to one another and to the rest of the world. But the truths set down in our Declaration of Independence are immutable, and they continue to light our path into the challenges and possibilities of the future. Equality, individual rights, life, freedom, opportunity: we still cherish these values, and we must continue to reaffirm them daily.

America is a work in progress, and we have strived through decades of challenge and change to become what our Founders envisioned on our first Independence Day. As we continue that endeavor, let us work together to create an America that remains the world's strongest force for peace, justice, and freedom. Let us work for an America that is not driven apart by differences but instead is united around share values and respect for our diversity. Let us work for an America in which every one of us, without regard to race or religious belief or gender or station in life, can achieve our dreams. In this way we will best pay tribute to those who, 220 years ago, pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guarantee our freedom."

Happy 4th of July everyone! 

Happy 4th!

Hope you are having a wonderful 4th! 

images mine from 4th of July 2011  :D

Happy Valentine's Day!

xoxo

images: hearts, te amo, girl & boy, girl with ribbon, card

An early Christmas

I thought I would give you a glimpse (even if it is a blurry glimpse) of some of what I did on Monday (yeah, my camera is not performing like it should). I started the day putting up some Christmas decor for one client ...

She likes a lot of color. Remember that I am the girl who likes white and took all my ornaments off my tree last year and loved it ... 

But decorating is all about giving the client what they love ... and so we brought out all the toys and added as much shiny and sparkle as we could find.

I finished the day by getting another client ready for Thanksgiving. The big reveal I hope to show you tomorrow after I bring over the fresh flowers and finish the table, but here is a sneak preview:

I didn't get home until after 8 PM so needless to say I did not start any baking. Yet.

A little Thanksgiving inspiration

I will not be hosting Thanksgiving this year ... but I am helping a family who is. A couple trips to my favorite supply stores (Target and HomeGoods) and I have all that I need to get them ready ...

But today I am taking the day off. Hope you are too! Happy Saturday ;)

{top images via etsy, etsy, etsy, pinterest}

Monday Blues

Happy Red White and Blues! 

I hope you are having a wonderful Fourth! 

images via pinterest here, here, here, and here

Easter egg decorating party

My Bible study group decorated Easter eggs today for our local Rescue Mission to use for their Easter meal on Sunday. Everyone brought a dozen eggs and I supplied the decorations.

Real Simple

I had the hardest time finding food coloring this year ... two of the markets I went to only carried the gel food coloring. I finally found the liquid and bought 2 packs - McCormick's Assorted (primary colors) and McCormick's NEON.

If you have never dyed eggs or have forgotten, you will want to mix about 20 drops of food coloring and 1 tablespoon of vinegar to about 1/2 cup of water. Growing up, we always used boiling water. All the directions I read online said room temperature water. I used boiling; I figured it would turn room temperature soon enough!

Real Simple

I also found an article on how to make marbleized eggs by adding oil to the mixture. Here are the directions:

1. Start with dry, colored eggs.
2. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to one of the cups filled with a dark colored dye. Run a fork through the mixture.
3. Dip egg into cup and re-dye it in the oil mixture, turning the egg often with a spoon.
4. Carefully remove the egg. Set it aside to dry on a paper towel. 

Note: I don't know if I like the idea of drying on a paper towel - I use the empty egg cartons. 

The first thing I did to prepare for our 'party' was wrap my table with brown paper to protect it. (Everyone laughed at the white chairs. Luckily no one spilled).   ;)

I set out everything we would need to make the eggs and to keep our energy up while working.

Other people brought yummy things to eat too.

We used a few different techniques to dye the eggs. We used crayons (you write on the egg with the crayon and then dip the egg in dye ... the part where the crayon was will not dye).

We also used painter's tape to cute out shapes or words. It works the same as the crayons - under the tape does not take the dye and when you remove the tape you are left with designs or words.

We used stick-on letters and flowers ...

... and even jewels! To put the non stick-on embellishments I put some tacky glue in little bowls and we used tiny throw-away paint brushes.

Everyone's eggs came out different and I think they look amazing! My favorite were the ones with the marbling. The oil left a bit of a sheen on the egg which was quite lovely.

My votive candle holders worked out just fine to display the eggs.

We had so much fun making the eggs. It was fun to see everyone's unique creativity and I absolutely love the way they turned out. 

I saw this cute nest idea from Martha Stewart and thought it would be easy to make. I have to disclose, I am not very good at crafts. I love seeing everyone else's creativity and I get inspired but in the end ... most of the time I would prefer to just buy it already done.

Martha Stewart

This one looked super easy. Here were the directions:

Cover the outside of a bowl with double-sided tape. Wind a ball of yarn (we used mohair) around the bowl until its exterior is hidden. To finish, securely tuck the loose end behind the wrapped yarn.

After my third store I finally found one that sold mohair yarn and not just the run of the mill regular yard. I didn't think it would be that hard to find. I started wondering why I was out spending so much time on this.

The instructions said to use double-sided sticky tape on the bowl and then wrap the yarn around. How hard can that be, right? So I pulled out my permanent double-sided tape and started to place it on my bowl and after two pieces I ran out. Eeesh. So back up to the store for more tape. I bought 2 large rolls and came home and covered the bowl with tape. Ummmm... the yarn did not stick on the tape.

I liked the idea of the tape because after Easter I could just remove the yarn and not have to store a nest and I could have my bowl back. But since the tape didn't work and I was determined to make one of these ... I got out my tacky glue. What a sticky mess that glue is. But it worked.

Now I am all ready for my egg decorating party (hope that goes a bit easier!!!).