A Tribute to Servicemen and Women

Memorial Day

Let us take some time to remember the men and women

who have served or are serving this country.

I'm thankful for their talents, courage, faithfulness, and sacrifices

and if necessary their lives to

keep us a free and protected country.

On this day I always lovingly remember my Dad

who fought courageously on the front lines in the Korean War.

As a memory for his bravery I made this memory box a few years ago.

I incorporated a few of his military items along with some other items ...

a fishing lure (he loved to fish)

and a pencil he always carried in his pocket for work.

I am thankful for his service and my mom being a loving a supportive military wife.

(My dad died very unexpectedly of a massive heart attack March 13, 1982)

Joy

I'm linking this post to....

Make Your Own Tile Coasters

Being the end of the year with teacher and graduations gifts needed.

I thought I would share with you a little project that is quick, easy and thrifty.

I made two sets of these for my daughters at Christmas

and recently for a friends birthday gift.

Supplies you will need:

~4 tumbled tile

~Stazon ink

~rubber stamp of your choice

Start by laying the tile out ...

add stazon ink to your stamp...

(stazon ink will not run when wet items are set on the coaster; while regular ink may run)

...placing stamp the on tile

....allowing it to dry completely

(if adding a second stamp this is very important or it will smear)

I did one set using a monogram.

I added finishing touch by tying it with jute twine

and making a little star embellishment

using scrapbook paper.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Joy

I'm linking this post to...
The Shabby Chic Cottage Transformation Thursday

Thrifty Solution for Wedding Table Skirt

The head table is the focal point at the wedding reception. It's where the bride and groom will be seated along with their attendants.

Our daughters' wedding receptions were in facilities that didn't include table clothes or table skirts with the rental.

We wanted skirts not only for the head table but also for the cake and punch tables. After doing some shopping, we found them to be very expensive. We thought about renting them, but realized that would also be very expensive, (Rentals can run $100 plus for the head table alone).

I started watching for good fabric sales.

After a few months of waiting patiently, I hit the jackpot!

I found 3 yards of 120" wide brand new muslin at a garage sale for $3!

I cut it in half length wise ...

....added a hem at the top and bottom,

...then added gathering @ the top.

We also found a box of icicle Christmas lights at a garage sale for $3, (another big money saver). We placed them under the skirt to add some soft lighting. The question of the day....how did we keep all of this attached to the table?

Our thrifty solution ....

two sided carpet tape! It worked great!

So what do you think of the end results?

Costs:

Lighting ~ $3

Fabric ~ $3

Time ~ priceless

total cost ~ $6

A pretty thrifty solution don't you think?

Joy

I'm linking this post to... We did it Wednesday @ Sew Much Ado
Bargain Brag Wednesdays @ Bargin Shopping Paradise
Whatever goes Wednesday @ Someday Craft

Somewhat Simple ~ Strut your stuff Thursday

Coastal Charm ~ Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

House of Grace ~ Twice Owned Tuesday

Faded Charm White Wednesday

I Won

I Won!!!
I won this week's Woo Hoo Wednesday lottery as the featured Woo Hoo @ Always Nesting! Always Nesting features a Woo Hoo Wednesday linking party. She has some awesome links at her parties with great ideas.

If you would like to read all about it, go here
and your could have a chance to win to be featured Woo Hoo Wednesday.

Thanks Marla for the great party!

Adding Candle Light to Your Home

Every room needs a little candle light.

When you add candles to a room, you create the atmosphere and ambiance for the room.

Candles are very quick and inexpensive way to add accessories to your room.

Here are a few photos of candles around our home.

Living room

Family Room

Dinning Room

Bathroom

Bathroom

Bedroom

Do you add candles when decorating around your home?


I'm linking this to...

Collections @ The Nesting Place

Fingerprints on the Frig ~Feature Yourself Friday

Picture Perfect View

A Breath Taking View

We're all surrounded by beauty each day. Today instead of showing you something I'm making beautiful in my home, I thought I'd share some of the beauty that surrounds us each and every day.

The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come..

Song of Solomon 2 : 12

Solitude

Have a great weekend!

Featured Favorite

This morning when I started reading blogs, I became very excited to find that I was featured as a favorite at The Virginia House. I'm a regular follower of her blog. She has a great blog and a linking party each week on Thursday called "We Can Do it Cheaper". Be sure to stop by her blog for a visit today to read her post and while your there you could join her linking party is running today.
Have a great day!

Transformation of a Necklace Holder

I have another small makeover to share with you.

The necklace holder that I purchased at a garage sale a few years ago has already received one makeover.

It went from being covered with flowers to black.

Since we're redoing the master bedroom I thought it should have a makeover as well.

I started out by giving it a coat of mocha Valspar paint.

After allowing it to dry completely , a coat of weathered wood crackling medium was applied.

Drying completely, I then added a top coat of ivory latex paint.

See how lovely it looks made over with its age patina hanging on the newly painted wall.

Have a great day!

Joy

I'm linking this post to...

DIY Wedding Flowers {part 2}

Last week I promised to give you instructions on how we made the bouquets and centerpieces for our daughters' weddings.

Being on a limited budget, we did a lot of research to find high quality flowers @ the best price.

When ordering a large amount of flowers, there are great on-line floral shops with good prices.

We ordered roses and gerber daises from

The Flower Exchange.com. We also purchased flowers from Costco, Safeway and a local berry/flower farm.

One piece of advise if you're planning on doing your own wedding flowers ~ do a practice bouquet first. This will help prevent mistakes and panic with the wedding day flowers.

Here's our sample arrangement ~ we started with a single rose in the center, and added other flowers around it along with greens and accessory pieces holding it together with floral tape and wire. With the real bouquets we added ribbon to the stems the day of the wedding.

Two days before the wedding....flowers arrive via...Fed Ex !

When ordering flowers on-line, you should allow them to set at least 8 hours at room temperature before working with them.

Use clean buckets of water with flower preserving solution in them. Allow the water to set at least 4 hours before placing flowers in them.

This will prevent the roses from drooping over near the flower head.

Remove any foliage on the flowers that will be below the water level.

Cut rose stems @ a 45 degree angle about one inch from the bottom.

After arranging our flowers, we placed them back in water
and stored them in a cool place.

Here are the finished bouquets.






The table arrangements were made using garden flowers, roses and daisies along with ivy and wild Queen Ann Lace placing them in vases filled with wet oasis foam.

As for the large floral arrangements, we started with wet oasis in a vase. The first to be placed were the roses followed by the other flowers adding the greens last.

Joy

I'm linking this to

A Soft Place to Land DIY Day

Boardwalk Bragfest at bobbypins boardwalk