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June 20, 2013

Red, white and blue crafting and my Magpie Ethel inspired mantle!

In case you visit a Dollar Tree in the near future, I found a few things that you might want to pick up for your red, white and blue decorating. 
They are pretty enough on their own, but with a glue gun, you can layer them with other crafting supplies for a bit more punch. 

Inspired by Magpie Ethel's patriotic bells, I picked up some honeycomb wedding bells from the Dollar Tree too.  The bell is opened up partially and glued onto the fan decoration.

Another idea includes dying your mini flags in coffee to age them a bit.

After the flags were dry, I took them off their wooden rods and glued them onto the string for bunting.

Of course, I didn't stop there.  The rest of my red, white and blue decor came out too.

I purchased the patriotic gal from Magpie Ethel.  Love her bells.

I also purchased Uncle Sam from Magpie Ethel.  Laurie does such unique work.

Lots of little ladies are waving their flags at you!

The cone filled with paper curls, bingo and a playing card I made last year.

I also made the newspaper party hat and embellished it with lots of festive trimmings.  The Statue of Liberty was an acquisition from our local mission thrift store.

The penny dolls were a fun find at the Allegan Antique market.  Magpie Ethel made me the mini paper hat that you see next to the dolls.

Even though we aren't even going to be in the state of MI for the 4th, I couldn't leave my mantle bare.    Happy red, white and blue!

June 19, 2013

P is for Pink and Patti!!

I have to share this picture that Chris took with his cell phone Monday night. The photo hasn't been retouched at all.
 Chris was standing in our front yard when he snapped this shot. A thunderstorm came later that evening, but the skies were truly breathtaking before the storm.  

Josie was my official name puller this evening.

She's happy to share that Patti from Paintin-Patti was my patriotic give-away winner.  

Congratulations, Patti.  Please send me your postal address and I'll get your goodies in the mail before we head out on a very special vacation.   Tomorrow morning, I'll be sharing a few crafting ideas for the 4th of July.

 If you are near a Dollar Tree, you might want to grab a few of these for my project. 
 

June 18, 2013

A patriotic Kim K. give-away!

It's time for another Kim K. vintage-inspired giveaway!

My patriotic give-away includes a vintage apron,

 four paper lanterns

a honeycomb Patriotic party decoration

a patriotic ribbon
and a special Kim K. doll.

In order to be entered in the give-away, leave me a comment on this blog post.
Period.  That's it.  Absolutely no strings attached.

Entries close at 8:00 pm EST Wednesday, June 19th.  This is a really quick give-away because our family is  going on vacation soon.  

A winner will be picked randomly by one of my two girls (whoever happens to be eager to be my assistant). Past winners are always encouraged to enter again.

This is a give-away for the pure joy of giving back to my blogging friends!
 

June 17, 2013

The never-ending birthday party...

We were finally able to celebrate Josie's 7th birthday with my extended family.  
 We enjoyed lots of food and drink at this party.  Thank you for making your famous pulled-pork sandwiches, Uncle Pat!
My mother made one of her very special birthday cakes.  

She found the western-inspired figurines at Hobby Lobby.
I still can't believe my baby girl is seven!

Everyone got into the spirit of the party.
I wouldn't be surprised if some of these pictures don't end up in my parent's Christmas newsletter.
 My Western party decor was enjoyed for many many weeks, but it's time to officially say goodbye.  

Happy Trails!  Happy 7th Birthday, Josie!
 

June 16, 2013

Thank you...

Happy Father’s Day to a special man who is willing to play endless board games.

 Happy Father's day to a special man who is also BRAVE and patient enough to help Emma learn to navigate the world of driving.
Happy Father's day to a special man who gives Josie nightly piggy back rides to bed (even when she doesn't want to go).

Happy Father's day to a special man who recently dusted off the running shoes and helped Emma train for her first road run.

 Happy Father's day to a special man who is always busy constructing some "magical" structure in our garage.
 Happy Father's day to a special man who is always willing to hit up one more estate sale or antique store in search of the special "something" for me and the girls.
Happy Father's day to a special man who loves our children in ways I cannot love them.
 I love you, sweetie.

PS.  Happy Father's day to Grandpa Hurst and Papa Kenward too.   The girls love you to the moon and back.