Sunday, July 24, 2011

Budget Beach Decor

 I love changing out my decor with the seasons and holidays. After the 4th of July, my porch becomes beachy until September. I like the soft beige, whites and blues of the ocean but I also have to take into account my awesome red doors!
 I made 2 wreaths out of foam cores that I got at JoAnns for $8 each. I wrapped them in burlap from a left over project from last year as well as scrap fabric that I had on hand. The starfish are from Pier 1 that I bought many moons ago. I used my ruffler to make the ruffles for the back of the wreath and hot glued everything on.
 Trying to be as cost conscience as possible, I used a pair of my hubby's old jeans that happened to have a few holes in some inappropriate spots. I used them to cover the little pillow, make rosettes and the hanger for my bell sign.
 No one can seem to find my doorbell since it is hidden behind my bench, so I made a little sign out of a plain wooden frame from the Dollar Tree. I spray painted it white with paint I already had and used left over ruffles from the wreaths and hot glued it on the back. To make my fabric go even further, I color copied the floral fabric and hubby's jeans then cut the paper with my Cricut for the wording.
 The small floral pillow is made out of a Ralph Lauren cloth napkin that I have had for years as well as the blue check, linen and blue stripe fabric. I have quite the fabric stash.
 Total out of pocket for the front porch was $17.

 My table when you enter the front door is also decorated in the beach theme. All of the shells, driftwood, and rocks were collected at our local Southern California beaches. The beach glass, coral and buoy are from ebay.
 I love this picture of my youngest son when he was 2 being a sailor.
 I made the runner with Cath Kidston fabric I already had as well as the red check. To keep with the relaxed feel of the beach, I used raw edges on the ruffle.
Hope you enjoyed my beachy makeover!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Vintage Sewing Party



My grandmother taught me how to sew and embroider when I was 9 years old and I am so thankful that she taught me this invaluable life skill. I would have loved to have such a beautiful birthday party for my own! Pure Joy Events created an amazing party for her daughter that I'm sure her daughter and her friends found truly inspiring. Of course, I showed this to my own 10 year old daughter and now she wants to have a sewing party for her celebration in November!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Harry Potter Backyard Movie Night

 I have been a HP fan for 10 years and my oldest son has read the series 4 times. We were at Barnes and Noble at midnight waiting for the release of the last book in 2007 and I woke up in the middle of the night to read "just a few more chapters". I wanted to go a little bit bigger for my Deathly Hallows Part One backyard movie last night than the usual s'mores and popcorn..
 I made chocolate frogs and bought boxes for them only to find out (last night) that the frogs are too big for the boxes. I now realize I could have enlarged the boxes on my printer. Next time!
 So the frogs laid in coordinating cupcake liners with a sample of the box.
 I found this recipe for Fever Fudge on Mugglenet. The heat comes from cayenne pepper and cinnamon...it's very good!
 Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans topped with a Golden Snitch.
 Monster Book of Monsters
 Hedwig guarding our food donations.
 This butterbeer is very addicting! I got the recipe from Mugglenet as well.
 The Leaky Cauldron sign I found on Amazon.com.
 I had a sorting ceremony before the movie started. I placed the sorting hat on guest's head and asked them to concentrate on their personal characteristics and then reach inside the cauldron to pick out their house badge.
My daughter was a bit shocked that she was placed in Slytherin! My son wanted to go to the midnight showing of Part 2 but I didn't feel like waiting in line for 8 hours and then try to stay awake to watch the movie (wow! I sounded old just then!) We will probaly go next week so we can get a decent seat in the theater.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Camp Counselor

I'm so happy to be featured as a Camp Counselor at Design Dazzle today. I shared my backyard movies and how to make your own movie screen.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Independence Day!

Last minute craft decor from Martha
Have a wonderful and safe holiday!