Valentine Vintage Place-setting Tablescape

January 30, 2024January 24, 20246 Comments

Good morning! I was able to set up my table for Valentines this weekend. After Lauren set up her Valentine table last week, I decided to put one together too. I received the pretty glass pink plates from my mom a couple of weeks ago and knew right away they would work for Valentines. The plates came from my great aunt. I always love using pieces that have been passed down from my family. The white and blue teacups and saucers were my wedding dishes. I love being able to pull them out once in awhile and use them.

One of the reasons I enjoy Valentines Day is from an experience in high school. I went to a private high school with small classes, about 75-80 kids in each grade. There are a lot of special things you can do when the school is so small. What I remember most is Heart Sisters.

Heart Sisters was a special time for just the girls and it included all the female students and teachers. Each of us would pick the name of another person and secretly give them gifts each day leading up to Valentines Day.

My freshman year is the only year that really stands out to me. I got a seniors name, which was really intimidating to a shy freshman like me. I remember my mom and I shopping for little things to give her each day.

On Valentine’s Day, we all met in the gym at lunch time. We sat in a big circle. The person you had sat on one side of you and the person who had you sat on the other.

This was the 80’s, mind you. I can still remember what I was wearing, partly because the teacher who had my name commented that the sweater I was wearing was pretty. It was royal blue with white angora clouds on it.

It was such an awkward lunch! What do you say to a senior girl and a teacher when you are only a freshman? I’m sure I didn’t say too much!

Even though it was so awkward for me, I still enjoyed the idea of giving secret gifts to someone during Valentine week. It was fun to see what you would get and all the different ways you would receive your gift.

When my girls were small, we even did it as a family. It was a little difficult with only 4 of us, but it was still fun.

For the past few years, we have even done it at the preschool where I work. We have 9 of us ‘girls’ working and it’s fun to have a little something special for us to do for each other. Some days are hectic and stressful, so it’s great to have a little something to encourage us each day.

I hope you enjoyed my Valentine table today and thanks for coming by!

Dollar Tree Patriotic Basket for Your Front Door

June 22, 2022June 23, 20222 Comments

Good morning! How are you doing today? Have stores and other places started opening up in your area? We were able to travel out of town this weekend! This was the first time since the beginning of March, so we were more than ready to get out of town!

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The basket had a couple of wooden pieces glued on. Not quite the look I was going for. 🙂 I tried to come up with a way to remove them.

So I thought I would try a blow dryer first. It did work, but it didn’t get the glue all the way off. I removed the wood pieces but ended up using the other side of the basket for the front of the basket when I hung it up.

I added some green foam into the basket to secure the flowers. I just cut it with an old knife until it fit.

Next, I cut all the flowers off the big stem until I had individual flowers. I pushed up the leaves too so they were closer to the flower.

I pushed the flower stems in the green foam at different heights and making sure that the same colors weren’t together. I even added a little pinwheel!

I wanted to add one of the wooden stars to the front of the basket so I chose the ‘God Bless America’ star. I feel like our country needs lots of blessings right now. I thought it still seemed a little plain, so I added a piece of red and white polka-dot ribbon around the top of the basket. I also added a piece of ribbon for hanging the basket. I used hot glue to attach both the ribbon and the star.

And then it was ready to hang!

It’s a little touch of the red, white and blue!

This is a quick and easy craft, but looks great and shows you are ready to celebrate our freedom and our country.

Thank you so much for coming by today! I appreciate each and every one of you! Have a happy 4th of July!

Here are a few more patriotic posts you may enjoy!

How I Cheat When I Cover My Outdoor Cushions

April 16, 2019April 15, 20199 Comments

Good morning! Are you ready for Easter this Sunday? We will be going to my parents house and having our annual egg hunt. We have 3 littles, so this is always a fun event! Even the adults get a chance to find their special egg. We should be having great weather too!

Since the weather has been so nice, I have been working on some projects in our back yard and patio. One of the projects that needed done was recovering my outdoor cushions. I did this a few years ago too. You can see it here. I recovered these cushions about 5 years ago, so it had lasted for quite awhile, but they had become faded and dirty. I had bought indoor/outdoor fabric last time, but this time Haley had found some pretty shower curtains from Goodwill, and I knew they would be perfect for the cushions. Here are the old covers.

So my secret to recovering my cushions, is…hot glue! You read that right! I glue the fabric on! I can sew, but I am not good enough to actually sew slip covers, so this is the next best thing. Now when the fabric becomes dirty and faded, I can just tear it off and put new covers on. Isn’t this fabric pretty! I love all the shades of blue. This is what the cushion looked like under the fabric.

Each shower curtain covered 2 cushions. The back of my chairs are open in the back, so I had to cover the whole front and the back of the cushion for the back of the chair. For the seat cushion, I could leave some of the under section of the seat cushion uncovered.

I started by figuring out how much I would need to cover the back cushion and cut that piece off from the big piece. I folded one side over towards the middle. I put a line of hot glue along the cushion and pressed the fabric onto it.

After that piece was secure, I folded over the other side towards they middle. I put more hot glue and pressed that side into it.

Once the fabric was secure in the middle, I worked on the sides. I laid them out flat and then folded the sides in towards the middle like wrapping a present.

I then folded those ends up over the cushion and hot glued them down. I made sure I hot glued all over to make sure the fabric was secure.

I did have to put a seam on the front of the bottom cushion since the fabric didn’t quite fit, but the back cushion covers it.

I love how they turned out! It looks so fresh and clean now! My kitty Kiara, decided they looked comfy too!

I didn’t have enough fabric to cover the loveseat, but I will try to find some solid blue fabric so it coordinates with the chairs.

I also gave the chairs a fresh coat of black paint.

I added some fun summer pillows, some plants and a small rug to this corner. It looks so comfy and inviting.

What do you think? Would you try something like this? I love how easy it is! I would love to hear from you!

Here are some other posts you may have missed:

Red, White and Blue Outdoor Dining

July 2, 2018July 1, 20182 Comments

Good morning! We celebrate our country’s independence this week! Do you have big 4th of July celebrations where you are? I’m not even sure what we are doing this year LOL! Last year, all of the neighbors were outside eating and having fun and then lighting off tons of fireworks. We didn’t even have to go to our city’s firework show because we had our own! We will probably do the same this year.

I set up this little tablescape on my back patio this week to celebrate the 4th, but it could be for any summer get together! I don’t have much red, but I was able to pull out a few pieces and it all worked together.

The red and white plates are actually metal. They are pretty cool! I layered my blue and white plates on top along with a blue and white napkin. I used a piece of red ribbon to tie it up and added a fun little pinwheel!

Seashells are the perfect summer touch!

I layered a blue and white striped runner and a red, white and blue striped place-mat in the middle. A few more seashells, candles and bubbles keep it simple.

We still have a lot of work to do in our backyard. We would like to replace the fence and add some plants around the edge. I would also like to paint the patio. I love using blue on the ceiling.

I made the farmhouse beaded chandelier and the recycled pallet table and they add the perfect touch to the patio. I used a dropcloth to make the curtains. Using clip curtain rings makes it easy to use any kind of material.

I can’t wait to spend some time out here when the evenings cools down.

Thank you for following along! I hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July!

sunshine-and-blessings-picmonkey

Casual Blue and White Beach Tablescape

May 21, 2018May 16, 20185 Comments

Good morning! I haven’t been here for a few weeks, so it’s good to be back! The end of the year school stuff is wearing me out! But I have a few projects I’m working on so hopefully I can get them done and posted in the next few weeks!

I am really looking forward to summer and my dining room table reflects that. I love the beach look, so I decorated around that theme.

Blue and white are the perfect colors for summer! I use it along with the turquoise that I love so much. Of course, lanterns make an awesome centerpiece, especially filled with pieces of driftwood.

I picked up these little glass votive holders at a thrift store for just .25! I added some sand and glitter around the edge and then placed a candle in a little more sand placed in the bottom.

I love the glass floats and have started a little collection of them.

So many of my items have been picked up from Goodwill, but are Target items. The placemats, napkins and navy blue bags were all purchased at Goodwill. I love that I can get new items for a fraction of the price.