I'm proud to be an American

Have you ever taken something for granted that you're used to having? Well, that's how I am feeling about this time of year. It being my first Independence Day outside of my home country, I'm feeling a little more proud and patriotic than I usually have in the past. My favorite part of celebrating July 4th is the fireworks. I LOVE fireworks!! Don't worry, I'm not completely missing out. Canada is having their special country day in a couple days and there will be fireworks.. which I'm going to beg my husband to take me to!

With this special American day being just a few days away, I thought I'd share some fun ideas I found from other bloggers in the patriotic mood. 

Going off to the fireworks show? 

Why not pack a cute little basket full of snacks to bring along!

The Crafting Chicks

Here are some caaaaute decorations for our special day!

I really like these wall hangings by The Hand Me Down House

Ooh, and this beautiful flag made from an old cutting board, fabrics, and doilies! 

At Second Street

This is my favorite! Sweet little decor blocks made from 2x4's by How Does She?

Planning a picnic for this 4th of July? Lovin' this patriotic idea of a tablecloth by My Insanity

M-M-M here are some yum-a-licious treats that will set your heart free!

How cute are these cupcakes?? Mommy Topics sure did a great job at making them so attractive!

The kids are going to love these s'mores on a stick! Hey.. I'm a big kid {at heart}.. can I have one too?
Whimsical Creations

WOW! Aren't these super cool?!
red, white and blue chocolate dipped strawberries

Oh yum. Here's a simple treat to set out with fresh fruits. I think it's beautiful!
Fruit Flag

And last, here's something I thought was cute and simple for displaying our American pride.
A pin to wear on your shirt made from a juice can lid!
Eighteen25

hApPy JuLy 4th!

I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America

And to the republic for which it stands

One nation under God

indivisible with liberty 

and justice for all

Framed Monogram Decor

Here's what I did with my .75 cent thrift store frame. I used black acrylic paint on my frame and still need to do some touch-ups on it and seal it to finish it. The background is black and white scrapbook paper. The paper came from the dollar store and were little 6x6 pieces. I used 4 and pieced them together to match up as best as I could. The M {for our last name of course} was printed in my favorite font "Ma Sexy" and then painted red with acrylic paint after I cut it out. I'm one of those people that doesn't own a super duper awesome Cricut machine. Doesn't mean I don't want one!! {smiles} Sorry for the not-so-great photo.

I think these would make great gifts, don't you?

Some fun finds

Last week my friend and I went garage sale hunting. She found all the garage sales in the city listed online, printed out the addresses, then we all loaded up in her van on our search for treasures! ... Did I forget to mention she brought her three little munchkins with us? Yah, they were happy with the whole garage sale idea until they realized that spending their $2 coin goes by VERY quick. Even with unhappy children in the back seats, we pressed on to house after house, coming back to fill the van with fun stuff! I thought I would share my finds with you, and there are some I might even ask suggestions for!

Here's a cute little mirror I found for 25 cents! It's about 2 feet tall. The color is a little ugly to me so I want to paint it. Not sure what color though.. Anyone got any really cool suggestions on what to do with this??? The mirror comes out just like a picture frame, so it will be easy to paint it.

here's a closeup for details.. and my husband's knee!

                                                       

I LOVE big glass jars! This was $2 and I knew it wanted me. I want to paint the wooden lid either black, red, or a neat blue.. but I'm not sure what I'll do yet. It's going to be filled with CANDY! I love seeing jars filled with candies. y.u.m! Isn't it pretty? I was going to take a picture of it next to something else so you could tell the size of it, but oops. It's almost as big as a gallon jug of milk.

G.A.M.E.S! Have you heard of Rack-o? I saw this at a garage sale and immediately it brought back memories of sitting in my dorm room at college and playing this with my girlfriends. Good times. It was a buck so I bought it. Rate your Mate came from the thrift store for .50 cents. It's filled with lots of questions regarding your spouse. We've already played this one with friends and had some laughs. I'm married to a game-aholic so having lots of games in our home is a great thing! 

Glue gun for .50 cents at a garage sale! I already had one, but it's close to junk since it was like 3 bucks at walmart. Maybe this one will work better! It came with glue sticks too! Okay, so I just HAVE to tell this story!! So I'm expressing my excited to my friend Kayla about this little glue gun, and I'm holding it and talking about it before actually deciding to buy it... The lady in charge of this garage sale shouts over to me from across the garage with other shoppers walking around, "It has to be plugged in for it to work!" .. said in like a "you're dumb" voice!! WHAT?!?! It  has to be plugged in??? Forget it! I don't want it then!! Of course, me being the person I am made fun of her the rest of the day!.. I know, that's not very Christian like, but it was fun.

Do you like'em? $2.50 at garage sale. Can't wait to wear them! And the natural response from my husband after showing him, "More shoes?" {ha ha} He did say he likes them though. Doesn't he know by now I get all these cute things to wear to be cute for him??? But a cute pair of shoes makes ME feel good too!

Picture frame from thrift shop. .75 cents. Yeah for me! I'm in the middle of doing a little project with it.

I fell in love. Isn't she a cutie? I think it was like .50 cents at a garage sale. 

It almost matches another one I found a couple months ago...

... this one

Love it! This was $3 at a Salvation Army store. When I go back home to our sweet little apartment I'll have to find a good place for them. 

NO I did not pay money for this hideous jean purse! We came to a garage sale where the people were getting desperate to get rid of things. The lady practically threw this thing at me and said, "take it!" {ha ha} So I thought, hey why not? I know, it's ugly, but I think I could make it cute. Let me know if you got any ideas! I think fabric rosettes are super adorable! So I might do something with those on it.

Found this adorable shirt at the thrift shop for $2. L.O.V.E it! It makes me so happy and excited when I find super cute clothes at thrift stores! The orange-ish peachy color is something I didn't have before. Oh, and excuse the wrinkles. I wore it to church and then it ended up on my floor.. bad habit. I must break it!

.. Another $2 shirt from there

Just a little candle holder. Those are my rings in it. Check out what I'm going to do with it here.

Ahhh, and here's my favorite. I've been wanting some popsicle molds for awhile now. When I was a kid mom had the Tupperwear popsicle molds and we loved them! These aren't Tupperwear, but they work just fine! There's actually three trays. I washed them up and made some grape koolaid popsicles.

... Aren't they just so cute?! 

These are two of Kayla's kids enjoying a popsicle. 

Y.U.M

That's it for my fun finds!

HaPpY wEekEnD!

"Lovely" song lyrics

Beautiful words to a song regarding the love in marriage. I hope that someone might find these words as encouraging and inspiring as I have!

Love is not a Fight

Love is not a place, 

to come and go as we please

It's a house we enter in, 

then commit to never leave

So lock the door behind you, 

throw away the key

We'll work it out together, 

let it bring us to our knees

***

chorus: Love is a shelter in a raging storm 

Love is peace in the middle of a war

And if we try to leave, may God send angels to guard the door

No, love is not a fight, but it's something worth fighting for. 

To some, love is a word

that they can fall into

But when they're falling out, 

keeping that word is hard to do

***

Love will come to save us, 

If we'll only call

He will ask nothing from us, 

But demand we give our all

***

I have only been married for 7 months now, but I've already realized the hardness and trials inside of marriage and can only imagine that harder things will come. Don't let difficulties tear apart what God recognizes as a life long commitment. As long as we are ready and willing for change in our own hearts, the Lord is here to help and guide us together. Also remember that our marriages are testimonies to those that don't know Him, showing a picture of our relationship with Christ. Let it be a good testimony! 

Have you seen the movie Fire Proof?? OH, such a great movie!

 

If you haven't seen this, you need to! I highly recommend it, and really really want it to be apart of my personal movie collection. I will warn you though, you WILL cry! Check it out. 

"You NEVER leave your partner behind." 

Mark 19:6

"Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh. 

What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. "

Little Visitor

Yesterday morning Joel and I got up to say good-bye to the family we have been staying with. *They are heading to the east side of Canada for the summer to visit supporting churches, while we stay and take care of the responsibilities at the church* Anyway, just before they took off they noticed a tiny little bird clinging to the side of their trailer. They were able to pick him up and we all spent a few minutes holding him. The little guy must have been in the middle of some flying lessons with his mommy and got a little off course... so we decided to call him Drop-Out.

It had been raining hard all morning so Joel and I brought him inside and took care of him. He was so sweet. I was able to feed him some water drops from my fingers. He must have heard birds outside because he started chirping away! .. so precious. 

                              ** he took flight in the house!  **

 

 After about an hour with him, *and the rain at a pause* we decided to stand outside with him and see if he would get any inspiration from the other birds to fly away. Sure enough, our little Drop-Out decided to return to his flying lessons. And all the other birds flew out after him.

We miss our little friend

Ideas that make me happy

Hi Friends!

Since Joel and I have been out here in Saskatchewan I haven't been playing in the field of creativity much. Every time I browse through super neat ideas and crafts on blog land I get a craving to do something, but supplies and money are limited for now. It's hard not being in my own home. So.. I don't have anything of my own to post about but I've found some really F-U-N things recently and thought I would share!

Take a look at this cute end table from Recaptured Charm. 

Before finding this post I thought this style of end table was hideous and never saw the potential within. I see these end tables for sale often in thrift stores and used items websites, but always thought, "Ew, ugly!" Because of this post my opinion has been changed and now I'm actually wanting to find some of my own!

Check out the post here

What a SWEET gift idea is this decorated tin filled with cookies by Little Birdie Secrets. Using scrapbook paper and acrylic paints, this tin is made to look SO much cuter! Check out the tutorial here

.. one more photo of the tin.. filled with DEEE-LISH looking heart cookies. The cookie recipe is also available on the tutorial. M-M-M! I'd sure L.O.V.E this gift! {wink}

This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen done with terra cotta pots! This definitely earns a spot on my next summer's "to do" list. For more photos and the "how to's" on this perrrty little eye catcher from Positively Splendid, click here

Need to clothe a naked wall in your home like I do? Here's a creative piece from A Little Lovely
Check out the post here

How stinkin' creative and amazing is this spice rack?? Apparently you can buy these (I saw them when I searched google) but Blue Castle made her own! See it for yourself HERE
This is a really neat thing to display somewhere in the kitchen if there's room, but I thought maybe on the inside of cabinet doors.. You know, the cabinet doors above the stove that everyone keeps their spices in? .. It might be a small space, but since we can make these on our own why not make them to fit where we want?

 

Oooh! Scrapbook paper around pillar candles! What a lovely little idea. It's probably not too hard to find some of these candles for cheap and most of us have scrapbook paper on hand...
I LOVE THIS! 
I can't remember for the life of me where I found this from, so if it's YOU or you know whose it is please let me know so I can link it. 

Thrifty Decor Chick has got to have THE PERFECT pantry. She keeps all her shelves organized with these neat chalk labels. I REALLY like these big glass jars for storage! Click HERE for the whole post on this perfectly organized pantry.

If you're anything like me you'll absolutely L.O.V.E these next creative ideas I found at Love Actually.
Like this super cute Penny Jar. You have have HAVE to go check out the post. It's something your husband will even appreciate! {WINK} Go here

Date nights are good for us! A couple months ago my husband and I started doing date nights every Monday. We found lists of simple inexpensive things to do together and took turns each week picking a date. Now I want to keep all the date ideas we find and think up in a "Binder of Date Ideas."

What a "Sweet Thought" is this jar filled with goodies wrapped in pieces of paper with sweet thoughts written by you. My husband is going to be a pastor and one day he'll have his own office. When I saw this idea I immediately thought of putting this together for him to keep on his desk. Pastors always have jars on their desks filled with candies, right???

While we're on the subject of jars, here's a somewhat relaxing idea if you like to write. Over at Little Birdie Secrets I found this journal jar idea. Decorate your jar and fill it with prompts (writing topic ideas such as questions about yourself regarding.. basically anything!) to get you journaling. Check it out here.

 

Got a wedding shower or baby shower coming up? How about cupcakes instead of a cake?! Take a looooong look at this tiered box cupcake stand made by Imperfectly Beautiful. I say "looooong look" because when I saw it I couldn't stop gazing at it!! .. now I'm daydreaming about making MY OWN! To see how this was made click here

That's all I have to share for this post. There's LOTS more ideas I've found and fallen in love with, but if I posted everything my post would be three days long! 

Until next time.. 

hAPpY cREaTiVitIEs !!