Bulletin Board Bear

Several years ago when I was teaching preschool I saved this look - the cute bear on a bulletin board -to use someday on my own board. 

It comes from the front of a Lollipops Sept./Oct. 1995 magazine

 

Today it's a fun reminder of past years and a great Welcome Back to School look.

 

Our household is not ready for back to school yet...,
Oh Bother!

 

... look beyond the imperfections ...




image from here

Heavenly Father is not expecting you to become completely perfect in this life. He knew His children would make mistakes as they learned from experience in mortality. But “God so loved the world” ¹⁸ that His plan of happiness provided a merciful Savior.

 

“The Great and Wonderful Love” by Anthony D. Perkins

If I were to ask which of the Lord’s commandments is most difficult to keep, many of us might cite Matt. 5:48: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” ¹

Keeping this commandment can be a concern because each of us is far from perfect, both spiritually and temporally. Reminders come repeatedly. We may lock keys inside the car, or even forget where the car is parked. And not infrequently we walk intently from one part of the house to another, only to forget the reason for the errand.

 

Link to the complete message - Perfection Pending by Russell M. Nelson



furniture finishes

From Over The Big Moon

Just in case the look of pallet wood on the back of a bookshelf is something I wanna see again ...

 

 

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Check out Lily & Thistle to find out how to touch up your old furniture with Canola or Olive Oil and Vinegar.


 

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Read Five Furniture Finishes Tips at Popular Woodworking

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Paint a Wall

This in an interesting idea, but would work best if there was crown molding at the ceiling to cover up the corner that the roller won't get.  More info here.

 

 

 

Guest Book Alternative

The Offbeat Bride shares another guest signing option -

 

 

The Guests Sign Postcards!

These cartoon cards are not my style, but there are many styles of postcards that could be used.

 

Fun idea huh!

Imagine using this idea for a birthday party or an anniversary party - so fun! 
Keep the theme going!
 

 

... tie it to a goal ...

image from here

If you want to be happy, be. 

~Leo Tolstoy

Food Finds

French Toast Kabobs from Martha Stewart

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Caramel Apples?  - nop! - Caramel Grapes!
from The Kitchen Life of a Navy Wife



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Dole Whip from Magical Recipes

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Pineapple Whip from The Detoxinista

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Now, how about some s'mores?

these Frosty S'more Cups from Easy Baked look delicious

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S'more Kisses from Doughmesstic

Doughmesstic also has a post with s'more S'mores - with s'more recipes you won't wanna miss it.

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S'more Cookie Bars from Baked Perfection



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Maybe you'll want to give some of these yummy foods away to friends & neighbors - well, put them on these prettied up plates from Make and Takes

Happiness is a Rainbow?

 

“You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down”

― Charles Chaplin

 

 

Note: Image is a photo our son took  (June 29th 2013) with his phone, of the pot of gold (our house) at the end of the rainbow.  Did you notice two rainbows?

 

And I wanted to say; "sorry about the weeds, and that we don't have shutters up on the windows right now, and that ...."  

But then I remembered this quote found here;

 

 

We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as

a result of getting something we don't have,

but rather of recognizing and

appreciating what we do have.      ~Frederick Keonig 

 

 

Oh, yes!  I do love and appreciate my home,

even without those things completed yet.... 

 

 

So, the rainbow isn't the happiness - what you have is!

 

Which brings me to another quote;

(It's actually the title of a book by Mary Ellen Edmunds, about The Quest for Contentment.)

 

You Can Never Get Enough of What

You Don't Need

 

 

 Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier.  The way it actually works is the reverse.  You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.  ~Margaret Young / from here

 





image from here



 

"... we can develop positive attitudes and see the beautiful in life and the good, the strong, the decent, and the virtuous in people, which brings joy and happiness. It is a matter of attitude."

Look for the Beautiful by Keith W. Wilcox

 

 

"We can choose what our attitude will be, and it makes all the difference. Cultivating a positive attitude can make our lives happier, not only for ourselves, but for those around us."

here

 



So, Go out and be positively happy today!

 

Berry Baskets/Boxes

I have seen and love the look of berry boxes used for lunch boxes.

Berry boxes are great for berries, of course.

This look comes from Easy

They look great with cookies too, from here.

They are great for salads - info can be found in a previous post here,

I have a few purple berry boxes from several years ago - purchased with fruit in them, but I don't remember anything more than that.

They have some berry stains  and are a bit faded around the rim, but I love the color of these purple berry boxes.  I could spray paint them to clean them up, or wrap a ribbon around the part that is stained.  

Check out the painted boxes and the ceramic and plastic boxes I shared about in a previous post here.

I have searched for these berry baskets/boxes (online) and have found a few sites that sell them.  I'm sharing what I  have learned; from where they can be purchased and what the prices are.

(shipping is not included in any of the prices listed here) 

(This info is as of August 2013 - of course all this may change)

I haven't seen purple in my search for berry boxes (except for some ceramic here and here), so these are all the green or turquoise color. 

Bake It Pretty - 6 pint size for $3.75.

The Party Studio - 5 pint size for $4.00.

Kara's Party Ideas - 10 for $4.40.

Shop Sweet Lulu - 10 pint size for $5.00.

Rose Paper Products - 600 1/2 pint size for $49.03, 420 pint size for $35.90.

Zurchers - 10 (looks like pint size) for $4.47.

Amazon - 420 pint size for $33.95, 250 quart size for $33.95.

I'm sure there are more sites out there, but this is what I found - send me a comment or email if you have found a great deal some where else.

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update:
Look what I just found -
A Tutorial for Fabric Berry Boxes at Noodlehead

SaveSave

yard additions

How about this garden idea from For the Love of Lillian -

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Something else for the yard ...

Handmade Charlotte shares several playhouse ideas.
This one looks fun and simple and great.  We've seen this type of thing, called a soft wall tent, at camps before (usually with four walls).

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update additions:

I showed a similar bench HERE,

this is from The Apprentice Extrovert



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found on pinterest



Family Room Beauty

Nice chair at the ends of the table - great chairs for my game/puzzle table, and comfy for when we need more seating in the family room.  

This look was found on Sarah Richardson Designs

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Been wondering how to stack my blankets in the family room instead of hanging them on a quilt rack.  This large bench / shelf / drawer / tray is a good look. 
It reminds me of Princess and a Pea.  

Found this look on pinterest.

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 This bench is from Indulgy - I really like the look of it, but I can't help but think that the legs would eventually break off if used as a bench.  It would be a lovely blanket bench though - stack my blankets on that!

Oh the things people Think ..., and Do ..., and Create ...





image from A Curious Mind

There was some thinking going on with
these next projects -

The Gathering Place Design

wire waste basket + tier + knob =

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And from This Was A What?!

 This

becomes this



or this



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I'll never look at a rug the same way again -
Striped Rug Pillows from Martha Stewart
I think they look great on the patio furniture or on the lawn for a picnic! How about on a bale of hay or straw?



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Here is a great outdoor bench from BHG to put them on.



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Beads are not just for stringing - didn't know that until now!
This comes from The Artful Parent



They are for melting too!

Anger and Hate - Destroy and Burden

“An eye for an eye
will only make the whole world blind.”
― Mahatma Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments With Truth

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image from here

Thread Tension +

I found this awesome info that could be quite helpful in time of need - from



Their tabs include how to, gallery, tools, patterns, blog, videos, forum, teach yourself to sew, and sew stylish.  There will surely be some great helps throughout their site, including some great info about

 Understanding Thread Tension





Check it out!  There is more to learn!
 

Wall

I really like this wall from Apartment Therapy -
the wood, the distress, the blue & white - Love the Look!

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Here is another idea for a wall of wood ... covered with wall paper.  This is actually just a print from society6, but it looks lovely for a wall accent.  I can see it adding loveliness to the inside of an old barn or a beautiful dining room, or maybe a parlor or an enclosed patio.

 

Piranha = Wallpaper & Paste Remover Spray

Today is the day to share
One of my Favorite Things
 

Remember - this is not a paid advertisement - it's just a review of one of my favorite things.
This is one of those things that I'm grateful for, because it made life a bit easier one day.

Today's favorite item is

 

Piranha Wallpaper and Paste Remover Spray

 

We tried it ..., and it worked perfectly! 

   

We have wanted to remove the wall paper in our main bath for a long time now. 

  We had enjoyed it for several years, but it was outdated and worn and it was time for a change.
I forgot to take before pictures, but this wall hadn't been touched yet when I remembered to get the camera.

 

We had heard about a steamer to remove wallpaper, but didn't want to spend over $50.00 to purchase one and never use it again (well, after removing the dining room wallpaper it would be never again).

 

We saw this spray at Lowes and decided to try it. We tested a small area. It suggests spraying it on the wallpaper before peeling it off, but that didn't work at all for us.
 

 We had pulled a couple feet of outer vinyl-like layer off before spraying it, leaving the papery layer stuck to the wall, and sprayed that area. To our happy surprise, that papery stuff that was so stuck to the wall peeled off very nicely.  What seemed like a task that was going to be dreaded and laboring turned into an easy hour of family fun.   The four of us were in there peeling away and amazed at the ease of it.  It did take longer than that for the whole job start to finish, but the pulling was possibly even less than an hour.

So, we pulled off all of the top layer - the more vinyl-like layer.
 

 

 

Then we sprayed the more paper-like layer that was left behind and very pasted to the walls ...

... waited the 15 minutes (it may have been a bit longer) ...

... and peeled that layer right off ...

 

AWESOME!
 

No Scrubbing! (but we did wash the walls after peeling it off)

 

 It would have been very tricky to wash and scrub off without this spray.  This spray did the trick and made it so easy.  
We highly recommend it for anyone wanting to remove wallpaper.

We bought one spray bottle and one bottle of the concentrate form, and did have to mix up one more spray bottle full to finish the room.  Now we have enough spray to remove the wallpaper in the dining room too.  Yippee!

 

 

Now, after saying all this, my husband walks into the room, sees the post I'm writing, and reminds me that we didn't try spraying on just plain water.  Oh Bother!  Would that have done the trick too?  Does anyone out there have experience with that?
Maybe I paid for this when I could have not paid anything.  (I'm still smiling!)  I think I'll try it when we take down the dining room paper.  That is ..., if it happens soon enough that I remember to do so.  I don't see it happening in the very near future - I'm in the middle of a bathroom redo.