Happy July!

I'm sorry to see June go, with the cool spring days and first of the flowers blooming, but July does have its sweetness.  Hot and sunny, days at the beach, the lavender and roses are blooming, and fireflies and dragonflies have come out to play.

And of course, July begins with a bang! Red, white and blue celebrations, and cookouts and fireworks.

Who couldn't love that?

I spent a little time making over our tiny back porch this week. Sorry no before photos. Sometimes I get a bee in my bonnet and the next thing you know I'm checking the spray paint stash in the basement and dragging my latest victim to the yard for a fresh coat of color:>)

 This is the view from the kitchen door way, down the stairs and through our little back entry. We have a humble little cottage, built in the 40's, with a humble little back porch.  Earl built a pergola for me for our 25th anniversary. I love it so much! It defines the area and shelters this little wicker settee I picked up a couple years ago at a garage sale for $6.

I think I have spent more on spray painting it than it cost to begin with!
A faded but still beautiful yard sale oriental rug catches dirt and provides a little softness for my bare feet. At $5, it's disposable if it doesn't survive the summer.

 This week, I decided the chipped and faded white settee needed to be black, and the faded cushion that came with it needed a fresh cover of red and white ticking.  I found the ticking at JoAnne Fabrics in the sale aisle.  Marked down from $25 a yard to $9 a yard, it was 50% off the sale price for a grand total of $4.50.  I love a good sale.

 Love it. And it's comfy to boot. A beautiful place for morning coffee.

I foofed the whole area up for the 4th of July weekend with one of my ruffled flag pillows and a couple quick bunting projects.  The flag bunting was made from a single package of dollar store flags and some leftover skinny bias tape.  We're having some cookouts and parties this month so I plan to leave them up all month.

Plans for projects this weekend and going to a friends house for a cookout on the 4th.

I hope you all have a spectacular weekend.

Happy 4th of July!
Linking with

And the winner is.....

#36, Patti from Pandora's Box! Congratulations Patti, I'll get it out to you as soon as I get your address. I wish I could send you all a pillow, but I have some in the works for the shop if you must have one, and I'm working on the pattern so you can sew it yourself if you would rather:>)
Many thanks for all the kind comments. If you didn't win this time I have some more fun giveaways up my sleeve for this summer. Stay tuned!

A Blessing Of Berries

Earl's favorite Uncle showed up a couple days ago with a load of fresh picked berries. This is the Uncle that sometimes drops off a big bag of wild Morel mushrooms or a fresh pheasant he got during hunting season. Once I asked him if he could save me some pheasant feathers and he brought me the whole pheasant.

 Alive.

Don't ask me how he got a live one....but I digress.

This time he showed up with a big bag of berries. A blessing for sure. Enough for fresh strawberry shortcake and a batch of freezer jam. Yum!

 This will taste like summer when the cold winds blow!

 That is, it will if we don't eat it all before winter;>)  

And just for a little extra fun, if you're making freezer jam of your own, you might want to print out these cute labels I made.  I printed them on card stock, but if you have label paper, even better! Then just use some fancy scrapbook scissors to cut a scalloped edge.

You can find them on my new Graphics page, just click on the picture and  print.

 Have you gone berry picking yet?

Don't forget, this is the last weekend before the pillow giveaway ends. I'll be picking a name Tuesday morning so go leave a comment now!

Dahlia Cupcakes

This weekend I helped a friend decorate cupcakes for an open house. It was getting dark by the time we finished and my photos didn't turn out. So I had to make a batch at home.

 Darn:>)

These cupcakes are super easy and I think they are just the cutest ever.  You simply cut mini marshmallows in half diagonally, toss in a bag with colored sugar and arrange the "petals" around the frosted cupcake in layers to make the flower.  I used white pearl cake decorations for the centers, and I had to use red sugar because that was all I had.  Go figure.

These look adorable on mini cupcakes too.

Don't forget to comment on my giveaway post for a chance to win my ruffled flag pillow.  Giveaway ends Monday, June 27th so hurry!

A Fourth of July Giveway!

Oh happy day! Summer is finally here for me. I have been wanting to do a giveaway as a thank you to all my loyal readers and friends, and now seems like a great time.  You all mean so much to me, and I really mean that! Some of you have been friends for most or all of the 4 years I have been blogging, and I hope our friendship continues for many more.You've lifted my spirits when I was down, given advice, listened to my woes and cheered on my victories.

I love you for that and so much more:>)

So, I just couldn't wait any longer to post this giveaway. This is the prototype for my new pillow. I hope to have some in the shop by early next week, but for now, I am giving this one away and I'll send it out in time for you to get it before the 4th of July weekend.  The giveaway ends Monday June 27th, that should give it plenty of time to get where it's going before the holiday.  Here's how to enter:

Simple really, just leave a comment! If you want a second entry, just mention this giveaway on your blog and then leave me a separate comment to let me know you helped me get the word out.  Please, please make sure you are either signed in to your blog so I can contact you, or leave an email address so I can reach you if you win.  If I can't reach you, I will have no choice but to pick another name:>(

So tell me, what kind of fun do you have planned for the 4th of July weekend?
This giveaway is now closed.

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