RED, WHITE, AND BLUE TABLESCAPE

I spent the afternoon at my Mom and Dad's house earlier this week.  While there, we were talking about our family plans for the Fourth, and my Mom said she had looked on the blog for a tablescape but couldn't find one.  I realized I've never done one for the Fourth of July! So, even though we'll be celebrating at their house that day, I decided to to pull something together for my family to enjoy here over the weekend. I've had a red plaid tablecloth for years, and it does triple duty for Christmas, Valentine's Day, and now the Fourth!  It's a good staple piece to mix and match with other colors according to the season. It was a no-brainer to include some blue and white accessories.  My crepe myrtle needed a trim and the blooms are white, so yay for free greenery! I've had some red toile dishes for years, and stacked with Blue Willow they feel mighty patriotic. When I shared some fun red, white, and blue tabletop accessories from Targ...

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COLORFUL TOILE FABRIC PICKS

Hey there!  We survived camp last week, but it's taken me a few days to recover and get back to a schedule for blogging.  We're approaching holiday mode and then vacation will be coming up soon, so thanks for hanging in there with me through a little bit of a sporadic summer posting schedule! Any time I post a photo with these pillows in it, I get questions about the fabric.  The black background and bright colors really are unmatched in any other toile or chinoiserie I've seen. I'm not sure that I ever fully told you the back story, so here goes!  Two summers ago my daughter was playing in a basketball tourney at a school right next to my sister's house, so in between games we snuck away to do some thrifting in the area.  At one of our usual thrift store stops, I flipped through the textiles on a whim while I was waiting for my sis to finish shopping and found one drapery panel made out of this fabric.  I'd never seen it before, but it seemed nice and c...

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FAVORITE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE TABLETOP ACCESSORIES FROM TARGET

The Fourth of July is a favorite summer holiday around our family, and I can't believe it's just a few days away! Recently I've shared a scrumptious dessert and yummy side dish that would be perfect to accompany your meal on the Fourth, and today I've rounded up some fun red, white, and blue tabletop accessories for the perfect patriotic meal. Let me start by saying this graphic is just a guide.  Any of these settings that I played with can be moved around and mix and matched.  Even if you just choose one new item, all of these are pretty easy to mix with white or neutral pieces that you might already have to create a more patriotic color palette.  I mixed in a few natural wood and rattan pieces just to add some interest and texture, and to keep everything from being too matchy-matchy. Red Gingham Tablecloth Red Plaid Tablecloth Navy Placemat Chambray Fringe Napkins White Scalloped Plates Striped Salad Plates Blue Dots Appetizer Plates Ma...

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CHERRY PINEAPPLE SALAD RECIPE {A.K.A. PINK STUFF}

Last week I spent the week cooking and organizing food for our 250 VBS teachers to make sure they had yummy snacks for the break room, and this week we're at youth camp (Falls Creek if you're familiar with OK) where I'm helping cook for 200 middle schoolers (pray for me!).  So, food has been front and center in my mind and I've been sharing a few of our favorite family recipes with you lately. Like last week's Squash Casserole , this is another family favorite, and is perfect for any summer occasion.  Or birthday.  Or Thanksgiving.  Or Christmas.  Or Groundhog Day.  Whatever- it's a winner any time!  I tried to come up with a fancier name for it ("Cherry Pineapple Salad"), but in our family we just call it Pink Stuff.  There is no shortage of fruity, fluffy recipes similar to this one, many that are pistachio based, but this one is our go-to, must have at any family gathering. I didn't even take process shots, this is a dump, mix, chill, an...

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NEIGHBORHOOD HOME TOUR {HOUSE #4}

You might remember that I attended a local neighborhood home tour last month and I've shared some of those with you already.   Catch up here if you missed one-   House Tour #1  House Tour #2 House Tour #3 Today I'm sharing the final home in this series with you.  I don't know for sure, but I would venture a guess that this house is decades old, however it seemed to be completely remodeled.  All of the bathrooms and kitchen were updated with more modern, timeless colors and fixtures. I love the exterior color scheme.  We painted our first home in these same colors, and it's one of my very favorite exterior color palettes.      I had a feeling I'd love this house the minute I walked in the door... Dining room- loved the fireplace, moulding, and built in shelves (not to mention the fun table setting!). Black shelves are always a dramatic statement. I will always and forever love an ornate gold frame- I neglected to take...

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FRIDAY FAVORITES

One of my favorite designers shared her  top 3 design tips  that she follows.  Good food for thought! I recently became aware of  Flatterbox  when a friend invited us to fill out a card for her daughter who was graduating from High School.  It's such a cute idea!  After choosing your type of box, card color, occasion, and number of cards you want included, you can send invites via e-mail for your friends to record their sentiments for the recipient.  Then, they are printed and sent inside the keepsake box.  What fun to read through a box full of good wishes or memories from friends and family! We absolutely love this remote control outlet for our patio string lights.   We had outlets installed in the eaves, so the lights were simple to plug in, but we didn't want to be climbing up to plug them in and unplug them all the time.  This adapter plugs into the outlet, then we just keep the remote in a kitchen drawer and click all the string lights on and off with the push...

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