Jen's Picks {4-Online Fabric Stores}

Happy Friday everyone!  Today is the last Friday my kids are in school, just a few more days next week and here comes summer!   I've had several friends ask, so today I thought I'd share my go-to online fabric resources with you.  I really only have a few that I frequent, so there may be some other fabulous sites as well that I'm not aware of, but these are my faves. *This post contains some affiliate links, at no extra cost to you.   #1.   Fabric.com This is my top fabric site.  The selection is fantastic and most of the time the prices can't be beat.  They usually offer weekly sales and almost always offer a coupon code.  And, a secret,  shhhh....if you put some things in your cart and leave them for a few days they'll generally send you a 15% off code to your e-mail.  I usually do that if there are no other sales going on when I'm ready to buy.  There is free shipping if your order is over $35 and a no questions asked r......

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How to Cover an Ugly Kitchen Backsplash {Way Back Wednesdays}

Back in February I showed you  our kitchen  and the changes we've made since we've lived in this house.  Today I want to show you how we disguised the dated backsplash.  Here's what we had when we moved in: White squares with a red and green stripe.  Perfect in the mid-90's when the house was built.  Today, not so much.  After moving in we did an initial kitchen redo, mainly cosmetic-stripped wallpaper, textured, painted, switched out the faucet and kitchen cabinet hardware.  We knew we wanted to do some more major renovations in the future, but in the mean time looked for an alternative for the backsplash. Here's what we used:  These are plastic squares that look like tin and come in a variety of colors.  They were in stock at Lowe's and Home Depot at the time and I believe they still carry them.  The beauty of these panels is that they are easy to install, can be cut with scissors, and can be temporary or permane......

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Lemons to Lemonade {Log Filled Fireplace}

We lost two trees from our extreme heat and drought last summer.  We waited until the spring to make sure they were really dead, and had not just gone dormant, but no luck.  Dead as a doornail.  Though not huge, one of them was the biggest tree in our yard and had beautiful red leaves in the fall, and the other was growing nicely.  Tears.  My only consolation was that I was able to do this with the wood: I have wanted to fill the firebox with logs for a long time, so I took our dead tree misfortune and put it to good use. I think it's our own little natural sculpture.  The logs are so unique and interesting,  I could just sit and stare. I did what I could to try to fend off whatever may be living in the wood, so hopefully we won't have any unwanted visitors.  That's always a risk you take when bringing things in from outdoors.  Oh, the dangers of decorating! It took me a couple of hours and was like putting a big ......

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Cakes from Birthdays Past {Girl's Edition}

Emily had a great birthday weekend.   Thank you to those sweet readers who sent her online birthday greetings! As I did with my  son's birthday cakes,  I thought it would be fun to show you her cakes that I've made over the years.  Once again, these are definitely not professional quality but we've always had fun coming up with their themes and I like to think that the kids have appreciated them! 1st Birthday-Ladybug The head came off for her own little personal cake to dig into!  2 years old-Bunny  3 years old-Princess Castle (Love her expression in this one.  Looks like she's not too sure about it, and rightly so-We had to eat that one fast because it started sliding apart!)  4 years old-Aack!  I'm missing some digital photos.  That was sometime around when our old computer crashed :(  But, it was a 1/2 circle arched cake covered with colored gumballs to make a rainbow, with cupcakes at the ends covered with ma......

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9 Reasons Why I Love Emily

1.  She is creative.  She adds her own flair to whatever she is doing.  Her work is careful, neat, and thoughtful. 2.  She is daring, but level-headed.  This girl is not afraid to try anything, and can do anything she puts her mind to.   3.  She is smart.  She will try new things and be successful at whatever she does most of the time.  She loves to play games, and generally wins! 4.  She has her own ideas, but still wants to be pleasing to others.  She never wants to be in trouble and works hard to do the right thing.   She loves the Lord, her family, and her friends.   5.  She is a fun-loving girl!  She truly is a bright ray of sunshine in this house.  She loves life, and energy and pep pour out of her.  This one is full of spunk! 6.  She is a hard worker.  When she sets her mind to something, she keeps at it until her task is accomplished, and tak......

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