B Listed

...on the B List. 

You probably have already met Ann from On Sutton Place.  She is just the sweetest thing ever. We met when she first started blogging.  You know those people who just set their minds to something and  make it happen?  She's one of those.  She was actually asking my advice back then.  Now I'm the one who needs to be asking her advice. 
Ann has a new Etsy shop.

 The girl can sew some pillows!  I should know because she made me this one.

Love it!  As you can see, the family loves it too and has already used it quite a bit.  Yes, we use our pillows around here. 

I was in the middle of contemplating painting my dining room navy blue when I saw Ann's navy blue cabinet. Confirmation.

I've always been a sucker for navy blue. Come to think of it, there's always been a shade of blue somewhere in every house I've lived in.

Thanks for your inspiration Ann!

Found another sale today at Hancock Fabric.

$6 per yd. Yippee!
Any guesses as to what I'm doing with this?

My best friend is coming to stay with me this weekend. Going to be fun. Maybe she will help me complete my project! 
Have yourself  a wonderful weekend! See ya next week!


(In the process of moving, I lost my B List schedule. If you were scheduled, please let me know.  
Thanks so much.)

A Sale and A Salad

Here's a sale alert. Target has a lot of things marked down 50-75% off.  For me, it's like an Easter egg hunt because they always put things at the end of aisles or out of the way places. 
This lamp was marked down to $11.94

Pillows were my favorite finds at $6.24 and $4.98!  Snatched up all they had. 

The blue are kind of nautical/masculine and will go in my son's room.

 The black and cream will go nicely in our great room. 

Love the thickness. You know I'm all over hounds-tooth too!

A funny thing happened when I went to grab them. A lady came around the corner and put her hand on them first.  I graciously walked away and went to another aisle. Came back and there they were.  woo hoo!  I guess she decided not to get them. 
Finders keepers.


Secondly, here's a really good recipe for a broccoli and grape salad. 

1 head of broccoli cut in small pieces
2 cups seedless red grapes- halved
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup celery- chopped
green onions- chopped


Dressing-
1 cup real mayo
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon vinegar


Mix together and chill.

You must try it.  It is simply divine!

Improvision Turns Perfection

Elle Decor

Sometimes things don't go as planned when remodeling.

As you may remember, we had to refinish our hardwoods. I was thrilled with the new stain. What we didn't consider was our staircase. The handrails and risers were of the same stain as the original floors.

Before you go to thinking this looks ok and wonder why we changed it, this was the condition after tenants...

The floor installers told me it was near impossible to change the stain on the risers and handrails.  At first, I panicked.  But then remembered all the wonderful photos I've been seeing of the black painted handrails on Pinterest:

Ok. Ours is not this grand but I love the change. Our improvision turned out perfectly.

The whole redoing and repairing process is slower than I anticipated but it's slowly coming together.  Here's one more look at the new floors. I can't quit staring at them. What a difference it's made to continue the wood into the great room.

I have more dillemmas which I'll be sharing and soliciting opinions.  I'm sure you know that when changing things, one thing calls for another.

A Military Birthday Party (part 2)

Lots of loot at this party. 

 Bags were waiting to be filled with Cracker Jacks. 

Love this playground.
Do you know how hard it is to take pictures and be a party hostess at the same time? Seems like I missed some cute things but it's hard to get every moment captured.

Fun and games-
We started with lunch. The hats would not stay on of course, but they had a "blast" with the other army gear- dog tags, canteens, binoculars, aviator sunglasses and a watch.

Next was war face painting and army "tattoos."

An obstacle course.

We also hid army men, like an Easter egg hunt.  96 soldiers to be found. I'm sure children playing on that playground today are finding them everywhere.
The biggest "hit" was the nerf gun target shoot. A prize was given to the one who shot down the most cans.

It was too chilly to have water gun fights. 

Does anyone have a solution for this?

My little pouter.

I know what will cheer him up. Presents!  Look at how creatively a mom wrapped this gift!

 He received 7 toy guns! Guess everyone was in the same frame of mind.

A gift bag was given to each troop upon departure.

What was inside-

I just can't wait to...

A MilitaryThemed Birthday Party (Part 1)

My little hero turned 6! We celebrated with a theme of his biggest fascination- the military. It was a fun party to decorate.

It started with this invitation from andersruff on Etsy.  They were great to work with and sent me the image so I was able to copy it right on cardstock. 

Via

For envelopes, I took a USPS envelope, cut it down and stapled it to size.

The party was held at our neighborhood park, reminiscent of a fort, so it was an ideal location.

The weather was perfect EXCEPT, the wind was blowing very hard. It was difficult to even take photos with everything in place. The decor had to be altered somewhat to keep it from blowing away. 

Still cute don't ya think? 

 A framed invitation can be a nice way to tie everything together.

The cupcake toppers were made by maddieclaire on Etsy. She is such a delightful person and has a touching situation. I encourage you to check out her shop if you're in the market for cupcake toppers. 

$6 Wal Mart cupcakes + my own sprinkles = saving $.

 Fruit kabobs are always a hit. I find a way to serve them at every party. Seems both adults and kids love them. 

The Twizzler rope idea was found here. 

(Thanks Jodie!)

 

I ran plain brown paper bags through the printer to make personalized bags for the young guests' pre-made lunches of grilled hot dogs, chips and fruit roll ups.

The rest of our guests enjoyed their lunches on the back tables.


My reward?

Next post will feature party favors and games.

Posting to Wow Us Wednesday and Show and Tell Friday.