{summer fun giveaway}

I've teamed up with my sweet friend Alyson and lots of other great ladies for an amazing giveaway to celebrate summer!

One lucky winner will receive an adorable summer tote bag full of all kinds of fun things for summer! Gift cards, lotions, nail polish and SO much more! There is even a set of my notecards tucked in there! Good luck and I hope that you're enjoying your summer! 

Giveaway includes...
"be awesome" Tote Bag from Bow and Arrow Art
Living Magazine
$50 Erin Condren Gift Card
$25 Starbucks Gift Card
$20 Target Gift Card
Beach Towel
Aveeno Lotion
Ultra Glide Ink Pens
Katie Daisy Journal
Phone/Credit Card Wallet 
2 Shades of Essie Nail Polish
Essie No-Chip Top Coat
Nail Polish Art Pen
2014-2015 Planner
Plastic Reusable Straws
Paper Straws
Gum
Nail File
Baby Lips
Narwhall Box gift Set from The Gnarly Whale Shop
Zipper Pouch & Key Fob from Little Ms.Fancy Pants
Steve Madden Aviator Sunglasses
Set of Notecards from This Girl Doodles
JBL Micro II- Ultra Portable Media Speaker
Leather Bow Cuff from Forgotten Cotton

 

  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

{free summer printable}

I'm just a tad obsessed with doodling right now.

If you didn't know that, just check out my Instagram. :)

And of course I had to share one of my latest pieces, which is perfect for the season we are in, with my lovely friends!

Click on the image below for a free 8x10 PDF...

If you hang it up in your home I would love to see a photo!

xoxo,

{sweet summer}

We roasted our first {normal sized} marshmallows of the summer yesterday and I forgot how much I love the taste, texture and smell of those toasted lumps of sugar. {see yesterday's post for the miniature version.}

The slightly burnt, sweet flavor.
The charred outer layer that dissolves on your tongue like cotton candy.
The melted, but still snow-white middle.

YUM.

I think the boys had more fun playing with their new swords skewers from their Gigi than eating the marshmallows, but it is all part of the experience, right? :)

Half of the marshmallows didn't even make it to the fire!

Ahh...tastes like summer!

What tastes, textures and smells remind you of the warmer months coming up?

Linking up with...

{a summer first}

"Look! The fire is making lightening bugs!"

He watched the embers jump from the flaming, smoking logs, dancing upward, only to disappear after a few moments in the night air.

Landon fashioned his own fire pit with two small sticks and a red plastic IKEA bowl perched on top to mimic the flames. I rescued a bag of stale mini-marshmallows from the pantry and skewered them with toothpicks, so the boys could have a pretend roast of their own.

We laughed as Dan toasted a few of them over our real fire and made an impromptu s'more with bits of a chocolate Easter lamb and the chewy, browned bits of sugar, sandwiched between two graham crackers.

Our first two campfires of the summer.

Sweet, silly memories.

{summer hued surprise party}

My lovely Mom celebrated her 60th birthday last week, and I decided to throw a really fun summer-hued surprise party for her. My original plan was to host the party outside on our patio, but with the Indiana summer temps hitting nearly 100 degrees that day, I had to move the party indoors to our dining room.

The great thing about this party is that all of the details can be translated to an outdoor party, and I decorated on a small budget, including some really personal and unique details.

Let's start with the table decorations, shall we? I used lots of pieces that I already had, including linens I inherited from my Grandma, my jadeite cake stands, thrifted milkglass vases, and mason jars.

I wrapped the mason jars with simple scrapbook paper strips, and made some fun yarn pom poms to attach to the milk glass vases for a bit of extra whimsy. The flowers were a lucky clearance find at my local grocery store that day...four bouquets in my yellow and white color scheme for $10 total!

A few final touches included circles of coordinating scrapbook paper, cut out with my circle punch, and a some favorite photos of my Mom.

We don't have a chandelier over our dining table, so my Mother-in-Law came up with the genius idea to turn our IKEA table lamp into a hanging light over the table. I simply removed the lamp legs, and with the help of my husband, hung it over the table. Yellow and white tissue pom poms added lots of fun and whimsy...

This idea could easily be done outside, hung from a patio ceiling or pergola, as long as you have a power source to plug in the lamp.

For the mantle, I created a super simple and personal bunting, using paper doilies, scrapbook paper, photos of my Mom, small wooden paper clips, and yarn...

It was one of my favorite details, and my Mom loved it so much she took it home with her. My original plan was to hang the bunting from our patio wall, so again this is a very versatile decoration for an indoor or outdoor party.

And now for the party treats! We sipped on iced coffee out of mason jars with cute lids, striped paper straws, and yarn pom poms thanks to an idea from this baby shower by Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy.

My one splurge for the party were fancy desserts from our local French bakery...key lime cheesecakes and chocolate hazelnut tarts. Yum!

I'm usually planning parties for my boys these days, so this was a really fun departure for me. We had such a lovely evening enjoying lots of girl talk and sweet treats. And the best part was spoiling my Mom on her birthday!

{is it hot in here, or is it just me?}

Yeah...we all know. It is freaking hot out there.

Today in Indiana it is pushing 100 degrees.

And guess what? Our house doesn't have central air. That's right...we've lived in this house for over three years now without the luxury of 72 degree rooms in the middle of July.

We do have a wall unit in our dining room/kitchen, which I have a major love/hate relationship with. {I love it in the summer...hate it the rest of the year} It keeps that room cool but the rest of the house, including our bedrooms get up to a steamy 80+ degrees on these hot days.

Soooo...when we found a good deal on a portable AC unit online a few weeks ago we went ahead and bought it. The reviews were good, but we failed to look at the dimensions.

This sucker is HUGE.

Yep...that is a full size chair next to it.

It kinda scares me to be honest...like it might start moving around on its own on those little wheels.

Or reach over with the big hose and grab that sippy cup...

And look! It has a remote! Perfect for when you are sitting in the chair 5 inches away and the cold air has frozen your eyeballs.

And it reminds me a bit of this guy...

Its like we have a new family member or something. But at least we have a cooler house.

Happy Summer!

{cheery summer wreath DIY}

There are so many cute burlap wreaths floating around in blogland {and on Pinterest}, and I've wanted to try my hand at one for awhile now. I had a bunch of leftover burlap from my DIY table runner project, so all I needed was my trusty glue gun, some fabric, yarn and a wreath form for this easy project.

I started off by cutting some long strips of burlap and wrapping them around the wreath until I had enough to cover the entire thing. Then I cut some strips of fun fabric and wrapped them around the wreath until I got the placement that I liked. I raided my yarn stash and was happy to find that I had the perfect colors to go with my fabric. I used it to make five coordinating pom poms.

Once I had my design all figured out, I removed everything and attached it with my hot glue gun. First the burlap strips, then the fabric, and finally the yarn pom poms.

And then, so I could hang it on our front door, I used a large plastic needle and some more yarn to make a hanger on the back.

And then it was ready for the front door!

This was such an easy and quick project, and considering I already had the fabric, burlap and yarn, I was only out the $2.99 I spent on the wreath form. I love how bright, cheery and summery the colors in the fabric and yarn are...they make our front door so inviting...

This wreath definitely says Happy Summer!