Independence Day Round Up

Are you looking for some Fourth of July ideas? Well you came to the right place. I love the Fourth of July so much. Living in Texas makes it even more fantastic. People here are super patriotic which makes for a really fun fourth. Here are some things I've found that I'm loving for Independence Day.

Image Found Via Style Me Pretty

1. I would love to have a BBQ just so I could decorate like this. Big lights + Streamers = Magic
2. No round up would be complete without a great garland. This one is really cute.
3. Love these little bandana flags. OK the burger looks pretty good too.
4. I must make these strawberries. Yum!
5. These pillows combine several things I love. Silhouettes, houndstooth and typography. Amazing.
6. This is the most perfect patriotic breakfast. Looks delicious.
7. FREE Party printables! Oh how I love freebies!
8. Last but not least a adorable Americana inspired wreath. I'm kinda loving this one.

Spring Outside My Door

We are loving the warm weather right now. 81 degrees currently with a high of 88. Yes please. The only thing that worries me is how hot the summer is going to be. Oh well. At the moment it's perfect. Miss. S and I have been enjoying the sun shine today. Honestly not much else is getting done. Those darn burp cloths will just have to wait. Today is all about sun, blooms and warmth.

A Great New (to me) Tool

Example of a pin.

Nap time is my time. I'm so lucky that my 3 year old still takes a really long nap every afternoon. It's wonderful to have that time to clean, do projects, nap myself, blog and of coarse just surf the internet. I find so much inspiration through other peoples blogs, Etsy, Flicker ect. When I find something really great and I want to remember it I used to email the link to myself. So I wouldn't forget it or I wouldn't forget where I found it. It wasn't exactly a pain, but I wouldn't say it was the most effective method of remembering things. In comes Pinterest. For some of you this is old news. I've seen it on a lot of other peoples blogs so I know that I might be repeating information you may already have. However I just recently got my account and started pinning and I really had to share my thoughts. If you haven't heard of Pinterest and have no idea what I'm talking about this is what it's all about. I'm always a little leery of new social networking sites. I've tried several and I don't see the need to join too many different sites. So even though I was definitely curious about Pinterest I wasn't sure if I needed to join anymore sites. I mean I keep up two blogs (a private family blog & this one), I do Facebook, Flickr and I have a Good Reads account. Isn't this enough? I have to say Pinterest exceeded my expectations. It is such a great tool. It is a website where you can keep all those things you find on the internet that you don't want to forget. All in one organized place. You can create different "boards" or collections, brows through other people pins and get stuck looking at beautiful things for hours. When you pin something it automatically saves the link to it. So you never forget where you found something or who to give credit to. So handy. No matter what you are interested in I'm pretty sure you can find this useful. To sign up you have to request an invite. It may take a little while for them to get back to you, but it's worth the wait. It's a relatively new site so they are always updating things and trying to make it better. I have found it so useful and I've only been on a week! If you want to check out my boards you can click here. Sometimes I may post about something I've pinned. So I'm sorry if I repeat myself. I hope that you find this as useful as I do. Happy pinning everybody!

Example of a Pin Board

Why Do I Sew?

Tomorrow we are having a quilting night with the Young Women ages 12-17 in our church. I'm so excited about it. I feel strongly that sewing is a skill that people should learn and the earlier you learn the better. So I've been thinking over the last couple of days why I feel that way. Why is it so important to me?

I come from a long line of sewers. I think a better term for them would be seamstresses. My Granny, Mom, Aunts. They all sew. My Mother is seriously phenomenal. A lot of times she doesn't even need a pattern. I remember when we were shopping for my wedding dress I tried on the perfect dress at Neiman Marcus. She looked at it and said "I can do that". The next day we went to the LA Fashion District bought all the fabric for $85 and a few months later I had the perfect most flawless gown. To say she is talented is an understatement.

Sadly I didn't tap into her immense amount of knowledge earlier. My interest in sewing didn't peak until a few years ago when Miss. S was born. I always just took advantage of the fact that my Mom is so amazing. After Miss. S came into my life all of a sudden there were so many things I wanted to make for her. Luckily I had picked up a few really basic skills from her to get myself started. The rest is up to me as she lives in Utah and I live in Texas. It has been a pretty hard road. With a lot of successes but a lot of frustration as well. I still feel like I'm just beginning every time I sit down at my machine and I always always make mistakes. It's all part of the learning process I suppose. I have a lot to learn still. I don't think I would continue if I didn't feel like it was important. And the feeling you get after you've completed a project is priceless. It feels so good.

I feel like sewing is one of those skills that was past down from generation to generation through Mothers and Daughters. Some where along the way a lot of Mothers stopped teaching their children this art form. I think it's kind of sad. Good news is I see a renewed interest in sewing that is spreading once again. There are so many things that you can do with sewing. Even if you only know how to sew a straight line. With a straight line you can sew pillows, curtains, hem pants and make baby blankets. Learning to sew can save you money and it keeps you from being limited to what is sold on the shelves in stores. To me sewing is a way of creating something from nothing. It is a creative outlet that has endless possibilities. It is an invaluable skill to learn. Having a basic knowledge of sewing is beneficial for so many reasons. If you don't know how to sew I encourage you to learn a few of the basics. I think once you start learning you won't want to stop.

Celebrating Boys!!!

One of my very favorite blogs is MADE. It is an endless (and I do mean endless) source of inspiration for sewing and craft projects. I've been looking forward to this day for a little while now because Dana at MADE and Rae at Made by Rae have begun Celebrate the Boy month. A whole month dedicated to the little fellas in our lives. Since this little guy I'm carrying is coming in about 6 weeks this is perfect timing. I need to get cracking on some fun things to welcome him into this world. So far I only have 5 receiving blankets. Yikes!!! I know a lot of you have sons and some of you have only boys. There are so many cute projects for girls and it's hard to find cute things for boys. Well this month you are in luck! Amazing boy projects galore!!! So head over there and see for yourself all month long. I've been browsing the archives from last year and it just gets me more excited!

Southern Utah Bride Magazine

image found here

I just wanted to let everyone know about Southern Utah Bride Magazine really quick. The talented Jimmy Bishop from Gideon Photography has put together this stunning piece of work. It's really beautiful. There is so much inspiration for Brides all over the country within it's pages. So please go check it out and become a fan on Facebook. I promise you will be impressed!

Meet Babe

Much like Paul Bunyan's Ox my sewing machine is big, blue, and reliable. It's old. I don't know how old. Probably as old as the story of Paul and Babe. It's super heavy weighing around 75-80 lbs. It's got some problems such as the reverse is broken and I keep having to super glue parts in place. You know what though? I started out hating this machine, but over the last year I have learned to love her. I have figured out how to maneuver around her idiosyncrasies and create things I am really proud of.

So this year for my birthday my husband and his family pitched in to get me a new Brother machine. I am terrified of that machine. It's shiny, white, and really really fast. Sewing on Babe has slowed me down to a more methodical pace. Which I thoroughly enjoy. Babe is now my crutch. I find myself lugging her out of the closet, all 75 lbs. of her, when ever I want to do a project. I know I need to use my new machine. It was such a wonderful gift and exactly what I asked for. It will just take some time I think. At least to get used to the speed.

Anyway sorry to ramble. There is an actual moral to my story. My point is if you have a desire to sew or to be "crafty" then do it! Don't let a 75 lb. Ox get in your way. Learn to sew. It is an important skill. It can save you money, and it will get you creating unique and beautiful things. Find a machine on Craig's List and sign up for classes at your local fabric store. Don't keep thinking about it and just do it. You will be so happy you did. I promise!