Month: May 2017

Note Cards For Moms

Yesterday was a beautiful Mother’s Day, I was so blessed to be able to spend most of my day with my son.

My son is my special gift from God, the one thing in my crazy up and down life that I got right.  He is special, a good and decent human being, and oh I love him so.  Jim is so very good to me, unconditional love.

Since my mother has gone to be with the Lord, my sister plays a huge part in my life.  I was thankful to be able to spend some time with her as well on this beautiful day.

Also received Mother’s Day wishes, with love, from my nieces, and to end my wonderful day, a call from my sweet brother.

Every Mother’s Day I try to reach out to friends to let them know they are appreciated, especially single moms, what an unbelievably difficult job they have!

Many times I have mentioned my lack of extra money, so I try to make simple gifts, costing very little, whenever I can.

This year I decided on note cards with a personal touch.

My cards were made from photos I have taken over the years.  Photos from vacations, family gatherings, special visits, or celebrations.

The cards were so very easy to make.  Simply select the photos you like, tweak if necessary, lightening them up or cropping, and print out on white card stock.

I cut them down to a 4 x 6 note card size and folded.  Purchased envelopes, and finished up by tying with ribbon or twine.

The note cards were just so fun to make.  Looking through all the photos I have saved over the years gave me endless ideas. A personal gift for so many occasions, for so many people in my life.

What fun around the Christmas season tied up in a bright red ribbon!

Maybe I am old-fashioned, but in this tech world we have lost something by not actually writing and sending letters and notes.  Love going to the mailbox and finding a card or a note from folks in my life.  Too busy, everyone is just too busy!

I love when a gift comes back, I just received a warm call from one of those single moms who received her cards, a former co-worker.  She loved them!

Hope your Mother’s Day was as special as mine, filled with love.

 

Repurposed Plant Stands

I’m “loving my new simple” passion of repurposing discarded items.

Breathing new life into old, forgotten objects.

It is amazing how fun and rewarding it can be to turn something someone no longer wanted into an amazing repurposed or the word I really like to use is reloved item.  Yes, there is such a word!

Found these old, dirty, rusted, plant stands at the thrift store for $2 each.  My thought at the time was to use them on my back porch.  They have been stored in my garage for months.

When planning my niece’s bridal shower I was concerned about side tables for drinks during lunch and playing games.  Buying new tables was out of the question, I simply could not afford anything new.  I searched online but any I found, goldtone, were at least $100.  Too much!

I thought of my plant stands in the garage.  Cleaned and sanded both, spray painted with my favorite gold paint, and I was so pleased with the outcome.

The gold paint added a bit of formal to the stands and the hairpin legs are so popular right now on many tables.

To complete the stands, I purchased two clear glass plates which fit perfectly into the top.

When not using as side tables, I will use for my plants in the living room area.

Hope you all have a great weekend, why not find something to relove!

Enjoy everything fun and loving in your life!

 

 

Living With MS – Our Last Dance

My last post highlighted a bridal shower given for my dear niece.  We celebrated the wedding this past week.

How wonderful it was for our family to be together at such a joyful time.

At the reception, music was playing and folks were dancing to all the usual crazy songs, including oldies.  I love to watch everyone dance.  It is obvious you don’t have to be a good dancer, you just get up and dance, do your own thing, and just have fun!

The DJ played a slower song and asked that all couples take to the floor.  As the music started my husband said to me “let’s dance, if you don’t mind me leaning on you a bit”.  So sweet!

He suffers from progressive MS, and he is getting worse as the months and years pass.

Walking is impossible without using a walking stick to steady his balance.

Our marriage has been far from perfect and he has not been the ideal husband, but every single time in my life I needed him, he has been there for me.

During this season of our lives we need one another more than ever.

I can’t see into the future, but with no cure for this disease, I thank God for this special opportunity, and ask Him not to let this be our last dance together.

Cherish special memories and moments in your life, I will cherish my husband leaning on me!

Love to all with a grateful heart.

 

Gold and White Bridal Shower

My spring cleaning had an extra special purpose this year, co-hosting a bridal shower, with my sister, for her granddaughter.

Our sweet bride to be requested the shower be at my home, so I wanted everything special.

Today I am going to share some of the highlights.

I decided on a simple but elegant gold and white theme.

Decorations again were simple, using banners of white with gold glitter dots. So easy to make, using purchased card stock, gold ribbon, and a hole punch.

Once you decide on the size and cut out a template, simply punch holes on each end and run the ribbon through, under and over.

I used the banners everywhere as you entered my home, in the entry, on my dining room hutch, behind the table, our focal point.

Gold and white napkins found at Hobby Lobby were perfect, only embellished with the word “love” in script.

Our cake was simple as well, white on white, with dots.  It was beautiful enough to be used as a wedding cake.

Since our cake was ordered plain with just the dots, we needed a cake topper to complete. I found this elegant gold cake topper on Amazon.  Gold script, “love”.  Perfect!

To bring in a little more gold I spray painted thrift store frames gold, framing photos and favorite sayings.

We served punch, both plain, and spiked with a bit of vodka.  Serving punch was a must for me so that I could use my $3.00 thrift store punch bowl.

Isn’t is gorgeous? Seriously, only $3.00.

Served the punch in my stemless wine glasses along with gold and white straws. Although not shown in this photo, I made a fruit filled ice ring ahead of time which is always a must when serving punch.

We served a light lunch, small sandwiches, turkey, chicken salad, roast beef, and egg salad, also a colorful bowl of cut fruit, veggies and dip.

While we were all enjoying lunch we played a video, a “he said, she said” thing!  We ask our bride questions and played the groom’s answers. It was so cute!  Questions like, favorite song, movie, and what attracted you to each other.

At Christmas gatherings we have been playing a gift pass game, passing gifts when the words left and right are mentioned.  My Sister wrote a sweet story of the bride and groom’s first meeting using the words left and right. Everyone selected a wrapped gift, some large, some small. Guests passed the gifts to the left and to the right, at the end of the story the gift you ended with was yours to keep.  We did allow everyone one chance to steal another guest’s gift before the end.

Other games included, an ongoing Ring Game.  Guest with the most “bling” won!

Who’s Got the Groom.

Using a template of a tuxedo, I added heads of famous people including the groom.  Placed each one in an envelope with a gold glitter heart, opened at the very end of the shower, guest with the groom won!

Big Screen Romances.

Name the movie, the actress, and the actor.  Guest with the most correct answers won a beautiful turquoise bowl for popcorn and of course, popcorn!

The last game was an older one used at many showers over the years, but we wanted to bring something sentimental to our shower so we used our Mother’s apron as a prop.  Mother is with the Lord now, she was such a force of love in all of our lives, including our bride’s.

Filled the apron with many things, had our bride wear the apron walking around the room for a few minutes, guests then had to write down as many items as they could remember.  The guest with the best memory won!

As our quests were leaving we gave favors as a “thank you”, hand soaps from Bath and Body Works, and a cute pack of embellished “tic tacs”, easy to make by printing on adhesive backed paper used to cover the Tic Tac logo.

Our shower was simple, elegant in ways, fun, and so very special for our bride.  When love is involved special things happen, this shower was filled with love for my niece, my sister’s granddaughter.

The wedding is in a couple of days, the family is gathering, it is a wonderful time for all of us.

Love to all today, hope you enjoyed the highlights of this “love” filled shower.