4th of July inspiration

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays.  I love summer bbq's, being with family, and watching fireworks. I love everything besides the decorations.  I don't know what it is about 4th of July decorations but there are not very many that I like.  I am not into lots of big bows and ribbons. 4th of July decorations have been stuck in the 90's!  Anyone else feel this way? I like more of the "vintage" look. I've been looking around to find some "up to date" decor.  Here are a few of my inspirations for crafts and decorating this season.

             4th of July Mantel @ hoosier homemade                  

Burlap Flag Wreath @ The Scrap Shoppe Blog 

Vintage Flag @ Mamie Janes

Table decor @ Simply Stunning Ideas

Table display @ Cherished Treasures

Patriotic pickle jar Eighteen 25

Apothecary bean jar @ Makoodle

I hope this gives you some inspiration!  If you have any good ideas send them our way!

-Christy

crepe paper wreath

I made this wreath 2 years ago for Mother's Day and I still pull it out every spring.  I got the idea from The House of Smiths. This crepe paper wreath is so easy (very time consuming) and inexpensive.  

All you need is

a piece of wood for the frame

a foam wreath

crepe paper

and lots of hot glue

Since I made this 2 years ago I didn't take pictures of the steps. But if you click here you will find a great tutorial from The House of Smiths.

Enjoy!  If you are liking our blog we would love your pins and for you to follow us!

- Christy

We've been featured!!

We are so excited to announce that we've been featured over on

{pocket change}

 for their best of the web series. We were so flattered they had found our blog and wanted to put it out their on their website. So- thank you pocketchange.com we are truly honored!! :) Everyone go over and take a peek and share the love :)

Thanks for reading!!

Happy Friday everyone- have a fun and looooong weekend! :)

Cake and Casserole Tray

Our cute friend Jillian made this adorable tray. I love that it is deep enough to put a casserole dish or a cake pan in it.  There have been so many times I need to take a hot pan to a party and I have no idea how to transport it.  With this tray you can arrive in style. 

Jillian was sweet enough to do a guest post for us on how she made it.

 I absolutely fell in LOVE with this when I saw it. It was sooo simple to make and only cost me under $10 to build {not including serving dish} I got this idea from shanty-2-chic Her ideas are always so cute and so simple I knew even I could make this :) This is a gift for my mother in law who is always hosting parties and making meals for others so it was an ideal present for her. It works great to carry hot platters and holds up to a 9x13 pan. I think this tray would also look great on a coffee table with a vase of flowers and picture frame in it.

You start off with 2 1x4 furring strips from Lowe's found in the lumber dept. They only cost 1.99 ea! You will also need wood glue, stain, finish nails, handles and spray paint for your handles. You cut 2 pieces at 10.5" (short ends) , 2 pieces at 17.5"(long ends) and 3 pieces at 16" (bottom slats). Attach it with wood glue and finish nails. Let it dry completely before staining. I just used a soft cloth to rub the stain on. Then I purchased my handles on sale at Hobby Lobby for 1.50 ea. Spray painted them with an ivory color and sanded the edges a bit.





 I added a cute serving platter {$8 at Ross} and tied some ribbon around it! I love the end result!

We hope you enjoy this great DIY project

Coral & Mint

Coral & mint are still our favorite colors. We love the duo for jewelry, clothing, nail polish, flowers, and if either of us were getting married they would be our wedding colors.  You get the point, we love coral & mint!

We put together a little collage of our favorite Pinterest picks to give you a visual of how great these colors are.  What are your favorite colors right now?

- Christy & Chelsie 

The start of summer nights

I already blogged about this on my { personal blog } but it's just too cute to not share on here too :) As everyone already knows Christy and I love our girls nights. Randomly yesterday I got a free molten cake from Chilis -mmmmmm- so I asked if she wanted to go with me! She picked Kennedy up from my house and then met me there after work with the little bff's. It was such a perfect start to the summer nights we love so much.

After we ate we went outside and watched the girls show off their tumbling skills while Christy and I did what we do best. Blog/FB stalk ;)

We were outside utnil it started to get dark.

It really made us so excited for summer!!

There is so much to look forward to.

AND if all goes as planned we will both be moving into amazing houses.

Sister wives style.

Kidding ;)

How silly are these girls?
I have no idea where they would be without each other.
They said they'll be BFF's just like their moms forever ;)

Sometimes we have the best nights doing nothing- We're so easy to entertain!

Happy Thursday!!
Love- Chels

Picture Frame to Decorative Tray

I am always looking for cheap ways to decorate. This tray cost me under $10.  I picked up this frame from the DI for $2 and spray painted it white. I added a little stain to give it an older look.

I used the cardboard that came with the frame and covered it in fabric.  I probably could have come up with a better way to secure it, but hey taping it was easy and fast!

I picked up some drawer handles from Home Depot and screwed them in.  Put it on your coffee table or use it as a serving tray. 

I hope you like this project.

 Christy

Linking up to someday crafts, Polkadot Pretties, Thirty handmade days, Not Just a Housewife, seven thirty three

Sweet Avery's First Birthday Party

My cute friend { Amanda } has the sweetest baby girl, Avery. She turned one and I knew her party was going to be amazing. Amanda has the best talent in crafting. She amazes me with what she does!! You are going to love this birthday party- I told her she has to plan my kids' parties from here on out ;) Love you mand!!

Avery ;)

THE cutest 1 year old you'll ever see

 Really??

  How CUTE is this table.

She served all of Avery's 'Favorites'

Ice cream-Gumballs-String Cheese-Juice Box's-Rice Krispies-Animal Crackers-Strawberries

 

Her cupcake cake ;)

  And- all of the kids loved the balloon party favors.
Such a good idea!!



Sweet Kennedy and Sophie

                                                     

Me and my babes. Oh man I love when we capture a smile on Jagger.
It's rare.



My gorgeous sister and her boyfriend- Tyson.
PS- I'm obsessed with her outfit.
{Forever 21}



Me and the birthday girl!!

Cutest party ever right?
Happy birthday cute girl!!
xo
Chels

DIY Blogger House

Have you heard about this? I went over to The House of Smiths and saw this banner.

Since I was about 10 years old my family and I go go to the Parade of Homes every year, and dream of having a beautiful custom home.  This year my favorite bloggers will be designing the interior of one of the homes.

They have less than 90 days to work on this home and they will all blog about the experience along the way.  The house will be open to the public August 3rd through August 18th.

Chelsie and are so excited because we will both be moving into new homes this year, and I am sure they will give us tons of ideas on how to decorate our own homes.

- Christy

Last Minute Mother's Day Gifts

If you are anything like me you have been thinking about what to get your mom for weeks.  I am also great at procrastinating so I am scrambling today trying to get some gifts.  I found some adorable printables on Pinterest that I wanted to share with you.


Head over to the The Crafting Chicks for the adorable questionnaires.  I am going to have my daughter fill on out for my mom.  I think I am also just gonna slip her one to fill out about me as well.  These will be so great to look back on.

You can do like the girls at Crafting Chicks did and put it in the inside of a card. 

Kim over at seven thirty three has this adorable room service door hanger for Mom to hand pick her breakfast in bed. 

I hope all you Moms have a wonderful Mother's Day.

- Christy 

DIY Mother's Day Picture Blocks

A couple of weeks ago Chelsie and I headed over to Tiffany's from Mrs. This and That to work on a Mother's Day project. This project was super easy and fast.

1. Tiffany had some pieces of scrap wood we used for the blocks.  We used 2x4 but you could use any size you want depending on the size of your picture.
2. Paint the wood the color of your choice.
3. Stain the wood for an antique aged look.
4. Use Mod Podge to glue your picture to the block, and a thin layer over the top of your picture for nice finishing touch.

After everything dries you may want to sand down the edges of the picture and distress the wood to your liking. Chelsie and I chose to add some twine, and Tiffany added some scrapbook paper, a button, and a rub on.  You can embellish this block as much as you like.

Enjoy- Christy & Chelsie



We are linking up to Polkadot Pretties, Someday Crafts, Delectable Home, crafty scrappy happy, just us four

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

This week we are celebrating Nurse's Week and Teacher Appreciation Week.  Nurses week has been awesome for me.  My coworkers and I have received gift cards, presents, raffle prizes, and yummy treats everyday. I was asked if I wanted to take a little something to my daughters teacher, and of course I said yes.  I saw this cute idea over at eighteen 25.  I picked up a little planter in the dollar section at Target, and headed over to Bath and Body Works for some yummy gifts. Bath and Body Works also has free cellophane bags for gifts like these. I was a little bummed they wouldn't let me buy there berry basket display! 

If you head over to eighteen 25 you can get this free printable!

I also love this great idea from tater tots and jello, such a cute way to dress up a gift card. 

Another creative idea from eighteen 25 (can you tell I love their blog).

Don't forget to send your love to all the nurses and teachers in your life!

-Christy 

Lagoon: It's what fun is

Every year Christy and I get season passes to lagoon!! We really act just like our little girls there- It's so fun. We are going to try and go every Sunday she doesn't work. It isn't as busy on sundays so that's SO nice to not have to wait in super long lines. We rode almost every ride in about 2 hours there were literally 50 people in the whole park. And- Christy managed to hold her throwing up in ;) Man I miss being a little kid when you could ride on rides for hours straight and never get nauseous. One of our favorite things besides the rides is walk around the pioneer park area. It was such a ghost town today!

Oh- and the people watching really is the best.

I really don't understand why some people leave their house to go

out into public places the way some do!

Of course they wanted to ride together on every one.
Just so they can see who can keep their hands up higher.
And hold onto each other when they're nervous

I have the biggest fear of the rocket. I will go on every ride except that.

Christy bribed me with buying me ice cream

Pshh. who says bribery doesn't work ;)

This is me right before the rocket. I am trying to look brave.
I told Christina I felt like I was going to pee my pants
I didn't.
Go me :)

And leave it ot me to lose those season passes within the first 30 minutes we got them.
Christy looked at me and said she wasn't even surprised
I don't blame her.
I really do lose everything

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.
Here's to an amazing week!!

ps- if you read our cute blog, follow it!! we would love you forever ;)
xo
Christy and Chel

and thank you instagram for all of our pictures for this post!
follow us!!-
@chelsiedam
&
@christyloo88