Holidays - 11/15 - Views From the Ville

I really enjoy crafting and DIY, especially when it centers around holidays. Now that Bubbles is on a better napping schedule, I sometimes find myself with 30 or so minutes in the afternoon where I can work on some of the projects I’ve had in mind for awhile. The Fourth of July is less than a week away now, and it happens to rank right up there as one of my favorite holidays, so I decided to make a little something to decorate with.

I had a new set of Elmer’s Paint Markers that I wanted to test out and came up with the idea for a Fourth of July-themed serving dish. It’s a really easy project and can be as rustic or as finished as you’d like it to be.

DIY Fourth of July Serving Plate Continue reading »

I hope you all had a wonderful Father’s Day!

Many times for Father’s Day we grill out, but this year we decided to go with my corn chowder as the main course. It’s something everyone in the family will eat and we hadn’t made it in a long while. I always serve crumbled bacon and shredded cheese as chowder toppers, and normally I make some corn bread to go long with it. Hubby had been in the mood for dinner rolls, though, so we changed it up a little and had those, instead. The appetizers were also pretty low-key: chips and dip and my hot artichoke dip with crackers. Sometimes simple is all you need.

Father's Day Dinner

Our decorations were pretty low-key, as well. I purchased a mixed bouquet of “guy”-looking flowers and arranged them myself in a short, rectangular vase. I think they turned out nicely.

Father's Day Flowers

I also hung a garland of ties made from scrapbook paper that I found on clearance at one of the craft supply stores for 10 cents per sheet. Bubbles got hold of it before I could take a picture, though, and after she’d used it to drag around while she danced, it wasn’t very photo-ready. But it’s a really simple decoration to make. Just sketch out (or use a real tie or a printed template) a tie shape on the back side of the scrapbook paper and cut them out. Punch a hole in each corner of the “neck” part of the tie and thread some twine (or string or yarn) through and hang!

How did you all celebrate Father’s Day? Any special crafts, decorations or recipes you’d like to share?

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads, Da-Das, expectant Dads, Grandfathers, Grampies, Papaws, and all the other terms of affection your kiddos call you! Here’s a special wish from BRAVE’s Merida and her father.

Happy Father's Day

For as far back as I can remember, I have had a special place in my heart for the Hallmark store. It started even before I could form memories. It actually started before I was born, to be honest.

My grandmother began a tradition with her two daughters (my mom and her sister) of purchasing (or making) them each an ornament every year from the year they were born. The thought was that once they were grown and married they would have at least a few ornaments for their trees that first Christmas. As soon as Hallmark started selling Christmas ornaments (in 1973) my Gram began purchasing those.

Hallmark Father's Day Cards

Before moving to Louisville, I hadn’t heard of Cost Plus World Market. But during a shopping trip our first or second weekend in town, we stumbled across it in a new shopping area next to the malls. They had tons of products from all over the world – including lots of art, which is what we were looking for during our first few visits. This might sound silly, but at that time I also purchased a silicone spatula with a wooden handle for like $3 and it is still my go-to spatula all these years later.

I had wanted to do a little decorating for Memorial Day, but as there were just going to be a handful of us spending the day together (we had our big party on Sunday), I didn’t want to go all-out. So I went online to search for some fun, yet low-key, Americana items that I could use for Memorial Day. I wanted things that I could also keep and build on for the Fourth of July, when we usually have a big family gathering. I saw a number of cute things on the Cost Plus World Market website, and since it’s nearly across the road from Babies ‘R Us (where I needed to go to get Bubbles a new swimsuit), I thought I would stop in and see what they had.

Views From the Ville

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