Rest in Peace Molly

My parent's had to put their fur baby down last night.  Her liver was causing her problems and when my mom looked in her eyes, she knew Molly was ready to cross over the rainbow bridge.  As soon as I answered the phone last night and heard my mom's voice, I knew what was happening and I broke down in tears too.  This year has been a rough one for our family when it comes to loss and this just added more heartache.  

Molly was 13 years old and lived a long, wonderful life.  She was buried next to my brother's dog Muttley and will always be remembered.  We love you and will miss you Molly Marie.  Rest in peace my sweet, furry, chocolate sister.

Showcasing Idaho, my home state!

Last week was a big, busy week but I have some fun stuff to show you!  The College I work for inaugurated its 13th President who also happens to be its first woman president.  We started out with Founder's Day on Wednesday, which also happens to be our 125th year.  There was cake and a sparkling cider toast.  No, I didn't make this cake but I did make the topper!

On Thursday we had the actual inauguration during the afternoon.  After the very formal ceremony, there was a reception for the public.  I made very simple centerpieces using the new stemmed glasses from The Pioneer Woman's new collection at Wal-Mart.  The purple glasses were perfect for us and I am sure we will use them for many other things. 

Yellow carnation and babies breath were inside the glass and a pretty gold garland went around the base.  I also made the programs pictured below. 

But my most favorite thing of all of this is the centerpieces I made for the Inauguration Dinner.  The new president wanted to highlight our beautiful state of Idaho as best we could.  She wanted Idaho Salmon, Idaho potatoes and local veggies on the menu.  I was in charge of making sure the centerpieces were Idaho-centric as well! 

I thought of a lot of different things and finally settled on this.  They turned out amazing!  I found vintage labels from fruit orchards right here in our town.  I scanned them and printed them off in different sizes.  Everyone in my office was tasked with saving all the tin cans they could.  Once I had all 39 cans collected, I went about pasting the labels onto the cans.   

I ordered succulents off of Amazon which I highly recommend!  They came perfectly packaged and ready to plant.  We took a Friday afternoon to plant them in the cans which was really fun.  We also needed table numbers so I took small pieces of tree stump, hand printed the letters and asked the boy in the office to drill holes and insert paper straws in to them.  

Last but not least, I put all of this on a slice of Idaho wood, went around campus clipping some leaves and berries off of trees and set it all up.  The centerpieces were perfect and the new President loved them!  This was such a fun project and I felt so happy to help show the out of towners just what an amazing state Idaho is.  We also served all Idaho wine and gave out wine stoppers as party favors.  

My first Inauguration was a huge success!

Linking Up With:

Amaze Me Monday

Cooking & Crafting with J & J
The Art of Homemaking Monday
Show & Share
Vintage Inspiration

Teacup Exchange

What's the best way to help add something to your collection?  Join an exchange!  I joined Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose for her latest teacup exchange.  I only have 8 teacups in my little collection, but I am slowly adding to it and it is so much fun!

All the way from New Zealand came a package just for me!  Shane from Roses, Lace & Brocante sent me this beautiful teacup with sweet yellow and purple flowers and a pretty green trim.  I don't have any in this color so it's perfect! 

She sent a fun New Zealand tea towel, cupcake papers and picks, gingerbread, chocolate fish and a beautiful shabby chic style magazine.  I can't understand the words, but I can understand the beautiful images inside! 

This is a Royal Albert tea cup and is so dainty and sweet.  I need to get something soon so that my little collection can be out on full display for everyone to see. Thank you Shane for such a wonderful and generous exchange!

I sent a teacup to Kelly from Dreaming of Vintage.  I had the hardest time finding the right teacup and when I finally saw this one, I knew it was the one I'd been waiting for! 

The pretty pastel colors are so unique and the little flower painted on the inside of the cup sealed the deal.  Kelly says that in the sunlight, the cup glistens! 

There wasn't any real mark on the bottom to tell you the brand of this cup so I am not sure who made it.  I just know that it is a lovely little set! 

I also made her some tags using upholstery webbing from an old, old chair that I salvaged.  The age on the webbing is very neat and is pretty stiff still so it worked great for these tags. 

I hope you enjoyed your goodies Kelly and thank you Stephanie for the wonderful teacup exchange!

Look what I found!  I have been wanting some of these vintage metal chairs for awhile and when a friend posted her mother-in-laws yard sale on Facebook with a picture of 4 of these, I told her I would take them right away!  This will be a fun winter project for Cody and I, we just need to decide on a color!

Linking up with:

Tea Time Tuesday

Friends Sharing Tea

Tea Cup & Mug Exchange #7

I've been busy making centerpieces again!

Oh boy have I been busy at work!  So busy, I haven't had time to work on my own things so I thought I would share all the centerpieces I have been putting together lately.  Our first big event of the new school year was our 125 Year Kick-off Celebration.  It was a big party for all of campus and was held on Labor Day.  We had a band, a DJ, a rock climbing wall, inflatables, yard games, food, drinks, a photo bus and giveaways.  The centerpieces were the newest purple mason jars filled with paper straws.  I bought purple and gold paper straws and made little flags with our 125 logo on it.  Four out of the 16 centerpieces were stolen...should I take that as a compliment?

This week was Homecoming at the College and I did centerpieces for 3 different events.  The first one was on Thursday night and it was an awards ceremony so celebratory centerpieces were requested.  I had a small budget and needed to use fresh flowers.   

I put both of these centerpieces together for a little over $12.  We have a nice inventory of vases so the only cost was the flowers.  Our colors are purple and gold in case you hadn't figured that out yet! 

The wine tasting event centerpieces were put together at the last minute but they are one of my favorites.  I spent nothing on them either!  I took wine glasses and filled them with wine corks, set it on a wood slice and placed some sparkly plastic grapes around it.  They were a hit! 

Friday night was the Dinner Under the Lights.  Neat lights were hung out in the quad and there were 2 sides set up with banquet tables.  There was only supposed to be one table but a lot of people came so we had to change our original plan. The sunflowers were picked on the side of the road and the other flowers were purchased.  I put together about 26 centerpieces in various sizes of these glass lanterns from World Market.  Some had flowers and some had candles.  I hear the dinner was beautiful! 

We have a new president of our college and I will soon be sharing my centerpieces for her inauguration dinner.  Her only request was that I showcase Idaho as much as possible.  It took me a while, but I have finally figured out what I am going to do and I can't wait to show you after the event!

Today is my birthday and this is what my office looked like on Friday.  I got a gift card, a pie and they bought me a birthday princess tiara to wear at the football game yesterday.  Cody is making me finger steaks for dinner and tomorrow my work friends are taking me out to lunch.  I am definitely spoiled!

Linking Up With:

Five Star Frugal

Submarine Sunday
Amaze Me Monday
Cooking & Crafting with J & J
Show & Share
Roses of Inspiration

A little bag of sunshine to brighten someone's day

My sister-in-law's father passed away on Saturday.  I want nothing more than to give her my shoulder to cry on and help take away her heartache and pain.  She's a private person and doesn't want to burden anyone with her sorrow.  But I have to do something for her to let her know that I am grieving the loss as well.  I decided that what she needed was a little bag of sunshine to brighten her day.

I went on a shopping spree and found a bunch of fun, yellow things to remind her of the sun.  Her favorite candies are Sour Patch Kids and Lemonheads and the colors go with my cheerful theme.  There is also sticks of Crystal Light lemonade, Juicy Fruit gum, Airborne with Vitamin C, Morning Burst face wash and sparkly gold fingernail polish.  If I find anymore fun yellow things at the grocery store this evening, I will have to add them!

I put all of these goodies inside a cute little burlap basket with yellow bows and a yellow rolled paper rose.  I hope that this brings a bit of sunshine to her day, I know she needs it. 

This little bag of sunshine could be put together and used for anyone who needs some cheering up in one way or another.  I am sure there are so many more yellow things out there to fill this up and make someone's day.   

I have known her and her family almost all of my life.  I wasn't close to her dad but my heart is aching that he is gone at such a young age.  My nephew Fischer won't have any memories of him so I hope that they help him to remember who his papa was.  Rest in Peace JR, you will be missed by so many.

Linking up with:

Five Star Frugal

Late Summer Sunflowers in the Kitchen

Summer is slowly coming to an end here.  It's still hot out and there are fires all over Idaho with smoke choking us out everyday, but there are other things that let me know that Fall is just around the corner.  These sunflowers grow wild all over the place here.  Today, while out on a drive, we stopped to cut some so I could have a pretty little bouquet of them.  I sat them on my island next to some yellow squash.

Then I got stuff out to make some lemon flavored yellow squash bread and I saw the prettiest colors coming together to make a beautiful scene and I had to take pictures to share! 

The aqua, white and yellow look so pretty on my island in my kitchen. And the sunflowers make it feel even more lovely. 

I have been ready for summer to be over for quite awhile.  The heat and I don't get along!  The nights and mornings have been so cool that it makes me long for Fall even more.  When I smell the freshly cut alfalfa, see onions that were being hauled from the field all over the roads and see rows of corn growing so tall, I know we are getting closer and closer to my favorite season. 

These sunflowers are another sign and one that I can bring home with me as a reminder.  The smell of a freshly cut mint field in the evening as the sun sets so brightly in the sky is something everyone should have the pleasure of experiencing at least once in their lives.  I have been fortunate enough to experience evenings like that my whole life.

I always feel like I am rushing time by wishing for Fall to get here.  But seriously, I love everything about it.  Summer has its good moments, and we definitely enjoyed the BBQ's, camping and yard sales.  But I am a Fall girl through and through! 

One thing is for sure, I am going to be enjoying all that these late summer days still have to offer.  Maybe one more camping trip will be in store for us.  Maybe I will go cut some more sunflowers after these wilt.  Maybe we will have a few more BBQ's out on the patio.  I will savor it and look forward to Fall all at the same time!

I also forgot to mention earlier in the month that I won 2 first place blue ribbons at our county fair.  Both of the pictures that I entered won!  The categories I entered were portrait photography and black & white photography.  I was over the moon excited to see these blue ribbons hanging off my pictures!

Linking up with:

Submarine Sunday

Amaze Me Monday

Cooking & Crafting with J & J

The Art of Homemaking Mondays

Show & Share

Roses of Inspiration

Inspire Me Tuesday

Brag About It

Wow Us Wednesday

Sizzle into Summer

Worthwhile Wednesday

What's It Wednesday

Share Your Cup Thursday

Fabulous Fall Party

Share Your Style

Simple & Sweet Friday

Home Sweet Home

Feathered Nest Friday

Sock Monkey 1st Birthday Party & Cake Smash

My nephew Fischer turned a year old on August 12th.  His mom asked me to help plan his birthday party back in May and we decided to do a sock monkey birthday party.  Fischer was the cutest sock monkey you ever did see!

I designed and printed the invitations which is always something that I love to do.  They turned out so cute and everyone that got one loved it! 

Last Saturday we did his cake smash pictures.  My mom made his smash cake and at first he wasn't too sure what to think.  But he definitely had a great time with free reign on his cake.   

He even employed the help of a spoon.  He didn't let that spoon go for a long time.  Isn't he adorable? 

My sister-in-law found this adorable chalkboard on Etsy and was willing to pay big bucks for it.  I told her I could design it for her for free and it turned out perfect.  We had it printed at Walgreens on board.  This will be so fun to look back on over the years. 

I made this banner and my SIL added the pictures to it.  It was so cute hanging above the door to the patio.  My little sock monkey is just too sweet! 

These chalkboard picks are from Michaels and then I added felt monkeys from World Market to the top.  It was quite the feast of fried chicken, rolls, macaroni salad, taco salad, baked beans, hashbrown casserole, chips and fruit.   

My mom made his birthday cake as well.  It turned out so cute.  There were also cupcakes and of course everyone wanted one of each! 

Of course Fischer got spoiled and got lots of fun presents.  He wanted to play with each present that he opened as soon as he opened it.  This little monkey is definitely loved! 

I can't believe how fast the last year has gone by or how much I love my nephew. I have a hole in my heart that he has definitely filled in a little.  Happy 1st Birthday Fischer!  Auntie loves you soooooooooo much!