Friday, July 9, 2010

Beach Bums

I've just meandered off the beach, strolled back to the house, splashed water on my feet so as not to bring too much sand in the house with me, and plugged in my computer.  Phew!  I'm tired.  All of that hard work, just to check in and say we are enjoying the blessings that the beach brings to our little family and life has been very, very good.

There has been a heatwave in these parts for the past ten days, but at the beach we've had a pleasant breeze to help keep us cool.  Our fourth of July was celebrated with gusto, and after two of us had suffered the stomache flu a few days earlier, we were ready to celebrate.


Prior to our personal flu epidemic, Emmy and I had grand plans for decorating the beach house.  Illness dampened our efforts, but we did get these made:


Unfortunately, we forgot about thumbtacks to hang them up, so they sit in a basket for this year.  Hopefully, we will be able to store them so that they can be used next year.  I found the idea here, but used scrapbooking paper instead of the fabric Martha recommends....  Super quick and easy.  Using 12x12 scrapbooking paper, I cut strips to be 5 1/2 x 12 for the smallest stars, and then for the larger ones I put 2 together of 8x12's or 10x12's.  I used glue dots to hold everything together.  This will make much more sense after you read the original directions at the link above.  I think these would be adorable for lots of different celebrations just by altering the paper (or fabric if you are that adventerous) to the theme of the party! 

Just don't forget the thumbtacks!

There is much more that we've been up to, but I'll have to save that for another post, because right now I have to tell you how thrilled and humbled I am that my blog has been spotlighted on a positively splendid blog that I so enjoy reading and where I find inspiration aplenty!!  Awhile back, I won a giveaway that Amy was doing on her blog.  The prize: a framed silhouette vignette of my babies!!  I sent her pictures via email, requested the colors I wanted and she blew me away with the results!  It is at my home (and I am at the beach) so I haven't seen it in person yet, but she posted it on her blog today, so I did get to see it.  Look what she created!


I am thrilled beyond words (okay, well there are these words, but you know what I mean) with what she was able to do.  And she even has a tutorial on her site for creating a silhouette of your own.  Like I said, her blog is so inspiring, and from the interactions I've had with her, she is a really sweet person.  Check out her blog: http://www.positivelysplendid.com/  I know you'll leave there feeling the same way I do!

Well, that's enough excitement for this evening.  Next time the breeze blows me in off the beach, I'll check in with more!  Until then,