I am excited about the new vintage hardare collection that PB is introducing next month.
It's kind of amazing what adding this little detail to an existing piece can do to elevate its look.  

They will be available for purchase on July 19th.
 
What do you think--do you have a favorite?   

                                                
                                   Maris and Jack were in the kitchen deciding on lunch options.
                       Jack discovered the {never before eaten} Velveeta Macaroni bowls that his
                                                       sister had just purchased at the store.

Jack:  Cool...
           He then proceeded to add water and put it in the microwave. 
           About 4 minutes later, Jack is eating the macaroni and I overhear this:
Jack:    Holy Cow!
Maris:  what?!
Jack:   Oh my goodness!!
Maris:  WHAT?!
Jack:    It's like CHRISTMAS IN MY MOUTH!!
Maris:  Yep.

  Go get you some.
                       
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember me telling you about the wellies I ordered? 

Thought you might like to see how pretty they are:  



Considering the crazy storms we have been enduring lately, they are actually getting quite a bit of wear.



Happy Holidays, peeps.

I love you more than all the blades of grass.....
  
Thinking of you today and wishing we were together
 
XOXO

Our county must hold some kind of record for the longest school year. Our last day of classes
was Wednesday. As in day before yesterday. Isn't that crazy?? 

Graduation was last night and Maris has been dreading it. She has so many girlfriends that
graduated and she misses them already. She wanted to create a good-bye gift for several of them. 
She decided to make each lady a card that had pictures of their special times together--sleepovers,
dances, prom, and parties.



She simply folded an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of cardstock in half and 'shopped' my studio for 
paint chips, scrapbook papers, stamps and circle cutters.

 
 
Last year, as a freshman, Maris had the same anxiety as most upon entering high school {pretty sure it
was nothing compared to my anxieties!} With her involvement in so many sports and clubs, she met many upperclassmen. A special group 'adopted' my girl. It can't be easy for Juniors and Seniors
 to befriend a freshman.   



But these ladies opened their arms to her and amazing friendships were formed. I could not have
hand-picked better mentors. These girls excelled in sports, academics, leadership and their faith.



Inside, she wrote what each girl meant to her and how much she admired them. Words are
Maris' love language and it took her a long time to complete each one.   

The cards needed an envelope. This is not a standard stocked size. I remembered seeing a tutorial
over at Jones Design Company just the day before on how to make super cute fabric envelopes.
Since I have enough fabric to set up a sweat shop, we went this route.
 


Each envelope was created with 2 coordinating fabrics. 
{check out Emily's blog for directions--we tweaked ours just a bit}



A little velcro, attached with hot glue, keeps it closed.






She made sweet fabric flowers with scraps. The center of each was a little covered button. 
Covered button kits are great and super easy to make. 

       
{via Imagine Fabric}   




Along with each card, she tucked a CD she burned full of their favorite songs and a necklace.

{

{check out Humanite for great jewelry, clothes, shoes  EVERYTHING!!}

I know these talented, beautiful girls are going to do some extraordinary things in our world.
 Maris eloquently let each know how much they meant to her, but, they may not know how much
 I appreciate them--how many prayers I have been prayed for them. The strongest influence on a
teenagers life is the example you set with your own life.

 Thank-you Sarah, Kayla, Maddie and Alex for your example. We will miss you!!.