Oh the Places You'll Go!

If you visited yesterday, you may remember me saying I would share my niece, Taylor's graduation party photos with you today. She wanted a travel theme and I was the decorator, so I gathered things from my house and got to work. It was such fun to put together and she loved it!

Here is the dessert table. There were three kinds of cupcakes and two desserts made by Taylor. She loves to bake! She wanted a food from each of the seven continents and two of them were sweets. 

Lamington is an Australian dessert. It is sponge cake dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut.

 It was really yummy!

Koeksister is an African sweet and is basically a twisted donut. I didn't eat one before they were gone, but I was told by several folks they were yummy!

I used one of my vintage globes and a smaller light up globe that I brought home from school in this vignette, along with a mason jar filled with fresh flowers. My niece, Shelby (Taylor's sister) works at a florist part time while she is working on her college degree. She put all the arrangements together and they were so pretty!

Here's a shot of the drinks and dessert table. We had two types of punch in green and blue to go with our theme, water, and sweet tea. The ice was the "food" from Antarctica...lol! 

The banner above the table says "Oh the Places You'll Go". I made it for Miranda's college graduation two years ago. Glad I saved it!

Each of the tables had a slightly different vignette. The tables were covered with brown craft paper and I used scrapbook papers as the base to the vignette. I used vintage books, scrabble pieces, apothecary jars, milk glass, small globes, a cloche, and blue and green mason jars to decorate with.

This one features a small cloche with photos of Taylor inside.

This one features my armillary.

An apothecary jars holds photos of Taylor as a baby here...:)

I used the extra scrabble tiles in an apothecary jar here. I love how the vignettes turned out...each one a little different.

Taylor enjoys painting, so a table was set up with small canvases and supplies for guests to paint. The paintings were for Taylor. She will put them all together to make one large piece of art to remember her special day.

Props for the photo booth. Lots of fun was had here...:)

One of the backdrops for the photo booth. I had my nephew, Nathan randomly place old Atlas pages on a large sheet of cardboard. Quick, free, and easy!

There were garlands of photos hanging all around the room. Such fun to look at all the photos!

The gift table.

Taylor's globe is on this table, along with a few things my sister picked up for the party. 

Love the quote on this artwork she bought for her.

I made this tiny banner for her cards. 

Sign-in book to write messages for Taylor...:)

The napkins and plates were set inside a vintage suitcase that belongs to my daughter, Miranda but used to belong to my Granny Valentine. Miranda's room is decorated in a vintage travel theme.

The other end of the food table got a vignette as well. This globe came from my classroom. The little trunk box is Miranda's and another pretty bouquet by Shelby. Love those orange Gerber daisies!

Taylor wanted sliders as the North American food, so Mama made a bunch of them!

I made bruschetta for Europe.

Asia was chicken curry which was made at the restaurant Taylor used to work at. 

It is her favorite dish from there.

I didn't get a picture of the South American dish...it was something from Trinidad and was made by our friend Martha who is from there. 

It was a fun day! It was especially nice to have all of my and my sister, Nancy's kids together at the same time. With Miranda living in Tallahassee, Shelby living in Gainesville, and the oldest four all working, it is hard to get them all together at once. We took a picture of them in age order below. Miranda and Dakota are mine and the other five are Nancy's....but I love them like they are mine too!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I am looking forward to spending Father's Day with the hubby and Dakota. Miranda had to go back home last night since she was singing in church this morning. We are trying to decide where to go for lunch and I have to buy groceries if we plan to eat this week as well! 

Have a blessed day all...until next time......

Catching Up!

Can I just say....I love weekends! I have had a busy week and am so happy the weekend is here. My last day of school was Monday but Tuesday through Friday I attended a professional development math workshop over an hour away from home. There were seven of us that went and I learned a few new things. I definitely have a different perception of math and teaching math after this week. I'm looking forward to making some changes in my curriculum for next school year. Anywho, yesterday was my son's 19th birthday, so after the workshop, I came home and made lasagna and Texas toast, and cookie pudding for dessert. That was his request. We had our family over and celebrated my mama's birthday (hers is Sunday) and Father's Day as well. June is a busy month around here! To make it even busier, we celebrated my niece, Taylor's graduations today. I'll be sharing pictures tomorrow. She wanted a travel theme and I was the decorator...lots of fun! So...this evening, I am too pooped to party any longer. I decided to kick back in the recliner and take it easy for the rest of the day. That decision led me to pop in the SD card from the camera and see what I could share with you all...:)

First thing is these delicious fresh blueberries! Mama and Daddy picked about 10 gallons earlier this week. We are blessed to be able to pick all we want for free from a blueberry farm owned by my son's friend and his family. Aren't they gorgeous? They tasted just as good as they look! 

Here is one day's yield on Mama's dining room table...:) She puts a ton of them in the freezer for baking throughout the year and she made jam as well. Do you like blueberries? They are so good for you! Did you know they are in the top 10 healthy foods? 

While visiting and eating blueberries, I snapped a picture of one of the baby birds on Mama's front porch. The mom built her nest in the angel wing begonia hanging on the front porch. The babies are getting big...:) 

We went outside to walk and I snapped a couple pictures of two pretty dragonflies. I love the bright green on this one.

And this one is a pretty shade of blue.

Up the road, we heard a rustle in the leaves on the side of the road and saw this little guy. Do you see him? Know what it is?

Many of you have probably never seen one in real life. It's an armadillo. One of the strangest looking creatures on Earth. This one is a baby. As we say around here..it's so ugly, it's cute! LOL

Monday, I only had to work a couple hours and then I had to go to our neighboring town to the school district's transportation department to pick up a van to drive our group to the workshop through the week. While I was in town, I went by one of my favorite consignment shops and found two things worthy of bringing home. First is this wooden box. It's an interesting box, it reminds me of an old school desk with the way the lid slants. It will be getting a paint job and either live on my husband's night stand to hold "stuff" or possibly turned into a charging station for our phones. It was $1.99.

The other item is this white pitcher/creamer. I like the raised berry and vine design on it and for $1, it had to come home and join my collection...:) The awesome thing was that this is the consignment I sell my clothes and things in and I actually had over $100 in my account, so I had her cut me a check....:)

So..that's my week in a nutshell! I have a reading/writing workshop all next week at the same place, so another busy week ahead. I leave a week from tomorrow for a two day conference in Tampa as well. I am really excited about that one! I'll be back tomorrow to share some pictures from the graduation party. Hope your Saturday has been a good one!

Until next time.....

 

 

A Fun Birthday Weekend

Hello friends....how was your weekend? Mine was great! It started with my yummy birthday dinner at mama and daddy's house on Thursday night. My sister gave me this adorable little honey jar and a Michael's gift card and my parents gave me money which I used for a pedicure.

Friday, I wrapped up almost everything at school. All I have left to do is clean a couple desks (I ran out of Magic Erasers Friday), and sign cumulative folders in the guidance office and I am done! Only two hours of work tomorrow and then four days of training. I enjoy those though...:) Anywho, on the way home Friday, I stopped by a yard sale. Actually it isn't really a yard sale. An older lady who lives up the road shops estate sales and resells items at an old house she has turned into a boutique/shop. She has all kinds of things and I have seen most of them already, but I did find something to bring home. I liked this pretty silk arrangement in a painted white metal pitcher.

When I pulled up in my yard Friday afternoon,  I noticed my hydrangea is blooming. I had been so busy all week I hadn't even noticed. I love the periwinkle blue color...it's my favorite!

Saturday morning, my sister, mama, and I went for pedicures. We made our appointments a while ago to all go together...:) On the way, we stopped by a yard sale and I got a couple things. 

Look at this beautiful brass bubble glass frame. It is so pretty and quite large. I like the painting inside, but it will probably be replaced with something more my style and I'm sure I will paint the frame. I spotted this on a table right away and was scared to ask how much it was, but I did and the buy said $3! I quickly snatched it up and ran...lol! It is rare to find a convex glass frame of this size for that price. I was tickled pink!

Here's a closer picture of the painting.

I also bought this metal, oval frame for $1. It's about 9 inches high. I have a thing for oval frames...I have several of them in all different sizes. They are so pretty painted to me.

Here's our pedicures...from top to bottom, Nancy (my sister), mama, and me! This was such a nice, relaxing way to end an incredibly busy week!

 I also got a much needed haircut after my pedi! After that we went to lunch. It was a really nice girl's day out...:) We also made appointments to go back again in August...:)

 I keep forgetting to share this vase with you. My sister bought it for me at a thrift store a couple weeks ago. It is like milk glass with a flower frog lid. I love it!

Here's the lid.

OK...back to the weekend. Last night, my sister and I met my best friend for dinner. We always get together for our birthdays. She made me this delicious cake...it's my favorite! I'm telling you, it tastes even better than it looks...absolutely divine! Three layers of white cake with buttercream frosting and strawberries between each layer....Mmmm!

We met at a new restaurant (in an old building). I have been wanting to try it since it opened a few weeks ago. It's in the Putnam Lodge, which you may remember me talking about in this post.

I love the amethyst colored glass knobs on the front doors as well as the key holes...so cool!

Here's a small portion of the front of the building. Not the greatest pictures, but I forgot my camera and had to take them with my iPhone.

When you enter the building, you can see the long sun porch to the left. You can dine in this area too. I love the arched windows on the left. 

Here are those windows from the outside of the building.

I didn't take many pictures, but I will try to remember my camera next time I go.

Moving on through the weekend...

Sunday morning, the hubby, Joey and I took Dakota birthday shopping in Gainesville. His birthday is on the 13th and the Joey's is on the 23rd. We're all June babies...:) Actually we all did a little birthday shopping. First stop though was Pepper's for a yummy Mexican lunch. We let Dakota choose the place and I was happy with his choice since Mexican food is my favorite! Here's my lunch below...I had already cut my chimichanga up before I thought to take a picture. It was so tasty!

We stopped by several stores, including Rack Room Shoes, Old Navy, Target, Michael's , and Party City. I had to pick up a few things for my niece, Taylor's graduation party next weekend. And of course, I had to go by Michael's since I had a gift card! I only found a few things though, so I still have money to spend. At Target, I bought a cute new pair of sandals and this cool galvanized orb. I will leave it alone for now, but I am sure I will eventually paint it. It was on the clearance aisle and I thought it would look great on the new bookshelves we are planning to build this summer.

After a day shopping, we were all tired, so we headed home. Joey and I went down to share my birthday cake with mama and daddy. They love Jeana's cakes too and as much as I love it, I needed to get it out of the house so I wouldn't eat it all. I'm trying to eat better this summer and hopefully shed a few unwanted pounds. So, that's my weekend in a nutshell. I'm off to put in my last two hours at school and then pick up one of our district vans since I'm driving our group to the training in Gainesville this week. After that, I'll be coming home to clean my neglected house. Maybe I'll even have time to finish a project I started a couple weeks ago. If so, I'll share it with you tomorrow.

 Until next time.....

Buzzing By for a Quick Update!

Hello everyone! I'm still alive...even though it's been over a week since my last post. I tell ya...the end of the school year is just madness for a teacher...lol! My personal life has been busy as well and everything together has left little time for creativity or thrifting, which means I have nothing much to share. I also haven't had time to reply to comments...I am so sorry for that. I really like to reply as they come in, but I haven't been able to and they piled up on me and I just don't have the time to answer them all. I am so very sorry...I dearly love your comments and will try harder. I do have just a couple things to share today. Not much creativity required as I got the idea from my blog buddy Donna from Distressed Donna Down Home. If you don't know her, you really must go visit! Anywho, if you have visited recently, you may know I decided to create a subtle milk and honey theme in my kitchen and dining room. And you may have seen the shelf below. Do you notice anything different on it?

Maybe this close-up will help. Like my new bouquets...aren't they the coolest? Donna gave me this idea and of course I loved it and had to immediately go to Amazon and find some honey dippers. I got a good deal on this set of six...just a little over $1 each! I had thought about painting them, but am liking the natural look for now.

Cute...right?

At least I think so...:)

While I was placing an order, I had to add a couple things to my cart. I'm an Amazon Prime member and love ordering things I don't have to pay shipping on. I had seen this post-it not holder on a blog recently and loved it. I had to have it for my desk at home. It is glass and cork and I love it!

Out of the packaging...:) I love pop-up post-it notes and normally the holders are plastic with a weighted base to allow you to pull the post-in note up. The glass on this one works as the weight...so much pretties than a plastic one. And as some of you know, I am an office supply snob and only use Post-it brand!

My final purchase was this devotional book.....

My sweet blog friend, Cecilia from The B Farm recommended it to me a while back. I had mentioned that the hubby and I were both having some health issues and she thought I might enjoy this devotion book. I had heard about it already, so I decided I needed to check it out. Thanks Cecilia...:)

Well, I said I didn't have much to share and I was right! I don't foresee much creativity happening until the end of June. I have one and a half days left with my kinders and I work a couple hours Monday and then I have  4 days of  training, a 5 day training, and an out of town 2 day training in Tampa. That one will be fun since we will stay a couple nights...and there is an Ikea there! I have several items for home and school on my Ikea wish list! I can hardly believe this year is over! I have been busy making a slide show of pictures from the year and I burned dvd's for my kinders to take home. We watched it today and they loved it. One of my little girls came up to me and said "this kind of makes me want to cry." I told her it was ok...it did make me cry while putting it together with some special songs. They have grown so much...in more ways than one! I sure do love my other 19 kids and will miss them. Tomorrow is our big waterslide party and they are over the moon excited! It's my birthday as well, so I will be partying all day! After school, mama is cooking supper for us....homemade chicken alfredo and fresh blueberry pies. She and daddy picked a few gallons today and she said they are good ones. I can't wait...:) I'll try to take pictures to share...:) And after waterslide day...I will be too tired to cook...again! I haven't cooked all week! This is the norm for the first and last weeks of school though....busy, busy, busy!

Until next time.....