Red, White, and Blue

I've been very patiently waiting to post these set of pictures and crafts til after the holiday, so I could dedicate a whole blog to the festive crafts and food I made. On Pinterest awhile back, I found a lady who decorates her fireplace mantle for every holiday using either DIY crafts or cheap things found in the Dollar Tree that have been modified. With how obsessed I have been with DIY crafts and finding cheap/used things and redoing them I decided to make a mantle of my own.

Ta-da!! I was really happy for all of the pieces to come together for the mantle. Some of the pieces came from family (Mawmaw painted the rabbit on the far right--which as anyone knows touches my heart deeply) the flag sheep and candle beside it came from Mom, and then flags and red vase came from Pat Catans--all were super cheap! The vase was $3 and I'm pretty sure all of the flags and tiny red/white/blue balls cost under $2 altogether. The USA banner came from the dollar tree along with the star shaped glasses which are holding red, white, and blue glass circles which also came from dollar tree. The vase holding the red and blue flowers (also a dollar tree find) I believe came from my mom, and lastly the star banner came from my mom. My mom and grandma both were super into craft stores and I was taken to more craft shows in my life than I can count. On top of that, Mawmaw was the most crafty and artistic person I know, so I have some great hand me downs--just wait til Christmas :)

This little guy was another Pinterest find. I also decided I wanted to start making a wreath for our front door for every holiday. This was super easy to make, assemble, and hang. You just need clothes pins and a wire wreath to attach the clothes pins to. I found a wire wreath at Pat Catans, but it required some clipping of excess wire that I didn't need--that actually was the hardest part and required some manly muscles. I also found the wooden stars from Pat Catans and the clothes pins again at dollar tree so this whole project cost me under $10! 

 Brent and I headed down with some friends and his parents to watch the fireworks at Lakewood park. They were by far the best fireworks I've ever seen. The finale was like all of my hometowns fireworks combined into one set. They were incredible!

I worked the morning of the fourth of July--so of course I had to dress appropriately :)

We had friends over for a late lunch/early dinner for the fireworks. I made WAY too much potato salad, but we enjoyed corn on the cob from the West Side market, awesome stuffed burgers (which you can find at Wal-mart) and these little guys! The tips of my fingers might have ended up red and blue, but look how cute they turned out! 


As we were sitting at the fireworks, I decided how much I like Independence Day. Every person, no matter how old or young or how rich or poor can enjoy the Fourth of July and the loud colorful fireworks they bring, and I thought that was pretty neat. I hope everyone else enjoyed their holiday as much as we did.





Oh--I thought I would add in some recipes from food made over the course of the week as well, we tried some delicious new recipes

 This is creamy chicken and broccoli over rice which Brent and I both loved. I wouldn't recommend following this recipe unless you are feeding 4 or 5 people--it makes a lot!!! Get the recipe here: 
http://picky-palate.com/2007/12/17/creamy-crockpot-chicken-and-broccoli/

This is very similiar to pineapple upside down cake but is SO easy to make. I mean literally idiot proof. You take a can of diced pineapple and a box of angel food cake and stir it together. Seriously, that's it. Don't drain the pineapple juice and don't add any of the ingredients from the box of angel food cake. It is literally just the cake mix and the can of pineapple. You stir it together and it turns into the consistently of whipped cream. Pour into a cake pan and bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees! I topped my piece with a spoonful of cool whip and a strawberry. How easy and delicious :)



Lastly--we went Goodwill browsing the other day and found some more lamps-which I will post at a later day..and found this gem

Anyone who knows me knows my obsession with big, ridiculous mugs so obviously I had to have this one. Cost me a dollar at Goodwill and it was by far my favorite thing of the day. If you look closely, the cookie even has a bite out of it!! Seriously love him!


For now--xo