How I love Memorial Day and the 4th of July!!

I feel so blessed and so grateful to be an American!

The Land that I love! Thank you to all those who have fought and are still fighting for our freedom.I found lots of fun things for the 4th of July to share with all of you to give you ideas of how to show your spirit!

This fun apron is from Pier One Imports
Set the table in red white and blue...
I would love this set up.... overlooking the ocean or a lake!!

Or how about pulling out all the stops and dressing your whole house!! I love love love this!

Old Glory above the fireplace.

 Red White and Blue! These colors really inspire me!Use old Denim jeans to create a unique style for your table!
Start getting your Memorial Day centerpieces together to share with everyone next Wed. right here on Centerpiece Wednesdays!! Red, White, and Blue Napkin Rings placed on old Root Beer Bottles make the perfect Centerpiece!

I am participating in Tabletop Tuesdays

Toot your horn Tuesdays

Here is my Sunflower Tablescape in full view. Make sure you link up to my Centerpiece Wedneseday party HERE going on right now and link back to The Style Sisters so we can all learn from each other fun ways to do a Centerpiece! I just love bright yellow and orange together it just makes me smile.
I found these very colorful napkins at Home Goods the other and day and knew I just had to use my bright yellow plates in this tablescape. I bought these large yellow plates at a Pottery Barn outlet in Las Vegas many years ago. I love the color and they are huge and heavy.Here is a view showing the orange chair wraps that I found at the thrift store the other day...10 of them for a buck! They just make the whole tablescape feel more special with that added touch.I found these crazy looking bugs at Hobby Lobby and decided they needed to be marching along on the table too..but my husband said they look like large colorful cockroaches! RUDE!!
(LOL actually they kind of do but don't tell him that I said that)Here is fun way to use some of my napkin rings in an unexpected way. I turned these darling orange glasses upside down and placed a white napkin ring on top and added the votive candle to make them stand out. Pretty cute and easy.I just liked the way this photo turned out with my clock in the background. You see some of my cookbooks peeking through the handle of the pitcher.I thought this was fun way to set your silverware on the table....crisscrossed with a napkin ring around them.... placed inside a bowl with the napkin folded and placed between the bowl and the plate.

Welcome to the 1st Centerpiece Wednesday!!

I am so excited to see what all of you have done!!

Today I am highlighting some beautiful sunflowers in a crackled finish vase that my mom got from a garage sale!! and my new cute rusty metal cloche.

I love the bright yellow of a sunflower and I found these at the grocery store ....3 large sunflowers for only $3.99 so I bought two sets so the bouquet would look fuller and then I added some cut branches off of a couple of trees from my backyard to add even more fullness.

Once I had these two items together I knew how I would set the rest of the table... casual and yet colorful (More of the table will be seen on Thursday for Tablescape Thursday so stay tuned)

For me....I think a centerpiece sets the tone of the table...what you use to place in the center will ususally determine how the rest of the table, mantel, coffee table, etc... will go.

Maybe you like things that shimmer and sparkle, or maybe you have a special keepsake that you like to put on your table...whatever it is...I hope what you use makes you happy when you look at it. I fell in love with this darling rusty metal cloche and knew it would make a great addition to my table. I liked it because it was different and could be used in a myriad of ways. I wanted to have some yummy dessert placed in it for this photo ....but I ran out time.

I did add one of my white napkin rings on the top to give it a tad of femininity :)

You can still purchase napkin rings here on my blog for $1.00 each.I can't wait to see some of your creative ideas of how to put together a centerpiece. I love sharing ideas and finding creative new ways to do a centerpiece. I know we can all inspire one another to stretch ourselves as we continue to make our houses homes.

Starting next Wednesday May 19th we will be starting up a fun new link up party called Centerpiece Wednesdays!

We want to see what you do to create the finishing touch on your table. We can't wait to see your photos and tutorials on how you created your centerpieces! Maybe it is the centerpiece on your dining room table or the centerpiece on your fireplace mantel or even the centerpiece on your coffee table.

Do you use flowers, vegetables, candles, odds and ends, fancy things? We want to see it!

Please link up with us next Wednesday and show us your creative ideas.

There is a button on the side of my blog that you can grab to help spread the word!

My cute daughter Emily and my husband surprised me with some beautiful new table linens and some new fun glasses along with a pitcher to match for Mother's Day!

I was not home for Mother's Day this year as I was gone to help my other daughter who just had her second baby. Emily and my sweet husband pulled together a tablescape for me and emailed me the photos showing me my new things! How sweet are they!I added some fresh greenery from the backyard and plopped it into this vase and took some photos this morning to show all of you my interpretation of "Under the Tuscan Sun" tablescape in deep rich colors.
These table linens and cool glassware that they bought for me came from my favorite store called Jackalope in New Mexico. You see we were all with my other daughter Madeline and her little family to welcome in the newest member...my new grandson...Calvin. Emily had left her car in Utah and needed to bring it home so my sweet hubby and Emily drove home from Salt Lake City in Emily's jeep and stopped off at my favorite store to shop for me!! I can't believe they did that...so precious of them.
I love how the glassware sparkles in the sunlight.Emily and Mike used my thrift store find...the large glass bowl and filled it with sea shells for the centerpiece.

(I am still away enjoying my new grandson and granddaughter so I am reposting this Memorial day post with some fun ideas)

Memorial Day Weekend is coming!!

I found a bunch of Ideas to get you inspired to plan something special this year for your family and friends.

Some of these I have posted before but I thought they deserved a second look.

I love this wooden crate filled with old silverware, blue and white napkins and blue willoware dishes. It says something special is happening doesn't it!How you display your food says a lot too. It just looks more inviting when the fruit is cut and placed on a platter nicely, chips in a basket instead of out of the bag, a few votive candles and voila...it is a party!Look at this simple centerpiece...carnations, a few flags and star picks and a few greens and instant sparkle to your table.

Or how about this centerpiece...I used silks mixed with real flowers, a few flags and stuck them in a white metal flower tin vase.

Love this idea...stacking white footed dishes one on top of the other and filling them red and blue fruit! Simple and yet stunning.

Since my daughter just had a baby I thought I would do a repost of a baby shower she threw for her sister in law a couple of years ago.

Okay I just need to brag a little bit about my amazing daughter Madeline. First of all she is only 21 years old, married to an incredible man named...Peter and she is pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild!! OH yeah..I am going to be a grandma and I can't even wait!! We find out what she is having on Friday!!! I am chomping at the bit to go and spend money on this new little baby girl or boy!


Last weekend she put on a an incredible baby shower for her sister-in-law (they are due within a few months of one another). It was a Dr. Seuss themed shower ..."Oh the places you will go" and Madeline did the planning decorations, and food (with some help from her cute mother-in-law and mother of the mother to be). Madeline found inspiration from a website called stem parties and she did one amazing job. Check out these photos.

Oh my gosh are you checking out the adorable fish bowl centerpieces with the fur!