My Ford Pickup

For years and years I had wanted an old Ford pickup.  I didn't care about how it looked, whether rusty or painted, but I had a certain style I wanted.  THIS STYLE!

(Decorated: "Fair Theme" at night)

Finally I found one, but I thought it cost too much.  But then my husband said if he could sell a little tractor he had setting out in the field, I could get the pickup. It sold the next day! In fact, we could have sold 10 of those little tractors! Ha! 

(Decorated: "Fair Theme" with flash)

And when my husband went to get the pickup, he was going to offer less on it.  The guy told him it was much less than he had told me (man vs. woman thing, I think) and less than what my husband was even going to offer!!  YAY!!

My whole reason for wanting the pickup was for pictures.  Here are most of the girls from my son's Senior class.  The girls were so excited to get to take a pic out there with the Seniors 2015 banner!  One of them commented that they could take a picture there each month and see how much they grow! Ha ha!  I reminded her that they really don't want to "grow" this year :).  Maybe she meant "mature"!

Right before our daughter left for college, I realized we hadn't taken any family pictures during the summer. We quickly took a few pictures when we could.   The sun was too bright to get closer to the pickup, but they still turned out well! Thank you to our niece-in-law, Marisa, for coming over to snap a few pics on short notice!

I'll be decorating this pickup for fall, and Christmas, and all of the other holidays.  I can't wait until it's time for hay bales and pumpkins and corn stalks!  I envision lots of family pictures taken here.  And others are welcome, too!  In fact, it's already been used by the cheerleaders and some of the Seniors for senior pictures!  That's exactly what I got it for!

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"Wild About You" Valentine's Banquet

Sunday was the annual Valentine's Banquet for the "Senior Saints" of our church family.

This year, I chose to do a "Wild About You" theme, because of the really cute party supplies Hobby Lobby had in their Valentine's section.

Some of the young people helped me with the decorations by making placemats and bookmarks.  The older people really enjoyed these decorations - especially the ones made by the kids!

We have some glass vases at our fellowship building that I, and others, use for all of the events we host.  I found some tall glass candles at Dollar Tree that work perfectly in the center of the vases.  These candles have been used for one year (but went in the trash after this event!).  They've been replaced with new candles that will be used for the next year. 

The zebra print burlap was attached using glue dots, so nothing is stuck to the glass vase.  The inner candle was wrapped with black cardstock paper then surrounded with pink tulle.  I found the zebra print doilies at a party store in Oklahoma City.

I didn't get a very good picture of the Valentine Banner hanging by the teens' heads, but it was just hearts glued onto triangle shapes and clipped with mini clothes pins onto a zebra print ribbon.

The "Wild About You" theme was carried throughout the room, but I tried to "tone down" the decor a bit.  I didn't have a lot of time to decorate and also, it didn't take very long to take down.  It was still cute, even though it was really simple.  I need to adopt the word SIMPLIFY in a lot of things! :)  I'm getting better about that! 

I decorate the other side of the building - where the teens and young adults sit, but not too much. We want the Senior Saints to feel like it's their special day....and they do.

What a great day celebrating and treating these special seniors who are great Christian examples to all of us!

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2-Sided Hanging Party Decorations - Simple, Easy, and Cute!

Paper plates and tulle.  That's all you need!  Oh, and duct tape :).  Don't forget the duct tape! The idea for this decoration came to me in Hobby Lobby.  I stood there thinking that the paper plates would be simple, easy, and CHEAP, but didn't appeal to me on their own.  The tulle made it just perfect!

I don't know how to say it, but it's just inside out duct tape, I guess.....around the inside edge of the bottom back of a paper plate.  If you need extra stability, use hot glue....but it will take a LOT longer!

Make loops of tulle all around the plate, attaching the inside loop to the duct tape.  IMPORTANT STEP:  I didn't show this step, but duct tape all over the bottom part of the tulle and over the other duct tape, taping it to the inner part of the plate.  Tape another plate to the back of the first plate, and you're done with the two-sided decoration!

Attach a longer piece of tulle to one of the top loops and hang your decoration.  Think of the possibilities!  One of my sister-in-laws mentioned that a sunflower or ladybug would be cute!  

 The party plates can be your inspiration, just as they were for me!  Tulle and plates can be found in all sorts of colors and at very reasonable prices.

To finish off the decorations, I asked for empty boxes from Facebook friends.  I got a lot of them!  I wrapped the empty boxes with matching/coordinating wrapping paper, and they presents served as centerpieces on top of the colored tablecloths.

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POP in to BIBLE CLASS!

Posted by Lori:

After a break from teaching Bible class and just helping my husband with a combined class, I will begin teaching 4 and 5 year olds on Wednesday nights until January.  I'm excited about teaching the little ones again, but for me, the excitement also carries over into decorating the classroom.

When I walked into the room I'll be in, it had the left-over paper on the walls.  I didn't have a decorating theme in mind, but the walls were bright and striped and seemed to just shout at me, "CARNIVAL"!  

I already had two buckets of carnival-themed decorations, so didn't have to buy many things to make this theme work.  The hard plastic balloons came from Hobby Lobby several years ago.  I've used them for many events and I knew the children would really like them.

The tent and blow-up clowns came from Oriental Trading a few years ago when I decorated for Teacher Appreciation Week.  The tent worked great to cover the filing cabinet.

The paper train was left from VBS and I added a few Bible charts - books of the Bible and the parts of the Bible.  I'll be adding creation pictures and other pictures as we begin with Genesis.

I found a cute popcorn game at Mardel.  Not sure how I will use it, but probably to answer questions about the lesson and use the small buckets for points.  I know the kids will enjoy throwing the popcorn in the little buckets!

Doesn't it look fun??!

The door will say, "POP in to Bible Class!"  It will say that by Wednesday night.  I should have had it there for Sunday...oops!!  I'm pretty sure the kids will enjoy popping in to the bright, fun-looking classroom.  Hopefully they'll be just as eager to learn about God's Word!

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Owl Baby Shower

Posted by Lori:

This past Saturday was a baby shower for a sweet couple who are expecting their first child.  The church showered them with lots of love and gifts.  Showers always make me think of the scripture "Rejoice with those who rejoice...." Romans 12:15.  

Our congregation has been blessed with lots of babies this year!  So that means lots of decorating for baby showers for me! :)  I don't mind at all, of course!

I was really excited about doing an owl shower, but realized quickly that most of the owl decor is directed towards girls.  At first this baby was thought to be a girl, but a few weeks ago, the couple found out it was a boy!

I found these wooden owl shapes at Michaels, covered them with burlap and scrapbook paper - making the owl's features.  The baby's room is going to be owls and trees, so I had everything all worked out....or so I thought.....

My husband spent Friday afternoon cutting big tree limbs for me to use for the shower, but when I went to the building to decorate that evening, the limb's leaves were all wilted.  I thought they would last for at least a day, but they didn't.  Maybe it was just that particular tree.  So one to plan #2.....silk greenery.

These cute owl napkins were a little bright for the color scheme, but I couldn't resist them!  So cute!

If you keep up with this blog often, you'll remember my burlap wreath.  Here it is being used - yet again - for another purpose!  I like things like that!

This sweet lady has been writing shower poems for many years.  She puts a little humor into them and it is such a special keepsake for the couples and their child.  I have one she wrote for my wedding shower.

Isn't this knitted, stuffed owl adorable???!  What a fun gift for baby and mother!

Babies are blessings from God!

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Black, White and Hot Pink Baby Shower

Posted by Lori:

Last night we had a baby shower before our regular monthly singing night with our church family.  I thought I would share the pictures with you.  This hanging chandelier turned out great hanging from the ceiling.  I first saw this idea on Pinterest, hanging from a tree.  I'm planning to make one for my daughter's room.  To make, get a hula hoop, a strand of icicle lights and I used tulle rolls to cut in pieces to attach the lights to the hoop.

A friend bought these black and white checked tablecloths last year.  We've already used theme numerous times for showers and events!

Pure yumminess from the bakery!

A is for baby Annalyn!  This plate is a friends.  I didn't realize I threaded the ribbon wrong on the right side in one place until during the shower.  Oh, well.....

The entry table with newborn baby pictures.

A cute black and white banner found at Hobby Lobby.  Milk jar/crate from Michael's.

Paper cones hanging on each side of the banner were also Hobby Lobby finds.

Now on to the next shower in a few weeks!  How funny that of the four showers we have had or will have this year (so far), all four are girls!  On the other hand, I found out yesterday that I would be having another great nephew in August.  Thank you, God, for babies!
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