Mother’s Day: Cookout & A Tribute

On May 10, 2016May 10, 2016 By ArlynnIn Special Occasions6 Comments

Being a Mom is what I know, what I love, and what I cherish. I never really had a desire to “be” anything else, some say I should have been an Interior Designer, possibly a Nurse, or maybe a Teacher, instead I have learned how to decorate my home in my own way & style, I certainly felt like “Nurse Mom” when my girls were little, and goodness knows I’ve done a lot of teaching through the years (and learning as well). I was lucky enough to be able to choose, and the hubby and I made the decision together, that I would not work outside of the home while the girls were growing up. That said, I volunteered a LOT when my girls were in school. 🙂 I have continued on as a “Domestic Engineer”; the girls are now out on their own and flourishing, and I still stay home and do my crafting, decorating, DIY projects, and now this blog (which has grown outside of its original parameters of being *only* a ‘crafting/home decor’ blog)…I am so grateful!! ❤

Anyway, we just celebrated Mother’s Day on Sunday so I thought I would give y’all a glimpse of how we celebrated–We didn’t do anything all that exciting, but, we had both of our grown and gorgeous girls here at our home along with our daughter’s boyfriend. We had a lovely day, one filled with tons of laughter, fun, hugs, and love. 🙂

I must take a moment to pay tribute to my beautiful Mom who passed away 3-1/2 years ago after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Oh how I miss my Mom and oh how I hate Alzheimer’s and how it takes our loved ones from us one teeny, tiny, infinitesimal, bit at a time–It is torture to watch them go through the stages of Alzheimer’s, just torture. A bit about my Mom though, she was brilliant, she was beautiful, she was sweet, and she was the best Mom to me (an only child) that she could have been–she was an amazing woman! I will not lament further about her battle with Alzheimer’s today–maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to write a post about how she fought so long and so hard–but, not today. I will share a few pictures of her though…Here is her graduation picture (from college–she was a Biology teacher).

Here is a picture of her on her wedding day to my Dad; I always thought that she looked like a princess:

And here she and I are on one day when I was visiting her in the nursing home not too long before Alzheimer’s was finished ripping her away from us:

To say that I loved my Mom to the moon and back is an understatement. ❤ My sweet cousin Stacey, sent me this beautiful saying the other day–It completely expresses my feelings about my Mom:

I didn’t mean to get maudlin ^^up there^^, but, I couldn’t write this post without paying a bit of a tribute to my sweet Mom. ❤

Moving on now, here are some pictures that I took as the hubby and I were preparing for the kids to stop by on Sunday. As a rule made up over 3 decades ago, the hubby usually handles preparing the outside and I handle preparing the inside. I have found those lines to be somewhat blurred now-a-days though because truly, he and I help each other out here, there, and everywhere. ❤

Our grass has come in beautifully this Spring, the hubby has done an amazing job seeding, fertilizing, planting, and I’m sure doing many other things that I’m not in the know about…haha. Here are a few pictures of our home after he was finished mowing and spiffing up the yard…

And of the pups sitting out on the front sidewalk flanked by my favorite flowers, Gerber Daisies. Left to right, Gracie the Golden Retriever, Samson and Sophie the Newfoundlands:

The hubby also power washed the entire patio, it was pretty messy after the winter. I arranged the furniture, and put a few touches of this and that around to try to make it feel comfy and cozy out there–I love using red as an accent color:

The kiddos arrived on Sunday afternoon and we had a lovely time together…Here are just a few shots of us enjoying the day…

Left to Right: Dustin, our daughters Candace and Christin, & me–Sophie and Samson (brown) the Newfs in front:

And I can’t forget the fur babies:

Something on that grill sure smelled gooooooood!! 😉

Speaking of the food, the hubby cooked hamburgers, hotdogs, and chicken on the grill…along with peppers, onions, zucchini, and mushrooms…And I, for once in my life, bought (instead of making) macaroni salad, potato salad, & cucumber salad. Christin brought her wonderful deviled eggs and we added baked beans, chips and dip, and a cheese ball to the mix. We arranged it all out on the kitchen island and had a little buffet line and then carried our plates out to the patio (and are all on diets now…goodness…between the Hawaiian Cruise <~~~link to my cruise blogs~~~ and now this day, I’m struggling, but I will get back to my good eating regimen…really had already after the cruise, but, I did splurge on this most special of days). 🙂

I had prepared the island the day before–As I said up above, I really love using red as an accent color, I feel like it is a happy color (used in this way) and one that really pops. 🙂

I had the very best Mother’s Day that one could ever imagine–Having my family here with me was the best gift they could have given me… ❤

I did receive this too…VERY special!!! Thank you Christin!! ❤

How in the world did I get so lucky as to have two such wonderful daughters (and Dustin too, because he is fast becoming a member of our family)?! I sure don’t know, but, I do know I feel blessed and am so grateful to have them!! I definitely felt the love on this most special of days!!

Until next time, y’all take good care!

~Arlynn ❤

Lady Friends Craft Day: Crocheting, Embroidering, and Burlap Wreath Creating

On March 4, 2016March 14, 2017 By ArlynnIn Special Occasions, WreathsLeave a comment

Lady friends <~~~ I am one very lucky and blessed lady to have these 2 lady friends in my life. We’ve been friends for a long, long time now; all of our kids went through high school marching band together and we three along with many other wonderful volunteers worked diligently and tirelessly for the Band Parents Association. Oh the memories that those years evoke…<sigh>… Let me introduce these two lovelies to you; Karen is on the left of this picture and she was our hostess for this craft day, and Katrina (Trina for short) is on the right, and I’m in the middle.

The one thing about time is that it marches on, all of our kids are now out in this big world of ours and they are all thriving and doing well. The three of us try our best to get together and continue on with a tradition that we started years ago called “Craft Day”. We all *used* to be avid Scrapbookers, and in years past that is usually what we did for our “craft” on Craft Day, but, we’ve kind of moved away from Scrapbooking and are honing our skills in other craft forms. These two ladies are very talented and can craft in many different arenas–and dare I say, I might be able to do so as well. 😉 Regardless, when we get together now-a-days, we bring with us whatever craft we’re working on at that moment in time. For yesterday’s Craft Day, Karen was crocheting, Trina was embroidering, and I made a large wreath for the inside of my front door.

The first thing one must do before one begins crafting is of course EAT lunch. 😉 And as the sweet Southern women that we are, Trina and I brought something to share. Karen provided the YUMMY chicken wraps…my gosh they were good. This is what she did to prepare them. She cooked up a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a couple of bay leaves in her crock pot. After a couple of hours, she shredded up the chicken and mixed in this luscious caesar salad dressing…

…and set out shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, and wraps for us to create our own tasty wrap. 🙂

I had brought my Fruit Salad to pair with the wraps…I did want to let you know that I added some grapes to the recipe that you’ll find in that link (need to update that actually).

And Trina brought all of the ingredients and made us dessert…Boy oh boy was it ever tasty!! NOT so wonderful for our diets, BUT, who doesn’t splurge once in a while…I know I sure do! 🙂 Here is what Trina made:

Okay, so now that our bellies were full, let me show you what we were working on as we wiled away the afternoon hours chatting and enjoying each other’s company…

Trina was embroidering, she is in the process of working on about 13 different ‘squares’ that will all be combined into a quilt that she is creating…wow, wow, wow!! She called it “Redwork” that can be stitched in any color. She told me that she is using a variegated blue DMC floss and doing a backstitch. You should see this lady work her magic! She is a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!! This talented lady has made some of the most gorgeous quilts that I’ve ever seen, she has a gift that is unsurpassed!

That is going to be one awesome quilt!

Here is an example of what the final quilt will eventually look like:

Karen was crocheting, let me tell you a little bit about what Karen does for others, she has such a giving heart and works diligently to improve others lives, she is a very special spirit! She crochets for two different groups, one is her church group and it is called the “Prayer Shawl Ministry”. Here is an example of some of the things that she makes for them…some things include blankets and little hats for premature babies at local hospitals…well, let me show you what she showed me that she works on for this wonderful ministry:

Here are a couple of things that she is working on right now…A little washcloth (or this can also be used for a preemie’s blanket…bless their little hearts… ❤ (It was about a 8″ square…)

And here is a lovely blanket that she has started as well (she has one of the prettiest crocheting stitches that I’ve ever seen):

Karen also helps with the “Hand’s Up” ministry, here is a link to their Facebook page if you are interested in seeing what wonderful things they do for the community. Karen has been making winter toboggan hats for the homeless–in sports team colors. Here is an example of all of the hats that she has finished…this is her second batch, I believe she told me that she has already made 20 and they’ve all been given out already. 🙂

OH so many wonderful things that this lady does for her community!! Such a loving, giving, heart…WTG Karen, you are touching so many lives!

As for me, well, I created a wreath for the inside of my front door. I will not bore you with every detail here in this post, but, if you’d like to see how I create this type of burlap wreath (with a rod-iron scrolly piece and pip berry garlands), here is a link describing the process…

Here is a list of the supplies that I gathered for this wreath:

24″ Work Wreath
One Wrought-Iron circular piece
1-1/2 Rolls Burlap Runner
2 Pip Berry Garlands (purchased from the Pip Berry Barn)
1 Bolt of Burlap and White Polka-Dotted Ribbon
A Wooden Birdhouse
3 Wooden Daisies
3 Cream Burlap Daisies
Small bunches of green and cream silky flowers

I did a little preparing before I left to go to Karen’s house as this process can take a little while–not to mention a little bit of concentration…here is what I completed and then put into my trunk to take with me to her house:

The first thing I did was to attach the burlap to the wreath form…

Then I used floral wire and attached the wrought-iron scrolly piece to the form being careful to center it…(on the back side of the form)…This is what I had completed and carried with me to Karen’s house…I gathered up the rest of my supplies…In addition, I hot glued pipe cleaners to the backs of the bird house and wooden daisies…

Then I packed all of that stuff up readying for transport. I finished putting the wreath together at Karen’s house starting with attaching the pip berry garland to the outer ring’s pipe cleaners–I added the garland right on top of the burlap

Then I made a bow and attached all of the rest of the decorative pieces where I thought they looked nice:

Here are the three of us holding our crafts for the day:

Here I am holding Karen’s precious little Gretchen…What a sweetie pie she is!!!

We felt like we had a pretty productive day! It was getting late in the afternoon and Trina and I knew that we had to head on out to our own homes (quite a distance away), so HUGS were given all around, and we talked about setting a date for us to get together with our spouses in the coming weeks–all 6 of us will go out to dinner very soon….What a wonderful day we had!!!

***THANK you Karen for opening your home and welcoming us with your sweet outstretched arms!!! ❤ ***

After I got home, I carried in my wreath (which ended up to be quite heavy by the way…haha) and hung it on the back of my front door…Here it is in place:

And here it how it looks in the light of day…

I must say one more time how very blessed I feel to have these two lovely ladies in my life…still after all of these years. Lasting and endearing friendships are the very best kind and they should always be nurtured and well cared for. There is one lady that used to join us for our Craft Days but has moved away now; we miss her terribly! Kathy if you’re reading this…MWAH ❤ . I so wish that she still lived around here so that she could join us once again…<sigh>, maybe one day. ❤

Anyway, I will close for now–Not sure what I’ll be posting next as we are fixin’ to go on an Hawaiian cruise at the beginning of April so I’m deep into “planning mode” for that trip…haha. 😉 I plan on blogging that trip though for my “Vacation” category (AND I’m so grateful to our daughter who will be house/pup sitting while we’re away…)…***Thank you Christin!!!***

Until next time, y’all take good care! ❤

**In crafting there are no mistakes, just unique creations**

~Arlynn

Family Reunion Decor and Craft Projects

On September 5, 2015October 15, 2015 By ArlynnIn Special Occasions6 Comments

Hi Everyone!

I should tell you that I am a very family orientated lady and I am extremely blessed to have the extended family that I have. I am an only child, but I am very close to my aunts, uncles, and cousins, it is almost like the cousins are siblings more than we are cousins. We’ve been brought up with good morals and values and a very strong faith. So, last Christmas (2014) when my dad and I were sitting and chatting and he suggested that I host a family reunion I jumped at the chance. My extended family is scattered throughout 4 neighboring States and we are not able to get together very often; we hadn’t had a family reunion in many years. It was an understatement to say that I was excited that I was going to have my entire family in our new home. So, as I normally do, I went into planning mode. The first thing I did was do a search for some kind of “Save the Date” announcement, I settled on this magnet, and I was able to find it online here. Everyone loved them and I’d venture to guess they are still attached to some of the family members refrigerators as it is on mine here.

Next, it was time to pick a theme, meaning something for me to build my decor around. So I chose, red and white gingham, mason jars, and red and white gerber daisies. While I was preparing for the reunion, I worked very hard to incorporate my “themed” pieces into the decorations, crafts, and basic home decor. I pretty much redecorated my home for this reunion–yes, that might seem a bit over the top, but, I really was excited to have everyone here and I wanted things to be extra nice. 🙂

The next thing I did was get in touch with two of my cousins and asked for their assistance. My cousin Stacey volunteered to make up some games and provide prizes for the winners of said games. She also created “Certificates of Awesomeness”, t-shirts, and plaques specially designed for our family (by her) and gave them to the older generation and our generation (1st cousins). She gave a special trinket to Cori who had made and decorated a gorgeously beautiful and very tasty cake. She also graciously gave a couple of niceties to my two daughters and a very special something to me. Stacey put on a fantastic ‘show’, telling stories and and poking fun as she presented all of her creative homemade gifts. It was a blast, definitely one of the highlights of the day! Here are some of the things that Stacey created for her prizes and gifts–she is so very talented!!

And here is the gorgeous plaque that she gave to me…SO sweet!

Here is Stacey standing beside her prize table and being her animated self while giving out her very special gifts–THANK you Stacey, you did an awesome job! ❤

Here are some pictures of Cori and her cake and the dessert table…YES, we love our sweets! lol 😉 THANK you Cori! ❤

Here are the three of us together…Me in the pink pants, Cori in the middle, and Stacey in the green pants:

Each family that came to the reunion, (I do believe we had almost 40 people in all), brought food to share, good thing we have a pretty big kitchen because almost every inch of the island and the surrounding countertops were full of some of the most delicious food on the planet. I think everyone brought their ‘signature’ dish which made for some good eats that day!

It took me months and months to prepare and I loved every single second of every project that I took on. I thrive on the planning process and to plan something for my family…well, I was over the moon with excitement and motivation. Here are some of the things that I created and a couple of things that I had someone else create.

I made a deco mesh wreath to hang on the light post that sits beside our entrance sidewalk:

I purchased red and white gingham tablecloths and made lantern centerpieces for both the kitchen and dining room tables. I also purchased candle holders and red candles to flank the centerpieces. I also made a lantern centerpiece to be added to the fireplace hearth decor.

I redecorated pretty much the entire lower level of our house including the mantel and the fireplace hearth, a couple of cozy corners, the kitchen hutch, and some other pieces of furniture and shelves. I tried to incorporate the color red, red and white gingham, and added “family” touches (as in plaques talking about family) and our family’s own photos which I placed in red and white frames and some in sweet little clip picture holders. I tried to add special touches incorporating my “theme” here and there throughout the decor. I also had created a slide show and had it playing on the tv throughout the entire day–everyone loved that! 🙂

As the day drew closer, I decided that I would make all of the centerpieces for the outdoor tables. Each arrangement consisted of a quart size mason jar filled with fresh gerber daisies and baby’s breath. I placed the jar on a white ‘charger’ plate, added a red paper doily and surrounded the jar with a pip berry ring (that I made). In addition, I made pint size mason jar fresh flower arrangements to sit around and augment the indoor home door.

I thought and thought about what to do for party favors. I wanted it to be something that they could take with them and use for years and years and that every time they looked at it they would be reminded of the day. So while perusing around the Internet, I stumbled upon this website and they worked with me to create a “mint tin” that I filled with red and white peppermint candies. They were a huge hit at the reunion. **Score**!! 😉

One of the last things that I did was to hang this banner. It really completed the entire look. I did not make this banner, instead I ordered it from this Etsy shop here.

Finally, the day had arrived and it was time to hang balloons out front and out back, set up tables on the patio, and set out a little chalkboard sign on the front porch. We were ready to go!!

We had a marvelous time that day. The feeling that fills the air when we are all together is magical, honestly. We all sing and many play instruments, so we sang some of our favorite old hymns and our grandma’s favorite hymn that none of us can get through without sobbing “Thank You Lord for Your Blessings On Me”, ate ourselves into oblivion, laughed till we cried, and cried when we had to separate at the end of the day. It was a wonderful day, one that I hope will be held closely and lovingly in everyone’s memory. I’m hoping to host a family reunion every year for as long as everyone will be willing and is able to travel to us here in Virginia. ❤

**I love you family!!!**

**In crafting there are no mistakes just unique creations**

⚜️ Arlynn's Country Craft Corner ⚜️

Category: Special Occasions

Mother’s Day: Cookout & A Tribute

Lady Friends Craft Day: Crocheting, Embroidering, and Burlap Wreath Creating

Family Reunion Decor and Craft Projects

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