Happy Birthday America!

Hey everyone!  We are having some seriously HOT weather here -- like 120 degrees, so I've decided it's a good time to take a bit of a bloggy break.  I think maybe my brain is melting, making it difficult to come up with some creative posts.  It always seems good for me to just step back for a bit, take a breath and recharge.    I've never re-posted a post before, but thought I'd give it a try and share last year's celebration with all of y'all.   I hope y'all have a wonderful, safe, happy and fun 4th of July!

This post is from July 4, 2012:

I hope everyone is having a wonderful, safe and very Happy 4th of July.  We had our daughter and family over for the first 4th of July celebration in our new home.  Our son and family are in San Diego, enjoying the beach and cooler weather, while he launches another True Food Kitchen restaurant.  They were missed but we know they are having fun, too.  I don't have a lot of decorations for this holiday, but put together a few things.

Let's start outside, shall we?

Not our typical blue sky, triple-digit day.  We had rain off and on & temps in the 90's!

"Patriotic" -- My Way!

Hey everyone!  Well, I think summer has pretty much arrived across the country now -- for sure it has settled in here in the Arizona desert.  I cannot believe July is almost here;  actually, is anyone else scratching their head over just where this year has gone?  My goodness, it's already time to show some patriotism and pull out the red, white and blue.  Just let me say, I am as patriotic as they come and tears can easily fill my eyes at the sight of our beautiful flag and what it stands for.  But......those traditional colors get a bit of a twist inside my home, so I thought I'd share "Patriotic" -- My Way!

This is one of my favorite places to decorate seasonally.  You can see I used some of those adorable blue ball jars to each hold a single faux Gerbera daisy.  My silver roo looks rather regal keeping watch over his domaine.

This was a free printable from someone last year (sorry, I don't remember who had it), 

but I really like it.

I added dried lavender to the jars so the stems would stand up which equals good smells, too!

I love my "Pears" print, but it was looking a bit too Fall to me, so the "summer banner" was my way of 

tying the pears to the rest of the decor.

Now, into the family room.

As you see, I am not yet tired of my coffee filter wreath.  Heck, I may never grow tired of it!  Anyway, I thought I'd keep the mantel very simple.  The giraffe is a favorite of The Man's, so I brought it into the family room so he could see it whenever he is watching TV.  I need something to perch on the sweet little footstool that belonged to my mil, but haven't figured out what I want to use.

Used two more of the ball jars.

I twisted some baker's twine in cherry red and turquoise around my battery candles.

I made the scrapbook paper flowers last year.  If you want to see my "Happy Birthday, America" post from 2012, you can go HERE.  The jars are filled with small gravel.

I used this sweet printable from the Graphics Fairy last year.  

You can see how I used it on my very non-traditional 4th of July mantel HERE.

Happy Summer, Y'all!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I truly appreciate each and every visitor, so please be sure to let me know you were here.  You are always welcome!

I love to party with these fine bloggers:

The Tablescaper at The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays
Karen at Sew Many Ways for Sew Darn Crafty
Manuela at The Cultivated Nest for The Creative HomeAcre
Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

Dawn at Creative Cain Cabin for Budget Decorating Party
Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Mondays
Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday

Leslie at House on the Way for Twirl & Take a Bow

Mary Beth at Cupcakes and Crinoline for Project Inspired

Karin at The Style Sisters for Centerpiece Wednesday

Angela at Hickory Trail for Efforts and Assets

Kelly at Live Laugh Rowe for Live Laugh Linky Party

Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home

Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

The Feral Turtle at The Feral Turtle for The Aloha Blog Hop

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday

The Tablescaper at The Tablescaper for Oh, The Places I've Been

Jody & Stan at Rooted in Thyme for Simple and Sweet Fridays 

Amanda at Serenity Now for Weekend Bloggy Reading

Blue Ball Jars and Baby Ducks?

Hey everyone!  Happy weekend to y'all!  You may be wondering what the heck Blue Ball jars and baby ducks have in common.  Well, even though we live in a well-maintained, well-manicured planned community, we are just a stone's throw from massive feedlots (upwind, thankfully), horse ranches and mini-farms well-stocked with chickens, goats and ducks.  We live in a town (please don't refer to us as a city, we are not and do not want to be) only a few thousand shy of Scottsdale's population of 220,000, and with more than 1/3 of our citizens being under the age of 18.  Yep, lots of large, young families who like the idea of teaching their children a little about "living off the land" and tending a few farm animals.  Sorry, I'm not quite as "side-tracked" as you may be thinking, so just hang in there.

Anyway, when the announcement that Ball had reissued a special Blue Canning jar, I knew I wanted some and started searching around.  Where I ended up was Ace Hardware, which we seem to have in abundance around these parts.  I thought it was kind of strange that this smaller, rather old-fashioned store could still be existing considering all of the Lowes and Home Depots that are springing up all over the place.  Well, apparently this "youth-filled" area we live in, still prefers this more intimate hardware store over the big box ones.  I was a bit dubious about whether my little Ace would have these beautiful jars that I was seeking, but I went anyway, and lookie what I found.....

They were even prettier in person, so I bought 2 boxes!  I'll be sharing some of my plans for these little "pretties" in the not-so-distant future!

Have y'all been in an Ace Hardware in awhile?  Well, I certainly hadn't and the first things I noticed were "farm smells and farm noises."  What?  As in......

Lots of containers like this one, teeming and peeping with little "quackers," baby chicks and

even some baby turkeys (guess we know where they will end up.....lol!)  I grew up on mini-farms where my dad raised a few head of cattle, a horse or two,  chickens, and a large garden.  Well, that is not a life I want to repeat, except for the garden, but I was truly fascinated.  A baby "anything" (except those of the reptilian variety) will stop me "dead in my tracks," and I had to stop long enough to snap a pic, touch a sweet little soft head, and listen to "peeping."  This store also boasted small quantities of just about anything "hardware-related" you could possibly want, and the worker bees knew exactly where to direct their patrons to find whatever they were looking for -- now I could get used to that!

So.....mission accomplished!

While out and about that day, I also popped in Michael's and found these

Little beauties on their 70% off aisle -- SCORE!  I even made a quick stop at Joann's for that pretty piece of fabric that will be part of a little guest bath redo.  More on that later!

It was really a fun day!  Thanks, everyone, for stopping by.  Please know you are always welcome!

I'm partying here:

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday

The Tablescaper at The Tablescaper for Oh, The Places I've Been

Jody & Stan at Rooted in Thyme for Simple and Sweet Fridays