Happy Pink Saturday and Saturday in the Garden!

     Happy Pink Saturday everyone! Today you get a double dose of 
Pink-a-licious because this past Tuesday I posted a PINK painting project (try saying that fast 3 times!) that you might want to check out too. 
     I adore PINK flowers and have many varieties planted around my yard. Sometimes the deer eat them and some times they don't and sometimes out of the blue, they will devour a plant they haven't touched in years. Such was the case over the past two weeks. Somehow a few PINK flowers managed to escape the hungry throngs that visit my garden every day, probably because they couldn't reach them or because they find them very distasteful. So come along with me for a little stroll through the garden! 
A very sad time, the Hydrangeas are almost finished blooming. They are one of my favs and I hate it when they stop blooming. I will prune these back and might get a second bloom out of them this year.

This Lantana is doing well and doesn't mind our heat and humidity one bit!

These little Vinca look dainty but looks are deceiving. They hold up well in the heat and the Deer hate them!

I love the big bold look of Caladiums! These guys are in a large pot on the porch and receive morning sun and are in the shade in the afternoon. 

And last but not least, my Crape Myrtle trees are in full bloom. This variety is Tuscora. I picked this selection because the county I grew up in was Tuscarawas County. 

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my garden and hope you will come back again soon! Don't forget to stop by and say HI to Miss Beverly, our host for Pink Saturday! Have a great weekend! Nan

Friday Freebies!

It's time for Friday Freebies! Who doesn't like FREE?!!

First up Food Art Party has yummy Cupcake wrappers and matching picks AND a tut for making them!

And here is the link for the printables!


Speaking of sweet treats, did you know that today is National Sugar cookie day?  Stop by Sugar and Meringue for all the details AND a free printable sugar cookie book, YUM!


EASY  has a great assortment of print and cut Photo Corners! These are awesome for coordinating your photo corners with your paper.

I LOVE these free summer printables from How Does She. There are so many ways you could use these!

Tricia-Rennea has designed some great summery papers, perfect for all kinds of crafty projects!

  You can pick up some really cool Summer mandala coloring sheets from Fantasy Jr.

I can think of a lot of uses for these!

And look at these Vintage Notes from Free Pretty Things For You! They are so cute and she has five different ones to choose from!

And finally Elizabeth at Creative Breathing  is making the cutest Gnome Garland and has so generously posted all of the patterns for you to make one too. It is just too darn cute!

More pictures and patterns HERE  and HERE!

That's it for Friday Freebies this week! Please stop by tomorrow for PINK SATURDAY! TGIF! Nan

Happy Birthday Emily!!!

     Twenty One Years ago today, our youngest little chickie came into this world! From the minute she drew her first breath, Emily has been one of the most determined and strong willed people I have ever known. She even arrived nearly three weeks early. At the ripe old age of five weeks, she made up her mind that she was going to be a singer and in order to exercise her lungs at such an early age, she decided to develop colic. And so the poor baby screamed from nine o'clock at night till three in the morning, every night until she was nine months old. I often joke that if she had been the first, there wouldn't have been a second. 

She was such a pretty baby, with a head full of jet black hair and big brown eyes and little pudgy legs. By the time she was a year old, she knew how to wrap us around her little finger and always kept us laughing with her antics. 

By the time she entered kindergarten, she had a mind of her own. She knew what she wanted and she went for it. I remember well the time she wanted to wear her new shiny patent leather dress shoes to school and of course I said NO. I sent her off to school in her tennis shoes but when I went to pick her up, she came running up to me from the playground wearing her patent leather shoes. She had sneaked them out of the house in her back pack and changed when she got to school! UGH, I knew we had a fashion diva on our hands right then and there. She still loves clothes and shoes.

As you can see, she loved performing from a very early age. She sings, she dances and plays 5 instruments. She has accomplished more in her short 21 years on Earth than most people do in a lifetime. She is never idle and is always volunteering for a charity, her sorority or school. All while working and staying on the Deans List. She has grown into a beautiful young women and we are so very proud of her!

Happy Birthday Emmie Pooh! 
We love you so very much!

Trash Talkin Tuesday!

     First a little update! My hubby went into surgery about an hour and a half ago. The operating room nurse just called and said he was doing fine and would be in surgery at least another hour. Thank you all for your continued prayers. I am at the hospital  right now and if you can believe this, this is my first time EVER logging on to a wireless network! Woo Hoo, I'm getting so technical, LOL!

     Now for Trash Talkin Tuesday! If you know me from Aimee Asher, I apologize in advance because you have probably already seen this but with dh's surgery this morning, I forgot to upload pictures for a new project! Anyway, this little table and chairs originally belonged to my Mom and Dad. I inherited it and it sat on my screened porch for the longest time, collecting dust and spider webs. It was pretty boring as you can see from the picture.

When I decided to redo the sunroom, I thought it would make the perfect addition, with a little pink paint of course! I spray painted it the perfect shade of Caribbean pink and found this fab fabric with a background the exact color of yellow as the walls, splashed with flowers in several shades of pink and big leaves the perfect shade of Lime green. And here is the finished project, I think it turned out pretty sporty! I don't know how much I will be able to post this week, so I hope you have a great week filled with Bubbles of Joy! Nan

Scripture in Pictures Sunday

Saturdays in the Garden and PINK Saturday!

     Yeah, it's Saturday and that means "Saturdays in the Garden" but this week I am also participating in my very first PINK Saturday! Please stop by and visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound, she hosts this event every single week.

     Well, I had planned to post a collage of all the PINK flowers in my garden but the deer had other plans! They stripped my garden of every flower they could reach last night. So, I had to come up with another pink idea fast. That's when I remembered this...

OK, I'll admit it, I have always loved these animal crackers and when I saw this little box I could not resist! Animal crackers AND Lilly Pulitzer all in one little package, what could be sweeter? So I tucked in the lid, inserted a couple of votive holders, added a little water and some sweet little PINK flowers and ta da, a really quick arrangement. Here's another view and as always, you can click on the picture to get a closer look.

     Now I have something really special to show you. Last week my Niece and Nephew-in-law (is that the right term?) and their sweet baby boy came over for dinner. They brought a gift for me as a Thank-You for doing the baby announcements and I was blown away. John works at a nursery and makes these amazing miniature gardens and he made one just for me! Check this out, it is so cool.

Here are a few closeups:

 You don't get a good feel for how big this is in the photos but it is huge, over 12" high and about 2' in diameter.
A little toad has even taken up residence under the miniature boxwood. Who could blame him! You can't see this in the picture but behind the house is a little jar that holds a votive candle that I can light at night. So, that's it for Saturdays In the Garden, I hope you enjoyed it and hope you will come back again. Maybe next week I'll even have some pictures of flowers.

Friday Freebies!

I have found some really cute FREEBIES for you this week! As always, leave a little love for these very generous folks!

First up, Fairy Blossoms and Life is sharing a PDF for this adorable Dog Gift basket!

Photo uploaded by Fairy Blossoms and Life

Simply Saavy is offering a great Blogger Planning sheet and a TUT for a Blog planning notebook. 

Lovely and Gracious is offering this wonderful printable Fourth of July Banner!

And Tricia-Rennea has this wonderful Patriotic banner free, just for you!

ScrapNfonts has some great FREE digital stamps perfect for the Fourth!

Speaking of the 4th of July,  Crafts Jr. has several printable pinwheels to choose from. All you have to do is print, cut and assemble!

And if you like pinwheels, Jenny at Allsorts has this adorable pin-spinner!

                               Photo uploaded by Allsorts
Karen at Free Pretty Things For You
has some absolutely adorable vintage frames!

And finally, My Pink Flip Flops has FREEBIE Fourth of July tags or cupcake toppers!

 Have a great weekend everyone and a Happy and Safe Fourth of July! 

PS: I found a few more awesome FREEBIES perfect for the Fourth and wanted to share them so you could have them this weekend! Skip To My Lou has these great snack cups. 

She even has matching treat bags, tags for sparklers and drink markers! Too cute!