Patriotic surroundings ~ edited

Well, our three day weekend is over. I tried to cram as much as I could into this valuable time away from the office. My husband came down with pnemonia last weekend and he's out of work until this upcoming week. With him being ill and this being the week of gradutaions (and nails in tires), I actually achieved quite a bit.

One of the biggest tasks I completed this weekend was taking photos of over 123 handmade card that were in need of being posted. You can check them out in my WEBSHOTS album. The cards came from various swaps I have been in and some I made myself.

The second biggest task was making my very FIRST instructional video! I'm SO excited to finally have the chance to sit and try this. I've been wanting to make an online tutorial for two years now. This tutorial shows part of my upcoming "Patriotic Centerpiece". I'll be teaching a class at the local Whole Foods. Of course, this is not the completed project, there will be a few more bells and whistles, but this will show you a bit of what it involves.



With it being such a beautiful day, I took the oppurtunity to film this outside. You can hear the birds singing in the background!

Here's the unveiling of my first tutorial! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it. (Oops. Had to reissue this post to adjust the video).



Here's a few other fun images I took during this Memorial weekend which officially, kicks off Summer!

I purchased some buntings at the local Wal-mart. I saw them on Wednesday, didn't get them, so, I had to rush back on Friday just in case they sold out! One day I'll learn to purchase the things I want when I'm in the store. We need to be mindful of all the extra driving we're doing with all these outrageous gas prices!

Isn't it lovely? My husband doesn't know it yet but these are staying up until the 4th of July! How can looking at this not make you happy? It reminds me of those old movies that celebrated the 4th of July with the entire town. Things have changed of course in the larger cities but I know those small towns till get together and do it the right way.

This little plastic banner came from the Dollar Tree. I think the windsocks did as well.



I have been drawn to Patriotic colors and design the past two years. Anything dealing with America and the USA I'm all over it! It was a bit warm outside but really not all that bad, as long as you had shade an water. Here's another photo of the star banner.



The boys had fun playing in the pool! Yes, it's a kiddy pool, but it cooled them off. Wanna know what else cooled them off? WATER BALLOONS. What on earth was I thinking when I purchase these? Probably because the colors were so pretty in the pack. Look at how vivid they are.



Lastly, I made this YUMMY bean and corn salsa. It's so good on a warm day, any day really. Here's what's in it:

Black beans (drain them)
Yellow corn (although I've used the white Shoepeg before)
Green onions
Feta

Dressing: Apple Cider Vinegar, oil and sugar.

Sorry for not posting measurements but I RARELY measure...always on the go. I used a can of corn and a can of beans, green onions and feta to suit 'my' taste, and the dressing is also a 'to suit your own taste' thing.



Well, it's back to work tomorrow. I'm working on some more special "Patriotic" decorations. Hopefully I'll have the one I started on today ready for tomorrow.

I hope you have a great week!