Just an update: I am overwhelmed with all your wonderful comments on my first feature in a magazine.  I am so grateful to all of you for your support.  I will enter all of you in the give away and hopefully in the next few weeks will receive the extra copies of this beautiful magazine for this give away. It will not hit the stores until August.  This has been such a fun ride this past year and half of blogging.  I could never imagine that I would be a feature in a magazine or that any one would even get me or my style.  So happy I started this journey with all of you.  I have made some truly great friendships.  I appreciate all of you and your support of me and my blog.  If you are a no comment reply blogger that is why I did not personally email you back about your sweet comment left.  Please know I appreciate all your comments, but if you are a no reply I have no way to respond back to you.  So I am personally thanking you all now for leaving your comments and entering into the giveaway.  Have a great week end.  Thank you again to all of you sweet bloggers.  So much talent, inspiration and lovely people you all are.
Kris
:) 


A Give Away and Announcement !!!!!  I have been published!!!!! I got my first Magazine publication.  I am so excited to actually see my home pictures in this beautiful magazine.  I have always loved my style and my home and my re purposing decor ideas but to see that others get my style, and a magazine actually wanted to publish my story and home is amazing to me.  I am so honored and thrilled for Artful Blogging to do a feature on my home and blog.  This is really special.

Artful Blogging Magazine has been one of my favorites. The pages and pictures are always so beautiful and inspiring.

This is the first time I had to write about myself and my blog for an actual publication.  I am not a writer so this was a challenge for me.

I am so thrilled and honored to be in this beautiful publication.  It is a great magazine that honors all of us bloggers and is always so full of beautiful inspiration.

To help celebrate my honor of being published I want to do a give away of this beautiful magazine.
So if you would like a chance to win one of these beautiful magazines please just leave a comment below and you will be entered.
Thank you for sharing my joy and excitement today.
Kris
:)

Little update.  The party was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures of the girls at the party.  I was having so much fun I forgot to take pictures during the games and gift exchange.  It was a fun night.

Best group of girlfriends.

We had lot's of yummy appetizers.

It was one of the girls birthdays so we had to have some fun birthday cupcakes.  This came from Walmart all done up like this. I thought it was so cute that the cupcakes were in a flower pattern.

It was a fun night.  I am sorry I forgot to take more pictures.  I just got caught up in being a hostess and having lots of fun to remember to take pictures.
Have a great week end.
Kris
:)

Girlfriend Favorites Party Tonight!!!!!

Tonight is my summer Girls Night Out Party.  I do a knock off of Oprah's Favorite Things.  

Here is how the party works.  Each girl brings a favorite gift for a gift exchange.  The gift should be something that is special to them or a favorite item etc.  Wrapped up pretty for the exchange.

This year each girl will bring a small item for each person coming to the party for the take home favor bag.  This item can be something of a favorite like a favorite candy bar, lip stick, household item etc.  Everyone will put their little favorite item into the favor bags.  So everyone goes home with one really big gift and a favor bag full of smaller fun favorite gifts.

Everyone brings their favorite summer time appetizer to share.  There is a prize always for the most creative and yummy appetizer.

This years summer party theme is flip flops and tropical drinks.  Everyone wears flip flops to the party.  Mandatory!!! We have a prize for the girl that wears the cutest flip flops so usually everyone blings up their flip flops.

We play bingo for prizes and do our gift exchange.  It is a wonderful night of fun celebrating our friendships and just having fun.

Here are some pictures of prep for the party and I will add pictures of the girls after tonight.  Just wish it was not so blasted hot here so we girls could have gone outside to enjoy the deck.

Beginning stages of getting things ready for the party.

Lot's of prep to do!!!! Fun Lei's were found at the dollar store too.  Everyone will get "lei'd" at the party. he he!!!

Two of my favorite candies are Fannie May's sea salt caramels and vanilla butter creams.  I also love the little snack size microwave popcorn.   So I am putting these together for the favor bags. I found the cute little pink and white polka dot boxes and pin wheels at Hobby Lobby.

I found these little cute flip flop manicure sets at the Dollar Store.

I put the little manicure flip flops and a nail polish also from the dollar store in each of these little flip flop gift bags for each person coming to the party.  Love the dollar store!!!! Found the cute flip flop themed napkins and plates at Hobby Lobby.

I also found these cute little solar dancing daisies at the dollar store.  They were so cute.  I thought each girl could use this in their office or car.

Here are the favor bags I made for the party.  I got the brown paper bags at Michael's and also the cute clip flower in the dollar bin at Michael 's   I cut out little triangles from scrap booking paper and made the banners for the bags.

Favor bags ready to be filled later this evening with everyone's favorites.

I found these cute party in a pitcher at Home Goods for prizes.

I found these cute bags at the dollars store to put the prizes in  and just added the banner and flowers to them too.

I found cute flip flops and these cute flip flop themed drink cups.  These will be prizes for the person with the cutest flip flops.  I also added a McDonald's gift card so each person can get a frosty beverage for their new cup.

Well there you have it.  The party is almost ready.  I will take more pictures later when all the guests arrive.
Kris
:)

Happy Monday.  I went Junkin this week end and helped the hubby paint the deck and both of these things started a whole lot of change up!!!!! I found a new treasure and a few unforgotten things in my own shed and little paint on the deck and next thing I know there was change happening.

It all started with this little treasure I got while Junkin at Tattered Tiques.  Oh yes look at this cute chippy bed.  My husband again with some tools was able to make my chaise lounge fit into this old vintage bed.  I thought it brought some whimsy to the chaise.

Added some bed skirt ruffles and my chaise lounge cover and now I feel like I could take a nice nap out there on a cooler afternoon.  It is so hot here in Chicago land this week.  In the high 90's and humidity.  While I was out taking pictures I was drenched from the humidity.

Remember those old chippy posts we got at the flea market last summer well they are now acting as plant hangers on my deck.  We are hoping to make a cute garden shed soon out of these old posts.  I am collecting doors and windows for this project.

I had this old white trunk in the shed and I polyurethaned it to the max and put it at the end of the bed.

My old flower cart.  My poor flowers are taking a beating this week already with the heat so high and our water is partially softened in our town, so the salt gets to my plants at this time in the summer.  We are thinking about a rain barrel for next year.  My flowers do so well until about the end of July to the first of August and then the water here starts to burn the roots.

Cute cottage chairs I got at Menard's for $20 bucks.

Old chippy ladder on the deck.

This is my white wagon that I had my Christmas tree in last year.  I pulled that out of the shed too.  It is too cute to be stored until Christmas.

I had this old head board in the shed so brought that out and then I had this old cedar chest that I got a the flea a few years ago for $30 so I polyurethaned it and now I have storage for the pillows etc. when it rains.

Cute pillows I found at TJ Maxx.  They are outdoor pillows so I think they will keep their color with the sun beating on that deck all day.

My Hubby's fire truck by the shed.  I  put this poor plant that is not doing well in the truck.  I am hoping with some help, and this area being partly shaded  it will come back.

Poor thing looks so scraggly but I am hoping with some TLC it will come around.

This old bench I have had out in the garden for a few years.  Anything I put on that cute bench does really well.

Hung my chandelier on the corner post for light at night on the deck.  I am still looking for cute shades for this chandelier.

Here is a back view of the deck so you could see the old chippy posts.  Love those posts.

My little gardening angel. Love her sweetness.

Another old ladder in the garden.  This area is a special place in my garden.  My 15 year old basset Molly that we lost this winter use to love to lay in this part of the garden.  Bassets usually do not tolerate heat too well but she loved to be outside under those bushes in that spot. Molly would lay out in that spot for hours each summer day.  So we buried her ashes there this Spring and then planted the area with flowers and special mementos.
It takes away the sadness of missing her,  to know her ashes are buried in her favorite spot.

Close up of that special part of my garden.

This is the Singing Bird Cafe.  This is where all different birds come to hang out and eat.  They sing when I fill the feeders.  Just love that happy singing when they eat.  They are messy little party eaters!!!!! It gives me pleasure to see how excited they all get when I load up the feeders throughout the yard.

Well there you have it, the special treasure that started the whole change to the outdoor deck room of my house.
Hope your week is cooler than ours.  No break for us this week. Not sure I will reading out in my new lounge bed this week.  Too hot and sticky.
PS:
Midge even was partaking in some sun while I was taking pictures. Such a diva!!!!! Right after I snapped her picture she wanted me to go and get her a Frosty Beverage!!!!
Have a great week.
Kris
:)

Sharing at These Lovely Parties This Week:
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Nick of Time Tuesday
Wow Us Wednesday
Blissful Whites Wednesday
Inspiration Exchange 
Bouquet of Talent Party
What's it Wednesday
Home and Garden Thursday
Transformation Thursday
Share your cup Thursday
Shabbilicious Linky Party
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