Field of Flags

I might have mentioned that before (i.e. flag drapped over my shoulders during the Olympics).  I grew up in Fort Smith, AR.  "Fort" being a civil war army fort.  Then in later years they developed Fort Chaffee which is a huge Army base where they do training year round.  My dad was in the army during the Vietnam War and then moved into goverment service as an FBI agent.  It would be an understatement to say I grew up in a patriotic enviroment. 

I cry everytime I hear the words to "God Bless the USA" - and I am not a crier.  The old myth behind the song is that Lee Greenwood actually wrote and performed it for the first time IN Fort Smith.  Whether this is true or not - who knows.  I googled, but couldn't find anything.  So I'll choose to believe it. 

This past weekend, Joe and I drove to Granbury, TX (southwest of Fort Worth) for one of his college roomate's weddings.  The wedding took place at the OW Ranch outside of town and was a gorgeous spot.  When we were driving into Granbury we were taken aback with a field of American flags on the side of the highway.  It was, for lack of a better word, beautiful.  It was almost hypnotic with all those stripes flapping in the wind as we drove by. 

On Saturday we ventured to the "Field of Flags" with our friends Todd and Jackie.  I was cursing myself in my head for not bringing "the big camera" to document the site.  After approaching the flags I noticed a tag hanging on the pole.  Each flag was representative of a service person from Granbury who passed away while in service. It was such a beautiful memorial and really made me think about the true meaning of Memorial Day.  I usually think of it as a day off from work to BBQ and hit the lake, but it really is so much more.  We have so much to be thankful and proud for as Americans and that is all owed to people that stood up and fought for our country.  

The minute we got home from Texas I retrieved our American Flag and hung it proudly on the front of our house.  That's the first time I've hung it since moving back to Arkansas.  Now I want it to be more of a permanent fixture. I included all the pics I took - I hope you enjoy! 

    

I couldn't get all the flags in the frame to show the scale of the "field".

"And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me and I proudly stand up next to you and defend her still today. Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land. God Bless the U.S.A." 

Evelyn's Big Girl Room

Not only is Evelyn getting a big girl bedroom redesign - she's moving to a different room of the house and it's upstairs!  I'm totally nervous and keep asking Joe to install video cameras so I can watch her every move and find her in case she escapes from her room in the night. *Biting my nails.*  I fully plan on sleeping upstairs in the guest room for a month after to make sure she's okay.  I'm not looking forward to walking across the house and up the stairs when she cries in the night, but I will do it - cause I'm the Mommy.

To sidetrack for a moment, Joe and I got a Temper-pedic bed this weekend.  Do it - it's worth it.

So my Mom is currently handling the making of the new bedding.  She's working on the bedskirt and the comforter.  The bedskirt is completely made of hot pink satin taffeta rosette fabric like this:

Photo courtesy of Fabric Empire

Mom is going to gather the fabric at the top when she's sewing so that it's fluffy and has some movement to it.  I can't wait to see it!  I've seen this used for a crib skirt before so I'm hoping it turns out just as cute for a twin size bed. 

The comforter fabric I'm the most excited about.  It's really what started it all.  Evelyn told me she wanted "pink flowers" so I went from there.  I found a beautiful fabric by Michael Miller that I loved, but unfortunately they are no longer producing it.  After a week of pouting I decided to start looking again and that's when I came upon this awesome print from Amy Butler's Love collection:

Photo courtesy of fabric.com

I immediately ordered a sample and was so pleased I turned around and ordered 7 yards!  I like pink, but I can't handle a pink walled room.  This fabric gives me choices for bringing in other colors for the walls and furniture. 

That's the beginnings for the rooms.  I went and picked up a ton of samples the other day and have some in the mail headed our way right now and I can't wait to get them and really plan out the room!  I've been moving furniture around to try to configure the layout - I wish everything would just click into place easily!

 

Cleaning Sterling Silver - Light a Candle Cause It's Gonna Get Stinky

I have been cleaning out my jewelry case as part of my Operation Simplicity and noticed that all my sterling silver pieces were getting tarnished.  Again, I had another repressed Pinterest memory pop up and tried it out.

This was so simple and quick and even though the pics don't show much detail on the jewelry pieces (I've got to get a better lens for close ups), I promise there was a big difference. 

I will forewarn you - this will smell TERRIBLE.  I mean Terrible Horrible.  Like the sulfury rotten egg smell at volcanos (I've been to a few).  It's because the silver is releasing the oxidation from it's "pores" - the stink means it's working.  Definitley light a candle and just leave the room for a few minutes.  It will work, I promise - you won't need to supervise. 

To get this going, bust out a Pyrex dish - I used a 9x13.  Then line the bottom with foil BUT make sure the foil is shiny side up (why? I have no clue).  Then place all your jewelry pieces on top of the foil like so:

I took a big Pyrex bowl and added in a half cup of baking soda and a half cup of kosher salt.  I popped it in the microwave until it boiled and then poured it into the 9x13 Pyrex container over the jewelry.  I probably let it sit for about 15 minutes.  Being a control freak, I sat and watched the entire time - don't do this.  Relax and run from the smell. 

After the tarnish "falls off" make sure to rinse all your pieces in water to help get the stink off them.  I did notice the first time I wore the necklaces after doing this that I could detect a rotten egg odor emitting from them.  But after the one wear I didn't notice it. 

After you rinse place them on a bath towel and make sure to get all the moisture off them (as moisture is what causes them to tarnish).  My jewelry looked tons better after I did this.  It's one of those things where you didn't realize how bad it actually was until you did something about it!

Fixing Broken Makeup Compacts - It Works!

I know - I've been ignoring you.  I've been a bad blogger.  In fact, this morning I was referred to as a "loser" for not blogging since April 5th - BUT, I have a few excuses which will make you feel semi-bad for thinking ill of me.

It started with the passing of my best friend from growing up's grandfather so I went home for a few days and was her "plus one" for funeral stuff.  Then when I got back it was Joe's and my anniversary (3 years and still going strong!).  Then one of my besties Courtney got married (in Dallas) and I went down a few days early for shopping for the house - and maybe some spa treatments.  Since then I will admit I've just been lazy. 

I've really been hitting the cleaning and decorating of the house pretty hard since Joe is all up on me again about baby #2.  I just really want this house done before I get all miserable and pregnant again.  I'm also designing Evelyn's big girl room - why does decorating have to be such a process!  The bedding is almost done and once I get that in the room I'll be able to better gage the rest of the items I need.

Now on to you - how is everybody?!  I've had one request to try out some wall art for a friend - after the last wall art I'm feeling a little experimental and might try mdf instead of canvas.  I'm so daring!

Anyway, while in Dallas I had a compact of powder break.  Instead of throwing it out I was just using it like loose powder and then I had a repressed memory resurface of something I saw on pinterest where you can fix these broken compacts.  So I did a little googling and did it!  It worked great - I had just bought a new powder and was pretty bummed when I dropped it in the sink and it busted.  Now, no money wasted!  I love the feeling of accomplishment. 

It's pretty simple - I took the busted compact and broke up the rest of the pressed powder into a loose powder.  This is what it looked like before I started breaking it down into a finer powder:

Make sure whatever object you use to break the rest of the powder up is clean - you don't want any inpurities to make it into the powder and then get on your face. 

I then poured in 91% isopropyl alcohol and mixed it together forming a paste.

Then I kinda slammed the compact on the counter to get the air bubbles out of the mixture.  I learned this during my 3 day failed attempt at making Macaroons last year for our anniversary (They tasted great, but looked horrific).  Hold the compact firmly while you just tap it on a flat surface.  Tap with some vigor though - I probably did it for a minute.  Since the paste is thick it took awhile to get the bubbles to float to the top. 

Then you just sit the compact out for a few hours and that's it!  The alcohol evaporates eventually and you are left with a pressed powder again!  It ain't the prettiest, but who cares! It's usable again. 

I will never again toss a broken compact again - I have some eyeshadows I need to try this out on now! 

I promise to post again by the end of the week.  I need to update you on my projects I'm working on so you can see I don't just sit here and watch soap operas and eat junk food all day.  I only do that one day of the week ;).