A Delicious Salad Recipe & A New Year Celebration Tradition

This is my beautiful friend Carolee & she brought a delightful salad to our New Year's Eve party this year. With her permission, I'm sharing her recipe. It's so delicious & so easy to make. 

Carolee's Arugula Salad

• arugula lettuce
• juice of a lemon
• herb flavored olive oil
• salt & pepper
• freshly grated parmigiano cheese 

Carolee assembles the salad just before serving in the order listed above. She uses a vegetable peeler to grate (or shred) the cheese. 

Every year, we ring in the new year with this same group of friends. We meet around 7 o'clock in the evening - have dinner, play games & best of all . . . laugh! We rotate & take turns hosting in our homes. 

We also all chip in with the meal. This year we had appetizers, chicken, rice, green beans, Sue's home made rolls, & chocolate cake for dessert. 

We play lots of games such as "What's Yours Like", "Telestrations" & "Wits & Wagers" - which are all fun, but honestly our favorite is always a White Elephant gift exchange. I couldn't stop laughing when someone brought a "Squatty Potty"! 

I hope you have a wonderful year & that you are blessed with "20/20 vision" about what's really important in life. 

Thanksgiving Inspiration

Thanksgiving is coming up soon! If you need a little inspiration, here's an overview of some of the decorations, tablescapes & even a "Friendsgiving" I've done in the past . . . {Please click the blue bar below for more}

Fall Porch Decor

What's green & white & orange all over? My fall porch! This is the kind of wreath that looks good from September through November. 

White pumpkins are really having a moment. One nice thing about them is that they transition beautifully from Halloween to Thanksgiving. I've also observed that their stems often fall off at the store before you buy them. Since I LOVE the stems, I fish them out of the bottom of the pumpkin box & hot glue them back on! 

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Keep on the Covenant Path Church Bulletin Board

I've recently blogged about my church bulletin boards here & here. I'm still new at this, & I like the way some of the boards turn out more than others. Each time around, I learn something about designing a bulletin board. This time I discovered that I don't love a white background. But, there wasn't the time or budget to change it, so here it is! {Click the blue bar below to read more.}

A Bridal Shower for Baylee

This sweet girl just got married & right before she did, I hosted a little bridal shower for her. 

There has been a lot of buzz about balloon arches lately & I just HAD to give it a try. Oh my goodness - it was my favorite thing I did for the shower. I can't say enough good about the beautiful "Ginger Ray" party supply line. I purchased several things online {I'm SO short on time these days, so . . . lifesaver!} & I loved them all. You can find the balloon arch here.
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The Living Christ Church Bulletin Board

As I stated in an earlier post, When I started my blog I decided right then & there that it would be a platform to share my creative endeavors - whatever they be!  I was recently asked to be in charge of decorating our church bulletin board. If you missed my first attempt, you can see it here. This is my latest . . . {click the blue bar below for more!}

A Box of Sunshine Missionary Care Package

While looking for an inexpensive package to send to our missionaries, I stumbled upon the idea of a Box of Sunshine. {Click the blue bar below to read more!}

A Pretty Entry Area & Styling Book Shelves

One more post about fluffing up Sis's house! This time I'm starting with her entry way (which I can't take any credit for) & her book shelf in her family room (which I did help her style). Here's her beautiful entry bench . . . (Click the blue bar below to see more!)

5 Tips for Styling Areas Above Cabinets

Hello Friends, I recently helped my Sis "fluff up" some of the areas in her home. In my last post, I showed you her powder room. {Click here if you missed it.} Next, I wanted to show the area above her kitchen cabinets. There are so few pictures because the light was terrible & I was exhausted. But I would still like to share my philosophy about decorating above cabinets. In just a few words it is this: keep it sparse. In the past, I remember decorating these areas with quite a few accessories & plants. Not any more. Now I feel that simpler is just better. 

Keeping that in mind, we chose just two areas & decorated them with groupings. Here's one . . . {click the blue bar below to see more!}

A Little Bathroom Refresh

My Sis has a beautiful home in another state. When I visited her recently we decided "zhoosh" up a few of the areas that she felt needed a refresh. I'm going to start with my favorite - her little powder room. Here it is - pretty bare & ready for some love. Our inspiration was this beautiful rug she found at Target. {Click the blue bar below to see more!