Flip Flop Decorating Party [Part 1]

There is so much that can be blogged about concerning the successful Flip Flop Decorating Party we had on Saturday!  I think because I was hosting the event, I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked, so I'm depending on a couple other ladies that snapped photos, to share theirs with me.  Once I have them (and I'm planning on getting them soon), then I will post "Flip Flop Decorating Party [Part 2]."  I'll say... it'll be posted by the weekend.  In the meantime, I'll share my iTunes "Beach Mix" playlist I played at the party, Elaine Kotter's "Famous Tangy Meatballs" recipe, and the "How to Make Interchangeable Flip Flops" tutorial I used on my flip flops, with you.


The Beach Mix

It was fun and time consuming to come up with songs that mentioned the ocean, the sea, waves, the sun and other lyrics that reminded me of the beach.  I was surprised at how many songs came to mind.  I aimed for mainly worship songs or other songs with a Christian message. 

Ocean Floor (Audio Adrenaline)
Summertime (Audio Adrenaline)
Life (Beckah Shae)
Walk on the Water (Britt Nicole)
Listen to the Sound (Building 429)
Who Am I (Casting Crowns)
Shine (Collective Soul)
Stars (David Crowder Band)
Dive (DC Talk)
Past the Breakers (The Distillery)
Be the Centre (Jami Smith)
Beautiful Lord (Leland)
Stronger (Mandisa)
Pocketful of Sunshine (Natasha Bedingfield)
Something Beautiful (Needtobreathe)
In Wonder (Newsboys)
Sailing On a Ship (Phil Wickham)
Jesus Lord of Heaven (Phil Wickham)
Heaven & Earth (Phil Wickham)
My Praise (Phillips, Craig & Dean)
Anchored Deep (Scott Cunningham)
Oceans From the Rain (Seventh Day Slumber)
Wash Me Clean (Shawn McDonald)
Your Love Never Fails (Sixteen Cities)
Ocean (Ten Shekel Shirt)
Your Love, Oh Lord (Third Day)
Hold On [Telemitry Remix] (Toby Mac)

David Crowder's song "How He Loves" came to mind ("If His grace is an ocean we're all sinking") and I would have added it, but I could only buy so many iTunes.

Q.  Are there any other songs you can think of that could be added to the mix?
       (Please post your comment below)


Famous Tangy Meatballs Recipe

- 1 bag First Street plain 1 oz size meatballs (found at Smart & Final)
- 2 12 oz bottles of Heinz chili sauce
- 1 cup Welch's concord grape jelly

1.  Preheat oven at 400 degrees.
2.  Pour the whole bag of meatballs into a 9x13 baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes.
3.  Mix the chili sauce and grape jelly and pour over the meatballs.  Bake for another 10-15 minutes.
4.  Pour into a crockpot when done and set to warm.

I doubled this recipe for our party of about 28.  I think each bag had 40 meatballs in it.  We ended up with enough leftover meatballs to enjoy sub sandwiches for a couple days!  I also made potato salad, Dalana made a spinach artichoke dip, Sierra made cookie dough brownies that went really well with Kayla's homemade vanilla ice cream!  There was lots of yummy food!


How to Make Interchangeable Flip Flops

I used this tutorial to decorate my flip flops.  I chose a color I thought would match everything I have and would work as a good base for the different colored accessories I could make to go with specific outfits of mine.  I got my flowers off a pair of bobby pin hair accessories that I got at Claire's a couple years ago.

The green backing was already coming off one of the bobby pins, so it wasn't hard to pull off.  Once I removed the bobby pins, I glued the green backing to the flowers.  I then glued the flowers to the pins I got at Walmart in a package for only $2.  I got a package of alligator clips too.  It took a few squirts of glue to get the flowers securely glued to the pins since their bottoms had a curve.  Each time you apply the glue, follow the instructions in the tutorial, allowing the glue to set for 2 minutes.

For the interchangeable ribbon part, I took a short cut and put two spots of glue so I didn't have to wait another 2 minutes to allow the other side to set.  You just have to be careful when you do the first wrap around the flip flop strap.  FYI, E-6000 is very tacky and can come out quickly.  I had to use a paper towel to stop the glue from coming out of the tube.  I think the more you use the glue, the less it just keeps coming out like that.  Anyone have any tips for that?


The Sneak Preview

If you missed the photos from my Flip Flop Decorating Party [Sneak Preview] post, then go here. 

A Father's Legacy

 

I took advantage of not being able to sleep since sometime after 3:00 am Sunday morning and made my dad a Father's Day card.  Saturday I was reminiscing over the childhood memories I had of my dad:  the painting that hung on the wall at my grandma's house depicting my dad bottle feeding me and the story of the special formula my dad concocted to remedy my colic as a baby; his special recipes like tuna sandwiches for our family picnics, messy malts over the summer, yummy seasoned mashed potatoes, hamburger macaroni from scratch, the English muffin pizzas he learned how to make from my grandpa, and the pumpkin pie filling he'd make to fill my mom's homemade pie crust at Thanksgiving.  But one of my favorite memories of my dad is growing up hearing him play worship songs on his guitar.  As I was thumbing through an old album, looking for a good photo to post on Facebook as my profile picture to honor my dad for Father's Day, the one of me standing next to my dad while he's playing guitar stood out to me.

When I moved out of my parents' house to get married, getting to hear my dad play worship everyday was one of the things I missed the most.  But then Gregg decided to pick up our guitar and teach himself to play.  His diligence to practice paid off and now Leala gets to grow up with the memory of her daddy playing worship on his guitar.

 

This video was shot at Christmas and I think was the first time Leala took interest in trying to strum Gregg's guitar when he was playing it.  These days Leala's strum is more steady so when Gregg presses down the chords it sounds more like a song.  I'll have to get that on video sometime. 

Father's Day was so special getting to spend it with my family and honoring my dad, my brother and my husband. 

My brother gave Gregg a really nice card that read:

For A

Wonderful Brother

On Father's Day

God,

in His wisdom,

brings hearts together-

joining them as a family

in His love.

Father's Day gives me a chance to say how proud I am of you and how thankful I am that God has placed us in the same family.

I thank my God every time I remember you.

PHILLIPIANS 1:3 NIV

May This Father's Day Bring You

Happiness And Love

Then my brother wrote a personal note:

Gregg,

May God bless you and your family!  I know you will be setting the standard for #1 Dad so watch out I'll be following closely.

Love your brother,

Rusty

The card also came with a cool pen.  Both my dad and Gregg got thoughtful cards from my brother with a pen.

I was so happy to get to replace the pocket Bible Gregg lost - after being such a great husband and cleaning up my substantial throw up mess at Souplantation a couple weeks ago - as a Father's Day gift, to honor him and show how appreciative I am of what a great father he's been to Leala.  He even puts his mouth up to my stomach and talks to Ruth Anne and gives her kisses.  He did that when I was pregnant with Leala too.

 

I personalized this Bible with Gregg's favorite wedding picture of us, a photo of our family that can be changed out as we grow, a photo of his family, and a poem that I wrote.

Christ-like love is what has shown through

From the time that I first met you.

You're patient, kind and compassionate too.

You love to help others and are a servant, it's true.

I am so thankful to God that He chose you to be

A caring father to our children and a loving husband to me.

♥

Yolanda Fields

I realize that having a father in one's life, and a good one at that, can be a rare treasure these days.  I am thankful for the father I have been blessed to have and that Leala has a father in her life.

Flip Flop Decorating Party [Sneak Preview]

One week from today I'll be hosting a Flip Flop Decorating Party for the girls in our church's youth group.  It was my friend, Kayla's idea to provide an opportunity for the girls to get to know each other better and what a fun and creative way to do it!

[Kayla Burt's photo]

All of us girl youth leaders have been excited about the party, especially when Old Navy had their $1 flip flop sale last month!

On Thursday, my friend, Vanessa helped me get these tote bags started.  We thought this would be a convenient way to send the girls home with a memento of the theme verse God put on Kayla's heart, to go with their decorated flip flops.  I have lots of tulle from my wedding 4 years ago and thought making the bags out of that would be a nice way to tote the flip flops while showing off the girls' works of art.  They are so easy to make!  The bags are a folded piece of 14" x 11" tulle with the sides sewn up, the top folded over about 1 inch and sewn all the way around, and a slit cut on one side above the stitch for the drawstring to go through.  The drawstring is a 1/2 inch wide piece of cut fabric about 35 inches long.  I put a safety pin on one end of the drawstring to help send it through the top of the bag.  Once it's all the way through, I tie the two ends together with a knot. 

I wish I could post a picture of the box full of embellishments Judy got for the girls to put on their flip flops, the theme verse mementos Dalana made or the button-adorned flip flop prototype Kayla made.  I guess you'll just have to stay tuned for that.  [smiles]

What a Week!

With my parents moving back from Oregon, Gregg and I celebrating 4 years of marriage, my mother-in-law coming to visit from Texas, my nephew turning 8, and everything in between, I don't know where this week went!  On one hand, with Gregg being off for Memorial Day and getting to work fewer hours throughout the week for his mom's visit, and getting to spend lots of time with family, it felt like a long week.  But while on a walk Sunday evening, hours after dropping my mother-in-law off at the airport, thinking about how much we missed her company, Gregg and I talked about how the week seemed to fly by!
 
Short and Sweet!

I originally had planned to write a day by day account of all the highlights of the week, especially the visit we got to have with my mother-in-law, but due to the slow performance of our computer lately, just getting a blog post up is going to be an accomplishment!  So I'm picking our wedding anniversary and finding out the sex of our baby as the events of the week to highlight.

Four Years Later

With Gregg at work and me busily doing last minute cleaning and preparation for my mother-in-law's stay with us, which ended up being an evening earlier than expected, Gregg and I found moments to wish each other a happy 4 year wedding anniversary on Thursday, in the midst of what otherwise would have seemed like a normal day.

I would have liked to have set something romantic up in our room or found more ways to put up more little memorials around the house celebrating 4 years of marriage, but this refrigerator display is all I had time for.

 

"A lasting love is made up of sharing,

both hours that are joyous and also despairing.
It's made up of patience and deep understanding
and never of stubborn or selfish demanding.
It's made up of climbing the steep hills together
and facing with courage life's stormiest weather."

- Helen Steiner Rice

"To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven."

- Karen Sunde

Anniversary Blessings

to

Two Special

Lovebirds

[inside]

When God chose you for each other,

He knew your love would be sweeter still

with each new day and anniversary!

Happy Celebrating! ♥

Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:8

Enjoy the sparkling cider.  =)

Love Mom & Dad

I loved the card and think it's so sweet that every year my parents remember our anniversary.  I discovered that my dad was actually the one who picked this card out for us.  He said he felt it was important to remember his kids' wedding anniversaries when they got married and be supportive of marriage.  I was really touched by that.  Hopefully we'll get to enjoy a glass of Martinelli's tonight.

We got to spend a fun evening with my mother-in-law eating out at Phil's BBQ.  A group of young adults at three tables next to us made the evening even more exciting with their enthusiasm for the Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks game that was playing on the flat screens in the restaurant.  Leala made friends with one of the girls at the table next to us when she screamed coincidentally at the same time one of the players on the Dallas Mavericks scored.  We scored even more points with Leala's new friend when she found out that my mother-in-law was from Dallas, Texas.  We stayed to see how the game would turn out and I have to say that the Mavericks made an amazing last minute comeback!

Saturday evening my mother-in-law babysat so Gregg and I could go on a date to celebrate our anniversary.  Thank God Soul Surfer was still out in theaters!  I love inspirational movies and this one is now one of my favorites!  We were in such a rush to make it to the theater in time and to get back home for the yummy Mexican food my mother-in-law was cooking for us, that I forgot to take our annual anniversary picture!

The Secret's Out 

Or is it?  Well, we had my long anticipated anatomical ultrasound appointment this morning and according to the tech our baby is... a girl.  We got a little sneak preview at the end and Gregg was in agreement with the tech.  Still getting used to the idea since my heart was pretty set on the baby being a boy.  I told Gregg that maybe I should go watch Pride and Prejudice to help me recondition my mind.  Growing up, surrounded by females, seems to be Gregg's lot in life.  Joking aside, whatever the sex of our baby, I do believe it is what it is by God's divine providence.  Though I know what hopes I had in having a boy, God knows the plans He has for little Ruth Anne Hope (Jeremiah 29:11), if the baby is indeed a girl.

 

Our baby's smile.

 

I think the baby was saying "hi" to us.

The Anthropologie Experience

I remember the day we discovered Anthropologie.  Gregg and I were spending a weekend up in Newport Beach, attending our first Married Couples' Retreat.  During our free time we decided to spend it perusing the Fashion Island mall.  During our meandering we saw it - an amazing storefront display!  It was so interesting and so creative, we had to have a look inside the store!

I wish I had taken some pictures of their window display and some of the cool decor we liked in the store.  With things like that, I have this internal apprehension about breaking some sort of rule of consumer etiquette.  I know you can't take a picture of an Apple storefront and so I guess I figure taking pictures of Anthropologie's creative design ideas would be perceived as potential thievery as well.  Since the hay bail couch was outside the Newport Beach store, I did take a picture of that.

Thanks to Google, I discovered that there are others out there not as apprehensive as me, so I was able to find some photos to post to give you a visual idea of my Anthropologie experiences.

The couple photos I found below are similar to what we saw in Newport Beach in September 2009.  Using paperback books to create an eye-catching display must have been the design theme that year.

[photo found here]

 [photo found here]

The westfield.com/utc store page for Anthropologie says it, "was founded in 1992 by a small group of people with a love for making things that inspire the imagination."  If you've ever set foot in an Anthropologie store, you know this to be true.  I learned in Newport Beach that entering an Anthropologie store didn't provide a mere shopping experience, but a scope for frugal creativity.  Their ability to take something common and turn it into a work of art is impressive!  They really are expert at transforming trash into treasure!  In fact, while Googling images of Anthropologie storefronts, I came across several blogs from people who actually created their displays, like here.  I think that would be such a fun job!

Well, as fun as it is to browse through an Anthropologie store, getting to buy something is even better!  Thanks to a giveaway on the beautiful journey blog last month, I won a $50 gift card!  It came in a cute little patterned pouch and with a little booklet where I could write down my "Likes & Loves" from their store.

So I did my online homework to get an idea of what I might buy when we took a trip to a nearby Anthropologie store.  We actually had 3 locations to pick from, so I posted a poll on my Facebook Wall to see which would be the best one to go to.  The Forum in Carlsbad was highly recommended for their bigger selection of sale items.

So the Forum it was and we took our special little trip on Memorial Day, which Gregg had off from work.  Leala came along too.  There wasn't a special storefront display to capture and once again, when we saw displays we liked in the store, I got apprehensive about taking pictures of Anthropologie's design ideas.  Thankfully, instead of merely having to use descriptive words to give you an image of the cool things we saw, this wonderful blogger happened to attend the Carlsbad Anthropologie Summer Fashion Show last month and snapped a shot of the cool denim wall Gregg and I liked.  To the left of that denim display, (you can only see the top right corner of it in the picture), Gregg thought the scrap pieces of wood assembled vertically looked cool and said that they throw that kind of stuff away at his work all the time.  I told him that maybe someday he could make something like that as decor for our home.  Gregg also thought that a coffee table made of woven scraps of fabric stretched over a wooden frame held up with wooden legs, was cool too (not pictured).  Other than that, there weren't really any other spectacular displays.

[photo found here]

I was really excited when I spotted the book I had seen online - How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew!

The title and the brief book description captured my attention on Anthropologie's website and I was able to take a peak inside the book on Amazon.com.  Once I started going down the Table of Contents I was hooked and I knew this book was right down my alley!

Wake Up Happy:  How to Make Blueberry Pancakes
Be a Strong Chick:  How to Roast a Whole Chicken
Rise Up and Save Dough:  How to Bake Bread
Drink to Your Health:  How to Make a Smoothie with Fruit or Veggies
Fill Your Plate:  How to Plan a Week's Menu
Grow Your Own:  How to Plant a Vegetable Garden
Keep Away Pests:  How to Naturally Protect Your Garden from No-Good Insects
Spice Up Your Life:  How to Start a Windowsill Herb Garden
Preserve Knowledge:  How to Dry Apples
Stash Your Bounty:  How to Can Your Own Fruits and Veggies
Sweeten Your Day:  How to Make (and Can) Strawberry Jam
Cure Wrinkles:  How to Properly Fold a Fitted Sheet
Freshen Up:  How to Spring Clean
Clean Naturally:  How to Use Vinegar to Clean Almost Anything
Clean More Stuff Naturally:  How to Use Baking Soda Around the House
Toast Your Tootsies:  How to Darn Wool Socks
Get Crafty:  How to Make an Apron
Make A Mends:  How to Patch a Hole
Omit Oopsies:  How to Remove Most Stains
Breathe Deep:  How to Scent Your Home Without Candles
Spark Imagination:  How to Make a Baby Toy
Teach Responsibility:  How to Delegate Chores
Shoulder Up:  How to Be a Strong Partner
Kindle Romance:  How to Make the Most of a Night In
Welcome Your Honey Home:  How to Heal a Hard Day
Banish Debt:  How to Shop Without Using Credit
Live a Richer Life:  How to Share Your Good Fortune (Even When Things Are Tight)
Be Neighborly:  How to Enjoy the Folks Next Door
Keep the Peace:  How to Deal With a Problem in Your Neighborhood

This list only covers some of this book's contents.  There were just so many good ones to list though!

Q.  Were there any topics you especially liked?

The author interviewed ten grandmothers, all of whom lived through the Great Depression.  I love Erin Bried's heart to learn from the older generation and to preserve their stories before they're lost for all time.  She encourages the reader to learn from their own grandmothers, if they have them, which I've been wanting to do with mine, and even though she lives a couple states away, I'm inspired to find ways to hear her stories and glean from her life experience while I can.  Erin's humor thrown into the step-by-step instructions makes for a fun read too!

This was the other item I was hoping to get:

Alphabet Blocks by Uncle Goose

However, their kids' section was small and they didn't have them in stock.  I'm hoping that one of the other Anthropologie stores has them so that I can save myself $6.50 for shipping and handling.  Plus, I'm sure the other stores have some different displays that would be cool to take pictures of (which I'm determined I would have the guts to do next time!).  So hopefully I'll be posting about "Another Anthropologie Experience" with more cool photos and some cute ones too of Leala playing with her blocks.