I Scream You Scream We all Scream for Ice Cream

Mmmm, ice cream...good till the last lick!

Sorry Mom, I just had to post this it was TOO funny that Zach captured this photo!

Is your life beautiful?

I have been devouring my latest issue of Life:Beautiful magazine and encourage you to subscribe to it. It is a Christian Based magazine and I copied this information below from their website. I have treasured each and every issue and KEEP them all to refer back to. Very uplifting, informative, and educational.

Check it out for yourself! Drop me a line if you already subscribe to this and your thoughts OR let me know if you sign up I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Take time to enjoy the simple things in life and what really matters.

Life: Beautiful Magazine

Mission:

Life:Beautiful is a national, inter-denominational, Christian lifestyle magazine that celebrates an active, integrated faith. Built on a foundation of biblical teaching and encouragement for spiritual growth, Life:Beautiful offers relevant information and community for Christian women.

The pages of Life:Beautiful showcase everyday experiences and activities, such as parenting, cooking, decorating, teaching, working, volunteering, resting, traveling and offering hospitality—all of which can be used to share the joy of the Lord.

Objective:

Life:Beautiful is dedicated to delivering the uncompromised message of the Bible with excellence is journalism, photography, and editorial and art direction in order to offer a world-class faith magazine to the masses.

Availability:

Life:Beautiful is sold by subscription and on newsstands. To subscribe, go to the Home page and click on Subscribe. Newsstand copies are sold nationwide in the United States at general mass merchants and Christian bookstores.

Belief Statement:

Life:Beautiful is published on a foundation of the following beliefs:

1. We believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God and inerrant in the original writings, and that they are the supreme and final authority in faith and life.

2. We believe in one God, the Creator who eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, Mary, and that He was and remains both God and man.

3. We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His own divine image; that they sinned and incurred physical and spiritual death, which is separation from God; and, as a result of Adam’s sin, all humans are now born with a sinful nature and stand guilty before God.

4. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and that all who believe in Him and receive Him as personal Lord and Savior are born again of the Holy Spirit and become children of God.

5. We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His present life there for us as High Priest and Advocate.

6. We believe in the blessed hope of the personal and imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells and gives spiritual life to all believers, enables them to understand biblical truth, empowers them to live godly lives, and equips them for service and witness.

7. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the unsaved.

Remembering Childhood Fun

Just found a fun website that has FREE paper dolls and paper dolls clothes to print and play with.

My 5 year old daughter Anna will have have a blast with these. I think I will print them off and put them in a tin box with a handle. She can then pick them up and take them to grandma's, on long car rides, or wherever she chooses to play pretend.

Have fun and check out the site!


http://pattyreeddesigns.com/dolls/index.htm

I'm having breakfast with a rooster!

Join Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday!

A rustic rooster stands guard at the table on display at Mary Carol Garrity's shop in Atchison.
Scalloped black & white rectangle placemats are topped of with a collection of red and black & white dishes. Love the tiny creamers at each place setting and the larger one sitting in the front right corner.

A galvanized tower holds a collection of plates and a pretty arrangement in a red tin container.

One tall glass jars held tiny plates which resembled butter pats and the other jar held green glass miniature vases.

I love the rustic two handled urn in the background, it would be gorgeous in my bay window.

Warm summer hugs,

Natalie

Make these Patriotic Coasters

Found these on the Country Sampler website.

They look relatively easy to do. I love the red ticking napkins they show in this photo as well. Pick up some ticking at the fabric store when you get the fabric to make these adorable coasters.

Country Sampler suggests displaying them in a woven basket on the dining table, using one as padding beneath a glass vase, or feather into your decor in any spot that needs a little patriotic perk-up!

She sells seashells by the seashore

Well not really by the seashore but I got this seashell planter here in Iowa of all places! I found a new consignment shop in Cedar Rapids called STUFF. They have 4 locations in the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area.

I picked this up for $2.99 and really love the texture of it.







Here it is on the side of my fireplace mantle with some of my old wicker covered bottles I have been collecting for 10 years or so.










I went out to my garden and picked some hosta, honeysuckle, and porcelain vine leaves for a fresh natural look.

I love the simplicity of the leaves, but you could add white daisies, yellow sweet peas or even blue salvia if you want an added pop of color. Tuck in a small flag for the Fourth of July.

The rope ball I picked up at Walmart of all places!

What do you put on a shelf?

Here are some of my favorite photos from Ballard Designs which if you haven't heard of before you MUST check out their site and request a catalog. I've used it for years after one of my employees brought in a catalog to my store, A Touch of Country. Thanks Nancy if you are reading this!
The above photo is perfect for your own design studio, craft room, mommy escape room or whatever you may call it! They used a paper towel holder to corral pretty ribbons that are ready to be made into bows and tied on pretty packages for your friends & family. A glass jar hold paintbrushes or you could hold markers and colored pencils.

Don't have money for the fancy artwork shown above? Simply put your child's artwork in black or white frames and poof! You have one of a kind TREASURED artwork!

The above photo shows them in a kitchen. I have a sink similar to this one at the farm we are currently buying. It is sitting on an old metal base in the basement. I have been thinking of installing the sink part of it in our new laundry/mudroom.
The black shelves hold dinner plates, wine glasses and baskets of bottled beverages.
I even love the photos of silverware. Maybe I could find some old family ones and glue actual silverware to sheets of toile paper or maybe burlap fabric. Hmmm...

Here they show 2 of the same size and a small one on top. I would have never thought to do that, but I love how it looks! I really like how they left enough room to add a lamp and some topiaries. Stacks of books and more wire baskets coral odds & ends.

Here the shelves are again in the laundry room. Love the glass jar with laundry soap. I saw a jar similar at Goodwill yesterday for just a few dollars.
Jars hold clothespins and balls of jute string. Ironing spray and an iron are kept nearby and a clock to keep track of the time. Maybe time would go by fast as you iron in this pretty room!

White shelves corral office necessities...books, file folders, envelopes & journals.
So nice, neat and contained.