Summer Pinterest Challenge and DIY Grad Party Highlights

With the graduation party this past weekend, I couldn’t help but get excited to participate with Lana, Sherry, Katie and Emily and all of the creative bloggers linking up in the

Want to see what our project was?  Read on.

First, a few grad party sneak peeks:

Graduates:
(nephew and daughter)
We had yummy picnic dishes – hot & cold (including Mr. DIY’s brisket and ribs) and lots of guest-shared side dishes, ice cold drinks chilling in a baby pool.  The guest list was rather large with two guests of honor so a little help with affordable picnic-style food (chicken from Walmart) was necessary.
We used recycled tissue paper poofs from the baby shower:

And made some pretty scrapbook paper banners:

I forgot to snap a picture, but using mini-clothes pins, we hung pictures of the grads throughout their 18-yrs of life on a string of twine hung banner style.  Setting up = forgetfulness in the taking pictures for sharing with blog friends.  It was super cute!
Activities included volley ball, badminton, bean bag toss, a bon fire at dusk and a photo backdrop area with fun photo props (mustaches and silly glasses were a huge hit!).

 (string up a clothes line between two trees, backdrop is a table cloth)
We did use disposable cameras in this area (terrible pictures/expensive) so if you have the time or can assign a person to sit with your decent camera, it’d be more affordable with better pictures as a result. 
Disguises!

As for our Pinterest inspiration for summer outdoor fun:

Pinterest Inspiration = lawn Twister
(the original link appears to be broken/has disappeared, but we did up our own tutorial)
Our take on lawn Twister:
(Notice our color pattern/design is a little different than the Pinterest inspiration but it worked out perfectly!)

Spray painting the grass (it grows out) using a cardboard circle stencil (the center circle cutout was used for the spinner). We used Krylon in red, yellow, blue and green.

We made the spinner from things we had on hand:  card board, an upholstery tack and a little Gorilla Tape on the back (to prevent pinprick). Recycling cardboard and using markers gave it a fun vintage toy vibe.

The party was a success! Guests had a blast!  Each graduate even gave a small speech thanking guests for coming (all 110!!!), introduced themselves and described their future plans. Applause!  So proud!
Want to join in the fun of the Pinterest Challenge – Summer Edition?  Here’s how: Select a project on Pinterest that has inspired you.  Post about it and link up at Making a House a Home, Young House Love, Bower Power and Emily Henderson. Fun!
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and link up your DIY to the Monthly DIY Project Contest for a chance to win some pretty cool prizes!

If you’d like to see my Pinterest boards, click below
Photobucket

DIY from Tres Chere Vintage Market

I love making new blog friends and I’d like you to meet:  Angela & Debbie from 
After a recent trip to a local thrift shop scored bean bag toss platforms (cornhole platforms, if you prefer), Angela & Debbie set out to play DIY. And the results are amazing!
Before: 
(with the addition of 2 legs, as a cornhole platform only has 2 on one side, if you didn’t know)
I do love this game!
However, I love the idea of relaxing here more:
(less than $50)
See the beautiful tiled platform? Yep – that’s the after!
Amazing!
See the tutorial and details at:  “Cover your Cornhole
Zen
and the twin platform? 
You guessed it.  It’s now this cozy cottage style retreat!
(less than $20)
Vintage
Details at the original Tres Chere Vintage Market post “Shut your Cornhole
{{giggle}}
Which is your favorite?  Wouldn’t you just love to be relaxing in either one of these fun summer time areas?
Angela & Debbie ~ one word:  AWESOME!  You two are DIY geniuses!  So cool!  Thank you so much for sharing your thrifty makeovers, creating beautiful seating areas on an amazing budget!  LOVE them both!

Check out more How-To’s and Before/After at 

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It’s Friday!  Woo hoo!  It’s been a crazy week for me. We’re hosting a double graduation party tomorrow and it’s rather a large guest list so I’ve been getting this neglected house cleaned and the barn patio all set up for celebrating my daughter’s and nephew’s graduation this year. I’m to the point where I just can’t wait for it to be over!  Anyway…I won’t be posting tomorrow but I hope you’ll still visit and check out the links in the DIY Project Parade.  Then Sunday…the party might be a little late. We’ll see how things go this weekend but I’ll ‘see’ you Sunday at some point!  Pray that the predicted scattered thunderstorms hold off until late Saturday night for us!  

Enjoy a weekend filled with summer fun!

DIY Weekly Wanderings – Vintage. Repurposed. Home.

What’s better than DIY?  Coming from the DIY Show Off, it’s our opinion that there’s not much better than DIY projects. EXCEPT for awesome genius DIY projects beautifully photographed. Let’s face it, great projects portrayed in pretty pics is what inspires us.

Meet:  Sheryl from

Hi Sheryl!  Sheryl is a photography and DIY’er and {insert sexy whistle} take a look at her beautiful DIY.  Click the links to visit Sheryl’s blog for the details and tutorials. My favorite projects are vintage and salvaged items repurposed into gorgeous home accessories. These are awesome!
Looking for a creative idea for those pallets sitting around?
Sheryl shows us how to make a Pallet Swing.
Pallet Swing Tutorial

I love the rich color, recycled beauty and rope in the place of chains!

Remember those old windows lying around in the garage just waiting for a creative idea? 

Sheryl spied these beauties…

and created these for her daughter!
Vintage Window Jewelry Organizer Tutorial

 No tangles!

I just love the rustic charm of these. Pretty. Organized. Neat and within easy reach for accessorizing! Yes, please!
Everyone I know loves a beautiful old door.  So charming!
Sheryl snagged this one from her aunt’s old house…

and with a lot of work, turned it into chalkboard entryway “thing-a-ma-gig”.

What a wonderful idea and love the natural wood paired with black magnetic paint!

Chalkboard Entry Display Tutorial

 Bottle cap magnets – perfect!

 Ceramic knobs keep purses and bags organized in the entry way.

I want this in my entryway! No more purse on the floor or chair.  Great idea for a family memo center too!
Awesome job, Sheryl!  Each project has is genius and I love that you’ve enhanced each thing’s natural beauty and charm.  Inspiration for sure! Thank you!
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Love repurposed vintage pieces as much as Sheryl & I do? 

Don’t forget to enter the Giveaway!
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A special thanks to Miss Charming for featuring my design challenge room today!