What I Heart Today: Easy, Inexpensive Fourth of July Decorations

In case you missed Friday's post, check it out to view my recommendation for Fourth of July invitations.

Now on to more! Today let's talk about some easy, inexpensive ways to decorate for your Fourth of July party. I'm not usually a huge fan of the traditional red, white and blue but this year I'm going for it. But as an alternative you could consider aqua, red and white which is what I used last year.

Here's what I've got on the agenda for this Fourth of July:

1) Gorgeous and simple dressed up white lanterns from Martha Stewart.

 

2) I'll be mixing in some of these fun rockets made from toilet paper rolls, scrapbook paper, and ribbon.

 

3) Where would we be without Martha? Another idea I'm borrowing from her, clip art paper wrapped cans for utensils.

 

 

4) A gorgeous table setting (original pics found here and here). Similar fabrics can be found inexpensively here and here.

 5) Love the look of these red lanterns, I found a red lantern that will give a similar look at Party City for $10.99.

 

6) And last but not least we'll have our patriotic straws!

Would love to know what types of fun parties you have planned for the Fourth of July, what are your decorating ideas?

What I Heart Today: 4th of July Invitations

Call me old fashioned but I still love to send out invitations for all of my events. It drives my husband crazy, "can't you just send an e-vite?" "have you met me before?" I always answer. It's the party planner in me.

We're getting ready to host our annual 4th of July party and I thought I would share with you the invites that were in the running and the one I finally chose. There's still time for you to get your invite out too!

I ended up going with the last one "We want you to BBQ" free from Brooklyn Limestone, so far our guests have really enjoyed them.

Come back Monday and Wednesday when I'll be sharing decoration and food ideas for your 4th of July party.

 

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What I Heart Today: Washi Tape

 
Just placed my first order for washi tape! I've seen it all over Pinterest but haven't yet had a use for it.  But after reading this post over at 6th Street Design School I've been inspired to use it for my Fourth of July Party (more to come on that). I purchased my tape from cutetape.com recommended in Kirsten's post, what adorable stuff they have! Go over and check it out.

What I Heart Today: 5 Deck Chairs for Under $100 and one for $200 Just for Fun

Exciting news, we are planning a big deck remodel for this summer. We're not getting a new deck but completely redoing the one we have and getting new furniture and accessories. We're on a tight budget so I've been scouring the web for great deck chairs under $100, and 1 for $200 that I just love, can you guess which one it is?

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What I Heart Today: More Vacay

Getting ready for a special trip :) Going to be offline for a week or so. Will have lots of fun stories when I return!

What I Heart Today: My Weight Loss Journey

Since I share a little bit of everything on this blog I thought I would start a series sharing my weight loss journey with you, I hope at least one person out there can relate with this series.

I just had a baby 3 months ago, let me repeat that, I just had a baby 3 months ago. I use that as an excuse a lot, but the truth is after all the baby weight went away I was still left with an extra 30 pounds that I didn't have before I got pregnant. Add that to the fact that I was overweight before I got pregnant and I get to where I am right now. Way too overweight.

It's really hard to share this kind of personal information with the world but I'm hoping that sharing it will keep me more accountable along my journey.  My journey started about 6 weeks ago and since then I have lost 6 pounds. Not bad but I've got way more to lose so I'm stepping things up a bit. At first I was avoiding all flour and added sugar. Now I've moved on to no flour or sugar and in addition I'm drinking a protein shake and green smoothie for breakfast, a protein shake and 2 servings of light string cheese with a handful of almonds for lunch, and a sensible dinner. I'm on day 2 and so far, so good. For exercise, I'm walking about 2 miles with my sister-in-law twice a week and in May I'm also going to start Stroller Strides.

Here's the tough news. I want to lose 77 more pounds. Yikes! Can't believe I just admitted that. I want to be around the same weight I was in high school, haven't seen it since high school!

I'm still too embarrased to share a before photo but plan on sharing a before and after when I get to my goal weight. That will probably take me about a year. So here we go, join me on my journey.

Anyone else want to come along?

What I Heart Today: If I Only Had $100

I'm totally in to the neon trend right now, neon in accessories that is. Don't think you'll see me in neon pink puffy socks anytime soon. If I only had $100 I would buy this neon pink friendship bracelet from Made By Girl.