Happy fourth of July!

As we always do to celebrate this great day, we’ve shared some gorgeous photos and projects from Joy Ever After! You still have time to run out and buy the ingredients for these easy and awesome party touches. See the links below for instructions.


Ice Cream Sandwich


Party Food Baskets


Frozen Lemonade

Be sure to check back later for a gorgeous military wedding! Enjoy your day of rest, relaxation, food, and friends!

Christmas Table Setting

Sorry for the sporadic posts this week! This time of year is CRAZY for Army spouses, and I’ve been consumed with preparing for Christmas! Today I wanted to share my Christmas dinner table setting. I particularly like this setup because the styling elements are super affordable!

Red Chargers: $1 each, Walmart
Gold Bells: $1 for 6, Dollar Tree
Lace Runner: trimmed antique curtain, Goodwill
Pinecones: Spray-painted white
Red beading: $6, Michael’s Craft Store
White vases, cake plate, candle holder, etc: Second-hand store collection

If you readers have a table to share, send it along! And, have a wonderful weekend!

More Holiday DIY’s

If you weren’t around last year, you missed out on a TON of holiday DIY projects! Just wanted to include links for those of you looking to spruce up your home, and save a buck!

Pine Cone Luminaries



Evergreen Garland



Ornament Tower



Scrap Wreath



Beaded Wreath



Be sure to send along pics of the projects you create from our DIY’s!

Holiday Pillow DIY

Just wanted to share this little touch I recently added to my home- handmade burlap pillows! I think they make a wonderful addition to my front porch.


Supplies:
You’ll need several yards of burlap fabric, and a yard of another fabric for the letters and stars. I used two cloth napkins for my letters and stars, and needed about 3 yards of burlap, but it really depends on the size of your pillows. I also used scissors, pins, red thread, and a sewing machine, but you could feasibly do the sewing by hand if you were crazy patient :)
You can download the template for LOVE and JOY by following those links. The stars were created by assembling the scraps of fabric left from the letters. Not perfect, but quirky cute!

Step 2:
The only way I can really describe the pillow cases is this: think of them as an over-sized burlap sandwich bag. The pillow case folds over itself in the back, and you can use a button or pin to keep it shut. See the illustration below:



I would suggest laying your pillow on top of the burlap, and cutting around for the pattern. Cut the fabric tall enough to cover front and back with an extra 5 inches for the flap, and include two inches or so on the left and right.

Step 3:
Next, cut out your letters and pin them to FRONT panel of the burlap (Refer to the illustration above- the front panel is actually in the middle of the burlap.) If you’re creating stars from scraps, assemble the star pieces together using pins, and then pin the stars to the burlap. Remember, they don’t have to be perfect!



Step 4:
With the sewing machine on zig zag, sew around your letters and in the middle of the “O.” If you’re sewing stars, sew around the outside and THROUGH the middle of the star in various places. This will keep the pieces together, and add a touch of quirk.









Step 5:
This part can get tricky, so I’ve included another illustration to help. See below:



When you sew on the edges, be sure to leave plenty of room for the pillow to fit in. Remember, you can always make it smaller, but making it bigger requires pulling stitches, and that sucks.

Step 6:
Once finished, flip pillowcase inside out, insert pillow, and enclose flap by either tucking into the back, or pinning with a close pin. Easy peasy!



Let me know what you think of this project in the comments. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, xoxo!

Fall Table Decor

We’re taking a break from weddings today to share this bouquet I put together this weekend. I bought the faux berry branches on clearance last January, and discovered that the bush in my front yard dies into these beautiful little dried buds. I also had some burlap and red ribbon laying around, so I sewed it into a quick-and-easy table runner. Came together nicely, I thought.

Since I’m obviously behind on the Fall decor, I’d better get a head start with the Christmas decor NOW! More to come soon!