Summer Essentials Wrap Up

1. VERSE: I have two verses for you this week as I close out this Summer Essential Series. When I first started this year I claimed Jeremiah 29:11 as my verse for the year. I had been praying a lot about my future, my sons future, and our future as a family. God had been really speaking to me through this verse and even though I wasn't quite sure what His future for us looked like, I trusted in this promise. Just a few weeks ago we put an offer in on a house and they accepted! We close late September! I could not be more excited! His Word in Luke says, 'Blessed is she, who believed that the Lord would fulfill her promises to her". I know that God had this planned for us all along we just needed to trust Him for His promise. I hope that theses verses will encourage you throughout the rest of the summer and for the remainder of the year. God has a plan for you and He promises to bless you, if you if trust Him for his Word!!

2. WORD: I don't know really know what I was thinking when I started this series and decided to include a word of the week. I guess I was trying to be hip and funny, but I just ended going crazy trying to find 'good' words to talk about. So for this last week, I am choosing a word that pretty much sums up how I have been feeling this summer, and that is, serene. This has been a very peaceful, relaxing summer. I have been able to enjoy so much time with my lil' boy & husband and have just been stress free. I hope that you have been enjoying your summer as well! What is one word that you would use to sum up how your summer has been?

3. RECIPE: I want to leave you two awesome recipes for you to try before the summer is over. They are super easy and I promise you, they will not disappoint! 1. Summer Salad: Pick what ever kind of lettuce you like, some shredded cheddar cheese, fresh strawberries, & walnuts. The dressing is my favorite part. You'll need, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/4 apple cider vinegar, 1 clove minced garlic, 1/4 tsp of salt & paprika, and 1/8 tsp of pepper. Shake really well and pour over your salad!  2. Cucumber & Cheese Delight Snack: This is probably my all time favorite snack!! I love the combination of textures. You start with a cracker. I use the artisan gluten free almond crackers but you can use, Triscuits or Wheat thins, or whatever cracker you like. Next you put a thinly sliced cucumber on top along with a piece of mild cheese. I use gouda, but you can use white cheddar. Finally, I top it all off with a dab of hot & sweet mustard from Trader Joe's! It is to die for!

4. BLOGGER(S): For my last week of Summer Essentials, I bring you two of my favorite bloggers. One is someone that I have been following for some time now & the other is someone that I just started following after I read her book, The Fringe Hours.

First, I will talk to you about Emily, from Jones Design Company. What a beautiful designer she is!! The minute I stopped over to her blog, I fell in love. She does a lot of beautiful things with graphic design, some of which you can download for free in her archive. I think I have downloaded almost all of it (I am a little obsessed with her work). I also signed up for her paperworks collection, which is perfect for all of you planners/organizers out there. She hand designs a set of paper items that you can download directly, or for a higher price, have printed and delivered directly to you. I also signed up for her simplified graphics design course, which has helped me a ton with my blog. Before signing up for this course, I knew absolutely nothing about Adobe Illustrator. Now, after a few short sessions with her, I feel like a pro! She has much to offer and I admire her so much! Thank you Emily for inspiring me to do more with my blog and for helping me to tap into a creative side, I never knew that I had.

Stop by her blog today and check out all her beautiful creations --> www.jonesdesigncompany.com

Next up is Jessica Turner, from The Mom Creative. As I mentioned earlier, I recently read her book, The Fringe Hours, which I will talk more about in my upcoming book review post. It was a life changer!! I really love her as a writer. I feel like I can relate to her a lot because we have a lot of the same interests. I only recently started following her blog and I am already hooked.

Stop by her blog today to check out some of the awesome memory keeping ideas and crafts that she blogs about. I know you will love her blog as much as I do --> www.themomcreative.com


5. CLOTHING ITEM(S): My last two summer essential clothing items are my short summer dress & white gladiator sandals. Everybody needs the perfect little sundress for the summer. It is a classic staple for your wardrobe. I was careful to select one that had some color but not too much. I choose one that had a cute aztec print, but made sure that it was not too distracting and I made sure that I felt comfortable in it. I purchased my from target (see the photo below). I have already worn it to a cocktail party, Father's Day brunch, a baby shower, & and our 4th of July Party. I was able to accessorize accordingly and I can't wait to where it again.

Another staple for your wardrobe is a good pair of sandals that you can wear with almost anything. It was so hard for me to choose just one new pair this year, because as soon as spring arrived, the shelves in most stores, were filled with tons of cute sandals! I decided for this --> white pair since I don't already own any white sandals. I opted for a little bit more of a dressy sandal. Most of my wardrobe this summer consisted of lots of dresses and skirts so I needed something a little more fancy. I got them from Target and they were the only pair left in my size (thank God)!!

6. NEW USE FOR SOMETHING OLD: And finally, if you are looking for a few more projects to do this summer, I have two really great ones for you. This first one is pretty easy. All you need is an empty glass wine jug and chalkboard spray paint. After you finish drinking all of the wine from your jug, empty it out and remove the label. After it has dried thoroughly you can spray it with chalkboard spray paint. I gave mine two coats. Once it is completely dry, you can write whatever message you like on the outside with chalk and use the jar to store your loose change. Here is a picture of my completed project ---> Trip Funds Jar I ended up decorating mine, but I wish that I would have hand-lettered a message on there instead!

This next project was a little more difficult. I made knotted pillow cases for my bed pillows. I took some old sheets (white), dyed them, cut them according to the pattern, and then tied them onto my pillows. I chose taupe as the dye color, because it matched the colors in my comforter pattern.6767 Here is the link for the complete instructions and you can see a picture of my completed project below. Even though this was a little bit harder and took me some time, I really love how they turned out!

I really hope you enjoyed this Summer Essentials Series even though I had to cut it a little short!

Many Blessings,