City-Hopping 4th!

Happy Tuesday!  Did everyone have a great 4th?

Mine turned out to be a city-hopping Independence Day.  I started the weekend off at Lake Gaston.

I did a lot of jet-skiing.

leaving the cove

And some corn hole playing...

my godfather and I were the corn hole champs!

action shot

Shortly after playing corn hole, I dove into the lake to cool off.  I didn't realize it, but my sunglasses were on my face.  After a momentary freak-out, my godbrother JCS dove in and recovered the sunken glasses!

We also spent a lot of time on the boat...

Riley loves to cruise!

boys tubing!

JNS wake boarding

My godbrothers:  JCS and BKS

And this big guy even turned 10 on the 1st!

I can remember waiting in the hospital for his arrival 10 years ago!

Sunday I made a quick decision to go to the rivah to see other family and cousins in town from Alabama.

Daddy and I managed to get a picture to fill his Father's Day frame

We also did some boating on the Rappahannock River.

gorgeous sunset

CJE, BRB

CAE, Allie

We even got to see some fireworks on our ride!

And we ended the night with a dance partay!

RLE and Allie

cousins

Uncle RLE and cousin RLE breakin' it down!

shake your groove thang!

oww oww!

CJE and CAE

CJE, Allie, CAE

Did you have a fun 4th of July?  How did you celebrate?

Have a great day!

Land of the Free & The Brave

Hip Hip Hooray..it's our nation's birthday!

I hope you all have enjoyed some fireworks this weekend and have also taken the time to bask in all it means to be an American!

In honor of this holiday, I thought I'd share a fun song (please don't judge my love of Miley!).

Have y'all had a good holiday weekend?

Be back tomorrow!

Loving Africa

Happy July everyone!!  Today is the the first of the month, so you know what that means:  African Aspirations!

Since today is the start of a holiday weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to do a more upbeat Africa post.

Today's post is all about a way YOU can make a difference in Africa by doing something I know we ALL love:  Shopping!

There are tons of companies that sell African handcraft and art to help support African charities and local economies.

With a quick Google search, I found tons of the companies and figured I'd feature one today:  Loving Africa.  Loving Africa is a nonprofit organization and each purchase made on their website contributes to the income of a working artist and additional profits fund projects for AIDS-impacted families in Cape Town, South Africa.

They have tons of different products, but I particularly like their beaded necklaces.

Large Beaded Elephant

No, not a necklace, but I couldn't resist:  Isn't this little guy cute?

Fiery Fluffy Bead Ball Necklace

I think this would be so cute paired with a white sundress!

Black Bead Ball Necklace

I think this black necklace is very chic!

Earth Fluffy Bead Ball Necklace

The colors in this necklace are so fun!

In addition to these fun necklaces, Love Africa also sells other jewelry, clothing, handbags, home decor, and even recycled gifts!

Do you like what you see?  Do you support any companies like these?  If you have a good one be sure to share in the comments section!

To read other African Aspirations installments, click here.

Be sure to enter my giveaway here!  The last day to enter is Tuesday!

I'm headed to Lake Gaston for the holiday weekend and will be back to regular posting (and hopefully blog reading as well) Tuesday!  Any fun weekend plans? 

Whether you're celebrating at home this weekend or traveling, have a wonderful weekend and be safe!

Scout Deano Bag

Happy Thursday!

Again, I'd like to reiterate from yesterday's post, I'm sorry for my lack of commenting this week.  It's been hard enough to get my posts written.  I am missing all of your blogs though and am hoping to catch up soon!

Today's post was inspired by Leigh, over at Hines-Sight Blog.  She recently wrote a post that was called "Packing a Boden Swimsuit and Much More in My Pool Bag" (see here).  I love reading all her funny antics as a busy, Southern mama and in this post she did not disappoint!

The phenomena she explained is one any mama or babysitter understands--going to the pool with kids involves a lot of PACKING!

When I go to the pool, river, or beach by myself I pack a cute little Pink & Green crab beach bag that perfectly holds a bottle of sunscreen, my towel, and a few magazines or books.  Once I started taking the Cuties to the pool, though, a few years ago, it quickly became clear that my cute little bag wouldn't cut it.

I, therefore, decided to purchase a much bigger cute bag:  The Scout Deano bag!  All the super cute moms at the Cuties' country club have them, so I fit right in!

Poolside with my Scout Deano!

This is my third summer of carrying the bag almost daily and it is still in great shape!

The thing is huge!

My Deano bag usually contains at least three beach towels, a few pairs of goggles, diving sticks, lots of sunscreen, sunglasses, magazines, books, a cosmetic bag, lunchbox and more!  It is literally HUGE!!

Scout also makes the cutest storage bins, coolers, trash bins, lunchboxes and more, always in bright, preppy prints!

I am loving some of this summer's prints and am thinking I might have to get myself another Scout something!

"Spirit Liftah" for $7?  YES, PLEASE!

"Packin' Heat"..I'll take that too!

An insulated "Cool Clutch" would also be a nice addition to my Scout collection!

Don't you just LOVE the print on this "Uptown Girl"?

Do you own anything made by Scout?  How do you keep track of all your pool gear?

Be sure to hop on over to my giveaway and 15% off Mary Kay sale if you haven't yet!  Click here!

Have a great Thursday..it's almost the HOLIDAY WEEKEND!

Summer DIY Wreath

Happy Hump Day Readers!  Where are the weeks going?  It seems to me that Mondays and Tuesdays drag on and then next thing I know it's Wednesday...then Thursday...and Friday and the week's over!

I'd like to start today's post by apologizing to all of you readers (especially some of my new ones for not reading/commenting as much this week).  I've been busy, busy--I'm with the Cuties all day and then have been going to Mary Kay trainings and/or catching up with friends at night.  I haven't been getting home til 9 or 10 or sometimes even later each night.  On top of that, my computer's wireless has been really funky, it holds a connection for about 15 min and then loses it and I have to try and reconnect.  Because of all this I have been in a blog reading slump--I have been trying my best to keep up, but please forgive me if I haven't checked out your blog yet or lately!

Now onto today's post!  I am thrilled to share a gorgeous, EASY summer DIY project with you:  A Cocktail Umbrella wreath.

This wreath is just what you need to add some summer charm to your front door and would also be a great housewarming gift.

The cuties and I made this last week and it cost less than $15! We bought all of our supplies at Ben Franklin Crafts and Party City.  We started with a 16 in straw wreath for $4.99 and a yard of pink wired ribbon for around $2.  (I would recommend getting a little longer if you want to tie a bow at the top, otherwise, a yard is plenty.)  Then, at Party City, we bought a pack of Cocktail Umbrellas for $5.99 and have tons left over for fun drinks throughout the summer and even another wreath or two!

And now for the steps.  This project doesn't even really require steps, because I literally saw a picture and then just figured it out as I went, but I'll tell you what I did.

1. Wrap your ribbon around the top of the wreath where you would like it placed.  (If you do not do this at the beginning, you will not be able to fit it or will smoosh the umbrellas in the process of trying to make it fit.
2. Stick the umbrellas into the wreath in an overlapping fashion alternating colors.  (We followed no specific color pattern, but just made sure all colors were used evenly.  We also alternated our positioning of the umbrellas, making sure that all of one color wasn't at the bottom being covered by others or vice versa.)
3. Make your way around the umbrella.  

• Additionally, we did not use any glue, however, depending on your wreath you may want to dab a little glue on the points of the umbrellas to hold them in place, however, the straw was tight enough that we were pretty sure ours would not come lose.
• Also occasionally as working, we would lift the wreath up and put it against the door to make sure that no straw from the inside of the circle was peaking out, it is not necessary to cover the whole wreath, just make sure that your umbrellas are placed so that when hanging you do not see any straw.
• Finally, if you are using a straw wreath like we did, you may want to work outside, because the straw sheds a lot as you're working!

Cutie B playing with the umbrellas.

His job was to get the rubber bands off of the umbrellas and open them up!

The lovely Cutie A

She helped me with the layout and design of the umbrella and also helped stick them into the wreath.

Voila!

It really pops on their bright lime door!

It was quite fun revealing the wreath to the Cuties' mama.  We made it at my house and let her know that we had a surprise for her when she got home.  She actually beat us home, so once we got back we banished her to her office while we hung the wreath on the front door.  We then told her she had to go check the mail.  In the process, she discovered the wreath and loved it and thought it would make the neighbors quite envious!

Do you keep a wreath on your front door?

If you haven't already, please be sure to enter my Mary Kay giveaway and check out the 15% off sale I'm offering readers!!  See here!

Also, don't forget that I'm accepting any and all questions from my readers to compile in a post.  You can submit questions by commenting on Friday's post, here, or by emailing me at sundressesandsmiles@gmail.com!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!