July Visiting Teaching Message {Free Printable}

my good friend has been asking me to make a visiting teaching card for her to take or send to her ladies each month and it gave me the idea to share these each month with my lovely friends here on sugartot designs. 

this may come a little late for some of you . . . a little early for me (i need to work on that)
but i will start posting these the first day of every month, so be be sure to come back and print up a card for your ladies.
for those of you wondering what visiting teaching is. . . well, for me, it has been a lifesaver through all our moves. we, as members of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints, have the opportunity to be assigned, along with a partner, ladies to visit, support, comfort, provide help in any way and form a friendship.
these ladies have been at my door ready to help and make me feel welcome when moving to cleveland and omaha when i didn't know a single person.
it truly is an inspiring program and hope these messages help you get out the door and visit your "sisters" each month.

 

click on the HERE to download message as jpeg
or HERE for pdf

and incase you haven't yet, aimee at sprik space has created amazing backgrounds, like this chevron print. so head over there to get yours!

linking up to these parties:

craftomaniac, dittle dattle, between naps on the porch, stories from a2z, not just a housewife,  tip junkie, sugar bee, blue cricket design, night owl crafting, somewhat simple, house of hepworths,

tater tots and jello, at the picket fence, remodelaholic, whipperberry, addicted 2 decorating, funky junk, i heart naptime, thrifty decor chick, diy showoff, just a girl, the shabby nest, under the table & dreaming, be different act normal, sugardoodle

4th of july festivities

just to show that i wasn't lying when my family goes all out for the 4th of july as stated over at
i heart naptime
i couldn't resist posting these pictures of their celebration.
it has been 5 years since i have been able to go (thanks to good old dental school and residency),
here is to hoping i make it next year.

this is just my immediate family - 6 kids, 23 grandkids

and one amazing mom and dad gather for brunch, 

followed by a visit by abraham lincoln (a.k.a. my dear dad),

followed by the reading of the gettysburg address by my nieces,

a flag ceremony,

and end it all with a little slip and slide.

isn't that little ruffle skirt amazing?!? if i ever have a girl, my sister is going to have to teach me all her tricks!!! love it. 

it helps when the little girl wearing it is ridiculously adorable. 

fabric flower canvas

it usually takes me at least 3 times of doing something before i am satisfied with it. . . 

take this canvas. it has been painted brown with a green V,

black with an attempt at a coat of arms of the netherlands,

and finally mod podged with pages of a very old mythology book and decorated with fabirc flowers.

3 totally different takes.

that is me for you.

 

it was just a flat 22" x 28" canvas that i have had for who knows how long,
so i glued 2" square dowels on it to make it look like a canvas and "pop" off the wall.

here are the flowers i used and the tutorials that helped me.
flower #1 by sew ritzy titzy
rosette by little birdie secrets
ruffled flower by creation corner
rolled flower by the pilot's wife
flower #2 by house of smith's
yo yo by studio calico
and leaf / tulip flower well, my mom just kind of made that up. that is what she does. amazing woman.
she just took a little square, folded it in half, than folded the corners down and sewed around the bottom.
the stems, of course, are just a basic ruffle stitch

here is the final product. i am sure i will change the color of that "v" a few times.
for now, i think i like the subtly of it because i have so many other v's around my house.

and on a side note, this is what happens when i try to bake

this little monster gets into EVERYTHING, including the green food coloring while i was using the red and blue. if only some of his cuteness could have rubbed off on our 4th of july cake. . . 

i still have a green little monster running around. 

sugartot designs giveaway . . . 100 followers!

as a thank you to my awesome followers . . . which just reached 100
i am hosting my first

the winner will receive a 

CUSTOM INVITATION, ANNOUNCEMENT

OR GREETING CARD

from my shop 

or if you don't see the party theme you want, i will custom make one for you.

Here is how you can win:

* follow sugartot designs and leave a comment telling me that you are (one entry)

* head over to my shop and tell me your favorite item or what you would like to see there (one entry)

* follow me on facebook and come back telling me that you are (one entry)

* blog, tweet, facebook, etc. about this giveaway and leave a comment that you did (one entry)

winner will be selected by random generator 

SATURDAY,  JULY 16 at noon!

BBQ Baked Beans . . . and a recipe card to go with it

i am sure you all have your bbq baked beans for the 4th, but for all those bbq's you will be going to the rest of the summer . . . this is a must try.

my sister-in-law gave me this recipe with cubed cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon that gives it that scrumptious punch of flavor.

pretend that bbq sauce bottle is ketchup and their is a can of butter beans in the picture.
i have taken 3 trips to the store in the last 4 days and was not about to take another one to get another can of beans (i just used black beans this time around. . . shhh don't tell)

 perfection.

and here is a 4 x 6 recipe card because you will most definitely want to make it again:)

linking up to these parties:

craftomaniac, dittle dattle, stories from a2z, not just a housewife, tip junkie, blue cricket design, somewhat simple,

tater tots and jello, at the picket fence, remodelaholic, whipperberry, funky junk, i heart naptime, thrifty decor chick,

diy showoff, just a girl, the shabby nest