Inspiration: dream vacation

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of VISIT FLORIDA for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you planned your summer vacation yet? Vacations not only create lasting family memories but they’re a great way to rest, relax and refuel your creativity.

A favorite source of inspiration for me is the beach. Several of my projects {above} draw from shells and natural beachy elements. Since I live by the beach on the west coast, I could just plan a stay-cation but in order to really rest and relax, I need to get away.

The vacation I’m dreaming about is a trip to Florida. The beaches in Florida are gorgeous – all 825 miles of them. That’s a lot of beach - I just need a tiny spot of sand and I’ll be happy.

Right now, VISIT FLORIDA  has an amazing giveaway for a dream vacation – actually 3 dream vacations in Florida’s Three for Free Giveaway.

When you enter the giveaway, you select 3 of the following vacation options:

1.         Swim with manatees

2.         Tennis lovers gourmet getaway

3.         Explore Natural Florida

4.         Family Adventure

5.         Be a space cowboy on Florida’s Space Coast

6.         Train dolphins with the pros at Miami Seaquarium

7.         The Breakers Palm Beach

8.         Ultimate Spa-cation

9.         Play on three championship golf courses

10.       Classic family beach vacation

11.       See Florida’s rich past come alive

12.       Chart a course for fantastic offshore fishing

One grand prize winner will win all 3 selected vacations and 9 additional winners will win one vacation. I entered and I’m already dreaming about my vacation.

The three vacations that I selected are; Explore Natural Florida at The Breakers Palm Beach, the Classic Family Beach Vacation at the TradeWinds Island Resorts and the Spa-cation at the PGA National Resort.

What are your vacation plans or dreams? Why not enter Florida’s Three for Free Giveawayfor a chance to win your dream vacation! The contest runs through June 30th and you can enter daily! You can also find more information on VISIT FLORIDA on Facebook.

Thanks for visiting.

Carolyn 

Etceteras: vacation inspiration with room 77

Thank you to Room 77 for sponsoring my post.

Room 77 is an intelligent and easy to use hotel search engine that allows travelers to find and book the best rates from across the Web in one fast and simple search.

Summer is over. School has started. Raise your hand if you took a fantastic vacation recently. Note: my hand is not raised. I did travel this summer but it wasn’t for a relaxing vacation – trust me, I came home exhausted. This year, I’m going to plan ahead and start researching for our next real vacation. And you know how much I love the beach and the inspiration it provides for creativity. Some of my favorite beachy projects are above.

The Inspiration Board: Creative Party 157 Spotlight & Very Berry Inspiration

TGIF friends! Are you on summer vacation? Or should I say, are your kids on summer vacation? Yes, it’s that wonderful time of year when the kids are done with school. No more brown bag lunches to make, nagging about homework, carpool duties and dozens of calendars and schedules hanging on the refrigerator. High fives and fist bumps!

Thank you to all of you who stopped by this week to visit, comment or share projects. I appreciate each and every one of you! If you didn’t have a chance to drop in, here’s what I shared.

Pomegranate Mini Ice Cubes  |  Driftwood Inspiration Round Up  |  Father’s Day Sandpaper Gift Tags

And now for the projects featured in the Spotlight this week.

Be My Guest: trish & bonnie of uncommon

Hi Friends,

Today's guests are the dynamic duo Bonnie and Trish of Uncommon. Bonnie and Trish are sister-in-laws and the creative force of Uncommon - Creating the Extraordinary. I met these ladies through link parties and loved all of their projects. We soon became bloggy friends. At Uncommon you'll find a variety of all things crafty - sewing, decorating, and entertaining.

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Hi Homework readers! We are Trish and Bonnie, and we blog over at Uncommon, where we can help you create the extraordinary! We are thrilled to be here today! Carolyn was sweet enough to let us guest post while she is away on vacation! 

Today we are going to show you how to create these adorable...

Burlap Covered Letters

 Supplies for Burlap Covered Letter...

Paper Mache' Letter {this one is from Joann Fabric}

Burlap Fabric {enough to cover letter}

Wooden Rectangular Base {this one is from Joann Fabric}

Craft Acrylic Paint in Linen and Sponge Brush

Dark Colored Marker or Pencil

Hot Glue Gun and Glue sticks

Spray Adhesive

First, gather all your supplies. Next, place your paper mache' letter on the burlap and trace around the letter with the pen or pencil... 

Cut out the burlap letter {HINT:Cut to the inside of your tracing line to prevent the ink from showing!}. Paint the  wooden base and paper mache' letter on all sides with the linen colored  paint and allow to dry.

 Spray the paper mache' letter with spray adhesive and apply the burlap cut out letter...

Next, apply a light coat of the linen colored paint all over the burlap . You will need to push the sponge brush down into the texture of the burlap. We allowed the paint to dry and then touched up a few areas that we missed!

 

Of course, the burlap letter looks fabulous without the paint as well. Depending on where you will use the finished letter will determine if you might like to skip the painting step! The final step is to simply glue the burlap letter to the wooden base using your hot glue gun...

 

That's it! This is such a simple and quite inexpensive project that packs a punch! You can use these so many places to add texture and personalization. This one was used in a kitchen bookcase, we also have an easy tutorial for those DIY vintage crates !

There is just something about the combination of burlap and letters that makes a home feel cozy and welcoming!

We hope that you have enjoyed our tutorial on creating a Burlap Covered Letter...

Bonnie and Trish

A big "Thank you!" to Carolyn for having us stop by!

We would love for you to stop by and visit us at Uncommon! You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest!

The Inspiration Board: link party spotlight ~23~

 

Thank you to everyone who linked up a project on the Inspiration Board this week. Time now seems to be passing at warp speed with Thanksgiving around the corner and Christmas following soon after. Based on all the beautiful links it looks like many of you are prepared for the upcoming holidays.

 

Here are a few of the inspiring projects in the spotlight this week.

 

 

I love this blessing dress by Jake and Baylee. The ruffles and flowers are just gorgeous. This was actually linked to last week’s inspiration board but it was the last link and I missed it when I was working on the features. That will teach me to not refresh my page.

  

Daring and death defying circus card by Sandy Ang. The bright colors and wonderful circus elephants are so fun.

  

Children’s art class owls by Elle and Lou. What a wonderful art assignment for her class of 10-year olds. I love the personality of each owl. 

 

A beautiful hand painted nature nursery by Cheap Crafty Mama. Click on over to see all the nursery details and additional painted walls. I loved this wall with the family dogs chasing a squirrel. 

Missoni is all the rage, especially since Target began selling Missoni items. Inspiration Realisation shows us how to achieve the Missoni look with a zig zag or chevron pattern.

  

Beautiful and elegant ceiling stencil medallion by Debbie Doos. I can’t imagine working on a stencil on your ceiling. This takes stenciling to a new level (literally)! 

  Beautiful macarons by Hello Lovely. These little guys are double stuffed for extra yumminess. If you want to bake something extra special, visit Hello Lovely for the recipe.

Wonderful colors and fiber texture in these fall yarn topiaries by Crafts n Coffee. A great way to use up leftover yarn and embellishments. 

 

I just love this anniversary gift by Ring Around the Rosies. Little heart map cutouts of personal places like; first home, best vacation and first “I love you”. A sweet, personal and sentimental gift. 

 

A beautiful tweed coat by Ode to Inspiration. I love tweed and the colors of this coat are sweet and youthful – perfect for this pretty young lady. 

 

52 Mantels shows us a variety of Thanksgiving table place card ideas. I love this brown paper flower place card and may have to borrow this idea for my Thanksgiving table. 

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This week’s inspiration pin board

{small and white ~ clean and bright}

Beautiful furniture makeovers with pretty knobs and detailing.

 
1. Creamy White Antique Dresser with medallion detail and crystal knobs – Dreaming in Color
2. Armoire makeover with fleur de lis detail – Fox Hollow Cottage
3. Desk makeover with crystal knobs – Coordinately Yours

 

If you were in the spotlight, please feel free to grab a button.

<a href=" http://carolynshomework.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="homework" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoXKM4yQr9oUN7GwFux5BITknFYg1so-bdRvyvaBjWBTFrjlH943I7g401-x4gi3eWzlMzyZJjiZUszNBy3GpPcUkBQg_zNqqFY7fpE7ASpwP3nnNI250E6lTch-PcLFuJQzEqyDRYK4Yg/s1600/Featured+Button.jpg" height="125" width="125"/></a>

Thank you again to everyone who linked a project and to everyone who came to visit. I loved looking at all the projects and visiting your sites.

Please come back next week for another link party.

Link parties are held every Tuesday.

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Also, come back tomorrow {Saturday} for a special holiday giveaway you won't want to miss.


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The Inspiration Board: Spotlight 212 & Refreshing Happy Hour Ideas

Well, here we are in the last week of June. Has everyone adjusted to summer vacation? We’ve got moms with little ones, moms with kids returning home from college and everything in between. Summer is great but it’s definitely an adjustment from the regular structured routine. My empty nest won’t be empty in September since my college son decided to move back home. He’ll be attending a local college, so you won’t see any amazing posts about converting his room into a craft room just yet.

I big thank you to everyone who stopped by last week. Sending you all virtual hugs! In case you missed anything, here’s a little recap of what I’ve been sharing.

Printable Plant Care Instructions  :  Flower Pounding on Paper  :  Patriotic Brownie Cups  :  A Giveaway – Coastal Crafts

And now for the projects featured this week:

Accessories: bloom and grow

This post brought to you by Bloom.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

I usually don't post about make up and beauty but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tell you about this new social network site. It's called Bloom.com. Pretty things plus social networking - what a great concept!

At Bloom.com you are able to discover products for your personalized needs based on the unbiased feedback and what is trending in the social world.

Women Helping Women
That's what Bloom.com is all about – a social beauty store that's revolutionizing the way you buy beauty products. I spent quite a lot of time on the Bloom.com site and was amazed at the selection. They have over 10,000 items from 150+ brands. And, each purchase comes with a FREE customized BloomBonus gift filled with luxury products tailored specifically for your beauty needs, plus 10% back in BloomDollars. First time purchasers can get 30% back on their first order.

What I also liked about Bloom was that the products range from budget friendly to high-end brands. Something for everyone.

Here's what the founder & CEO had to say.

Hi, I'm Julie Mahloch... busy mom of three and founder of Bloom.com. I love beauty products and I always want to look my best, but once I turned the big 4-0 and started getting more interested in anti-aging products, I realized how frustrating it is to figure out what to buy. My girlfriends and I would often chat about the overwhelming options. Sure, we could read about the latest trends and must-have products, but who has time to stay on top of it all? We all just want something that works, right?

That's why I created Bloom.com. I wanted a place where women could join together and share their honest opinions and experiences… a place that would "know" each woman and their needs and remember which products worked or didn't work… a place that would recommend the ideal products for each woman based on HER beauty profile.

I hope you love how easy it is to find the best products for you at Bloom.com. Now you can get the right products, and save time and money! Our hope is that you will NEVER buy the wrong beauty products again.

Here's more exciting news:  Bloom.com currently has an awesome giveaway to Win a spa vacation for 4 girlfriends! ­ all expenses paid at the luxury 5 star Aria hotel!

How fun would that be! All you have to do is join Bloom.com, it is free to enter. For every friend who joins you get an extra spa weekend entry, and for every friend who joins & buys you receive a $25 credit to your account (No Limit!).

Thanks for visiting.

Carolyn

EXTRA CREDIT: Summer Dreams Have Luggage will Travel Giveaway

Aren’t these photos fantastic? My friend Izzy traveled the world for a year visiting over 24 countries and blogged about it. It was so inspiring. Just seeing these photos makes me want to pack my bags and explore. Izzy traveled with just a duffel bag and day pack but I’m more of a hotel and luggage girl.

Sew and Tell: travel map

Have you seen those apps that flag your travels on a map? You can create one on your computer or smartphone. I created a low tech version using a map and French knots.

I thought it would be fun to keep track of the places I’ve visited.

I printed out a map and made little French knots on the different United States cities I’ve been to. I’d like to make a matching world map and “flag” the countries I’ve been lucky enough to visit.

This would make a fun project to do with kids and a great way to review geography. How about you? Are you planning a spring break vacation?

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This project is linked at the following:

           

And other link parties that I participate can be found here.