Dr. Maya Angelou quote to live by

Thursday, May 29, 2014


Celebrated American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, beloved for her inspirational thoughts, is in my thoughts today.

This is one of her best-known quotes. Words to live by. Pass it on.







Backyard entertaining inspiration using my free printables

Monday, May 26, 2014

free printables for paper bows and chalkboard inspired gift tags from Lorrie Everitt

Summer is fast approaching and my family has been spending a lot of time over the past few weeks getting the backyard ready for summer entertaining. The weather was so beautiful this past weekend and I was able to take advantage of the patio space to shot a few pictures of the {free} printables that I recently created for Creative Bag. I can totally see using these printable for an outdoor gathering this summer. I designed a printable for the paper bows in yellow a little while ago for Weddingbells magazine. You can find the paper bow bunting project online and in the Spring/Summer 2014 Weddingbells magazine which is still on news stands. At the end of this post I will give you the purple paper bow printable. 

free printables for paper bows and chalkboard inspired gift tags from Lorrie Everitt

I made lemon-lime water and served it in mason jars for a casual afternoon gathering in the backyard. I love these light purple paper straws and they match the purple baker's twine that I used to tie the chalkboard circles to the glasses. The chalkboard circles are sold in kits to make bunting but I think that they work great as drink labels.

Plain white paper bags were filled with kettle chips. I thought that this would look nicer than setting out a bowl of chips. Everyone would get a bag of their own and the clothespins at the top
would keep them fresher. My printable tag could be personalized with each guest's name on the flip side. 

free printables for paper bows and chalkboard inspired gift tags from Lorrie Everitt


You can find the download for my chalkboard mason jar flowers on the Creative Bag blog post here.


ranunculus photos by Lorrie Everitt

I fell in love with ranunculus after seeing them in so many wedding photos on Pinterest and had to plant some in containers in our backyard. Here's a few of the pictures that I shot of my planters this weekend.

ranunculus photos by Lorrie Everitt

These flowers come in so many beautiful colours ... it was difficult to pick just one or two so I bought them all!

ranunculus photos by Lorrie Everitt


Gerber daisy have been a favourite of mine since I was a young girl. My bridesmaids carried long stemmed peach coloured gerber daisies as their bouquets almost 30 years ago. I filled two large containers with gerber daisies in our backyard this summer ...  

gerber daisy photos by Lorrie Everitt

Okay summer ... I'm ready! Bring it on. 

free printables for paper bows and chalkboard inspired gift tags from Lorrie Everitt


And now here is the download for the pretty paper bows!