where i went

Hey guys.  I know I pretty much dropped off the face of the planet as far as blog writing.  I'm sorry.  Things have been pretty rough lately and I really haven't felt like faking it.

My husband (Andrew) and I are currently separated and are seriously contemplating divorce.  It all happened suddenly and I have not felt like doing home projects since.  I mean, why do a project for a home that you're not sure will be your home soon, right?  Doesn't make sense.  If you are a friend and are hearing about this for the first time as you read, I'm sorry I haven't had the opportunity to tell you.  It is not a secret, but I don't really like sharing important things through text messages.  You may already know what is going on, but if you don't...well honestly...it's personal.  If we talk in person, I may or may not share with you the details and that's my business.  I would rather you keep comments of advice to yourselves (which is why I've disabled the comment bar on this post).  I am seeking Godly counsel and have support of friends and family, so please do not worry about my well being.  I'm a fighter and will be fine...eventually.

So now everyone knows.  I don't know what's to become of my blog, but I will say that I have had so much fulfillment and joy in this little project.  Thanks so much for following along.  If I don't return, have a great life!  I'm on Facebook and Twitter as well, so if you only follow me through here, feel free to connect with another source of social media.

so many ideas, so little time

It's wedding season.  The busiest wedding season I've ever seen!  That's not a complaint, believe me.  I'm loving my job more and more every day.  But there is this side of me that needs to make stuff.  That side is a little neglected right now (if you can't tell from the lack of blog posts).  My list of DIY projects is through the roof!  I will most likely only have time to finish one or two of these before work slows down in November, but I thought you'd like to see what was on the radar.

1.  Autumn is coming!  Just this morning, I woke to a cool breeze for the first time in months.  I've never done decorating for the seasons, mostly because I feel like a lot of it is dated and tacky.  Just being honest.  But I luuurve these two pumpkin DIY ideas.  The first for inside and the second for our front porch.  So cute!

Velvet pumpkin tutorial found on Martha.  Who else. ;)

Painted pumpkins found on Pinterest

2.  You KNOW I love me some succulents.  I have been wanting to do this awesome project for the longest time!  I just read through the instructions last night and realized I can use clippings from my overgrown succulent garden outside, so it will cost me next to nothing.  Score!

DIY instructions for an indoor succulent picture frame found at Better Homes and Gardens.

3.  This scarf necklace from Anthropologie makes me happy every time I see it.  The only thing that doesn't make me happy is the price - a whopping $148.00.  I will be making this one day for less than $20 in materials, thank you.

4.  I have been looking for the perfect accent pillow for our master bedroom for a year now.  A year!  I have finally realized I'm not going to find it.  Instead, I've opted to take a grey bolster pillow I found at West Elm and add a french knot treatment to it to create something like this.  Obviously in yellow to compliment my color scheme. :)

French knot tutorial found here.

5.  I really need to finish my family tree project.  I know.  I haven't lost excitement for it at all, believe me!  But finding things that explain who a person is without being tacky or too obvious is a challenge!  I'll be including techniques like quilling and vintage printing like these pictures very soon in the next few shadowboxes.  

6.  I need this in my foyer before the weather turns bad and Andrew ruins our hardwood floors.  An easy thing to make, so I'm sure it will happen sooner than later.

Martha's pebbled tray for winter shoes found here.

7.  I know this is not a new idea.  In fact, it's overused and uninspired.  But I've never done it before and I really want to try!!

Bokeh shapes tutorial found here.

8.  You've seen this image on Barker House Love before, but at the time, I just thought it was cool.  I've now decided that I must make it. :)  There's no tutorial on this that I could find in all of internet-land, but it seems pretty straight forward.  The only thing I may run into is it turning out uneven or running out of pages.  But we'll see I guess!

9.  This leather mirror from Serena & Lily is stunning and so sophisticated.  It's also $295.00.  Sigh.

I'm thinking I could take this mirror from IKEA and add a belt to it, though.  Eh?  It's only $20, so if I hate it, no biggee.

These are all things I'd like to finish before Christmas season.  I know, I'm dreaming.  But I have a whole new list of things to make for the holidays!  

Me and Martha? We're like "this".

Aaaaannddd...I'm back.  Sorry for the pause in posting.  Did ya miss me?

I have a secret.  Me and Martha?  We're besties.  She is always writing me emails (she doesn't call because she knows my schedule is way too hectic for her).

:) :) :)

I really DO receive daily emails from Martha Stewart...because I've signed up for the Craft Of The Day emails!  You should definitely get on over to her website and sign up, but be warned.  You will want to do everything.  Here's one I thought was extra easy and fun:

DIY Cork Stamps

So cute and easy!

a library in our foyer

I have trouble sleeping.  Most people can fall asleep in fifteen minutes or so after lying down.  If you're like Andrew, it's more like thirty seconds.  But me?  It's takes me a solid hour at the very least to fall asleep no matter how tired I am.  Most nights, I go to bed when Andrew does (around 11pm) but don't fall asleep until 2am.  So what do I do with those solitary hours?  I read.  A LOT.  So much so, in fact, that we're bursting at the seems in our closets right now with books.  It takes me on average a week or less to finish a novel.  Multiply that by 52 weeks in a year, 8 years of constant reading...yeah, that's a lot of books.

We'll be doing a built-in bookshelf in the foyer eventually.  Something along these lines...

I pulled these four images from Pinterest.  There are things I like about each of the inspiration pics - the arches, the bench seat, and yes even the hidden door.  We have a coat closet on the wall that we'd like to add the structure, so I'm thinking this might be the perfect solution!

This project is not going to be happening any time in the next year, unfortunately, but I thought I'd share anyway!  Until I have proper storage for all my finds, I'll keep them tucked in my master bedroom closet.  Can you imagine how many more shoes I'll be able to fit in there once they've been cleared out?!  Woohoo!

One more thing - would anyone be interested in reviews of some of my favorite reads?  If so, comment and I'll think about adding a book review column!

talent

I had to share this.  Not a huge fan of Britney, but this cover is bananas.