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!

DIY: earring holder

I have been looking for a cute earring holder ever since I decided to get my ears pierced a few months ago.  Do they not make them anymore or something???  I can't tell you how many places I went to with absolutely no results.  Finally I looked up "earring holder" on Pinterest and found a picture of an old letterpress box with hooks on it for earrings.  Bingo!  I took it one step further and added the cork board for the earrings that can't be draped onto a hook.  I think the solution is genius and really beautiful!

The entire project came to $14.75.

$10 letterpress box

$2.50 cork

$2.25 hooks

I love it and am so excited to hang it in my bathroom!  Now all I need is more earrings. :)

UPDATE: So, thanks to my awesome friends and a surprise birthday party, I've now completely filled this thing up.  Maybe I'll make another!

chair re-do

Andrew and I recently had a Saturday morning off together.  Shocker, I know!  Junk shopping is one of our favorite time wasters, so we decided to drive around the neighborhood to visit a few yard sales.  There's always something amusing, something useful and something with potential hidden amongst the not-so-amusing, useful and potential filled.  Case in point, this amazing chair that we snagged for a mere $5.  Are the lines not fabulous?!

The original seat cushion was tired and torn (sorry for the lack of BEFORE picture) so I decided to try my first reupholstery job.  I used this tutorial on Design Sponge as a guide and went for it!  I'm super pleased for my first go around.  The entire chair, including purchase price, cost me a whopping $23.  Not bad!

I've thought about painting it, but I kind of like the distressed feel of the piece.  What do you think?  Should I paint it or leave it?

Addicted to Pinterest

There are so many amazing things about Pinterest.  I'm not sure where to begin!!  If you haven't heard of Pinterest.com, it's pretty much the best site ever.  It's great for storing links and photos as well as gathering inspiration for whatever makes you happy.  Everything is super organized and easy to navigate.  I'm smitten!

One of my boards is called "quotable quotes" but it's really anything with words that catches my attention.  Here's a few pins that made it to the board.

 I also created a board that will help me plan my 10 year anniversary party.  I'm going BIG with this thing and Pinterest has been invaluable in picking everything from color to gathering ideas for food and attire.

 My favorite board might be the DIY one.  Pinterest is so awesome for this use because it not only gives you a visual to go by for DIY projects, it also gives you a link to the original DIY post.  I may get to these projects in 2 weeks or I might hold off for a year, but I know that however long I wait I'll be able to find the directions so easily now!

So, how about you?  Are you addicted to Pinterest yet as well?  Follow me and I'll follow you back!

Our front yard in bloom

Summer is my favorite time of year!!!  I am having a fantastic time out in the heat this year.  Seeing all my efforts toward our front yard bloom and flourish has been so rewarding!  Check it out.

I'm sure the tree has a bit further to go in the blooms department, but I squealed the first time I saw the lavender buds on the tree!

This is my first year ever doing anything with plants outside and I am officially hooked.  Grab an Arnold Palmer and some sunscreen and get your pale self outside!

succulent garden

If you listen real hard, you might just hear me squealing with glee over my very first succulent garden.  :)  I'm not ashamed to say that I'm so proud of myself for making this happen!  Don't you LOVE it?!

best $$$ we ever spent

Andrew's mother and I just spent twelve hours fixing up the flower bed in the front yard two days ago.  Here's the before:

Overgrown knockout roses and dull bushes were what the builders left us.  And I don't know if you can tell from that second picture, but our soil was pretty much just a rock bed with leftover pine needles.  Twelve hours of digging, $500 worth of materials, the killing of three snakes, blistered hands and plenty of sore muscles later gives us the after:

Thank you.  Thank you very much.  {taking a bow} We LOVE the new improvements to our flower bed, especially the super colorful bushes called kaleidoscope something.  They'll grow to be really big, so I can't wait to see them in a few years!  We aren't done with our yard by any means but we have officially moved up a few notches from our previous state of worst yard on the block.  My next project is to find a really cool vintage piece or something fun to fill with succulents.  Specifically string of pearls.  What do you think?

never say never

For those of you wondering, no I don't have Bieber fever.  I crack me up. ;)

I've been thinking about my mom a lot recently.  She's retiring at the end of this school year and I'm very much looking forward to more visits from her!!  While I have always loved her very much, we haven't always seen eye to eye.  You see, she's an extremist and I'm all about balance.  I'll give you an example:

My favorite color is yellow, for those of you who have never read my blog and don't know me.  When I decided to do my bedroom in yellow, I did not paint the walls yellow and buy yellow carpeting.  hahahahaha  Thank God, right?!  Instead, I used very neutral colors to balance out pops of subtle yellows throughout the room.  I think it looks quite balanced in a cheery way.

In contrast, my mom's favorite color is purple.  While I was just a little tike, my mom decided to re-do her bedroom in all purple.  When I say purple, I mean PURPLE.  Purple everything.  Purple walls, purple carpeting, purple bedspread, purple wallpaper border, silk purple flowers on the wall as decoration.  Sigh.  Seeing that room made me hate the color purple. haha  The only other color she added to the room?  Brass.

Did I mention we are different?

For years, I made fun of that room.  I made fun of that color.  I said I would NEVER bring purple into my house.  Aaand here comes the title...

Never say never.

Fifteen years later and purple is one of my favorite colors.  Gasp!  While I still won't plaster my walls floors and furniture in the same color, I've decided to bring some color into the house in honor of my eccentric and wonderful mom.  Here is my mom's section of the family tree for my hallway.  I love the way it turned out and it SCREAMS my mom's personality in a playful and beautiful way.

Love you, mom!

Each of my family members will get a framed piece of art to represent them in my hallway, if you didn't already gather that from recent posts.  My mom loves things symmetrical, is a perfectionist, loves purple, and is a choir director.  This image says this without screaming it.  I can't wait to show you the other ones I'm working on!

DIY nation!

My inbox was recently flooded with blog followers wanting to share their DIY projects.  Yay!!!  Here's a few that I especially loved.

Brooke was the first email I received after posting this blog post and was also the first comment on the inspiration blog post on how to make fabric flowers that I made a little while ago.  Here's what she said:

So she didn't end up using them for her save the dates, but she did decide to use them as place cards for her wedding.  So cute!  I think it's a great idea.  So clean and sweet.

This one came in from Amanda.  She's prego (yay) and this canvas will be gracing the walls of her nursery.  The project is still in the works, but I'm loving how it's turning out!

I love being surrounded by creative people!

Images via Brooke and Amanda.

Amanda's Baby Shower

I recently helped out with the decorations for another friend of mine's baby shower.  Everybody I know is popping out babies!!!  For real, I don't know too many girls my age who are not pregnant or didn't just have a baby.  It's wild.  

I was out of town and didn't get to help with the set-up of the decorations.  The credit for that goes to Amy, the host, April, Fernanda, and Christina.  When I arrived a few minutes before the party started, I just HAD to get a few shots of all their hard work.  Don't you love it?!

It was a brunch themed baby shower.  Love that idea!

3AM the night before the shower, Amanda was admitted into the hospital for possible kidney stones.  So sad.  She was so looking forward to spending time with her favorite girls.  We decided to go ahead with the party, though, to make sure she received the things she needed (presents!) for her baby boy.  When Amy opened us up in prayer, it was a meaningful cry to God for Amanda's well being.

Amy and Christina also made sure to video tape the important moments of the shower.  Every girl got a polaroid of themselves with a decoration and put together a scrapbook for Amanda as one of the activities of the shower.  After we took the decorations down for the day, we brought a few to the maternity ward and set up again in Amanda's hospital room where she opened her presents and looked through the scrapbook.  

Amanda is safe and sound at home now (thank you Jesus!) but was so thankful to be included in the shower even though she couldn't be there in person.  Amanda, if you're reading this, you deserved every bit of this shower and MORE!!!  Hugs to you, friend.  You are a beautiful pregnant lady and will be a wonderful mommy.