what i love most about my home

Ah sorry to just disappear last week. I had a school final that I had to study and stress over but it's over with so now I can breath again. How was your weekend? We finally had rain here and that in itself made my weekend. I don't think we've had a good solid rain storm since May.

A while back I shared a little teaser of a wood stained painting that I did using Nicole's tutorial. We finally hung it up yesterday on a tiny blank wall and I thought I'd share the result. I'll be honest, my writing is not straight nor perfect and at first I let that bother me but now that I've been staring at it I think I like it that way, gives it a little more character (at least that's what I keep telling myself).

 The quote is a spin off of the quote 'What I love most about my home is who I share it with' first seen here in this design*sponge sneak peek. I was going to do the original quote but knew I was going to run out of room so I had to change it up a bit. Now it's a little more me I guess. :) 

a skirt, but not THE skirt

So I won't pretend to be a fashion blogger but on Monday I posted a small peek at the skirt I made last weekend and had a couple people who wanted to see the finished skirt.  I've been in need of a black skirt for a while but haven't been able to find what I really wanted so I decided to make one following this tutorial. Have I mentioned that I love those thoughtful people around the blogosphere who share their skills with the rest of us via tutorials? Love!

 

Anyway...here it is. I hope you have a great weekend!

in the works

I have a couple of projects that I'm working on right now. Here is a little math equation to show you one...

 a bit of this fabric (flipped so the stripe is horizontal)

+

and this tutorial as a guide

=

hopefully will equal something like this skirt that I loved so much!

I'd love to know what you are currently working on!

I am lucky enough to be part of an amazing organization made up of equally amazing woman who are all supporting their other half in medical school. We get together for different activites/social/service events and the other day we got together for a mini class on floral arranging. I've professed my love of (novice) flower arranging before, I enjoy it a LOT! I thought I'd count this as my monthly creative project.

I was happy to come home with this little arrangement I made using this great tape idea from Martha Stewart {via}. It made it really easy to use the shallower bowl I had on hand as a vase.

I am going to bid you happy weekend a day early! I'll see you back here next week friends!

Dip-Dyed Stationery

One of my favorite things to do is buy and send pretty note cards. Happy mail makes my day. I'm always up for a diy so I naturally love this dip-dyed stationary from Martha which looks super easy and very customizable. Wouldn't it be pretty to dip some blank note cards in a light peachy-pink hue or maybe a grey like they did in the photo?

The How-To:

1. Fill plastic bin with hot water to a depth of at least 6 inches. Stir in rit dye, starting with a small amount and adding more as desired. Dip a sample strip of paper towel to test the color. If too dark, add water; if too light, add dye. Let solution settle, so there are no bubbles at the surface.

2. Holding your paper as straight as possible, dip into dye solution to desired line. Keep paper in dye until it turns the desired color. Hang to dry.

{photo, idea, and instructions - Martha Stewart}

DIY round up

There are so many amazingly creative people out there (in blog world) and I love that they are generous enough to share their creativity and tutorials with the rest of us. Why thank you! On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a few friends who don't believe they are crafty or creative...psh! I don't believe it for a minute. My theory is that you can only become creative by creating which is a big duh but some people just resign themselves to the fact that they just can't instead of trying. On that note and in my attempt to become more creative, here are just a few projects that I want to make.

 wood stained painting @ me oh my!

zinc inspired letters @ Sugar and Charm

rosette necklace @ oh, hello friend

 paint stick sunburst mirror @ Centsational Girl

summertime string laterns @ Apostrophy Designs

So I've already posted this quote before but I thought I would share it again.

What are your thoughts on creativity?

mashup

It's Wednesday...hump day...would a mid-week mashup make you feel better about that? The kidlets and I are off to the zoo so I'll leave you with these links of things I've seen around the blogosphere. I hope you have a lovely day!

:: I think I need to make and eat some chocolate dipped peanut butter eggs! Stat.

:: Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought galvanized buckets were a good option for Easter baskets.
 
:: Lets hope that Lauren Conrad's new project, the beauty department is more interesting than the last couple seasons of The Hills.
 
:: A pretty baby shower where everything coordinates, even the guests clothing. {via the eclectic life}

:: Candy apple red washer and dryer, octagon tile and utility sink - oh my! A lovely laundry room remodel.

easter buckets

So in my quest to make something at least once a month this year, April's project was to make my kids some sort of Easter basket to put all their loot in. Of course I couldn't just buy them normal baskets, I had to find something a bit different. I am hoping that Olivia and Landon won't be self conscience with their buckets in a few years when they realize everyone at the Easter egg hunt has typical easter baskets and they have metal buckets...

When I found these galvanized buckets I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them so I held onto them for a week or two. After thinking of some ideas I finally decided on a simple design of eggs nestled in grass. I'm really love how they turned out and I'm happy to report they worked beautifully at an egg hunt last weekend. I forgot to share last months project with you last month so I'll have to get around to taking a picture of it sometime this weekend.

I hope that you have an awesome weekend! Any fun plans?

great idea: make your own sprinkles

Spotted this idea over on pinterest and couldn't resist sharing because it's such a good idea. Good because you know what ingredients are in them and just think of all the colors you could make to match any event.

{pin}

ruffled ribbon headband (+ giveaway)

If you've been reading for a while you might remember that one of my goals for the new year is to make/craft/create something at least once a month (you can see last months projects here and here). For February's project, my cute 20 year old niece Ashley commissioned me to make her some headbands. Ashley didn't give me any direction on what she wanted so I had to create something that I thought she'd like. I made a couple headbands but the one that I wanted to share today was this ruffled ribbon headband.

And! since I had extra materials, I thought I would make one to give away!

If you'd like to win this ruffled ribbon headband simply leave a comment. Perhaps telling me about your latest crafty project or if you haven't done one in a while, tell me what you'd like your next project to be.

I will randomly select a winner on Tuesday, March 1st!

Good luck and have a great weekend!

hello dolly :: black apple doll

This little lady here was a labor of love. I mentioned a while back that I wanted to make Olivia a Black Apple Doll (using this free pattern) for Christmas. I started to make her the week of but then became really sick and didn't have it in me to finish. She unfortunately sat there for a couple of days until she was finally done. Better late than never though! I had a lot of fun making the doll for Olivia and am happy to see that she likes it.  It's always rewarding to see that a project you make for someone else is appreciated so it makes me excited to hear her talk about "my dolly", play with and give it hugs.

If you are interested in making one, I found this doll to be an easy project, easy to customize, and so cute! I can see myself making these for (girl) baby shower gifts.

diy project : map art

A while back Alli posted about some map hearts she had come across and I have wanted to make one ever since. I love the idea of using maps because we are big into traveling around here and loved the idea of using locals that are special to our family. Almost a year later I finally got around to making one.  

This project was super simple and cost me next to nothing using some frames that were collecting dust in a closet. If you have maps lying around and don't want/need you could cut those up and use but since I didn't I found a place online where you can download maps for free. I decided to frame places we've lived thus far in our marriage. Once I found my locations, I had to measure the frame to see what size hearts would be best, then went into microsoft word to create a heart using the basic shapes tool and printed it off to use as my template. I then cut the maps out and glued them on some white cardstock. Done and done!

Since I love a good diy project I thought I'd share another photo of my most recent BIG project. :)

Landon at 6 weeks.

vintage bookplate DIY

Style Me Pretty is a great resource for inspiration and while it is dedicated to weddings, it's easy to glean great ideas for parties, etc. They recently shared this fun idea in their newsletter that would work for pretty much any party by switching out the numbers for letters or other fun things.

Supplies:

- House Number(s): found at a hardware store or online for more vintage options
- 2 screws
- screwdriver
- vintage books

To Assemble:
Step 1: {prep} Remove pages from vintage book
Step 2: Place the House Number in the middle of the cover of the book
Step 3: Screw the House Number into book cover using screwdriver
Step 4: Repeat with other numbers to coordinate with number of tables at event

{Concept and Styling: Posh Paperie :: Photography: Jackie Wonders}

postal birthday party

My sister in law had a birthday recently and since we couldn't be there to help celebrate her birthday, we thought we'd send a little something her way. That little something morphed into a birthday party in a box.

I had so much fun putting this kit together . I don't scrapbook but I do like pretty paper so I found some papers that I liked and took it from there. I sadly had to take this picture at night so I don't think the colors came out very true but I thought it all looked pretty together. If I'd had more time, I think I could've kept adding more things to the kit...

The kit included: paper bunting banner, set of note cards, birthday party in a box "instructions", cupcake toppers, candles, cupcake liners, a mini birthday card, and a pair of handmade earrings. {Not pictured is a cake mix.}

What is your most favorite things you've ever received or sent in the mail?

DIY Framed Handkerchiefs

Such a sweet and charming idea, finding and framing vintage handkerchiefs. 

I will have to remember this next time I'm thrifting and look for handkerchiefs.

Remember this post about the awesome Kate Spade wall? Well...I used it for a little bit of inspiration. Our wedding anniversary is today and I wanted to do a little something different for my husband.

Using the idea and on hand envelopes and cards, I decided to write little notes for each of the 10 days leading up to our anniversary. Every morning my husband chose an envelope off the wall and found a little note card inside.

On the cards I wrote simple things like "a way to a man's heart is through his stomach" (he got to choose his favorite meal to eat that night) and other random things that I thought my husband would enjoy. Silly really but I think we both had fun with it.

Happy Anniversary Jers! I can't wait to spend 50 more anniversaries with you. 

getting organized

I'm notorious for hanging onto magazine articles, photos or other random things but doing nothing with them but let them collect dust. It drives my husband crazy (don't blame him). I finally decided to do something about it and have been scanning in the tear sheets I've pulled from my design mags. I've also decided to write down what aspects of the room appeal to me in an effort to try and hone in my design style. I've also been using my tumblr and interior tuesday as a sort of e-file for images.

Do you pull design images (or recipes, or articles, etc.) from magazines? If so, what do you do with them?

diy project : memory tree

I am excited to share how the memory tree for my parents 50th anniversary party turned out! I worked on the tree this morning with my talented sister-in-law and had a great time. It was actually pretty simple to make once we figured everything out. I think it turned out beautifully and am very happy with it. 

For those who are interested, here is the breakdown... the pail was a downeast clearance center find that was spray painted gold. The branches were cut from my mother-in-laws backyard and inserted in dirt/soil topped with rock and moss. The tags were cut with a cricut machine and hung with sheer green ribbon. Overall the project cost around $12 to make.