Tuesday, November 29, 2011

DIY Entry Shelf


Hi Friends!!
How was your Thanksgiving??  Mine was so nice!  Family came to our house for Thanksgiving dinner.  But the best part??  I didn’t even have to cook!  My mom made all the food and just brought it over!  Score!!  My cousin and I even did a little Black Friday shopping and I racked up at Toys R Us (for Em) and JC Penny (some new winter duds for me)!
We are in full-on Christmas mode over here.  I have been busy pulling out all the decorations and am slowly getting them all up.  I can’t wait to show you everything when it is finished!!
In the meantime, I wanted to share with you a project that has been a few months in the making!
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Check out my new entryway shelf!! 
And yes, I did just say that it has been a few months in the making!  That’s how we roll around here.  We take our sweet time getting stuff done.  LOL!  smile
I originally saw this shelf over at The Idea Room and fell in love!  It was exactly what I was looking for!  We don’t really have a “foyer”, but there is a small wall leading into our kitchen that was just begging for a shelf, complete with hooks so I could hang my bag, jackets, etc!
The hubs took this project on.  He followed Amy’s tutorial and just scaled the shelf down to fit our wall.  He got it all built and then it sat in our garage unpainted for about a month.  Then, he finally painted it.  Well, one coat.  About 2 weeks later, he finally added another coat of white paint.  Then, about 2 weeks later I finally got around to “distressing” it.  Then about a week or 2 after that, we finally got around to hanging it!  Hah!  Please tell me other people in blogland operate this way too?  Everyone seems to be able to bang out these amazing projects in like a day!  I don’t have a clue how they do it.  But I can promise you even the simplest of projects usually take at least a week over here!  Haha.  I have a very busy toddler who needs lots of attention, so that’s my excuse (and I’m stickin’ to it)!
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Finally all hung up!
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We kind of just eyeballed the hooks and drilled them in once the shelf was hung.  {Sorry for the poor lighting.  It was nighttime.}
Here is a close-up of the distressing.  I just used some stain and dry brushed it on and then went back over it with a damp paper towel.IMG_6851       IMG_6850  IMG_6850
So there ya have it!  The 3 month shelf project (which really should have taken less than 48 hours)!  What do you think?  I’m super happy with how it turned out and it has been so great and functional for me.  I don’t have to just throw my bag on the floor anymore.  Sticky toddler fingers can’t get to it now! 
Thanks so much for stopping by!  I’ll be back later this week to share how I made the decorations that you see on top of the shelf!  Fun stuff!!
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Friday, November 18, 2011

Burlap & Felt {Christmas} Pillow


It has officially begun!  My crazy obsession with Christmas that rolls around each year.  I just love Christmastime and all the decorating, the cold nights (the days are still pleasant here in Florida, for the most part), hot chocolate, sweaters & scarves, and my boots!  This year is no different!
The hubs and I are going to go pick out our tree this weekend!  It’s so weird to think back to last year.  Last year, Emily was a month old.  I remember carrying her around the tree farm in her car seat while she was snoozing away!  Crazy how time flies!
I’ve been doing some Christmas crafting, too!  I’ve been making some really pretty wreaths for the shop!  But aside from that, I sat down the other night and made this super cute burlap & felt Christmas pillow!
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I got the inspiration from the BHG Christmas Ideas mag I picked up at the grocery store the other day!  I just love how it turned out!  I told you guys in my last post that I wanted to go with a neutral color palette for Christmas this year.  This pillow will go with my Christmas décor perfectly this year!
This pillow is an envelope pillow cover that I just slipped over an old Ikea pillow I had in my stash!  I followed this amazing tutorial from Texas Cottage.
I used a ruler to kind of “freehand” the trees.  It was pretty simple.  There was no measuring involved or anything else that I had to actually stop and think about.  Those are my kind of crafts!  The fool-proof kind!!  I usually use my handy Heat N Bond for these types of projects, but I didn’t even bother with it on this one.  I simply pinned the trees to the burlap and sewed them on with a straight stitch!  Easy as that!
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I just love how it turned out! 
I can’t wait to pull down the rest of my Christmas stuff this afternoon while Em-Dawg is napping!  For now, I’m off to JoAnn’s for more burlap {can you ever have enough of that stuff??}!   
Have a great Friday!!  smile
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I am linking up to many of these great parties:



Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Christmas Décor Galore

I am getting so excited about Christmas!!  I can’t wait to wrap everyone’s gifts in pretty packaging, create handmade gifts for neighbors and friends, spend time with family, and see my little girl’s eyes light up on Christmas morning!

I have been thinking a lot about what direction I want to go in for Christmas décor this year.  I am so torn because there are so many cute color combinations!  But, I think I have decided on a “neutral” Christmas using ivories, golds, silvers, and of course…..burlap!

So, to prepare for my “neutral” Christmas décor this year, I have turned to none other than my bestie, Pinterest!  Here are some of my favorite finds………

I love this neutral tree!  I will definitely have a burlap garland on my tree though!

Source:  BHG via Elisha/Pinterest

 

I love, love, love this tree!  This is exactly what I’m going for!

Source: DIY Divas via Ucreate via Hannah/Pinterest

Even though we ordered personalized stockings from PB last year, I am thinking about making some stockings like this!  I just love them!

Source:  Make It & Love It via The Crafting Chicks via Erin/Pinterest

This pillow is just to die for!  So cute, but can easily be made with some drop cloth and a Goodwill sweater!

Source:  PotteryBarn via Karen/Pinterest

I just love this simple décor!  Seems so easy!  I would love this on my mantle or buffet table!

Source: Shanty2Chic via Andrea/Pinterest

I also love this simple burlap tree!  This would also look great on the mantle or in a grouping as a centerpiece!

Source: Shanty2Chic via UCreate via Jennifer/Pinterest

 

This post has officially made me realize that I need to go buy more burlap and get busy!!  ‘Tis the season!  The best season ever!

So what are your décor plans for Christmas this year?  I’d love to hear your ideas! 

 

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Friday, November 11, 2011

Emily’s First Birthday Party

Whew!  I have finally recovered from Emily’s birthday extravaganza and am finally getting around to posting her party!!  I am so excited to share the pictures and details with you!  I put a lot of blood, sweat, & tears into her party and it turned out almost exactly how I wanted it! 

About 50 of our closest family & friends came over on Sunday, November 6th to celebrate Emily’s first year of life with us!  It really was so much fun. 

*WARNING:  There are a TON of really cute pictures ahead!!*

I started by making the invitations myself in Photoshop!  I went to a really awesome local shop to have the invitations made for me, but the budget just didn’t allow for them.  So I took my vision and got to work trying to make it work myself.  I am super happy with how they turned out.  I thought they set the tone for the party perfectly.  Here’s what I came up with:

first birthday invitation

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Just about everything that I did and/or made for the party was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest!  I had a whole board that I dedicated to ideas for Emily’s birthday party.  What would we do without that site???

The foyer was set with ceiling to floor pink with white polka dot curtains.  I hung her “month” pictures from the curtain, along with a “1” that I made.  I also hung a glitter paper lantern from our regular foyer light fixture.  Yeah, it’s still hanging there.  I just haven’t felt like bringing the latter in to take it down.  I took the square table out of the breakfast nook and put it in the foyer.  I put a white tablecloth on it, and wrapped it with a table tutu I made.  I made a welcome sign using Photoshop.  I found the awesome oval frame at Goodwill in Destin and used Krylon’s Glitter Blast to spray it with pink glitter!  It turned out awesome.  I put one of my favorite pictures from Emily’s 12 month photo shoot in it.  I had a ton of Mason jars and I used half to put pink roses in, and the other half to use as votive holders (complete with pink “gems”, pink sparkle ribbon, and topped with a pink “diamond” scrapbooking brad).  I also put one of her 12 month pictures in a large mat for party guests to sign and write sweet words to Emily on.

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Outside, I hung pink tissue paper poms from our porch.  I also made a custom wreath for Em’s b-day (available in the Etsy shop soon)!

IMG_6741first birthday wreathfirst birthday wreath

We set the food up in the breakfast nook.  We put white linens on two 6 foot tables and put them in front of the windows.  One table was the main food table.  In hindsight, we probably could’ve used another table for the food.  It was a little tight on that table.  Oh well.  We used the 2nd table as the dessert table!

burger barIMG_6504burger barpink candy buffetIMG_6507owl cookiesfirst birthday smash cakecustom cupcake toppersowl first birthday dessert tablecustom first birthday table runners

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For food, we did a burger bar.  I had Publix pat out 100 hamburger sliders.  Do you know how hard it is to find slider buns??  Fortunately, I have a friend whose husband delivers bread for Pepperidge Farm.  So I gave her a ring to get the scoop on these slider buns.  I had to go to 2 different Publix stores to get enough buns.  Let’s just say, I cleaned them out of all their slider buns!  We also had pasta salad, baked beans, macaroni & cheese, fruit cones, and deviled eggs.  Yum!

The dessert bar was my favorite (and I don’t even like sweets that much)!  We had a candy bar (with all pink candy, of course), chocolate dipped pretzel sticks, chocolate dipped marshmallows, cupcakes, cookies, and of course Emily’s smash cake!  The candy came from a website called Economy Candy.  They had the best prices, by far, that I found!  Thanks to my bestie Amber for recommending them to me!  The owl cookies came from Tasty Pastry, a local bakery.  I got the cupcakes from…..are you ready for this??…….SAMS!!  And let me just tell you, I had some cupcake critics/connoisseurs at the party and everyone was raving about how awesome the cupcakes were!  They really were super yummy!!  Sams was super accommodating too!  I wanted some vanilla, some chocolate….no problem!  I wanted some light pink icing, some hot pink……no problem!  And the best part?  They were only $13 for 30 cupcakes!!!  So I got 2 orders of 30! 

I made all the labels for the food.  If it’s on paper, I made it!  I used some of the amazing Pattern Pieces that Aimee at Sprik Space created!  She’s amazing!  I did the candy bar labels, the cupcake toppers, the stickers on the candy bags, and the Happy Birthday banner all using the print & cut feature on my Silhouette!  Sooooo much easier than gluing 3 or 4 different layers of paper together!  Gah!  I also made the water bottle labels.  I just printed them on regular cardstock paper and used double sided tape to secure them to the bottle.  For favors, we had candy and caramel apples!  I made the favor tags using the print & cut feature again!

Have I mentioned that I want the new Silhouette Cameo for Christmas??  Or anniversary.  Or New Years.  Or Thanksgiving.  Any holiday, really.  Or just because on a random Tuesday would be great too! * I hope the hubs reads this!!  Hehehe*

I also made the table runners.  I made them using fabric and ribbon!  I found the cute cupcakes at Michaels.  They are iron-on's so that part was easy!  I used some Heat N Bond and my Silhouette to make the monogram for the middle blue runner.  I love how they turned out!!

IMG_6513owl water bottle labelsfirst birthday party favors

I knew I wanted a vintage high chair for Emily’s party!  I wanted to paint it pink.  I searched Craigslist and our newspaper for MONTHS and never could find anything.  One day I finally found something!  It was $15 and the girl selling it was so sweet!  Score!

I forgot to take before pictures of it, but here is a before picture that was on the listing:

photo 2 (1)

A little sanding and a few cans of Krylon primer & spray paint later…..vintage pink first birthday highchairIMG_6516

I love how it turned out.  I used my Silhouette to cut the vinyl for the back of the chair.  For the “EWP”, I literally sprayed the vinyl with the Glitter Blast spray paint before I applied it to the chair.  Oh – and I also made her birthday hat!  The bib I found at a local children’s boutique.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we were having a deck built and boy am I so glad we did!  It was perfect for the party!  We also bought a gazebo and put out back, with tables and chairs!  It was perfect!  We also had a bubble machine & cornhole going outside for the kids!  They had a blast running through the bubbles!  I got the bubble machine at the end of the season at Target for $4!!!  And it came with the 6 batteries that it needed.  The batteries alone were worth the $4!!  I love it when I find a deal like that!

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All in all, it was an amazing birthday party.  And even though it was way past her nap time, Emily did amazing!  She had so much fun!  It was a blast and I am grateful everyday for her!

So, what do you think?  I told you there were a ton of pictures! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

FYI…

The birthday girl’s adorable owl pillowcase dress was purchased from Wee Whimsy Couture!

Inspiration for “1” number found on Pinterest.

Inspiration for owl smash cake found on Pinterest.

Inspiration for table tutu found here via Pinterest.

Inspiration for fruit waffle cones found on Pinterest.

Inspiration for the chocolate dipped marshmallows found on Pinterest.

Inspiration for the glitter paper lanterns found here via Pinterest.

I am linking up to many of these great parties:

M: DIY Showoff Project Parade, Metamorphosis Monday, Made by You Mondays, Just Something I Whipped Up, Today’s Creative Blog, Making Monday Marvelous

T: Get Your Craft On, Tip Junkie, Home Stories A to Z, Homework

W: Passionately Artistic, Twin Dragonfly Designs, Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Not Just A Housewife

Th: Just A Girl, Gluesticks, House of Hepworths

F: Sassy Sites, I’m Lovin’ It, Remodelaholic’s Anonymous, Frugal Friday, Friday Fun Finds, Feature Yourself Friday, Pity Party, Weekend Wrap-Up, Weekend Bloggy Reading

S:  I Heart Naptime, Be Different, Act Normal, A Little Lovely,

Su:  Under The Table & Dreaming, Remodelaholic

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