It’s Mimi’s birthday today and that means a handmade project with Andrew.  Usually, not a problem to go run to a craft store to the supplies we need, but in the middle of everything going on its really hard. Stores are closed or crazy so I had to get really creative. I happened to have stain glass paint leftover from a jewelry project and an unused picture frame. I knew she would appreciate a cross the most and it would be easy to paint. I used painters tape to create the cross in the center of picture frame glass and gave Andrew a paintbrush. I put some purple, white, and blue paint on a paper plate and held it while he dipped the paintbrush and painted. He had a lot of fun with painting and didn’t want to stop once the glass was painted so I gave him a piece of paper to paint while I cleaned up. Once the paint was dried I removed the tape and glued it into the black frame. I had to glue it in place since the back wasn’t going to be able to hold it in. The glue worked great and to finish I added a ribbon using a staple gun and a little more hot glue to hang it.

I love how easy and beautiful this gift was and I now Mimi is going to love it!

As with my barn board table, I reused an old breakfast bar and some of my grandma’s barn wood to make this awesome garden potting table. After sanding two pieces of barn boards, I glued and screwed them to a leftover piece of plywood. I then used the same 1x2 trim that we used on the table to trim out the tabletop.

I also used the trim to make the shelf on the bottom. I started by building a box that fits snuggly between the metal sides. I then equally spaced pieces and nailed to create the top of the shelf. I preferred this over a solid shelf so dirt could fall through.

The next step was to stain and seal all of the wood; I used the same stain color (American Walnut) as the big table so they matched, since more and likely it will get used as a bar during parties. To finish it off I added three black hooks to hang garden tools from.
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I am really excited to have this project finished and have it in my beautiful garden area!

Okay, these might be my new favorite organization things. My new coffee pod and teabag dispensers are chicken feeders! I bought the size I thought would work best. Not too big but big enough to hold a box of coffee pods. I was able to pick these up at a local feed store for $11 each. I saw some online that were painted or used. I liked the galvanized metal ones best and using used chicken feeders just sounded like a bad idea.

I traced out the words coffee and tea on the front and then hand-painted the words in white. There were only two things I had to modify on them. The first was to remove the lip where the feed comes out. I asked Jack to cut the lip off to make it easier for the large coffee pods to come out. The second medication was making the holes bigger to mount to the wall. We made sure to use heavy-duty screws and anchors to hold them securely in place since they will be used every day.
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I love my new dispensers and I’ve gotten quite a few compliments on them already!

I am in full-blown lemon decorating mode. All month I have been decorating the house with lemon stuff. Maybe it is because of the bright and sunny yellows make this abnormally gloomy month a little brighter. I have been looking for a little lemon sign for my bathroom, ideally saying “So Fresh So Clean”, but I wasn’t having any luck finding something small enough. I did find an image I liked and decided to print it out and Mod Podge it to a board just like I did for the Godmother and Proverbs 31 signs I’ve made. Thankfully we already had lots of lever over scraps of boards and Jack was able to cut two boards to the size I wanted. Before gluing the image in place, I painted the boards white with acrylic paint. Once dry I cut the image to the shape of the boards. I put Mod Podge on the front of the scrap piece of wood and carefully place the image, smoothing it out slowly. After it dried I used a clear acrylic sealant and painted the whole sign.
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The Sign came out so perfect and cute that I ended up making another one for the kitchen!

​My mother’s birthday was yesterday and I wanted to have Andrew make her something special for her. Since he is still too little to make much I needed to get creative. Last year he made her handprint flowers out of paper and I framed. I searched through Pinterest and saw a couple of flower pots that had kid’s footprints in the shape of a butterfly and thought that it was perfect. We picked out a terracotta flower pot and a can of clear spray paint, along with a plant. I already had the paints and the cute little feet.
 
Jack had to help me with this since it was a one-shot type of thing; we put Andrew in his highchair along with some snacks and turned on his favorite cartoon. I painted one of his feet with the colors and pattern that I wanted, Jack then helped me press his foot onto the flower pot. We gave it a few minutes to dry to prevent the paint from dripping. We repeated with the second foot, making sure to place it in the right spot to create the butterflies wings. We completed the flower pot with a fingerprint caterpillar on the other side. I set the flower pot in the sun to dry and once it was fully dried I used a Sharpie marker to create the body and antenna. Next, I sealed the pot using the clear matte spray paint and put it back in the sun to dry. Lastly, I planted the beautiful plant in it and wrapped a bow around it.
 
My mom totally loved it and even took her a moment to realize the butterfly was made by his feet! Andrew even drew her a special birthday card!

As I have done the last few holidays, I decorated every room in our house. However, I didn’t go overboard like those. I just put a few small decorations and some new pillows in all the rooms.
 
I started by making a simple red velvet pillow for the chair in the living room, using my go-to quick fold and sew method. For a few pillows, I cut out letters or hearts and used iron-on applique and sewed in place before doing the folded method.
 
I even purchased a few of the pillows at Target for $5 which I loved that price and how cute they were. One of the pillows said “Love you” then on the other side said, “love you more”. This is something Jack and I say all the time so I had to get it, but I wanted to be able to see both phrases. I cut the two panels apart and added light pink fabric to make the fold. The last pillow I did for Andrew’s room I used St. Valentine’s Day ribbon and tied a felt hear on it.
 
They came out so cute and I keep adding to my holiday pillow collection! I love it!

For months I’ve looked for the perfect pumpkin onesie for Andrew’s first birthday. I know I am picky and not normally cheap when it comes to the perfect outfit. I just couldn’t find one and could get it by the time I needed it.

​So I did what I also do, I make it. I pulled out one of his white onesie and my trust iron transfer paper and got to work. After searching online for a while I found a “one” that I liked and put it into a word document. I ended up printing it in three different sizes since I wasn’t sure what one would work best on the onesie. I also planned on using the other two for another project. Next, I cut out the image, cutting off as much of the blank area I could before ironing onto the onesie.

The onesie came out cuter than I hoped and was the perfect thing for him to wear as he dug into his smash cake!

To continue my Halloween decorating insanity, I decided to make some outdoor pillow covers for the patio set. Normally, I don’t decorate the patio unless we are going to be using it as we did on the Fourth of July and since at the Halloween party, we watch Halloween movies outside. To make the pillows I bought traditional Halloween color fabric: orange, black, bright green and purple in either duct or home décor fabric. I then decided on four simple Halloween themed cut-outs to make using the other colors. After I cut out the shape I used a double-sided iron-on paper and ironed them onto the pillow. I sewed each end of the pillow fold along with sewing each of the cut-out pieces, using the corresponding thread color of course. Once the shapes were sewed on all in place I turned the cover inside out and sewed the sides together creating the fold.

​I was really impressed with how great they turned out and how cute they look on the patio!

Since I wanted to decorate every room in our house for Halloween, I thought it would be fun to add garland to my shower curtain rings. I was able to find a cute ghost, bat, and Jack-o-lantern felt one for my bathroom mirror, but not one long enough for the shower curtain. I didn’t want a garland that was made out of the plastic stuff that comes off whenever you touch it either. I decided to make a simple fringe tassel one.

I used embroidery floss, eight of each color: black, orange, and white to match the garland on the mirror. I put two bundles of each floss together and folded it in half and tied one end together. Next, I cut any loops and trimmed any random long strands. Lastly, I tried each tassel to a black and white rope. It was so easy to make and cost under $10 and it looks so great on the shower curtain!

This is my mother’s first birthday as a grandma, or “Mimi” as she likes to be called and I wanted to make something special for her. The problem was I decided on the day of her birthday and didn’t have time to go anywhere. After scrolling through Pinterest for a bit I thought making a handprint flower would be cute. However, instead of using paint, I traced Andrew’s little hand on a regular piece of white printer paper and cut it out. I then traced the handprint on some fun scrapbooking paper I had. I then created a flower pot, stem, and leaves with different scrapbooking paper. I glued all the pieces on some white cardstock, letting it fully dry before putting it in a frame, which I happened to already have.
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The artwork came out super cute and my mom loved it. Happy Birthday, Mimi!

Thanks to the Fixer Upper/Joanna Gaines/Farmhouse home decor trend every where you look you can find Magnolia wreaths. But have you seen those price tags? I think the cheapest I've seen was $40 and that was on sale. That's just crazy. However, I really wanted one for my front door, but refused to pay that insane price for a wreath. So I made one and only spent $10. Now that is a steal!

Supplies:
     Metal Wire Wreath - Walmart $2.47
     Magnolia Flowers and Leaves - Micheal's $7.50 ($14.99 50% on sale)
     Wire Cutters
     Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Start by cutting all of the leaves and flowers using wire cutters.

Glue the first leaf onto the wire wreath. Overlap the second leaf and glue place. 

I placed all of the leaves going the same directions, but rotate if desired. Repeat until all leaves are in place. 

Make sure to cover as much of the wire as possible.

Glue one of the magnolia flowers at a slight angle on the bottom of the wreath. Add a second flower facing the opposite direction and glue in place.

Repeat until all of the flowers are in place.

Use a wreath hook to hang your beautiful DIY Magnolia wreath that only cost you $10!!!

Sometimes I have to remind myself that simple turns out to be the most beautiful. All this patriotic wreath is a $5 grapevine wreath with some red, white, and blue hydrangeas glued on. I didn't feel the need to add ribbon or even a flag to it. These colors are all that was needed to show the American spirit because as they say these colors don't run.

​I hope everyone has a very happy and safe Fourth of July and God Bless America!

As announced on Monday, We are having a little boy. Last weekend we had a gender reveal party. I know some think these are a little cheesy, and normally I would agree, but I needed the distraction from my Dad and I’m always willing to host a theme party.

I struggled to try to figure out how we should make the big reveal for weeks. I search Pinterest for ideas but I wanted something different. Then I realized I had all of these white colored M&M’s leftover from the Nuts/No Nuts snacks. I decided to be a little extra mean to the guest. I placed all of the white M&M’s in cute little kraft favor boxes and put a question mark on the bottom of the lid, before wrapping the box with a red and blue gingham ribbon topped with a small fake sunflower. Only one box had the actual answer and Auntie Amber got the honor of telling everyone that we are having a boy!

Sunflowers have been my favorite flower for as long as I can remember. It's only fitting that I made this beautiful wreath to hand on my door for my birthday month. It will also fit in perfectly with a special barbecue we will be having in a few weeks.

The wreath is a $5 grapevine wreath with a bunch of beautiful sunflowers. I just cut off the stems and glued them in place. I finished by adding a few of the leaves.
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The pops of yellow look so great on our navy door and I can't wait for it to greet me every time I walk into the courtyard!

Need a quick and one of a kind baby shower gift? My standard baby shower gift is an original baby blanket. I have shared several of the baby quilts I have made in the past and this time I wanted to try something different. I found a great quality blanket that was plain and a few different fat quarters of fabric. A fat quarter is those precut squares of fabric you see on the shelves at crafts stores. I found an image I wanted to use to match the nursery, this time a whale. I cut the pieces of the printed whale out and then traced each piece on the fabric I wanted.

​I ironed the fabric onto double-sided iron-on material, then after they were cooled, I cut out the whale pieces and removed the second paper backing 

My mom has been wanting a large art piece for above her bed and I thought that it would be the perfect gift to give her for her birthday. Have you seen how much large wall art cost these days?! I don't know about you but I can't afford $100 plus for wall art so I decided make my own, again. I made one of these large art pieces a few years ago for our bedroom that you can see here. Follow the steps below to create your own masterpiece! I purchased a large poster on Zazzle (using a 50% off coupon), a canvas a little smaller than the poster (also using a 50% off coupon), Mod Podge, and a paint brush. 

Step 1:  Apply a thick layer of Mod Podge all over the canvas. It needs to be thick so it won't dry before placing the poster in place.

Step 2:  Lay the poster ontop of the canvas and carefully smooth out any bubbles starting from the center and working your way out.

Step 3:  Flip the canvas over and apply Mode Podge to the sides and wrap the the poster.

Step 4:  Using painters tape hold the sides taught in place. Using a hand staple gun, staple the edges in place. For the corners fold carefully in place like you would do wrapping a present. Flip the canvas back over and staple the corners in place.

Step 5:  Let it dry completely before adding picture hooks on the back.

The project came out so awesome and only cost me around $45. My mom is going to totaly love her birthday gift!

​When we first bought our house we were given an old large oak dresser set and for years I have dealt with the ugly out of date stain and broken drawers. I had been wanting to strip the stain and re-stain them white, as well as replace the knobs and repair the broken drawers for awhile. Well when we moved everything out of the bedrooms for the new carpet I thought this would be the perfect time to do just that! What was I thinking!? It was already hard enough to move out and move back into the bedrooms. Thankfully Jack was sweet and went along with my insane idea and two months later we are finally finished and they came out fabulous! There was four pieces – a tall dresser, a long dresser and two side dressers, so we thought this would be easy. Boy, were we wrong! We tried three different ways to strip off the old ugly stain from the set. We first tried the chemical remover and scrapped it off. It worked, sort of. We tried different thickness levels and letting it sit for different amount of times. Some sections it would work great and others it didn’t even touch the stain. 

Lastly once everything was dried we drilled the holes for the new handles and repaired the broken drawers. Due to the thickness of the wooden drawer we had to purchase new screws for the new handles, this is actually pretty common when redoing older pieces. I thought it would give the dressers a nice French County feel if we used different types of handles. I used fun Mr. and Mrs. ceramic ones for our side dressers along with crystal and chrome ones. I used different chrome handles and mercury glass, ceramic, and crystal knobs for the two larger dressers. Even though it too much longer than we expected, I am so excited how they turned out and happily it was under $100 which is much cheaper than buying another set that wouldn’t have been built as well. ​

Today I was able to do something that made my heart burst with emotions. I was sad, happy, inspired, and humbled all at once. Today I put a lock with Serenity’s name on the Ponte Des Arts in Paris. Serenity’s dream was to go to Paris and today I hope I was able to give her at least a little of that dream. I cried as my cold hands trembled trying to lock the lock in place. By the time I threw the key into the Seine, I lost it and Jack had to hold me until I calmed down. It was a really rough week and I felt like it finally came to a head. So I stood there in Jack’s arms sobbing in the middle of Paris. 

I made a necklace out of the that I didn't throw into the river, for Serenity's mother and my good friend. I added charms that made me think of her including the infinity symbol that matches both of their tattoos. This was a small gesture I could do for a grieving friend and I hope that I brought at least a little peace for both of them. Rest In Peace Serenity.