Annual Blogging Challenge

Well, it's time for my annual attempt at blogging again!  I really think I can do it this time though.  I've worked on so many cute projects in the past year and it makes me sad that I don't have a space to share them all.  So hopefully this is the motivation I need to start consistently blogging.  

We've had a ridiculous amount of snow this year and today I am home for the 15th snow day!  If there was ever a year to start working in the public school system this has been it!  I've loved having some extra time at home even though I've spent most of it working on the mountain of work I have for my grad classes this semester.  So today I am sharing a pic of one of the projects I completed earlier last year in my office/craft room.  

This is the finished product of my office workspace including the desk my hubby bought and refinished for me.  It definitely makes studying easier when I have a cute space to do it in!  Throw in a cup of hot cocoa in my favorite mug and life isn't too bad.

Although on snow days when hubby is at work (and therefore not watching tv in the living room) I take advantage of doing my studying on the couch and snuggling with these little rascals.

 

I'm kind of going to miss these snow days but I'm also dying for Spring to get here!  

Hubby, his parents, and I went on a fun little shopping excursion last weekend to some super cute antique shops.  I'll post some pics of my treasures I found sometime this week.

And with that first blog post of 2014 is done!

Happy Happy Happy Birthday!

My husband loves Duck Dynasty (as do I).  So for his birthday this year I decided to do a Duck Dynasty themed party.  I first decided on this theme a few months ago and found a little inspiration on Pinterest but not an overwhelming amount.  Then as the party go closer I saw more and more Pins and then Walmart suddenly started carrying a ton of Duck Dynasty stuff.  So the concept for the party ended up being pretty easy to put together.  This is my first semester in grad school and at the moment I am still working full time so actually putting the party together was a different story.  But all is well that ends well!

I had a tight budget for this party, just like every other party I've had.  Many of the decorations were things I already had (brown satin tablecloth from our wedding turned inside out so it wasn't shiny, wooden duck borrowed from my parents, vases and contents, stuffed frog, mason jars, etc.). For the table runner I used Duck Dynasty wrapping paper I found at Walmart.  I scattered feathers purchased from Hobby Lobby on the table.  The frames, squirrels, and duck ornaments hanging from the chandelier were all purchased from Hobby Lobby during 50% off sales.

For the table backdrop I purchased a $.97 tablecloth from Walmart and hung a banner I made from burlap and letters I printed using the Duck Dynasty camo.  

I repurposed the dead tree from our front yard by putting doves from Walmart ($2.00 each) and shot gun shell Christmas lights in it.  The Christmas lights were probably my most expensive purchase ($27.99 before using 40% off coupon) but after a two week debate with myself I decided they were worth it.  I received lots of compliments on them so I think they were a hit!  I may reuse them as part of a Dirty Santa Christmas present this year.

The menu consisted of all foods referenced in various Duck Dynasty episodes.  I created little cards to accompany each of the foods and drinks with quotes from the show.  A lot of the food inspiration (as well as the ham sammich recipe) came from Vacuuming in High Heels and Pearls.

 

To add a little extra fun I created a photo booth using pics of the cast with some of their most famous quotes as the backdrop.  Each of the guests dressed up with some of the props for a photo op before they left.

I also set up a table with a Duck Dynasty trivia board game, some playing cards, trivia cards, and a printout of the cast bios (in case anyone was unfamiliar with the show).

 

Pinspirations

There are two pins on my Spring Pinterest board that I am madly in love with.  So I decided to try to recreate them for my house's spring facelift.  Of course, the Pinterest pics are still MUCH prettier.  But I'm happy to have a little of their beauty in my own home.

Something about this picture just screams spring to me.  Its light and air and simple.  I love the flowering branches.  They are the perfect transition from winter to spring.


I did my version on top of our entertainment center.  We have 13 foot ceilings in our living room and its always difficult for me to find things with some height to fill the empty space.   This worked perfectly.  All of the branches are from Hobby Lobby.  The vases are all clear glass vases that I had in my storage closet.  I painted them Mod Podge mixed with blue and green food coloring.  Simple, quick, and cheap but it made a big impact!

 

 

I love the sweet, vintage look of this picture.  The colors are and light are so beautiful.

My version lacks the light of the original, even though there is a window directly to the right of this table.  I just cannot capture natural light.  I'm not sure if its me, the camera, or a combination of the two.  Its pretty pitiful though!  For my version I just bought a couple of pieces of pretty scrapbook paper and wrapped it around some hardcover books we had on our book shelf.  I tied them with some brown lace ribbon I had laying around.  The flower is from Hobby Lobby but I plan to change it out with fresh flowers as soon as it stops snowing here and the flowers actually start growing!

Week 3: Ruffle Curtains

I found some white ruffled fabric in Hobby Lobby that I fell in love with. I knew I could use it to make some adorable curtains.

The only thing holding me back was the price.  At $10.99 a yard and needing 2 1/2 yards (to make the floor length curtains I originally planned to make) even if the fabric was on sale for 40% off I was still looking at spending $16.50.  Which I realize is still very cheap for curtains but it was a little more than I was wanting to invest in a project that I wasn't completely sure I could pull off or what like the finished product, even if I could.  Then last week I found 1/2 a yard in the remnants bin for $2.74.  At first I thought I would just buy it to play around with and make sure I could execute the curtains the way I wanted.  I cut the width of the fabric in half and was able to make two panels and I started to have a vision for how I could make the curtains out of just the remnant fabric.  Since it wasn't long enough I added some of the red polka dot fabric I had left over from the bulletin board project to the top.  I pinned it first before sewing the pieces together but decided I actually liked the way it looked with the pins.  I felt like it gave it an unfinished craft in progress look that worked since it is a craft room.  Then I worked with different ways to attach the panels without having to use a curtain rod (since that would be an added expense).  I took off the piece of trim that covered the top of the blinds and used clothes pins (continuing with the unfinished project theme) to attach the panels to the blinds. They aren't what I originally had in mind but for $2.74 I think they turned out pretty darn cute!

Week 2: Chalkboard Tray

This week's project was a cute chalk board to hang on my wall.  I had this pretty tray that a friend gave me a few years ago.  I love the shape of it and thought it would make a perfect chalk board.  Sorry for some of the awful pictures.  Aside from painting the tray this project, like most of my projects, was done late at night with horrible lighting.

I spray painted it red to match my red and aqua color scheme.

I didn't worry about the middle since it would be covered by the chalk board vinyl.

I had tried to use chalk board paint before and didn't have very good luck with it.  So I was super excited to find this chalk board vinyl at Hobby Lobby.  Its $7.99 for a big roll, and of course I used a 40% off coupon on mine.

Figuring out how to cut the vinyl the match the shape of the tray was a little tricky.  I finally decided to lay some thin tissue paper on top of the tray and used a highlighter to trace the shape.  You could use any writing utensil, I just happened to have a highlighter near.

 

I taped the tissue paper to the chalk board vinyl and cut it out.

At first the vinyl had lots of bubbles in it from being rolled up.  You can smooth these right out.

I added a bow to hand the chalk board from and ta da!
I still have a little touch up to do (the perfectionist in me isn't completely satisfied with it yet) but overall I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Since I already had the paint, tray, and ribbon for the bow the entire project only cost $4.79.

 

Week 1: Bulletin Board Project

Well, life threw me a couple of curve balls last week and I'm just now getting around to posting the first week's project in my craft room makeover.  I took the before pic late at night and the lighting was horrible and its not even worth posting on here.  But you can just imagine an empty space on the wall above my craft table.  I bought the bulletin board at Hobby Lobby for $4.79 (using a 40% off coupon on the original price of $7.99).  I painted the wooden frame of the board using turqouise acrylic paint.

I originally covered the cork board with red polka dot scrapbook paper but I wasn't happy with the look of it.  I have used this method many times to cover bulletin boards but the polka dots weren't lining up properly and it was making the board look busy and messy.  So instead I bought 1/2 a yard of red polka dot fabric from Hobby Lobby for $2.10.  I attached the fabric with thumbtacks that I hot glued some red buttons to. 

After the bulletin board was complete I added lots of momentos from different parties and celebrations I've had a part in.  I chose not to display any pictures on the board.  I only wanted a place to put the little odds and ends that I had left from events that I couldn't part with but didn't have any real use for.

While I was looking through some boxes of old party stuff I came across something I had printed with one of my favorite quotes on it.  It was the perfect finishing touch to tie by bulletin board together.  I printed the quote on some regular pinter paper and taped it to some pretty scrapbook paper and attached it to the wall with some more thumbtack buttons.

Love Birds

As I was looking for a past post on my blog this evening I realized I never posted pictures from the bridal shower my sister, mom, aunt, and friend Rebecca gave me almost two years ago!  The shower was too beautiful not to share so here are a few pics from it.  Better late than never.  Rebecca came up with a "Love Birds" theme for the shower and it turned out absolutely amazing!