yarn painting

Category: DIY | January 31st, 2012


i’m a fan of adding texture and using different mediums on projects…especially paintings. so remember this canvas i had hanging up in the kitchen, well i finally did something with it. (i did say i was going to finish it over the weekend…but monday will do). i saw this cute idea over at ruffles and stuff and wanted to do a little something myself.



all i did was paint the background (it’s hard to tell but it’s gold), sketch out the utensils, and then glued the yarn on! *side notes….try to use another glue besides hot glue because 1) it leaves those annoying strings that are extra hard to get off and 2) it takes off the actual paint (i used acrylic paint) BUT i am a slacker and use a hot glue gun for ummm everything. ;) fabric glue is probably the best bet.



one of my favorite coaches in high school gave me this little saying and it’s still with me. love it. -hi coach p!
**also, i’ve accepted that since i do all my crafts/work at night, i don’t get the greatest lighting for pics. oh well. i know y’all don’t mind. ;)

so yay for finishing a project that has been on my to-do list for a long time. :)

another side project: painting makeover

Category: DIY | January 4th, 2012

so i’ve had some painted canvases (that i wasn’t really feeling) stashed in my closet for quite some time now and i finally busted out with one to give it some tlc. i saw this painting on pinterest (of course) and so i gave it a go.

here’s the before. had to give it a couple of coats of white paint first off. i used the lovely cheap/fast drying acrylic paint. and i patiently waited for it to dry. then i painted a lil yellow here and there as the background. (meanwhile while it dried) i printed out the words i wanted to paint and cut them out. i sort of cheated this way…..but it gets the letters the same exact height and size and aligned nicely without all the hassle, so yes i cheated. ;)

i just taped the paper on the canvas and traced the letters. ***it would have been nice if i used freezer paper and ironed it on the canvas…then i could have just painted straight over the paper and been done. but i chickened out in fear of it not working and then have to start all over) :) so instead i went back and just painted the letters by hand, which took a little longer on the edges but oh well. i enjoyed it.

yay. i love how it turned out. simple. :) also…here’s a before the painting photo of the wall. lots and lots of frames (and yes some of them are crooked. adds character)

and the new wall. (and yes there is an empty frame on the right. hopefully that will be fixed soon. actually most of them need to be updated with new photos. need to stop slacking)


so can i just say that this photo right here is a nice representation of my life at the moment…unfinished projects and baby! hahaha. (not complaining though!) first off there’s a blank frame and some outdated photos on the wall. second, there are 4 vintage hangers to the left in our living room….waiting for the posters to flatten out so i can hang them. they are currently under a ton of heavy things. hopefully that is working. oh and yes that’s our entry way hall area and that is where the super fun mini playscape lives. P LOVES this thing (thanks grandma and pa-paw!) so i can’t move it. clearly. she plays on it all the time climbing up the slide and going down it on her bottom by herself! oh and the new thing is she loves to sit at the top of the slide and roll things down it to me. too cute! one day we will get a fun vintagey/salvaged console table to sit below the frames and painting. but for now i’m enjoying it all like it is. one day at a time people. one.day.at.a.time.

box o’ princesses

Category: DIY | December 21st, 2011


i’m in love with this little box of cuteness. i’m not really into the disney princesses (except for sleeping beauty she’s my fav) but maybe one day i will when miss penny pants does. one of my sweet nieces LOVES them so when i saw this tutorial that the creative lil blue boo did, i knew she needed one asap.






it was such an easy DIY. just get the materials and do a little doodling with pencil, then paint, and glue here and there and yay! it even comes with a free background download that you can print out. i love the simplicity of it too. can’t wait to give it to her!!

gift card ornaments and a Christmas quiz

Category: DIY, everyday | December 20th, 2011


anyone else out there keep their old/empty gift cards? yea i’m weird, but hey, i found a new purpose for them. ornaments! i get Starbucks gift cards for Christmas (which i love) and so i have some cute Christmasy ones. so ornaments they became! i’m talking easy. cut, hole punch, string. bam.




and because i felt like this post was too short…here’s a little Christmas quiz i saw floating around here and i thought i’d share too (you should too!)

1. egg nog or hot chocolate? definitely hot chocolate. preferably SB’s salted caramel hot chocolate. yum.
2. does santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? wrapped presents all the way. (is it bad that we didn’t do “santa” presents for P….i mean she’s not even one yet) ;)
3. colored lights on tree/house or white? both tree and house are white. wish the mister would let me keep them up all year/forever!
4. do you hang mistletoe? we didn’t this year, but we have in the past.
5. when do you put your decorations up? well like on #3, i would have them up always….but the mister makes me wait until after Thanksgiving.
6. what is your favorite holiday dish? oh man…tough decision, i would say my grannie’s chocolate carmelitas (the best!)
7. favorite holiday memory as a child? i always enjoyed our family puzzles. we would get a massively hard puzzle and we would work on it here and there throughout the all days.
8. when and how did you learn the truth about Santa? i don’t remember the exact age (sometime in elementary school) but i didn’t get any present from santa that year, and my mom goes “oh, you still believe in him??”  ….guess not! ;)
9. do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? we do our stocking stuffers.
10. how do you decorate your Christmas tree? white lights, thick gold ribbon, (adding gold tinsel strands next year), and lots of store bought red, green, and gold ornaments (when we were dating, i had to help the mister start somewhere) and slowly but surely adding handmade ones each year! excited about those.
11. snow! love it or dread it? well considering it rarely ever snows here…ever, then of course i love it! i much rather be in the cold and snow than our triple degree summers we have. (that’s why i’m super white) :)
12. can you ice skate? i can, but it has been awhile. i’d love to go again and take P. omg that would be too cute! do they make skates that tiny??
13. do you remember your favorite gift? i’m pretty sure i have a bad memory bc i can’t even think what i got past last year?? but i do know i love and appreciate all my gifts.
14. what’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? well spending time with family and friends is always a must and my favorite! but clearly you gotta remember the reason for the season! i really want P to grow up understanding what Christmas is all about. (must lead through example) :)
15. what is your favorite holiday dessert? see #6
16. what is your favorite holiday tradition? watching Elf about 100 times, listening to tons of Christmas music, and going out to pick the perfect tree for our home (and singing Christmas carols to and from there!) i told the mister i want to make more family traditions too!
17. what tops your tree? for now it’s a big gold star, but i’d like to hand make something eventually.
18. which do you prefer: giving or receiving? definitely giving. i love the whole shopping experience (you can ask the mister) and lately i have been trying to make more of the gifts so to me that makes it even better since it’s a piece of me that i am giving too.
19. candy canes: yuck or yummy? eeeh yummy. they aren’t chocolate, but they are nice.
20. favorite Christmas show? see #16. but seriously….Elf 100% i like It’s A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story too. :)
21. saddest Christmas song? interesting question. lol. but i have caught myself saying i didn’t like elvis’ “i’ll have a blue Christmas” song.
22. what is your favorite Christmas song? oh i have lots. but i think i love Carol of the Bells the most. way back in middle school, my friend and i sang the song over and over and over again until we memorized all the words. i still have it memorized. ;) i like Winter Wonderland too.
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who else is not done with Christmas shopping/hand making??? not.enough.time.

fabric embroidery hoops

Category: DIY | December 19th, 2011


talk about one of the easiest/fastest and not to mention cheapest home decor ever! in love. (now i am no expert at this…plus it was my first time, but this is how i did mine) :)


all you need are some embroidery hoops, glue, and scraps of fabric you already have laying around. i was able to use some vintage fabric from the mister’s grandma’s stash that was given to me. :)

lay the fabric, right side up, on top of the inside hoop and then put the top hoop over the inside one….pulling tight the fabric.



you will want about a half inch or so of fabric to hang out so you can glue it down….and then trim and then done! now just throw a nail in the wall and yay!







(like the smudged baby finger prints i didn’t clean off before i took pics…eh oh well) :)

you can get creative and paint on the fabric or even do some stitching. i wanted to keep it simple and enjoy the fabric. i love the new additions. the mister hasn’t called it too girly yet so we’re doing good!

notes: embroidery hoops/hobby lobby, fabric/vintage, coat hanger/urban outfitters, chalkboard/event design shop, mirror/thrifted.