Blue Milk Glass September 3, 2011

So I try to stop by our local Goodwill atleast once a week, usually on Fridays, but I NEVER have luck!  I see all these neat things on Pinterest and other blogs and dream of a sweet little lamp or wooden “thing” waiting on me at Goodwill.  Well…a couple weeks ago I finally had my moment!!  I found a fabulous little glass jar that I loved. I liked the detail and loved the idea that it had a milk glass look to it, but it was clear!

After picking up the little guy (he was only $.99) I continued to look and found the exact same jar for $.49!  Of course I bought the cheaper one, but now am kicking myself that I didn’t get both!!

After my large purchase I was able to run next door to Hobby Lobby and grab some fab blue paint, which I was planning on using for a larger DIY Canvas (pics to come soon)!

So I am not sure if there is such a thing as blue milk glass, I am actually sure there probally isn’t.  But…here is my version! ENJOY!

My $.49 jar from Goodwill!

I had read about several techniques but decided to use what I call the “pour and roll” technique!  Pour LOTS (and by lots I mean I used atleast half a small bottle, which was maybe too much, but I wanted good coverage) of paint in the bottom and start rolling and swirling and rolling until the entire bottle is covered.  NOTE:  I chose to paint the inside, so the outside would have its natural glass shine and it would not chip as easily.  To dry, I let it sit upside down for several days.  I would have let it sit outside, but we had random rain and I didn’t want it to get too sticky!

And ta da!  I had to finish up a couple spots inside and on the top trim of the bottle with a brush!  I was a bit worried that the brush strokes would show, but to my surprise they don’t!  I LOVE it and am now saving EVERY jar I can find with plans to paint!

Pinterest and White Canvas…Two new loves of my life! August 8, 2011

Pinterest…I cannot even begin to say how much I am in love with Pinterest!  My newest addiction and the giver of so many amazing ideas!  Check it out if you haven’t yet! Here’s where my inspiration for my newest project started…

Found on Pinterest and then on this website: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/gorgeousgraffiti/product/personalised-it-started-with-a-kiss-canvas

So I decided to make one for a wedding shower I was going to!  Easy right…well this was the mess I started with…

Searching and searching for a letter “h!”  Then I searched and searched for a number “2!”  I even went to Hobby Lobby and Big Lots looking for a comparable size!  Since I was painting it all white I just needed size, not color!

So…I began cutting my own letters thanks to the Cricut!  I made a template out of cardstock and then cut them our of chipboard!

So I finally found all the letters and numbers I needed and got to gluing!  I used hot glue, but I wouldn’t suggest it for next time!  Those pesky hot glue strings got the best of me!  Then I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed..and TA DA!

Happy wedding Ben and Tori!

Who needs Francesca’s, I have Hobby Lobby! August 4, 2011

I am SUPER excited about our new wall art hanging in our dining area!  This is an area I had been wanting to hang something in since before I moved in, but we couldn’t find the right thing or the more particularly the right size!  We toyed with the idea of a large mirror that was Brent’s grandparents or a collage of pictures in various frames, but when it came down to it (A) we didn’t want to take the time or energy to hang a heavy mirror when we would be moving in months and (B) almost every picture in our apartment already is just “us” so another entire wall of “us” pics might look a little self absorbed!! 🙂

Then I started looking at blogs and started to become obsessed with “subway art.”  Knowing I could use a cricut, and canvas and some cheap paint from Hobby Lobby was the easy part, finding the “right” words was the real work!  Then I stumbled upon a wooden sign at Francesca’s in The Hill Center (Nashville).  Knowing that I would not ever pay $50 for a wooden sign, I decided then and there I would make my own.  I snapped a fast pic and as of now my dream has become true…

First I made a border with plain old basic masking tape!  I actually pulled out an old school ruler and everything…trying to be precise, not just speedy!

Next I cut out all of the words in plain scrapbook paper so that I could lay them out on the canvas and figure out my plan of attack!  I made sure to note down which words were cut in 4 in and which in 5 1/2 so that when I cut the vinyl it would all match (again trying to be precise, not speedy)! (AND I didn’t take a pic of the cutting process with the Cricut, but you get the idea)

After I had all of the letters cut out I taped them on the canvas and adjusted, then I adjusted some more…and probally a little more.  I decided I had enough “precision” for the day so I left the canvas to sit for a day or two to make sure I LOVED it all (and all the words were spelled correctly) before I started the painting process.  At this point it looked more like a high school poster board project than a fabulous piece of wall art!

After “sitting” on the canvas for a couple days we decided we loved the placement and I then cut out the letters with “vinyl.”  The “vinyl” I used is actually old shelving contact paper my mom let me use…don’t you love the blue floral pattern!!  I had originally splurged and purchased official vinyl but returned it after my mom assured me the contact paper would work!

Next I got to finally paint the big ol thing!  I used an entire bottle of craft paint and did 3 complete coats!  This is between coat 1 and 2, so you can kind of see the canvas coming out!  I almost left it like this because in person it looks like the canvas is metal, BUT I knew I wanted my white lettering to be clean and crisp!

And TA DA!  The best part, besides admiring the fabulous finished piece, is getting to pull off the tape and sticky letters!!!  I only let the paint dry for about 10 to 15 minutes before I pulled it all off just in case the layers of paint wanted to come off with the tape!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this canvas!  The size is perfect and the color turned out perfect!!!  The only “minor” problem you can see on the bottom row of the wording.  Instead of lining it up to the top of each line, the smaller letters are lined up to the bottom of the canvas.  As I was sticking and adjusting I noticed something was wrong but couldn’t figure out what…of course I noticed it after I had just finished applying the first coat of paint!  All in all I still love it and cannot wait to do another one!

A little bit of life lately… August 2, 2011

Well, obviously the summer has come and is almost gone!  Life has been zooming by leaving us tired and ready for the calming nature of Fall!  Here’s an update of a bit of our summer life lately…

We took a weekend trip to Cincinnati, Brent’s personal “Disney World!”  I love the city also and am beginning to learn my way around!  Even though it rained MOST of the time we were there and we sat in traffic MOST of the weekend, this weekend was a much needed time away!

We got new lunch bags!!  Not a huge deal to some, but major to us!  I had been taking my lunch in a random Homegoods reusable bag while Brent had been using an old red box zip around from the Gap!  Each night when I pack our lunches I get so excited…it’s like the first day of school everyday!

We celebrated the 4th of July with LOTS of sparklers (left over from our wedding) and this little “Firecracker,” our nephew Bryant!  Love his fabulous patriotic hair do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We celebrated my mom’s birthday with pizza and cake and my dad’s birthday

“Hibachi Style!”

We ran our first married 5k…on a high 90 degree, humid Nashville night!

“THIS” showed up on our bedroom door!!

AND…

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE…well a spot of “spotty grass” and some house plans to go on that “grass!” Woohoo!  We will be in by Christmas! No more apartment life, no more “gymnastics practice” in the apartment above us, and no more hearing our neighbors sneeze through our thin walls!

{New Additions to Our Nest} July 14, 2011

Well…we are obvioulsy still a little too selfish for kids.  We love to sleep late on Saturdays, come home from work and take a nap, and be ready to pick up and go at anytime of the day for a random road trip!  Those things being said…that cuts children and dogs out of our household plans for the moment!  SO…we decided to merge into the world of fish owners!  We scoured local pet stores for our little “Nemo!”  Let’s call our excusion…”Finding Nemo!” 🙂

Well…after discovering “Nemo’s” stock has risen with his recent rise to fame and is an astounding $14.99 (w/ Pet Perks card), we decided to scale back and go for the ever famous $0.29 goldfish!  We got 2 that were a small orange and white Koi breed, reminding us of our honeymoon in Hawaii!

We began thinking of popular names! We wanted something catchy and since we had two, a famous couple!  We through around Bonnie and Clyde, Sonny and Cher, and the ever popular John and Yoko…but nothing seemed right!  Then Brent googled “female/male fish names!”  Literally the names were just as common as the next boy and girl baby, nothing to “fishy!”  So we settled on Chester for the boy and Darla for the girl (we weren’t really sure if one was a boy or girl…but you can dream right)!

We were so excited to come home and get our tank set up!  We got fresh rocks and made it “homey!”  We added room temp water and let the fish “float” in their bag in the water for 15 to 20 minutes like the Petco people said!  For me this is the most stressful part of the fish process.  This seems to the be “do or die phase” in the survival of a fish!

Once we let our little fish go they loved the big tank, free of 100’s of other fish where just the two of them could swim freely!  They swam, explored, and even enjoyed a little dinner…

Then Darla bit the dust!!  We had her for only a couple hours and she was a gonner! After about the first hour she began “swimming” on the top of the water, but we thought maybe she was just “relaxing” (atleast that is what my parents always said was happening)!  We had high hopes, googling all the different things about fish distress! No luck, 2 hours into our life with her she was done!  So we got her out with a spoon, placed in her eternal home, flushed, and got a bit sad (I know sad over a fish we had for 2 hours…silly, but it was special)!

We then began to worry about Chester.  At first he was super active swimming all around the tank, but then he began to act like Darla.  I decided I couldnt’ stare at the tank anymore and went to the bedroom to watch Design Star and work on posting Wedding Photos…Brent hung in the living room watching tv and keeping “watch” on our faithful friend!  Not long after I have begun uploading the billions of pictures, Brent walked into the room with yet another dead fish on a spoon!  We flushed and said our “goodbye’s” and honestly felt deflated!!  As a kid if we got a fish from Walmart and it died within 24 hours, my mom would put it in a sandwich bag and we would take it back for a refund.  We didn’t do this…but I felt like we atleast were owed an explanation!  Our mere $.60 purchase was so sad!

So days later we are ready to venture into the world of Beta Fish!  I had a Beta in college that lasted 2 years traveling back and forth in a jar in my car!  We will keep you updated with our new fishy friend!

one hundred and one… July 13, 2011

It’s so hard to believe it has been 101 days since we said “I Do!”  In honor of our 100+ days of nuptials I will share with you just a couple of the hundreds of things we loved about our wedding!

First and foremost I absolutely LOVE being married to Brent!  I knew marriage was going to be fun, but I never imagined we would laugh so much about silly little things!  I am loving creating memories with Brent and our “first married summer!”

I love that we got to include friends we have had since we were kids in our wedding, friends from our college and our “adult lives, as well as family!  They traveled from Califirnia, Texas, DC, Florida, Georgia, and of course the Hermitage/MJ area!  We love you guys!

Our flowers!! The girls and I had so much fun putting together the flowers!

Our cakes…LOVE our cakes!! Brent’s Aunt Becky went over and above our expectations! Not only did it look so adorable, it tastes amazing!! I cannot wait to eat our topper in just 9 short months!

Our cookies and milk display! Kathy Best did an absolutely FABULOUS job creating this one of a kind DIY set-up!  Plus the treats were pretty tasty!

All of the family and friends that came to our wedding, and those who couldn’t make it in town that were in our hearts!  We loved being able to share our day with everyone!

The dancing…of course we LOVED the dancing!

Love Bird update… February 10, 2011

It’s a MIRACLE!!! They came out amazing!!!  I am so in love with them!!

28 down…172 to go???

For all you wedding experts out there, how many favors are you supposed to have?  1 per guest seems like an awful lot considering all the men and tiny babies who won’t care about a silly birdseed heart!! What about also if you are doing another smaller favor (a little more for the guys, but I will keep you hanging on the exact thing)??

For All of You Love Birds!

So in trying not to go TOO crazy with the whole BIRD stuff I have fallen in love with these adorable bird seed favors that I found on ETSY!   They also have super cute monogram seed letters!! I love those too, but didn’t think many people would want a “B” hanging in their back yard!!

2birdsinlove

These are actually not a HUGE expense…$100 for 100 of them!! When you think about time and all the things it takes to make them I thought $1 for each wasn’t too bad!! THEN I stumbled on SEVERAL blog postings telling me how to make the on my own! One lady even made 160 of them for under $60!!  So here’s our snowed in Project Sampler for the night!!!

What all you will need…1 box of Knox Gelatine, 1 cup water, 3 cups os birdseed of choice, string or twine, and some sort of cookie cutter, muffin pan, or container to shape them in!

HUGE shout out to April D. Ellis for the AMAZING donation of Gelatine!!!  Literally I remember asking her a year ago what in the world you use this stuff for and what in the world she was ever going to use all these boxes for!!  WELL…God provides!! Also, notice the storage container! Thank you Mr. Mason! 🙂

Dissolve gelatine in water and then mix in the birdseed and stir, stir, stir!  The seeds soak up the gelatin and also become very sticky!!

Yum!!!  Literally as I was putting the “batter” into the muffin tins I kept almost licking my fingers! NASTY!

Fill the container halfway with the birdseed mixture and press your string (with tag) into the mixture.  Cover with more birdseed and smush it all together!

Place in the fridge and let it gel (just like jello)!  Then pop them out and let them dry throughly on each side.  We have read to store them in a Tupperware type container once they are completely dry!

So we will see how they turn out!! I am patient, but usually get excited about things and can’t wait to touch or peek at them!  This time we have all agreed to not even look at them until right before bed when we unveil our creation!!  We are praying they all come out in 1 peice!!  I will report back later of our success!

Has John L. Mason impacted your life also???

Who is John L. Mason you may ask????  I will give you a couple hints…

He was born in 1832 in Philadelphia.

He is a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame!

You can use his FABULOUS invention for countless things (storage, a lantern, drinking sweet tea, a lightening bug house, etc)

By now you have MOST likely guessed!!!  John L. Mason is the inventor of the Mason Jar (and it’s airtight screw on lids)!

I have always loved a good Mason jar…but in my more mature years I have fallen in love with them!  I love the look and nostalgia of them as well as the simple class style!!  Literally I could use them everyday for so many things!!  I dream of a pantry filled with Large Mason Jars that can be used for storing flour, sugar, pasta, and even cereal!!  This might be a bit too Farm House for Brent…but we will see!!

I previously posted about my love of Mason Jars, especially when they are used as little lanterns or flower vases!!  So in my quest for Mason jars for our wedding I have begun collecting from various people.  So far I have just collected ones that my mom had in her house and that Kristin Ulmer Cole had brought from Texas for me!  You know me and how I love a good deal, but more than that I LOVE that these jars not only have been donated by people I love, but that people that they love have had their hands in these jars.  Some of the jars are from various family members, my grandma Yvonne, and even Kristin’s Mema who all used to can food!  We are also going to be able to use some of the Blue Mason Jars that our FABULOUS wedding venue has!!

So for your enjoyment…here are a couple pictures of the beginning of our Wedding Mason Jar Madness!  WARNING—some have been stored in my parents garage and under their house for years and are a bit dirty, but nothing that a dishwasher can’t fix!!

I LOVE the little random vintage jelly size jars!! Some might not actually be “Mason” but still LOVE them!

I said “YES” to the dress!!!

Yea!! I officially have my dress!! I smile EVERY time I pass by it hanging up on the closet door frame in it’s nice little hanging bag!!  The dress I chose was the 2nd dress I tried on!!  It was NOTHING of what I thought I would like and I love that!!  From the moment I put it on I knew it was the dress…but of course I tried on several more!  Just like prom I have had the desire to put it on each day when I get home from work…but I have refrained!

Here’s a bit of a teaser for ya!!

 

On ANOTHER note…I also said “YES” to my bridesmaid dresses!! This literally has been the hardest decision I have had with the whole wedding planning process.  I originally wanted a patterned dress!  I love the look of a sweet pattern, especially for a Spring or Summer wedding.  Check out these from CStar Events!!

Even looking at this now I still feel a bit sad to not find something similar!! BUT I really do love the girls dresses!!

This is one of my friends from Elementary school!! How amazing to google search “Patterned Bridesmaid Dresses” and BAM she pops up!

Unfortunately, crunch time for Spring weddings being January and February, cute little Spring dresses are not a huge find!!  So…I toted Chelsea along with me to several places looking for the perfect dress!  God bless Chelsea not only for being the guinea pig in my crazy dress madness, but also for ALL that she has done!!!  (Even being “ashley newton” the other day)!

After MUCH thought and consideration…I have found the dresses!  I get to use plural on that because I found 3 dress that the girls can choose from! They are all the same style and material, BUT have different necklines and top portions!  I love that they won’t be matchy matchy, but will match!  And of course the dresses are in the FABULOUS Canary Yellow color!!!