Sparkle and Shine

During the initial stages of planning my golden birthday party, I decided I wanted to base the decor on  the words "SPARKLE AND SHINE." Those two words guided all my decorating decisions! I looked up different quotes with the words "sparkle" or "shine" or some variation of those two words to use in frames as centerpieces. Here are a few other ideas I utilized as focal points and accents on the tables:

• Empty jars with gold ribbons and/or buttons housed inside
• Paper & ribbon banners on shiskabob sticks, planted in mini mason jars of dirt
• Gold doilies
• Gold candle roses (found in the wedding section at Hobby Lobby; just for decoration, as no open flames were allowed at the park)
• Spray-painted plastic lion
• Fake flowers taped to jars and "planted" in dirt
• Scrapbook sticker numbers "25" on old mirrors and in frames
• Reese's and Rolo candies sprinkled down the middle of the tables

I was so excited about these tables! Instead of using the typical plastic party tablecloths, I lined the tables with rolls of brown kraft wrapping paper. There were crayons out on the tables for guests to doodle and draw with as they chatted. I thought the fancy gold contrasted well with the rustic brown. . . perfect combo!

"May you always have work for your hands to do. May your pockets hold always a coin or two. May the sun shine bright on your windowpane. May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you, and may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you." 

-Irish Blessing

Keepsakes for baby.

Today is October 12th. The due date of my first baby was October 11th (10-11-12!) of last year. I remember this day a year ago: I was anxious. I was a bit frustrated. I felt HUGE. I was ready, but also grateful to have a few more days to myself. I had no idea what to expect. I was worried I wouldn't know when I was in labor. I had so much on my mind. . . 

It's crazy that my baby girl turns ONE next week. A whole year. As you can imagine, I've been a little nostalgic as her birthday approaches. I love thinking about and remembering our time together so far! It's so important to me to record her life. Of course, I'm a big fan of scrapbooking and journaling, but I like to document her story in other ways too. I thought I'd share three special keepsakes from her first year of life as part of her b-day celebration. 

Handmade with love.

A few friends and family members have requested an online tour of baby girls' room. So without further ado, here is our little orange, teal, and yellow wonderland! Almost every detail and project in her room was handmade or re-purposed with love, by her daddy or me.

Picture wall: What we did.

Step by step, here's how we did it:

Tip 1: When you are picking picture frames, look for ones with detail or depth. Some of these stand out more from the wall than others and the variety gives the collection some character. Also, don't be distracted by the ugly pictures in the frames at the store or the unflattering color of the original frames. You can change all that stuff!

Tip 2: When you are deciding what pictures to hang, try to stick with a unified color group. I picked pictures that had some teal and or green to tie in the color of the wall (JD's stripe on his shirt in the upper middle picture, my jacket in the center picture, or the trees in the berry and snowboarding pictures). Picking pictures with colors similar to your home decor will really help the space feel cohesive.

Moonlit Surf.

So, when we first moved into our little basement apartment, the living area was painted a deep, dark red. It was pretty, but definitely made the room feel a bit claustrophobic because of the small size. In order to brighten up the room, we (and my momma) painted over the red walls with a creamy white. While we were painting, my mom mentioned something like, "Maybe eventually you could do an accent wall in here."

Because the red walls were so dark, we had to use primer and two coats of paint in there. Not to mention, we later repainted our bedroom, bathroom, and my craft room. I figured I shouldn't push my luck with JD and waited a few months before mentioning in casual conversation, "Hey, we should paint another one of our walls." He agreed we could paint one wall.

I mostly wanted to paint because I had my heart set on a picture wall with white frames. I wanted the frames to really pop against a bright color, rather than sit boringly on the creamy walls.

So! We painted! We chose Moonlit Surf by Valspar for the wall and I'm happy, happy, happy with the results. Look at that contrast between the wall and the frames!

Note: I think JD has mostly accepted the fact that once I get an idea in my head. . . I pretty much can't get it out. Usually, this results in some type of manual labor for him (whether it be sanding, painting, moving furniture, making more nail holes, etc, etc). He joked this week about how he must've missed the memo when we were dating that he was going to essentially become my personal workman once we were married. Sorry, lovie! Thanks for all your hard work!

Our living room is so much brighter and happier and lovelier now. :)

Where I Make Things.

After I decided to make this little nook into a crafting space, I realized I had very little room for storage. I decided to utilize my resources by not letting the wall go to waste. I picked up the pegboard and hooks at Home Depot for just under 12 bucks. The variety pack of hooks I bought came with wall spacers and the whole thing was up in a matter of minutes. I love it because it will be really easy to adapt as my needs change and I can put the things I use most out in the open so I can grab and go as I craft. This little space of mine still needs improvements (like a cuter chair and better lighting, for starters), but I love it anyway.

Of course I do. . . it's where I make things :)

Thoughtful husband.

I've been wanting a globe for our home for a long time. Someday, I want to have lots of different globes all together in a pretty little collection. For months, everytime I've seen a globe in the store, I've talked myself out of buying it. I just can't justify $40.00 (or more!) for a decoration in our budget right now.

I loved the colors and style of this one at Urban Outfitters a few weeks ago.

JD surprised me by buying this one at DI (for $3.00) and spray painting the stand. It's on top of our china cabinet in the kitchen now and I love. love. love. it.

So I don't have the budget to buy fancy, pretty globes.

Or to travel the world, as I dream of doing one day.

But. . . I do have one heck of a thoughtful husband who makes my day nearly every day by the little things he does to make me smile.

Green gecko.

We JD recently painted our bathroom green. It was supposed to be a couple's project, but JD surprised me and it did it while I was at work! Although I love bright, happy walls and have been dying to paint forever. . . it turns out painting isn't as easy or fun as HGTV makes it look. So a BIG thank you goes to the hubby! After a few trips to hardware stores and some disagreements about what greens look good on walls, we finally agreed on Gecko Green by Valspar. It's so happy and we're both super pleased with the results.

I realized after these pictures were taken that they might've looked better without the towel on the toilet or red toilet brush by the tub... but I was too lazy to take the pictures again. Please ignore. :)

And while you're busy ignoring the poor staging, don't mind the burnt out lightbulb. . .

JD and I have been working hard to get our little home in tip top shape for when my family gets here in a week (!!) Although we know they'd love us no matter what our place looks like, it's good motivation to get these projects tackled. More updates and projects in the days to come :)

Ps. I'll do a tutorial for that black framed jewelry holder someday. It was JD's idea and I loveeee it.

Craft space upgrade!

Remember the space I was using in our old apartment for crafting and creating? Well, I definitely got an upgrade when we moved! When we first visited our little basement, the previous owners took us on a brief tour. There was a landing area between the office and the apartment that was basically dead space before. They mentioned something about how "we could maybe fit a desk in here and create an office space or something." In my head, I was thinking, "THIS HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL!" Fast forward a few weeks: I painted the space a ridiculously happy yellow, pulled in a few pieces of furniture, organized my craft stash, and created a totally useable and friendly workplace. It's so great.

I pulled some of the orange accents from our old living room to use as storage in my new workplace. I also painted the frames I covered in fabric a few months ago. There was too much black going on.

One of my favorite parts of the new space is the desk. When my mom was here, we used frog painting tape for the ceilings and trim in the living room and were impressed by the flawless straight lines. My mom suggested painting stripes in one of the rooms, but JD thought that idea was a little too crazy for right now. I decided to use the tape on a project he wouldn't care so much about. . . Hello new pretty striped desk! You make me giddy. 

If you are wondering about where I sit when I'm in here, the answer is: on a kitchen chair I pull in from the adjacent room. Things aren't exactly perfect yet, but I could still sit in this little corner of the apartment for hours and be happy. Where's the happy place in your home?

The story of the happy china cabinet.

Once there was a china cabinet, worn down from years of abuse. She had chips and cracks and her wooden accents made her look less-than-desirable. She was sad and dreamed of finding new owners to polish her up and treat her real nice.

One day, she met a young couple who saw her potential and wanted to take her home. They gave her a refreshing bath (scrubbed off the dirt),  a good massage (sanded down all her surfaces), and a nice manicure (rolled on a fresh new coat of white paint). They bought her a new dress (happy fabric) and some accessories (yellow knobs!). 

They gave her a lot of tender love and care. She felt beautiful and wanted in her happy new home. She made friends with some plates and bowls, and they lived together happily in the corner of the kitchen.

The end.

Ps. Even though most of the pictures are of JD working hard on this project, I helped too!

Isn't she gorgeous?!

Black.

Black is better.
I love working on home projects with JD!
We did this about 4 weeks ago. . .