May Goals

It has been almost 100 days since I began my 101 in 1001 project. And I still love it. I have crossed off 6 things and I have several in-progress and others already planned. I was worried when I began that I would set myself up for another "job", but luckily it hasn't seemed like it at all. Whenever I go through my list, I get so excited about trying new things. I do have to set time aside, and plan for some of these things to happen, but when I look at it, I realize that I am planning something that I really want to do! It's like planning a trip, it may take some time and money, but when you get to sit back and enjoy it, it becomes 1000% worth it.

Okay, I'm done now...moving on.

 

Last month's goals:

• Have a yardsale & donate to a cause
• Host a Pinterest party (I may do these two together:))
• Complete the Insanity workout
• Send a letter snail-mail style

What I actually did:

• Complete the Insanity workout (YAYAYAYAYYYYYAAAYY!)
• PLAN a pinteresty party
• Send a letter snail-mail style
• Pay for my family's dinner

I can now say, whatever I plan---isn't concrete. But that's what is so fun about this, I never really know what I get to experience next.

• Invest in a friend's dream
• Donate blood
• Host a pinterest craft party
• Watch the sun rise
• Coffee shop-hop
• Buy from the farmer's market

Let's see what happens!

 

March & April

Oh hey, you. It's been awhile. A loooong while. I've been crazy busy with life-ish stuff recently and haven't had much time to write a post. So here is one to wrap up March, and lay out some April plans. Remember when I set my 101 in 1001 goal? Well, I've made minimal progress, but alas, progress made have I (yes, that's a Yoda refrence.)

A quick look back at my March goals:

• Memorize a verse per week
• Send flowers to a friend (this one is planned already!)
• Plan a surprise day trip
• Take a train ride
• Visit someplace new
• Mealplan an entire month
• Do some DIY projects
• Cook just for me

What I actually did:

• Send flowers to a friend
• Plan a surprise day trip
• Visit someplace new
• Do some DIY projects

I think 4 of 8 isn't too bad! Considering I hardly had time to think this month.
So I sent flowers to my beautiful friend, Roxanne, on her birthday.

Me, Ryan, my brother and his girlfriend took a surprise day trip to Richmond, where I had never been before & had a great time. We live about three hours out of the city, so it was a nice little haul, but so worth it. We spent the day checking out the touristy places & hitting up some great locations that John & Sherry over at Young House Love suggested (all were great by the way).

Some plans for April:

 

• Have a yardsale & donate to a cause
• Host a Pinterest party (I may do these two together:))
• Complete the Insanity workout
• Send a letter snail-mail style

Because we are already a week in, I'm keeping the list small.

Let's see what happens!

 

Have you felt extremely busy the past few weeks? Is it spring? Or just me? I'm on the lookout for really cool party ideas for this "yardsale/pinterest" party, let me know if you come across any!

 

Pinday: The Rock Garden

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous here in southern Virginia. I was lucky enough to spend most of the day outside with my puppies and get a few things done for spring. I picked up sticks out of the yard that had fallen last week in the snow/ice situation, I spread out the bails of hay (for grass in those bare spots) that we used last fall for decoration, and I painted a really reeeally old bench for the rock garden that me and my mom are vamping up this spring. After painting the bench, I was inspired to write a "Pinday" post about my rock garden inspiration.

#1

This bench inspired this whole project I believe. It is so happy, clean, bright, and summery. It is the exact color I spray painted my bench yesterday (I had some leftover spray paint from when I painted an ugly clearance lamp a few months ago). So this pin was inspiration for a project that took me exactly 10 minutes and a sunny day to complete!

I promise I will post pictures of our garden when it is finished.

 

Virginia Living

#2

This adorable fairy door has my heart. *sigh*

It was originally from Etsy, but is no longer for sale.

Yep, I'm totally DIYing this.

 

Etsy

 

#3

We are planning to hang a chandelier also. Eeeekk!

It's going to be painted red. Oh yes.

It definitely doesn't look like this, but you get the point. We were actually given a chandelier not too long ago, so I'm just waiting to get a can of paint to get to it!

 

Flickriver

 #4

Yes, there is a number four today, because I can(:

I'm on the lookout for some free brick...

 

Source: Unknown

 

Are you already planning for spring? Any cool projects?

 

 

 

 





My Space

Wow, it has been a long time since I've thought of MySpace. Yikes, I am kind of glad I deleted mine years ago, I don't think I could handle it if I saw it again....anyways, lets move on.
My bedroom has been like my canvas. It's the one place in the world that I can to whatever to and change it as many times as I like. Needless to say, I have planned an entire re-do to our house, and I'm just waiting on Mom's "go for it" to get to work on it. I've already re-done the main bath room with the help of some nice fellas, and I'm itching to get to something else. Our house is not themed-throughout. Meaning, not one bedroom coordinates with another. So I was able to do whatever I felt like in my room.
I began with this inspiration board and went from there. I royally messed up my paint choice (It was supposed to be gray, but blue is cool..) and the fluffs complete the whole "cloud" vibe that I was not going for. Within the past week, I have been able to get my DIY canvas up and finish my collage wall.

 

 

 

 

 

Today I came home and painted all the trim and old yellow outlets in my room, because I painted my walls in September....and haven't fixed the mess-ups since. Oops.

I finally painted these...

 

 

 

....to look like this.

 

 

 

(Forgive the horrible phone quality)

I'll be back with a more detailed post on my room soon, I promise!

Are you finishing up any late projects?

 

101 In 1001: DIY

Hey Y'all!

I hope you are having a great weekend! I just wanted to share a DIY post on a few of my crafts that I have started working on for my project.

Honest to goodness, these have probably turned out the best of the many DIY projects that I have tried. So, it's kind of like a big deal.

 

#1

I follow Sarah at Life On Virginia Street, and can I say that her office is a-mazing? She just shared a post on her office reveal, and it truly is beautiful. I had seen this beautiful painting behind her desk and thought how pretty it was. Luckily, she shared a DIY post a few days later (Que angels singing).

 

 

Life On Virginia Street

 

Her color combo is perfection. It's light, airy, and pretty.

I really like the idea of a thin frame too. It makes it look like a professional piece of artwork.

 

I knew that I wanted to paint a huge canvas to put over my bed since I don't have a headboard. My walls are a very light blue, almost cloudy, so I needed to use bold colors to keep my room from feeling like you are walking into a cloud when you open the door. It needed balance, no matter how much I loved the blue+green color combination.

 

Before going to buy my supplies, I looked online at a few craft stores nearby to see what specials they had going on. A. C. Moore had a few specials going on including a couple coupons that you could print and take to the store, and Hobby Lobby had almost the exact same special. I chose Hobby Lobby because the selection is HUGE and I was closer to it on Thursday. I was able to score 30% off my paints, and a coupon for 40% one regular priced item.

 

(Please excuse the lovely professional photos, my camera hates me)

If you would like a detailed post, view Sarah's here.

 

 

 

(I got excited when I started painting and didn't take any pictures...)

 

 

 

 

#2

I was walking through the JCPenny Home department and saw a few bins with 60-70% off signs. As I was looking, I found some lovely white mugs. They were originally $10 each, but with the discount, I only paid $2 each. I decided to attempt the "sharpie-on-mug" DIY project again. My first attempt was a disaster, imagine lots of time spent drawing and then sharpie washing right off.... :(

I didn't spend half as much time drawing this go-round, and I baked those puppies forever.

(@ 350 for about 45 minutes)

 

Well, they have started chipping already, but I don't even care. They are cute.

 

Inspired by this one.

Inspired by the much cuter one.

 

 

 

Did you try any DIY projects this week?

 

 

 

 

101 in 1001



 

Hey y'all. Sorry I'm MIA recently, it looks like a trend. I'm jumping on the bandwagon here with a 101 in 1001 list. I first came across one of these lovelies at Miss Shelby's Blog, I then read more of these lists here, here, and here.

 

Begin: 2/1/2014

Finish: 10/29/2016

 

For Others
1- Send twenty letters, snail-mail style. (0/20)
2- Bake cookies for neighbors.
3- Serve dinner at a homeless shelter.
4- Have a yard sale and donate to a cause.
5- Send flowers to a friend.
6- Coupon & send stockpile to a shelter.
7- Have a random acts of kindness week.
8- Visit a nursing home.
9- Help someone move.
10- Invest in a friend's dream.
11- Donate blood (or bone marrow if I'm lucky).

For My Relationship
12- Get engaged.
13- Plan a surprise day trip.
14- Workout together two times a week all month.
15- Start a Christmas tradition.
16- Take engagement pictures.
17- Plan a marriage, not a wedding.
18- Have dessert before dinner.
19- Go fishing.
20- Go kayaking.
21- Hike somewhere new.
22- Make a scrapbook/journal.
23- See NYC at Christmas.
24- Take pictures in a photo booth.
25- Wear red lipstick on a date.
26- Visit Mayberry on July the Fourth.
27- Take a pottery class.
28- Join our church as members.

For My Family & Friends:
29- Send my Nana flowers.
30- Make a friend from another country.
31- Go on a girl's weekend trip.
32- Buy my family a meal out.
33- Be a bridesmaid.

To Go Places:
34- Go to the beach, but just for a weekend.
35- Visit 5 new places.
36- Go camping somewhere new.
37- Take a train ride.
38- Go to a blog conference.
39- Go geocaching.
40- Go skiing.
41- Go to a festival.
42- Go to a corn maze.
43- Go to a concert.
44- Tour a vineyard.
45- Move to college.

To Try New Things:
46- Take a cooking class.
47- Take a ballroom dancing class.
48- Go whitewater rafting.
49- See a drive-in.
50- Get a Blowout at a DryBar.
51- Watch the sun rise.
52- Watch the sun set.
53- Ride bikes at the beach.
54- Attend an orchestra.
55- Go to an outdoor yoga class.
56- Go to a zumba class.
57- Go wine tasting.
58- Run a fun 5k.

To Do The Grownup Thing:
59- Mealplan an entire month.
60- Graduate college.
61- Recycle all plastic bottles.
62- Save 5k on my own.
63- Start a new business.
64- Use my Etsy shop.
65- Pay off my car.
66- Follow a real skincare routine.
67- Have a no-spend week.
68- Get certified in something.
69- Get a promotion.
70- Be an intern.
71- Vote.

To Get Crafty:
72- Host a Pinterest craft party.
73- Print Instagram photos.
74- Do twenty DIY projects from Pinterest. (0/20)
75- Buy real artwork.
76- Make a teeshirt quilt.
77- Draw 10 things. (0/10)

Food & Fitness:
78- Cook through an entire cookbook.
79- Buy from the farmer's market.
80- Cook just for me ten times. (0/10)
81- Complete a Jillian Michaels thirty day workout. (0/30)
82- Swim laps instead of running on the treadmill.

For The Blogger:
83- Meet another blogger!
84- Write a guest post.
85- Blog three times a week for a month.

For Me:
86- Get a massage.
87- Memorize one hundred verses.(0/100)
88- Be social media free for one week.
89- Plan a surprise party.
90- Read twenty books from the library. (0/20)
91- Get fresh flowers for me.
92- Leave a 100% tip.
93- Finish the fifty-two week money challenge.
94- Wake up early on my day off.
95- Drink coffee black.
96- Attend/throw a dinner party.
97- Plant a tree.
98- Go horseback riding.
99- Pull an all-nighter.
100- Meet someone whom I think is famous!
101- Wear dresses for a week.

Ahhh. I'm excited. Let's see how many we can get done(:

Chalkin

Chalkboard painting everything I can find.

That's what happens when you have leftover chalkboard paint. My painting began when I needed signs for the farmer's market this summer. I wanted them to be chalkboard painted, but I didn't want to spend 30$ on the supplies to make the paint myself and possibly mess it up in the process. I found myself at Lowes looking around for cheaper options when I happened to spot this little guy sitting on the paint desk.

How convenient. The pint was about $7, which is a much better price than $30, a big mess, and a possibility of my diy mix not working.
I bought it.
The color selection was really weird to me. When I think of chalkboard paint, I think black, grey, dark colors. The selection that I had was bright. B-r-I-g-h-t. I'm talking hot pink, turquoise, lime, etc.

The only color that was darkish was navy baby. Dohkay. I'll take it.
Some how I made it work. My signs turned out adorbs. But I had so much extra paint. Like the thing was still full. So what did I end up doing? Chalkboard painting everything I could find.
It first started with this piece of wood that was left over from a baby shower last weekend, then it trickled into my room (that I'm giving a new do...in a few posts.)



It was rough. I needed to sand-er-down to baby smoothness. I used a palm sander, starting with P90 grit and sanded until smoothish, then changed the pad several times until I finished with 320 grit. We are talking smooooooth.

I am really thinking that I needed to use some sort of sealer, or primer? Maybe? I have no idea, so I went ahead with the process anyways without asking anyone...or googling. There was a hole in the center of the wood, so I used puddy to seal it up. Wham, bam, done.

 

Paint paint paint. I painted all the way to the bark because I thought it looked better. Two layers works best and makes sure that it is sealed all the way. I always make sure to let the paint dry for 24 hours before writing on it that way I know it won't smear, or dent the paint.

The door:

 

My first thought on my bedroom closet door was to take it down and do something cool with my closet, but I reeeeally wanted to chalkboard something else. Hey, if it doesn't work out, I can always take the door down like I had originally planned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is easy.

Tape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paint x 2.

Doneee.

I'll keep my instagram up to date with the new artwork<<<

Love always,

M

  

Why Not Always White?

I'm in love with white on white on white on white. Like Cozy. Cottage. Cute. How adorable?!
After priming the bathroom vanity, I learned that all the lighter colors looks SO BAD together. But why? Why do they look so bad when all the white white white pictures look amazing? It took me a few hours to figure it out. Its because my bathroom doesn't have windows! The reason that so much white looks amazing together is because of all the windows and natural light. Natural light makes everything look fresher, brighter, and can do wonderful things with the color white.
Even though my bathroom can't be white on white (sniff, sniff), I am not going to paint it dark. A mixture of neutrals will keep the space light and airy, without suffocating you when you walk in.
Hint: Dark paint in little rooms will make the room look smaller.
Use a lighter neutral color, and use dark colors to accent with in a small room.
Oh P.S. This is not my bathroom. *sniff sniff*

A Little Fabric Flower

I am making fabric flowers for my boyfriend's sister's wedding, and I am so excited! Before now I had never made a fabric flower, but did that scare me? a little....no. After browsing my Pinterest DIY board, I noted several different techniques and went to work.



This is what I used:

   Fabric--lace and sheer champagne

   Scissors

   Quilting thread (more dense and durable in my opinion)

   Needle

Step 1:

Cut Fabric.
For my base piece, I used the lace because it was more sturdy. I cut it about 4x4 (which will end up about a 3 1/2 inch flower). Each layer afterward about 1/2 inch smaller, rotating fabrics.
About 6 layers was all I needed.

Step 2:

Make petals.
Fold the squares (the same way you would fold paper to make a snowflake:))---half, half again, then once more diagonally.
You should end up with something like-

Cut the end to be round and even.

 

Step 3:

Layer.
Align the pieces of fabric in larger to smaller order.

Step 4:

Stitch.
Sew a small stitch into the middle of the flower to hold pieces together then fold in half.
Sew several stitches into the fold to bring the flower together.

In this part of the project, you will need to see what looks best for your flower, fold the middle in different and complementing directions and make stitches accordingly. I find that pinching different areas and then stitching what looks right works the best.

This step should bring the petals together and give the flat flower depth and life.

 

Turn your flower over and fluff!

 

 

That's it! Enjoy! xoxo-M