a little of this, a little of that

I planned on getting this post up Thursday evening, but of course blogger went down and didn’t return for what seemed like eons. <---- Is that a real word?

Anyway, this post is just a little mish mash of things. I haven’t really done any DIY projects this week because I am prepping for a BIG project – slipcovering my sofa.

So, I thought instead of projects I would just share some of my instagram photos from the week. Mainly Thursday morning when my little man and I spent hours playing on the back patio with sidewalk chalk. We had so much fun!

And then there were several blog posts I read this week that I just loved, loved, loved. So I wanted to share those with you in case you missed them. I wouldn’t want you to feel deprived J

This is from a new blog I just found this week. Very different from most of the DIY/home décor blogs that I read. But Alyssa Ann seems like such an amazing Mom and I feel like I need some inspiration in that department. This post “Remind Me to Play” really spoke to me. Especially this sentence “..there isn't any reason, need, or benefit in frustration, impatience, or short-temper. Life is too short for that. I want to stay calm and carry on. Not just simply carry on for the sake of carrying on. I want to demand that I take the second to notice the random hair that flaps in the face of the little beauty that is walking and dragging her sand toys behind her. I must demand of myself that I take heed of the little boy that is calling me to watch him fling himself wildly into the waves for the hundredth time. . .”

So true, so true. We all need to be reminded of that. So if you are a Mom go read it now! And if you aren’t, go read it anyway. It can apply to many other areas of life too!

Then there is this post from my favorite blogger Sarah. I am dying to fly to Australia and hang out with her. Oh we could have so much fun junking and thrifting and painting things white! I so adore her coastal-vintage-chic style. She also does the most beautiful tablescapes I have ever seen. And don’t go thinking Sandra Lee from Food Network tablescapes - uggh. Sarah’s tablescapes are amazing. This post teaches you how to do it really easily using things you already have in your home.

Last but not least, is one of my other favorites – Lisa Leonard. It seems everyone in blog land already knows her so you probably do too. But in case you don’t you should. J I love all her posts and amazing photography, but I really look forward to Wednesdays every week when she does “What I Wore Wednesday.” She has the cutest style and it’s always fun to have some fashion inspiration! This weeks WIWW was one of my favorites so far!

In other news, I am super excited about tomorrow. I told you about my Mother’s Day gifts here. But I didn’t tell you about this one. My final gift from the hubs is probably the best one of all. He is watching the little man Saturday so I can spend the entire day thrifting, shopping, gabbing, etc with a friend. I have not done this since Aubrey was born. Yep, it’s been 19 months since I have had a shopping day with a friend. And I am SO looking forward to it! I will definitely be back Monday with pictures!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

guest posting at Perfectly Imperfect....

Ahhhhh!!! I was so excited to see my guest post this morning on Shaunna's beautiful blog! I've been following her blog for a while now and am always inspired by her work. If you want to see some amazing paint transformations take a few minutes and look around her blog. She has big time talent!

Go check it out!

playing with clay

These clay tags are a fun, easy project. All you really need is a few cookie cutters and air dry modeling clay. If you've worked with clay before you can most likely go at this on your own without instructions. I had never worked with clay so I downloaded a little tutorial from my favorite blogger, Sarah from A Beach Cottage.

The next several photos I took with my iPhone instagram app during the process so I apologize for their poor quality. On a side note: I love the convenience of that app for shooting and sharing pictures quickly.

I had fun shopping for cookie cutters but didn't have any luck finding the right size circle. So I used the lid from an empty spice jar for my circles. It actually worked pretty well.

I would love to buy an alphabet stamping set like this one so i could stamp fun words or names on them!

The clay takes a while to air dry and I am not the most patient.

But it was worth the wait!

I think they turned out really cute!

I'm still on the hunt for fun cookie cutter shapes so if you have a good resource I'd love to know.

P.S. Those pretty daisies were free - I picked them off the side of the road :)

P.P.S Here is a direct link to Sarah's tutorial. And check out her blog while you're over there. Seriously, my favorite of all time.

And of course, I had to link this post up for Sarah's Good Life Wednesday!

Weekend Recap!

It was a great weekend!

It started off Friday afternoon when a package arrived from my Mom. 

Inside was this metal caddy of vases from Pottery Barn. 

And two antique creamers, which of course I will use as vases.

A beautiful antique linen and a cookbook were in the package as well (Sorry I didn't take pictures of those).

Later that evening another package arrived. My little man sent me my absolute favorite and the best chocolate on the planet from French Broad Chocolate in Asheville, NC.

Cocoa Nib brownies...delicious!!

via french broad chocolate

And a mixed collection of hazelnut truffles, maple truffles and dark chocolate sea salt caramels.

via French Broad Chocolate

via French Broad Chocolate

Saturday my husband gave me this shirt from Anthro.

via Anthropologie

We enjoyed an afternoon visiting the in-laws and then made it home just in time to make a few Mint Juleps and watch the Kentucky Derby!

I actually made Mint Julep Iced Tea. Super tasty. Will definitely make again.

Then more gifts! A Slatkin & Co Fresh Lemon Candle & an Anthro gift card!

via Anthropologie

Sunday morning we went to brunch. Eggs Benedict! yum!

(The outside of the restaurant had these cool oxidized metal walls)

We enjoyed the rest of the day relaxing and playing outside.

 And I had fun channeling Sarah and playing with clay!
{More on that later}

via A Beach Cottage

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend too!

The Craftiest Mom I know and my Favorite Chair...

My mom is the most artistic, creative, crafty women I know. So I don't know how it's possible, but I missed out on that gene. My mom can sew anything -custom drapes, fabric dolls with hand painted faces, clothes, quilts, etc. She was painting, antiquing and re-purposing old furniture before it was the thing to do and way before design blogs ever existed. She has amazing artistic vision. She can dream up an idea in her head and make it happen.

I am successful at a project only if I have pictures and step by step instructions. I wish I could dream up ideas on my own, but I didn't get that gene either.

My mom tried to teach me her crafty ways when I was a kid. I had no interest. What was I thinking? It would have been so much easier to learn from her back then, in person. Now we are 600 miles apart and the best I can do is a phone tutorial with her. Explaining sewing to someone over the phone is not an easy task. But my mom is amazingly patient and never gets annoyed with my 8 million phone calls when I'm working on a project.

Oh yeah, I didn't get that patience gene either. Dang!

So on to my favorite chair which, I'm sure you've already figured out, ties right in with my Mom's craftiness.

It all started with this magazine. House & Garden's August 2004 issue.



 I had just graduated college and was home visiting. On page 26 of my mom's H&G I came across this.

Love. At. First. Sight.

I instantly proclaimed that I MUST have a chair covered in that pink, poppy fabric!
I think it's funny that the article is titled "Fabric Obsession" because that's exactly what I had.

Lucky for me they listed the fabric designer in the magazine. My mom called to inquire and unluckily for me, the fabric was $150 per yard. I think I almost fainted. $150 per yard? It's just cotton, people!

I moped around thinking my dream chair would never be realized. And then my mom exclaimed "Don't worry. I can make that fabric." Huh? When did you become a fabric maker, Mom? She proceeded to tell me of her plan - to use white cotton canvas and paint the design right on. "It's a simple design. It will be easy" she said.

Don't be confused by her wording. Easy for my mom and easy for the rest of us normal folks are worlds apart.

And so, in her most-amazing-unselfish-mom way, she spent her free time over the following months doing one of the most beautiful, special things anyone has ever done for me.

I wasn't living at home at the time, but I am sure there were many late nights painting and sewing and probably a few times that she kicked herself for ever starting this project.

Here are the pictures she took during the process. I keep them, along with the original House & Garden magazine, in my bedside table.

She found this old yellow chair at a YMCA yard sale and it was the perfect specimen for the project. She cut the pieces, painted the design on the fabric, added some batting to the cushions and then reupholstered away!

I have had this chair 7 years and I am still in awe when I look at the comparison today! Could she have done a more perfect job?! Could anyone have?! I doubt it!

To top it all off, when she finished she drove 600 miles to my apartment in Birmingham and hand delivered this beauty to me! There I am sitting in my brand new, hand painted chair and loving every minute of it.

Best. Mom. In. The. World.

Today the chair sits in my guest bedroom. I love it just as much as the first day I ever saw it and I still smile and think of my mom every time I see it.

I love you Mom. Happy Mother's Day! :)



Linking up with Miss Mustard Seed!

and
 

making your own cutting garden

I love having fresh flowers in the house. When we bought our first home I dreamed of making a large cutting garden so I could have fresh flowers all spring and summer.

via memphis garden club

After living in our house for two years and dealing with this dessert of a common area behind our house that the HOA refused to take care of, I decided I would take care of it myself. So every spring for the past three years, I cultivate that area into my own personal cutting garden.

It's very easy and very inexpensive and you will have fresh flowers to bring in your home for months and months.

It doesn't have to be a fancy raised bed like the picture from Memphis Garden Club. You can easily plant your cutting garden in any spot you want. Even a desert wasteland common area behind your house. But if you plant in a desert wasteland like me I advise adding a little fresh garden soil to the dirt. The space I use is about 12 feet long by 2 feet wide. You can make yours any size you like.

Seed packets are super cheap (anywhere from 20 cents to $1 a packet). I bought about 20 packets in a big variety. My favorites are zinnias, sunflowers and cosmos for cutting and bringing inside, but I plant lots of others like marigolds and morning glorys to add color and texture to the garden itself.



I love opening the packets and inspecting the seeds. Each variety is a different size and shape and color. And I am always in awe that just from throwing a little seed in a pile of dirt you get this beautiful flower creation. It's like magic! :)





So next you just sprinkle the seeds throughout the area you chose. I like to mix my varieties together, but I also think it looks pretty when you plant separate sections for each flower. Then I just sprinkle a thin (like 1/2") layer of dirt on top of all the seeds. And water lightly. You should keep the seeds moist by watering everyday. And in just a few days you should start to see little green sprouts coming up everywhere! At this point, if I notice any bare areas that did not get enough seeds I will fill in with more seeds and just push them down into the dirt a little with my finger.


In about a month I should have flowers blooming everywhere! I will be sure you share pictures.



I'm linking this one up with Sarah from A Beach Cottage for Good Life Wednesday.

Chalk Talk Mondays

I feel very thankful this week. Thankful for my life, and my family and our small, but beautiful home.

If you didn't already know, my home state of Alabama was ravaged by tornadoes last week. I've never seen destruction like this. It's impossible to fathom until it's right in front of your face and even then it's hard to believe it's real.

If you've seen the pictures on the news, they are shocking and heartbreaking. But I promise that it doesn't compare to seeing it in person. Entire towns are gone. Hundreds are dead and hundreds more still missing.

Maybe it's because this is my home, where I was married, where we started a family. It's just so real when its this close.

It's breaks your heart and at the same time restores your soul. It makes you proud to be an Alabamian. Ive never seen a whole state rally together like this. Everyone is putting aside their differences and pitching in to help. No one's sitting around complaining or waiting for their FEMA check. Every small business and fire station and grocery store and radio station is collecting supplies and donations to help. Volunteers, adults and children alike, are pouring in from everywhere and flocking to neighborhoods that were destroyed to help with the clean up. Even folks who lost their own homes are out volunteering to help others.

As terrifying as the tornadoes were to witness, the recovery has been equally amazing to watch and participate in. No doubt it will be a long recovery. Things will never been the same for some areas and some people.

But we will be stronger for it and more thankful for sure.