NUMBER 293

i've noticed a recent change in trend: the pendant necklace is coming back! i still love a good, short statement necklace, but i've found that some casual outfits can be bumped up [just a tad, my style] with a long pendant necklace. after seeing these gorgeous agate necklaces last week by poppy style, i decided to make one of my recent forever 21 purchases do double duty.

i love DIY's that don't really involve DOING anything...they're more like, string this pendant on this necklace and you're done. that's exactly what i did. i recently spent a ton of money on a necklace at forever 21, wait…that’s not right…i got it dirt cheap and less than $5. it’s a nice necklace - i’m wearing it here. this weekend i stopped at hobby lobby and scooped up a [faux] agate pendant for $3 [with my 40% off coupon]. because the quality was so awesome, the little pendant hook came out immediately after i removed the packaging [go figure], and being the glass-half-full type, i simply strung the necklace through the hole in the middle. no pliers needed! now i can easily switch pendants whenever i want! it's the little things, y'all.

NUMBER 279

 

Christmas is in full swing, and we’ve been getting the house ready for our Christmas guest. yes…just 1 guest. friday afternoon, i'll be picking up my grandmother [Nana] from the airport to spend the night with us. last year, she made the trek from arkansas to spend the holiday with my family, and since we enjoyed it so much, we're making it a tradition - 2 years running!

i added a little festive quote to my chalkboard last night and am really pleased with how it turned out. this is the second time i've used darci's tutorial, and i must say it's the best!

hope you’re enjoying the holiday season! i've been feeling more festive than usual - maybe it's because i'm about to OD on christmas music - who knows? regardless…

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

NUMBER 265

this is part 1 of a 2 part series called "laura spends the whole weekend being super productive". it's a rarity. i'm seriously coming off of some sort of DIY high right now. my weekend activities included: thrifting, priming, painting, thrifting [round 2], sanding, washing, cooking, sanding [round 2], staining, weeding, designing. quickly followed by sleeping, and not enough of it. here’s a wrap up of the before shots of this weekend’s projects:
 

i know andrew thought i was certifiably crazy when he came home thursday to see this lovely swan portrait hanging in our entryway. no girl nowadays can resist a good gold frame, and i wasn’t going to let this beauty at the salvation army go to waste. i spent some time this weekend saying goodbye to the swans and jumping on the chalkboard bandwagon. the finished frame is back in the entryway, now decorated for fall! after pictures to come!

saturday morning we grabbed some iced chai lattes and headed down the road to charming gastonia. the backstory: i've had my heart set on a round pedestal table for our dining room for some time now – spending too many hours on craigslist for the cause. i like to think that i'm pretty frugal when it comes to spending, so i've been holding out for the best deal possible on this table [under $100]. after passing up a pretty perfect antique table for $140, we took a chance and stopped at a hole in the wall “discount alley” on the way out of town. after being directed to the basement [no joke] for the furniture selection, i spotted it. andrew and i both couldn’t believe he only wanted $40 for the table. i honestly could have passed out, my hands were shaking i was so excited! we walked out of there with a new table and $30 lighter. yes, even at $40, i still negotiated!

 this is the before shot – before any sanding or staning. i've got 2 coats of poly to go before it’s finished, and i'm so excited to show you the final product!

NUMBER 262

i'm well aware that i've been neglecting my little blog, but i am still alive, well, and busy! here's a little recap in pictures of the last whirlwind week. not pictured: me + the boo celebrating our 4th wedding anny eating ice cream straight out of the carton.

new birthday boots! y'all might remember my wishlist post a while back. well, andrew came through in the clutch this year!
i think i’m good-to-go on shoes for the next 17 years.

playing dress up in the cliché birthday sombrero at cantina 1511 on friday night.

too much mexican food = pj party with anni-mal after din.

me, whitney, mason, and alexa.
saturday morning blogger brunch at toast with some lovely ladies!
i'm so so glad whitney put together this little outing! it was wonderful meeting you gals!

cute little coordinated family at mellow mushroom saturday night! [only ate 1 dinner at home last week, oops]

lastly, our weekend project. and by “our” i mean, the men. my dad and andrew spent saturday [and most of sunday] routing the gas line and installing new gas logs! we broke them in last night during the finale for breaking bad [which was ahhmazing]. our living room is quickly becoming my favorite place in the house!

HAPPY MONDAY, Y’ALL!

NUMBER 194

guess what? i'm almost through with all of my christmas gifts, and last night, as i wrapped, i thought, "this bow on top is so stinkin' easy, and it really gets a lot of attention”. i figured i'd post a little tutorial, so you can impress your friends and family too with this ridiculously easy (but oh so pretty) christmas bow!

i bought my ribbon from hobby lobby, i'm not sure what it's made of, but it's amazing and not too pricey!I i don’t believe this method will work with grosgrain or silk ribbon, but it WILL work with acetate – for all you ribbon connoisseurs.

step 1: go ahead and wrap your present, and top it with a ribbon.
wait…i've lost you already? here’s another tutorial for those who are wrapping-impaired.
leave the ends of your ribbon loose – later referred to as “ribbon 1”.
[fyi: i CAN wrap a box…with paper…promise!]

step 2: dispense enough ribbon to make your bow - i unreeled about 5 feet. now cut it, and reel it back up, as if it’s on a spool again. the bigger your circle, the longer your bow “loops” will be. my circle is a tiny bit bigger than my hand.

step 3: press it together in the middle, like you’re forming a BOW [who woulda thought?!]

step 4: cut a tiny v-slit on one side of the bow – be sure to not cut all the way to the middle. i'm actually using my kitchen shears because, depending on the amount of ribbon you use, it can get pretty thick! [ps: i'm a really good photog, right?]

step 5: repeat on side 2. it’s VERY important that your “v's” don’t touch [even a little bit]. 
if they do, you’ve just destroyed your beautiful bow. sorry ‘bout it.

step 6: place the bow on your present, and tie the loose ends [from ribbon 1] to stabilize the bow. tight! lastly, “fluff” your bow by pulling each loop, one at a time, towards the center knot with ribbon 1. i find that it works best if you start from the inside of each loop, separating each layer, and just working it until it looks the way you like!

don’t forget to curl the loose ends!

now, stand back and admire the beauty of the easiest bow EVER!
see? hand-wrapped box prezzies.

number 166

so i had a little craft time going on at my house sunday afternoon. the sound of football on the tv and the cool crisp air really got me in the mood for a little fall wreath action. here are a few snaps of my little project:

my supplies (cost ~$20, i already had my burlap). i bought a grapevine wreath because they were on sale, and it ended up being better than a foam form one.



i hot-glued the moss directly onto the grapevine wreath, and used a dowel to press it down in between the vines. above, you can see the back of my wreath, which i decided looked fine enough to leave bare. there’s no reason why you couldn’t glue moss on the back as well. below, i laid out my “adornments” the way i liked, then glued them into place. tip: a candle ring works just as well as the loose sprigs of berries, etc!

above, i made my bow, and hot-glued it separately to the hanging burlap piece. for me, i was able to make a prettier bow using this method. if you’re a super craft queen, i'm sure you could make it all one piece! lastly, i covered my letter W in burlap. this step took longer than the whole wreath! i used my wooden dowel to keep the burlap down while the hot-glue dried. tip: this works much better than using fingers!

here’s the finished product!

i hope y’all enjoyed craft time! i really enjoyed this project and hope to continue posting more crafts in the future!

how are you welcoming fall?

number 133

if you're like me, you probably tossed your little keurig instruction manual the day you got it and haven't thought about it since! untilll...you noticed that your coffee cup just isn't as full as it was that first day. hmph. i've been procrastinating cleaning my keurig for the past 2 weeks, just opting to refill with the large mug icon 2 (sometimes 3) times a morning. yeah, i'm that lazy. last night, i did it. i cleaned the keurig, and it's SO easy.
lemme break it down for you in a few easy steps:

1. make sure the water reserve is empty
2. pop out the k-cup holder - YES! you can! poke it from the bottom, and then rinse it off in the sink
3. fill the reserve up with distilled vinegar ALL THE WAY!
4. run the large cup brew (no KCUP!) 3 times
5. let the vinegar sit in the reserve at least 4 hours (i did mine overnight)
6. empty the vinegar, and refill completely with water
7. run it til it's empty

VOILA! a full cup of coffee *finally!*

number 121

i hope everyone had a wonderful, relaxing weekend! i definitely did! i wanted to fill y’all in on a little recipe i tried for a jewelry cleaner. it’s really quick and i had all of the ingredients in my pantry already!

at home jewelry cleaning solution

1 cup of hot water
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon gentle dishwashing detergent
aluminum foil

simply warm your cup of water in the microwave for 1-2 minutes -- i just got some piping hot water from the keurig. line the bottom of a glass cereal bowl with aluminum foil, add your water, salt, baking soda, and detergent. mix around until the ingredients are combined. now’s the time to let your jewelry soak for 10 minutes and let the magic work. rinse in cold water and i even brushed mine with an old toothbrush for extra shine! voila! like new!

fyi. once the ingredients start reacting it puts off an old-egg sulfur smell, so don’t do this if you’re having company over soon! hah! it’s not too potent, though!

don’t have time to do this? i love the sparkle that toothpaste and a quick scrub gives my rings!

disclaimer: I am NOT responsible if you mix these wrong or if your jewelry, for whatever reason, tarnishes. it worked perfectly for my white gold and diamond engagement ring, pearl earrings, and david yurman silver jewelry. hope it does for you too!

don’t forget to stop back by tomorrow, ‘cause i'm bringing back take me there tuesday!

number 118

hi y’all! this past week, i fashioned some “vintage” american flag shorts for the upcoming NASCAR race this weekend, and was so proud of myself last night when they turned out exactly like i wanted! i wish i had taken pictures at every step, but i'll try my best to give you an accurate description:

1  |  gather your inspiration, this will help guide you when painting, how short you want to cut your shorts, and what to do on the back pockets (if anything).

all images above were from pinterest, just search for “american flag shorts”

2  |  find an old pair of jeans, preferably a lighter wash so they’ll really have a vintage feel, and the paint shows up well. we recently made a trip to goodwill, so all of my old jeans had been donated. i ran by buffalo exchange in plaza midwood and snagged a pair of $7 hollister jeans. (which was ALL i spent on this project because i had the paint on hand already!) these were brand new jeans – tags still on ‘em! the jeans had no marks or distressing on them at all, but i'm sure, if your jeans were already worn out, you could just paint and wash and scratch the distressing steps below, if you want!

3  |  don’t get your scissors out yet, just get to painting! i sketched my lines with a pencil and ruler. i also printed a star on some cardstock, cut it out, and used it as a template. just trace the star with a pen and fill it in with white paint! i didn’t use fabric paint. in all honesty, i probably won’t wear these shorts after this weekend, but i'm sure the color would wash out more if you wash it with detergent more than once. i used craft acrylic paint that i use on everything - it’s what i had on hand, and i wasn’t going to spend much money on this in case it was a failure. I would suggest using an angled brush for your stars so it can be a fairly sharp line. i painted all my white first, starting with the stripes. by the time i was through with the stars, the stripes had dried and i could move on to red, then lastly, blue. you’ll want to be sure to paint farther down than you intend to cut – so you’re pattern will go all the way to the bottom of the shorts.

4  |  let the paint dry for about 5 hours, so it has time to really set in, then throw them in the washing machine -- by itself! i did a short cycle, low cold water, no detergent. then let them air dry. remember, they’re still long jeans at this point, i haven’t cut them off into shorts! once they’re dry, NOW you can cut them! i compared the length to my favorite pair of shorts to ensure that they’re an appropriate length. even though these are intended to be redneck/rockabilly, i didn’t want bootie shorts.

5  |  using sharp scissors, get to cutting. i used my kitchen shears because they’re the sharpest i had! i used these links as a guide for distressing: 1 and 2 – 2 has a good tutorial for ombré denim if you’re interested. once you’re through cutting/distressing/destroying, throw the shorts in the wash. again, we’re doing short cycle, low cold water, no detergent. once it’s through, dry them in the dryer.
chances are, you’ll have random threads hanging all off the bottom of the shorts, trim ‘em up a bit, if you like, and you’re DONE! enjoy!



p.s. if too much of the paint washes out, simply reapply, let it dry and wash again if necessary (this was my rationale when taking a chance and washing them twice!)

where would you wear your american flag shorts?

like it?

number 14

really quick: i promised that i'd post a picture of the inital flower letters. i'm planning on wiring them to the gate on the fence outside the church. i'm quite pleased with how they turned out!!