Barnyard Chic`

Ella in Style

2015-01-23T14:41:00.003-05:00

Let's talk about how fun it is to shop for little girls! When we found out we were having a girl that first thing I did was go out and buy something adorable frilly and cute, but let's face it if she ends up being a full on daddy's girl she will definitely have a little tom boy in her. With 12 weeks to go till her due date I'm organizing and reorganizing the nursery trying to figure out the best and most efficient way to store all her adorable outfits. She probably has more clothes than her mother, but her fashion sense will be top notch. Here is a taste of the wardrobe I'm trying to build for her.

2014: A year of DIY

2014-12-30T14:22:00.002-05:00

In the past year my hobbies have grown out of control to say the least. Being a new homeowner and planning a wedding only made it worse. Here are some of my favorite projects from the past year.

Burlap Spring Wreath
A trip to Micheal's Craft store to buy: Foam wreath, Burlap ribbon, lace ribbon, gingham ribbon, and faux flowers. The "Spring" sign is a simple banner put together using MS word, or just browsing Pinterest for free banner printables. Hot glue it all together with a twine string in the back for hanging and it's ready for the front door.

Primitive throw pillows
Using this tutorial - Easy DIY sewing Pillow case and a trip to JoAnn's fabric to pick up: Homespun fabric and 2 pillow forms.

Primitive kitchen canisters
Our kitchen isn't that big and I don't want to clutter up the counter space we have with big, bulky baking canisters so with some left over mason jars from our wedding along with left over fabric from my pillows I put together these simple primitive canisters. Signs were made using kraft paper found in the scrapbooking aisle and MS Word.

Repurposed Pallet wood sign
When we first moved into our home the previous home owners left behind some things that ended up being very useful to us, such as pallets in the basement. My husband cut up some pieces for me, screwed them together and here we have a rustic frame. I printed out some photos, made a chalkboard sign and it became the perfect Mother's day gift.

Liquor bottle tiki torches
My dad loves his Captain Morgan (and so does my husband) so when the bottles were empty and cleaned out this became my ideal Father's day gift. All you need is torch fluid, tiki torch wicks (all found at Lowes or Home Depot) and washers.

Office chair makeover
My husbands office chair that's probably on it's last leg has become the chair for my craft room, but it needed a girlish touch. Again, a trip to JoAnn's fabric for the fabric you see above. We disassembled the chair (you can find so many tutorials on this on pinterest) and using my new favorite tool the staple gun I got to work recovering this hideous office chair.

DIY coat racks
When we first moved in our "Coat Closet" which is the walk way the leads to our basement had this plastic yellow coat racks that looked like they belonged in a daycare. The boards we used are OAK, but you can go with whatever works for you, different wood gives off a different look when stained and I wanted something rustic. Once the stain was dry we screwed on some bronze hooks (from Home Depot) and attached to the wall.

DIY sonogram ornament
This is probably my favorite DIY project yet. With the arrival of our sweet baby girl coming in April I wanted to start off her ornament collection a little early. Using old dollar store clear ornaments I added in epsom salt (or you could use the fake snow stuff, but this is all I had at the time) then on MS Word I resized my sonogram pictures to about 1 inch, printed them out and used packing tape as laminate.

A special surprise

2014-09-15T18:34:00.000-04:00

Now that the wedding is over and out of the way we are starting a new journey in our lives.

Check out our special surprise over at my new blog:

Sweet baby Grove

My many wedding projects

2014-07-05T08:22:00.001-04:00

With 1 month till the wedding... FINALLY! 2 1/2 years in the making we're finally getting down into the double digits....single digits! Awhile back we decided to plan a full on DIY wedding so I've been busting my butt the last couple months to get everything accomplished that I can. I wanted to share what has finally been checked off our list, and you just may get some inspiration for your own wedding.

Our Wedding: We will be celebrating our marriage on Saturday August 9th 2014 at 4:00 in the afternoon under our ceremony tree surrounded by family and very close friends. The ceremony is taking place in the backyard of Justin's grandparents property. I'm looking forward to seeing everything come together the weekend of our big day.

Everything from the ceremony music to the programs have been made by us! Pinterest has been a huge help through this process even though my husband sometimes gets tired of me being on it.
When we first started out on this wedding planning journey we had a guest list of 100+ for our outdoor ceremony and reception. As time went on and we got into planning the dollar signs started stacking up. We got an estimate for our caterer (at that time) who was practically our wedding planner for food, a large white tent, tables, chairs, linens, dessert, beverages for almost $5k... the stress quickly started getting to us. We couldn't justify spending almost $10k to plan a wedding that would last only a few hours so after many discussions Justin and I had decided to simplify things.

We said goodbye to our caterer and everything we had originally planned and started from scratching with a year out from the wedding. We now have a guest list of 40 which consist of family and very close friends. Everyone has been nothing but generous and supportive with our wedding. Our reception location has changed to a historic building turned restaurant downtown in our hometown. Working close with the owner the past couple months I'm realizing we made the right choice, and I know our bank accounts will continue to thank us years down the road ;)

I'm pretty stingy when it comes to my money. I know every bride wants a big lavish wedding, but that just wasn't in the cards for us. Between being engaged and buying our first home our priorities quickly changed and trying to justify spending almost $10K on a wedding when we could put that money towards a nice honeymoon and fixing up and making our house a home it just made sense.

Pallet Table Projects

2014-05-25T09:05:00.001-04:00

Who decides they want to build a pallet entryway/console table at 9PM? This gal!
Our upstairs hallway is pretty plain and boring, we've had a tall wood shelf sitting in the little nook since we moved in over a year ago and I guess yesterday I decided it was an eye sore. So off to pinterest I went, looking for ideas on how to make and design a small and skinny table to fit along the wall.

Here is our before cabinet which is now sitting in our office waiting to find a new home.

Justin my husband got the Best Husband award last night for helping make this rustic beauty, we finally finished it up around 11 PM. He's a keeper right? ;) The previous owners of our home had left behind 3 pallets in the basement which I've slowly been getting used up with projects around the house. Here is the sign I made for my mom for mothers day this year.

Now, back to that pallet table. Here it is all decorated with some primitive touches.
The table runner I made from scrap fabric I had left over from some throw pillows. Fabric was purchases at JoAnn's Fabric store.

StitchedTeagan is back

2014-04-30T15:52:00.001-04:00

After a pretty long hiatus ST is back in business with a fresh new look and all new jewelry.
This time around it's been very relaxing and I've enjoyed spending my evenings making new jewelry to list in the shop. As I've probably said before that Jewelry and I have a on again off again relationship... well we're back together right now ;)
The style for this "season" is wire inspired (kinda catchy huh?) I've been trying to incorporate more wire wrapping into my pieces and keeping the designs simple, but eye catching.
I'm really proud of the new shop banner and avatar I designed using a chalkboard style background; very classic.

Be sure to stop by and browse my selection, be in mind it's small at the moment but growing day by day!
Etsy Shop - StitchedTeagan

Easter for your pets

2014-04-11T15:15:00.000-04:00

Easter is next Sunday April 20th, (which is also my 1 month of being a wife!!)
Every year for every Holiday I love putting together little gift baskets for my pets, since I don't have kids (yet) to spoil I just spoil my 2 chihuahuas rotten. Here are some cute ideas for gifts for your furry friend!

I'm MARRIED

2014-03-21T21:13:00.000-04:00

The new Mrs. Grove!

Yesterday my fiance and I headed to the courthouse to be married legally. Surrounded by our family and siblings we said "I do" and sealed it with a kiss. What a beautiful day it was, and a perfect way to spend the first day of spring!
We plan on having our wedding ceremony and reception this August where I'll still be walking down the aisle in my wedding dress. So many changes have been made when it comes to planning our big day since we set a date almost 2 years ago. We went from a big wedding with 100+ guest down to a small intimate ceremony of only 40 which includes very close family and friends.
We'll be saying our vows and exchanging wedding bands on Saturday August 9th 2014 at 4:00pm. Our ceremony is set to happen under our "ceremony tree" in the back of Justin's grandparents backyard. Afterwards we'll be taking pictures at his parents barn and then heading downtown to celebrate at a historic restaurant which fits right in with our good old country themed wedding!
I can't wait to see everything come together in August, from mason jars hanging from the ceremony tree to cowboy boots on my maid of honor and I.

I'm so excited to finally call him my husband, after 7 years of dating. God has truly blessed me with an amazing man. I look forward to all the memories we'll make together and the family we will have someday!

Window Shopping Wishes

2014-03-12T21:12:00.002-04:00

I'm excited for spring. Bright happy colors. Warm sunny weather.

DIY - Chalkboard using paint

2014-03-09T23:04:00.000-04:00

Chalkboard paint.
5 months till the wedding, and I'm really enjoying any DIY projects I can throw together.
While shopping one evening my fiance and I stopped into a store called "Tuesday Morning" pretty similar to a big lots, or Ollies if you're familiar with that. I spotted this black board the resemble a chalkboard.

I love lettering, or calligraphy if you want to get serious about it. So I wanted to put my "handy work" to the test for a chalkboard to display at our ceremony and reception.

What you'll need:
- Chalkboard paint. I'm using Americana paint from Michael's Craft store about $2.99
- A roller (any paint roller will do. I'm using a small sponge roller also from Michael's)
- A surface to paint on :)

- Painters tape (I'm using Frog tape from Home Depot, left over from paint our master.)

I also picked up a chalk pen which was found in the paint aisle of Michael's for $1.99

I taped off the area to cover the decorative white design that came on the board.
As per the instructions on the paint bottle you want to apply 1 coat vertically, and 1 coat horizontally.
Let dry for 1 hour and repeat.
Let cure for 24 hours and condition the chalkboard with chalk. (this part I didn't do)

(sorry for the poor quality)
Once it's dry you can remove your tape and there you have a nice even chalkboard area inside the decorative design.

And my finished project using the chalk pen.

Chalk and chalk pens will easily wipe off using a damp paper towel

Move over Pinterest, Hello Luvocracy

2014-03-04T17:21:00.002-05:00

I really love websites that I can save my likes such as Pinterest. After browsing through beauty guru videos on youtube last night I came across a website called Luvocracy. Very similar to pinterest, but it's still pretty new to the world. The only difference is this sight is geared more towards products rather than recipes, projects, and so on.

Another good site I love to browse is Wanelo also very similar to Luvocracy, but nothing can beat Pinterest :)

You can follow me on all 3!
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/Jmarie8914/

Luvocracy: http://www.luvocracy.com/jeannam2008

Wanelo: http://wanelo.com/jeannam2008

Calligraphy and Typography

2014-02-18T07:28:00.000-05:00

In my spare time (or when I'm bored) I really enjoy lettering. I just love the way it looks with a black marker on white paper. Here are some of the ones I've created so far!

14 days of love: Day's 4,5,6

2014-02-07T11:53:00.000-05:00

Day 4: I surprised him with our favorite pizza from Little Caesars and crazy bread. The sign I found on pinterest from this blog here > www.thedatingdivas.com

Day 5: We ended up getting a nice little ice storm, so I did something sweet and simple. He woke up to a cute lipstick sign on his bathroom mirror

Day 6: Since I didn't have any post-it notes I made some note cards out of scrap paper, and then wrote cute sayings on them. 2 I placed on his bathroom mirror, another on his coat, and the last one on his car keys.

14 days of love. Day 1,2, and 3

2014-02-03T17:21:00.000-05:00

I decided this Valentines I wanted to do something sweet for my fiance each day leading up to the 14th. All these ideas I found from pinterest :)
Day 1: I made a sign using card stock to place next to my fiances cereal bowl

Day 2: I picked up some of his favorite muffins (Blueberry) and using the website Picmonkey I made the sign to place with the muffins

Day 3: I made strawberry cake batter cookies with vanilla cream frosting and sprinkles. The cake batter cookies I made awhile back were a huge hit with him and so were these!

Dreaming of a craft room.

2014-01-31T13:13:00.002-05:00

At the moment my tiny little craft space is sharing the smaller bedroom with our office. Hopefully when we finish off our basement I'll be able to make that dream come true of having my own craft oasis. Until then I'll keep on dreaming, and keep on pinning :)

I love the look of white, it's so clean and then paired with pops of color; so fun!

A super easy desk to make which I've seen on pinterest is taking 2 small bookshelves and a simple piece of wood to make the table top. Unfortunately our "office" room is took small for a big table like this right now.

Adding that pop of color using the desk chair. If you can't find a cute one at a reasonable price a good idea would always be to hit up the antique malls and get a cheapy and repaint it your desired color.

Guest Bedroom color palette

2014-01-30T15:03:00.003-05:00

Guest bedroom color palette.
An idea of what I'm trying to go for, for our extra bedroom which right now is the guest bedroom but will one day (hopefully within the next 2 years) be a nursery. At that point I'd still like to stick with this similar theme, something that is gender neutral.

As of right now this is our guest bedroom. Hoping to get rid of the day bed once we find a nice twin sized bed frame. I'd really like to find a nice antique spindle bed.

Here are some color schemes I really love! Just something about this bright cheerful colors.

Half bath makeover

2014-01-28T14:56:00.002-05:00

Our downstairs half bath was a spontaneous project I threw on myself this morning at 6 AM! Yepp, you read right, what else is there to do when you can't sleep? We had extra paint left over from painting the master bedroom so I decided to tackle the beachy blues! When we moved into our first home about a year ago I tried to work with what we had. The baby blue walls, and sandy colored hardwoods floors left only one theme to go with; BEACH! So I acquired some light house photo frames, nautical decor, and got to it. The more I looked at it the more I hated it. Our entire first floor is primitive decor so I wanted to stick with that theme.

When we first moved in we installed a toilet paper hold which this bathroom didn't have, along with replacing the light switch plate which was a light house and did a dark wood plate.

Valspar - Aired Plaines is the color we used in both our master bedroom and the downstairs half bath.

To decorate I used what I had around the home. Dollar Store carnations put in a Ball mason jar with lace around the brim. I had plenty of extra fabric left over from making pillow covers for the living room so I measured and cut a piece to drape over the toilet. The photo frames are 4x6 from Walmart and the quotes are ones I just searched for on Pinterest.

I have to give myself a pat on the back for this, I don't usually take on painting projects alone, but I feel very accomplished and happy with the results!

Cooking: Cheesy Potatoes and Sausage casserole.

2014-01-27T22:05:00.000-05:00

Cheesy Potato and Sausage casserole.

Ingredients:
- 3 cups potatoes, we used russet potatoes. Cubed, and boiled till tender
- 4 TBSP butter
- 4 TBSP flour
- 2 cups milk

- 1/2 TSP salt
- 1/4 TSP pepper

- 1/2 lb Velveeta cheese, diced
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 lb pork sausage or smoked (we used pork)
1/8 TSP paprika

Brown your sausage. Meanwhile put cooked/cubed potatoes in a 2 quart casserole dish. Add cooked meat and mix together.

Mix all remaining ingredients (except the sharp cheddar and paprika) in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly until melted and smooth.

Pour sour mixture over potatoes and sausage. Sprinkle sharp cheddar over top, then sprinkle paprika.

Preheat over 350. Cook for 30-35 minutes. Should be golden brown on top.

Baking: Reese's Rice Krispie Treats

2014-01-27T21:53:00.000-05:00

Reese Krispies

Ingredients:- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup corn syrup
- 1 1/3 cup peanut butter

- 4 1/2 cups rice krispies
- A pinch of salt
- 4 Reese's peanut butter cups (chopped)
- Handful of chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup)

In a large pan over medium heat, melt sugar, corn syrup, and peanut butter. Must be smooth and combined.
Remove from heat and quickly add rice krispies and salt. Combine together, then add chocolate chips. Stir.
Wait about a minute and then add the Reese's cups, folding into the mixture.
Line a baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper. Drop by spoonfuls onto sheet, and let cool.

* DO NOT PUT IN THE FRIDGE! They will harden into a solid rock*

Unique Jewelry Display

2014-01-27T15:36:00.000-05:00

If you sell jewelry or are looking for a way to display your own collection. Here are some clever ways to re-purpose items into your own jewelry displays.

Do you hunt? A great way to re-purpose those antlers is to display chunky bangles.

Use an old tool box or fishing tackle box to hold and display jewelry at craft shows.

Take large wine bottles and cut them down to a size the suites you. Spray paint and use as a necklace display. This could work with any large bottle you may have around your home

Take clip boards (found at any office supply store) and use scraps of burlap to display necklaces

Use scraps of wood, paint and distress with sand paper. Put 2 nails on either side to display necklaces. Or using a large piece of wood do the same as above and add more nails to display bracelets.

If you sell on etsy here is a cute way to display and package your jewelry for shipping. Use a stack of playing cards (can be found at the dollar store) cut slits at tops to place necklaces through.

Repurposed Pallet Projects

2014-01-26T18:37:00.001-05:00

Have some extra pallet's laying around? We had about 4 in our basement when we moved into our home, and I'd hate to just throw them out, so I did a search for some great ways to repurpose those pallets.

My favorite one I've found is making a sign for our wedding ceremony that says "Pick a seat not a side" I plan to make using one of our pallets and just painting it white.
I'm also really into wall decor` here lately so I'm loving the pallet art that's been shown across pinterest, especially the last photo I've listed.

Have any of you repurposed a pallet? What did you make? Share with us!

Cooking: Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

2014-01-25T09:59:00.000-05:00

This easy slow cooker recipe is my fiance's favorite.

Ingredients:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 cup salsa
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- flour tortillas

Place chicken in crock pot (if it's still frozen that's fine) Sprinkle with taco seasoning.
In a bowl combine cream of chicken soup and salsa. Pour over chicken.
Cook on high for 4 hours.
Shred chicken with 2 forks, stir in sour cream, serve on tortillas.

Baking: Cake batter cookies

2014-01-25T09:34:00.000-05:00

Cake Batter Cookies:
For my first batch I used yellow cake mix

Ingredients:
- 1 box of cake mix
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- sprinkles (opt.)

Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl, mix together cake mix and baking powder.
In a small bowl, mix together eggs, vanilla, and oil.
Add egg mixture to cake mixture. Stir until combined.
Drop spoonful sized batter onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake 10 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes.

I also tried making these using the Pillsbury funfetti cake mix, but they weren't as tasty and good as the yellow cake mix. I've also gotten a strawberry cake mix to try.
Cake batter cookies are softer their your normal cookie batter, they last longer and you don't need to place a slice of bread in with the cookies to keep them soft.

DIY - Photo frames

2014-01-24T16:37:00.000-05:00

One of the easiest (and free) ways to decorate a room is with printable photos for frames. All you need is picture frames from the Dollar Store. I had some left over that I had stashed away in a chest. I decided to dust them off and bring them back to life. If you don't have portraits to put in them that's fine just use printable quotes. Trust me it makes a big difference when putting a room together.

I used this quote which I found on Pinterest (of all places huh?) ;) If you do a quick search for example this frame is a 5x7 so I searched 5x7 printable. This picture frame is in our guest bedroom that I'm slowly getting put together. (Candle was also from the Dollar Tree)

Here are some of my favorite printable quotes with links!

Blog: Mrs 31:25 Life

Blog: Your Home Based Mom

Blog: Deseret Designs

Need some ideas on how to frame? Here are some easy DIY ideas

2014-01-24T11:21:00.001-05:00

Master Bedroom Makeover: Our color scheme is beige, blue, and yellow, with some grey which I haven't decided if I like or not. Target has been my biggest inspiration for redecorating the master, especially the Nate Berkus collection. Bonus; shopping the end caps is a huge money saver. Keep that in mind next time you go on a shopping spree to Target, the end caps hold the best deals!

So far we've paint the walls; Val-spar Aired Plains which we got from Lowe's. The curtains are from Kohls along with with curtain rods. I made the tie backs with extra fabric I had laying around. All this was done using gift cards we had gotten for Christmas from family.