CRAPTASTIC

Maternity Photo Session by Loren Malin Photography

2014-06-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

Our pictures are finished and I don't think it is possible to love them any more than I do!

This Memorial Day weekend one of my oldest and best friends drove in from out of town to do our maternity photos! She and I have known each other since 5th grade! It's crazy to think that we were young kids when we met and now she is taking my maternity photos!

Meet Loren of Loren Malin Photography. Isn't she gorgeous!

She now lives in the Chattanooga, TN area where she works as a chemist and shoots photography on the side. Smart, beautiful, and talented! Check her out if you're in the area!

Here are some of her beautiful photos:

Loren Malin Photography

Now - onto our maternity session!! Since these were taken late May and I am an incredibly hot-natured Mama, I opted for indoor photos. We took them primarily in the nursery (which was almost finished at the time) and a few more throughout the house. Here are some of my favorites!

We love them Loren!!

Next will be our newborn photos!

Babygirl was born June 9th, 2014.

She was 5 lbs 9 oz, 19 inches at 3:12pm.

She is healthy, happy, and now the center of our world!

Cheers!

Abbi's Nursery Progress Via Instagram!

2014-06-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that we are finally in Babygirl's birth month! Although I haven't been posting any of my progress, I've been working hard on making a fun space for her.

I had my bestie do a maternity photo shoot for me last weekend and a lot of the pictures were shot in the nursery. This hot-blooded Mama just couldn't handle doing many outdoor photos in the middle of May so we opted to shoot indoors throughout the house.

Until those photos are ready to share I thought I'd share some snippets of the nursery as seen through instagram! You can find me on instagram @kro2d.

Once I've taken all the final photos of the nursery I'll provide a source list! Enjoy!

Cheers!

I'm So Crafty I Make Babies... Gender Reveal Card

2014-02-09T14:11:00.000-09:00

Surprise! The hubby and I are expecting our first little one this June!

I'm just a little over 21 weeks and time is flying by! I just know this little one is going to be here before we know it, ready or not!

January 28th was our big ultrasound and we got to meet the little one for the second time.

At our first introduction Baby Harris looked like little more than a peanut!

So naturally we were beyond excited for the 20 weeks ultrasound - first to see our little peanut and see how much he/she had grown, and second to find out the gender!

To say I have spent hours on the internet scouring ideas for our gender reveal would be an understatement. I loved all the different ideas I saw. I thought I had decided on a gender reveal card when the Hubby and I came across some cute little sock monkeys at Francesca's. Sold! Now I had to decided how to construct the card!

I found an adorable gender reveal card at Our Homegrown Spud. Be sure to check her's out!

I started by taking the pictures for the card. Our appointment was on a Tuesday afternoon and we would be in a mad dash afterwards to visit all our family, so I prepped everything the weekend before. So yes, I had a card ready to go whether we had a boy or a girl! What can I say, I'm a planner! :)

First we used the sock monkeys for the front of the card. Believe it or not, the idea was actually the Hubby's. I just made the idea a reality.

For the front I opted out of drawing on the wall with chalk. I simply took the photo then edited in the words on picmonkey.

To make the card I bought kraft paper colored cardstock from Hobby Lobby and cut it 7" x 10". I folded it in half to make the final card 5" high by 7" wide. I used one of those paper cutting things to round the corners of the card and all the photos.

I then used double sided scrapbooking tape to adhere the photo to the front of the card.

For the inside of the card I browsed the envelope aisle at Hobby Lobby. I had a lot of different ideas, but ultimately both the Hubby and I decided on this cute envelope. Again, I used double sided sticky tape to adhere it to the inside. I would only recommend using this if you're not concerned about the longevity of the card. If you want it to hold up for a long time I would recommend something more permanent like an adherent glue.

Last was the most important part! The gender reveal!

I used chalk to draw Baby Harris's name on the wall - it was pretty large scale. Then the Hubby and I wore coordinating colored shirts and held the appropriately colored sock monkey. What no one knows if that outside of the perfectly manicured photo, we were both unshowered, in sweat pants, and sporting some pretty intense bedhead. But you would never know!!

So, what is our little monkey?!

Oh Lordy! We're having a girl! Honestly, it's not a big surprise. My family makes girls. That's just what we do!

I printed all the photos using the one-hour photo at Wal-Mart.

Our gender reveal wasn't a big production, but it was fun to watch our family eagerly open the envelope to see if it was a boy or a girl. I'm very pleased with how they turned out, and we absolutely cannot wait to meet our sweet little Abbi!

Her crib is being delivered Monday and I can not wait to get started on her nursery!!

Cheers!

Always Be Yourself, Unless...

2013-10-13T09:00:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago I was browsing pinterest and found this image from society6.

I turned to the hubby and told him this would be in our house. It had to be!

Now I don't know about you guys, but when I think of unicorns I always think of Lisa Frank. If I didn't have a trippy, rainbow unicorn folder when I was in 2nd grade, then what was the point of school? This had to look like Lisa Frank came to my house and threw up on my walls!

I bought a pre-cut piece of MDF that was 2 x 4 feet. Using a mixture of my acrylic paints, I set to work making a rainbow background that Lisa Frank would be proud of.

Pardon the crappy progress shots - I used my iPhone for these.

I worked very quickly with the paint ensuring that each row would still be slightly damp and allow for the next color to blend nicely. It's easier to go ahead and pour out each color at once. I just used a Styrofoam plate.

Here is the board after I completed the first rainbow row.

I wasn't too concerned about making each row of color perfectly even or straight.

I don't have photos of the next few steps, but I first took painter's tape and taped off 1 inch borders on the entire piece.

I purchased 3inch Helvetica font vinyl letters from Michaels. I could have used one pack of letters but would have had to apply the letters, paint, remove and move to the next line. I didn't want to have to do this so I bought five (yes, don't judge, they're reusable) packets of letters to ensure I would have enough to lay all the letters down at once. I left two inches in between each row of letters. Once the letters were laid out I went over the entire board twice with white paint. I used my exacto knife and immediately peeled off all the vinyl letters and painters tape.

Viola!

I love how it turned out! There was very minimal leakage of paint under the vinyl letters and it's only visible up close.

To make the unicorn I used this image:

The original pin does not have a link, just the image is pinned so unfortunately I can't give credit to the original image!

I enlarged this image on my computer by 400%. Then I laid out three rows of painter's tape on my clear quilting ruler. I laid this down on my computer screen and was able to trace the outline of the unicorn onto the painters tape. I peeled the painters tape off the ruler and placed it onto my board where I wanted it. I then cut out the image using my exacto knife.

I made this painting to hang on a bare wall in between our coat closet and bedroom door. I love how this looks against our black wall, so I may end up painting that wall black as well!

I decided to leave the border of this piece rainbow so it would stand out better against the wall.

So there you have it! I think Lisa Frank would be proud!

Cheers!

DIY Tripod Lamp and Dining Room Update

2013-09-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

About one year ago I saw a surveyor's tripod for sale on craigslist and thought about buying it to convert to a lamp. I just never got around to it but always wished I had. Last weekend I decided to take the hubby to an antique store and tucked away in the corner was a tripod! This time I didn't hesitate and I snatched it up!

I really didn't take any pictures of the process 'cause there wasn't much to it. I bought a light kit from Home Depot, put it together and slapped it on the tripod!

I haven't done this yet, but I'm going to add a washer so the lamp kit will tighten to the tripod. It will be right underneath the opening of the tripod.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to add a shade, so I bought a kit that would allow me that option. On a whim, the hubby wanted to see what it would look like with the shade attachment, but no shade. We both loved it!

The only thing I didn't love was the brand new looking brass. To age the brass some I applied Gold Leaf Rub-n-Buff and Patina. That helped age it some.

I am smitten with the feet on this tripod!

The wood is so old and beautifully aged!

I used an Edison bulb since I chose not to use a shade. I love the warm light it provides!

You can see the light from each wire inside!

Now, here's a sneak peek at my dining room progress! I'm finally starting to figure out what I want to do in each room, and I decided to start with the dining room this weekend. All I did was paint an accent wall with chalkboard paint, but it has such an impact! It is a more true black in person; for some reason it shows up more charcoal in the photos.

There will be a lot of changes in this room, but ya gotta start somewhere!!

Cheers!

Typographic String Art: HELLO!

2013-09-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

I have been completely unmotivated to tackle any of the projects on my endless to-do list over the past few months. I finally decided to sit down this weekend and finish some string art for the entryway.

While searching for a tutorial I stumbled upon Chris' tutorial from ManMade. I was completely smitten with his font and his colorful string. However, I'm not very computer savvy and couldn't figure out how to make my font large enough using word. I ended up finding these free children's alphabet templates on Kiboomu! and just zoomed in on the image and traced it onto freezer paper. My letters aren't exactly even and perfect, but that's how I roll! I placed the paper directly on my wood and nailed an outline in no particular pattern.

The wood is just a pre-cut sheet from Lowe's. It would probably be cheaper to get a large sheet of plywood and have it cut to size, but this sheet only cost $15 and was perfect!

I bought the colorful string from Hobby Lobby and went to town. I didn't really apply the string in a pattern, just enough to evenly cover the letter and try to disperse the color evenly. I found that more is definitely better!

I initially had a much thinner layer of string and it just didn't look great. I ended up going back around each letter to make the string more dense. I traced the outer edge of each letter at least four times - this helped define the letter against the light wood.

Once I determine exactly how I'm going to decorate the entryway I'll hang this on the wall to greet all our guests!

I love how bright and cheery it is! The detail of the string is even prettier up close.

I sat it on my theater seats so you can envision the space a little better. I want to repaint the hunter green metal on the chairs. The string art will hang on the wall above it. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the string matches the vibrant colors in the rug really well!

Cheers!!

She's Got Legs...

2013-07-07T16:12:00.003-08:00

A few months back I happened upon this gorgeous DIY raw wood coffee table from The Brick House.

I immediately fell in love with the hairpin legs and debated on creating a similar table for myself.

I browsed my local Craigslist and did find a few local lumbar yards, just never looked into it.

This afternoon the hubby and I were walking about downtown Nolensville. If you're from the Middle Tennessee area you are probably familiar with it. It's an adorable little area with tons of antique shops.

I've been there a handful of times but have never visited Morgenstern's 1949. We walked in and I immediately looked to my left. I swear the clouds parted, the angel's sang and I screamed at the hubby "I want this!" I did look around at the rest of the antique stores before making my final decision, but ultimately I came back and bought this beauty!

The grain looks beautiful!

I love how it looks with the rug - which by the way was inspired by Mandi's 2012 Epic Room Makeover. It's just three 3x5 rugs from World Market put together!

You can see our new couch as well - a house-warming gift from us, to us!

The living room is coming along slowly but I'm loving the look so far! I've got a big project in mind for our TV wall!

Cheers!

DIY Patio Table With Interchangeable Centerpiece!

2013-06-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you've all seen that amazing table on pinterest - the one with the gutter down the center stuffed full of ice and wine? I'm kind of obsessed with it. So I made my own version... with a little twist.

You may remember the t-shaped desktop I made at the old house:

Custom Desktop

When we moved into our new home I didn't have the right space to reassemble my desk, so the long part became a workspace in the garage, and the short part became the top of my new patio table.

I don't have many progress shots because I was working alone, but here is how I created my table.

First, I made a frame measured to fit the table top. Once assembled, I laid out the boards from my old desktop, ensured they were mostly straight, and screwed them directly into the frame.

Originally I wanted to have a gutter for my cooler like the inspiration table, but I couldn't find the right materials. I came across this big plastic planter at Lowes and decided to make it work. Initially I planned on just buying one and leaving the empty bowl in the table, but it looked ugly. That's when I decided to buy a second planter and put succulents in it!

I made the hole for the planter by placing the planter upside down on the table top. After ensuring it was centered I traced it out with pencil. I used my jigsaw to cut just inside the line. It came out perfect with the first cut.

I ended up placing two support beams inside the frame so the two boards in the center of the table would have extra support. With the hole in the center they were only attached to the table at the end and wanted to slant down.

Now that the table was assembled, it was time to stain!

I made a custom stain color by creating an 80/20 mix of Minwax Natural and Minwax Dark Walnut. Perfect!

Once the stain was dry I applied several coats of Watco Teak Oil. I sanded with #0000 steel wool in between coats. I read that teak oil is a great option for outdoor furniture. Besides being durable, you don't have to strip your project back to its natural state when it's time to reapply like you would with a poly. You simply apply another coat when it needs it.

I spray painted the planters with Rustolem's Lagoon and Hammered Black. I drilled multiple holes in the bottom of the lagoon painted planter and stuffed it full of succulents I got at Home Depot. I kept going back and buying more to acheive the full look I wanted. I know they will grow to be large over time, but I'll just trim them down and transplant the clippings to make more succulents!

Finally, I added a strap (from the ribbon section at Hobby Lobby) under the planters for extra support. I just roughly measured how much material I would need and screwed the strap into the underside of the table.

Now, when company comes over I'll remove the bowl of succulents and replace it with my 2nd bowl to fill full of delicious drinks!

These photos were taken early this morning - I just love how the sunlight trickles in through the treeline! The entire deck is still a little wet from last night's watering.

Chairs purchased from World Market

The rest of the photos were taken this evening. The sun sets in the front of our house, creating the perfect shade for evening entertaining!

Cheers!

Red Stool Makeover!

2013-06-09T12:56:00.001-08:00

WOW! Holy unintended blogging break!

Sometimes a gal just needs some time away from blogging (AKA I'm tired of my current home and don't want to do any projects until I'm moved)!

The hubs and I spent Memorial Day weekend getting moved and settled into our new place. Don't worry, pictures to come eventually. Since we're both working full time, only the weekends are left for DIY projects. I'm also trying to take my time and plan out the whole decorating thing before plunging in, so projects are going to be slow going on this house.

I did, however, knock out this easy makeover this weekend!

I bought this ugly thing from a yardsale probably a year ago for maybe 2 bucks. It's definitely not intended for sitting. The poor little thing is rickety and lop-sided, but whatever, it's cute!

This makeover literally took me about 10 minutes. I tossed this thing outside, slapped on a quick sloppy coat of red spray paint and called it a day. BAM! Instant gratification!

I bought the self-watering planter and the cacti from Home Depot. All of that together cost me more than the chair makeover by itself, but the fun pops of color are totally worth it!

Pretty for sure the purple and pink flowers are hot glued onto the cacti, but supposedly they're a representation of what the eventual blooms will look like. If not, I'll just keep the hot-glued blooms. It'll be our little secret.

You may have noticed all the walls in this house are WHITE! Just look at the gorgeous light bouncing off the white walls - so much easier to photograph, even on a partly cloudy day!

I've probably even overexposed a lot of my photos, but I'm still learning how the heck to use my camera.

I have a MILLION ideas of DIY projects for the new place - so stick around if ya want. Hopefully I'll be on a pretty steady stream of projects for the next 500 years!

Cheers!!

CREATE - Inspired Art!

2013-03-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

I am FINALLY done with my inspired art!! I mentioned a few weeks ago that I have been dying to do my own version of this design that I saw on The Pleated Poppy. After I finished my neutral wreath last weekend I finally sat down to paint.

I used two pieces of wood just like my thread holder and pushed them together. I used metal brackets on the back to hold the two pieces together. You could just as easily buy a sheet of plywood and have it cut to size (this would probably be cheaper) but I just used what I had lying around!Eventually this will be hanging above our bed in the bedroom.

My project differs from the original in that I painted on wood instead of canvas. I'm just a sucker for warm wood tones and bright pops of color!

This beast took FOREVER to complete - partly due to my ADHD and my general slowness. Totally worth the end product though!

Progress shots taken with my iPhone:

And now, feast your eyes on some eye candy, cause there's a TON!

Side note: These adorable ceramic egg crates are at World Market for only $4.99!!

Cheers!!

A New Wreath!

2013-03-03T11:27:00.003-09:00

It's about that time for a new wreath! As much as I enjoyed my winter wreath I was getting tired of it. I originally wanted to make a wreath with a light background and tons of bright accents, but this is what I had in my craft stash so it's what I ended up with!

I wrapped one small section with a cream colored yarn then went over it again with a tan yard to add contrast. The rest is wrapped in strips of muslin (I think that's what it is).

I added a very simple embelishment of burlap, topped with a yo-yo flower and one of my DIY wood buttons.

I liked the "Cheers" portion of my winter wreath so I added a similar banner by folding fabric over burlap. I used my mini stamp letters to stamp on the word "Cheers."

I was feeling crafty this weekend and also started on the inspired canvas I saw on The Pleated Poppy. I hope to have it finished by next weekend!

Cheers!

CRAPTASTIC's New Look!

2013-02-10T19:34:00.002-09:00

For months now I've been thinking I wanted to pay a blog designer to update the look of CRAPTASTIC to something that I love and is custom to my taste. The reality of it all is that I'm cheap and just couldn't justify forking over the cash since my blogging has been so sporadic lately.

So I turned to google to find some tutorials about blog design and was lucky enough to stumble across Something Swanky! She has an entire series about DIY Blog Design! Even better, she dumbs it down enough so those folks like myself that aren't very tech savvy can customize their blog!

Thanks to awesome free sites like Pic Monkey and Image-Maps I finally have a new look that I LOVE!

Yeah, I spent all day working on it, but a lot of that is because I'm OCD and spend an absurd amount of time tweaking things.

Here's to hoping the new do will inspire me to blog more!

Cheers!

Cheap and Easy DIY Christmas Ornament Storage!

2013-01-06T16:00:00.003-09:00

We finally got around to cleaning up our Christmas decor and are starting to feel some normalcy again. Over the years we've continued to acquire more ornaments, and I've added a few DIY ones to the mix. We have finally reached the point of needing more than an old shoe box to store everything.

This is an incredibly cheap and easy way to store all your Christmas ornaments and knick-knacks. I bought the supplies last year, so I don't remember the exact amount, but it runs around $10 or less.

You can purchase the wood rod, 3/4" at Lowes or Home Depot, and find a large plastic storage bin at Target or Big Lots.

I made sure that 1/2 the length of the wood rod would be long enough to fit across the bin with some excess. It fit perfectly, so I used my jigsaw to cut the wood rod in half. It came to 24".

I then used my drill attachments to drill four holes in the plastic bin. My wood rod was 3/4", so I used my 3/4" drill bit.

The two halves of the wood rod fit nice and snug into the holes. This is perfect because I didn't want any wiggle room.

I placed my burlap tree skirt in the bottom of my bin, followed by an old wreath. Then the hubby and I walked around the tree looping ornaments onto the two halves of the wood rod.

I got this sweet little guy from my Mom this Christmas and wanted to keep him out year round! Isn't he cute!!

Once all the ornaments are hung on the two rods just slide them back into the slots and you're all done packing!

The bin is still very lightweight, and there is no wiggle room for the ornaments to fall off. Any ornaments we have that don't have a loop I just hung off one of the other ornaments.

Here they are all snug and packed away for next Christmas!

You may find that my posting is sporadic for the next few months. The hubby and I are finally moving into a home closer to where we both work! It's being built now and our closing date is May 24th. I won't be completing as many projects as I did last year since we need to keep our house clean and I don't have anywhere to put new stuff now!

Here is the view of our new lot!

This is the beautiful tree line behind out property. There is a creek not too far from our house so there will never be any homeowners behind us! We're ecstatic!

I hope you all have had a good start to the New Year! So far 2013 is looking good for us!

Cheers!

**UPDATE 1/2015**

Just in case you were wondering how well our ornaments held up I thought I would share our unpacking experience. I was delighted to find that the ornaments easily slid off the dowels, making it very easy to decorate our Christmas tree. My husband and I each took a dowel out of the bin, and within about 10 minutes all of our ornaments were hung. There were a few ornaments that either became separated from their metal hook or were torn in half (this happened to one cheaply make ornament) but these were easily put back together. All of our fragile ornaments were safely stored in the bottom of the container with no problems. If you have utilized this Christmas ornament storage method I hope it has worked well for you! Cheers to a great 2015!

2012 Highlights - Happy New Year!

2012-12-31T02:00:00.000-09:00

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! It's so hard to believe that we are almost ready for 2013!

This year I did not do nearly as many DIY Christmas gifts as I did last year. I had intended to do much more, but due to horrible planning I had to go with more store bought gifts.

One DIY gift I did get to do were these adorable glitter wine glasses! I followed the tutorial from Inspire Design and Create! I made these for Christmas at Mom's house so everyone could tell which glass was their's! Mine is the hot pink one!

I bought the glasses at The Dollar Tree and use Martha Stewart glitter (used my 50% off coupon)!

I also followed the many tutorials online to make some glitter ornaments! I made these for our dirty ornament swap at work, then I made some to attach to all my presents.

What type of DIY items did you make this Christmas??

Now I have a list of my ten favorite (not necessarily most popular) posts of 2012!

Not Yo Mama's Thread Holder

DIY Chalk Paint - Aqua Curio Cabinet

My Pseudo Mantel

DIY Wood Buttons

Pallet Planter

Two Tone Wood Stain Toy Chest

Fall Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

MyColor by Pantone Paint Party

Bohemian Chic Coffee Table Tray

Burlap Tree Skirt and DIY Gift Tags

Wishing you all a Happy 2013!!

Cheers

Burlap Tree Skirt!

2012-12-16T07:10:00.003-09:00

Can you believe Christmas is only a little over one week away?! This gal needs about three more weeks to finish shopping, crafting and wrapping! At least we finally got our Christmas tree up and decorated!

Last year I whipped up a tree skirt that was horrifying. It served its purpose, but I threw it out once we took the tree down. This year I decided to make a tree skirt that I actually planned out and worked hard on. I originally wanted to make a more modern looking tree skirt.

During my search I stumbled across this felt fringe tree skirt by Prudent Baby. I had every intention of making this. I went to the fabric store and paced the felt aisle. I pulled colors down, put them up, and pulled more down. Eventually I broke into a sweat, and unable to make a decision I stumbled into the burlap bin. Burlap it was!

There are tons of tutorials about how to make a ruffled tree skirt. I went the sewing route after realizing what an absurdly long time it would take to go the hot glue gun route.

Here she is!

I used two yards of burlap. It's only $4/yard and it was on sale for 25% off, so the tree skirt cost me $12.

I left the top ruffle with a rough edge and used a contrasting colored zig-zag stitch.

I chose the layers I did due to the amount of fabric I had. I used the lighter burlap as the base, so I had more of the darker burlap to make more layers.

I finally managed to get some presents wrapped too!

I love using the brown packaging paper from The Dollar Tree. It allows such a simplistic but pretty look. This year I'm using red tulle to wrap. The tags were made using scrapbook paper and a paper cutter I got at Michaels.

Now it feels a little more like Christmas around here!

Cheers!

Winter Wonderland Pom Pom Garland!

2012-12-02T17:03:00.000-09:00

It's officialy December folks! Let the Christmas rush begin!

I knocked out some Christmas shopping this weekend and I've been snatching up great deals as they appear on GroupDealz. Love that site! If you're not signed up you should be!!

After I finished my Winter Wreath I decided to finally upgrade my pseudo mantel. It was still decorated from Spring, and I fully intended to make a fall decor but obviously that didn't happen!

I've seen a lot of yarn pom poms and wanted to try them out, so I used this yarn pom pom tutorial and went to work!

I love how it turned out!

I worked on it while I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - awesome movie that I had forgetten about!

The colors I used remind me of a wintry wonderland.

I want to make pom pom garland for everything now!! It's so fun to work with, and so cheap!

Cheers!

Cheers - A Winter Wreath!

2012-11-25T12:00:00.000-09:00

Now that Thanksgiving is over we are officially allowed to begin celebrating the winter holidays in the Harris household (it is strictly forbidden before Thanksgiving)! I don't like making a wreath dedicated to one particular holiday because I usually don't have the time to make one for each holiday, so I made one that would last me through Christmas and late winter!

The hubby and I were browsing all the ornaments at Target last night and we came across these adorable bird ornaments that sparked my idea for this wreath!

I grabbed MyColor™ inspired by Pantone® paint in Ocean Depths, the same color I used on my accessory station, some leftover burlap and a frame I had in the garage.

Originally I had thought about doing a circle wreath, but I decided to go a less traditional route.

I painted the frame with just one coat of paint. I absolutely adore how this paint covers. I don't even have to distress it to get a worn out look.

I then used my leftover burlap, hot glue, and some letter stamps I got for $1 at Target to make the "cheers" banner. I simply hot glued the banner to the back of the frame.

The hubby helped me pick out the bird ornaments - he says the bird with the hat is the boy bird and the bird with the scarf is the girl bird. Hahaha! I hot glued them together, then glued them to the frame.

Lastly I added a burlap ribbon to the top and some felt to the back to keep the frame from scratching up our door. Simple, but cute!

Cheers!

Shabby Chic to Bohemian Chic - Coffe Table Tray!

2012-11-03T13:05:00.002-08:00

Almost two years ago I found this old coca cola crate at an antique store in Columbia.

At first I didn't know what to do with it. Eventually I knocked out the center pieces and spray painted it white. I tossed it on my coffee table and I've been using it to store magazines and my remotes ever since.

It wasn't horrible, but I didn't really love it. A few weeks ago I was browsing pinterest and came upon this image from Noi Publishing:

Instantly I was drawn to the hot pink - I knew what I wanted to do!

I started by painting the inside with Valspar's Very Berry:

Once it dried I painted the outside and details with my favorite metallic paint - I bought it at Michael's almost a year ago. The color is Emporer's Gold and I've used it on my curio to accessory station update, my TV tray update, and the CREATE letters in my craft room. This stuff is basically the bee's knees!!

I moved a ton of my magazines and now I have a fancy little space to store magazines, my TV remotes, coasters, and a delicious smelling candle (Island Moonlight, you can find it at Target)!

Here you can see where I painted inside the handles and the cracks in between the bottom panels with gold!

I love how it looks both modern and bohemian!

I think the gold and hot pink look perfect together!

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend so far!

Cheers!!

MyColor Inspired by Pantone Paint Winner!!

2012-10-31T17:46:00.001-08:00

Congratulations Julie Workman!!

Please e-mail me by Friday to claim your paints!

kharris08 {at} gmail {dot} com

Thanks to all who stopped by!

Cheers!

MyColor™ inspired by Pantone® Painting Party - Accessory Station and Photo Backdrop!

2012-10-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

You guys! I am so excited to be hanging out today and partying with the MyColor™ inspired by Pantone® Painting Party!! Five other bloggers and myself are going to be sharing some amazing paint projects today that we created using MyColor Paints! It starts today at 12pm EST!

Be sure to check out everyone that I'm hanging out with today:

Sarah @ Alderberry Hill *Go Back to the Beginning!*

Cristi @ Charm Home

Sara @ House Bella

Jerusalem @ Jolly Goode Gal

Katie @ Craptastic *You Are Here!*

Ann Marie @ Twice Lovely *Continue to this Blog Next!*

I've had an old curio cabinet that my Dad gave me sitting in the garage for months. One day it just hit me that it would make an amazing accessory station! Here is the nasty before - one of the sides of glass broke so I just took them all out.

I used Ocean Depths for this:

I love this color! I sanded (and by sanded I mean rubbed my sanding block over a few spots) then cleaned the cabinet. The paint went on beautifully! I was going to do multiple coats then distress, but I loved how the wood peeked out from under just one coat of paint.

After it dried I sanded the entire piece (for real this time) and glued on some wood knobs I bought at Hobby Lobby and painted gold.

Now I have an awesome accessory station!

I replaced the side glass with thin wood I got at Lowes and placed chicken wire on the front.

On the inside I have my winter hats and scarves stored.

Look at the details of this piece - I LOVE the final color!!

You may have noticed the background behind my accessory stand - I primarily used Dandelion and used one splash of Lily Green just for fun!

I loved Mandi's Stamped Triangle Tribal Wall and wanted to do my own spin on it!

I cut a triangle piece from some wood I had lying around and used it as a stencil. The backdrop is just a full size flat sheet from Target - I think it was $11.

I painted my Dandelion paint directly on the stencil then pressed it on the sheet.

Because I was stenciling on my driveway I had to lay down cardboard. The uneven surface caused my stencil to leave irregular patterns - I love the look it provides!!

I used some wood to make a fake stage and taped up my backdrop behind it.

Now I have a fun little area where I can photograph my furniture projects (although it would be so much better if I had some extra daylight!!)

I had so much fun working on these projects! I really loved my paint and can't wait to try it on something else!!

Now you have a chance to win THREE samples of MyColor™ inspired by Pantone® paint!

Here's how:

1. Simply leave a comment telling me what you would use your paint for if you won

2. Tweet your project ideas to @MyColorPaints with the hashtag #PassItOn and leave a separate comment saying you did

3. Visit the My Color Paints inspired by PANTONE Facebook page and post your project ideas for one last chance to win - tell me you did!

I'll leave the party open through Tuesday, October 30th @ Midnight central time and announce the winner next week!

Good luck!

Cheers!

Disclosure:

MyColor™ inspired by Pantone^® asked me to participate in the MyColor™ inspired by Pantone^® Painting Party. MyColor™ inspired by Pantone^® paint was provided for me to use for this project, but all opinions expressed are my own.

Halloween Swap With Pink Stitches!

2012-10-05T18:24:00.002-08:00

I think by now the words Pink Stitches are a regular part of my vocabulary! Bonnie and I have done so many swaps, and she never fails to amaze me with her awesome skills! A few weeks ago she set up a Halloween/Fall themed swap and she and I paired up! She is the most generous swap partner ever! She always spoils me rotten,so I tried to do the same for her this time!

I hope you're ready for a picture heavy post - there are going to be a ton!!

I tied in the Halloween theme by making Bonnie a little "BOO" banner!

The pennant blocks are cut from black burlap (found at Hobby Lobby) and the ties are sewn from orange gingham.

I used freezer paper as a stencil and painted on the burlap with orange acrylic paint.

I made the polka dots by dipping a bottle cap in a thin amount of paint!

Next, for the fall portion of the theme, I made a modern mug rug with leaves on it.

I love how you can see the stitched imprint of the leaves on the back of the mug rug!

Everything else I made didn't really tie into the fall/Halloween theme, but were things I thought Bonnie would enjoy. She had mentioned she wanted a pincushion, and she likes log cabin style quilting, so I made her a quilted pincushion with an appliqued elephant in the center.

I also had my first attempt at a sharpie mug. I bought the porcelin mug from Target and used a gold metallic sharpie to draw on Bonnie's blog name, Pink Stitches, then draw a herringbone pattern around the rest of the cup!

I always include a little something for Bonnie's son, and while I was trying to decide what to get him I saw this link on Bonnie's pinterest account for a subtle superhero shirt. The design was from I Am Momma Hear Me Roar. I loved the original design, but didn't have the capability to cut out all the cute details on a stencil, so I decided to make him a more simple Avengers shirt.

I achieved the vintage look of the "A" by using a crumpled wad of tissue wrapping paper to apply fabric paint. I love the textured look! I also threw in some Avengers goodies to go with his shirt.

I sent Bonnie some other goodies to go with all her homemade stuff, I just didn't take pictures of it!

Now for all the goodies I received! Again, Bonnie is so generous (and super talented).

I'm borrowing pictures from her website (I always like Bonnie's pictures better)

Picture from Pink Stitches

I took the box pouch that Bonnie made to work today and received so many compliments on it! She had it filled to the brim with yummy treats and cute Halloween stamps - she even sent me some ink! I can't wait to take my coffe hugger to Starbucks - and I'll definitely be using my pot holder soon! Isn't Bonnie just amazing!

Here is a photo of ALL the goodies she sent me! I'm so spoiled!

Picture from Pink Stitches

Here's one more peek of all the things I sent Bonnie:

I hope she enjoys them all! I sure will enjoy everything she sent me! I'm so lucky to have met Bonnie! She's become one of my best friends!!

Cheers!

I Mustache You A Question...

2012-09-30T11:54:00.000-08:00

Do you like my new key holder?

I have seen these popping up everywhere and finally decided to make one. The old keychain holder I had kinda sucked, so I needed one that was more fun!

I found a mustache silhouette that I liked, enlarged it on my computer and traced it onto freezer paper. This is the silhouette I used:

I cut out my mustache, and I was going to trace it onto my wood but it kept moving. So I took the lazyman's way out and tacked the freezer paper onto the wood, sprayed around it lightly with black spray paint, then traced around the image that was left.

I used my jigsaw to cut it out. It got a little tricky in the curvy part of the stache, but I managed not to lose any appendages!

I gave it a nice sanding, stained it with one coat of Minwax Dark Walnut, then screwed on my hooks!

I bought a nice block of wood from Lowe's for $10. I'll be able to make two key holders out of it and I have a little wood left over. Since I used the hooks from my old key holder, this only cost me five bucks!

I love the imperfections of the wood!

Now I've got a funky little key holder! I'm thinking these will make some good Christmas presents!

Cheers!

Appliqued Onsies for A Special 1st Birthday!

2012-09-22T19:05:00.001-08:00

Happy first day of Fall!

I had the pleasure of spending most of my day with my family! My cousin's little girl turned one so we celebrated her birthday all afternoon!

Isn't she precious!

My cousin made the cute decoration on the booster seat. I'll be storing that idea for when I have kids!

The birthday girl needed some more play clothes, so I made her a few onsies she could prance around in with style!

I originally saw the owl design on Somewhat Simple where Leslie from The Seasoned Homemaker was doing a guest post. She used the owl applique on a kitchen towel (super cute) but I decided to slap it on a onsie!

I also made a bird onsie:

and an elephant onsie:

My favorites are the owl and elephant onsies!

We all had a blast celebrating and laughing!

Happy Fall!

Cheers!

Happy Almost Fall - Pumpkin Muffin Recipe!

2012-09-16T08:22:00.001-08:00

As far as I'm concerned, Fall is the best season of the year! You just can't beat bright blue skies, crisp and cool weather, and oh, the smells!

I'm officially official at work now - I found out Friday that I passed my certifying exam. Now I just have a lot of paperwork to complete and I will officially be a PA-C!

In the meantime, I'm ready to start transitioning back into blogging! I've got some exciting parties and swaps coming up, so stay tuned.

Today I wanted to share a delicious pumpkin muffin recipe I found online!

I took the muffin recipe from The Life of Jennifer Dawn and the pecan streusel recipe from serioustreats.com and combined them to make the most heavenly fall treat!

Ingredients for Pecan Streusel:
8 pecan halves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon butter

Ingredients for Pumpkin Muffins:
1 box of spice cake mix
1 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, blend together the box of cake mix, can of pumpkin puree, and pumpkin spice.
2. Spoon the batter into a prepared muffin pan.
3. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the muffin mix.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

These make your house smell amazing while they're baking!

Enjoy your delicious Fall treats! These are very easy to make, and they really impress everyone with your amazing baking abilities! ;)

Cheers!

Just Popping In to Say Hello!

2012-08-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

Can I tell you all how much I flipping miss you!

{via}

I do, just in case you didn't know!

I'm still going to be on blogging vacay for a few more months, but I couldn't stand not to stop by and say hello!

I've had a lot of big events in the past few weeks!

At the end of July I had my 10-year reunion. Say whaa!

Yep, I'm totally sporting a chevron dress baby! Doesn't my hubby look dapper in his pink shirt and blue plaid tie!

Next big event?

I GRADUATED!

I thought this day would never come! I sat down the other day looking through some of my older blog posts and was reminded of how awesome you all are! I have gotten so much support and encouragement from you throughout my journey. You don't know how much I appreciate you guys!

On the last day of our didactic phase (last day of classroom) my "wifey" and I took this photo -

In case you didn't notice, we were just a little excited about starting our rotations.

This is one of my absolute favorite photos ever, so we recreated it last week at our final graduation.

Hahaha! I love my wifey - she's been my rock through the entire program. I don't know how I would have survived without her.

Obviously graduating ranks up there with one of the top happy days of my life, but right up there is the day I found out I had a real JOB!

That's right! I am beyond blessed to have been offered a position as an orthopedic PA with a group of amazing people!

I still have to take my boards in September (gulp) before I start working, but I am so thrilled. I did my 7th clinical rotation with this group and was offered a job before I left.

{via}

Excited doesn't even begin to cover how I feel. I'll be spending 3-4 days a week assisting in surgery and the rest of my time will be in the clinic. These people are so fun I can't stand it.

So that pretty much sums up all the major events since I've been gone.

Oh, and my husband surprised me with Regina Spektor tickets today! My birthday is in November and she'll be playing here in Nashville. She's one of my favorite musicians and I haven't been to a concert in years! This will actually be the first concert hubby and I go to together!

I feel like I've been absent for forever, so I wanted to say hello and let you all know I miss you! I hope to be back by October, maybe even sooner!

I hope you all are doing wonderful!

Cheers!