Unanchored in the Storm

Dream Catcher

2012-03-01T10:01:00.001-05:00

I've always been one of those people that could look at something, and then make it. And lately i have been putting those skills to the test. Welcome to my newest project.

Like what you see? Want it for yourself? Click here!

xoxo, meaghan with an "h"

How to Make a Monogrammed Bag

2012-02-28T10:16:00.005-05:00

Since I'm having a beach wedding, I thought this was a way cute idea to do for my bridesmaids! I even made one for myself :)

Things You Need: (All of which I got from Joann's)
-Medium or Large Canvas Bags
-A Pack of Fabric Paint (any colors you choose, I got a six pack and mixed colors to create new ones)
-Paintbrushes
-Alphabet stencil (or any design you want to do, be creative!)
-A Pack of Paper Cake Doilies
-Newspaper

1. Lay your canvas bag on a flat surface with newspaper in the bag, so that the paint doesn't bleed to the other side.

2. Put your stencil in the bag where you want to paint your letter or any other design you have chosen..

3. ..and paint it in! Make sure you hold your stencil down and don't accidentally paint under it or let the paint bleed through.

4. After letting that dry, then, get your paper doily and decide where you want to place it on your bag. Make sure you get all of the open areas on the doily, but don't waste too much time because you do not want it to start disintegrating during painting. For my bags, I put the letter in the same spot and painted it black, but put the doily design in different places and made each bag a different color.

5. Wait 72 hours for the paint to set in, and then wash and dry them. I washed each bag separately to ensure that they did not bleed onto each other. And voila! Now you have a personalized bag.

See something you like? Want it? Click here!

xo, meaghan with an "h"

How to Make Your Own Book

2012-02-01T16:57:00.001-05:00

Hello friends. So I was stumbling the other day (on stumble upon, of course) and found this great idea! And with Valentine's Day coming up, it gave me inspiration. Click here to see the tutorial or just follow along here!

Things you will need:

1 pack of cardstock

Pieces of cardboard, chipboard or extra cardstock

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Blank index cards
1 pack of colored cardstock or index card

2 rubber bands

Pencil

Ribbon

To make the pages:

1. Fold the index cards in half

2. With all of the folded edges facing the same direction, align the pages (this is important, if they aren’t perfectly aligned, some of the pages might not be glued properly/could fall out), and secure with a couple of rubber bands along the edges opposite to the folds.

3. Cut out a piece of cardstock that is a little larger than the side of the folded index cards for the spine of your book.

4. With your hot glue gun, apply a layer of glue all over the end of the side with the folded edges. Pinch the paper together as you apply the glue to make sure it is the same width all along the finished edge. When applying the glue, start from the middle, and work your way up and down to each end, be sure to use enough glue, so that all of the pages stick together.
5. Apply your cardstock spine to the glued index cards.

6. Center and glue a small piece of ribbon to each end of the spine, glue to overlap the edge of spine. Glue a long piece of ribbon to the center of one end of the spine (this will be the bookmark).

7. Apply a dot of glue to the center of the front page of the page block. Align and glue a folded color peice of cardstock. Then go around under the three non-folded edges of the paper, applying a bead of glue and smoothing as you go along. Repeat on the back of the block.

To make the cover:

1. Measure the width of the spine on the index cards and on a sheet of cardstock make the following lines as seen in the picture. Make a little mark at the center of each side of your paper. On each side of those center marks, draw three lines paralleling each other (6 lines total):

5/16”, 5/8”, 13/16” inch from the center mark.

On each of the lines 13/16” away from the center mark, make a perpendicular mark on the center of that line facing away from the line.

2. Fold along the lines, pinch to form little pleats.

3. Make a pencil mark, 1 9/16” on center, on one side of each of your (2 5/8 x 3 1/8”) cardboard pieces.

4. On the unmarked side of the cardboard pieces, apply a dot of glue to each of the four corners.

5. Flip over and glue, using the marks that you made to align the cardboard.

6. Trim cardstock to approx. 5/8” all around the edge of the cardboard. At an angle, trim the corners, leaving a margin of approx. 3/8”.

8. Crease the ridges that you made in step 2. so that they face away from the center, and overlap the cardboard.

Fold, crease, and adhere the cardstock around the margin of the covers to the cardboard.

9. Use the technique that you used in step 6 of making the page block to adhere the inside cover (the red cardstock) to the inside of the back of the cover.

You’ll have a 1/16 margin all around the edge of the lining of the cover.

10. Repeat step 9, to adhere the front lining/page to the other side of the cover.

Voila!

xo, meaghan with an "h"

Like this idea, but don't have the time. Tell me, and I'll do it for you!

The Sweetest Thing

2012-01-25T17:38:00.002-05:00

My fiance sent this to me the other day. I'm sure many of you have read it, but if you haven't, enjoy.

He loved her in a distant kind of way, the same way the sun heats the Earth. If she were to disappear completely, he knew through pure logic that it would have no great, disastrous effect on him. He would not cease to be; he would not stop breathing; his heart would not stop beating; the world would not stop spinning. The sun would keep shining, radiating heat, if the Earth were not there. On a certain, purely physical level, her absence would have absolutely zero effect on his person.

And yet...

He loved her in an abstract kind of way, the way a bee loves honey. He wasn't sure why he wanted to love her, but he wanted to love her just the same. Maybe somebody told him once that he should be in love with somebody, so he felt a need to pick somebody and it just so happened to be her. Maybe. Being in love was nice, sure, but he didn't need to be.

And yet...

He loved her in a removed kind of way, the way a butterfly's wings can start a tsunami halfway around the world. He knew that it had an effect on her, but he wasn't sure how great. On a certain level he was aware that if he were to stop, if he were to disappear, it would have a drastic effect. For him it would be one less flap of his wings, in a manner of speaking, if such a thing were possible without him falling from the sky.

And yet...

He loved her in a subtle kind of way. It wasn't the kind of love you see in movies, with swelling music and giant gestures and running through the streets to catch a departing train. It wasn't the kind of love that Byron or Shakespeare wrote about, with flowery language and hyperbole and iambic pentameter. It was still and deep, like water that you might mistake for shallow if you just watched the surface. It was entirely his, not dependent on her own feelings for him, and it would still be there whether she, or him, or everyone else on the world disappeared. It was a subtle kind of love, but it was true.

And she loved him just the same.

xo, meaghan with an "h"

Getting Started

2012-01-24T14:32:00.002-05:00

So, I have been doing all of this for about five whole days, and I know I don't have much yet, but bare with me, I'll get there! I start a new craft about every two weeks, but just decided this week that I want to show people how. So stick around for the journey, kids :)

xo, meaghan with an "h"

Bridesmaid Boxes

2012-01-23T22:22:00.000-05:00

This is a cute, creative way to ask your best girls to be your bridesmaids! I personally love to craft (obviously) so this was a great way to focus my crafting energy and do something thoughtful for each of my girls.

What you'll need:
-Unfinished cigar boxes from JoAnn's (they're cheaper if you order them online here)
-Three paint colors. I used Vintage White, Sea Blue and Soft Yellow but make it your own and change it up!
-A stencil. Click here for the one I used.
-Wooden letters (I used these for the first initial of each bridesmaid)
-Pack of paintbrushes
-Mod Podge (make sure it's gloss, NOT matte)
-Super glue
-Container for paint/mod podge ( I used an empty Cool Whip container)
-Newspaper or cardboard to keep it clean

1.

I started off by painting the box Vintage White and letting it dry. Then, I got the Sea Blue and painted the top of the box, and after it dried, I taped my stencil on the inside of the lid, and painted the rest. While my boxes were drying, I painted my wooden letter Soft Yellow and glued it in the middle of the stencil.

2.

After all the touch ups were done and dry, I did a few coats of Mod Podge on the outside and inside of the box. *Make sure both sides are completely dry so they don't get stuck together like mine did!*

To each their own! For my boxes, I ordered vintage handkerchiefs off eBay to put in the bottom of the box. In the box I put paint chips of the colors of my wedding. I also printed out information on stationary paper that included: Our Day, Your Dresses, Your Role, My Girls, and wrapped it in ribbon. Other ideas are including pictures of each bridesmaid, or little gifts.

4.

To add a little something, I got vintage keys from the jewelry making section of JoAnn's and looped ribbon through it. Other things to add could be pictures of the possible bridesmaid dresses or pictures of your actual bridesmaids!

And now you have a thoughtful and personalized invitation for each of your bridesmaids!

Like this idea but don;t have the time? I'll do it for you! and you get the credit. Just tell me.
xo, meaghan with an "h"

Right Where We're Supposed to Be

2012-01-19T14:21:00.000-05:00

"We're all right where we're supposed to be, we're all right where we're supposed to be. Time means nothing, time means nothing." After Hours by We Are Scientists

I love this song, especially that part. It give me a sense of comfort, like "yes, this IS where I'm supposed to be. No matter where I want to be, or where I think I should be, this is it. And I shouldn't worry about how long it takes to get there." Do you get the same feeling? I heard this song today and got my same "comforting" feeling, but after it was over, I got a yearning feeling. I yearned for the the places I wanted to be and the places I thought I should be. The places that I'm working to getting to. So, am I happy where I'm at? Or is there somewhere I'd rather be? Contradicting feelings, huh? It's a fine line between being thankful and being ambitious.

I wish I was on the Golden Coast

The question to ask yourself is, are you right where you're supposed to be? Or is there somewhere you yearn for? Food for thought, kiddies.

xo, meaghan with an "h"

Out At Sea

2012-01-18T16:59:00.000-05:00

Crayon Paintings

2012-01-18T14:05:00.000-05:00

How to make a crayon painting!

So, I'm sure many of you have seen these, but here is mine with a little twist. In case you haven't seen these before, here's a tutorial.

Things you need:
- Box of crayons. I prefer getting them from Wal Mart because you get more bang for your buck.
- Canvas from JoAnn's
- Hot glue gun (with extra glue sticks)
- Scrap booking stickers fro JoAnn's

- A hair dryer

- Some newspaper or cardboard to avoid mess

1. Stick on your initials or an inspirational quote.

2. Glue on the crayons. I suggest using quite a bit of glue, so the crayons don't melt off

3. Once all glued on, begin blow drying. Try to do one section at a time to avoid splatter!

4. And voila! There you have it. A little twist to a common craft.

Life is beautiful. La vida es bella. Η ζωή είναι ωραία. 人生は美しい. Tá an saol álainn.

xo, meaghan with an "h"

Why I'm Starting a Blog

2012-01-18T12:02:00.000-05:00

Hello (enter your name here),
I'm prepared to start a blog of all of my inner most thoughts and desires. Things I love and things I hate. The advice I wish to share with future generations to come. The mistakes I made, that I strongly encourage. My adventures and my downfalls. Everything that is sacred to me, it's all going here. So, if you're reading this thinking "hey, you know this girl is really on to something.." then I strongly suggest you listen to this song.

Airstream Song- Miranda Lambert

Sometimes I wish I lived in an Airstream
Homemade curtains, lived just like a gypsy
Break a heart, roll out of town
‘Cause gypsies never get tied down

Sometimes I wish I lived on a mountain
Drank from a stream instead of a fountain
I’d stay there, top of the world
But I was born a red dirt girl

Unbridled or tethered and tied
The safety of the fence or the danger of the ride
I’ll always be unsatisfied

Sometimes I wish I lived by a pier
In a lighthouse with a chandelier
I’d watch everybody’s ships come in
And then I’d sail away with them

Unanchored in the storm
Or safely on the shore
If this is all I need, why do I want more

Sometimes I wish I lived in an airstream
Homemade curtains, lived just like a gypsy

Makes you think, huh? You mean, I could have everything, and still yearn for things as simple as sailing away in a boat and going wherever I wanted? We all dream of that moment that we'll leave our job, or ditch school, in search of something better, but we don't. The brave do, as the rest of sit back and watch from a distance, wishing we were brave. Wishing we were unanchored in the storm.

xo, meaghan with an "h"