W E L C O M E

$10 Coffee Table

2012-06-07T23:05:00.001-07:00

Nick scored this table for us from a friend of his who was moving,

he sold it to us for $10!

I found one exactly like it on pinterest which I blogged about not too long ago.

I decided to do a soft, light gray in matte.

I was scared of sanding this table since I was pretty sure it wasn't pure wood,

I just primed it with an oil based primer instead.

It looks a little more gray in person but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the result!

Our New (old) Furniture

2012-06-07T22:57:00.000-07:00

I started refurbishing our furniture and I scored this great dresser off craigslist recently.

Only $35!

It's slightly stained & scratched

but the drawers slide in and out smoothly

and its very sturdy.

Perfect for refurbishing!

I love this faux skeleton key hole which I think I might even hand paint silver

to make it more realistic.

This makes me think of the tinker bell scene! hahaha.

Progress so far on this project,

I've spray painted the handles a flat black.

I chose a flat light blue (teal)

Much like the color in the center below:

Here are my inspiration for the color I chose.

My Etsy Shop

2012-06-02T06:28:00.002-07:00

My Shop

What a wonderful morning indeed!

2012-05-31T05:57:00.001-07:00

I couldn't sleep (haven't been able to the last few days)

I get this way when I have crazy ideas running through my head.

Luckily, Im a morning person and Im always in a good mood when I get to watch the sunrise.

Hot cocoa, sunrises & yoga pants.

Yup, pretty much sums me up. :)

"These are so ugly they are cute!"

2012-05-22T12:47:00.001-07:00

Okay so I'm browsing through craigslist for some chairs to put out on our balcony and I came across the ugliest/cutest chairs EVER. They are so whimsical I can't help but want to buy them!

That last one is probably my favorite! lol.

I don't know if my husband will go for it but I have to try, I hope they don't smell horrible.

Hello Old Friend...

2012-05-22T12:28:00.002-07:00

I can't even begin to tell you (in blog world) how my life has been one big roller coaster fest lately.

* Let us start with health. I've been getting sick SO frequently lately, it's starting to freak me out a little. "I'm dying!" no just kidding. It's just irritating how much it affects the time I should have for school and work.

* School. It's been wonderful. Of course there are days where I drag myself out of bed and dread the next five hours to come but most of it has been very enjoyable and my classmates are pretty awesome. Although I don't feel too confident in my grade point average this quarter.

* Work. I tried to quit my job and they pretty much asked me to stay. Instead Im on an "emergencies only" basis which is actually pretty cool. Because I can get as many hours as I'd like to if I need the money but most importantly I can put school as my main priority. (PLUS I get to keep my discount -yay!)

I guess opening up my Etsy shop counts toward work. Ive taken all my DIY and wedding frustration out on making things for other people's weddings. Im also going to add in some art prints, printables and posters. <3

* Husband. Its been a bit of a roller coaster ride with that as well but mostly things are going great. He's been so supportive of me opening up my Etsy shop and pursuing this wedding event/design/graphics thing I've got going on.

Well that's pretty much it life wise.

As for our little nest- its been a bit messy lately due to work overload. My decorating has definitely been bumped down in the priority list. But I'm going to have plenty of time to catch up.

My next project I'm planning is organizing. I'd really like to do this before my husband's birthday party on Saturday the 2nd. (eeeeeek). I want to get some organizers and decorative boxes to put in the closet, the bathroom towel closet and so on.

Next is to tackle the work space I have in the bedroom and maybe start getting the patio together.

Whew! Wish me luck!

My NEW Etsy Shop!

2012-05-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

To get some use out of my DIY and wedding addiction,

I opened up my own Etsy store!

check it out here.

1Screations on Etsy <3

OMG! Free wedding design give-away!

For the first five people to contact me about this special,

I am going to give them a free custom designed item from 1Screations. Whether its their wedding save the date cards, dessert table signs or sweetheart table banner...

All I ask is that they send me some beautiful photographs of my work being used at their event to be able to use in my portfolio!

SWEET DEAL.

xoxo

2012-05-11T17:34:00.001-07:00

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Its been so long...

2012-04-30T02:12:00.002-07:00

Well, school and work has taken full control of my life as of late. Im just about done with midterms this week for my 2nd quarter and I'm overwhelmed. I managed to get honors last quarter and Im not feeling very confident that Ill manage it this quarter but I'm trying my best.

This has been my best friend the last few weeks

I put my two weeks in a few days ago and I'm regretting it a little but only because Im not used to being "unemployed". I still have freelancing of course and a husband that supports me, but I just don't want to be a stay at home wife just yet.

I do have lots of plans for my soon-to-be free time.

1. Get back in shape.
I used to be a crazy gym fanatic and now we live in a complex with a little gym. Honestly all I need is an elliptical machine, some free weights and yoga matt and we're groovy.

2. Work on getting pieces together for an art show.
My goal for that is six months from now. Im hoping to have enough pieces together, a location and a website up for my work. The theme is "The Bleeding Heart" collection. (more info to come)

3. (the obvious) To focus on school.
I really want to get the best grades I possibly can and have enough focus for each of my classes. Maybe even take five classes next quarter. I might even join in on school activities or clubs, who knows?!

4. And of course, work on our new place. I haven't even had the time to clean as much as Id like to let alone decorate or do DIY projects!

5. This one is a maybe, but I want to see if I can make progress on my book. Ive been doubting it a little bit, mostly on originality but I still love the story and I hope one day Ill be able to tell it.

Well, good night (or in my case) good morning, another busy week starts in five hours.

Make Your Own Nail Color w/eyeshadow!

2012-04-08T01:30:00.001-07:00

I didn't even try to be crafty with the title since it's amazing on its own.

Yes, with eyeshadow you can make your own nail polish color.

I didn't really have a tutorial source for this since I kinda knew how to do this from a while ago

and since my sis has my point & shoot this weekend,

I don't have step by step pictures.

What you need:

1. Quick dry clear nail polish

( 2 bottles preferably )

2. eye shadow of your choice

( you can even mix colors )

3. nail polish remover

(incase you only have 1 bottle of clear)

4. something to mix it in that you don't care about,

I used an old tupperware that's super small.

5. to mix with, like a plastic spoon or in my case

the pointy end of an old paint brush

And that's it!

now the beauty of quick dry clear polish is that it

makes your "new nail polish" quick dry also!

Directions:

1. Use your mixing utensil to scrape some of the eye shadow onto your mixing palette

2. Pour some clear nail polish over it,

I used a lot since it made it easier to work with plus it wasn't as clumpy.

3. Mix it with your spoon until there's no clumps.

4. Then paint!

( add a few drops of clear nail polish in the mix every other nail to keep it from getting muddy )

5. Lastly, use your 2nd clear nail polish to add a top coat.

If you don't have a 2nd bottle of it,

clean your brush with nail polish remover-

it won't be like new but it'll do.

The colors I used surprised me when mixed.

I don't have a before picture,

but it was a very hot pink from MAC I've had since high school

and a strong pigmented gold/green flake shadow.

I used mostly the hot pink then added a small amount of the flake,

it turned out to be this gorgeous copper color.

It was unexpected at how strong that flake took to the polish,

and the pink was almost nonexistent except for what

I can only assume is the reason why it has such a warm tone to it.

I do apologize if my feet freak you out...

Nailed it! OMBRE Nail tutorial

2012-04-08T00:11:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I usually steer away from wild nail polish designs/tutorials because every time I do them I either;

a- mess them up

b- hate them and take them off

c- doubt I can pull them off

d- all of the above

But this one I just had to try because it has a subtle look that adds a big impact.

THE LINK TO THE TUTORIAL IS HERE

Sorry for the bad quality pics, my point and shoot is with my sister this weekend.

So, I'm pretty happy with the results and I realized you can pretty much put

any colors together if you wanted to.

Next time I'll try a white tip that fades up to a black or sunset orange?

These are the colors I used for mine:

The brand is L'OREAL

The darkest color for the tip is called, Breaking Curfew #480

The Middle color is just a slightly lighter, more transparent version called, Haute Couture Red #470

Then the lightest part is called, Eiffel for you #370

On that note: Id really love to have the job of naming colors! how fun.

DISCLAIMER:

I don't recommend doing this on your toes.

It was a bigger mess than I anticipated because the sponge was so big

and my toe nails so small,

my little piggies were covered with nail polish!

Also if you are right handed like I am,

good luck cleaning the mess off of your right hand with a brush.

$10 Deals and Discounts

2012-04-07T04:01:00.000-07:00

The photograph above shows the white little side table I snagged for $10.

I placed it in the corner of the entrance to the bathroom &

topped it with a floral arrangement I made.

I love having a discount at JCPenney,

I got this adorable little blue lamp for our bedroom

which badly needed a light.

Excuse the trash can,

But this is a side table I snagged, also for $10.

I have plans of painting it a light gray or white.

It even has a snug little drawer, which I plan on painting

with an accent color or lining with a design.

Photographs of our new love seat and rug to come!

Head Board Dillema

2012-04-07T03:48:00.002-07:00

I've been back and forth on what to do for a headboard.

I really want a unique, DIY, headboard.

Here's the wall I'm talking about in our bedroom:

The orange/red wall.

Some ideas I've had.

- Using a room divider / screen

- Putting up a wall decal

- Mounting a large canvas print of the

two of us from our wedding in black and white

- Making a headboard, lined with foam and fabric

I found examples of some of these choices:

These are wood squares, lined with foam and
fabric then mounted to create a headboard

Here's a small glimpse of how its made

These are just square prints alined above the bed.
( I love that retro seat/shelf at the end of the bed and
YES those are drums as side tables!)

Distressed wood planks, mounted together and painted

Using room dividers/screens for a headboard.
Really pretty.

And this is pretty much amazing.

This is also a fabric lined headboard,
the wood panel was just cut in the shape. foam liner glued and stapled,
then the patterned fabric was laid over.

I do apologize if the photos shown above are anyone's personal photographs, I saved many pictures into an "inspiration" folder and did not consider the sources. I retrieved these images all from Pinterest.

Hello I'm Jesi, and I have a problem...

2012-04-07T03:31:00.000-07:00

I'm so addicted to Pinterest. Every chance I get, I'm on there. I've even made a folder on my desktop of inspirational pictures for my blog and home design.

One idea I do have though, that I didn't get from Pinterest is what to put on our wall above the couch. I want a ton of white frames, different sizes to be scattered all over. And every frame will have a hot air balloon print inside, all with a faded vintage style. I figured the different colors will help tie the room together and well, I just LOVE hot air balloons. Then I can squeeze random frames with quotes about love, family, scriptures and so on.

I do apologize for how disorganized this post is going to be, but I figured I'd post some inspirational pics:

I was looking for things to put above our bed and I thought this was a
nice & simple design. (obviously with our initials)

This is along the lines of what I was thinking for our living room,
but I don't know how I feel about the overly organized.
It's surprising really that someone who's as OCD as I am,
thinks that some chaos is a better route.

I've also had my eye on the empty wall in the kitchen.
Also painted the same accent tone as the wall in the living room.
I think Im going to use this as my inspiration for the kitchen and
put up some shelves. Decorate the shelves with frames, flowers and etc.
I could even stack three different frames that spell out E.A.T

More ranting to come!

A wonderful idea!

2012-04-03T00:53:00.000-07:00

I don't have kids just yet but I did help take care of my nephew and I know how hard it is for them to wash their hands. I know you can provide a step stool but this just seems like a smart idea to put in a kids bathroom or put in the drawer of your bathroom for necessary times...

SOURCE

8 AM with no sleep

2012-03-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

Just getting into bed and the sun is already shining.

My mood picked up a little when I heard birds chirping outside,

funny how that little thing can uplift ones spirit.

It's about to get personal.

2012-03-29T05:53:00.000-07:00

Funny how our mood can change in a day:

Me at work earlier today

A few minutes ago

If I could explain how I've been feeling the last few weeks,

I'd probably say that I'm in an emotional gray area.

So here's a breakdown:

FRIENDSHIP

Well I've definitely weeded out the bad apples,

It seems that the select few I would love to have in my life are the hardest to hold on to.

I'm not the type to chase someone to be my friend, that's just pathetic.

Of course I'm referring to the female friends.

It seems making male friends is easy for me.

( which can get awkward now that I'm married )

I made friends with two guys I did a project with for a class,

the project was over a span of several weeks so within that time all three of us bonded pretty well.

But that's not exactly the friends I can invite (individually) over to have dinner

without it crossing some married line.

MY JOB / FINANCES

I've been so torn.

I want to quit to make room for school and side projects,

but we can't afford to cut any source of income- no matter how small it may be.

I want to try and venture out more in my freelancing but

that is even more inconsistent than my 'on-call' position at the studio.

To quit or not to quit?

As for finances, we're doing alright.

Not great but we're making it.

I always tell myself how much better we have it than most people our age

and that I'm lucky my husband is a great provider.

But we lately we haven't had room for anything outside our basic needs.

MARRIAGE

Like all relationships, we have our ups & downs.

Of course I'm thankful everyday that I have a husband like him,

I know that I could do a lot worse.

But we've been bickering a lot lately because of responsibilities at home that go unnoticed.

Nick has a tendency of overlooking things and most of all, forgetting.

My patience has run a bit thin the last few months,

specially with school full time, work and freelancing.

I'm pretty straight forward with him on what he needs to do;

ways to help around the house, small things to make life easier,

utilizing his time better and also how to be more romantic.

It seems my requests go unnoticed and I'm running out of ways to communicate with him.

SCHOOL

School is going real well,

I received all A's last quarter

( There's a possibility I got one B,

but I don't know since some of my instructors are

horrible at updating their grade book on line.)

I'm looking forward to taking more classes

and I was thinking, if I quit my job,

I could work on my art more and maybe start exhibiting again.

~ * on a positive note * ~

I just ordered some business cards and I love love love how the design turned out!

I'll be sure to post pics once they're delivered.

I'M IN A PICKLE and I HATE pickles.

2012-03-29T02:46:00.003-07:00

I'm trying to be thrifty and buy some used furniture on craigslist

( obviously going to check out the stuff first )

but I can't seem to judge if the love seat I have my eye on will match my patterned couch.

I know things don't have to be too matchy-matchy

but I don't want my house to look like a thrift store gone wrong either.

Here's the pictures from the post:

I was interested in the area rug and the love seat (not the big couch)

Here's the area rug

Here's the love seat

Please take note that our kitchen and bathroom all have that shade of teal as decor.

So, here's our living room at the moment.

I was hoping that the rug would tie things together since it has

beige stripes with blue stripes.

So my idea is to place the love seat going at perpendicular

position from the closer end of the couch in this picture.

(so if it were placed there, you'd be looking at the back of it)

Then to pull things together, I was thinking of putting that patterned pillow

on the teal couch to create a good balance/contrast.

MY OTHER PICKLE

So far everything in our home (furniture, frames) consists of

black or dark wood.

I so badly want a brighter home with white or light gray accents

and have had the thought of painting all of them.

This is the side table that Im thinking of painting a matte gray.

Here are the CONS to doing this.

1. Our kitchen table we JUST bought is black with dark wood panels for the top.

Painting this would be difficult and also I don't know if I want to paint such a new table.

2. The trim on that couch matches our side table perfectly as is.

3. I don't know if gray will offset the warm accent walls too much.

Then again, this shows how gorgeous gray and warm oranges look together.

S O U R C E

MODGE PODGE

2012-03-28T23:20:00.003-07:00

Source: bhg.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

According to a quick research on pinterest, you can in fact modge podge a table top! And you better believe I am doing it to my coffee table.

Plans, plans, plans

2012-03-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

Although I haven't been utilizing this time off from school very well, I do have some plans for upcoming home projects. Its finding the time and more importantly, the money, to be able to do all these things.

COFFEE TABLE PROJECT

I found this image on the glorious pinterest.com site

This is EXACTLY like our coffee table that Nick scored from his friend for $5!

Except ours is black.

I was planning on painting it a matte gray and to my amazement found that picture!

It's a sign that I have to do this.

I also found this color swatch of different grays and I'm thinking the top middle.

I would like to find glass that fits perfectly on top but I don't want to have to get one custom fitted.

That might cost me more than I'd like.

But I do like the idea of a pattern on top, so I had a thought:

I can buy either fabric or wrapping paper in the design I like

and modge podge it to the table and line the inside of the drawers.

I'm afraid it might look tacky though.

If I ever get around to this,

I'll be sure to post pics!

Its been too long,

2012-03-27T02:20:00.000-07:00

Its been forever since Ive written anything. The last week of the first quarter at school kinda kicked my butt. With finals and being really sick. Plus during this 1 week break, I got cracking on my book. I don't know if I like how its going so far but at least Im writing something!

So far there hasn't been any new updates or additions to the condo. If anything, theres been more set backs on getting the place all pretty.

The light in our closet went out weeks ago and neither of us has bothered getting another one. Even during the day its so hard to see in there and our bedroom has no lamp yet. So we rely on the bathroom light most of the time. Probably not the most energy saving way of living... Im sure once we get some extra cash rolling in (which who knows when that'll happen, with school and lack of hours at work) I can add some things to our little nest.

Nick's brother made a comment when he was over that got to me. He said our living room isn't very cozy and he's right! With one couch that's more pretty than comfortable, no rug and the coffee table being used as a TV stand- it really isn't the most comfortable place to sit.

Until next time! <3

Screw being a princess...

2012-03-02T23:57:00.000-08:00

It's overwhelming sometimes,

as I get older- my priorities shift- the road Im on in life

turns out be heading toward a different destination than what I had first intended.

I set out for a fairytale

but it seems life had something else planned for me.

I'm alright not being a princess waiting to be saved

I'd rather be a heroine of my own story.

Mmmmmmmacaroons!

2012-02-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

Macaroon Kiss Cookies

Makes approx. 4 dozen

For a printable recipe, click the "Print Friendly" icon at the end of this post.

2 1/2 cups All purpose flour

1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon table salt

2/3 cups butter, softened

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 egg yolks

1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon juice from a fresh orange

10 cups sweetened flaked coconut, divided in to 6 cup and 4 cup portions

1 bag Hershey Kisses (48 pieces)

Step 1: In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Step 2: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, vanilla and orange juice and beat till smooth.

Step 3: In 1 cup increments, mix flour in to the butter mixture. Add the 6 cups flaked coconut and beat to combine.

Step 4: Refrigerate dough for 1 hour. While dough is chilling, remove wrappers from the Kisses.

Step 5: Preheat oven to 350. One at a time, scoop dough into 1" balls, then roll in the bowl of remaining coconut (4 cups). Arrange on an ungreased baking sheet, at least an inch apart (cookies will spread slightly). A standard cookie sheet should accommodate a dozen cookies at a time. Bake 12 minutes, until the cookies puff and are very lightly browned.

Step 6: Remove from oven. Immediately press one Kiss into each cookie. Return pan to oven and bake for an additional minute.

Step 7: Remove pan from oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes. With a thin spatula, gently move cookies on to a rack to finish cooling.

source

Our New Nest Progress

2012-02-17T17:42:00.001-08:00

So we finally have a place to sit!

(That round chair is for the patio)

I grabbed this little side table from my grandma,

she replaced it with a large cabinet so it was free for the taking!

I dont know if I'm going to stick to the dark woods and blacks,

I have an urge to paint things a matte off white
( I may regret that )

I love our new throw pillows.

The large red matches that accent wall really well,

the small script pillow just makes me happy.

I got this cool paper oriental lamp for about $35!

Awesome deal.

Our table seating chart from our wedding was a beautiful addition!

I might change out the frame and actually put it behind glass.
( after it spent about 2 weeks in Nick's car its pretty beat up now )

This has been bothering me! But Nick is slowly putting our table together.

Yes I just gave up and bought a table from Kmart.
Its a pretty, rustic-style table and it was only about $160

I added my old study table to our bedroom.

I figured with school going on this will come in handy.

Plus that little TV fit perfectly in the cubby.

I'm thinking of getting a vanity chair to put under.

Excuse the cluttler, but this is our bed!

I decided to stick to earth tones for the bedroom.

Browns, Sage green and white.

Its easier and I just love those colors together.

So there it is!

Our little nest is coming together quite well!

I can't wait to get the last few essentials so I can get down to the fun part-

Decorating!

Sometimes...

2012-02-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

A mother's love is not pure.

A child's love is not enough.

It's sad to say that the older I get the darker the world seems to be.

Adults don't have it all together, if anything, they're more messed up than children.

I started a goal list. I write my goals down everyday.

The same small list of things, on a fresh piece of paper.

Everyday.

I will own a successful business.
I will be a published author.
My name will mean something.
I will make a difference.
I will be a good mother to my children.
I will travel around the world.
I will be proud of myself.

Sometimes I think I'm too much of a dreamer.
Too stuck in my head to function outside of it.

How do you make your dreams come true when no one believes you can do it?
How do you believe in yourself when the people who are supposed to don't?

I will be my own somebody.