Life More Lovely

Pick Your Plum already!

2013-01-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I come across something so amazing, so wonderful, so incredibly awesome that I can't even stand it myself. Enter Pick Your Plum and if you haven't signed up yet, I'm not sure what you're waiting for.

This quirky little corner of the web hosts the happiest of crafting supplies at the lowest of prices, and offers something new each day. From pom-pom trim to cupcake liners, jewelry and decor, I haven't seen a plum I haven't yet want to pick! I seriously want to jump up and down over the products after opening my daily Pick Your Plum email. The deep discounts are jaw-dropping and the quality of every product surpass my expectations each time they are delivered to my door.

Click on the link above to check it out and I think you'll see why this is what my happy looks like.

*Note: This is not a sponsored post

Hello, 2013.

2013-01-01T15:17:00.001-08:00

Source

Hoping you have a wonderful New Year's filled with all things beautiful to you!

Gather your confetti, it's New Year's Eve!

2012-12-31T14:17:00.004-08:00

Hey 2012, you've been too good to me, but I sure am excited for what the new year will bring us.

Wishing you a fun, safe end to your year and continued hopes and dreams with the new!

I am so ready for you, 2013.

Throw away the Cetaphil. Like, now.

2012-12-29T07:47:00.000-08:00

I normally don't blog about beauty, but when I ran across a post from another blogger, I had to spread the news.

I had a run in with the dermatologist endorsed cleanser a couple months ago. After a few pesky breakouts I decided I needed to try something a bit more gentle on my skin. I bought a bottle of Cetaphil thinking this gentle wash would rid me of my redness.

I washed, I rinsed, I looked in the mirror and my face felt like it was on fire. No, literally on fire. Now even more red and burning from chin to forehead, I quickly washed again with another cleanser, but the sensation lasted until the next morning.

I told a few about my run-in with this fire-breathing monster and they all thought the same. It couldn't be the cleanser.

Well low and behold friends, it was. One sadly designed jug has eight ingredients including water, cetyl alcohol, propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate, stearyl alcohol, methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben. Everything but the water is chemically produced, and propylene glycol, sodium lauryl sulfate, and three (yes, three!) parabens are potentially cancer-causing. No wonder my face was on fire.

So with that, do yourself a favor and replace the Cetaphil with something that has ingredients you can pronounce. Your face can thank me later.

Some nights need tea.

2012-12-27T18:58:00.002-08:00

It's Thursday, 2 days past the big one, and I still feel like I am recovering from a Christmas hangover. No, not the kind you get from drinking too much eggnog or sipping on one too many peppermint martinis. I am talking about the late night with undiscovered hours, belly ache conversation, sugar cookie coma, wrapping paper whirlwind kind of hangover.

Then, after it's done, there's a certain kind of hush that seems to fall over us again as parking lots become less cluttered and wish lists subside. It seems as if the whole world takes a second to take a breath and a step back before the new year. So, while recovering, tea just seems appropriate.

The day after.

2012-12-26T06:32:00.000-08:00

Hoping that you and your loved ones had a wonderful day celebrating the season yesterday!

Happy Holidays from us to you, and with that I think we'll head back to bed.

Photos by Melissa Audrey

hello@melissaaudrey.com

Christmas under wraps.

2012-12-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

I love, love wrapping. It has to be one of my favorite parts of the holidays. What I don't love so much is how much Target, and any other store for that matter, wants to charge for gift bags, boxes, and bags full of bows. So this year I boycotted. No printed paper, no shiny bows, and definiltey no over-priced gift bags. (Okay, I did get two of them as we didn't have big enough boxes at home, but I wasn't happy about it!)

Now before you start thinking I am going all "Christmas with the Cranks" this year, I did find a cheaper and better way to decorate our gifts for giving. All it took was a roll full of craft paper and left over remnant from previous crafts. Total cost for wrapping this year: $9.

Hello, happy!

Photos by Melissa Audrey

hello@melissaaudrey.com

Christmas cards

2012-12-21T18:49:00.000-08:00

Our once blank board has quickly become the new hang out for all of our incoming Christmas cards, and all it took was a couple of clothes pins and a yard of cherry red garland.

This makes me happy.

Photos by Melissa Audrey

hello@melissaaudrey.com

A few of our favorites: Christmas 2012

2012-12-20T05:14:00.001-08:00

After last year, there was no way I was going to let my sister slip out of her photography and design duties for our Christmas card. I love the way she captures our little family and how much fun we have when she's behind the lens. Even my camera hating husband squeaks out more smiles than usual! Her website is still in the works, but in the meantime you can connect with her here:

Hello@melissaaudrey.com

And while you're saying hello, take a peek at just a few of our favorites!

Kitchen Hutch Reveal

2012-11-01T18:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a reminder of what the before looked like.

You can read about that here.

And here are the details of our after!

I got a little lazy and left the top unpainted.

(You can't see it unless your standing on a chair anyhow, right?)

I knew I wanted something functional and pretty on our bare kitchen wall. It's a perfect place for a lot of the pieces I did not want hiding in our cupboard anymore, and the bottom portion hides all of our small appliances. After a good sanding I decided on a stone grey color with a patterned fabric backdrop. I love that it's a large piece, but not obnoxiously bulky. I think it's a good fit for our kitchen and takes care of yet another untouched wall!

The links are working!

2012-10-28T17:03:00.003-07:00

Finally! They are working! In between all the projects, crafts, and that little thing you might call a full-time job, the links are finally functional. You can change pages, navigate the blog, and find things in a more organized fashion. The content is coming, and I promise it won't take as long as these little links did. Right now I am so happy they just work!

DIY Deer Silhouette

2012-10-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about the Fall season is the decorating. When I came across something similar to the above sitting in a fall window display, I knew I could probably duplicate it somehow. So with a design in mind and a Cameo to cut it out, 60 seconds later I had my deer silhouette. A couple of glue dots, striped scrapbook paper, and a repurposed frame was all it took to finish putting this piece together.

If you don't have a Silhouette Cameo machine but have the patience for some old-fashion hand cutting, you can download a similar design from Man Made DIY, print it, and re-create your own!

Project happenings in a few short posts

2012-10-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

In an effort to get caught up around here I'm sharing a few of the projects that have been happening around our home in a few short posts. So read them one at a time, save a few for later, or get yourself a cup of coffee and settle in for an update of all the projects we've been working on!

My mom celebrated her birthday nearly a month ago, but the table we gifted her was just too good not to share. I did not want to let this little gem go, but seeing as it was her grandmother's old table I was happy she found a new home for it.

We sanded it, painted it, and sanded the edges again to add some age. Andrew then went over the roughed up corners with some distress ink I had gotten awhile back, and it really made the exposed wood pop.

Now here is where I am kicking myself for not taking the before shots. I just love how it turned out though and I think the distress ink was the final touch it needed. For under the $5 you can find a variety of ink colors and finishes here if you are looking to do the same on something!

Speaking of the weekend...

2012-10-08T17:10:00.000-07:00

Another two day vacation has come and gone, this time bringing with it the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot and weather meant for sweaters. It was the perfect weekend as Andrew and I enjoyed the official fall temperatures with a drive up north and a mission for the perfect porch pumpkins. Monday came all too quickly, but with a few new fall favorites at the front of our house, it was a little easier to back out of the driveway this morning.

Looking forward to the rest of the week

and sharing some long overdue projects with you!

Happy Monday!

Seconds on Second

2012-10-01T03:43:00.004-07:00

This past weekend my mom and I took a weekend rendezvous to MKE to visit our favorite little lady. We shopped our way through most of the city and spent some time searching for old things to start a new story at a recently discovered antique shop. The corner store sure did satisfy our taste for the old, and had some of the greatest items that ended up taking to the road with us as we made our way home. It's just too bad the weekends only last two days around here.

Pretty painted pumpkins

2012-09-25T03:46:00.001-07:00

I'm horrible at carving pumpkins. No, really. I'm just that bad. So instead of the awkward looking faces that normally end up on our pumpkins during the fall season, I've decided that painting them may help to create something a little prettier to sit on our stoop. I think I like these ideas below even better than the traditional carved creations anyhow! Sources below.

one

two

three

four

five

Not necessarily painted, but who can resist a mustached pumpkin?

six

1. My Sweet Savannah 2. Twig and Thistle 3. Event Lucky

4. LR Stitched 5. Carosello 6. Annily Green

Hello, Fall.

2012-09-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

Our fire place is glowing, my knitting needles have slipped themselves into a warmer wool, and we've picked our final projects for fall. There is just something about cooler weather that inspires a new motivation for craft-type do-it-yourself projects, and we started our first this weekend.

In order to combat walls that still sit empty, even 6 months after move-in day, we found the perfect solution to dress a naked wall in our kitchen, as well as a space to continue a ridiculous collection of glossy white cake stands. After a good sanding and a few coats of paint, our new little hutch is now well under way.

Before...

oh hey, Andrew

Progress..

It's hard to tell by the picture, but the color turned out to be a stone grey. I love it. A few more details to take care of on the inside and then it's off to it's new home in our kitchen!

Cheers to 31

2012-09-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

“When you have been with your partner for so many years, they become the glove compartment map that you've worn dog-eared and white-creased, the trail you recognize so well you could draw it by heart and for this very reason keep it with you on journeys at all times. And yet, when you least expect it, one day you open your eyes and there is an unfamiliar turnoff, a vantage point that wasn't there before, and you have to stop and wonder if maybe this landmark isn't new at all, but rather something you have missed all along.” Source

So today marks a very happy anniversary for you, Mom and Dad. Here's to another 31 years of relying on the same trusted, broken-in road map, and to discovering those unfamiliar twists and turns that still may lurk around the corners of uncharted places and roads not yet travelled.

{Good Thought Thursday} Clean...anything!

2012-09-05T18:57:00.002-07:00

I stumbled across this blog the other day and I couldn't be happier I did. Clean My Space has video tutorials for cleaning just about anything. One of my favorites so far has to be how to clean your wedding rings with toothpaste. I tried it, and I tell you it works like a charm! With easy advice and simple steps to follow for each tutorial, it's definiltey worth a peek!

Just a few details...

2012-09-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

The above still makes me laugh every time I read it.

So it's back to school and I don't think I could be more excited for September...If you're going back tomorrow too, have a happy first few days!

{Good Thought Thursday} If truth be told...

2012-08-30T15:28:00.001-07:00

The end.

...and that's what my iphone has to say about Chicago.

2012-08-27T19:38:00.002-07:00

We walked, ate, and ate some more through the streets of Chicago this past weekend. It really was a wonderful two days as we filled our shopping bags with mostly shoes, and ate things that most of us couldn't even attempt to pronounce. Add in a family wedding, a few late nights, and sore stomaches from all our laughing, and the only thing that seemed to hit the restart button at the end of our trip was an extended stay at the Corner Bakery.

It's too bad more weekends couldn't come with an excessive amount of shoe shopping and phenomenal choices of food; though Andrew may say half of that statement may very well still happen here at home. I'll let you decide what half that is... :)

{Good Thought Thursday} Read A Bad Book

2012-08-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have one of those days where everything went your way, your timing was perfect, and you felt as if you could walk on water? Well today was not one of those days. I was a little hesitant in posting something that might sound like a citation from Eeyore, but then I remembered something an old teacher once told our small elementary class.

It was about a book. We hated it. Refused to read it. It was awful. I tell you the bellyaching about this book could be heard from the room next door. The day had finally come when we finished, and we all sang silent praises in our head as we returned the books to the shelf. Our teacher on the other hand closed the book and looked as us.

"How are you ever going to know what a truly great book is, if you never let your self experience a truly horrible one."

Now I am not sure how many of us actually took something away from that day. Most of us probably just pulled out our math and continued wishing for the 3pm bell. However, whenever I have a day that's trickier than the rest I always remember what she said.

Read a bad book. Sail in high winds. Let yourself experience something that's not so great, because if you don't, how will you ever know when something truly wonderful comes along?

1,2,3...Plates!

2012-08-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely in love with my Silhouette Cameo. It's been not stop cutting since the 12th, and while I went to town on classroom projects, I just finished our first for the home.

Our vaulted ceilings are both a blessing and a curse. They make us feel small in our open-concept living area, but the space it leaves to fill is quite a different story. I am probably not done up there yet, but after a 1, 2, 3 cut of vinyl and some clean white plates from Home Goods, it sure makes a big difference.

I'd say not too shabby, but I think it is just a little. :)

Happy Friday!

{Good Thought Thursday} Happy 100, Julia Child

2012-08-16T16:59:00.000-07:00