The Magic of Paint

I love our new house and want to make it the prettiest house on the block. However, instead of spending money on new furniture I decided to try to save a few bucks here and there by taking old or cheap items and making them look fabulous.



My mom's before painting,
I didn't want to paint over it!



Dresser Before

My latest project was a 5 drawer small dresser.

I had it when I was a kid and my mom, who is extremely crafty, painted it to match my bedroom at the time.

I haven't used it in over a decade but when I moved into our new house my parents were more than happy to get it out of their basement!

I figured why not paint it to match our black furniture and put it in our bedroom. I mean, you can never have too much storage right?!



love that clearance sticker!



I bought some super cheap black paint at Wal-Mart... I wanna say the paint was like $8. While shopping around at Wal-Mart I always go to the clearance section to see if there's something I don't need. And lo-and-behold I found two table lights on sale for $5 each!! They'd be perfect next to our bed! Only problem... they were off-white and our furniture is black.... spray paint it is! I also found heavy silver drawer handles in the clearance aisle. Ten drawer pulls for $4!! They were originally $20. I felt like I had won the lottery! I purchased my paint, spray paint, drawer pulls and lamps for less than $30. Oh man, I could hardly wait to get home to start my new projects!!

So after a quick spray with the spray paint (I bought the Krylon brand) the lamps were complete! I went to my favorite place, Target, to purchase the lamp shades. Each were $8.

My dresser on the other hand took a few coats of paint. But after one evening of painting both projects were done! I have a new found love for painting furniture... this could be trouble!! 

I am so happy with the finished projects!!









picture perfect

Where have I been! Needless to say... it's been awhile. Between wedding stuff and buying a new home I think it' safe to say I was a little busy. Now that life is calmer, I can start posting all of our wonderful wedding projects and home remodeling projects. In the mean time, enjoy some engagement photos shot by the wonderful Steve Sanders of Steve Sanders Photography!! Will post more later - these are just a little teaser...

Making the Movies Jealous

It was a beautiful Saturday in October. It was the perfect day to go take pictures for Jeff and my first ever Christmas card together. Yes, we had been together 4 years at this point, but it was the first time we were no longer long distance and finally living together in the same town!! WOO-HOO!

As we were getting ready Jeff was really being picky about his outfit and what "our kids would think of his jeans"... I mean come on babe, it's just a Christmas card! They'll probably never see it! (now I know why...)

 

My parents - just hanging out



My parents came over to our apartment to meet up with us and Jeff's parents who were in town from Iowa. They were going to be our photographers for the day - we're cheap ok... we wanted to save money but still have a nice Christmas card so yes, we used our parents and their nice cameras.



Trying to find the perfect spot!

We arrived at Wyandotte County Lake and quickly found the perfect spot with the fall trees and lake behind us.



Love the fall trees

 






My handsome man



Jeff and I got into our first pose and started taking pictures... there were four cameras going at one time - all I could think is man, we're bound to get at least one good one here folks. We kept changing locations to mix up the scenery and 'options' until we landed at this  last one (pictured left). I noticed Jeff breathing a little heavier but thought he must be dying of heat in that sweater!

I hopped down from the window ledge to move on to our next location... I was walking in front of Jeff and asked him where he wanted to shoot next. He tapped my back with his response of...

"How about an action shot?" (my mind started thinking a jumping shot)

I turn around to see the man of my dreams... my knight in shinning armour... my best friend down on one knee with the prettiest ring I have ever seen.

"Will you marry me?"  -- my answer "Are you sure!?"... nice one Liz. Seriously, that's the first words out of your mouth!? I guess I just really wanted to make sure he knew what he was doing. I quickly realized I hadn't verbally said YES out loud so "YES! I will marry you!!" There's no turning back now son! I remember calling him a 'lil stinker' a couple of times - he really put some thought into this day. After realizing what happened I turn my head to see cameras flashing non stop. Oh... my... gosh... he planned this all just how I dreamed... family there and pictures to remember it by. Wow, I am one lucky girl.

Brown cork... brown leaves... ruh roh

After my mom and his mom oh-ing and ah-ing over the ring, my dad and Jeff's dad took off to the cars... what they brought back was perfect. Champagne, chutes, cheese and crackers. Jeff popped the cork... into the fall leaves which I quickly told him I wanted to keep that! So the boys all took off into the matching colored leaves to find it. No worries - my FIANCE found it for me :)



My dad telling the story of Jeff asking for my hand


We all raised our glasses to our new families coming together. Had some cheese and crackers, shared stories and moments leading up to this day, and enjoyed the start of the new chapter that was beginning.

I look at these pictures all the time to remember how thankful and blessed I am with a man who not only cares about me but also my family. Having them apart of our day truly makes the engagement that much more special.

 Here is a picture montage of the moment my life changed - my perfect day:

T-shirt flower

Now for the best part of the t-shirt scarves... the flowers!

What you'll need from your craft station:

good pair of scissors

1 piece of felt

scraps from your t-shirt scarf

paper and pencil
pretty bead (optional)
needle of thread (little sewing here folks)
hot glue gun - sticks

Cut a circle out of your felt and set aside.- this is the base for your pedals
Take your paper and fold it hotdog, then hamburger style (horizontal then vertical)
The best way to describe the cut is to make a heart. *When you unfold it there are 8 pedals
I then took my scraps from my t-shirt and cut out squares - which I then folded hotdog and hamburger style, pinned my paper to the fabric, and cut along the paper pattern.

Here you can see the felt circles, and fabric pedals folded and unfolded.
Each flower takes 8 pieces. I did a two-toned flower with black and grey.

the layout of the bottom layer is the black pedals

Bottom layer - takes 4 pedals

Lay out your flower 'hearts' with the openings all going clockwise.

Put some hot glue on the center of the felt, start applying pedals.

Middle layer - takes 3 pedals

Lay out your flower 'hearts' with the openings going counter-clockwise

Put some hot glue in the middle of your bottom layer, start applying pedals

Center - takes 1 pedal
I took the pedal and opened it up a little and pinched it in the middle to get it to stand up.
Put some hot glue in the middle of your middle layer, place center pedal down - make sure to hold on to it for a few seconds to allow the glue to dry so your pedals stand up.

Once the glue is dry, pull the pedals apart so they are full and open (open up the hearts)

I then threaded a bead and did a quick stitch in the center to secure it. An old broach would look awesome too.

I finished these off with a strip of the t-shirt glued to the back so it could be wrapped around the scarf.... but next time I think I'll do a clip instead - makes it more versatile.

Hope you have as much fun making these pretty lil things as I did :)

xoxo

T-Shirt Scarves

I am obsessed with the new t-shirt scarves that have taken over Pinterest but to be honest - it looked like to much work to actually make...

So, instead of sleeping, I decided to make these t-shirt scarves for my co-workers for our Christmas exchange that was happening the next day... what can I say, I'm a procrastinator.

My Walmart shopping list:
1 - four pack of men's XL undershirts (w/o the pockets)
*you can also use any old shirts from your closet - I will be making a lot of blue scarves from all my Free Royals shirts....

What you'll need from your craft station:
good pair of scissors
needle and thread (very light sewing here folks)

Cut off the bottom hem of the shirt

Cut once inch strips all the way up to the sleeves

Preparation

Iron the shirts - this makes for easier cutting. 

Lay out on carpet and smooth out creases 



After each cutting each strip, stretch it out as much as it will go and lay aside.

Make sure to cut an extra strip and cut it so it is one long piece with ends.

I did a grey and a black shirt to make the scarf two-toned.



Gather the strands together ( I only did about 8 strands - 4 grey, 4 black)
Take the extra strip and tie the strands together
Wrap the fastener strand around as many times as you like, cut and tuck end into wrapped area.

Sew a few stitches where you tucked the fabric in to make sure it doesn't loosen and come out.

And that's all it takes! Super easy! I will post the 'how-to' on the t-shirt flower tomorrow :)

My co-workers loved them and now we are having a scarf making day in our boardroom tomorrow...

crafts at work, yes please!

xoxo

one more 'to do'

yep, it's true... i am one busy lady.

what am i so busy doing you ask... try three jobs, planning a wedding, diy projects and of course christmas shopping.

so why wouldn't i want to take up more time in my day to start writing a blog. it sounds like i'm complaining, but really i am too blessed to be stressed.

so here i am... adding one more thing to my to do list.

get ready for a little bit of nothing... whole lotta wedding planning, diy projects, wedding diy projects (uber excited about this one) and just life itself.

follow my maid of honor's blog @ www.wishinghopingthinkingpraying.blogspot.com