Saturday, December 31, 2011

Wedding crafts!

With the wedding approaching in 4 and a half months, I have been busy, busy, busy! Whenever you say the word wedding, normal things all of the sudden get jacked up by $1,000 at least. With all of that in mind, I have tried to come up with "crafty" ways to do different decorations!

I was out shopping at Hobby Lobby and saw the cutest sign...

The sign was $24.99 and black and white...2 things I did not like! I just knew that this was a project I could go in my colors and for 1/3 of the cost! I found a hideous canvas at Goodwill for $1.99...

I spray painted it white and covered it with burlap. Burlap is so inexpensive and always looks so chic!

Using my cricut, I cut out the words to use as a stencil. I used scrap vinyl so it looks messy!

When painting burlap, you will use a LOT of paint. I painted it PINK, let it dry, and peeled off the vinyl.

It's chic, cheap, and in my wedding colors!!! Altogether, the sign cost me $5.00 and will be a cute addition for my fondue station!!!!

The next project I did was a table runner. I thought it would make a great addition to the cake table. I've tried to add as many personal touches as possible! I found a beautiful white table runner at Target after Christmas on sale for $7.49! I monogrammed the runner with a beautiful pink "B"! It will look so nice on the cake table and add a little color!


Last wedding crafts of 2011....can't wait to see what 2012 holds!!!
Happy New Years!
Nicole

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas Yall!

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas!

"Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:10-11

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas Eve!

It has been a day! My grandmother has been in and out of the hospital for the past few days so today I played MOMMA! That is one tough job! I don't know how my mom does it and keeps her sanity...I have successfully cooked buffalo chicken dip, ooey gooey bars, and cheesy bacon dip. My holiday crispies were an unsalvagable disaster :( but 3 out of 4 ain't bad! I've also wrapped presents, washed sheets, cleaned house, dealt with 2 dogs, and managed to finish painting my jag ornaments! I'll say it again....I don't know how mommies do it all!!!! I thought teaching kindergarten was busy!

With all of the burlap ornaments I have made for gifts, I thought I would treat myself with 2! I LOVE the South Alabama Jaguars (I graduated in '06 and again in '11). Here are my ornaments :



I just love them!
Have a very merry CHRISTMAS!!!!
Nicole

Friday, December 23, 2011

Crazy about Burlap!

It has been a while since I have blogged! 2 crashed hard drives and 1 new laptop later and I am back in the world of technology!!! I haven't crafted as much lately because I have been planning MY WEDDING!!!! It's been busy to say the least!

Soooo I have recently discovered the amazingness that is BURLAP! Where has this fabric been all of my life?!!!! I have been a burlaping machine!

For starters, I made some burlap ornaments for Christmas gifts. I am a BAMA fan to the core and boy was it hard to make ornaments for the tiger fans in my life...the things we do for the ones we love!!!




I am working on some burlap ornaments for my alma mater- University of South Alabama- Go Jags! The paint is drying on them as I speak! I will post pictures lately!

I also HAD to make some redneck wine glasses... ADORABLE!

SOOO EASY and SOOO CUTE! I used a mason jar ($1.49 from World Market), a clear candlestick holder ($.69 from Goodwill), and E-6000 ($2.49 from Walmart). I glued the candlestick to the mason jar and let it sit for 48 hours. I stuffed it with tissue paper...I would have liked to attach a tag but my printer is out of it!!!

I have a few wedding projects that I will be posting...one blog at a time!
Creatively yours,
Nicole

Sunday, April 17, 2011

There is no such thing as a little project!

Sooooo, about 3 weeks ago we started a "little" project at my house...I mean, how much trim is really on my small house...The answer = ALOT!!!!! Luckily, I have a great dream team, my mom, dad, and Alex. We have worked relentlessly on the exterior of my house to make sure it is absolutely perfect!!!! The trim was an awful Kelly green with horrible homemade shutters in the front....dreadful! We painted the trim white, hung new black shutters, and reworked my back patio! It looks awesome!!! I could just sit outside for hours! The last "little" project is to put a big flower bed in the front of my house. (Now, what have we learned about "little" projects???)

I am sooo upset because I totally forgot to take before pictures. I have a few of when I first bought the house....

so here is the...
BEFORE

and another one...

and you can see the horrid green trim in the background of this picture of 3/4 of the dream team...

The green was EWWWWWWW!!!!!

Now the FABULOUS...
AFTER

As you can see...there is still work to be done in the front yard...that random tree has GOT TO GO!!!

and my welcome plant...

Here is one from my fabulous backyard!


Now repeat after me....
"There is no such thing as a "little" project!!!"
So the complete painting and planting took 3 long weekends! Now it's fabulous and I can't wait to enjoy it when I get back from my cruise!!!!

Sitting and sipping on the back porch!
Nicole

Sunday, April 10, 2011

It's garden time!

I finally have my garden planted! I love this time of year! I've got 2 tomato plants, squash, eggplant, cucumber, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, banana pepper, and jalapeno peppers! I also have 2 blueberry plants, a key lime tree, and an orange tree! I am the happiest girl alive! I don't know much when it comes to gardening, but I sure do have fun doing it!

Here are some before pics of my garden. I will post more pictures once everything starts blooming!!!


My two blueberry bushes...


My key lime and orange tree...


And while I'm at it, here is all of the hard work I have done on my back patio!




-Nicole

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Ahhh...time for Spring...time for Projects!!!

Spring time gets my brain stirring with projects!!!! I finally finished my Easter wreath...It was my first run in with mesh- that stuff is not as easy as it looks!!!



But overall, I think it was a success!!!

While I was taking pictures of my adorable wreath, I realized that the Kelly green trim on my house HAD TO GO!!!! It was seriously bad! So, I gathered my sidekick, mom, and we headed to Home Depot. Because I am way more distract-able that I like to admit, I decided I needed to go ahead and get my plants for my garden. I left with 2 gallons of white paint, a gallon of primer, and a bunch of plants (Eggplants, squash, tomatoes, red and green bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, banana peppers , OH MY!. Bright and early Saturday, Mom started priming while I planted my garden...it's adorable!!!! We finished about 80% of the trim...all that's left is the hard to reach stuff. I plan on recruiting Alex to help out this Saturday. I will be sure to post before and after pics of my house and my garden!!! Hopefully I will get around to crafting one of these days, but Hey!, a project is a project is a project!!!!

Creatively yours,
Nicole

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Operation: Craft Room

I have looked for inspiration for my craft room for a while. I knew what I wanted but just could not figure it out on paper. I had the best table ever (from Ikea, courtesy of Linda!)and a big wall of open space. So I did nothing.

My mom found me the perfect idea in the "My home My style" magazine (a fabulous magazine)! Here is my inspiration:


Fabulous right?!
My mom and I visited Home Depot and gathered our supplies, totaling $80.00 (using Alex's military discount saved me an additional 10%).

Supplies:
* 4- 48' twin track rods
* 8- 10' twin brackets
* 4- twin track rod installation kits
* 1- 72' long white shelf
* 2- 24' long white shelves

First obstacle- finding studs! (I know that they are "supposed" to be 16 inches apart.) After putting about 7 holes in my wall, we discovered that my house has studs that are 15 inches apart- thank you 1957 construction crew. My brother, Gregory, came down to lend a hand and boy did we need one! We were looking for studs in all the wrong places....


First stud was located! We started putting our track rods up! The level was our best friend!


Yes I did something!


The track rods are in place!


We added the shelving...


...put my desk back in place and added accessories!

The final product



I still have a few things to add- baskets, push pin board, and hooks to hold my ribbon! I just love it so much!

Operation: Craft Room= SUCCESS!!!!

Creatively yours,
Nicole