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

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

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

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

Tis the season to be crafty....

Fa la la la la la la la la!!!

Christmas time= Crafty time! I just love it!

Well the Christmas time craft theory has been, "Surely people will clean out their homes so Goodwill should have some good stuff!" So, my mom and I were on our way to make a Goodwill run. Shopping around the Christmas tree, we saw this ottoman...


It needed some love and for $6.99...I was going to give it all of the love it needed! SOOOOO, with ottoman in tow, we headed to Hobby Lobby (love this place!) and found the perfect fabric! Now this fabric had to match my fabulous red chair so it had to be perfect...so it was PERFECT! Off to deck the ottoman with bows of fabric...

We started by taking off that tacky ottoman skirt...



Once the skirt was removed, we started folding and stapling...fa la la la la la la la la!


The finished ottoman...


This was so fun and fantastic! No sewing-- just folding and stapling!


So how does it look?


Lula Belle gives it her paw of approval!


Keep calm and creatively yours!
Nicole

Initials are like tea in the south....

Like tea in the south? Pretty Sweet!

I love the South. Everything about it makes me absolutely fall in love with it over and over again! I love the warmth of sun, the closeness of the beach, the oak trees, the smell of spring, the sounds of fall. I love being southern more than anything else in the world. I love our accent and the way we completely mush together words....like when we say "fixin' to" or "ya hear." I love wearing pearls with every outfit and drinking sweet iced tea. My most favorite things of all...the word "yall" and MONOGRAMS! I love seeing the letters of my name plastered on all of my bags, bed spread, towels, and more! (Even my dog has monogrammed pjs!) I don't feel like it's vain, but I feel like it is oh-so-charming! Everyone should have something with their letters on it!

Monogram + easy affordable craft = a very happy Southern Belle!

I made these sweet letters for a friends 4 year old girl. I bought the wooden letters at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 a piece.


I gathered a piece of scrapbook paper for each letter, Mod Podge, and an exacto knife!


I traced each letter on the scrapbook paper and carefully cut it out. Next, I applied a layer of Mod Podge, dipped the scrapbook paper in water, placed the paper on the letter, and applied a final coat of Mod Podge. After the letters were dry, I trimmed any edges with an exacto knife. Using hot glue, I applied the ribbon for easy hanging.

Tadaaaa! The final product:


The possibilities are truly endless! It's sweet, it's southern, and it's personal!

Yall Come Back, Ya'Hear!
Nicole

Pottery Barn taste....Goodwill Budget....

Inspiration to me comes in the form of a seasonal magazine with the big letters
"P O T T E R Y B A R N" at the top. I squeal every time! I literally take the magazine, grab a blanket, a cold diet coke, and sit on the couch and savor every page. It's always so delicious!

Saturday, my mom and I made our Goodwill run after a delish breakfast at IHOP. (it was seriously the best Saturday morning ever!) We came across a table that had simple charm and great height. The visions started forming and we HAD to have it! After the $9.99 was spent on the table (we picked up a few picture frames as well!) we were on our way home with a couple of great finds! We grabbed our new issue of Pottery Barn and on page 50 we saw IT! This table had the bones of becoming the perfect table on an empty wall at my mom's house. The picture frames will be a perfect side dish! This project was especially fun because I had an assistant(my mom)!

Our inspiration:


Our materials:

and...


We began by painting 2 coats of chocolate froth(yum) on our table!

(That's my assistant and her 2 dogs! Notice everyone is sitting down...hmmm)

We removed those hideous pictures and painted the frames. One of the frames was so unique, I decided to just sand it down. It's amazing what a little sandpaper can do.


We distressed the table and I must say it turned out fabulous!


This project is a work in progress. There are more frames to paint, more accessories to find, and more Pottery Barn pages to look through! Keep checking back for the final project!

Wishing you all Pottery Barn wishes and creative dreams!
Nicole