and it begins...

my plate wall.

according to my husband, it's something that would have been on his great grandmother tilly's wall. but once i put it up he said, "meh, it doesn't look THAT bad" c:

for me, it just makes me happy. currently it's a little sparse, a little bland and i may need to put them a little closer together...but it's a start c:

some old, some new

our little mantel made up some old, some new, a little thrifting and a sweet gift. 

thought process behind it...bought the clock from hobby lobby and decided there wasn't going to be a color scheme or plan to the living room, just things that make me happy and color. then i seriously walked around my house with a dear friend and began collecting random things. 

 

this picture was hanging above our couch...however that was the determined area where my soon to be plate wall will hang, so we found it a new home on the mantel. and the item on the left, well, i'm not sure what to call it. it belonged to a candle thing we had and doesn't really have any function but i thought it was cool looking and it gives that side a little height c:

the so so sweet Christmas gift from nicole. succulents in monogram mugs...does it get any cuter?

left`hand picture, frame in front {you tracking?} was a clearance find a while back from michaels. the frame behind it was from one of my best yard sale hits ever, my mom and i left with boxes full of teaching stuff and about a dozen old wooden frames for the grand total of five dollars. i did a light coat of heirloom white spray paint and roughed it up with sand paper. the vases are from a kohl's steal. they were already eighty percent off...then add on another coupon and i believe the three of them were only a couple dollars c:

so there you go. some old, new, reused, clearanced and prettiness. husband thinks i'm weird {but what's new} having all the randomness and empty frames just chillin` on the mantel but my heart is happy and our the room feels cozy. 

intro to anthro

with the husband gone for drill this weekend, i was free of home improvements to this little house of ours with electrical wiring and shelf building. don't get me wrong, i love everything about making these walls our home in a functional way but it lacked color and warmth and every`day coziness. since we bought this house in summer the first round of decorations were the red, white and blue's, then fall came and finally the finale of season decorating with christmas. taking down christmas was hard, not only because i was dealing with the post christmas blues but our home became bare and i realized i had only decorated for seasons, not thinking of the other six months of the year. 

okay, so back to the part about the husband being gone...i spent an entire day experiencing hobby lobby, west elm and anthropologie for the first time and soaked up every second of it with one of my favorites. first off, let me remind you i'm from a smaller isolated city, where it was a big game changer for target to come into town. i never even knew about these places before i moved here. i had seen west elm and anthropologie magazines and every now`and`then on pinterest. i adored the style but could never bring myself to purchase at that price. until my dear friend informed me of their clearance section. usually i'm the queen of clearance, but i assumed the price cuts would not be enough for my cheap self...how i was ever`so misinformed. and let me tell you, i was ever`so happy to be wrong.

well, there are my purchases and here is my plan...a pretty plate wall and pops of color. no color scheme, just stuff found around the house and a few new things c:

ps. as for hobby lobby, i'm not sure if i have a good excuse for never going before this weekend...but am so thankful i did because it blows joanns and michaels out of the water.

thank goodness for instagram

here are the highlights of my week, courtesy of the most amazing instagram...

on one of my longer days i busted out the bracelet i wore at my wedding...and this little beauty got me through the day with a smile c:

first pumpkin patch field trip of the season...the students had a blast even though it was ninety out that day, note where i am standing while taking this picture c;

i spent saturday assisting/seconding shooting for this amazing girl...find her at www.sweetseptemberphotos.com

what i see when i jet home to accomplish some homework before actual work. and yes, that's my pumpkin from the field trip!

thank goodness for instagram catching all these moments that light up my day and thank goodness for Taingamala for hosting the link up c;

mickey d's, fall and organization

a look into my week...minus the homework, school and work stuff c:

in the beginning of the week i gave in to a craving of mine...but it just felt like a sausage mc`muffin kind of morning | the end of my inst`tuesday week i swung by walmart for a 'quick grab kitty food' trip before work, but i happen to stumble upon a teacher score...fifty cents a piece c:

i went through, de`cluttered and organized my jewelry...minus the necklaces, they'll be another time c;

after church i spent the afternoon with one of my absolute favorites and her little home inspired me to pull out my fall decorations | i placed this pumpkin on my mantel and the next morning i woke up to overcast skies...slowly but surely our part of california will get the memo we have entered into autumn. 

my challenge to you...organize something in that home of yours, bust out some fall decorations and don't forget to treat yourself to a little mickey d's this upcoming week c:

happy tuesday!

much thanks to miss Taingamala for hosting insta`tuesday

DIY picture on wood

this is a fun and easy way to display pictures. not to mention a unique and inexpensive gift. last chirstmas we were on a tight budget {saving for our down payment and all} luckily it was at that time i was introduced to pinterest <3  THIS tutorial saved me mula while still gifting something pretty special. last week i finally got a chance {and remembered} to make one for myself, a gift for me c: 

FIRST thing you need is a block of wood. mine was left over from my christmas stash and is 8in X 10in. i bought my lumber from home depot and one of the associates cut 8in X 10in pieces for me. SECOND a printed out picture on regular paper. i set my printer options to 8in X 10in so it would fit my block 'o wood perfectly. you can print color, sephia or black and white...i've done each one and they've all turned out fine. personally i like the black and white's or sephia, to give it a more antique look on the wood but that's me c: THIRD medium gel mat, bought it from michael's with my 40% off coupon for about $7.00 and it's lasted me over a dozen wood pictures. FOURTH some handy dandy mod podge.

 choose which side of wood you want the print to show up and sand it down.
then apply your medium gel. 

place your picture print side down and smooth it with your fingers so there are no bubbles. let it set over night.

dampen the picture with a wet rag and rub away the paper. after you think you've gotten everything, let it dry for a few minutes and check again. sometimes when the paper is wet it blends in to wood, so it appears that everything's off but it's not. that's why i let it dry so i can re`examine where i need to complete my final rub's. 

once all the paper is off, apply your mod podge to seal your picture and let it dry. 

taadaaa! in a few minutes you will have a finished product like this c:

saturday night love

saturday night was one of those perfect nights. worship.laughter.friends.food.crafts. after work i rushed home to pick up the boy and we meet one of our most favorite couples at church for the evening service.  then we out to eat using a christmas gift card :) after our stomachs couldn't handle any more complimentary bread, we took our left overs {plus more bread} back to our place. the boys played video games, and we tried not to get in their line of vision as we crafted this together:

i love crafting with nicole because we finish each other sentences

and we get wayyy excited about everything

she's much more enthusiastic about my crafting adventures than the boy

...go figure! 

i had gotten these hearts forever ago on clearance

originally it was two sets of three that were connected together

but we cut them up and hung them from the ceiling instead.

branch look familiar? reused and wrapped in sparkly heart wire.

i made these last year

scrape book pictures cut up and backed on pink paper

then inserted in dollar tree picture frames.

{please excuse the dust..from poking holes in that lovely popcorn ceiling of ours}

this little section of the apartment makes me so happy 

not to mention getting to hang out with both of our boys home

life is good :)

winter decor

i think i speak for pretty much everyone that taking down christmas decorations is just sad and a tad depressing. this year i crafted more winter'ish decorations so i could keep it up all january and not feel the after christmas blues when we came home from vacation. here's a little something i did earlier december and still have up in our apartment :)

big time inspiration from kelle hampton

for fall she hung scrape book paper leaves

then i saw on pinterest a suggestion to add snow flakes

i used small eye hooks and fishing wire to hang everything

found the branch at school...i think it's included in the tuition i pay.

the boy calls it our toilet tree branch :)

q~tip snowflakes

cut different sizes of q~tips and hot glue together

 paper roll snowflakes

cut toilet paper rolls 1/2 inch to 1 inch width

paint and sprinkle with glitter

hot glue together

pipe cleaner and beads snowflakes

twisted pipe cleaners together and added beads

our make~shift mantle 

ikea shelf drilled in above the fire place.

hemp, yarn and a button.

clear ornaments from the dollar tree, some stuffed with hemp yarn and some glittered 

others i used water down glue to adhere newspaper, added sparkles and sealed with modge podge. 

similar to a past post..upside down tea light holders

instead of candy corn..hemp and yarn.

 my favorite part is that when i open the front door the first thing i see is 

our mirror reflecting the mantle and toilet tree snowflake branch ;)

my morning off

first morning off in forever and i made a 

no homework rule

for the morning at least.

 so i made a birthday package for my sister

which meant i finally got to make my forever 'pinned'

cake pops

i reused my plastic mayo jar

{soaked it super well}

filled it will curling ribbon, pixie sticks,cake pops 

and a birthday note of course

then mailed it off.

hurray for harvest

so i debating on bringing out the christmas decor

just because it took me this long to finally make my home autumnish

but i thought, better late than never

with these few hours i'll at least bring out a few fall things

before i go gun-hoe on christmas.

yes i know halloween is over

but i've been wanting to do this forever

and actually bought the supplies about two months ago

dollar tree tea light holders turned upside down,

filled with candy corn and tea lights placed on top.    

soo not much, but accompanied with my candied caramel pecan candle

makes me happy girl :)

bytheway...thank goodness for pinterest!

all the ideas i couldn't get to this year...are stored for the next

i love that!