Around the House: 5 Minute Bench Makeover

Happy Monday and MLK Day. I'm popping in for a quick DIY that some of you may be inspired to try today if your weather is as insanely gorgeous as ours has been. My friend gifted me this bench when she moved into her new mid-century modern. I love it. Clean simple lines and the perfectly worn wood. Mmm... 

And as perfect as it is, I couldn't help but feel that it needed a little spice. A bit of gold.

Once the sun began to set we threw a few logs into the pit, sat by the fire and grilled marshmallows. I love, love, love our firepit. I'm so glad we had it built. Our family gathers around the fire quite often and watching the flames is proving to generate good conversation. That warms my heart more than the flames warm my feet.

 Yup, gold stripes... they will do quite nicely.

Enjoy your three day weekend! xo

More Amour

Valentine's is just around the corner and I thought I'd give us all a little jumpstart with a Friday DIY! You down? Ok then... grab your fabric paints and let get this party started.

I have loved the Creme de la Creme sweatshirt ever since I saw Miss Atlantic-Pacific rock it a year or so ago. It's so fun and basic all at the same time. And that's pretty much how I like all of my clothes - fun and basic. But no matter how much I love this sweatshirt, I'm not paying almost $200 for it. Sorry.

I came across a basic Hanes sweatshirt in grey at the thrift store not long ago and I was thinking it needed a little pick me up. Inspired by the upcoming holiday celebrating love, I thought "More Amour" would be the perfect phrase to give my sweatshirt that certain extra something - je ne sais quoi.

Materials Needed:

fabric paint

letters/stamps (I'm using foam letters from the Dollar Tree)

brayer

flat surface (I use the glass from an old picture frame)

ruler

disappearing ink

small paint brush

step 1: mark your lines for your words

step 2: roll out your paint onto your flat surface with your brayer

step 3: paint each letter with the brayer and stamp it onto your sweatshirt

step 4: with a paintbrush, fill in any areas within your applied letters that didn't get enough paint

step 5: heat set your paint by ironing

So easy right? I can't wait to rock this over the weekend with some ripped jeans or cargo pants. And since it's the weekend, I'll have to pair it with some cute trainers or chucks too. Maybe I'll add a little sparkle the closer it get's to Valentine's Day.

Happy Weekend Homies. How would you rock this sweatshirt? xo

Around the House: New Year's Eve

The biggest party of the year is happening in just 2 short days. Are you ready? Since having littles, I haven't really figured out how to celebrate this night. Ok. I'll be honest... I haven't figured this thing out since I stopped partying my tail off like some crazy person and regretting half the night the next day. This year, my bestie and I are going to host an early shindig for the littles and I can't wait! I'm finally excited about this holiday again. I'm making just a few small decorations to keep things festive without losing my mind. 

I found this tinsel at my favorite shop - The Dollar Tree - and I can't believe how much is in just one bag. It's like the long haired sister of glitter. Luckily she's a lot easier in the clean up department.

 Let's pull up our big girl DIY undies and make some simple sparkle tassels. You with me?

 Take a little out of your bag and line them up as seen below...

Once you have them neatly lined/piled up, take some twine and tie off into sections to create your sparkle tassels...

In between each twine tie-off, cut the tinsel with scissors.

Next, fold each section in half at the twine. Take a single piece of tinsel and wrap around the tassel just 1/4" below fold/twine and knot to secure. Last but not least, trim your tassels to have clean finish. (Use the trimmed off tinsel to make your own confetti!)

Once your tassels are complete, just string them onto a long twine piece and hang! Easy peasy. Not into bunting, garland or whatever it's called these days? No problemo. Add your tassels to helium balloon strings or party hats or serving spoons. These babies can glam up just about anything.

Want more ideas? How about a few of these...

 1 | 2 | 3

1 | 2 | 3

If I could pull off a party with a balloon countdown (hershey's kisses in the last one to be popped), handmade confetti, party hats, a year in review with a few goals list, cupcakes and ice cream with sparkles (ie sprinkles) I would be one happy Momma. Oh, and there's got to be glow sticks come nightfall, right? Here's to trying! Cheers. xo

PS - I'm pretty sure that my one rule for dress code should be that everyone must don a little sparkle - even my boys! Agreed?

Last Minute Christmas Gifts (On the Cheap)

If you're anything like me EVERY Christmas, you are scrambling for some last minute easy and affordable gifts. I get it. I'm not quite sure why I do this to myself, but it happens every year. I'm pretty sure most people would qualify me as a procrastinator. I think I'm super busy, but if I'm honest, I think the real issue is that I don't prioritize my time well. Yup, that's it. Time management. Whatever, the "label" if you are looking for a few last minute gifts for under $5.00 (which I love) then look no further... run, don't walk, to the Dollar Tree.

I found this cute jar at the Dollar Tree along with gift bags, wrapping paper and tissue paper. Throw those into the mix with your friends', teachers' or co-workers' favorites and you have yourself gifts galore. My youngest has a teacher that loves fruits and nuts. Toss them into a jar with a handmade gift tag (cardboard from an Amazon box) and you have yourself a gift for about $4.00. Add some rainbow loom bracelets on tissue box card stock and you have gifts for everyone in the class (or office). WIN!

Want to add a little more zing? You guys, I found this awesome red baking dish at the Dollar Tree and it looks like it came straight out of Anthropologie. For realz. Add some fruity tea (which my oldest's teacher just happens to love) along with some of favorite colors on the tips of wooden cooking spoons and you have yourself a gift that looks like a million bucks for mere pocket change. Seriously, I think this give cost me $5.00, max.

Spoons - $2.00 at the grocery store. Painter's tape - on hand. Acrylic paint - on hand. Just tape the spoons off wherever you want the color to stop. And then paint with your friend's favorite colors.

I put bulldog clips on the ends of the spoons so that I could paint them and allow them to dry while painting the next spoon...

After you paint the handles of each spoon with acrylic paint and allow them to dry, apply a coat or two of Modge Podge. (I used matte finish for this gift.)

Allow the spoons to dry and then tie with a ribbon. I used red here because Jude's teacher's favorite color is red. (Clearly.) Once the gifts are all tied up, slip them into a gift bag (I just reuse gift bags that have been given to me - bonus of having a December birthday) and you are good to go. Gifts galore for well under $10.00. 

What are your tips and tricks for great gifts that don't break the bank? xo

Corrugated Christmas

I know! As if 2 days of this stuff wasn't enough. Bare with me. I promise this is the last of it. I just wanted to show you guys my favorite tinsel tree that greets me daily and anyone that passes our house. It sits in our family room, right in front of our big picture window. When the afternoon sun hits all that tinsel, it's like a disco up in here. I love it.

Remember the corrugated painted diamonds I showed y'all last week? Yup, I used them in the window and on the tree. For the window, I hung them at different intervals using bakers twine and a tension rod. Easy up, easy down. For the tree, baker's twine as well.

I think the corrugated diamonds actually pair quite nicely with my vintage ornaments. Love. Love it.

PS - I think my tree kind of looks like the love child of the above two images. No?

Happy weekend homies. Rock it like you own it. Next week, no cardboard. I promise. xo

tinsel stir stick via fred flare

neon geo tree - source unknown

Christmas Gift Tag DIY

Being iced in for four days will drive any momma to craft, right? I can't even begin to tell you how many cardboard crafts are hung throughout my house right now. (I'm a little bit frazzled and cross-eyed after four days of icemaggedon!) I'll be sharing pics and details with you over the remainder of the week. One of the corrugated crafts is this diamond gift tag gem of a DIY. I'm over at Mom Edit with the details. It's easy, fun, inexpensive and your littles can help. xo

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Forest Fun with Ninjago

If you are a boy mom, chances are you know Ninjago. If you're a girl mom, it's probably Polly Pockets or My Little Pony or something. In my house, it's all Lego, all the time. And Ninjago is THE thing. Because my boys are always playing with them and watching their show on Netflix, I thought it would be fun to make a little "forest" for them. Later, we could take out the trees and turn it into an outdoor training arena too. Whatever their little hearts desire. We made this one using items found in our recycle bin and craft station.

Materials:

empty tea box

paint

scissors

hot glue

popsicle sticks

paint brushes

foam core (optional)

corks

acorn tops (optional)

WARNING: (Yes, this craft comes with a warning.) It is quite likely that you will enjoy the making of this craft more than your littles.
Once everything is painted (I added snow and more background trees for depth) just add your mini-figures and let their imagination soar! We may or may not be adding holiday decor to our scenery.
PS - how cute would it be to turn those acorn capped corks into red mushrooms with white polka-dots? I die. xo

Thanksgiving Tables

Food. Family. Friends. Thankful Hearts. It's my favorite holiday. Oddly, I never do table decor for Thanksgiving. But that's only because my sister hosts it every year. At first I was a little bitter, because afterall, it is my favorite holiday. But I have come to love this tradition - my sweet sister packs her home with every single friend, neighbor and coworker that is without family. Everyone brings a dish, or in her friend Jodi's case - 7+ homemade pies, and we dine. We spend the entire day together laughing and telling silly stories. The kids do Christmas crafts and wish lists from all the black friday ads my sister has collected. Oh, and we also give my sister and her pie-loving friend Jodi a very hard time for their die-hard tradition of a 4:00 am Black Friday shopping spree complete with mani-pedis in the afternoon.

This year, when I saw the above Shanna Murray plate at West Elm (no longer available sadly), I couldn't help but day dream a little about what my place settings would look like if I were to host this grand meal.  And wouldn't you know it, I got stuck at placemats. With all the amazing choices, how can you not get stuck?

It all starts here - the brown kraft paper (found at your local Dollar Tree) with simple pen and ink:

Then I found these amazing gold dotted placemats at Paper Source:

Then I thought, what if you just bought sheets of wrapping paper and cut them in half? That's when the world of opportunity opened wide:

Or go for a bit more color and a splash of whimsy:

Add to those paper placemats a Thanksgiving Stamp and some lines for thankful lists and it's a win!

Someone please tell me I'm not the only one that daydreams of this stuff. Please? It's just over a week away; are you ready? xo