December 2012

December was a busy busy month for me.  My best friend got married on December 8th, I finished up my Fall semester, and of course had many Christmas festivities.  I know its a little late to update you all, however I don't have many projects going on now due to school. (And I must keep busy otherwise I will worry too much about Grad School.)

Bailey and Travis were married on a gorgeous day.  I was blessed to be the Maid of Honor in this lovely marriage.  As you can see, Bailey was a lovely Bride.

 Top Left: Helping Bailey into her wedding dress so she can marry her other best freind.

Bottom Left: Bailey with her Bridesmaids and Flower Girl at the Groom's Supper.

Right: With my best friend on her wedding day.

Top Left: During my Maid of Honor Speech at the Reception.

Middle Left: Hugging the Bride after I bawled my way through the entire speech.

Bottom Left: The wedding party outside in the snow!

Right: The amazing Bride and Groom.  What an wonderful couple.

After the wedding of the year, I went off to the library to study for finals.  Dreaming of my Christmas break. (Crazy how that time flew by).  I was busy scrap booking {I printed off 555 photos to be scrapbooked), sewing, making goodies, and working on christmas presents.

I also visited my favorite 4 year old in the world..  Ava and I played "Santa" and watched movies.  I just love spending time with that girl.

Since all of these are from December, I must update you soon about the present.  Next week I will be on Spring Break, which will consist of sewing, learning how to knit, and scrapbook with the greatest, Kailee.  I will also be traveling to Hillsboro Oregon with my mother to scope out the school there and hopefully nail my interview.  Stay tuned for photos!! {Hopefully those will be up within days or weeks and not days}

-M

coffe cup sleeves

Hello All-
Most of you know that I am obsessed with sewing! I have been making wallets and coffee cup sleeves. For Christmas, I made quite a few for friends and family.  Here are a few of the ones I've made.

I learned how to make a buttonhole over Christmas break so I have been working like crazy making all of the sleeves with buttonholes! These were made for Nichole, Meghan, Deb, and Molli-who sent me hers in use! {I love the Christmas tree in the background}

Stay tuned for a better tutorial on how to make the coffee cup sleeves!

-M

Bachelorette Party

For those of you who know me well, know that I LOVE to host parties.  Recently, my best friend, Bailey got married.  I held her Bachelorette Party at my parents house.  Planning, decorating, and cleaning were all on my to-do list.  We planned the party for a Friday night in November.  I knew that I would be busy with finals during that time, so I planned quite a bit of it during the summer.  I'm very glad I did this.  I didn't have to worry about last minute games and decorations.

Together, Bailey and I made the plans and the guest list.  We decided to stick around home and go bar hopping to the local bars.  I found it was easiest to make an excel spreadsheet for EVERYTHING.  From the guest list to the items I needed to get.  Everything was color coded and strategically placed.  (I love excel).

After we made the guest list and the plans I started on the theme and invites.  With help from my friend, Kailee we decided on the theme, "Get out your Boots & Pearls."  Which fits Bailey so well.  I had another friend help with the invites, she's an AMAZING graphic designer.  See her work {here}.  She made two per page, therefore I could print out both on one piece of off white 8.5 x 11 paper. {purchased at Walmart}

LOVE her work!!

While Allie was working on the invites, I made a board that I wanted to have by the doorway.  I found this on pinterest {of course} 

I loved this, so I decided to make my own!

In the process....

 Bailey & I next to her sign!

After buying all of the supplies {bachelorette decorations, food, napkins, plates, table cloths etc} I needed to make a MILLION jello and pudding shots.  If you need the recipe for jello shots check out this {website}.  I found it extremely helpful, considering I don't like jello-shots.  Once those were made, it was time to start the decorating... here are a few pics of the decor and the party!

Since the house was decorated nice, I decided the bus would be full of condoms, balloons, streamers, and undies!  I wish I would have gotten a picture of it all, but the night FLEW by and I had no time to take a picture.

All of us girls who helped Bailey celebrate her last night as a single woman.  {I love the undies behind us!}

This was taken at Kegger's, singing Karaoke.  {I HATE KARAOKE}

I could not have gotten through any of this without the help of my dear friends Kailee & Meghan.  I'm so thankful that Kailee was there for me through it all, the phone calls, planning, games and decorating.  Meghan was an amazing helper with all the last minute decisions (choosing which underwear to buy for the games) and for helping me clean, make jell-o shots, and decorate!! I couldn't imagine what this party would have consisted of if it weren't for them!  Thanks girls!!

 ooh...sorry Meg finger slipped ;)

You two are sooo AMAZING!

Overall, it was a great night and I couldn't have asked for a better night and group of girls to spend it with.  Bailey has an amazing support system.  She is one lucky lady! I'm soooo happy for her and her new married life! Stay tuned for pics from her BIG day and my first time being a Maid of Honor!

I also need to thank my WONDERFUL parents.  They were there to help with all of the planning, cooking, and cleaning.  Thank-you for opening up your house to us girls for the night.  We all appreciate it.  You both are so amazing and I can not thank-you enough for everything that you do for me.  Love you!!!

-M

cork board part 3

Hello my friends!  Well, it is now TWO days into the new year! How is everyone's resolutions coming?  Mine have been okay, I'm still working everything out! I plan to really kick it into gear once Christmas break is over, and I'm back down in Mankato!!

Most of you know that I've been working on my cork board for quite some time now.  I thought that I had saved enough corks to FINSIH the board.  But, turns out I only had enough for 2 1/2 rows...  I guess I'm just trying to figure out how many "parts" I'm going to have to blog about :) for this board!!

Heres an update of my 2 1/2 rows!!

I'll be collecting more corks to update you all someday soon!! Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!  Look for my "words to live by" post on Friday!!!

-M

fall decorating {a little late}

it's been way toooooo long since my last post!  Once again I have been caught up in school work, clinic work, and grad school applications :/ ...I have decorated for fall/halloween at the normal time everyone does.. just have not had time to update you all about it :)  Here are a few photos of the fall decorations.  {all homemade of course} Halloween/pumpkin carving photos are next so check back again in a week or so (hopefully have some time this week!)  I should probably take my fall things down and start decorating for Christmas soon!!! 

P.S. my FAVORITE fall decor is pumpkins!! I LOVE pumpkins! {and pumpkin carving!!}

 This is the pumpkin basket I put together for my mom...due to my lovely friend Tesa {who grows pumpkins} I received quite a few pumpkins from her this fall.

 Jute covered pumpkins with my milk vase filled with sticks on our end table.

--more to come on milk glasses--

 the fall wreath I made out of beads, jute, burlap, and some sticks..

this is my pumpkin basket in our entryway.  the white and orange pumpkins were also placed outside on my doorstep..although they did not get to stay there long :(

Stay tuned for much much more!! I need to update with the TWO recent car trips I went on.  HALLOWEEN pictures, along with my antique finds from the last TWO antiquing adventures!!! I also am hosting a bachelorette party, therefore more decorating to do! So much to come!! Hope everyone had a great fall and is getting ready for Christmas... I must start Christmas shopping!

more pillows

WOW!! I have not been good at blogging lately.  I have been busy studying and preparing for grad school.  Next weekend I will be taking my GRE (fingers crossed).  Two weekends ago I went antiquing and wine tasting with my mankato girls.  Wine tasting was awesome, I can't wait to go again sometime.  Antiquing was fun, but I had no luck finding anything.

As I mentioned before I made pillows for Geoff.  He had told me that he wanted some pillows for his room, so I let him pick out the fabric he wanted.. {btw Geoff does not know how to match} He chose striped pillows thinking that that would match his bedroom.

 He loves them so even though they don't match, that doesn't matter.

 The small blue one was one of the first pillows I made

 Geoff's early birthday gift...I believe he was more excited about this than the pillows I made him.

At Indian Creek Winery in Jainsville.  It was such a gorgeous night to relax on the patio and sip wine with these amazing girls.

Hope everyone has a great week!! I will hopefully have time this week {in between study sessions} to upload my recent photos over the last couple weeks.  Wish me luck on my GRE!! 

pillows

After receiving my sewing machine from my grandparents I have been practicing and trying new patterns.  I finally feel that I have mastered the sewing machine. {sort of} After moving I decided that my black and white room needed some accent colors.  SO I decided to tie in my latest obsession with my craft making! The latest obsession I have discovered is now pillows..so I decided to make some pillows and pillow covers!  My first pillow was for Geoffrey of course {that way his were the trial and error pillows ;)} I've been looking for purple fabric but I couldn't find any I really liked.  So I used some old fabric that I had to make mine.

 I figured they don't match my room....but I'm trying to get out of my matchy matchy problem!

 The lighting in my room isn't the best but heres what it looks like so far...As soon as I find the purple I want I will make more and update you all!  More pillow pictures to come of Geoffrey's!!

Still waiting to go antiquing and wine tasting on Friday! Hopefully I will find some great buys to show you all!

cork board part 2

Well its back to school again.  Therefore, everything is in full swing again.  So far I don't have homework...which is a surprise, but I'm sure I'll be studying soon. I have been able to do some crafts during this down time and really enjoying it. {my netflix is also getting a lot of use!}
As most of you know I have been working on a cork board {for what feels like a year now}  I thought I would all update you on the progress.  I received a bunch of corks one night from work so I glued them onto my board.  I was thinking that all these corks would get me at least 3/4 of the board finished....seems I forgot how many corks it took.. I got about 2 rows done so thats exciting!

Here it is....almost half way done...right??

I'm expecting to get a lot more this weekend so I will keep everyone updated :) I hope these get me at least 3 more rows!!

dad's birthday gift

Hello my people!! (If I still have followers...) I have been very busy working, studying to take my GRE :( and trying to get ready for school to start :(  I have had a very busy summer with weddings, events, being at the lake, and swimming lessons!  (tomorrow is my last day of swimming lessons for the year!!!) Anyways...yesterday was my dad's birthday.  Due to getting ready for school to start I am now broke and have no money to spend..so I decided for my dad's birthday I would make him something.  Of course I had no idea what to make him...I mean if my dad wants anything, he could probably make it himself.  So...I recently went to crafts direct with my best friend, Nichole and she showed me this cute quote that she put on an old piece of wood for her dad for father's day. It said, "Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad."  I then knew I needed to do that for my dad.  Of course crafts direct had a sticker of it, but it was $15 which I was not spending considering I could just paint it myself.  I decided that I could just find a piece of wood in the garage and paint the quote on it.  It turned out great and my dad loved it.  I'm just curious where he decides to hang it.  I'm thinking he will hang it up in his garage...I'll post pictures later of where he decides to put it :). 

Its such a perfect quote for such an amazing father.  I'm truly blessed to have him in my life and could not have asked for a better father.  He's such a great man and I have learned so many valuable lessons from him. (I'm sure I have many more to learn as well)

coffee cup sleeves

I recently received a sewing machine from my Grandparents for my birthday.  I have been wanting one for years, so I was super excited when I opened it up.  I have only hand stitched before so I needed some sewing lessons before I really knew what to do.  Thank goodness my grandma is a seamstress and gave me some quick lessons.  I then pondered my first sewing project.  I decided on coffee cup sleeves.  This is the first one I've made so it isn't the best.

What you need:

fabric

lining - I used an old blanket that we don't use anymore

button

tooth picks

elastic

I had cut out the fabric and inside lining according to a pattern I found on the internet.

 I then sewed as close to the outside of the fabric as I could.  I'm still learning so I didn't quite sew in a straight line.

In order to sew on the button you need to place tooth picks in between the button and the fabric, in order for the elastic to fit around the button.

 You also want to make sure that the elastic is matched up perfectly with the button, this one isn't quite matched up well..but it is only my first one :) I decided to hand stitch my elastic on the backside.  I'm not quite talented enough to use my sewing machine for that part. 

I'm hoping to get better at sewing...I'm practicing quite a bit! I also am hoping to learn how to sew a button hole on it.  I think a button hole will look better on the sleeve than the elastic.

wedding gift

A great friend of mine got married a few weeks ago and I wanted to make the perfect gift for her and her new husband. I don't have a huge budget so I needed to use the materials that I already had on hand.  I wasn't sure what to do so I did a little research on pinterest and found this:

 So I decided I was going to make my own, I started with the W for their last name. I just used a stencil and black paint on the burlap. {of course I got the burlap from my father's garage}

 I first decided I was going to put the lyrics of their first dance for the background, but once I got it all put together I hated it.. I also had a hard time cutting the wood my dad had on hand, so he of course helped me out by cutting it to the perfect size.

 So I decided to paint it red like I found on pinterest.  

I then added the burlap onto the wood using large thumb tacks. 

I hope they love it as much as I do, I can't wait to make one for myself!!

geoffrey's bathroom

Geoff's bathroom was SUPER ugly for the longest time.  When he moved into his house he decided to paint it maroon..no lie.--I wish I would have taken pictures.  I decided for his birthday I was going to redo his bathroom for him.  He said he wasnt going to help me paint, but of course he had to since I'm way to short to get all the way to the ceiling so I painted what I could reach and he did the rest.  I had been looking for a shower curtain that I liked and then was going to decide on a color.  Of course it couldn't be too girly.  I then decided on paint color.  I decided on light grey/silver.  I didnt realize that grey is a hard color to use in your house due to the different hues until after we had it painted.  But, I got lucky and loved the color that I choose.  

Here is the shower curtain

I got these shelves on clearance at target that I love.  I also made the bottles and filled them with cotton balls, bubble bath, and bath salts.  Geoff thinks its pretty girly but I like it!

 I love his new bathroom.  I'm so glad I talked him into redoing it.  Now my next step is to make him a curtain..I just need to figure out what color and find a pattern!

cork board part 1

I am obsessed with wine corks and always have been.  I have been saving them for awhile now and thinking of different projects to do with them.  My first idea was to make a bath mat or outdoor mat with them, but I figured if they got dirty they would be hard to clean and could start to smell if they never dried out completely.  So I decided on a cork board.  I'm planning on hanging it in my kitchen and using it as a bulletin board for bills and such.  Due to my great job, I have been able to receive much much more corks than I would if it were up to me drinking the wine.  So here it looks so far:

I used an old frame that we had laying around and had my Dad (again my Dad tends to help with basically all of my projects) put plywood behind it.  I used my glue pan to glue all the corks in place.  A glue gun would have taken too long and too much glue (so thanks Tesa for the pan!!) I also placed the corks on the board where I wanted them before glueing them down so I knew they would fit together they way I wanted them too.  I'll keep you all posted with this project-it may take some time.  I started saving corks in December and still cant get 1/4 of the board full!

mason jar organizer

I love mason jars and decided I needed to decorate more with them.  I love that they are easily used or organization (which I'm a freak about) and decided to have my lovely Dad help me make it!

What you need:

a great Dad or guy to help you --or at least I did :)

3 mason jars

a board

3 hose clamps (large enough to fit around the mason jar)

3 frame hooks-we used ones like this:

All you need to do is place the clamps on the board where you would like the jars to sit then you place the frame hook across the clamp vertically and nail it down.  Place your mason jars in the clamps after they are all set up on the board and cut the extra hose off.

You can fill it with anything you like, I chose cotton balls, make-up wedges, and q-tips (which are NOT to be used in ears!!)

I love the new look of the organizer in my bathroom.  The wood also matches my cute basket I put together!