ink.

It has been quite a while since I have blogged and I have to admit I have missed it.  I figured I would start with the newest adventure in my life....getting inked.



As most of you know crafting and sewing are a HUGE part of my life and I am so thankful that God has given me the talent to create things with my own two hands [and of course an amazing sewing machine]

I have debated about a tattoo for such a long time and I always knew that I wanted something but wasn't exactly sure what I wanted it to be of.  If any of y'all have a tattoo you know that you have to get something that you literally will want to look at the rest of your life.

With a love of sewing, crafting and antiquing a decided on the little picture below that no resides on my left shoulder/chest area.





Honestly I was terrified to get it and when the guy started and with my loving husband watching over me I realized that it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  Of course it didn't feel great by any means but it wasn't the awful pain I thought it would be.  After being on my body for a little over a week now I can't even begin to express how proud I am of my tattoo.  Clients and friends constantly tell me how pretty and feminine it is and that is exactly what I wanted it to be.  Almost every morning I glance down at it and think how beautiful it is and honestly how beautiful and feminine it makes me feel.  I am overwhelmed by the detail and color of the tattoo and it blows my mind that people are so talented at doing things like this.  If you have ever considered getting a tattoo I would highly recommend it...yes it stays on your body forever....but to look down at this everyday [in a strange way] gives me such a new confidence about myself.

my latest project

It has been harder and harder to blog in the past few days because Caleb and I have been using our laptop as a method of TV lately.  Since we NEVER watched anything live we decided to quit cable, spend about $20.00 on some cords and hook up our laptop and watch everything online or Netflix.  I must say at first I did not want to give up my Monday afternoon Lifetime movies, but after a few weeks of having it off and being able to save around $75.00 a month it is totally worth it!  Since I have a lot more time to be crafty and get projects done around the house I decided it was time to post the newest love of my life.

.......it is a hutch I purchased from an antique store for whopping $75.00.  With a purchase of some Kilz, 6 knobs from Hobby Lobby[that were half off] and re-using some left over paint from my craft desk I have come to love love love this piece of furniture that Caleb did not want me to paint.....but of course I won the fight on that one.

It was extremely easy to do and what is so fun about doing projects like this is that each person does it different and gets to add their own touch to something that was once precious to somebody and now means so much to me because I did it all on my own!

Before........

After......

Here is how the process went down:

1.  Sand entire hutch with a harder grit sand paper and then buff with a softer grit sand paper.

2.  Apply at least 1 maybe 2 coats of Kilz.

3.  Apply 2 coats of desired color.

4.  After it has completely dried, take sand paper and lightly or heavily[depending on how much wood you want to show] run the sand paper across the hutch taking of parts of the paint so that it looks stripped and old.

5.  Decorate as needed.

my very first country concert.

Tonight I got the opportunity to take my dad's ticket and go to Carrie Underwood's concert at Verizon Arena.  I must say I knew only 2 of the songs that she sang, but she put on a great concert and as always there was the one fool who danced out of control and got laughed at from across the crowd.  Gotta love Arkansas for its proud people that don't care at all what other people think of them!

Here are a few pics.  And yes she is in an old truck above our heads it was crazy!

I honestly have to say if I was ever going to listen to country music I would listen to her because she is insanely good at what she does.

fall is almost here.

Tonight was craft night and I carved my first pumpkin.  Yes I am 25 and just carved my first pumpkin.  My inspiration came from this link and was extremely easy to follow.  I did the halloween house template 3, needless to say I am practicing for my first ever Spooktacular Halloween Party and hope I will do well at the pumpkin carving contest.

I havent put a light in it yet but hopefully soon I will get one to place in it.

On another note my sweet friend Kim has started blogging and everyone should follow her blog here because it is too cute not to get seen.

::my somewhat productive monday::

I am not so good at keeping up this blog yet.....but this week I am going to try to be better at it.  I promise!! Today was like a usual monday for me, clean, organize, craft and go do some antiquing!  I keep telling myself I will get back in the routine of running since it feels so amazing outside now, but that's a whole other goal to do.

Today I ventured out to the Goodwill of the lovely NLR.  I think this has been the best findings of all, mostly because it was all so cheap and because I loooove all my new nifty things.

Everything was $1.00 except for the tall vase with dried flowers in it adding up to a whole $3.00.  I brought my things home and dispersed them throughout my house.  Caleb and I laughed because pretty sure both our grandparents had most of this decor in their house at one point and now it is making its way full circle back into our house and little hidden treasures that make our home feel homey.











On another note I started one of my quilts today.  Its not really a quilt, just two pieces of fabric sewn together with batting in the middle, but I call it a quilt cause it's not a duvet cover.  So far everything has gone very good with it.  Hopefully I can finish it this week so I can display some pics.

who is ready for fall?!

This past Sunday my mom and I attended the Pottery Barn fall decor class at our local pottery barn.  I have never been to a class like that before but I really enjoyed getting to see how other people decorate instead of looking at blogs and Martha Stewart's site all day long.  Since Pottery Barn is a little expensive I took some of their ideas and went to my local Hobby Lobby and Michael's and spent half of the money that I would have.

My lantern filled with little pine cones and pumpkins from Michael's.

Decorative pumpkins and a vase filled with acorns from Hobby Lobby.

My mom did purchase the fabulous tree trunk candle from Pottery Barn for me!  All other decor from Hobby Lobby.  Hoping to put a big pumpkin behind it all when a local church starts selling their pumpkins.

These next two photos are probably my most favorite fall decor ideas that I received from this blog and they were both really cheap!  I just found a template for a bird on line and cut it out of scrapbook paper and then stenciled fall on an extra piece of it and replaced it in a frame I already have.

This little creation is for sure my favorite above all other decorations I have done.  Just cut out some circles of burlap and other fabric that reminds you of fall and hot glue them onto a wreath.  I then took some twine and hot glued it on the back of the wreath and found little paper clips and stenciled THANKFUL onto some other scrapbook paper I had and completed it within 30 minutes!  It was very easy and what I like is each one will be different depending on the person who creates it.  

labor day weekend

I love holiday weekends mainly because Caleb gets to have a Monday off with me, which rarely happens, so when it does happen we try to do everything we can together.

After I got off work on Saturday we went to Blue Suede Shoes Antique Mall in Bryant, AR.  This place is my ultimate dream antique store!!  Every time I go there I find something I like and just HAVE to buy it.  I have been keeping my eyes out little trinkets for my new hutch I bought a few weeks ago.  Here were my purchases making a total of $20.00!

Caleb and I also visited Lowes at least 5 times going back and forth trying to figure out a paint color for the living room, dining room and hallway.  FINALLY the 3rd trial size color worked.  I did all of the trim tonight and am hoping by this weekend it will be done!


Another reason I love holiday weekends because I can organize and start certain projects that I have been dwelling on.  I narrowed my winter crafts down to attempting to make this and this.  Of course they won't look exactly like that but I will attempt to carry over the "idea" of them.  I want this first one for our guest bedroom and the quilt for our bedroom.  I have been wanting to make some new bedspreads for a very long time now, but haven't found exactly what I want to do.  Hopefully I can get started on them once the weather gets a little cooler.  If you know me, you know that I would rather do things myself so it is more unique and if it saves me anything even $5.00 it is totally worth it to me.


Hopefully soon I can post some pictures of the new living room color and the steps along my process of making one of the new bedspreads.