Fall Front Door Decor

Here in Texas it's hot. Especially here in South East Texas where it's so humid you literally feel like you are living in an armpit. To say the weather is unpleasant is an understatement to say the least. Since we Texans deal with this for about 8 months (which is at least how long our summer is) we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of our long lost friend fall.

This weekend the hubby went on a camping trip to test out his manly skills so I decided to have a little fun :). When the husband is away, the wife will play! I decided if I decorated for fall, maybe it would decide to visit a little early (fingers crossed).

Now, when we moved into the house we currently live in, it was in BAD shape. Seriously, I'm pretty sure the last people that lived there hadn't done any cleaning, yard work, or home improvement in about 10 years because it was NAS-TAY. We are working really hard on it and the house is looking a million and one times better, but one thing that still needs a lot of help is our front porch. Just check out the before picture below and you will know why I thought this was the perfect place to start with my decorations.

So, to start off I went on a little browsing trip to Wal-Mart looking for some supplies to make my fall decor. I actually found quite a bit of stuff which was surprising to me considering the Wal-Mart in our home town is usually extremely picked over and unorganized. I must have caught them right when they were putting everything out. All in all this decor project cost less than $50 and I think it came out pretty darn cute!

To start off, I knew I needed a wreath. I already had a bunch of wooden wreaths left over from our wedding (enter 8 wreaths that are taking over our guest room) so I was good there but I still needed decorations to g along with it. Luckily, I found some leaf sting type things (sorry my description is failing miserably.... just check out the picture) for about $2. Two came in a pack so I picked that up and went on my way. If you don't have a million wreaths left over in your guest room you can pick one up at Hobby Lobby for $5.

Next I found a cute welcome mat for $10 (not really fall, but still cute) and some plastic pumpkins. Plastic pumpkins are  SO MUCH CHEAPER and are better than real pumpkins because they won't rot. I found a nice green one for $4 and some little ceramic ones with sayings on them for $2.

Finally I found a cute little scare crow pot holder for $14 and an orange colored plant to go with it for $3. I already had some pots at home but if you don't have any, you can get one for about $2-$3.

With all my fall goods (and a little more!) I was on my way home to decorate!

To start, I grabbed my wreath and attached the leaves. You can use whatever you want to attach it. I used floral tape and just hid it behind the leaves so it wouldn't show. I also found a little wooden W in my craft box that I stuck on there (if you buy these they are about $1). The wreaths still had green tull bows on them from our wedding so I left that on there and fluffed it up a little.

My little ceramic pumpkins were already ready to go, but I still wanted to fluff up my green plastic pumpkin a little. Since I LOVE monogramming things :) I decided to draw a little W on it. It was quick and looked so cute (if you ignore that it was slightly crooked). I used a white paint pen for this but you can also use regular paint or a sharpie (just whatever you have lying around).

After I finished the plastic pumpkin it took about 5 min to set everything up. This was by far one of my favorite crafts because it was so simple AND it barely took any time at all. I was done with this in less than 30 min (including shopping time) and was ready to lounge on the couch the rest of the day. :)

I hope you enjoy decorating for fall as much as I did! The final price on this was about $39, take that Martha Stewart!

My Favorite 4th of July Pinterest Posts

Hey Everyone!

I hope you are preparing for an awesome 4th of July tomorrow! The hubby and I are extremely excited because we have the day off work. We are planning on spending the day relaxing, we can't wait!

Today I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite 4th of July posts from Pinterest. Anytime I'm looking for an idea, Pinterest is my first stop and it didn't disappoint with the 4th of July posts! I have included a few here on the blog but there are TONS more on my 4th of July board on my Pinterest page. Please check it out!

1. Patriotic Punch from Sweet Cs Designs

I LOVE this stuff. It is so pretty and would go perfectly with any 4th of July party! Plus, you could always crank it up into an adult beverage if you wanted! :)

2. Red, White, & Blue Popsicles from The Little Kitchen

Living in Texas, we NEED something to cool us down, especially in July. These popsicles are perfect for that! They are perfect for kids (or adults!) to enjoy at any 4th of July party.

3. Flag Tank tops from Look What Erin Made

These little tank tops are the curtest and would be the perfect attire for a 4th of July party. The post is for kids but adults could rock them too!

4. Red, White, & Blue Cheesecake from Recipe Girl

This is BY FAR one of my favorite Pinterest finds! It's so cute and will have your guests thinking you are a professional! The directions are easy to follow and make an awesome product!

5. Red, White, & Blue Spaghetti from Created by Diane

Trying to be patriotic and maintain your healthy lifestyle? This is a wonderful post to help you do that. These colored noodles are so cute and the sauce is similar to the Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce I posted a few weeks ago. Very cool!

And last but not least....

6.4th of July Fruit Pizza by Hungry Happenings

I LOVE THIS! Fruit pizza is one of my favorites and this is one of the cutest fruit pizzas I have ever seen. This would be a great addition to any 4th of July party.

There ya have it! Don't forget to head on over to my 4th of July Pinterest board and check out some more awesome 4th of July finds!

Have a happy 4th of July!

DIY iPhone Cover

Hey guys! Today I have a post for you that I have been very excited to share! I made this for my mom for Mother's Day so I have been sitting on this post for a while with my lips sealed shut! This craft is really easy to make and is so cute!

Supplies:
-Cute craft paper OR a color printer
-Microsoft Word (or Paint)
-Scissors
-Clear iPhone case
-Optional: Exacto Knife
-Optional: Laminator or sealing paper

Ok, to start off, I would buy your iPhone case. There isn't really a point in doing the other parts if you can't get the case to protect your phone. I got mine at Wal-Mart for about $18 (I think it was the Skin it brand). After I bought it, I saw that Wal-Mart had a generic brand in their photo section for $14.... DANG!!! You can also get them on Amazon here if you are patient enough to wait on the shipping for about $2... DOUBLE DANG!! Here is a picture of the one I got:

Once you have your case, the rest of it is pretty easy!

At first, I just was printing black letters and designs out of Microsoft Word onto colored scrapbook paper. These looked OK, but I thought I could do a lot better.

Next, I tried just making different colored designs in Microsoft Word and then printing them on a  color printer. This worked perfectly! Really, you can use any designs you want, but I will post mine if you just want to use those. I also added some personalization to mine to make them special for my mom. :) She seemed to really like them!

Once you print out your designs, cut them out in the shape of your iPhone. To make this easier, I got a clear hard piece of plastic and made a stencil/pattern to use when cutting out my designs, it made things MUCH easier. Here is a picture of my stencil and some of the covers:

 

Also, the part where your camera is on the case is hard to cut out with regular scissors. I eventually got an exacto knife and it worked SO MUCH better and was a lot easier. I would definitely recommend it.

Once you are done cutting out your designs, you can laminate them for a little extra protection. If you don't have a laminator, Wal-Mart sells at home laminating paper. Basically you just stick whatever you want to laminate between two pieces of clear plastic that are sticky on the inside and then just cut off the excess.

Once you have everything finished, just stick your designed cover inside your case and pop your iPhone in. My sister got my mom a wallet and it went perfectly with one of the cases I made. Here are some pictures!

Aren't they cute!!! My favorite one is the chevron one! My mom finally decided on the leopard one as the one she was going to use first. It was fun testing them all out!

 

Here is the all of them templates I used. You can just copy and paste them into word and add any personalization you want. Also feel free to come up with your own!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last but not least, a few pictures of our gang from Mother's Day. :)

  

EASY DIY Home Decor

 

Happy Thursday! I hope everyone is enjoying their week.... and looking forward to Spring Break for those of you involved in the school system (**Happy Dance**).

Today I'm going to share with you a project that is SO EASY. It's seriously 3 steps. I saw this on Pinterest at one time but I have no idea where the original pin came from. If you know, let me know so I can give credit!

Some things you know about me:
1. I love to monogram everything/ put my new initial everywhere
2. I love the color green (see my wedding)
3. I love projects that are easy

SO with those three things in mind, let me introduce you to the easiest project ever.

Supplies:
-Wooden Initial
-Wooden Frame
-Spray Paint

Remember how I said this project had three steps?
1. Buy your supplies
2. Paint your letter and frame
3. Hang it on your wall.

I guess technically you could say buying your supplies is multiple steps because I got my letter from Hobby Lobby and the frame from Micheals..... but thats just a technicaility.

You don't have to go get an expensive pretty frame. Almost anything looks good with a little spray paint on it. I think the frame I used was $2-3.

I didn't include any step by step instructions because I didn't think it was really necessary. Here are some pictures after the painting.

And the final product on my wall. Sorry the pictures are dark, I took them at night!

Isn't that cute?

Happy Crafting!!

Upcycle: Spices Holder

Hello Everyone! :) I hope you are all having a wonderful day! For today's post I thought I'd share with you a very easy project I tackled over the weekend.

This all started when I decided I was going to make the most of our rent house. For those of you that rent, you know what I mean. It's really difficult to actually do any kind of decorating when you live in a rent house. They have so many rules and regulations that you basically can't do anything more than put things on the wall with thumb tacks. You can TOTALLY forget the idea of painting which is what in my opinion really changes a room.

I decided I needed to change our house. For anyone who has ever been to my house you know.... it's SO brown. The walls are brown, the carpet is brown, and pretty much everything we owned when we moved in was brown. Can you say drab? When we moved in I decided that it was so ugly that it was beyond hope, but recently I decided to change my tune and be a little more optimistic. I started with my Chevron Letter and have been trying to spruce things up ever since.

This weekend I decided to work on the kitchen/dinning room area. It turned out all the dinning room table needed was a few place mats, napkins and place settings. It's already looking much better and I have more ideas for the walls :) stay tuned!

As for the kitchen, the counter tops are (you guessed it!) BROWN and it's kind of hard to add color in a kitchen. Our plates are colorful put they pretty much stay in the cabinet the whole time so whats left? Well, to make a long post longer, I decided to add color where I could and I started with my spice rack.

Supplies:
Old Spice Rack (or cheap Walmart one)
Spray Paint

Anyone that cooks a lot (or a little) has at least some spices and storage is a perpetual problem. I didn't want to put them on a spice rack in our pantry because I wanted them easily accessible when cooking. When I bought our spice holder it was more out of convenience and price and less (or not at all) to do with the look of it. I think the price was about $5. I forgot to take a before picture of ours but here is a stock photo from Wally World.

 

So you see? White and brown does not equal a happy kitchen. The good news is, this is really easy to fix.

 

All you do, is spray paint your spice rack. Seriously, it's that easy. I would recommend using Rustoleom Spray Paint. I have found it to work the best. I only had to do one coat!

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Sometimes a simple idea is the best one! :) I flirted with the idea of adding a W in the middle since I love to monogram everything possible BUT I decided it would be covered up and wouldn't matter anyways. Here is a picture of the final product:

 



 

It looks awesome next to the yellow utensils holder I found at Target for $3. Who doesn't love decorating on a budget?!? :) Doesn't this make our kitchen a little less drab?

 

Happy Upcycling!