Archives for 2013

New Picture Frame Wall + one ring to rule them all

I used to think wedding rings came with power. Not power to defeat Mordor and conquer Middle Earth (wow – buckle your seatbelts! It only took us one sentence to head straight to nerddom on warp speed!) — but power to suddenly know grown-up things, like how to make a roast, or when the fiscal […]

Latest project and 7 great online art sources

Hey there. Is the world slowly coming into focus as you emerge from a candy coma? In this house, we have a strict candy taxation policy in which 100% of chocolate candy retrieved from trick-or-treating must be turned in to parents as a tax. It’s a hard life, but somebody’s gotta eat the Butterfinger minis. […]

30 Things by 30

…and just like that, my twenties are over! Today I turn 30, and honestly? I’m excited. (Except for a tiny, freaked-out voice in the back of my head that I’m actively squashing.) Mostly, I think 30 is going to be amazing. It’s “a thing” to write about the 30 things you’ve learned by 30. Trust […]

DIY Fretwork Console Table Reveal!

Progress in the foyer, y’all! Remember a few weeks ago when it was sad, and neutral, and boring? (Except the magnetic letters. They were FUN. And educational.) Then I got my Turkish kilim rug and we turned an old yard sale headboard into a bench. But across from the bench? Sadness. A lonely little table […]

Fall Home Tour + Lofty Ambitions

Someday, when I’m a grown up, I’ll meal plan. I’ll clean as I go. I’ll wake up before the kids. I’ll stop eating when I’m full. I’ll drop birthday cards in the mail so they arrive on the occasion. I’ll decorate all-out for each season. But today? I stay up too late and still kind […]

Deckin’ out our Deck (and a Giveaway!)

Thanks for sponsoring this post, HomeRight! Remember last spring when we built our new deck? First it looked like a tragic little concrete slab. Then we whipped up a little deck which basically rocked our (outdoor living) world this summer. Aww, sweet Marley. The deck definitely looked unfinished (‘cuz it was). We had to let […]

Fancy walls on the cheap: 36 easy, beautiful DIY art ideas

I was chatting with a friend the other day who’s redoing a room and looking for some inexpensive, beautiful DIY art ideas. She asked me, casually, if I had any ideas, and I morphed into an over-excited, crazed person, like “GOLLY GEE, DO I!!” And then started sending her a bunch of fun ideas I’d […]

Watercolor Heinies: Art. Tragedy. Life.

Oh, friends. Do I have a story to tell you. A story of hope, of tragedy, of aspirations for greatness and the pain of loss. Of epic, epic failure. A story to bind all of humanity. It starts, as all good stories do, with the glorious draw of tiny, deliciously dimpled baby butt cheeks. Specifically, […]

Moats, Guillotines & Macaulay Culkin: How we’re keeping our family safe

Listen, Andy and I (and our kids) are as weird and nutty as they come. We wave our sketchiness banner high. But we still like to keep other, more ominous forms of sketchiness outside our four walls, so we recently installed a whole-house security system. Y’all, I had no idea how easy they are to […]

5 easy steps to a luxury guest bathroom on a budget + a giveaway!

Thanks to Homewerks for sponsoring this post! My little guest bath has come a long way from its days as a ballerina-bordered, pepto-bismol-colored “statement.” After we moved in and fixed it up, it had its hey day as a rarely used guest bathroom, complete with carefully placed soaps and new, fresh white hand towels… you […]

That time when New York taught me about my husband + Better Homes & Gardens Stylemaker’s Party!

You know what they always say: You never really know someone until you take them to New York City! (Do they say that? They should, guys. They really should.) Last week Andy and I hit the Big Apple for the Better Homes & Gardens Blogger Workshop and annual Stylemaker’s party, and we made a long, […]

Third time’s the charm: how to make watercolor letter pumpkins

In the last post, I showed you my fall mantel with watercolor pumpkins: I was a little conflicted about the watercolor pumpkins I made. I think I like them? Sometimes, in the right light? But I KNOW I like them better than my first draft, which I neglected to show you because they were kinda […]

Simple Fall Mantel

They say yesterday was the first official day of fall. But I don’t buy it. Maybe fall started up north already, but here in the South, everything is still fresh and green, and you can’t find an assortment of live pumpkins in any store… not even if you NEED them to decorate your mantel for […]

Four Unrelated Things.

1. Weston’s Styling Tips One of my favorite parts of blogging is “styling” photos, even if I’m a total amateur. It’s just a fun decorating party every time, where the guests of honor are my favorite pillows and accessories. When I was taking photos of the bench for the last post, my favorite three-year-old stylist […]

The headboard becomes a bench!

Oh, hi there little bench, and welcome to the foyer. Remember when you were just a simple white headboard, neglected at a yard sale with a $3 sticker slapped on your face? Look at you now! You’ve lost weight length. No, you’re not finished yet… I know you want to be shinier. There is no […]