"A Baby is Brewing" Tea Party Shower

I had the blessing of throwing a baby shower for my good friend AJ this past weekend. She is having a boy in November and really wanted a final "girlie" party before her life becomes trucks, race cars, and all other things "boy". I can't think of anything more girlie than a tea party... 

This little photo booth had mustache's in honor of the "little man" arriving soon... Everyone wrote a message for the new mommy, daddy, and baby on a chalkboard and took a picture. 

I'll put all the pictures in a book to give to them later... 

Measure the belly game! 

It was a special day celebrating the soon to be Mommy. We took some time to pray for her and bless her in this upcoming adventure. So blessed to have wonderful friends and fun memories of these milestones. Thanks to Bethany K. for taking all the photos! 

Our Bedroom Makeover... And Some Good Bedtime Reading.

As renters, not owners of our little two bedroom "condo" as I like to call it, I am often limited in what I can do. We are allowed to paint, thank goodness, but we have to be careful about holes in the walls or any permanent changes. We've lived here for a few months but I have left our master bedroom for last. I finally finished it this weekend. (Well, mostly.) What room is ever truly "finished", right girls? Anyway, I wanted to do something different on the walls but my husband hates painting and we'd have to undo anything we do when we move out someday. 

So, I just went for it. I put a whole book (well actually 3 books) on the wall. Page by Page. 

Here is the before wall as I was getting started... 

 

I used the little "dots" that are made for scrapbooking or photos to secure each page to the wall, overlapping as I went... Easy to remove without damaging the wall...

I also added some new accessories... I LOVE this old rusty birdcage I found at a local thrift store.

And the reading nook...

I really wanted our room to be soft and relaxing with lots of textures. I breathe a sigh of contentment as I sink into bed at the end of the day. My husband teases me that our bedtime reading is nice and convenient now. I love how it turned out. 

Here are some more pics of the whole room...

Thanks for visiting... I'm off to read in bed.. ahhhh.

Kirstin Joy

Ava Turns Two... A Pinwheel Party!

This weekend was my daughter's 2nd birthday! We had a special time with our closest friends and family. I did a backyard "pinwheel" themed party with a picnic feel. Thought I would share some pictures...

I made pinwheels out of basic scrapbook paper and used buttons in the center... 

So easy and very inexpensive. 

The food table was full of little finger foods, fruit, a deli plate, and popcorn... 

I used vintage decorations of course.

My first attempt at making "pie pops"... apple and cherry... mmmm.

Mini Pizzas and Souffles....

Mason jars with pink striped paper straws... And Pink Lemonade

 Vintage Soda Pop...

Yummy lemon and strawberry "Cake'os" by Gracie Cakes...

Popcorn...

Pictures of the birthday girl... And fresh flowers all around...

Pinwheels....

And a few pics of the birthday princess....

Happy Birthday our little sunshine girl!

Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors

Simply Klassic Sunday @ A Simply Klassic Home

Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer

Spring Blog Hop @ French Country Cottage 

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots & Jello

Market Yourself Monday @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Overflowing with Creativity @ It's Overflowing

Knick of Time Tuesday @ Knick of Time Interiors

Trash to Treasure Tuesdays @ Sassy Sites

Take A Look Tuesdays @ Sugar Bee Crafts

Destination Inspiration @ Teagan's Travels

Cowgirl Up! Link Party @ The Farmhouse Porch

Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

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Burlap Sack Curtain Tutorial

A while ago I was contacted by burlapfabric.com to do a tutorial or project with some of their burlap sacks... I was honored and excited to receive some free burlap! Burlapfabric.com has a ton of burlap options at a really good price... I'm definitely going to be ordering from them in the future.

I decided to use one of the grain sacks to make a curtain valance for my kitchen nook corner.

I started with this large sack and cut along the long side (leaving the short side seam in place for less sewing) I cut just above the green line because I wasn't going to use the stamp for this project. Here's what the bag looked like before...

I did a quick stitch around the edges so that the burlap wouldn't unravel and two long seams for the curtain rod... thats all the sewing it took... probably less that 10 minutes. 

For the stenciling I traced a circle with a smaller circle inside using plates and a sharpie... yep, plates and a sharpie. I wanted a stamped look....

Next I filled it in with black fabric paint to give it a worn ink look... being sparing with the paint, you don't need much. Just dab the sponge and get the excess off on a paper towel or something so its not heavy paint. 

Next I used stencils to do the lettering. My design has our last name spread out along the bottom edge with "Est. 2008" inside the circle stamp. 

I'm happy with how it turned out... I like the rustic edges and subtle lettering. Its a little country rustic in my little kitchen nook... It was much easier than I thought it would be and only took about an hour for the whole project. 

I love that its personal with our family name...

Linking to...

Here's to Handy Andy: A Pinteresting Link Party

Coastal Charm Nifty Thrifty Link Party 

Knick of Time Tuesday @ Knick of Time Interiors

Trash to Treasure Tuesdays @ Sassy Sites

Take A Look Tuesdays @ Sugar Bee Crafts

Primp Your Stuff Wednesdays @ {Primp}

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage 

Disclaimer:  I was given free burlap bags but I was not compensated to write this post.  All opinions and recommendations are 100% mine. 

Tantrums and a Surprise...

Ok, please tell me there are other moms out there who have had to walk away and take a deep breath before calmly disciplining their children. This was me last week when my precious {almost} 2 year old daughter threw our laptop computer on the floor in a temper tantrum of epic proportions. It was partly my fault for leaving it open on the coffee table. I guess it was a good reminder that spending quality time with her is still my number 1 priority. After a time out for both mom and baby, I came back to realize our computer screen had shattered with "spider webs" across the whole thing. Of course, warranty doesn't cover "that kind of damage"- oh you mean "two-year-old tantrum damage". Bummer. 

We could have replaced the screen but we'd been having trouble with the computer anyway. Oh and did I mention I just started a "work from home" job. My husband said we'd have to wait til at least next month to figure out what to do about replacing it. 

But little did I know, he had something up his sleeve. As I was packing for our trip to Portland (more on that later) I came in to zip up my suitcase and found a new MacBook Pro sitting in my suitcase with a little card... Here's what it said, 

"Happy Early Mother's Day! 

Thank you, babe, for being a great mom and an even better wife!

Happy Blogging ;)

Love, your husband"

Turns out our tax return was significant this year and he decided to spoil me. 

I am so excited! He's so good to me. 

So, I'm back. So sorry if I haven't gotten back to you if you've commented or started following... 

I'll be in touch soon! 

And I have a couple fun projects that I finished while I wasn't distracted by all my other favorite blogs last week. Including a burlap sack turned curtain valance... Here's a sneak peak...

Hanging Succulents Garden {Part 1}

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! 

So, I read many blogs of women who's husbands are the "handy" men and get involved with their wives projects around the house... maybe they help build or paint etc. 

Well, my husband is incredible... but he usually thinks I'm a bit crazy whenever I get out the paint and nails. His comments usually involve some form of "uh oh" or "are we rearranging this room... again?"

 He is totally supportive but not very hands on. 

(Partly because he works so hard so I can stay home and enjoy my projects.) 

BUT, this weekend was different!

I had pinned some hanging succulent gardens that I really liked and when I showed him some of the pics he actually thought they were great. He was like "hey, we could totally do that!"

I had to pinch myself... WE can!? 

Now, one thing my husband does enjoy is being THRIFTY...

So off on a walk we went to "steal" some succulent trimmings from around the neighborhood to begin our garden... (Don't worry, we asked first haha)

Here's how our garden turned out... And here's a tutorial for you to make your own! 

This is Part 1 because my next idea is to make a frame for our garden with some old barn wood or pallets.

 I'll post that part later on when its all complete. 

Here's the step by step tutorial...

I asked the garden store if I could have a  few of these trays and they gladly gave me some for free... 

You;ll also need a garbage bag, dried moss ( I found it at Michael's) and cactus or succulent soil as well as a glue gun.

Step 1: 

Step 2: 

Step 3: 

Step 4: 

Step 5: 

Basically, stick the ends of the succulents into the soil by making holes through the moss... To learn more about the care of succulents check out this LINK

I like the way it turned out and I can't wait to see how they grow and fill in... I decided to try succulents because I definitely do NOT have a green thumb.
In fact, my husband said, "hey even you can't kill these little guys..."  *wink wink
Well, we will see.
 Now, to make a pretty frame for my new outdoor artwork. Part 2 coming soon...