Pinterest{ing}

I am sure you are all aware of this amazing and

awesome new site called Pinterest!

If you are like my husband

(who gave me the title to today's post)

you might be saying, "What is the big deal

with this whole Pinterest thing?"

If you are not a member of Pinterest or have not really looked around there, you REALLY should. So many great things. From food, to fashion, to DIY, to great photography. So many great things in one area.

The best part is you can keep the ideas together on "boards" so you can see a bunch of ideas all together.

Before Pinterest I would just save the website in my "favorites" online and it would just get confusing and a tad frustrating looking back at the things I had saved.

Anyways...

One of my favorite things about Pinterest is that they don't just say sit and collect great ideas and photos, they want you to get up and go out and do them. It is not just about sitting on your booty and browsing that Internet, it is to motivate you to be happy in your home and life.

Well because I am so in love with Pinterest, I thougth I would show you some of my favorite inspirations that I hope to complete this year!



Little Laundry Room

http://www.casadevalentina.com/

Dry Erase Calendar

http://theaestheticwriter.blogspot.com/2011/10/diy-dry-erase-calendar.html

DIY Book Ledge

http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/idea-library/Bookledge_0810.aspx

Canvas Tutorial

http://brassyapple.blogspot.com/2010/08/cut-it-out-canvas-tutorial.html

Photo Transfer

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/do-it-yourself/fabric-paper-projects/nature-inspired-paper-projects/?sssdmh=dm17.561137&esrc=nwdc111611&email=1379405462



Lastly, I want to share with you a quote I found on Pinterest that I pray stays with me every day of my life. This is something I have to work very hard at doing but I know that I eventually get it right, I will ALWAYS remember it!

A Quote to Encourage you to Slow Down!



http://kimbox.com/

 I encourage you all to go find your own inspiration, and then follow it!!

Oh, and by the way....

Follow me on Pinterest!



Super Bowl Fun

I love football season, it is one of my favorites.
The feeling of fall, campfires,
beers, great (totally un-healthy for you) food.
It is just the best.

Our Family are HUGE Bengals Fans.

WHO DEY!!!

This year we decided to add on to our teams.

Hubby and I have been following the Giants all season.
Well, it is that time of year now for.....

I don't know about you, but for us,

By the time Super Bowl comes around,

we don't quite feel that into football.

(I don't do well with sports that have long seasons). LOL!

Well this year I want to make the Super Bowl fun!!

Here are some ideas I have for making that happen.

  

             VS.

What better way to support the teams than to have

the beers that seem close to home...

(Brooklyn Lager)   &    (Sam Adams Boston Lager)

My Hubby thinks I am so strange for this but if I have beer,

I have to have ... Chocolate!

Here is an awesome look for cupcakes



http://minibakercupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/12/football-themed-cupcakes.html



Here is a more appropriate style for my skill level



http://www.cutefoodforkids.com/2012/01/26-football-shaped-food-ideas.html


There are all kids of foods that work for football games but I think the easier it is to just pick up and eat the better. That is why I think this popcorn option is awesome!

http://kamibuchanan.blogspot.com/2011/01/awesome-superbowl-party-idea.html

Lastly, A few Game Options might be fun,
Because who really watches the game except for the commercials. Ha! Ha!

1. Trivia- Write questions and answers before your guest arrive and radomly ask the questions. See who really knows their stuff
2. Football Bingo- Have bingo cards and guests can write in what they think they might hear or see during the game or the commercials (1st down, Tim Tebow, Manning Brothers, etc.)
3. Pot Luck- Everyone writes down who is going to win and by how much and they pay to be in the pot. Whoever wins or gets the closest, wins the whole pot!

I hope you all enjoy the Super Bowl!

Go Giants!!

Decoupage a Table {With Modge Podge}

I have to admit,

of every craft,

every project,

every idea I have ever had,

this is by far my favorite.

From the idea of it, to the process of it, to the final product.

More importantly, it wasn't even for my house.

This is was for my sister and the last part that

I am going to show you from her Room Makeover.

I started off with a table from Goodwill.

I think it was like $12 on half off day.

Confession: I bought this table like 2 years prior and was supposed to do this table for my sister like 2 years ago and wasn't confindent in myself enough to know what to do and was also afraid to screw it up. When I realized that I wanted to start this blog to hopefully help others see that you don't have to be so afraid, thats when I made the decision to dive in and try it.

I sanded it down so that it would take the paint and because sometimes I don't feel like priming things (I don't suggest following this advice, but that's just the truth)

Next I wanted to paint it green because I was going to sand it down in places and thought the green showing through would be awesome. As you will see later, I didn't end up sanding it down but it was still fun to paint it green.

Can you see that sweet little hand with the foam brush, yep, that's Boogs. He just can't stand to not be doing crafts with me or at least can't stand to just watch instead of being involved. lol!

This is the final product of the green.

Next I wanted to paint the table an off-white.

I didn't have an off-white.

I had a Khaki color and a white.

I did a little experiment and it worked out great!

I decided to mix the two colors and it worked out great. Now I am not a paint expert, and maybe for a wall it wouldn't work, but for this project it was perfect.

Here is the Final look of the table painted white. It took at least 2 coats to cover it but I loved out it turned out.

Next is the fun part.

The green and white, those are napkins.

Yep, just dinner Napkins that I bought at Williams Sonoma Home when I worked there for like $2 for the whole pack. I loved the color and I loved the big pattern of the flowers. When I bought them I knew I wanted to use them for this project. I already had the Mod Podge (which I have used for a ton of projects so I would suggest getting some) and then a foam brush and a rolling pin.

I started off by cutting the border off the napkins because I didn't want that on the table because I  knew it wouldn't look like it all ran together. The border would have given it a destinctive end.

 Next I had to remove the layer on the back of the napkin. This is EXTREMELY important. If you do not do this you will have a ton of bubbles in the finish and it will not lay against the base that you are using, giving it more chances to rip or crack.

I found out the hard way.

I removed one layer but it wasn't until I was 1/2 way done with the table did I realize there were 2 under layers of the napkin. The first part of the table was already done so there was nothing I could do about it but I did fix it for the last part of the table.  

Next, since I had a pattern on my napkins

and I wanted to know what it would look like.

I layed it out on the table how I wanted it to look.

Then I set them on the side of the table where they would go on.

Now on to the Modge Podge.

 I would work in sections about the same size as my napkin. I used a brush and spread the Modge Podge on the surface. Then I layed the napkin down over the Modge Podge. I wanted the napkin to wrap around the lip of the table so I also made sure to add the Modge Podge there too.

I was planning on using a rolling pin to flatten out the napkin and make sure it was flat with no bubbles. I quickly found out that doesn't work and it just rips your napkin. Instead I used a flat card, like a credit card, and that worked well. Once the napkin is layed on to of the table with the Modge Podge under it, then you put another layer on the top of the napkin.

This was the table about 1/2 way done. Right around the time that I realized that there was an extra layer there.

As you can see in this picture the detail really stands out from the napkin. When you are decoupaging something, it isn't supposed to be so dominate. It is normally something very subtle.

This is the Final Product!

I can't tell you enough how much I love it.

This turned out so well and I am so happy with it that I want to do it with another piece of furniture that I have in my house.

I have also see then decoupage done with tissue paper. How Fun!

{Re-Upholster A Chair}

Now that we are back on track, lets get back to this crafting thing.

A while back I gave my sister's house a makeover.

I am posting this to show you how I re-upholstered a chair that she already had. I have always been a fan of the chair (it looked vintage but in style). I was just not a fan of the colors or the fabric that was on it.

This was the original look

(after I got a little aggressive to rip of the piping)

After ripping off all the piping, then I removed the seat to the chair.

It was just a few screws. Nothing to hard. 

I wanted to change the color of the wood to an off white. I am a huge fan of spray paint

(so easy to make yucky things pretty again)

Below is the spray paint that I used however, after doing many other projects I have come to know and love a different kind of spray paint.

Below you will see why I wasn't a huge fan of the spray paint.

You see that ripple in the paint, yeah, not to happy about that.

I know that it typically happens when you use to much paint in one stop. I tried to paint thin even strokes, maybe I was rushing. Who knows.

Then Not only was I upset about the paint thing......

Then this happens.

Rain!!!!

Really, I don't have time for this, I have a

time limit to get all of this done.

Ok, well looks like I need to move on

inside to work on something else.

So I took some batting, (really any foam or batting or filler that you want as a seat cushion will work)

I was really just wanting to cover up the tufting on the chair.

I used this because I had it on hand.

It really is the best I have found.

As you can see, I just sprayed the chair where I was going to

add the batting and then placed it on right away.

***WARNING***

This Spray Adhesive is VERY sticky and can get everywhere. You do not need a lot and be extremely careful to not over shoot where you are spraying. It would result in a large mess.

I didn't trust myself to pre-cut the fabric due to bends and puckers that happen in the fabric when it is placed on the chair, so I decided to staple the fabric on 1st and then I went over it with an exacto knife. (just make sure your exacto knife is sharp otherwise you will have large frayed pieces that are very annoying to work with)

As you can see below.... ANNOYING!!

Next I had to go back over some of the fabric with the staple gun because some of the fabric wasn't laying quite right. Since completing this project I have learned to use Fabric glue which is a life saver in situations like this. I would have used that if I would have known about it.

Oh well, You live, you learn.

This is the completed project. What I didn't take a picture of and is really hard to see in this picture is that I did add a small white piping to cover up those staples and give the chair a complete look. My sister loved it and still does. Totally looks like I new chair.

Spray Paint and Fabric......

It does wonders.

{Updates}

So,

Since it has been so long since I have posted anything and a lot has happened in 5 months I should probably update you guys.

We got new family photos taken by Sweet Things.

You have to check out her site. She did an amazing job!

She took a ton more but I have a lot to update you on.

I'm going in chronological order but I feel that this is the biggest update of all!!!!

****My Hubby is now Community Pastor at our Church****

We prayed so long and worked so hard at this that we so ecstatic about it. Because we were so excited we don't have any pictures of him being on stage and them announcing it in front of the congregation. It was an amazing day. A day I will never forget.

Next up...

Halloween!

Boogs is the one in the bandanna. He was a Cowboy! So cute.

He would walk up to houses and say,
"Trick or Treat, or Put'em up!"

Hubby and I celebrated 5 years of Marriage.

This was the cabin that we got to stay in for 2 nights (no where near long enough). It was so relaxing and totally what we needed to be able to handle what would be coming up. We also renewed our vows and I gave Hubby a new ring (since his broke in half about 6 months prior).

This was a fun Christmas because Boogs was way more involved with everything.

It was also an extremely hard Christmas because the day before Christmas Eve we had to bury my Hubby's Grandmother. She was the sweetest lady and loved our family very much. She thought so highly of my Hubby and was so proud of him being a pastor that she asked him to preform the funeral. It was hard on him but he was very honored to be able to do that for her.

 I told you there was a lot to catch you up on....

Hubby and I spent most of the month of December sharing one car (which at times was great and sometimes very frustrating). After many trips to dealers and so many thankless hours from my Hubby on websites, we finally found the perfect car for us. We were patient, listened for the guidelines that God told us and waited for the perfect combination. Finally... We got it!

Please note: Not a Brand New Car, just new to us.

This year's New Year's was different than it had been for the past 4. Normally we go to Louisville, KY with friends that we don't get to see to often and have an amazing time. It is always really great catching up with all of them. This year we didn't have the babysitting for us to go that far away so we went out with other Pastor's and their wives(like our second family) to Downtown Cincinnati. It was a great time. Different than we were used to but still a really awesome time to spend with everyone.

And of course I will take advantage of any date I can get with my Hubby.

The last big thing to post about is about Boogs.....

My baby is now 4!!!

I can't believe it. So amazing and so sad. I remember so many details about the day that he was born, it is hard to believe that he is so big. He will be going to Preschool this year (that's another subject for another day). I am just so grateful and thankful for him and how wonderful he is and how everyone tells me that too.

Well that is just 5 months of big things to catch up on.
I wonder what this year is going to hold.

P.S. I will be getting back to the craft thing tomorrow.