Cherry Tree Artwork

Do you remember the re-do on our Master Bedroom? I had discussed doing some of vinyl artwork on the large wall. But I got to thinking... and the budget being ever mindful, decided I didn't need to spend the $60.oo - $80.oo on the vinyl artwork. So I asked my very talented aunt to paint the image that I wanted. I found several different images that I liked and made a combination of them for our artwork. (The other plus of doing it ourselves!)

So here's a little step by step of the process.

We figured out the general area size and put painters tape to create a frame for us to work in.

I don't know if you any of your got some free paint from Glidden a couple of months back but I did! I chose "Very Berry" because I knew I wanted the flowers to be a fuchsia color. Then I got some black paint for the tree limb. So we spent $12.00 for the artwork! Good thing I asked for the artist to paint this for my birthday present.

My aunt is so talented; there's no drawing or sketching - she just grabs the paintbrush and goes!


Ok so we've got the limb done and now it's time to add some color!


We played with a couple different styles of petals / flowers. I love the way my Aunt Mark paints. She just tries something and if it's not right we just paint right over it and try again! I'm always so intimated that I'll make a mistake but it opened my eyes to the ease of just creating! And then we decided to add a bird or two. Now for the bird she didn't feel quite as comfortable free handing them. So a good little trick... she drew some on paper, cut them out and just traced it with a pencil and filled in with paint!

So... what do you think?? I love it!! Anyone else try any murals on their walls?

Sweet Sunday

Don't you just love a dinner party? We had the lovely pleasure of attending one this weekend. Our sweet friend Jan wanted to have a group over for dinner and and some discussion. The food was mixed greens, stuffed shells, garlic bread and chocolate cake. (I know, you're drooling right!?!) The discussion was about the mission trip I went on earlier this year. Jan's heart strings are being pulled to go to Honduras as well and she wanted to let me explain about the trip and hopefully get some other people excited about going as well!

Well the dinner was delicious! The company was top notch. And hopefully I did the trip justice with my explanation.

So often I look around at our church family and I am over-joyed at the blessings God has given us .

11 years and counting...

Eleven years ago today at 5:30 pm, on one of the mostly lovely fall days in September, we said our vows in front of our wonderful family and friends. Our covenant was made between ourselves and our good Lord. We are extremely blessed with a love-filled marriage. Our life might not look exactly like what we may have painted it to be back in 1998 but I wouldn't change a thing!

I have the most amazing husband!. Yes, he does those annoying things husbands do... but he also does amazing things that show me that he loves me and treasures me. And hopefully I do the same for him.

We believe in telling each other we love each other multiple times a day, we believe in giving good-bye kisses, we believe in puttin the other first, we believe that God should be/ and is the center of our relationship. We believe that marriage is for life and we pray that the Lord will continue to bless "our union."

I wish I had more pictures of that day to share. It was a beautiful wedding! The flowers were amazing, the wedding cakes were delish, the food was a huge spread! We enjoyed speading time with all of guests and were so thankful they could share in our day!!

I love you, sweetie!

Shower gift

Some of our friends are getting married this October and had a bridal shower today. I wanted to do something a little different and loved this idea and thought it would work perfectly!! So off to Target I went, check out the finished basket...

We did a recipe for Cowboy Cookies, a little different from the Bakerella site. This recipe was courtesy of my friend Shannon and boy are those yummy cookies! We had to separate the ingredients because it wouldn't all fit in the jar.

I love how all the ingredients look stacked! We took a brown paper bag and made the topper and used twine to tie it off.



This idea has me thinking about Christmas presents!! I have to find a recipe that will fit in one jar though... Anyone have a good one to use?

Sweet Sunday

I don't think I've ever introduce y'all to our sweet puppy Annie. She made a sneak appearance here (she poking out behind the storm door). She is our sweet baby and we've had here for 9 years now... WOW time goes by so fast! She just showed up at my mom's house. She was covered with huckleberries, hair all grown out just a pitiful looking stray pup. But has been the sweetest puppy we could have ever had!! I feel like the Lord just plopped her in our lap and we are so thankful!! She loves walks around the neighborhood, dirty socks and squirrels. And we love her so much!!

Wreath envy...

Aren't you envious of this wreath too???

Lindsay over @ Living with Lindsay made this beautiful fall wreath and then she told us that Hobby Lobby was having a sale on all their wreaths and garlands. So I took my happy self over there and got to shopping. Although their wreaths were gorgeous, even with the 50% off it was still out of my budget. So I got creative!! Check out my buys below...

major bargains, right?!?!

Loved the idea of some feathers! This was a great bargain - I got 3 for $3.75!!

I chose one of the composite material letters. Grabbed my trusty ol' spray paint can and went to town. I actually had some "hammered brass" finish spray. I really like the effect it gives!

So for $16.00 I have a great festive fall wreath!!! I am super excited!

a close -up detail shot...

And another little short-cut... I used a suctions cup to actually hang the wreath on my storm door and just put the ribbon for effect...

Thanks again Lindsay for a wonderful idea!!

As I was hopping through blog world today, I found this really great series Karen is hosting over @ Some Days are Diamonds. The plan is on October 15th, November 15th and December 15th to feature your festive door on your blog. She's got a list of all participating on her sidebar. What a great way to get inspirations!!! And I always can use a little motivation to get my creative juices flowing. So come back on the 15ths of the next 3 months to see what our front door decor is!! Who else wants to play? Let us know so we'll be sure to go check yours out too!

Sweet Sunday

A few weeks back... yes I know way behind on my "Sweet Sundays"... our Godchild spent the night with us and we had a really good time!! For a special treat for breakfast we made cinnamon rolls and ate breakfast on the front porch. We went out to lunch, shopping @ Target and a trip to the movies for a matinee. Needless to say we had a fun filled day together!

I ♥ my sweet Elle belle!

Gift closet

I love having a gift closet. That way during the year as I find presents for birthdays and Christmas I have one central location to store them in. It's also great to have some quick easy options for hostess gifts, etc. I have housed the gifts on a shelf in the guest bedroom closet but as time goes on that poor closet just gets stuffed with more "stuff". I was wanting to clean out that space some to allow for guests to actually be able to use some of the closet during their stay.

I recently got a "hand-me-down" from my mom; a beautiful dresser that I've put in the living room. This piece provides a good amount of storage space and I hadn't decided what to put in it... until now!

So I pulled out all the goodies that I have purchased through the year... Organized into who's receiving what... Cleaned out anything that was past it's prime... and...

Organized it in the bottom drawer of the dresser!!

Now don't look too close, cause you might see your Christmas present before it's time to open it! This was also helpful because I was able to inventory what I had and figured out that I've already finished some people's Christmas!! And it's only September!

Some new tunes...

I ♥ me some Pandora. For those of you who haven't found this wonderful site let me explain. You put in the name of an artist or a song you like and they create a "mix" of music that's a similar sound. There used to be no charge for the service but now they have put a cap of 40 hours a month of free music. But for only $.99/month you can listen all you want!

So the perk of great music while you're working on your computer has it's obvious benefits but an additional perk is you get introduced to artist you may have never had the opportunity of knowing! I have found a recent love for some "Matts". So go and check out these guys... Matt Nathanson, Matt Wertz, and Mat Kearney. I just picked up Kearney's CD and am loving it!!

Great little hint

I was checking out all the blogs I follow on Google reader (thanks to Julie for cluing me in on that wonderful invention) and a fellow blogger opened my eyes to a great little short-cut. If you use Google reader I highly suggest this.

When you are on your homepage @ google reader go to your "Settings" in the upper right hand corner. Click on "Goodies" and they have the option of dragging a "next" button to your bookmark area. This is an awesome way to see all your favorite blogs. This way you see each individual blog and can comment much easier!!

I am not doing the directions justice so go to Google reader and check it out yourself!!!

Happy Blog Following!!