WOW wednesday: The Bold & Beautiful

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How amazing is that feature wall in this bedroom? And the best part is that it's a tile mosaic! Who would have thought of tile in the bedroom? Not this girl, but it's gorgeous. Not to mention the spectacular amount of pattern on that bed. Be still my heart.

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I love this blue bedroom with the pops of orange! For me it's a perfect combo for a great night's sleep and a cheery morning wake-up. And is that zebra print on that bench? I think so.

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Now this room not only has some stellar patterns and massive pops of color, but it also has stairs going up through the sofa. What?!? Amazing. 

Until next time...

Design Shout-Out

Today I have a Design Shout-Out...

Our cousin, Lindsey Coplin, just won "Nursery of the Week" from Parenting.com.  Her "Modern Thinker" nursery was the fifth of six featured nurseries on the website. How awesome! Check out her skills and all the other successful nurseries here.

Congrats, Lindsey! It looks fabulous!

Until next time...

Simple Solutions: 10 Minute Art

This morning I finally found a use for two more of my IKEA frames! (I used the first one here.) After about 10 minutes, I now have two more pieces of artwork up in my guest room for zero dollars. Nice, right?

Here's what I did and what you can do too:

Grab 2 frames (I used the 2 IKEA frames)

Grab something to use as "art"

I used a watercolor painting that I made forever ago and cut it up into smaller pieces, but you could use a remnant of fabric or a page out of a book or magazine.

Tape the artwork to the mat to hold it in place and put the frame back together.

If you don't have a mat already included in with your frame like mine, you can pick one up at Hobby Lobby or make your own. A really cheap option would be to use a piece of white poster board. 

Hang your new artwork up on your wall

Here's how mine turned out:

Is there a wall in your home that needs some artwork? Save a few dollars. It's easy enough to make your own, don't you think?

Until next time...

"That's So Wrong" Wednesday Vol. 20

I'm just going to assume that you have all checked out the AwkwardFamilyPhotos website a time or two. If not, shame on you. They present some of the best family photos ever taken and the best part is I'm sure we can all relate to a terrible family (or class) photo that embarrasses you just to think about. 

Here is one featured photo that made me laugh out loud while at work. I love that they include commentary from the submitter of the photo.

"This must have been my 10th or 11th birthday. It was a custom that the cousins would give out the birthday spankings, but apparently it got a little rough. I think I look terrified. It’s like a scene out of “Lord of the Flies.” Notice the John Travolta poster in the background, and the fact that my brother is laughing maniacally and holding a leather belt.” (submitted by Vanessa)

BLOG UPDATE: I have decided to revamp my "That's So Wrong" Wednesdays. I will now be having a weekly, "WOW Wednesday" where I will feature either something terrible OR something so amazing that you just have to say, "wow". I hope you guys will enjoy checking in on whatever catches my eye.

Until next time...

[party] "Mexican Fiesta!" Shower

I've officially hosted my first wedding shower and as far as I'm concerned, it was a big success! (Minus the entire pitcher of frozen margaritas I spilled all over my kitchen...while the guests were present. Oops.) The bride and groom left happy, the guests ate, drank and enjoyed themselves and the decorations came together really well.

Now before I go on, I have a confession to make. I have this little dream to one day have my own party planning business based out of my house. I'd like to focus on in-home parties like wedding/bridal showers, kids parties, baby showers, etc. So I need some honest feedback on the decor for this "Mexican Fiesta!" party. It was basically my test run to see if I "have what it takes". Let me know what you think. Either way, I had a ton of fun getting it all ready!

Disclaimer: Everything did not get photographed in detail as I would have liked. I will be improving on that next time around.

So there's an overview of the shower. I'll be posting the details of how everything came together and where I was able to save some "dollar, dollar bills, yo" later. 

Until next time...

"That's So Wrong" Wednesday Vol.19

During our home search a few months back, I found it very interesting what people are willing to post online to advertise their home. Tonight I decided to see if people were still showing their homes off with terrible pictures and luckily, they were. 

These are homes for sale in Nashville. Do they entice you to stop by?

This lovely kitchen is very spacious and there's so much storage you won't even need to use those cabinets that the refrigerator is blocking.

I'm pretty sure that one of the first rules for selling your house is to de-clutter and to remove some of your personality from the home. So maybe the rebel flag should go? 

If you want to convince people that there is plenty of space for their crap, maybe you should hide some of yours. Is that a bedroom or a closet? 

What a lovely living room...is the bike included in the sale?

Happy House Hunting...

Until next time...

My Weekend: Yard Work & Garage Sales

I woke up early on Saturday and Sunday...by choice. Crazy, I know. 

The husband and I were determined to be productive this weekend. First, we hit up quite a few garage sales and a couple thrift stores on Saturday morning in our search to find some furniture for the house. (We were specifically in search of bedside tables. It was to a point of desperation really.) And then we tackled a bit of yard work on Sunday morning before church. (Oh, yeah...that should get me some bonus points, right? I got up extra early to be productive and still made it to church. Nice.)

Through our search we did indeed find some bedside tables. It's actually a group of nesting tables that we broke up to be used on either side of the bed. Check out our $35 in action:

I also picked up these fabulous ceramic elephants for no reason whatsoever. They cost me about ten bucks and I love them.

On Sunday we started making some progress on our chaotic yard. The previous owner planted peppers and all sorts of spices in the flower beds to the right of our driveway and most of it has died and is now completely overgrown with weeds. So Brent and I decided to start tackling the mess. It basically just consisted of pulling weeds, spraying weeds and pulling more weeds. Brent also trimmed our giant shrub. 

Here's a peek at the progress:

The plan is to lay down some new mulch and plant a few flowers next weekend. We'll see if we are feeling as motivated then or not. 

I also managed to work on a bit of the Fiesta Shower decorations for next weekend. Don't worry, they're looking good.

Until next time...

P.S. Just because I'm the one taking the pictures doesn't mean I didn't work equally as hard on the yard. Just wanted to make that clear. 

[party] "Mexican Fiesta!" Inspiration

Our good friends, Andy & Ariel, are getting married this summer so Brent and I will be hosting a coed/couples wedding shower for them in a couple weeks. I am super excited to put this together for them and I think it will be a blast for all involved. 

The theme for the shower will be  "A Mexican Fiesta!" which works perfectly since the groom is...you guessed it, Mexican. (And the bride loves the theme idea which is really all that matters.) Now that the theme has been approved, I've been drowning in spectacular party ideas that I can't wait to use. 

Here are a few of my current "Mexican Fiesta" design inspirations:

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It's gonna be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Especially since I'm recruiting my gal-pal, Lauren to make some yummy desserts for the gathering. I'll be sure to post pictures of the shindig once it's completed. I made my first run to the Dollar Tree today so I'm off to start prepping the decorations. Wish me luck!

Until next time...

"That's So Wrong" Wednesday Vol. 18

Welcome to the 80's, ladies and gents. What do you think of this Master Bathroom?

Images from hookedonhouses.net

Image from rad80sfashion.com

I have no idea who those people are...I was just really digging the 80's vibe they are putting out. Do you think they look back at this picture with pride?

What do you guys think of that bathroom? Would it make you fear mold feel like a king or queen with that amazing purple velvet tub surround? Or is it the incredible wall paper that makes you smile? I say all the above.

Until next time...

Simple Solutions: Momma Knows Best

Awhile back my mom purchased a couple wall hanging baskets for my house. She had one of her own and wanted to share the love so we popped into World Market to snatch them up. It was the perfect simple solutions for two areas of my home. 

The first, smaller sized basket is housing my furbabies' leashes. They need to be easily accessible and always ended up setting out on one of our side tables which of course drove me crazy. Every time we had people coming over I found myself trying to quickly stash the leashes somewhere out of the way. Now we have a perfect home for them right beside our front door. It's such a small item that most people would never noticed, but it has become one of my favorite things in the house. Oh, how I love organization. Oh, wow. I am such a nerd.

The second basket is a little larger and is storing some magazines in our bathroom. Not that they are ever needed in there. I wasn't really looking for a magazine holder, but I was looking for something to fill in the big white, blank side of our bathroom vanity. It's the first thing you see when you walk into the bathroom and it just isn't attractive. We originally were hoping to add a towel bar onto the side of the vanity, but the awkward size didn't allow for it. Luckily, my clever mother suggested in the basket and it worked like a charm. Now there's something breaking up that boring white space.

Yay for simple solutions! It really is the little things that bring a smile to my face. Living with things clean and organized makes life just a little better.

Until next time...

Vacation = No Creative Post

We just returned home from our short trip to Destin (in which I got scorched the first day...nice) and I'm too busy dreading the return to work tomorrow tired to post anything that requires effort. Feel free to call me lazy. 

Instead, here are a couple pictures from our trip.

Brent and I at the beach avoiding as much sun as I could (hence the floppy hat.)

Brothers, Michael and Kevin joined us for the trip. They're a fun pair.

Our last night in Destin at Dewey Destin's...YUM!

Shane may look unhappy, but in reality...that's how he looks all the time. 

Brent and I at the beach with my "gardeners outfit" to help keep the sun off my amazingly burnt shoulders. Sad.

Heather and I at La Rumba before they headed back home to Starkville.

The hubbs and I right before we headed home. Boo, work.

I hope to give you are real post soon. I even have a new kitchen table to talk about, but we'll save that for later.

Until next time...