Love Of Family & Home: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Something New & A Big Thank You!!

Have you visited our etsy shop in the last few days?

Click Here

If you have, you know that we have a new item listed....

and its not a pillow!!!

So head on over & check it out!!!

We did however list a few new pillows as well...one of my new faves is this chalkboard pillow!!!

You can write your own little message on it, erase it, & then write something new!!

How cute is that!?!

Lots of other cute new creations by my very talented mom
for sale now...go check it out!!

I also just wanted to send out a BIG THANK YOU to all of our friends out there in blogland!! You all have been showing us so much love over the last week or so!!

My friend, Michelle, from Emerald Cove graciously took the time

out to spotlight our blog & etsy shop yesterday on her blog!

Click Here

Michelle is probably one of our most devoted readers! I swear she leaves me a comment on every single post I write and she always has such sweet things to say! She has such a kind heart & I feel

truly blessed to have met her!

That is one of the coolest things about blogging...you meet some really wonderful people!!

Click on the banner above to read Michelle's post on our blog & also take some time to browse through her blog as well! Her home is just beautiful and you must check out her

master bedroom makeover....just dreamy!!

I also wanted to take the time out to say thank you to Becca, at Blue Cricket Design for featuring my baseball bat nightstand! Although the nightstand was featured on a few other blogs (which I also truly appreciate), Becca featured my entire post showing the

step-by-step tutorial on how I made it!

Click Here

You can click on the button above to view the tutorial on our baseball bat nightstand in case you missed it on our blog! There is lots of other fantastic talent being spotlighted over there at Blue Cricket Design as well so again, take a few minutes & browse around!!

I can't tell you how grateful we are to be spotlighted by these larger blogs! It is truly an honor! If it weren't for the larger blogs us smaller blogs would be overlooked a lot! So thank you so much for recognizing our efforts & helping us grow!!

XOXO

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Outdoor Space Eye Candy...

I don't know about all of you...

but we had some beautiful weather last week for

about 4 days or so.

Just enought to really spoil us & give us all spring fever!

Within a day things drastically changed & the weather went south!

We even got SNOW!!!

So to get a break from this annoying weather...

I decided to put together a post dedicated to some beautiful outdoor spaces!

After searching the internet for these photos, I am ready to get to work on my own space!!

Take a look at this eye candy...

DIY Network

DIY Magazine

House Beautiful

House to Home

Outdoorroom.com

Better Homes & Gardens

Unknown

Outdoorroom.com

Southern Living

Better Homes & Gardens

Now only if my outdoor space can look half as gorgeous as these...

So much work to do...

Really want a pergola & an outdoor fireplace!

Anybody got a tutorial on a DIY fireplace?

I would love to see it!!

Any of you have an gorgeous outdoor spaces of your own?

Tell me about them...and send me a link if you have one!!

I'm linking up to....

The Spring Fling at This Blessed Nest

Monday, March 28, 2011

DIY Cherry Blossom Branches...

I told you in a previous post that I had been inspired by some other bloggers who have been making their own cherry blossom branches & that I decided to try some of my own.

Here are the links to the other sites, if you

wanna check out their version...

Moss & Clover

Susie Harris

Now I am going to share with you how I made my own...

This project is sooo easy & so cheap...

Anyone can do it!!!

And they are sooo cute...why wouldn't you wanna make some?

What you will need....

1. cheap flowers or flowers you have laying around the house.

2. Twigs/sticks from your yard.

3. Scissors.

4. Hot Glue Gun

5. Cute Vase to put your branches in.

I just bought a cheap thing of pink hydrangeas from Dollar General for $3, but you can use any left over flowers you have laying around the house! They don't even have to be pink!

Then I went out into my yard & found some sticks to use. The skinny sticks are best & ones with a little curve in them are the prettiest for this project...

I seperated the flowers from the pink hydrangeas...

Then I just took some scissors & cut the petals some singles & some doubles...

Then you just pinch the bottom of the petal together....add a little hot glue

and place it wherever you like on the stick...

You just continue this process placing the petals here and there, spacing them just so...

Then you will need a vase, pitcher, or in my case some little bottles to place your branches in...

I found these cute little bottles at Dollar General for

$1.50 a piece.

Then place the branches on a table, shelf, or mantle in your home to

add that perfect touch of spring to your decor!

I love these cherry blossom branches...they are so light & airy!

I also saw on another blog where a woman made these with pink tissue paper...

I would provide you with the link for that, but I can't find it!!

It's basically the same concept, but just with tissue paper instead!

So, that's it people!

Told ya it was easy!!

Now get off the computer & go make some of your own!!

Happy Spring!!

I'm linking this project up at....

Tuesday Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of SuburbiaShow & Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket DesignDelightfully Inspired Thursday at Delightful OrderSunday Showcase Party at Under the Table & DreamingSundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime

Friday, March 25, 2011

Guest Post-Good Times Never Seem Sew Good

Hey Guys...I'm gonna be away from the blog this weekend!
I've got lots of stuff going on...
(my hubby's birthday, women's conference for church, etc.)

So, I have asked Caroline from
"Good Times Never Seem Sew Good"
to guest post for me today & share with you one of her
cute little projects!

Please show her a warm welcome & leave her
some comment love!!

Thank you Caroline for helping me out!!

Take it away girl...

Hi there! This is Caroline the author of Good Times Never Seem Sew Good and the designer of the shop Cotton Lane.

I'm so excited that Tonya invited me to guest post on her blog today, what an honor!

On New Years Eve, my fiance David asked me to be his wife. I had been waiting for that moment for my whole life and when it was finally here, it was so surreal. After the shock of being engaged wore off, ~~David~~, my mom and I got to planning.

I scoured the internet trying to find a creative way to ask my bridal party to be a part of my wedding. Much to my dismay, I couldn't find anything that really suited my fancy, so I came up with this cute idea on my own! I hope you enjoy, feel free to steal my idea! :)

{FYI: the colors I'm using for my wedding are pale/robins egg blue, deep red, and mustard yellow, so I incorporated these colors}

First, I took an old ugly mirror (with character) I got for $8 at a flea market and spray painted the frame robins egg blue and the mirror part with some awesome chalkboard spray paint (aka the best invention EVER!) I had left over from this project, followed the instructions and let it dry overnight.

{credit}

Then, I wrote with chalk my messages & my sweet fiance took pictures of me!

I had the pictures printed from Walgreens (about $3) and took plain black frames from Wal Mart (about $2 each) and wrapped them with strips of red fabric (about $5)

And then mailed them to all my future bride's maids. They loved them, and now they have a picture of me sitting on their desk (ha ha)!

Best part about it? I can keep my new chalkboard and hang it in our apartment/house when we're married in four months. Yes, four months. Ahh, its so soon!!

I hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think & if you ever use my idea (or have any questions!)

Thanks, Tonya for letting me guest post over here today! :)

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Captivating...

As much as I love to decorate & pour so much of my time & energy into my home...

I wanna take a little break from my normal home improvement, DIY, craft project/post & let you in on another part of my life that I am also very passionate about...

(Credit)

You see, it was just over a year ago when my husband & I finally found a church home. We had been looking for quite some time & and were having difficulty finding a church

where we both felt comfortable.

We had two totally different church backgrounds..

him-Baptist and I-Catholic,

but in February of last year we visited a church in our

neighboring town & absolutely

FELL.IN.LOVE!!

I don't know how to describe it...

but you could just feel God's presence!

The sermon was phenomenal, worship was amazing, & the people

in the church were just so nice & so welcoming!

We felt so at ease & so at HOME!!

We immediately got involved in a small group, my husband got baptized a couple months later (something he had never done after becoming a christian) and I followed in August of last year, feeling like the baptism I had as a young child in the Catholic church was just not sufficient...

(Pay no attention to my belly...I was 9 months pregnant people!!)

I felt like it was something I had done because my parent's wanted me to, not because I had personally made the decision to follow Jesus myself. Since re-dedicating our lives to Christ, we have become very involved in the church & started serving in different areas.

In addition to our small group, I have also started in a

women's study group.

We have been reading this book...

If you've not read it...you are seriously missing out on

something special!

We are just in the second chapter of the book, but it has already touched me in so many ways! I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on the book & some of the ways in which it has spoken to me as a woman...

The first chapter discusses...

The Heart of a Woman

The authors, John & Stasi Eldredge,

reveal to us the desires of women...

(1)To be Romanced.

(2) To Play an Irreplaceable Role in a Great Adventure.

(3) To Unveil Beauty.

You may think its silly to have these desires...to want to be romanced, to want to feel beautiful, but there is a reason why those desires are there. They have been placed there by your loving Father.

I'm not talking about your earthly father....

I'm talking about your Heavenly Father!

The book reveals to us that God has those same desires for us. He wants us to romance in Him, He wants our walk with Him to be a great adventure, & He wants us to see Him as beautiful and holy. The book also talks about women defining themselves in terms of their relationships with others. We tend to put our identity in being a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, etc. We as women yearn for & spend our time developing meaningful, intimate relationships with the people in our lives...

The reason why we spend so much time on relationships?

Because God desires & seeks out these same types of relationships with His people.....

Making Any Sense?

The heart of a woman is very much like the heart of our God...

He loves us, unconditionally, despite our faults & failures.

In His eyes we are perfect.

He wants that same kind of love & devotion from you & I...

Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul and with all your mind.

Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

I will be doing future posts on this book as I dig further into it...

for those of you who enjoyed this post...