Hey y’all!

I know it has been FOREVER since I posted – I promise I am still alive and kicking!  Between the holidays and being laid up with an injury, I have been neglecting my little corner of the internet, but I plan to get back to it ASAP.  I have some things in the works that will hopefully make this blog even better, and I should be able to reveal some of them to you this week (really, I promise)!

I am also trying to get up to speed on social media – I have always used facebook, but now I have a Twitter account, an Instagram, and a Bloglovin’ account where you can follow me (come on…you know you want to).

That’s all for the moment – hope you and yours are doing well!

Till next time,

Sarah

Hey y’all!

Happy New Year (1 day late, but still).  Just wanted to check in and say hi to let you know I am working on something big for the blog that’s keeping me pretty busy.  Hopefully I can reveal it next week!  Hope you and yours had an amazing holiday season – here’s to a wonderful and exciting 2015.

Till next time,

Sarah

So 2015 is almost here…how did THAT happen?  I don’t know about y’all, but this year absolutely flew by for me.  Don’t get me wrong, even though I am super excited for 2015 to arrive, along with the boost of “anything is possible” energy that always sets in come January, 2014 was pretty awesome and I’m a little sad to see it go.  After all, 2014 was (among other things):

1) the year I finally started to feel settled in our new home.
2) the year I fell in love with gardening.
3) the year we finished the fence (an epic journey that requires its own post).
4) the year I started this blog (!!!).

Still, a fresh start gets me every time. Raise your hand if you were the kid who LOVED shopping for school supplies.  Raise your other hand if walking into an Office Max or Staples still makes your heart flutter just a bit.  Now that both hands are in the air, wave ’em around like you just don’t care – you know you want to, people, admit it!

In all seriousness though, as most people do, I have spent the last few days reflecting on 2014 and the changes I want to make in the future.  I hesitate to call them “New Years Resolutions,” because I feel like that’s pretty much assuring they will be abandoned at some point (history would agree).  So instead I will simply call them “guideposts” – stuff I have mentally noted that I want to guide my life and actions in the future.  Guidepost sounds so much less daunting than resolution, don’t y’all agree?  So now, I invite you to relax, let me pull up a chair, as Circa 1932 proudly presents…my guideposts (bonus points if you caught that reference):

1) Less pressure, more presence:

This is really more of an overarching theme than anything else.  After alot of reflection, I think many if not all of the frustrations and stress in my life come from putting too much pressure on myself and others.  That’s not to say that 2015 will be the year of free passes or anything, but the older I get the more I realize that I have to be okay with imperfection.  I cannot possibly be a perfect wife, homemaker, sister, blogger, daughter, pup-parent, and friend, ALL at once, ALL the time – and that’s okay.  The Doctor cannot possibly be a perfect husband, physician, son, handyman, brother, pup-parent, and friend, ALL at once, ALL the time – and that’s okay, too!  Trying to be Wonder Woman 24/7, 365 just stresses me out to the point where I shut down and stop being present in my own life.  I get so overwhelmed that I just STOP – stop being there for my loved ones like I want to be, stop taking care of myself the way I deserve, stop laughing along with life…no bueno y’all.

I don’t know where I got the idea that we all have to be superheroes all the time.  I think perhaps it has something to do with social media and the feeling that we have to keep up with the digital Jonses.  But let’s be real – my life isn’t nearly as flawless as it would seem from my facebook profile, my tweets, or heck even this blog.  It’s easy to have a beautifully clean mantle in a picture when you can just move all the laundry and shoes and general life “stuff” out of frame, but you can’t sanitize your LIFE like that, and pressuring yourself or others to do so is a surefire recipe for disappointment.  So, this year, I am going to work on accepting the extra “stuff” – being content to be good at things in their own season and trying my best to be present in my own life, no matter how messy or uncomfortable it may be at any given moment.  I’m kind of a perfectionist so this is going to be super hard – check in on me in a few weeks (and bring chocolate and wine just in case).

2) Get healthy:

In past years, this would have been “lose weight,” and that is indeed part of the goal.  I have a bunch of extra baggage I have been carrying around, and my joints will be grateful if I lighten the load.  But this isn’t about just the number on the scale or on the tag in my favorite dress – I want to be HEALTHIER.  Eat better foods, meditate and pray more, laugh more, take better care of my skin and hair and nails.  I deserve that – I owe that to myself.  You only get one body so you better make is as awesome as it can be.  Which leads me to my next guidepost…

3) Lose the Diet Coke:

I am pretty sure if I went to donate blood today, they would get a bag full of Diet Coke.  I am hopelessly addicted to the stuff, and drink WAY more than I should.  For the Doctor, it’s Dr. Pepper (fitting, eh?), and he is trying to cut back as well.  There’s just no real reason to drink it – it’s expensive, it’s full of chemicals, it can promote osteoporosis by leeching calcium from our bones, etc.  Unfortunately for me it is also delicious, and pretty much the only way I drink caffeine, but I am determined to try and get off the soft drink train in 2015.

4) Stay Organized:

Note I said “stay organized” rather than “get organized.”  I am really good at coming up with all sorts of fun and pretty ways to get things in my life organized.  The problem is, they rarely stay that way.  Inevitably, life gets in the way and that drop zone bowl that was only going to hold my essentials (phone, wallet, keys) overflows with a hodgepodge of assorted (warning: technical term) crapola.  This year, I am determined to be more focused in my efforts and prioritize function and user-friendliness (read: long term doability) over “pretty” in my organizational efforts.  I’m not giving up my label-maker though – you’ll have to fight me for it, haha!

There are of course other ways I want to grow and change in 2015, but these are the main ones.  I am also going to make each of these guideposts a tag here on the blog, so that if I find a method or a product that help me follow the guideposts, I can share it with all of you in an easy-to-find way.  Hopefully there will be many many such posts!  What are your guideposts for this year?  Share them with me in the comments – I’d love to hear all about them!

Till next time,

Sarah

Hey Y’all!  Today is just a super quick post to show you how I added some pizazz to plain ivory tapers for my Christmas decor.  I had seen these candles on an e-mail from World Market, but because there are no locations where I live (insert sad face here), I decided to DIY them.  I suppose I could have ordered online, but it seemed silly to pay shipping for just a few tapers.  And while I am certain I could have found other pretties on the website to keep my lonely tapers company, I am not sure the Doctor would be as thrilled with that as I would be.

These were crazy simple – all you need is some plain taper candles, some painters tape, and my favorite buddy, liquid leaf paint.  Just tape off your candles in whatever pattern you want – I chose stripes, like this:

and then paint the exposed portions with the liquid leaf.  I used a disposable foam brush to minimize brushstrokes and save me the mineral spirits cleanup.  Peel off your tape immediately to ensure clean lines, and let them dry on your super sophisticated drying apparatus (see, SOLO cups don’t have to be associated with poor college decisions!).  Drying only takes 10 minutes or so, but it’s important to let them cure for an hour or so before you use them.

As a sidenote, I chose to leave the top inch or so plain wax, so I could burn them some without running into the liquid leaf.  I am not sure how it will react to the flame!  If you want to burn these all night, I would suggest just banding the bottom with gold so you have plenty of plain wax at the top.

I love the modern glam vibe these have – they are such a fun touch to my Christmas decor.  Want to know the best part?  These were free to me, since I had all the supplies on hand.  Can’t beat that!

Tune in later this week to see how I used these, as well as a look at my 2014 Christmas decor.  As always, feel free to comment – I love hearing from y’all!

Till next time,

Sarah

Hello my lovelies!  Sorry for the silence the last few weeks – with the holiday season approaching here my time is not my own.  Hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are as excited as I am that Christmas is nearly upon us.

Speaking of Christmas, the Doctor let me open my gift a few weeks early (woo Cyber Monday!).  I am sure you can guess what it is from the title, but just in case you skimmed over that part, it’s a new DSLR!!!  <—three exclamation points ’cause I’m so darn excited 🙂

Specifically, it’s a Canon EOS Rebel T5i, and I am pretty smitten, I gotta admit.  As I do with all things I love, I am going to have to give her (yes, it’s a girl) a name.  I am leaning towards “Olive” or “Sadie” – both old fashioned names I love.  I am open to suggestions though – leave me a comment and weigh in!

I am a total DSLR novice, but I am already blown away by the quality of the pictures compared to my old cameras (iPhone 6 and Minolta Dimage 7i).  Here are some comparison shots so you can see the difference – both are straight out of the respective cameras (auto mode, no editing):

IPhone 6:

Not terrible, but not particularly good either.  Now the Canon:

So much better, no?  And because I couldn’t resist, here are some edited shots from the Canon showing what it can really do.  I wouldn’t even attempt these with the iPhone or my old Dimage 7i – they just wouldn’t turn out.

Needless to day, The Doctor gets beaucoup brownie points for an awesome Christmas gift.  What are y’all hoping to see under the tree this year?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Till next time,

Sarah

Out of all the DIY projects I did for the fall mantle, I think these may be my favorite.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a gilded pumpkin and a book wreath as much as the next gal, but I can’t get over how much impact these have and how easy they were to do.  I am pretty sure y’all could figure these out just by taking a peek at the pictures, but I thought I would go ahead and whip up a tutorial for you anyway.  What can I say?  I’m a giver.

Now for those of you who may have missed the original peek at these beauties, here is a glamour shot so you can see what I am talking about.  If you want to read more about the mantle as a whole, feel free to check out the original post here).

Want to make some of your own?  Let’s get started.  First up, supplies!

You’ll need:

-glass containers at least 10″ tall: mine came from the Homegoods clearance aisle – 8 bucks apiece!
-various fall colored fillers: I used uncooked brown rice, white rice, green lentils, and red pinto beans from the grocery store (Tip: check the international aisles for the best prices!).
-branches or twigs: mine were from Walmart many many moons ago.
-accent greenery: I have had these gold curly-q branches for so long I don’t remember where I got them specifically, but I have seen them all over – craft stores, big lots, even Dollar Tree!
-small glass or plastic container large enough to accomodate a LED tealight
–LED tealight (much safer and more convenient than an open flame!)
-ribbon for a bow (optional)

Step 1: Clean your glass!  I know this isn’t the most glamorous step, but nothing is worse than getting all finished with your hurricane and seeing a smudge that you can’t get to because your layered filler is in the way.  Go ahead and remove any stickers and gunk and make those containers sparkle!

Step 2: Fill each container  with at least 3″ of filler (4 or 5 inches is even better).  I like rice for this, because its shape and density allow it to sort of “lock” together, forming a stable base to hold your branches in position.  If you are using shorter branches, you can get away with less than 3 inches, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a general rule.  I used both brown and white rice to form my 3″ base, because I didn’t have enough brown rice on its own.

Step 3: Add your branches.  Try to place them in a sort of ring on the outside edges, so that the center is clear.  The open space is only important at the top, since we’re going to bury our votive holder there and it will need some room.  The branches can go into the center towards the bottom (under the votive) if that makes sense.  Hopefully my picture will explain this better than I seem to be able to in words!

I placed my foundation (non-glitter) branches first, and then filled in with the gold curly-q accents.  If you are making a pair, to flank a mantle let’s say, try and keep them visually balanced.  They don’t have to match 100% (in fact it’s better if they don’t), but they should look related.  Think sisters, not twins ;).

Step 4: Add your next layer of fill, using your hands or a small instrument (I used a dinner fork) to make sure it lays evenly around the branches.  Repeat this with your final layer of fill, reserving a small amount for step 6.

Step 5: Grab your votive holder (I used a small tupperware meant for salad dressing) and place it in the middle of the glass container, inside the branches.  Now gently push down and wiggle it around, nesting it as much as you can into the top layer of fill without messing up the layers.  Most likely, you will have a small rim showing – that’s okay!

Step 6: Take the fill you reserved in step 4, and add it carefully, hiding any rim you might have left showing previously.

Step 7: Add your LED tealight to the votive holder, tie a bow on the hurricane, and step back to admire your work – you’re done!

See?  Super easy.  All in all, these took me about 15 minutes apiece, and cost me less than $10 each.  All I had to do was raid my pantry for uncooked legumes and grain!  Other options for filler would be black beans, popcorn, or even fresh cranberries.  There are so many options, so you can change this up for virtually any season or color scheme.  Think fake snow, glitter, and jingle bells for winter, or colored sand for summer.  The possibilities are only limited by the size of your vase and your imagination.

A note on the LED tealights: these are the ones I use, and I really do like them.  First of all, they have a timer, people.  Once you flip them on, they stay on for 6 hours, and then they turn themselves off for the next 18.  I can’t tell you how convenient that is – no fishing the tealight out of the hurricane, no forgetting to turn them on or off, just pretty glowing light that comes on like magic.  Second, they flicker, so the light is pretty realistic looking.  Third, they give off a really bright white light.  So many of the LED flameless candles on the market are incredibly fake looking and orange, but these glow a very clean white.  If I want a slightly warmer tone, I just color the silicone bulb in a bit with a pale gold permanent marker (this one is my favorite – I use the burnt ochre color, but a yellow sharpie also works well).  For a more detailed post on that, click HERE.

So that’s it!  Be sure to comment if you have any questions, and come back later this week for tutorials on the book wreath, the luminaries, and the gold pumpkins.

Till next time,

Sarah

FYI: this post contains affiliate links – this means that if you buy something through one of the links included here, I might make a (teeny tiny) commission. This commission has absolutely NO IMPACT on the price you pay (it would be the same price if you found it on your own) – it merely is a thank-you from the seller to me for directing you to their product!

Hey Y’all!  Hope your weekend was great – mine was wonderfully family-filled and I am sad to see it go.

I thought I’d start the week off by sharing my mood board for the craft studio.  After a floor plan, this is my next major step in planning out a space.  It may seem a little silly, or even tedious, but it is a really easy way to make sure that your colors and key pieces are heading in the direction you want.  Sometimes I will shoot pictures of the walls and do a full Photoshop rendering (I did with the master bedroom – to be featured at a later date), but that is not always necessary.  Especially if the room you are doing happens to be a disaster zone and shooting pictures of blank walls is pretty much a pipe dream.

I think of mood boards as an ultra-focused pinterest board – a place where you put all your ideas together so you can look at them as a whole and make sure they all work together.  In fact, if you don’t want to muck around with photoshop, you can do just that – make a pinterest board just for your room, and pin away!  The only catch is that it helps to be very selective in your pins if you take this approach.  For example, if you were doing a bedroom, only pin one bed.  Make sure that bed is one you a) love and b) can actually find (or at least get close) and put in the space.  Pinning 8 beds doesn’t really help – it is better to pin one bed, one dresser, one wall color, etc. so you can see the room at a glance as close to its final form as possible.

That being said, I generally stick to Photoshop, because it is familiar to me and because I can make the background my wall color and/or rug.  Doing this really helps me make sure every accessory and piece of furniture works with those two anchoring factors, which helps assure me that the final product will be harmonious.

For the craft studio, I decided to go with a neutral light gray-blue on the walls.  Specifically, Valspar’s “Seashore Fog.”  I originally planned to paint the walls a deep navy, but have since moved that idea to the master bedroom.  Frankly, this makes more sense since the master is ginormous and the craft studio is the size of a shoebox.  Additionally, I am a big enough girl to admit that I chickened out – what can I say, I was nervous about defying the old rule of small space = light walls.  Sometimes (usually) taking a risk is worth it, but I think the light walls will really make the room feel bigger, and I will just use the navy in smaller doses.  I am still toying with doing a navy accent wall or ceiling…you’ll just have to wait for the reveal to see what I choose!

I also chose to go neutral for the rug in the studio – gray and ivory.  One, because it was on sale (and y’all know the Doctor and I love saving money), and two, because this way I can change the accent colors in the room without being bound by the flooring color.  I tend to get bored with things after a year or so, so rather than fight that I try to make sure the foundation (ie, bigger or more expensive pieces) of the room are something I know will work with a variety of colors and design styles.  The Doctor doesn’t mind me changing up the pillows or picture frames in a space every once in awhile, but if I tried to replace all the rugs and furniture in our house on an annual basis he might not be so happy!

Other things to consider placing on the board are major pieces of furniture (the dresser and the desk in this case), as well as a few accents to represent the entirety of you planned color scheme.  Note that I said “a few” – it is super rare that I will put everything that is ultimately going in the room on the mood board.  It is just too visually confusing!  Imagine if your favorite restaurant put all the ingredients and recipes under every item on the menu – it would be too much to slog through.  In my experience, the mood board works best as a tool if you limit it to major, key pieces of information.  Of course, you don’t have to be as narrow-minded focused as me –  anything that evokes the feel you are going for is a candidate to be added.  I know some bloggers who add song lyrics or fashion spreads to their home decor mood boards – it’s all up to you and what will help you envision the space.  I am pretty literal and focused when it comes to mine, so I tend to stick to the actual things going in the room.

In this space I knew I wanted navy and gray with gold elements and one additional color for “pop.”  I considered yellow, green, aqua, and red, but ultimately settled on pink.  I love the preppy, feminine feel that navy, gold, and pink create when used together, and the reality is the Doctor would be less than thrilled if I tried to put pink as a major player in the main parts of the house.  Since this is my office, and the spousal veto exception applies, I decided to dive headfirst into preppy, girly, and glam.  Of course, I will be sure to throw in some warm wood as well to keep it in balance with the rest of the house, and I will try to avoid glitter overload.

So here it is…

…my mood board for the craft studio – feel free to let me know what you think by commenting below!

Till next time,

Sarah

So the other night I was talking about this little blog with my husband, and he indicated that he would prefer to be known as “the doctor” rather than the somewhat less impressive “mister.”  I told him I was happy to do so provided he would let me design an emoji/avatar featuring him peeking out from behind the Tardis that I can use on the blog. #yesiamserious #itshallbedone  (Also, for all those who know what I am talking about, bonus points for you!)

So this is just a little heads up to tell y’all that the doctor and the mister are indeed one and the same amazing man I married 🙂