DIY record bowls

A few months ago, Chris and I had a fun date night where we turned old record albums into serving bowls. We went to a thrift store, found a few records that we liked and came home to reshape them. I thought I would share with you step by step how to make them since they make a great accent to any room. And also, because it's just plain fun!

These are the supplies you'll need: A few records (make sure you check their value online so you don't accidentally melt one that could of made you rich. Oh how that would be a sad day if you did), a glass bowl that can go in the oven and a cookie sheet.

Turn the oven to 130 degrees. Place the record on top of the bowl which is being supported by the cookie sheet. Watch while it's in the oven because it only takes a few short minutes for the record to melt.

Once it's begun to melt, pull it out of the oven and begin molding it with your hands. The record will be warm, but not hot enough to burn you. We put ours in another bowl to help shape it. It will be flimsy for a minute or so, so having a bowl for support helps. Once it's hardened, take it out of the mold and wa la! You have yourself a record bowl. If you aren't happy with the way it turned out, you can pop it back in the oven and reshape it.

We use ours as decoration in the kitchen, but I've seen them used for anything from fruit bowls to jewelry containers. I seriously suggest trying this. It is a great date idea and everyone loves it! Have fun creating.

Romanticly Sweet

The beautiful Meredith and Seth are joining in wedded bliss and have asked me to make the wedding invitations. When I met with them, they emphasized their vision as being simple, romantic and soft with a vintage flare. These are three comps I came up with and with a few modifications, this was their final choice.

  I'll have to show you the final product! It is going to be fabulous. They've come up with this great idea for an envelope. More to come!

All American

In honor of President's Day, we did what real Americans do best. We stuffed our faces with red meat. Oh how we loved it. Sometimes you just need a big fatty burger to clog your arteries and make life awesome. We went to the legendary restaurant called Big Jud's Country Diner. If you are a fan of the T.V show Man vs. Food, you'll recognize this place for it's 1lb challenge. If you eat the whole burger, fries and drink, you get the $25 meal free and your picture on the wall of fame to prove it. Some people have done as much as 6lbs. Now that's excessive. But some American's just like their meat.

I wish I had gotten a picture before Chris smashed it with his hand. It was so tall that smashing it was the only way he could fit it into his mouth. It's name, The Mother Load, is more than suiting. Is this Before photo making your mouth water yet?

How about during?

After? Probably not. How was your President's Day? Did you do anything exciting or all American? I'd love to hear what you did. Maybe it will give Chris and I some ideas so that we don't have the "I don't know what do you want to do," problem. Maybe it would be different if we didn't live in a small town.

DIY Disaster

I'm not dead. I promise. If only you knew the kind of week I had, you would understand my lack of attention to blogging. Between midterms, two books to make, branding for a company that I'm working for, a wedding invitation along with another logo (as I recently picked up a new client) several DIY projects, trying to be a good wife and keep my sanity all at the same time has been quite the juggle. However, all of those things are blessings in my life and I am grateful for each one of them. Needless to say, I'm sorry for neglecting. However there are some great things in store this week that I can't wait to share.

One event I can't wait to share is my recent DIY disaster. Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself. Right? Well this is one of those times. If you are anything like me, I love looking at DIY projects online. It's inspiring to see what people can create. Sometimes I follow DIY instructions and other times I just make things up as I go (mostly the latter of the two since I'm inpatient). However, if I look at these projects too long, they all begin to look like a fairy godmother sprinkled her majic on the before and after picture. Wa-la! It's done and you don't see all the mess and disaster that happened in between. This DIY project is not one of those. There are no beautiful after pictures. You will see.

It all started in summer when my hands were saying "Do something with us! We need to make something!" I pulled out my fabric box and started cutting squares for a patchwork pillow. Since I don't have a sewing machine it was put together by hand. I planned on using an old feather pillow to stuff the new patchwork one. However, since I don't have a sewing machine, sewing in a zipper seemed impossible. So I decided to cut open the feather pillow, stuff the new one and sew up the hole. First off I made the mistake of stuffing the pillow right before I was going to a party (feathers were all over me!) and little did I know that the fabric was too thin. Let me illustrate my point.

Feathers coming out everywhere! For weeks at that matter. No matter how many times I cleaned it up and pulled them out, more kept coming.

Even my poor owl was having his eye poked out by them.

The backside of the pillow was the worse and my couch was covered in escaped feathers. I hated sitting on that side in fear that the little fuzzies would latch onto me like leaches. I admitted defeat on this DIY project, shoved it in a plastic bag and put it on our hallway closet for another day when I feel like tackling it. Until then, I will forget about the hours of hand stitching and move onto something else.

lova day

It's lova day everyone! Oh happy, happy day. So grab your lova and give em a big smooch.

Chris and I celebrated Valentines day a little early this year, due to the fact that it falls on a Monday this year. So Friday night was our big night and it was worth a million bucks! He took me to a Thai restaurant in town followed by ice skating and the best hot cocoa in town. I'm happy to say that I didn't fall once going skating. Now that is some happy news. It was so special to spend time together and not talk about school or work. We saved our presents for today so we'll have a little something to celebrate with.

Photos by Rebecca Hansen Photography

What plans do you have to celebrate? I would love to hear all your creative and fun ideas. Have a lovely day!

guest post: wedding invitation tips

This week I had the opportunity to be a guest blogger on a wedding site. The idea behind the post was to give tips on good wedding announcement design along with tips for brides on the do's and don'ts of invitations. It can be quite an intricate and delicate process and I'm here to help those in need. If you know anyone with a spring wedding, let me know because I'd be happy to help them.

Here is the printed version of my latest wedding announcement previously posted here. I'm working on another invitation right now that I can't wait to showcase. It comes with a unique envelope that I'm so excited for! More to come...

thirsty Thirsday

Today for thirsty Thursday, we are going shopping! Earlier today my mommasita sent me an e-mail with an image of a bedroom. She sent it to me because there was this fabulous chair which she said reminded her of me. Want to check out this great chair? Wah lah!

I think it's safe to say that this chair would be a great addition to any room. The variety of colors in it ensure that it will go with many color pallets and styles. Check out Pier 1 Imports for more styles and decorating ideas.

long stitch book binding

For you viewing pleasure, I thought I would share some of the latest books I've made. I'm addicted to this long stitch book binding style. There are numerous ways to stylize the stitching. I love the color combo with this one here, made with green and teal birds. It's so fresh.

This windowed exposed spine was a fun experiment. At first I was worried that the construction wouldn't be strong enough, but it is. I love the way you see the pages through the peek-a-boo window. Plus the black and white mums are fabulous! I wish I had an endless amount of this paper... for free. Now that would be awesome!

I've been playing with the idea of doing a book give away? What do you think? Yay or nay?

Edelweiss photoshoot

Happy Tuesday ladies! I hope your week is going well. I'm sure yours is the same way, but if you take a look at my planner you'll see how one day into the week makes it a mess with my weekly "to do" list.

I must say though that I'm really excited for this week because it's the unveiling of Edelweiss by Sarah, Dee dress. The concept of Sharing the Love is about 5 girls being able to share the same dress but style it differently. I started off the series this week with my Valentines Day inspired outfit. Hope you like it! Today is the beautiful Taylor. So go on over and check out these beautiful dresses at Edelweiss by Sarah or to follow the rest of the five girls go to the blog.

Photos taken by Brittany Wood

valentines day in t-7

Previous years I've always enjoyed Valentines Day, even if I didn't have someone to share it with. I loved the day because it was a chance for me to show friends how much I loved them. Plus I love those cheesy little valentines cards you buy at the store. You know, the ones with teenage mutant ninja turtles for the boys and Hannah Montana for the girls with cheesy lines on them? I love em!

We are are well on our way to Valentines Day! Half way there with only 7 days left, I've got the apartment decorated and love notes all over the place. This will be the second Valentines day with Chris. Once while we were dating and this being the first since we got married. I really hope he likes his gift. If I've learned one thing in life, it's how different people view gift giving. Some want it to be sentimental, others want laughter or surprise, while others want the cost factor. Chris and I are more sentimental/homemade gifts. Hopefully he likes what I've concocted for him....I might even get a few laughs from it. 

For your viewing pleasure, enjoy the photos of my Valentines Day decorations. They are simple but sweet. Chris sure was surprised when he came home from work.

On the lower right photo, I put this on the mirror in our bathroom. Each day I write a different reason why I love him.

snowfest x2

Howdy folks! I hope you are having a fan-freeking-tastic weekend. Last night Chris and I went to an international film about a Palestine woman. It was fabulous! After the film there was a question and answer/discussion of Israeli conflicts. I'll admit, I felt very cultured and like a real intellectual college student. If you've never seen an international film with subtitles and all, I highly recommend it.

Last Saturday we went to Snowfest. It's a little carnival that our town puts on every year. There are polar bear dives, ice sculpture contests, sledding and all sorts of fun games and prizes.

Chris up at the plate to make is winning strike! Ha ha it was so fun to bowl down a snowy hill. It is surprisingly a lot harder than it looks ;)

I had to throw this photo in for good measure because he just looks so stinkin cute!

The reason why I say it's snowfest x2 is because tonight we are going snowboarding with some of our best friends Sarah and Skyler. Lets hope it's more of a snow fest than ice fest since we haven't had much snow fall due to cold weather.  Either way, it's nice to get out and do something different sometimes. Cheers and ave a great weekend!

the mary poppins of book arts

In case you were wondering, I live in a frozen tundra. Literally. Ok not really. But it feels like it often. It has however been in the negatives all week. The one thing nice about this cold weather is that the sun still shines. Whenever this weather happens, I wear a blanket...or rather more, a coat that looks like it could be a blanket (not to be confused with a snuggie of course). I absolutely love this coat of mine! It keeps me so warm, I can tuck my body inside the whole thing and forget about the cold temperatures. 

See it's just so big. Jealous yet? I found it at a second hand store years ago in spring. Folks, believe me, looking for coats in spring is the best thing ever! People are cleaning out their closets and giving away tons of great loot!

Today I was carrying all my book art supplies around campus. When Chris saw me with all my big bags, he said I looked like the Mary Poppins of book arts. He then proceeded to sing the song A Spoon Full of Sugar, with altered lyrics to match my condition. Ah I couldn't stop laughing! He always knows how to put a smile on my face.

Oh did I mention it twirls fabulously? Well, it does. I think everyone should have either a vintage clothing item, something cozy or something that makes you feel like a kid again. I lucked out and got all those elements in one coat. Ka Ching! Do you have a fabulous coat you love? I'd love to hear about it.

Before and After: Bedroom

Remember way back when I mentioned we were redecorating the bedroom I grew up in? Well, be prepared to be amazed.

 Love the colors hu? Don't judge too much because I painted it all by myself in middle school. They call it self expression right? Thank goodness my parents are cool and didn't reassess the value of our home.

See the dolls on the shelf? Oh yeah. Needless to say, it's been years since I've gone through things. 

The dresser is the same one from the old bedroom. My wonderful sister sanded it down and gave it a nice fresh coat of black paint. The same was done for the book shelf. The brown one that once held my old dolls and prom sashes, now hold books and beautiful accents. Some of the decorations are actually left over centerpieces from our wedding and artwork I've made. The key to giving any room personality is by adding that personal touch.

Believe it or not, but that headboard is actually my old tack board! Talk about a face lift. It was simply wrapped in fabric we had lying in our craft cupboard (one of the many reasons why I love going home... endless supplies of crafts lying around the house) and stapled on the back to hold it in place.

I had to throw this one in for good measure. My sister and my mom are two of the most important women in my life. Love you ladies!