Our First Blogiversary

January 22, 2016December 29, 20157 Comments

It’s official! We are now One!!! I can hardly believe it’s been a year. I remember sitting with Lauren and telling her it would be fun to start a blog, but had no idea what I would do for it. The more we talked, the clearer it became and soon Lauren was joining me on this adventure. Then came the decision for a name. That probably took us 3 weeks! I recall Haley walking in and saying, ‘Are you still talking about a name?!’ Ha! Now here we are a year later!

Some of Pam’s favorites have included furniture make-overs, DIY’s and decorating. She also loved redoing Lauren’s room and finally getting the hallway painted! Lauren loved being able to show off her Paris bedroom and of course her puppy, Zoella! Just knowing we have to post something helps us be more intentional about getting projects done.

My favorite part of my room-the bed

Some improvements this year have included better pictures, at least I hope so! I am slowly learning how to take better and brighter pictures. We also had our first giveaway! It was so exciting to be contacted by ParrotUncle to give away one of their lamps. Hopefully that will be the first of many! We also received 2 awards this year: The Liebster Award and a Blogger Recognition Award. Thank you to fellow bloggers for nominating us!!

We are planning on making a few changes, all positive we hope! Pam will still be posting on Monday. We are going to post on Wednesday with a Fabulous Finds and/or Fashion Day. We will either post about thrift store/garage sale finds or some fashion ideas. Lauren will be posting on Friday. Hopefully this will work better with her school and work schedule and Saturday will be our Corner News.

Of course, we want to hear from you too! What kind of posts do you like to see? Are there things you don’t like or things we should change? Please let us know in the comments below. Just be kind please :)!

I don’t want to be too mushy, but I really have to say thank you. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing blog posts and letting everyone who comes by see them. It has been hard for me at some points because of working a full time job and going to school full time, but I love to come up with ideas of how I can make a blog post. I have enjoyed reading all of the kind comments that I have received on some of my posts (mostly about Zoella, but nevertheless) and loved seeing who has come to view our blog. Thank you for not only fulfilling my dream to create and write about something for people to see, but also showing me that you care about what I write. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! And cheers to creating more amazing content to share with all of you!

It has been quite a ride this year and we can’t wait to see what else is waiting for us! Thank you again for coming over to read our posts and for all the kind comments! Obviously we wouldn’t continue if we didn’t have readers! Thank you for your support!

Pallet Wood Mirror

January 18, 2016January 16, 201628 Comments

Today is Martin Luther Kings birthday here in the U.S. I actually teach my preschoolers a little bit about him. I’m always surprised at the important questions they ask. I explain that only some of them can go to the playground today and of course, they don’t think that is fair. It gives them just a little taste of what Martin Luther King fought for.

Here is the piece of mirror I fought with a couple of weeks ago :). Here is the project I was working on when the mirror broke. My husband took the broken piece and using a glass cutter, cut off the broken corner.

He picked out some of the pallet pieces we had laying around and cut four pieces to make a frame. He cut a 45 decree miter cut so all the corner would fit together nicely. I don’t have measurements for you, because he just went by the size of the mirror.

Screws were put in at each corner, on the sides, to hold it all together.

He cut out indention’s in the back with a router bit for the mirror to sit in.

Here is the front, ready to have the mirror placed in it.

It took a couple of tries, but now the mirror fits perfectly.

We didn’t have any type of brackets or anything to hold the mirror in place, so my husband used some plumbers tape we had on hand and screwed it on, overlapping the frame and the mirror. I probably would have attached it corner to corner, but so far this is working too.

It worked! Now to clean it up and find a spot for it in the house.

I placed it on a small table in the dining room and it looks pretty good there! I like how it’s kind of rustic and farmhouse looking. Don’t mind the mess in the mirror’s reflection. That’s the dog’s toy corner!

My husband doesn’t usually have much time to work on extra projects, so this was a great! I love how it turned out and can’t wait to try it in different areas of the house.

Be sure to come back on Friday to celebrate our One Year Blogiversary! See you then!

Creating Your Own Sweater Stockings

December 14, 2015December 12, 201514 Comments

The stockings were hung by the chimney in care…okay, we don’t have a chimney, but we do have a fireplace now! But I still didn’t hang the stockings there. Instead I used an old ladder for some and a new one for the others! I love how they look on the ladders with some cozy blankets thrown over. I showed you the stockings I was making for my pooches and kitties, but I thought I would give you a little more of a tutorial for them.

I started out with a pile of sweaters from a thrift store. They have a deal where you fill a handheld shopping basket and get the whole thing for $7.00. Pretty good deal! I found 7 sweaters in colors that I liked and thought would work for this project. Only 1 buck each! I looked for sweaters with a design, or pockets or buttons that I thought would add something extra to the stocking. (only 6 made it in the picture :))

Here is the stocking I used for the pattern. As you can tell, not really my style. After sewing this one, I realized I should have put the top of the stocking at the bottom of the sweater. The tops didn’t stretch out so much when I used the binding at the bottom or the neckline at the top of the sweater.

I’m going to be using a different sweater for the rest of the tutorial, because it was an oops. I traced the pattern on the outside of the sweater instead of the inside. 😦 But it still ended up working out! I actually got 2 stockings from the sweater. I think it was actually a dress. Notice how the top of the stocking will be on the neck of the sweater.

After tracing the pattern it was time to sew. My favorite thing! NOT! But I did it anyway! I sewed right along the line I had drawn. Just don’t sew the top! That is your opening to put the gifts in!

Once the sewing is done, cut around the edge. I cut just to the outside of the stitching.

Here is the stocking all cut out.

I turned the stocking right side out, which was actually inside out, but whatever! Then I took a piece of the binding from the neck that was left over and cut a little strip off.

This will make my loop for hanging. I sewed it on with the machine, but it could easily be hand-stitched too.

The collar of the sweater had some buttons on it so I cut them off and added them to the front of the stocking where the diamonds of the argyle met.

And there it is! It doesn’t looks to bad being inside out! I hung this one in my bedroom.

Here are a couple of the others hanging by the dining room tree. I finished 8 of them in all! If I can make these, anybody can! I love how they look warm and cozy plus you can make them to match any decor,

Thanks for following along! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Corner News-December 4, 2015

December 4, 2015December 3, 201513 Comments

You better watch out! Christmas is only a 3 weeks away! Are you ready!? I am ready for a break from preschoolers and to just be able to relax at home. This time of year at school is just so crazy!! The children’s heads are filled with Santa, Elves, presents, parties and not school!! It’s fun to see the season and excitement through their eyes.

One project I worked on last weekend was making some stockings for our furry friends. All we had were some cheap ones in red and green. They so didn’t go with my Rustic Glam decor!! 🙂 I bought some sweaters at a thrift store in colors or designs that I liked. I turned them inside out and traced one of the old stockings with a pen. Then I sewed around the stitching, except for the top opening. After it was sewed, I cut it out. I sewed it first so it wouldn’t fray. I used some of the trim from the sweater to decorate the stocking, such as buttons and pockets. I love how they look! I will add a monogram as soon as we can decide who gets which one!

This tree is in my dining room. It’s hard to see, but it is decorated with Shiny Brite ornaments and the colors start with silver at the top, down to gold, and then to turquoise. I love it! I keep finding these ornaments at the thrift stores and I snatch them up. I have found a bunch of pink ones for Lauren too.

Here is my new addition to my fireplace! Oohh! I am so excited to curl up by the fire!

Have a wonderful weekend! See you on Monday!

Interpretive Christmas Blog Reading

December 3, 20154 Comments

This is an interpretive picture to lyric reading from one of my favorite Christmas songs, “That’s Christmas to Me” by Pentatonix. I will be adding a picture for every line or two of the song. Not only will you reading the beautiful lyrics to this song, but you will also be seeing the decor around my apartment. Enjoy!

That’s Christmas to Me by Pentatonix

The fireplace is burning bright, shining all on me