Elijah's Skip Hop Tree Top Friends

It has been quite awhile since I last posted. I haven't had a whole lot of time to craft, but recently I had a reason to...

 One of my childhood best friends had a baby last week! :) He is a precious little boy named Elijah. He has a super cute nursery theme and his mama wanted some matching accessories. I painted her a set of canvases and wooden letters to decorate Elijah's nursery walls.

Skip Hop Tree Top Friends

 

I hope little Eli and his mama like them! :)

Tutu and Two

It has been a little while since my last craft project, but last weekend I finally had another reason to make something. One of my good friends has an adorable little girl who turned two last week. I wanted to make something and thought what could be better for a two-year-old than a tutu!?


It was quite easy. I took elastic and just sewed two edges together to make a stretchy waist band. Next, I cut tulle into long strands. Then I tied the tulle onto the elastic. Lots and lots of tulle...

And I thought Juliet needed a cute shirt to go with it as well. :)

 

T-shirt from Hobby Lobby, bag of lime green sequins, white and pink felt,  and a little patience

Who said that 2's have to be terrible? They can be fabulous!

Happy Birthday to my favorite two-year-old!

Hold Me Close.

This is probably the most difficult project I've attempted so far. I don't consider myself an artist. I'm more of a crafter. When I paint, it is normally patterns or cartoony type objects. A few weekends ago, I found this giant framed painting at a yard sale for $5. It was from a hotel that had recently redecorated, so the painting was "meh," but the frame was really nice. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and paint something a bit more difficult than my norm... I decided to paint my favorite picture from our wedding.

I just really love the composition of this shot. To me, it just feel extremely intimate. I also love the flowers as the focal point. My bouquet was beautiful. My mom and aunt worked themselves to the bone on the flowers for our wedding, and I loved every single thing they put out there. They really made my dream wedding come true. So here's my attempt...

Happy Pictures Need Happy Frames

Dane and I have been married for nearly eight months... and I had yet to put up any of our wedding pictures around the apartment. For this project, I decided to go extra thrifty. I took a trip to our local Goodwill and found a few old, plain, CHEAP frames. Each of them were $2 or less. You can see why.

 

Who doesn't want a Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel?

I had a few other frames from the dollar store and Michael's.

Add some paint and some scrapbooking paper and here you go... 

The finished product.

To give some reference or reason as to the color choice, these are in the same room as these paintings.

Never FELT Better

I've decided to make a few changes to my blog. I don't have enough interesting stories to tell in order to keep up with a everyday-life-blog, but I really enjoyed sharing a few of my recent craft projects. So, I've decided to make this blog all about one of favorite hobbies... Taking something ordinary, boring, or dated and making it into something new and exciting.


So here is the first post under my new blog name: Color Me Happy!


A few years ago, I saw a friend of mine turn a few plain onesies into adorable, personalized onesies. I thought this would be perfect for my little niece/nephew Baby Nichols.

Supplies: Plain Onesies and a rainbow of Felt and Thread

A Little Night Owl

 

I made this one really hoping that my big brother would like it :)

Baby Nichols is gonna love "Haddadi"

Finished Product

Bright Polka Dots and Happy Animals

Last weekend, I went to visit my little sis-in-law in Starkville. If you didn't know, almost everything shuts down around 5 or 6 o'clock. So, as we usually do, we decided to get creative. We got a few canvases and decided to spend our Saturday night painting. Earlier that day we had browsed a few stores and I had seen some really cute paintings of a monkey and a giraffe. My older sis-in-law announced a few weeks ago that she is having a baby... and they are not finding out the gender. When I saw those paintings, I thought they'd be perfect for a gender neutral nursery. So, I decided to make my own and if they didn't match how they decide to decorate the nursery it'd be okay, because paint and canvas is inexpensive and reusable.


Here is the finished product...

 After making the monkey and giraffe, I remembered there is one jungle animal that is very important to our family. T - I - G - E - R - S !

I wrapped each canvas in ribbon so they're easily hung and extra cute :)

Green is much happier than Beige...

Well... I officially failed my "Blog everyday" goal. The weekend just gets so full of fun things or projects... like this one I'm going to show you.


When we picked our bedding, Dane made it very clear that it could not be girly. We looked and we looked, but most bedding is either very feminine or very masculine. We finally found this grey and white duvet that we both liked enough to register for. Then we got a black bed... and grey curtains... and black nightstands... and eventually our room became very black and grey. I hated it. It became my least favorite room in our apartment. I decided to do something about it. I didn't want to paint because then we'd have to worry about repainting it before we move out, so I had to come up with something else. I don't know where it came from, but I got an idea. I love scrapbooking paper. I use it on all sorts of projects. I decided I'd cover my wall in scrapbooking paper. Goodbye, Beige. Hello, Green!

BEFORE

 

AFTER

I used removable glue dots and thumb tacks

I may put the birds & tree paintings back up or create a mirror and picture frame collage. We'll see. I'm just glad that I'm really happy with it.

The different patterns up close

Day 17: Bucket List

Here is my list. It is in no particular order... some are crazy, some are serious, but they all sound great to me.

-hang out on the beaches in Australia
-go on a safari in Africa
-hit the many tourist stops in Europe
-swim with dolphins
-read the whole Bible
-learn to play piano or guitar
-see a Broadway play in NYC
-run a 5k
-go on an overseas mission trip
-learn to cook something fancy
-earn a master's degree
-go to a Memphis NCAA tournament game
-paint a mural
-write a children's book
-go parasailing
-ride an elephant
-create something completely unique
-truly surprise someone
-become a mother

Day 16: Most Embarassing Moment

I have one good story. It is so good because it is that bad. The way I see it, you can either laugh until you cry... or cry until you laugh.

It was my senior year. My choir teacher asked me if I'd like to sing the national anthem for our Winterfest pep rally. I really excited she asked and said yes. I practiced and practiced because my biggest fear was that I'd crack on "rockets red glare." The good news is I didn't. The bad news is I didn't sing it at all.

I walked up, grabbed the mic from the sound guy, hummed in the pitch pipe, and began to sing.

Me: Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight

[insert long awkward pause]

Did I mess up?  Was that wrong? Oh no....

Crowd: Boooooooo.....  

Maybe they didn't Boo. Maybe is was Oooooooh...  But when you're in front of a crowd and you hear and "ooo" sound, you're going to think it's Boo. I still think it was Boo. And if you're me, you're not going to let that happen.

Me: You know what?! I know I suck... Get over it!!

Girl in crowd: You can do it!!!!!!!!

The crowd began the "slow clap." You know, like in the movies? One person starts to clap, and slowly more join in... Yeah, that happened.

Me: [hum in little pitch pipe and try to start again] ..........

No.... I can't.

I quickly walked back to the bleachers to two of my friends, who were kind enough not to disown me. We left the pep rally early. Nobody is going to stop the girl that just humiliated herself right? Someone did. I'm almost certain that one of the vice principals, coaches, or teachers said something along the lines of "It isn't so bad, everyone will forget by Monday." I did not stop to listen, I wanted out of there.  By the way, they were wrong. People remembered.

My friends took me to Chickfila, got me a milkshake, and we laughed. We laughed at how insanely embarrassing that was and how it would make a great story. That it is. It is my one great story.

 

 

Day 15: Oh, the places you will go...

Yesterday I listed concerts I'd like to see... Today I'm thinking about places I'd like to be.

 

Africa

 

 

Australia 

 

 

San Fran

 

New York

 

Mountain Top Lodge... anywhere

 

Buckingham Palace - London

 Hawaii

Day 14: Who's in your 5?

Dane has this game he made up "Who's in your 5?" It's really just a question, but it's a way to get to know someone or pass time on a car trip. If you could go to any five concerts, what concerts would you go see? I always have a really hard time coming up with my answer, because my taste in music changes all the time.

There's only one rule... Pick 5 bands/musicians that are living and currently playing.

1) Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer, You Gave Love a Bad Name, Wanted Dead or Alive? That would be an insanely fun concert for me.

2) Katy Perry - I actually get to go see her in Nashville in August! Dane and I bought concert tickets on Valentine's Day for Kings of Leon and Katy Perry. I know it'll be a crazy show, so it is sure to be a good time.

3) Coldplay - Dane and I watched a concert of theirs on tv and it was so great. Very few people/bands are just as good live, but I think they really are.

4) Lady Gaga - Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy. I think that's explanation enough. :)

5) Michael Buble - He sings soooooo pretty. I love, love, love the jazzy oldies he does and the new stuff too. That would be one relaxing concert.

Day 12 and 13: Weaknesses, Insults, Hardships, Persecutions, Difficulties, and Umbrellas.

This blog challenge is tough to keep up with on the weekends...


Day 12:  Picture you love...


This isn't really just one picture I love but a series of pictures that I think are hilarious. We took our engagement pictures on a day when the clouds were teasing us with upcoming rain and the wind totally messing with my hair. The photographers gave us an umbrella so we'd have something different for these pictures... little did we know it'd give us the funniest pictures of the day.

 

Day 13: Favorite Bible Verse

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 

Over and over again, I begged God to take the pain away. But He said to me, "My grace is all you need, My power works best in your weakness." So now I am glad to have weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work in and through me. So I'll take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I love this verse because it reminds me to never think I am in control. When things get tough, turn to Him first for wisdom, comfort, and strength... instead of trusting my own knowledge, opinions, or power.

Day 11: Something I miss...

Get ready. This will blow your mind.... I miss school.

From kindergarten to my rushed years of college, I just wanted to get out. I took AP classes, summer classes, and a major class load to graduate in 3 years. Now, my high school senior class is talking about their upcoming graduations and some are talking about grad school... and I'm jealous. I wouldn't say I was amazing at any particular subject, but I was good at the school game. You know... the go to class, take good notes, answer questions, pass the test game? That's my favorite game. I can win that game. :)

Lately, I find myself googling everything. If I don't know it, I google it. I think it is because I miss learning. It's like I'm craving new information.  Granted, it isn't the same as reading a book or listening to a lecture, but at least it's interesting.

Like I mentioned in Dreams, I'd really like to go back one day. I'm hoping that day is sooner rather than later. I'll just have to see what the next couple of years bring.


And no, I won't really do your homework... or would I?



Shout out to my Alma Mater: We're going to the Championship!!!! Get out your dancing shoes, let's hope we make it to the Big Dance after all!!!!! Go Tigers Go!!!!!

Day 10: Something you're looking forward to...

I've known for a week, but wasn't allowed to say anything so here it is.... I'm going to be an aunt!!!!! I am so excited!!!!!!  Can you tell?

I've been looking forward to being an aunt since my brother got married. I seriously cannot wait. The only thing I'm kind of bummed about is that they live pretty far away (Louisville, KY). I really hope I get to see my little niece or nephew often. So here are a few things I'm looking forward to....

1) Baby Nichols' first Christmas! This is the first grandchild so I am certain he/she will be showered in fun baby stuff this year! It will be awesome.

2) Coming up with a cute aunt name - I have learned from hanging out with Little Miss Juliet that Kelsey is not an easy name for tiny humans to learn, so I'll need a nickname. Suggestions are welcome.

3) Its Crafting time! You better believe this little one is going have some hand made presents waiting on him/her.

4) Tiny Tiger - Even though my brother and sister-in-law live in Louisville, I will not let their baby be influenced. His/her parents are Tiger Alum, so I'm pretty sure he/she will bleed blue too. :) Baby Nichols, I'm going to find you some of these...

I can't wait to meet you!!!!