throw some glitter, make it rain

I saw this quote on Pinterest and knew immediately I had to have it somewhere in my home!  I changed the wording a little, but you get the message.  I wish I knew where the quote originally came from, I was not able to track it to the original posting on Pinterest.

(My pictures are off of the Ipad so don't judge - I am asking for a nice fancy camera for Christmas!)

I used a canvas that I had and painted it with a glossy black then used leftover stickers from Easter for the quote.  I would have liked a different font, but this works and I didn't have to buy anymore stickers.

Then I taped off a pattern with painters tape.  This was the easiest pattern to do - I am impatient so I didn't do anything too tricksy. 

I purchased Martha Stewart gold paint and some basic silver glitter at Michaels.  I used the paint as my sticky for the glitter - but you have to be quick before it dries.

I have a lot of gold and silver in my house  ( I refer to it as "gilver") so I thought I would continue the trend with gold paint and silver glitter.

After a little dry time, which doesn't take long - remove the stickers ( I got up under them with my fingernails) and the tape and you have this beauty.  I sprayed a little hairspray on it so the glitter wouldn't fall off everywhere and outrage my husband.   It is nothing fancy, but I love it!  I am thinking of putting it near the front door or maybe in the bathroom just as a reminder!

I obviously am a glitter fan, what projects have you done with glitter?  I would love to see, I am always up for a new project!

custom (Pottery Barn knock off) door mat

I believe that I registered for a monogrammed door mat for our wedding at Pottery Barn, but did not receive - which I do not blame anyone for not getting it for us because they can cost between $60-$100 - absurd for something you wipe your dirty feet on! SO, I thought I would make my own! I got our door mat at Wal Mart I believe for like 6 bucks. I used my stencil from our custom bar that we ordered on etsy as a custom wall decal  that we ending up not using as a decal and turned it into a stencil instead that can/will be used many many times.  I got the stencil paper from Hobby Lobby and my handy hubby traced the decal and cut out the stencil with an x acto knife.  I have now used this stencil at least 3 times and I am sure will use it more in the future.  You could also do a saying or monogram or whatever on the computer and print it out and trace onto the stencil paper.

I used fabric pant for this project because that is what I had, it would have been a lot easier to do with spray paint, but I did not have any on hand so I just did it by hand with the fabric paint and a foam brush.

This project took me about 20 minutes tops, but would be quicker with spray paint!  The fabric paint took a while to dry, but besides that it worked great!

I think that my rug looks pretty good for about $15 instead of around $100! Let me know if you do one yourself, I would love to see it!

source: Pottery Barn

my V-Day gift...a custom bar!

so lately I was obsessing over bar carts and was really really wanting to purchase one, but could not find one that I LOVED that was anywhere near our price range. Hubby decided he would make me one, but I quickly decided that I would be settling and did not want one made out of wood and did not want him to go through all that and me not like it. SOOOO we decided instead to build a bar - since we have sooo much room for all that in our tiny apartment and all. (sarcasm, people). Well Matt started drawing and sketching and I just rattled off some ideas of what I wanted it to look like. That was the beginning. Turns out we totally went over budget and changed quite a few things from the initial drawing that my handy husband drew up. BUT I LOVE it and it is one of a kind and my sweet, handy, intelligent, hard working husband made it for me (I mean us!?). I took pictures along they way thinking that I would blog step by step how to make a bar in a baby apartment on your baby 2nd story patio BUT so many things went differently and I am not really sure how we even got to the point it is today HA - so sorry if you wanted to make one just like ours! You should want to though, cause its amazing! Now all we need to do is get a bigger place and have parties! I really enjoy entertaining so that was one of my reasons for wanting this bar and I needed a place to store all of our bar ware so why not? Well here ya go! Lots of pics and a little commentary...

I ordered a stencil online of our wedding logo that we designed together for the wedding and stenciled it on the top of the bar with glitter (yes, glitter - spray glitter) and sealed it.

I was given the fleur de lis lamp for Christmas from my boss but never had a spot for it - FINALLY a spot! The lamp was originally more rustic and traditional and of course I had to glam it up with the same glossy black paint as the bar, some spray glitter (gilver - or silver and gold)and some black blingy ribbon on the shade.

And before you judge our weirdo 80's looking kitchen chairs that is because they are 80's - our kitchen set was my parents first kitchen set. Next up on Matt's handy man to do list is a new kitchen table - we will probably just purchase the chairs.

We plan to maybe eventually get bar stools so if we want we can sit at the bar - originally we were going to do 2 shelves but decided if we ever wanted to sit at the bar it would be much more comfortable to slide in a chair with just one shelf.

Be My Valentine - late

We are celebrating V-Day today so even though I am late on my post - really it is right on time! We are making a nice dinner - romaine salad with strawberries, mandarin oranges and a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette, ribs (hubby's thing), roasted potatoes, baby carrots and asparagus, fudge brownies topped with strawberries and champagne! Can't wait! I think we might go bowling (which includes adult beverages) or go see the new Reese Witherspoon movie - This Means War. Big night planned! I was also thinking of going to get a shampoo and style/blowout. I need to get my brows waxed BAD and I never seem to be able to get any curl to hold in my thick, heavy hair so I was thinking of getting some sassy curls and body for my date night! This post is FULL of Valentine decor pics - so enjoy! What did you expect? This IS my first Valentine's Day as Mrs. Valentine - can't help it.

side note: My wreath on the front door got a little beat up and raggedy in the weather, so excuse her lack of perkiness. AND my mantle is not ideal and got changed around several times but I only got a picture of her once. The picture is not how she ultimately ended up, but you get the idea. The "Kiss Me" ribbon hung on the back of our front door - I had leftover ribbon and letters so I just whipped it up last minute.

pillow makeover!

Hey there! Hope everyone is having a great week - I got to spend some time with my mom, Gracie girl (my niece) and my sister in law Bet (Bethany) in Louisville, which was much needed. I had not seen Gracie since Christmas and was itching to give hugs, cuddle, read, and play with my little (growing up) Gracie!

Last Friday one of my dear college friends/sorority sister was in town with her boyfriend from Florida so we went out on the town with them and some other girls from school/sorority. Katie and I lived in the sorority house together, as well as the "blue" house together. Lots of fun times, life chats, tears and hilarity with that girl. Even though we are miles away I can still call her anytime and pick up where we left off - she is a talker and so am I so we have lovely phone chats! Matt and her boyfriend, Garen, became friends over sports, hunting, man stuff etc. so that was nice for Matt to have a guy to chat with!

I have been doing some crafting, updating, decorating in our little apartment - I will be posting more about our Valentine decor especially my Valentine banner and mantlescape!

Pillow makeover below...

I had a major Hobby Lobby trip last week and went a little crazy, but I found some great stuff! I found these inexpensive pillow covers that I thought I would jazz up myself. They were in the same aisle as the curtains, tassels, and fringe.

I had leftover little gems from another craft (found in the scrap booking area) that I used in the middle of the pillow to add a little bling (I love me some bling!)

I used a multi colored boa with neutral tones that I have also incorporated on a lamp in our living room and my new curtains (pictures coming soon).

Then I just whipped out my handy dandy glue gun and went to town around the edges. DISCLAIMER: this pillow is clearly just for looks (Matt hates that, but we have others that you can actually lay on and snuggle with).

I used one of our pillows in the cover that fit JUST right (had to stuff it in there a little), but you can buy the stuffing if you don't have any extra pillows around.
I had a little feather fluff leftover so instead of just putting the bling in the middle by itself I decided to add a little feather in with the bling! Tada, a new fancy pillow for about 10 bucks! She looks so pretty in our living room and I am enjoying her quite a bit!

Hope you enjoyed! Cheers to it almost being the weekend!

winter mantelscape

Wanted to share my Winter/New Year mantel with you all - I love having my mantel decorated at all times. The mantel is in our living room where we spend the majority of our time so I like to have something pretty to look at! The floral bouquet in the middle is from the PINK bridal show at the Nashville Convention Center this past weekend. (will post bridal show pics next) The bouquet is one that I made and is basically made up of some of my favorite elements: peonies, spray roses, bling, feathers and crystal garland! It is starting to die now so I have replaced it with some Valentine decor. Hope to update the mantel into a full on Valentine theme soon, after all this is my FIRST Valentine's Day as Mrs. Valentine! Cheers and happy hump day!