Pillow Making

When we were looking for furniture for our new house, we wanted something that would serve us well for years to come. We didn't want anything that we couldn't modify with our taste with so we went with beige. Have I mentioned how much we love these? They are so soft!

We also wanted a chair that went with them. We picked out this pattern - complete opposite of our neutrals!

The only problem was that the pillows that couch and love seat came with where TERRIBLE. I could hardly look at them on the couch.

So, after months and months of hunting for the right fabric that would match the couches and the chair, I finally had material for pillows.

Fun Fact: My Mom is a Home Economics major and also wicked good at sewing. Now, I have sewed with her off and on since I was little. Nothing major but sewing none the less. 

She and I spent Thanksgiving making pillows! 

They are glorious! And, they don't make my eyes hurt when I look at them! I also love that fact that I got to make them with my mom. 

And, if you aren't convinced already that I have a pretty awesome Mom, she is currently making me table runners out of the extra material. I can't wait to use them either!

Life as an Event Planner

So you have probably noticed that blog posts are few and far between these past few months. In the past year (June 2012 - June 2013) I have planned 60 events. Keeping in mind that the University is only open 51 weeks out of the year. Needless to say - that is why posts are limited.

So, while I don't have much exciting news besides the house - I can at least share with you what I do while I am at work!

UT Board of Trustees Meeting - Feb 2013

UT Board of Trustees Dinner at the TN Aquarium - Feb 2013

Final Four Court Tour - March 2013

Chancellor's Roundtable Meeting  Centerpiece- April 2013

Faculty Awards Celebration - April 2013

Carson Scholars Event - May 2013

Chancellor's Roundtable Picnic - May 2013

Campus Wide Picnic - August 2013

Hope you enjoyed these as much as I enjoyed making them!

Christmas Crafts

Each year I love getting out the Christmas decorations. It is something about having my house decorated that really makes so excited for Christmas. This year I wanted to mix up our decorations a little bit.

The first craft was this cranberry candle. I paid all of $2 for this and that was only for the cranberries! I already owned the candle in the glass and then I had the cylinder vase. I simply just put the cranberries between the two. And, even though they are fresh cranberries they last a good while!

Next, the snow candle. Again, this only cost me a couple bucks. I owned the vase and the candle. And, believe it or not, this is Epsom salt! It makes for great fake snow!

And last, jingle bell candles! Another cheap centerpiece! I already owned the snowflake plate and the votive candles. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought a couple packs of jingle bells and spread them out around the candles.

These all were super easy and so cheap! They have added such a nice little touch to our Christmas decorations!

Wedding Bouquet Ornament

If you are anything like me, you have your wedding bouquet that you saved - but what do you do with it now?

My bouquet was daisies which don't dry well. I did dry my bouquet but it still just looked like sad lump of old flowers.

I will admit I saw this on pinterest. It wasn't an original idea but I did my own little accents.

So, I bought this plastic ornament at Walmart - all $.97! Popped off the lid and put in my petals. Then, I decided that it needed a little more something. I still had some ribbon from the wedding. The black ribbon with the white dots was from the vases at the reception. And, the pink ribbon was from the wedding favors. This is a neat way to preserve the ribbon too!

Yes, this is our third married Christmas but, better late than never!

Pumpkin Painting

This year I decided to paint a pumpkin instead of carving.

I started with a plain ol' pumpkin.

I picked up some garage sale stickers from Wal-Mart of two different sizes. I stuck them all over the pumpkin.

I also picked up some black spray paint. Just make sure it is indoor/outdoor. Then I went to town on the pumpkin.

**I will say - the circles didn't come out as clean as this picture looks. I think that my spray paint was not the best for the job. I had to do a lot of "cleaning up" of the circles with rubbing alcohol.

 It is a pretty awesome decoration. I admit that I am kinda scared to set it outside for fear it will start peeling.  Therefore, it makes for a great indoor decoration. And, the great thing about it not being carved is that it isn't  rotting in front of our eyes!

Have you been making any fall decorations?

Tennessee Love

I found this awesome print here. I couldn't justify spending that kind of money on it though.

As you all know, I love painting. So, I challenged myself to make a version for myself.

It isn't perfect but I love it! And, it only cost me $10 in supplies!

It looks especially great on top of our bookcase!

Have you been up to any crafts lately?

Bow Making!

I recently discovered a new skill - bow making! I was in a bind at work and needed a big bow but all I had was this blue ribbon. After a failed attempt, I tried again and some how came out with this! I even surprised myself! My next job just might be with Hallmark!


Do you have any surprise talents?

Pillow Talk

Remember when I told you about our hotel bed? Since then I have been looking for the perfect decorative pillow to match the set. Yes, literally over a year.

I finally gave up finding an already assembled pillow and decided it would be better just to make one. Then started the search for the perfectly matched fabric. This was harder than I expected also. Finally, last week I found the perfect match!

Stay tuned to see how it turns out!

Lesson Learned: Only buy bed sets that come with the decorative pillows.

Banner Bags

As part of my company's 25th anniversary celebration, I was given the assignment to have old out-dated vinyl banners made into tote bags. Yes, I realize how strange that sounds but, I will say they turned out AWESOME!

Thanks to priorLIFE in Traverse City, Michigan we had 300 banners made into 500 tote bags, 50 wine totes, 50 cosmetic cases, and 10 extra large tote bags.

And, the best part was that I got to take one for myself! Of course, I picked the Mocs bag!

Even the inside is cool!

This is the cosmetic bag I picked out. It was once a banner for the Chattanooga Zoo. It had a picture of a blue parrot on it.

What have you recycled from trash to treasure?

New Skill: Flower Arranging

I love flowers. I told Tyler early on in the relationship that flowers are the answer to any problem. (See, he took note and got them for my birthday!)

So, when I saw this deal for a flower arranging class on Living Social I decided this was my time to shine.

I would say I didn't do half bad...

The bad thing is that only made my love for flowers and creativity grow. The good thing is I have a lovely arrangement in my house that I am pretty proud of.

What classes would you like to take?

A Christmas Craft

Tyler LOVES to display Christmas cards. Don't get me wrong, I do too. So, when we realized there was no real surface area to display them I was determined to fine the perfect spot.

It suddenly hit me.. we would hang them!

Our fireplace is awkward in that it doesn't have a mantel. Seeing as how we got some awesome stockings for $5 a piece at Belk, we had to get creative in hanging them. 3M hooks to the rescue - and just for your info - they do stick to brick! (Or at least they haven't fallen off yet!)

My solution for the cards was to use 3M hooks, some fishing wire, and some painted clothes pins to display our cards. (I am proud to say, I had all these items in my craft cubby.)

(P.S. Send us some more Christmas cards to display too!)

What Christmas crafts have you done?