Hey, y'all!

I'm joining Anna for her 14 Days to Get Clean, Get Organized Challenge!

Come join us!

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Sequin Scarf Knock-off

So y'all...I have this person who is super hard to shop for, but simultaneously easy to shop for. Does that make any sense? It's my sister-in-law. She is trendy, fashionable, and loves shoes, bags, accessories...so in that respect, she's easy to buy for!

But...

She is like me...and she loves to shop. She travels a good bit, and since she doesn't live in-state anymore, I am not able to keep up with what she has and has not bought for herself. 

Enter her Pinterest addiction.

Hello, let's knockoff some designer duds for s-i-l.

Don't mind if I do.

Here's the inspiration--a $135 scarf from Calypso St. Barth.

( via )

I loved the colors, but I also knew that I wanted to put my own twist on it, make it darker, and I knew this meant an encounter with my old frenemy...my mom's temperamental trusty Singer.

If you saw my post about curtains, you know how I feel about sewing.

I sought help from a sewing pro--my bloggy friend April of Wildflowers & Whimsy. Seriously, I would so love to have her talents. Or, she could just make me tons of pretty clothes. I'm not picky.

So. Two yards of gunmetal, sequin-y fabric, two yards of super soft gray jersey, and about an hour later...

Ta-da!

Please excuse my horrid self-portraits. I was ready to get this pain in my butt beautiful scarf wrapped up and done.

I have to say...I'm kinda loving it.

It was irritating for me, oh girl of little patience--who am I kidding, NO patience--and very slight knowledge of sewing. I finally decided to approach it like a pillow.

Right sides together, sew the longer sides. Turn it out, tuck one end inside the other, fold in a "hem", sew again.

Boom.

Scarf.

My dear s-i-l will be opening this Christmas eve, so hopefully it will be warmly received. I'll see if I can get a few pictures of her modeling it instead of my beautimous self-portraits.

OH. And I almost forgot. The sequin-y fabric came from none other than Wal-Mart, and the jersey from Hobby Lobby. It cost me less than $15 for all of it.

Take that, $135 scarf.

The tutorials April suggested can be found here and here, although I kinda went off the rails a bit and did it my own way.

Have you made any scarves?



Linking up with Not Just a Housewife, Creations by Kara, Momnivores Dilemma
and

Hey, y'all!

I wanted to share a little holiday project I did for my mom. I found the idea for this project here, and had it bookmarked long before I became addicted to Pinterest! I have tons of old windows for projects, and I knew mom is always looking for something fun for her mantle at Christmas time.

My awesome hubs removed the glass for me, and then I cleaned up the frame with baking soda and water. A quick run with some sandpaper, wipe down with a cloth, and I was ready to go. I painted random dots all around the window in red acrylic, using a plain old q-tip!

I used silver wrapped floral wire for hangers, and simple white cup hooks from Lowe's to hang the ornaments. All of the painted ornaments incorporated red in some way. I found the idea for the painted ornaments on Pinterest, here.

These ornaments were made using Mod Podge and Epsom salts. I used one of those cheap, square-ish sponge brushes to dab on the Mod Podge, then just sprinkled on the salts.

My mom was thrilled when I surprised her with it! I haven't seen it in person on her mantle yet. I'll try to get a much better picture of it, in it's new home, on Christmas day.

(P.S. You can find me on Pinterest here...would love to follow you back!)

Linking up with Not Just a Housewife, Creations by Kara, Momnivore's Dilemma
and

photo challenge, part five

Hey, y'all!

It's that time again--photo fun day! :)

I'm taking a few liberties with these...I hope our fab hostess doesn't mind...you know, the one who said she has a hairy back and three teeth? Yeah. Her. *wink*

In no particular order...

-Artwork-

My skyline painting I did at Sips'n'Strokes.

-Closet-

I hate my closet. It is tiny. We added on to it when we moved in, because this was supposed to be for my stuff AND the hubs' stuff. Pardon me while I laugh hysterically. *gigglesnort* So here's a peek in my ever-messy, shoe-and-clothes-filled-closet. There are far more shoes than anything. It's true--I have a problem.

-Clothing-

Okay, seriously. Cutest. Shirt. Ever.

-Gratitude-

We received this notice of what our insurance paid towards Colston's surgery. I about fell over. We paid, I think, $100 out of pocket? So today, I am immensely grateful for insurance.

-Where You Sleep-

This is our home last year when we had our (for us) crazy big snow. I think snow makes everything look so serene, pretty, calm.

photo challenge, part 2+2

Hey, y'all!

It's photo fun time again...and I'm cheating! Baby C had surgery Thursday, and we're having a rough go of it right now.

We'll kick it off with "Seasonal"--a pic of our tree with one of those funky iPad settings. I like.

"Memories"...a picture of a picture. This is the hubs and me at our church's recognition for high school seniors...Class of 2000 :) Oh, and that's my mother-in-law in red.

"Best Friend"--me and The BFF. Since we were like...four. Or something.

We are wearing viking hats. 'Cause we're too cool for crowns.

*side eye*

"Animals"--One of our five pooches, Tigger. AKA, Tig, Tig-Tig, Tig Vicious...yeah. You get it.

photo challenge, part tres

Hey, y'all!

For Lesley's photo challenge this week, we were supposed to cover items 11-15...I got 'em all!

*does a little happy dance*

-Something Old-

When I was 4 my parents built a new house and we moved in February. They let me pick out everything for my new room--colors, wallpaper, bed (white with pink bedding and canopy, WHAT?!)...These are 3 ornaments left from my very own little tree I had in my room at Christmas. Please note the cat. I hate cats. Moving on.

-Hands-

The hubs is a software developer. His hands provide for our family, put food on the table, and that allows me to stay home with our son. Those are some awesome, powerful hands :)

-Written Word-

We are HUGE Clemson fans. On Saturday, Clemson won the ACC championship game for the first time in a LONG time. Now they're off to the Orange Bowl in Miami. This is exciting stuff in this house, guys.

-Movement-

My BFF's dad puts up a ri-donk-culous Christmas display at his home each year. It involves lots of generators and not being able to use the microwave (it throws the breakers y'all, I microwaved a cup of coffee one year and shut the WHOLE yard down. Oops.) I snapped this as we were driving by...and this isn't even finished yet!

-Technology-

Man, is that a pretty picture of me or what?! Hubs had to get an iPad for work and I was playing around with the photo booth thingie. I think 'cyclops' is a becoming look for me. *side eye*

Hey, y'all!

I found this Christmas-themed Q & A at It's A Crafty Life. I thought it seemed fun, so I decided to join in.

1. egg nog or hot chocolate? Neither...I don't even know what the heck egg nog REALLY is, and I'm not a hot chocolate fan. Actually, I'm not much of a hot beverage fan, period. Just give me a Pepsi, peeps, and no one gets hurt. *wink

2. does santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? When I was a kiddo, Santa gifts weren't wrapped. My parents, however, were under explicit instruction to wrap their gifts to me...that was the best part, ripping up all that paper!

3. colored lights on tree/house or white? Depends. My living room tree has white because I do the ornaments in a particular color scheme. But I have another tree with colored lights that I use all my random ornaments on.

4. do you hang mistletoe? Nope.

5. when do you put your decorations up? Honestly, um...let's go with "whenever we get around to it", haha.

6. what is your favorite holiday dish? Hmm...we usually have a similar feast as we do on Thanksgiving and I can't really narrow it down! Turkey, mac & cheese, sweet potato casserole, green beans...

7. favorite holiday memory as a child? On Christmas eve, my MaMa would come spend the night with us since we were all the family she had. I cherish all those Christmas eves when we'd be sitting around my parent's den, fire going, watching tv and gazing at all the pretty packages under the tree. It won't be the same this year without her.

8. when and how did you learn the truth about santa? I was either 4 or 5--kindergarten for sure. I was a little detective. My mom had tried to keep it going by putting "Santa's footprints" IN the ashes in the fireplace. But, she used my dad's shoes and they were sitting near the hearth. I, um, matched up the treads. *bows head* Yeah, that's me. Oops. Mom made me promise not to tell the truth about Santa to my friends hahaha :)

9. do you open a gift on christmas eve? When I was a kid, my parents would have a little something for MaMa and for me to open. Mostly to appease me, I think, because the other 364 days of the year I was an extreme introvert. But you put some presents under a tree and I was bouncing off the walls. Now, we have Christmas eve with the hubs's fam so we do gifts there.

10. how do you decorate your christmas tree? At present, our "main" tree is fake (I'm allergic, and man...I think real ones stink!), white lights, and gold/bronze/red color scheme.

11. snow! love it or dread it? Here in SC, our "snow" is more what the rest of the world would consider a flurry. Nonetheless, it shuts everything down and I LOVE it. Every. Time.

12. can you ice skate? Depends on your definition of "can you"...HA. I can remain upright. That count?

13. do you remember your favorite gift? I know there have been many that were more monumental or meaningful...but the year I got my Power Wheels "four wheeler"--oh. my. word. I was, quite literally, hell on wheels. Had a lead foot ever since.

14. what's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Jesus. Family. Friends.

15. what is your favorite holiday dessert? I love all of the goodies my mom and I bake together, I could never pick just one!

16. what is your favorite holiday tradition? So much has changed in the last year between our families, that a lot of our past traditions aren't possible this year. So, I guess I'm looking forward to beginning new traditions with James and Colston.

17. what tops your tree? a red, feathered poinsettia type flower

18. which do you prefer: giving or receiving? BOTH! Loooove to open gifts--don't even care if it's big or small, I just love the fun of it all--but I really, really love giving to others!

19. candy canes: yuck or yum? Meh.

20. favorite christmas show? Ummm...hmm...I can tell you what it's NOT--Miracle on 34th St. nor It's a Wonderful Life. UGH. Shoot me. (yeah yeah, I know I'm the minority on that)

21. saddest christmas song? I'll Be Home for Christmas. Without a doubt. Jeez, so depressing, all I think of is what if I was alone at Christmas. Eesh.

22. what is your favorite christmas song? Carol of the Bells! Or Wizards in Winter...Or, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You"!!! But of the others, the versions by Trans Siberian Orchestra. And don't tell me you don't love them; saw them live...WOW. Amazing.

I know a lot of you may have seen this before; I first discovered it when looking for 'Wizards in Winter' on YouTube after going to the TSO concert. If you haven't seen this, you're in for a treat! Enjoy!

Girlie Pink Christmas

Hey, y'all!

I wanted to share my pink tree with y'all today. I absolutely love this tree!

I got it on clearance three or four years ago, for about $10.

I hit up Hobby Lobby that year for black and white decorations, like this awesome garland. It is black, pearl white, and silver. I love it!

The tree is pre-lit, so the wires for the lights are pink, which I think makes the garland pop even more!

Then I like to add a little whimsy in with the black and white...like this funky, fun octopus!

How about some disco, y'all?

Black and white beaded ball, with some froufy black fur!

And what would this be without a shoe or two? Love this one!

I may or may not have a minor obsession with penguins as well...I could do a full size tree in all the different penguin ornaments I have.

To finish it off, I add a huge black ball of feathers. It is actually an ornament, but with a little creative finagling (aka, a mini hair clip), it became my topper!

Ta-da! All done. I haven't put this tree up but 1 time, so I was especially excited to find time and a place for it this year!

Do you have themed trees? Anyone else have a pink tree that isn't for a little girl? Haha :)

photo challenge, part deux

Hey, y'all!

This week for the photo challenge over at Lesley's place, Fabulously Flawed, we were supposed to capture items 6-10...books, something funny, favorite color, inspiring person, nature.

Unfortunately, between lots of doctor's appointments, shots, and a crazy teething baby, I only have two offerings for you today!

This is my "inspiring person"--my grandmother, MaMa, who passed away in June. I think about her all of the time, and especially now having Colston, I wish she were here to talk to. Thanksgiving marked the first major holiday I've ever had without her. Tomorrow, December 1, she would have been 91 years young. I snapped a shot of something another inspiring person sent me--our hostess with da-mostess, Lesley! After MaMa passed, Lesley sweetly made this key ring for me with a picture of my grandmother and me. I carry it with me. I think it's pretty awesome that someone like Lesley, whom I've never met in person or even heard her voice, cared enough to do something so kind.

As for my something funny, well...had to include my baby! No really--it is funny. We decided to try baby-led weaning instead of more traditional purees with the introduction of solids. Carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli--all got a "meh" from Colston.

Green beans? Yum, Momma!

If you haven't joined us in our photo fun, it's not too late! Come on over, y'all!

cyber monday

Hey, y'all!

Happy 'Cyber Monday' to you!

Just a friendly reminder that I'm having a great 25% off sale in my shop, ShenanAgains!

Just enter the code

THANKS

at checkout to receive your sweet discount!

Hope y'all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

I sure am thankful for these two guys...

support handmade, shop handmade...and a discount!

Hey, y'all!

I would like to invite y'all to stop by my Etsy store on 'Black Friday' and do a little browsing! It is the week to start your Christmas shopping, and I have lots of upcycled, repurposed pretties to fit your budget!

Rosette Earrings

Vintage Bingo Number Necklaces

(don't see your number? Convo me!)

Upcycled Spoon Keyrings

(great stocking stuffer!!!)

I hope you find something you love, for someone you love (or treat yourself!). Have a question? Want a different color, number, pattern? Convo me!

And when you checkout, be sure to enter

THANKS

to receive 25% off!

(discount code valid Friday through Monday)

photo challenge, part 2

Hey y'all!

Remember the photo challenge I mentioned going on with Lesley at Fabulously Flawed? Well I actually remembered to do part 2!

Go me!

I'm still learning the basics of "creative photography" (as opposed to self portraits with my cell phone!)...but I am having fun playing around with Picasa, and editing my photos to make them a little funky!

Today I am sharing with you...

~Morning Sky~

~Leaves~

~Smile~