Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Album of the Week: Watching Time Run

I know this is a bit out of order, but I just had to post what I've been listening to recently. This is Steve Moakler's second album, and it's simply amazing.


You should take a listen! Starting with this one.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Birdcage, or Light Fixture?

I love the new ideas people have for displaying candles. They are always so much more creative than I am. Not that I'm jealous or anything. I can still copy shamelessly.

Like this:



So cool!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Vintage Christmas

Each Christmas, my mom alternates between "vintage Christmas" and "conventional Christmas" decorations for our house. Some years, the tree is adorned with the gingerbread and peppermint ornamanets my sisters and I made in preschool, and the baubles that chronicle our family's journey through the years. Other years, my mom decorates with unique, vintage ornaments and trinkets that gives our home a fun, aged feel. This year, we're going vintage!

Here are some pictures of our decorations: (Please excuse the iPhone pictures, that's what I'm left with since my camera was stolen this summer.)



Our Christmas tree, with vintage ornaments.


There are six of these trees that frame our mantel.



Garland winds up our staircase, with vintage Christmas postcards attached in it. I've decided the "Cheerio!" postcard is my favorite!



The first picture is of the setup in our entryway, and the second is of our chest of drawers in the dining room. (Notice the inscription? My grandpa, a furniture manufacturer, had that engraved before he gave it to us many years ago.)



Garland and vintage tins wrapped together on top of the cabinets in the kitchen.




On the ledge in front of the sink, my mom has set up a little village of houses, which are covered in glitter (and charm). My terrible iPhone pictures do not adequately show you how completely charming these little structures are. I wish we could keep them up all year long!


This is hands down my favorite touch of Christmas in our entire house. My mom tied tiny, little vintage bells to the chandelier in our dining room. I think they are so quaint!

I think this post wins for most pictures. (Sorry?)

Headboard Pinspriation

As I'm sure many of you in the blog world know, Pinterest is just about the coolest thing ever. It is an amazing hub of inspiration, filled with beautiful things that you will probably

 a) never own
 b) never do
 c) never wear
 d) never accomplish

BUT it's still fun to look at!

Anyway, I found these pictures this week of some really unique ways of repurposing different materials to make a headboard. I would love to have this in my house someday! (Will it actually happen? We'll see....)



Old doors and shutters! It doesn't get any better than that!
Except for maybe what I already talked about here?

Friday, December 23, 2011

Just For You, SQ

So, my friend today, for the second time in a couple weeks, berated me about not blogging in a while. She was tired of seeing my "chevron+initial" post, and wanted something new. So, this is just for you, Miss SQ.

P.S. You guys should really check out her blog! It's really fun, and always interesting. I'm sure it'll get even more interesting within the next few weeks, because she'll be studying abroad in London this semester! Check it out here.

I know I've mentioned it before on here, but I am more than slightly obsessed with doors. So, here are some pictures of some beauts I've found recently!







As you guys could probably tell, I'm on a "panes" kick. I love glass, what can I say? I think it makes a home look welcoming and inviting!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Chevron+Initial

Big/Little was Sunday night, and it was a blast! I will show some pictures later, but I wanted to show off some paintings I made. I am so glad I was able to actually do what I imagined! I painted a chevron pattern on two canvases, then did an initial. It turned out really well! Here's what I did:


First, I painted two canvases white.


The second thing I did was grab a pencil and a ruler and measure off my chevron pattern. Then, I taped off the lines, and started painting.




After I finished those two paintings, I had to wait and see who my littles were! Once I found out, I went out and purchased a wooden letter for each girl. I traced those onto the canvas, and taped straight lines where I could. At some spots, I had to freehand it, which was a little nervewracking, but it turned it nicely I think:



I absolutely LOVED doing this project. It was so much fun, and it felt like such an accomplishment to make something I was proud of! (I seriously considered keeping these. Because I love my littles, I gave them up... Next assignment is making one for myself, no joke.)

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

You're Invited!

One of the things I love to look at are wedding invitations, and save the dates. The individuality of the couple is already emerging and apparent before you even arrive at the ceremony, and it's a great way to show a sneak peek of what the wedding might look like! Here are some beauts I've seen recently:

First Step: Save the Date



Next Step: Invitations




Love it!


The {Substitute} Teacher is IN

So. Today I started a new job! I am a substitute teacher now--which is just flat out crazy. I subbed today in a middle school, and I loved every minute of it. LOVED it. So much so that I'm pretty sure that I looked like a kid on Christmas. It was so much fun, and I feel like today was a little affirmation that, yes, I really want to/should be a teacher. And I. Am. So. Excited. But here was the funny thing about today: kids called me by my last name + miss. And I had a name tag.




It was so weird.
But don't get me wrong, totally awesome.
But really weird.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Bevo BBQ

September 30th was fun.
Why, do you ask?
Well, it's because it was Bevo BBQ, Theta's Western-themed date party the weekend before OU/TX. (While we're at it, how 'bout them Sooners?!?!) Anyway, Bevo was a ton of fun! Every year, girls decorate buckets for their dates, and basically give their date a goody basket. This year, I made one for my date, J! And personally, I think it turned out pretty well:





Easy peasy, and a blast to make! Here are some other fun pictures from Bevo:


Our group! It was so fun to be with them.


We...like to be Charlie's Angels.


Our friend, L, a Chi-O! We love her. A whole lot.



C and I kiting my date, J! (My friends and I have a theory that boys love to be kited...)


Me and my roomies! I love living with these two girls!

Bevo 2011=success

Monday, October 10, 2011

50th

So over Labor Day weekend, my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. (I know this was months ago, and I'm just now posting, but you know, it's all good.) Anyway, there was a huge celebration, and we had a lovely clubhouse in which to decorate and go to town in. So, I decided to copy an idea I saw on Pinterest that I thought was perfect for the party.

The inspiration:


My version:


It ended up being really easy! I edited all the pictures, and turned them black and white, lightened, sharpened, etc. (Made them massive display ready.) Then I went to Kinkos, had three of each picture printed, then cut the white space around the picture off. (No border.) Then, on the wall, with painters tape I outlined a "5" and a "0." After that, I started putting pictures on the wall! Some areas were difficult because it was a corner, or too wide for the line, something like that. But overall, I think it went really well, and everyone liked looking at the wall! It was a ton of fun to do, and I thoroughly enjoyed piecing it together in celebration of my grandparents.


Dawn and Jerry
November 1961

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Pinspiration Wednesday

Here are some pretty little things on Pinterest that I've seen this week. Things I've seen and said to myself, "Gee, Sarah, you could probably do that...."





I just realized that this post and my previous post both had the day of the week in the title. You guys are so lucky to have someone like me keeping track of the days of the week for you. (P.S. Tomorrow is Thursday--just so you know. I wonder what creative title post I will come up with tomorrow? Probably something ingenious that will blow your mind, like "Sandwich Thursday" or something equally stimulating.)