A Mother's Day Craft

I know its too late for you to make this craft for Mother's Day 2014 but you could always make it a birthday gift for mom or a friend, a wedding/shower gift or just make one for yourself.

Am I the only one who has a hard time coming up with the perfect gift for mom? There is nothing wrong with the typical flowers or chocolate or jewelry but I wanted to get creative this year. And goodness knows our moms who have given us everything deserve even more in return.

I quickly thought of a beautiful sign I saw over on Amy's blog that I wanted to make for myself. So I ran to Michaels to grab the supplies for 2: 1 for my mom and 1 for my mother-in-law.

Inspiration from The Blissful Bee

Amy shares a great tutorial but I thought I would break down my process for you as well.

I bought 2 wooden frames, 2 wooden letters, a pack of burlap board (comes with 3), decorative burlap flowers, sponge brushes, lavender ribbon and craft paint. I grabbed a few different shades of yellow and you can see that the darker one was a bad choice. But its all about trial and error until you are happy with it. 

I got to this point and I knew something was missing. I couldn't find the decorative pieces from the inspiration pic so I had to find something else. I ran to A.C.Moore the next day and found just the thing.

I got home and repainted the frame. I bet you like my fancy set up with the trash bag and all ;)

I grouped the flowers and laid it all out before gluing it down. I used the hot glue gun and that worked perfectly. I was a little nervous that the ribbon wouldn't hold it because the sign was kind of heavy but it seemed to have a strong hold when I tested it out.

Here is the finished product!! I had to see how it looks on my teal door since I now have some supplies to make my own. I probably will switch the colors though.

Oh and I finally got the "H" doormat that matches the "H"door sign! Not sure whats up with all of the leaves....

And then I gave my mama hers!!

What do you think about a door sign as opposed to a wreath?? What did you give your mom for Mother's Day?

DIY Wall Art (Gabby Post)

Hellllo readers! I hope everyone is enjoying Spring and the beautiful weather. I haven't much time to do my DIY projects because I've been trying to get out of the house as much as possible. That, and I haven't been as inspired from Pinterest as I usually am. UNTIL NOW.

Meet this wonderful creation: DIY WALL ART

You see, there's this large empty space behind my dresser that needs some attention. Right now it's so bare and I've been wondering what to put there. A mirror? Hanging jewelry box? Art?

Then I found this DIY project and knew it was calling my name. I love everything about it-it's chevron, it's colorful, it's just the right size...

So I went to Michaels and bought a canvas and some Acrylic paints (in teal hues of course to match the bedroom decor)! I already had painter's tape, 1" wide, to use to create the design on the canvas.

 Next, I marked the canvas to the spacing I wanted and laid out the tape in parallel lines.

The hard part was getting the chevron/herring bone pattern. It took me a couple tries and lots of measuring! I finally got it down.

It's not perfect by any means, but I still love the look!


The next step, I took metallic gold spray paint and sprayed over the canvas. I didn't cover it, making sure there were plenty of white spots to fill in with other colors. Then I just kept adding paint until I had used all the colors I wanted on the canvas. I had no particular order or method, just kept painting!

I left that dry over night and then started peeling off the painters tape. There were a few places where the tape had started coming up and a little paint got underneath, but I wasn't too worried about it! Here's the final product!

So after all that work I had to put it up. We're renting, so I decided not to hang it. I set it on top of the dresser instead, which I love! Here is the BEFORE (ignore our dresser, I'm going to refinish it with a whitish paint, so it's on the list of DIY projects!):

And here's the AFTER:

 

I love the pop of color, definitely what I was needing on that wall!

What do you all think? Did I do it justice?

I'm excited to have it in our bedroom finally. It was a super easy way to spruce up the place! I think I might have an even easier project for next time. I just found it today, so I'll be back in June with that project! :)

Gabby

Chips and Queso

I was so excited last week when I got an email from Liz inviting me to a Chuy's event!! You all remember my love for Chuy's (and mexican food in general) and I even coordinated a blogger dinner there last summer right after they opened. Now they are opening a new location in Midlothian and wanted to spread the word.

We actually went on Thursday but in honor of Cinco de Mayo, I thought I'd share a little recap tonight.

Liz's fiance joined us for a little while and snapped this pic. I LOVE IT! Ashley and I were wearing matching mint pants.

 We started off the evening with some complementary drinks and a fajita bar. They also had chips+salsa and gave us a chance to try all 7 of their sauces. The boom-boom sauce was my favorite. It was a tangy, little bit spicy queso!! Then they brought out 2 of their signature dishes--- the Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom and the Steak Burrito in their spiciest Hatch sauce. And if we hadn't eaten enough (which I definitely had), they brought out their tres leches cake for everyone!! IT WAS SO GOOD! And we all went home with some "swag" like this awesome Chuy's t-shirt.

I had a great time catching up with these 2 beautiful ladies. We shared wedding stories (since Liz is tying the knot in less than a month) and talked about upcoming blogging events and conferences...and food as always!! I was so honored she picked me to come but the best part was Ashley blessed us with her presence even though Grey's Anatomy was coming on. Thus the new hashtag was created: #iheartyoumorethangreys Haha, okay maybe you had to be there for that one.

Can't wait until next time! (Which will be the SEO VA bloggers event. So excited for this one!)

Have you ever been to an event like this? Have you ever tried Chuy's?

Bikini Series

Yes I am starting another challenge. I hope you all enjoyed Style me April. I will not be participating in Style me May but I may do it again in a few months.

I did share my favorites on instagram. Its no surprise that I picked outfits with my favorite colors (teal, yellow and pink)

This new challenge will actually be a challenge. It will take motivation, hard work and 2 lovely accountability partners (and an encouraging husband) to get me through it. Its the BIKINI SERIES 2014!!! I love that I find these things on Instagram and just go for it. My blog friend Kayli shared a recipe and was using the hashtags #tiuteam and #tiumeals. I had seen them around a few times but had NO idea what it was about so I clicked on it and found a whole other world. Turns out tiu stands for Tone it Up and Karena and Katrina started it. Who are they? Certified Personal Trainers and Nutritionists. But that doesn't even scratch the surface. They have created a challenge called Bikini Series that is FREE to join and gives weekly workouts, nutrition tips and more. There is also a community of girls that connect and encourage each other. It sounded like just what I needed. I have been eating especially bad since last fall. I figured it would get better after Christmas and then after Valentines Day but I just kept eating bad and not exercising. So I signed up and then I shared the challenge on Instagram. Gabby and Veronica decided to join me and be my accountability partners. They have done a fantastic job so far!!

 And did I mention that this challenge is 8 WEEKS long!! It started on the 28th and ends on the first day of summer, just in time to show off the "bikini body"

These past 4 days have definitely been very different. I have had more energy. I have been waking up earlier to jog in the morning and then do the toning exercises in the evening. I also signed up for Zumba classes recently so that is just an added bonus because I LOVE ZUMBA!

Another part of the challenge is 100 by summer. The goal is to put in an extra 100 miles over the next 8 weeks. That averages to 1.7 miles a day. Or do the equivalent in another cardio exercise.

Here's some of my inspiration:

Here are my personal goals for this challenge:

1) Eat healthier and like. I need to stop drinking coke and eating dessert every day. I know I can do WAY better. I am so used to yummy, fattening southern food.

2) Go down a pants size or 2 or 3. Every year I have to buy bigger clothes. I want to go the other way.

3) Be able to run a 5k with stopping or walking (this is big for me....did I mention I despise running---like I'd rather go to the dentist haha)

Reward: A new bikini ;) and maybe a fun run (like Color me Rad?)

Sorry I didn't have many pictures. I will be sure to try and document this process better!! I dd take before pictures but I won't be sharing those on here.