619 miles

Our DIY Asheville Wedding - Save the Dates

I'm coming up on 7 months of married life this month and it has been crazy.... crazy in a good way of course. As mentined in a recent post 2014 has been full of excitement in life and jobs and this 7 months has flown by. I've been wanting to share our DIY wedding on the blog and with it raining outside and me procrastinating planting some flowers, I've decided to get to it!

When we got engaged in September we knew that we didn't want to do a year or two long engagement. We had purposfully been living apart and doing what we knew in our hearts was the right thing for us before marriage, so after the engagement it just seemed natural that we wouldn't wait forever to have the wedding....we didn't see a point. Not to mention I pretty much knew what I wanted for the wedding already. Being a lover of Pinterest and all things DIY I had already amassed a substiantial wedding Pinterest board. In fact, a few years earlier a wife of a work friend was convinced that I was getting married based on my pins... hahaha.

So we decided on Asheville in about 5 seconds and then we went to the calendar to pick a weekend. We wanted his daughter to be able to participate, so we picked out what weekends worked for her school schedule and that was how we picked January 19th. Which left us with approximately 4 months to plan.

So I know that most people send out their Save the Dates more than 4 months in advance, but I really wanted to design my own invitations, which I knew would take time, but I also wanted to get the word out quickly. This seems counter-intuitive now that I'm explaining it.. why would I spend more time designing Save the Dates instead of invites? Why not just jump to the invites?!?! Well in my brain it made sense at the time! 

I wanted all the paper products for the wedding to be modern and playful and to reflect Asheville and the blue ridge mountains that we loved so much!

I used Illustrator and drew up what seemed like a gazillion ideas. Tony and I decided together on this one:

I loved how they turned out and my favorite part is the mountains in the background! It looked even better in print. I had them printed at Persnickety Prints and on a pearl paper. Oh man, the pearl paper just added the best sheen and shimmer to the card. We put them in teal envelopes and I addressed them using a white pen. I'l show more photos of the envelopes when I post the invites. I highly recommend Persnickety Prints. When I printed out invited I used another company because of price, but eneded up going back to Persnickety to have them re-done! I also get photos printed by them. I'll be back soon to share the invitations.

 

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sneek peak: Kerry's 62 Shasta Airflyte

Last August we introduced you to Kerry's new "Baby", her 1962 Shasta Airflyte. 

In the last post Kerry said, "I went with the name Fifi, after the WWII WASP mascot Fifinella. She was the Disney winged gremlin that would taunt WWII pilots and mess with their aircraft causing trouble. I know this gremlin will be a labor of love fixing her up, but well worth it in the end."

Well Kerry and her amazing husband, Andy have been working up a storm on what has truly become a "labor of love." I can't wait to see it in person. Kerry and Andy sent me a couple new photos that I wanted to share.

Before Kerry deployed she whipped up some new seat cushions as well as did a really cool epoxy resin treatment to the table top and sink counter. She used this fabric from the Parson's Gray Line. 

 

While she has been gone, Andy has been hard at work on the exterior. I'm in awe of what they've done and I cannot wait to see it finished.  

house update | bathroom remodel

Well... hello there readers! It's been a while since I posted a house update, but I am back with one now. I am happy to show you some serious progress on the hallway bathroom. I cannot believe the transformation when I look at the before and afters. For more on how the bath started out and my fun with removing wallpaper check out this post.

Here is the current state of the bathroom. There are still some more things I want to tackle, like accessorizing and updating the mirror, but I am absolutely loving the way it is coming along.

house progress: popcorn ceiling removal

My new house has popcorn ceiling all over the place. In the main living area all the ceilings are connected, so removing the popcorn ceiling there will be a huge task. I wasn't sure how difficult removing it would be so I decided to start with the hall bathroom since it was small. The wallpaper was already down and as I was considering scraping off the popcorn ceiling THIS VIDEO on popcorn ceiling removal arrived in my email inbox. What perfect timing! 

I had most of the tools needed already on hand, but I did run to Lowes to pick up a garden sprayer. Here are the tools I used to complete the project:

• step stool (this is the perfect height for a short gal like me, not to mention it is lightweight and easy to carry all over the house)
• garden sprayer
• gloves (simple latex gloves, so great for protecting hands. I wear these while sanding and painting and doing all kinds of other messy jobs)
• dust mask and protective eyeware (no fashion statements being made at my house!)
• utility knife (my celing had caulking between the ceiling and the crown moulding, the knife cuts the caulk like and allows the ceiling to be scraped off on the edge of the crown)
• metal join compound knife (the video recommends rounding the corners, but I didn't because hoenstly I was feeling lazy)
• plastic drop cloths

Since I was doing the bathroom and the floor was vinyl that I intended to replace I did not cover the floor, or the walls for that matter. If I decide to do this in an area with finished walls and flooring I would cover cover cover everything! 

This is how it looked after the popcorn texture was scraped off:

I wiped down all the crown moulding and walls and let the ceiling dry for about an hour before I went back and patched some of the spots on the ceiling. As the video recommends, I was cautious about over saturating the ceiling and ensured that I wiped up any excess water as quilckly as possible. I also covered the vent fan with an old paper bag in addition to turning off the power. Water and electricity don't mix.

After touching up, sanding and priming my new ceiling looked like this:

So nice and smooth! My popcorn ceiling came down as easily as it does in the video and I was patting myself on the back at how awesome I was. I could not stop admiring the new look.

A couple weeks later when I attempted the same in the master bathroom, I was not as fortunate. Total bummer. It appears that maybe two layers of the popcorn ceiling was applied, because it would barely scrape at all. Ugh. I think I'm going to put up planks in the master bath ceiling to cover it up (since I have messed it up now and you can never patch that stuff). As for the rest of the popcorn ceiling in the house, for now I think I'm going to let it be. If I ever decide to attempt removing it, I'll start out in a small inconspicuous space and see if it is giong to come down easy or not.

If you have tried this I'd love to hear how your popcorn ceiling removal went. If you're going to try it good luck and let me know how it turns out!

 

casa california update - bathroom progress

Well, it's been a while since my last post and that's because I was busy working and actually packing up everything and getting it moved. As anyone who has ever moved themselves can attest, moving itsn't fun. I swore that the next time I moved I was going to save up enough money to hire movers. Well I saved, but in the end I was just too cheap to plunk down the $2,500 (and that didn't even include packing my stuff).

After the "official" move I spend about a week trying to do some more renovations. I was pretty drained from the wallpaper removal debacle, but I decided to focus on the hallway bathroom since it is small and I figured it would be quick to complete. I think having one completely finished room will help motivate me to keep it going.

My bathroom pinterest board has 154 pins, but to reel it in a little bit, I re-pinned only the photos that I was using as inspiration for this particular project. I decided with the hallway bath I wanted to do a black and white bathroom. Here is a peek at my inspiration via my pinterest board: casa nueva. This method was incredibly helpful. I re-pinned all the ideas that I thought I might actually be able to implement in my new place. Here are the inspiration photos for my B&W bathroom:

via Houzz

via Design*Sponge

via decorolgoy

I really like the high contrast of the black walls with a lot of white. My bathroom already has a chair rail, so I thought going black on top and white below would look great. Here is what I started with and the progress I've made so far:

The hideous-wallpaper before shot. The trim, walls, doors and cabinetry were all painted cream. BLAH.

 

The wallpaper is gone and so is the popcorn ceiling! Walls and ceiling are primed and ready for paint.

 

The walls are painted! I did flat black on the top and a semi-gloss for the lower walls, trim, doors & cabinetry. It looks so great. I love how rich the black looks. The quartz counters and new sink are going to be installed next week and after that I'll put the cabinet doors back on. I have a huge mirror that I scored for $10 from the Habitat Re-Store that is going to hang above the sink. I can't wait to have one space completely finished.

Still to do:

• install countertop, sink & faucet
• hang mirror
• re-hang cabinet doors & add new hardware
• install new floor
• install new toilet
• add toilet paper holder and hooks for towels

Inspired - pretty soap dispenser

source

I have seen Method's new line of cleaners with the Orla Kiely patterns several places in blog land. While I cannot afford any of the Orla Kiely bags or clothing I would like, I can afford a bottle of hand soap. My local Target had only one print available in the Method cleaner isle, however I spotted a bottle with a different print just thrown on a shelf in the camping area... score!

When I brought them home I realized that I still had a lot of hand soap in the giant refill bottle that I purchased a while back, so instead of placing my pretty new bottle by the sink I refilled the existing bottle. Filled with inspiration from the Orla Kiely patterns I decided to do a quick saop dispenser makeover. Conveniently my crafting area is in my kitchen and conveniently I currently have a big 'ol mess of scrapbooking paper all over the place. I just grabbed a pretty piece of paper and traced the dispenser's label shape to the back of the paper. To do this I held it up to the light of the window. I cut two shapes and taped them on with double sided tape. I may, or may not, depending on my motivation level later, slap on a couple coats of mod podge to help with waterproofing. 

So here is my Orla Kiely inspired hand soap dispenser makeover. It was ridiculously easy and I am already thinking about swapping out the patterned paper.

pinterest project - cute containers

Sometimes I pin something that I want to make or eat and I feel compelled to do it immediately. This was NOT one of those projects. I pinned these cute containers 31 WEEKS ago and finally got around to making it this weekend. I purchased a couple of jars and two little toys from the trusty Bargain Center and they sat around for a few weeks on my countertop. I finally grabbed the paint, paint brush and glue and got to work. Here are my supplies:

I used Martha Stewart Crafts paint (beach glass & pond), and some of her labels from Staples. The black ones are chalkboard lables and the white ones say they are dishwasher safe!

Here is what I started with:

After I attaked with paint and glue (I did wash them all first) this is what I ended up with:

and I made these too:

These are planned to be reusable water bottles. When I was a kid, my best friend Emily's mom kept plain glass bottles in the fridge filled with water for us to come and grab when we were thirsty. I always thought this was the coolest thing. Emily's mom also kept a large packet of gum in the "gum drawer" right next to the fridge and I remember sneaking pieces of gum from that drawer. Oh the things we remember from childhood.

A couple notes about this project:

• It did take several coats to paint the toys and the lids. 
• I painted them separately and then glued the animals to the lids after it was all dry. 
• I used regualr 'ol super glue, but I'm not sure it's holding all that strongly. I may have to get something stronger.

Check this one off the list of the 477 pins I have on my DIY pin board! This one was super easy and fun I don't know why I waited so long.

 

Michael Ann says:

 This month long blog series is meant to help us ALL, no matter your perceived level of skill, become a little more confident in our crafting capabilities!

 

before & after: stylish display

A friend from work asked if I could make a large felt board for him to display his collection of patches. In the military we wear patches on our uniform and there is a tradition of creating special occasion type patches. You can also get patches for different schools you attend or different units you work with. Some are clever, some are funny, and some are just collected because they mark a point time of our career.

I agreed to make him a way to display his patches, but I wanted to mix it up a bit. I immediately came up with an idea to add some style to the project. Yesterday I talked about projects not going as planned, but turning out even better. Today's project went exactly as I had planned and I think it turned out GREAT! 

I collected various sizes of thrift store frames to make a collage instead of one large board to hang all the patches on. He wanted room to expand so I kept that in mind when I was deciding how large to make the overall arrangement. I layed them out on the floor to come up with an display that I thought looked good then I took a photo so I'd remember:

 

I added a little bright white felt and some oil rubbed bronze spray paint and I think we have a very stylish way to display some patches:

 

 

 

I used cardboard for the frames that didn't have any backing and I painted it all with some white paint I had on hand. I cute the felt to size and taped it to the back of the cardboard and backer boards. I plan on backing each one with paper to clean it up and then adding hanging hooks to the ones that don't have any.

I am so pleased with how it turned out! I hope my friend likes it too.

handmade holidays: pintrest project revisited

A while back I made these coasters that were inspired by a project I saw on pinterest.

my first tile coaster project

At work we do a secret Santa gift exchange and I decided to re-use this project to make somehting fun. I originally planned to make this for myself, but I needed a gift fast, and in the spirit of using what I had on hand, I whipped up these tile coasters using some left over instagram photos from my week in the life project.

I wrapped the coasters up in some scaprbooking paper and added a really cute printable reindeer tag from Eat Drink Chic.

The original tile coaster tutorial came from The Cottage Home.

tie dye with bleach

Today we have another fun project by Kerry. She took some linen remnants that she got at her local fabric store and tie dyed them with bleach.

She used the same technique you use when doing regular tie dye:

1. crinkle up or scrunch your fabric and wrap a bunch of rubber bands around the fabric
2. put some bleach in a bowl
3. dunk the fabric in the bleach
4. unravel and check out the cool design you just made
5. stitch it up into a wristlet, clutch or anything your heart desires :)

{all photos by Kerry}

I love how they turned out. It is fun to see what color the linen will turn when you bleach it. I can't pick a favorite. Which one do you like best?