Tissue Pom-Pom Tutorial

These sweet little tissue poms are my favorite "go-to" decoration for any party!  They just make any room fun and festive!   I always get a lot of questions about how I make mine so I thought I would do a quick tutorial! 

Here's what you will need! Each large tissue pom will require one pack of tissue paper.  You can cut the paper down the middle to make 2 smaller poms for a variety of sizes. {Target has some really cute papers out right now} If you buy tissue paper and it is in the shape of a square, just make sure to cut one edge down so it is in the shape of a rectangle.  8-10 sheets of tissue paper will make the perfect "fluffy" pom-pom.  You will also need floral wire, pipe cleaners or twine to tie the middle.  Lastly you will need a pair of scissors!

*if you are hanging these from the ceiling clear jewelry line, fishing wire or even string or twine will be perfect!

Let's get started!!!

Step 1. Unfold your package of tissue paper and keep the papers neatly stacked.  

Step 2.  Make 1 - 1 1/2 inch accordion folds,  going up the rectangle until all your papers are folded.  

Step 3.  Place the wire around the middle of the folded paper and twist.  I usually make a little loop to make tying the poms easier if I am hanging them from the ceiling.  

Step 4.  Trim the edges into rounded {or pointy} edges.

Step 5.  Fan the papers out to the middle.  From here you will pull each layer of tissue paper away from the center one at a time.  Try to be careful so the papers don't rip!  Fluff the papers together and enjoy your festive pom-pom!

january {in an instagram}

Wow - where did January go?!?  For us, the breathing treatments and sleepless nights left us in a haze.  January was a pretty rough month physically on our family, but we had some pretty sweet times regardless.  We spent a LOT of time at home, worked on projects, painted, crafted and took road trips to get coffee.  I'm so thankful Lily and Lauren are past the RSV, lung infection and MAJOR ear infections. I'm also thankful that they are pretty tough cookies.  They took those three (long) weeks like champs.  God is good in every situation. It really made me more aware of praying for my friends that have very SICK children - children with heart defects, chronic lung problems, cancer, pnemonia, etc - and it made our trial look so small.  I'm thankful for his love and strength during that time, and for the many prayers of our family and friends!

Here's a few pictures from my instagram account of our month!  I was inspired by my friend Marybeth to create a picture collage in black and white.  I always love looking at her weekend updates in black and white collage form.   She has a great tutorial here.  

We said goodbye (yes I cried) to the cribs.  The twins took over the bunk bed in Brooke's room, and we did a makeover on Brooke's "new" room.  We sold the newer crib, dresser, quilt, crib mattresses, and purchased a beautiful headboard and french provincial dresser for her room.  We ended up paying nothing out of pocket to re-do her room (yippee!) thanks to craigslist steals and clearance buys. We did save Brooke/Lauren's crib to repurpose.  I hope to make a bench with the crib, and we made a picture/bow/artwork holder with the crib springs.  

I really would love to start a new "series".  I get a lot of emails from you when I write about what God is teaching in my life.  Although it is hard, I like to be transparent, hoping that something I have learned from God's word is an encouragent to someone else.  I would like to feature one mom every Monday - someone who is willing to share what God is teaching her as a parent or as a wife.  I would love to write more, but just don't have the time to commit.  I think it would be great to hear from other women in all walks of life (expecting, new mom, mom to teenagers, grandmas) who are willing to share what God is doing in their lives.  If you are interested in sharing, please email me!  

Chalk Paint Basics

Well I am FINALLY getting on here to write a post on my favorite paint product...Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!  You are going to cringe as soon as I tell you the price tag is $38 per 32 ounce can!  YIKES!  I can tell you that this product is worth every penny.  There is no sanding, priming or prepping (besides cleaning the surface) before painting with this "magic" paint.  I have painted wood, fake wood, metal and plastic with great success!  It goes a very long way, and saves you lots of time, frustration and energy.  It requires a coat of wax on top, but that can be purchased for under $10 and will last you FOREVER!  Here are some examples of how far one can of paint can go...

All these pieces were painted with one can of the "old white".  Dining room table, 5 chairs, buffet  chandelier, bathroom vanity, windowpane and several other little items!  The dining room table and buffet were craigslist treasures, and I LOVE how they turned out!

These pieces were painted with one can of "duck egg blue".  windowpane, piano, chest, bathroom vanity and an antique vanity (which I haven't finished yet!).   It's my favorite color - just a beautiful antique blue!

Here's what you need:

This is what the Chalk Paint looks like.  Go HERE to find a stockist near you.  I have used both the Annie Sloan soft wax and the Minwax finishing wax.  They are both great products, but I really love the minwax because it is under $10 and I have barely made a dent in the can.  It protects and gives your furniture a beautifully finished look.  

I usually paint one coat on the furniture and then paint a second coat that is thinned out with water next....to make the paint go further.  I like the distressed look so I don't want to waste too much of the paint on full coverage.  When the paint is dry, you can distress it using a light sanding block or a wet rag.  I usually use a sanding block on real wood, but if it is pressed I use a wet cloth.  After you distress the wood, I use a cloth to apply the wax to the wood.  It's easy and QUICK!  Everyone asks my secrets to refinishing furniture...but it's really just the paint that is amazing!

I am currently doing some office furniture for a friend in the color "florence".  Here is a before and (almost) after of one of the pieces.  It is a beautiful teal/turquoise and I think I'm going to have to buy some for myself!

I always go to Miss Mustard Seed for inspiration or help with techniques.  She has some great tutorial videos on waxing and painting with chalk paint!

My friend Emily has a great post on homemade chalk paint over at her blog Putting Down Roots.  You will be inspired by her beautiful Armoire makeover as well as many other things!

Hope this answers some of your questions....please let me know if you have any more!

Damask LOVE!

This weekend I got to use my new damask stencil.  We have been in our house for a year now and I  have been in a project "funk" since Christmas..it always seems so empty when you take the Christmas decor down!  With the high ceilings and textured walls, Landon and I have been dreading painting.  We decided it was time to get started making our home our own, and since Thursday we have painted our bathroom, bedroom accent wall, family room accent wall, an antique vanity and dining room wall.  Whew.  I am loving the changes and am excited to share how I did the damask print on the wall.

I have visited the stencil page numerous times, but just couldn't commit to the price of buying a stencil.  I saw a picture on facebook of one of my friends' sweet baby girl's nursery.  When he told me where he got the stencil from, I knew I could commit seeing the results from someone I knew!  I ordered it from Cutting Edge Stencils and it was here within a few days!  It is very high quality, durable, washable and best of all REUSABLE!  They also have some great instructional videos on the site to help you with your project!

 All you need is some painter's tape, a small foam roller and your choice of paint.  I went with a flat "antique" white from wal-mart - a whole gallon for only $10!  Can't beat that!  The stencil overlaps itself so once I got the first block level and painted, it was super simple to keep going from there.  2 1/2 hours later my wall was completed, and I was SO happy with it.  It is the first room you see when you walk in our house, and it changed the whole look of the dining room!  

The "Gabrielle" stencil was the one I chose!

"Flora" Damask - my other favorite - I decided to go with the "cheaper" one as I was already pushing it!  

***use coupon LMB10 for 10% off***

The Pergola Project

Our backyard before:

 Landon dug up all the brick and we sold it on craigslist.  :O)  Phil, Landon & Derek poured the concrete in that area, and we were ready to build!  

When I say "we" I meant "they".  The only part I had in the project was to pick out the design.  I looked up pergolas on google searching for the perfect one. I fell in love with the pergola pictured below (minus the shutters) and showed it to Phil (My father in law).  This one really caught my eye because of the curved arches. I wasn't sure if he would be up for building it, but he had the plans drawn the next day.  I'm pretty sure ours looks identical, and it also saved us at least $3,000.  

The men hard at work.  

I'm so excited to reveal our finished product!  I can't wait to string some lights and make this a fun party place!  We are already enjoying it  SO much!  A HUGE thank you to Landon's dad and my hardworking husband for putting a huge smile on my face every time I look into our backyard.

Easy Homemade Peanut Butter

We got through a lot of peanut butter in our house.  I love the simplicity of making my own peanut butter.  No added sugar, preservatives or oil!  I use stevia in my peanut butter to add a little sweetness and always make at least half of it into dark chocolate peanut butter by adding dark chocolate cocoa powder.  :O)  Antioxidants, right?!?

All you need are peanuts and a food processor.  The food processor does all the work!  Just add the peanuts and allow it to grind them until it turns to peanut butter.  It will turn into a thick paste like in the first picture, but after about 4-5 minutes you will have creamy, warm and fresh peanut butter!  Use honey roasted peanuts, add some sugar, salt, stevia or chocolate to your peanut butter according to your preference. Keep it refrigerated.  If you need it softened, give it a warm water bath for a few minutes.  Mine doesn't make it to the bread...I just grab a spoon.  :O)

Plain & Dark Chocolate.  I am hoarding the jar to the right.  :O)

Mod Podge Love

I had to share the "secret" to some of my easiest projects - MOD PODGE!  

Every time I post a picture of something I have mod podged...I get lots of emails with questions, so I thought I would share on here!  I have covered glass, plastic and wood so far with mod podge using fabric and scrapbook paper.  SUPER easy, and always looks great.  Just start by "gluing" the fabric/paper down...smooth it out with a brush or your fingers and put a coat of mod podge over the top of your project. You'll end up with a beautiful finish when the mod podge dries.  I haven't tried using pictures yet, but I'll let you know how it goes when I get a chance to try it out.  :O)

Here are a few pictures of the various things I've tried...

A couple years ago, I actually poked tiny holes in real eggs and blew the inside out.  ha ha.  Crazy. I used a paper napkin to decoupage that beautiful damask.  Because of the tedious process and my impatience, I only ended up with 2 eggs.  :O)

Brooke's Room - The B is just a wood letter covered with some scrap fabric.  

Old wood frame covered in fabric to match the twin's room.

Light Plate covered in Fabric.



Old Dresser - painted and used fabric & furniture mod podge on the drawers.

Christmas Ornaments covered in scrapbook paper.
  I also used a glitter spray paint to add some extra shine.

Easter eggs covered in pages from an old hymnal.  This time I used plastic eggs instead of real eggs.  SO MUCH EASIER.  :O)



For LOTS of inspiration and "how - to" tips visit:
http://www.modpodgerocksblog.com/
http://choosetothrive.blogspot.com/2011/04/damask-mod-podge-easter-eggs.html
http://www.modpodgerocksblog.com/2011/02/stumbles-and-stitches.html

Decorating...

So our Christmas decorations have been piled up in our dining room for the last week. :O) Since this is our 1st year living in our new home I'm not sure where to put everything. I am trying to get everything decorated before Landon gets home tonight. We are planning on enjoying a special little family thanksgiving tonight! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and friends. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Decor...

I LOVE the real pine branches. I used the bottom branches from our Christmas tree to make garland for the door. Everything else is still in progress. :O)

Our new windowpane shelf in the Kitchen. This poor windowpane sat in my garage for 8 months. I was forced to finish it when Landon said he would throw it away if I didn't use it. I'm a hoarder. :O)

Our tree in progress!

Dining Room Table (finally) Revealed!

After over two months...our table is finally complete! Landon is thankful to have his side of the garage to park his car in. We know it is not perfect...but it is perfect for us! We are proud to take something so ugly and make it "beautiful" for our formal dining room. I love it!

Dining Room Table REVEALED!

Here was the listing I saw on craigslist. I thought I was getting a great steal...and we did, it was in pretty bad shape and a LOT more work than I had anticipated.