following

Happy Thursday Bloggers!
I feel like I have been able to blog more frequently this week & I love that.

I want to share with you all a blog that I've been following for a long time now.
Some of you may already follow Life in Grace, but for those of you who do not ...


I can promise that you will be enriched by Edie's thoughts on life, design, and Jesus Christ.

I am constantly challenged to grow more in my knowledge of the Word through her writings.


Just to fill you all in ...
Almost one year ago Edie's entire home burned.
She shared a gorgeous lake house with her family, and it was heartbreaking to read her honest words as she made meaning of her life after the fire.


They literally lost everything in the fire.

Over the past year,Edie and her family have been working to rebuild their lives, and a new home with the same lakefront view.

Edie is currently doing a 31 day series on "rebuilding your house and heart."

I have been following everyday and I love it.

Her honestly and insight is challenging to me.

And her house is absolutely breath taking.

If you're needing some design inspiration, then look no further.

Also, you should watch her video from last week. It shows a lot of the close up details of the home. Ah - mazing.

And just because, I thought I would share her kitchen from their home that was destroyed. 

Whenever I dream about renovating our kitchen ... I continuously go back to this image.

I love everything about it. Seriously everything. I don't think there is one thing that I do not love.

 

Enjoy :)

still dreaming

Of being able to get new countertops (and backsplash ... and sink ... and lighting)

Since we painted our cabinets white, I thought that when we replaced the countertops we would go with butcher block. Now, I am also loving the black contrast in this picture. 

What do you think?

I guess I'll keep dreaming ...with a baby on the way now, and the prospect of cutting my hrs. at work I don't think I'll be remodeling our kitchen anytime soon. 

But I will keep collecting inspiration!

multiples

If I had multiples ... then I would draw up inspiration from this amazing room.

Inspiration found here

so cozy

I love this room. 

It's so simple and so cozy.

The vintage details are perfect.

I love the shutter. 

I love the folding wire laundry basket (I can't tell you how many times I bid of one of these on ebay and lost). 

I love the dainty red dot pillow. 

I love the pom poms on the lamp.

I love the locker baskets (also bid on a lot of these and lost).

I love the little white distressed cabinet.

mirror mirror

from goodwill for only $20

started out looking like this:

and with a little but of paint:

she's transformed into this:

then I added a bunting out of leftover scrapbook paper

i spy with my little eye

something lovely ...

can you guess?

i'm back...

Happy Tuesday Bloggers! 

It has been so so long. 

I have missed you all. 

Somehow ... I don't know how it happened ... but I have fallen off the blogging wagon.

I do apologize. 

I am going to try really hard to be better.

Don't worry about me though. Things have been good here. E and I have been enjoying ending out the summer with friends, family, and the pups. 

Here is a sneak peak at a little project that we've been working on:

before:

after:

 

Courtesy of the iphone. Sorry for the poor quality. We're leaving the doors on the top off. I love the clean and open feel that it has. 

It's amazing what a can of paint can do. 

We're still working on the rest of the doors. The blue milk glass knobs that we ordered are back-ordered 3-4 weeks. Boo. Oh well. I guess that gives me an excuse to be lazy about finishing them up. 

Once the knobs arrive and we finish up the doors, I will post more before and after pics. 

Until then, this will have to ease your curiosity. 

Alright, it's time to get off here and watch a little Prince Poppycock and Jackie. 

I hope to be back soon to share all the things going on with E and I!

this weekend's project

This weekend ... with the help of a few wonderful girlfriends ... I will be painting my cabinets and adding lovely blue knobs just like these. 

SO excited about the little transformation. 

There are a lot of things  that I want to do to spruce up our kitchen, but I decided to be patient and take it one step at a time. 

Maybe I will appreciate it more as I see it slowly come together. 

I'll be sure to take before and after pictures to share!

Please let me know if you're local and would like to help with this painting extravaganza! 

I'll bribe you with lemonade and other treats ...

sunny

I think that I could be the owner of this little cafe.

Or maybe I'd be a better customer.

Either way, I'd like to hang out here.

Anyone else want to join me?

board and batten

I am loving me some board and batten.

Maybe someday I will find a saw and be brave enough to tackle this one on my own. I'd like to add this form of wainscoting to our hallway. What do you think ... easy or difficult? If I ever do it, then I'll be sure to create a DIY ... because if I can do it then anyone can. 

my bedroom smells like an old book

Here's a little DIY!

E kept trying to convince me to name the title of this post ... words with friends ... I refused because I HATE that game.

If you've been reading the blog, then you know that I've been wanting to cover one of our bedroom walls with pages from an old book.

I bought a couple of old readers digest books many weeks ago, but I've been putting the project off. 

Since this is my last week off work {I start my new job on Monday}, I figured that I better get busy. 

So here you go ... the evolution of a wall...

Before

{sorry about the picture of the cats butt}

1. Buy old books, wall paper paste, and some foam sponges. 

2. Tear out pages and cut off rough edges with scissors.

3. Cover the back of each page with the wallpaper/border paste. Stick to the wall. I'd also keep a credit card handy to smooth air bubbles!

{Yes, I am wearing strawberry shortcake pants. What can I say, I'm a classy lady}

4. Stand back and enjoy!

Here's the wall from a few other angles

It was a little time consuming, but overall a very easy project!

under construction

Happy Friday!

I love this cheery room. Anyone else with me? 

I'm usually not a huge fan or orange, but I have really been enjoying the turquoise and orange combos out there lately.

This is an exciting weekend for so many reasons...

Most importantly being ... E is running his first FULL MARATHON on Sunday! I am so so proud of him. He has been training and disciplining his body for months ... I know that he will do amazingly well. Now, I am just praying for no rain.

 Since he will be running, we're going to spend the whole weekend in Cincinnati. We're going to get a chance to visit both of our families - treat! 

One other amazing thing about the race being in Cincy is the outlets. On Saturday afternoon I am heading straight for the JCrew outlet. My sweet husband bought my a gift card there as a little treat for getting my new job. His only stipulation is that I have to buy something to wear for my first day. I think I can handle that ... I could literally buy everything there. 

This is also an exciting time, because last night E booked our flights from France to Italy. We're going to Europe ... we're really doing it. Now that those are booked, we know exactly which cities we'll be in. Next step ... book hotels. Actually, I haven't really been looking at many hotels. I've seemed to be drawn to the guest houses.  

A couple other things on the weekend run down ...

1. Celebrate my brother's girlfriends birthday

2. Eat Skyline

3. Maybe visit with Baby James

4. Make pom poms with my little sister

...and whatever else I find myself getting into...

 _______________________________________________________________________________

One other thing that I would really love your all's help on ... the new blog design. Please please please shower me with your thoughts and suggestions. 

I loved the name "All Things New," but I was thinking that it would be a good move to make my jewelry line and blog more unified. 

What do you think?

Is this a good move?

{Also, just so you know, the content of the blog is not going to change in the least. I am still going to write about all kinds of random crap!}

How do you feel about the doilies?

Classic or too plain?

Do you love the write or should I add some color?

I want to add a splash of color through putting some of my jewelry on the doilies. I picture a bright pair of small studs sitting on the center doily. Oh if only I was better at using Illustrator.

I think that even if I go back to the name "All Things New" I will stick with the doilies. I really love doilies. 

I am not a business or marketing lady at all ... but they say that "branding" your product is important. So ... I need your help!

literature on the walls

I am absolutely smitten. I was in an interior design store today and they had used pages from books as wallpaper - just like this bathroom! I think that I have found exactly what I would like to do for our other bathroom. I am going to store this inspiration away in my brain. The guys at the store said that they literally took old pages from books and used wallpaper paste to attach them to the walls.

Here are a couple other images for you to enjoy ...

I  might work on this ... as it seems that very soon I am going to have a couple free weeks on my hands. 

Oh I promise to let you in on the big news SOON!!!!

a splash of color

if you were like the golden girls

If I knew I was going to live in a house with girls for the rest of my life {like the golden girls}, I would have a kitchen like this.

Doesn't it just make you happy? Everything from the pink fridge and stove ... to the pink mixer ... to the bead board walls and ceiling ... to the fresh flowers in that amazing sink ... to the sunshine coming through the windows ... I could go on and on. 

What is your favorite part? 

If you knew that you were going to be living with all girls, what is one girly addition you would add to your home?

A dressing room?

Footed tub?

Pom pom trim?

the beginnings of a studio

It's not much, but I thought that I would go ahead and show you all the beginnings of my humble studio. Also, I figured that as the studio grows {hopefully}, then you will be able to witness the transformation. 

First, I will tell you that I have not spend a dime on this little space. I feel pretty proud of that! Everything in the room is re-purposed. 

The poms came from my friend Cory's shower. 

The table is an old patio table that E and I used back at our old apartment. I put a large piece of MDF board that was leftover from our bathroom remodel, on top of the metal patio table add space. 

Call me crazy, but this little tub is one of my favorite parts of the studio. The last time I was home at my parents, I brought back a bunch of vintage Strawberry Shortcake furniture. I don't think I have shared yet on here, but I love Strawberry Shortcake {the character}. 

I love that the little tub is footed! For now I filled the tub with a bunch of poppies that I am using for a wedding party this summer. I am really excited to see pictures of all of the bridesmaids wearing their poppies. I think that it will be beautiful!!

A couple of orders from my last jewelry party packaged and ready to go!

Also, don't forget to let me know if you're interested in hosting a party!! The hostess will receive a %20 voucher based on total sales from the party. So, if the sales from the party are $500, then you will receive a $100 voucher for my store!

I painted this old frame with chalkboard paint! I have already starting writing myself little "don't forget" notes. I also used a little vintage teacup to hold the chalk. Isn't it cute?? 

Purple shamrocks that I really hope don't die!!

Back around Christmas, I made a batch of Darby's cinnamon honey butter. 

Delicious!! 

I used the leftover jelly jars to hold some of my stones, charms, and cabochons.

The kitties seem to enjoy the space as well!

I can't wait to skirt the table and paint the dresser some fun color :)