high five for friday!

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1. second baseball game of the season for fall baseball. iI love to watch my kids play sports.  and we won!

2. i just love all the colors of harvest this time of year. here is some tobacco that is ready to be cut.

 

3. caleb. my oldest son will be 11 this saturday. they grow up way too fast.

 

4. looking forward to the kickoff of uk football season this sunday! c-a-t-s cats cats cats!

 

5. got a surprise visit from my dads dog sissy. she gets to stay the weekend with me while he is gone for a few days. :)

 

 

hope you had a great week and have an even better weekend!

my ana white craft table

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we have a bonus room that was previously the “man cave” for the hubby of course.   you know, deer heads, fish, and ducks hanging on the walls.   big screen tv and surround sound.   typical man cave.   well cb later built a garage where he now houses all these lovely stuffed animals, boats, fishing gear, tools, and even has a tv and running water.  basically I never see him now. :)  i’ve always had a love for decorating and normally would go to the nearest store and purchase whatever fancied me at the time paying no attention to prices much less clearance aisles.  i used to hate looking through all the picked over clutter everywhere.   maybe because my mother was a pack rat and kept everything.  i like a clean, simple room with zero clutter.   recently i have found my love of crafting , building, and repurposing but i had nowhere to work on stuff.   man cave.... why not a woman cave?!   great idea, right?  i pretty much had everything i needed already except for a big table where i could work on my projects and store a few things.  i searched the internet and came across Ana White.  what an amazing website for do it your self-ers like my husband and me.   i found the perfect plan, printed it out, and headed to the nearest lowe’s.  my husband and i work pretty well together, but this was our first furniture project.   we definitely learned a lot, and of course made plenty of mistakes.  but all in all we both were pretty proud of what we built!  i love it!   it is big enough to scatter all my different projects all over and have everything right in front of me.  even big enough for the kiddos to gather around while we work on projects together. J    i grabbed a few baskets, boxes, and jars to organize all my goodies and there you have it.   the perfect craft table for the perfect woman cave! J

 

 

 

in the makings.  notice man cave.

 

 

 

jars and boxes from ikea, baskets from wal-mart.

 

so, seriously, check out Ana White.  get inspired. :)

 

 



bedroom series part one: re-finish hardwood

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we moved in our house in january 2010.  the closing took forever and we ended up not getting to move our stuff in until two weeks before our wedding.  so at the time, i didn't get to do much updating or personalizing.  our living room and front bedroom are hardwood, and as far as we know and can tell, it's original to the house.  our back two bedrooms and hallway are a dingy berber carpet.  let me rephrase that.  our master bedroom had dingy berber carpet.... :)

 

and as i mentioned in our about us, our home is really small.  and our rooms are really small.  like so small that it's hard to fit much more than a bed and a dresser.  more cozy, right? :)  so my husband went on a trip this past weekend and i recruited my wonderful parents to help me rip up the carpet and finish the hardwood in 48 hours.  yes, i tend to be a little crazy with projects.  my parents didn't help me--they did all the work. 

 

so friday while i was at my day job, this is what my dad was doing while my mom watched my kiddo:

 

 

 

this is a small glimpse at what we're working with.  see the teeny, tinyness of the room?  also notice the dresser.  it will appear in a later post.

 

 

 

carpet up!

 

 

closet door off.  see the chimney in the closet?  not great for little to no storage in our house.  but it's my husband's closet, so it's not quite as tragic. :)

 

 

here's the big helper.  he loves his grandpa!  check out that awesome floor!  no holes and no stains.  wait.  is this a potential project with no major disasters?!

 

 

 

ready to sand now.  not bad, eh?

 

 

here's a close-up of the wood.  it looked to have a maple stain, which makes me believe even more these are original to the home.  our house was built sometime in the late 60's-early 70's. 

 

 

 

the shiny portion of the floor is what dad had sanded in this picture.  he used a palm sander (because the room is so small) for a more even sand.  we started with a 100 grit sandpaper, but it didn't strip the wood as much as we were hoping for, so we had to go back over it with a 60 grit.  i wanted the floor to match what we already have as close as possible. 

 

 

here's my daddy putting on the first coat of polyurethane.  i went with minwax super fast drying polyurethane.  it was the only one that i could find that dried faster than 24 hours and it really did dry fast.  i put a second coat on after 3 hours and let it dry another 12.  it was fine to walk on after that!  it could have probably used another coat, but my husband was due to be home early sunday afternoon, and i really wanted the room to be put back together by then.

 

 

ta-da!!  don't you love it?!  i do. :)  it looks a little darker now, i think, but not to worry....lots more pictures to come. :)  i plan to do the hallway and our son's room, too.  now that we know what we're doing....kind of. 

 

stay tuned for more bedroom series posts!  in the meantime, don't drool over my hardwood too much.... ;) 

 



high five for friday!

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tgif!  today we are linking with with lauren @ from my grey desk.  this is one of my very favorite blogs.  she's wonderful.  if you have time, go check her out.  her sister is pretty great, too.

 

 

so every friday i will be posting a hf4f post.  if you're a blogger, go link up with lauren and join us!  otherwise, meet us here for a recap of our five favorite things from the week.

 

 

 

 

1.  my birchbox.  always makes the week a little better.

 

2.  i ordered this duvet for our bed and got it in.  LOVE it.  can't wait to see what it looks like.

 

3.  zaxby's birthday milkshake w/ chocolate whipped cream.  get to your nearest zaxby's now.

 

4.  this converstion I had with casey.  she's been my best friend since we were toddlers and is still one of my most favorite people ever.  as you can see, she is hilarious. :)

 

5.  we got that large rubbermaid full of green beans from one of david's friends.  so we spent the week canning them.  (post to follow).  it is hard work, but so worth it!

 

how was your week?  as ready for the weekend as i am?

 

(by the way, david is gone this weekend and i have a tiny llittle project that i'm surprising him with when he gets back.  check back soon so i can fill you in.)



august birchbox

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i am happy to announce that i am the official receiver of birchbox!  if you don't happen to know what this is, let me fill ya in.  for $10 a month, i signed up on the birchbox website to receive samples of high-end beauty products.  i am a cheap-o at heart.  but i've learned over the years that you really can't be too good to your skin.  after all, you only get once shot at no wrinkles.  unless of course you pay for an expensive treatment or therapy which probably will cost more than the preventative products in the first place.  anyway, i really like getting these samples before i go out and spend a small fortune on the chance that a product will work with my skin.

 

 

 

 

 

here's what i got this month:

 

apothoderm stretch mark cream

 

i was thrilled with getting this.  no sarcasm, seriously.  going back to the cheapo thing, i've always been too afraid to splurge on stretch mark cream.  but i'm trying out this sample and we shall see....

 

jouer moisturizing lip gloss in birchbox pink

 

when i first saw the tube (left side in the picture) i thought it was nail polish.  glad i didn't put it with my nail stuff and never try it out!  love it!  and $20 isn't too awful bad for a good lip gloss.  it goes on smooth with just enough tint. it's not all gloppy like some lip gloss.

 

juicy couture viva la juicy la fleur

 

man.  i am a sucker for a good perfume.  and i'll be honest--i wouldn't have ever picked this up had i been at the fragrance counter in macy's.  it just doesn't "look" like something i'd choose.  but oh my goodness.  it is divine.

 

shu uemura art of hair full shimmer illuminating shampoo

and

shu uemura art of hair full shimmer illuminating treatment

 

i haven't tried these yet.  i use redken for color-treated hair right now and it's pretty reasonable for professional shampoo....works well on my hair, too!  so even if i do love these, i don't see myself paying that kind of money for shampoo.  but i am excited to try them out. :)

 

 

last but not least, they threw in the new schick razor.  birchbox doesn't usually do this, but i am glad they did!  i'm always in the market for a new razor.  haven't tried this out either.  just put a new blade on my schick hydro. :) 

 

can't wait for next month!  it's like a mini birthday once a month. :)

 

 

 

 



the black plank fence

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happy hump day! 


i've been wanting a black farm fence around my driveway since we built our house 7 years ago.  i just think they add something so personal--a grand entrance to make people feel welcome before they even step foot inside.  and as you can see.....i finally got it. :)  here are some pictures to show you the process.  we did it ourselves (with the help of some great friends) and i'm glad we did.  it only took a couple days, but the payoff will last as long as we're here!

 

 

here's a before picture.  check out the mailbox.  it's been run over or the victim of a baseball bat, oh i'd say at least 12 times.  little wobbly.

 

 

 

 

post holes? check.

 

 

 

 

posts in and planks on!  if you ever tackle this project, make sure that you paint the posts before you nail the planks on.  otherwise you'll be trying to figure out how to get the paint in all the nooks and crannies.

 

 

 

 

here's a view of the other side.  this is the side we drive in from. 

 

 

 

 

all painted!  that was my job.  fence paint is messy.

 

 

 

 

 

ahhh, i just love it.  adds something special, don't ya think?

 

 

 

 

notice anything different? :)  painted, new numbers, and actually straight!  hopefully it lasts a little longer this time.

 

 

and there you have it, folks.  my very own black plank fence.  maybe this will inspire you to add a touch of curb appeal to your home!

 

 

(p.s.--this is leshia.  for some reason blogger won't let me sign in so it's posting as katie.)

 

all this brokenness

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broken things annoy me.  most of my dishes are chipped and my spice cabinet door won't latch.  our front porch is crumbling and in desperate need of fixing.

 

 

and then there's this issue with our back door.  light gets in around the edges.  i was looking at it the other day contemplating how it could be fixed.  i started thinking about myself and how much work god has done in me in the last year or so.  i came to him a mess.  most people would have laughed at the idea of turning my mess into something wonderful.  but not him.  he took all that tarnish and wiped it clean.

 

 

that old door-it made me realize something.  it's broken.  cracked.  in need of fixing.  but if it wasn't a mess, the light would never shine through.  my heart is a mess.  always in need of repair.  but the brokenness is what lets the light shine through.

 

 

so maybe broken things are good.  maybe i'll leave that old door just the way it is.

photo credit:
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/leprecon/383560760/">woowoowoo</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photo pin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

might as well laugh as cry

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hey y'all. :)  has this been a week or what?  i find myself wanting to know a little more about the gals behind the blogs, so here's a peek into my life this past week.

monday night my eye started itching.  just a normal little "oh, got something in my eye" itch.  i rubbed it, went on with my night.  tuesday morning i wake up and notice that something on the right side of my face is SORE.  i realize it's my eye and send up a quick prayer about it.  nothing worse than an eye problem to add something to a random tuesday.  tuesday goes on, the eye gets worse.  it begins to swell and get red.  braxton had some poison ivy on his legs, so i thought maybe that's what it was.  fast forward to wednesday morning. 

elephant man.

the right side of my face was swollen and my eye looked hideous.  what the heck??  my husband threatened my life if i didn't get to the doctor, but i had training in lexington on wednesday and legitimately couldn't make it.  thursday when i woke up my eye was so swollen that i couldn't half see.  i got in with the eye doctor, thankfully, at 9:30 and learned i had an infection in the tube that connects your eye, nose & throat.  seriously...what are the odds?  a couple days on the antibiotic and i'm a new woman.

thursday night.  the new buffalo wild wings opened here in town and i am a huge fan.  so a friend of mine loaded up the kiddos and went to eat supper.  we got there at 6:30 and there was a 30 minute wait, no big deal.  we order our food, and we wait and wait and wait and wait. the server comes back to let us know that the computer system has gone down and our order hasn't been put in yet.  again, no big deal.  we're hungry, but it's the first week, they're busy, we get that.  we finally got our food and it was "licious" as my two year old says.  love that place.  so we get ready to leave and my friend notices that my son's diaper had leaked.  "oh, he must have peed a lot?" i say.  she does a quick mom sniff of her hand and with the most horrendous look on her face says, "um no, he sure did not."  oh. my. gosh.  get us out of here.  i realize that i have no wipes in my purse.  a diaper, yes.  wipes, no.  so i ask casey to wet a BUNCH of towels and meet me in the handicap stall where the changing station is.  except it's locked.  for a long time.  casey's daughter is 5 and the cutest little princess ever.  but she does not do smells.  they make her ill.  while i'm trying to keep braxton as still as possible, poor bella was dry heaving in the bathroom.  it was a sight.  we decided just to go to the car because the stall was still locked and in case of any actual vomit coming from the tiny princess.  as you can imagine, my son rode home in nothing but a diaper. 

i called my husband to see what he wanted me to grab him for supper (he'd had bww for lunch) and he said long john silver's.  i drive up to the speaker.  "can i help you?"  "yes, please, i'd like the fish and chicken platter with fries and corn."  "sorry, ma'am, we're all out of chicken and corn for the night."  and at this point, i was ready for friday.

here's to a new week probably full of more random situations, but still so full of blessing!  thankful for my eyes, for restaurants when i don't feel like cooking, and for my sweet little stinky boy. 

stick around this week for a diy pallet sign, leshia's new fence, and maybe some more fun projects.  i also signed up for a meal plans online and this is my first week.  i'll be sure to let you know how that goes! 

diy jewelry organizer

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meet my jewelry wall.  a whole wall in my spare bedroom dedicated to jewels.  love love love.

my husband and i refer to our spare bedroom as my room because it's where all my clothes are and where i get ready.  pretty much, it's my feminine haven.  most (read: all) things in my house are boy.  trucks, guns (play ones, of course), tractors, sweat, dirt....it's allll boy around here.  this is the place where i go to breathe.  and hopefully smell something lovely.  but i was having such trouble with my jewelry.  always in a heap or a tangle and just so frustrating.  so...i came across this picture on pinterest:

isn't she a beaut?  so i set out to recreate...on the cheap.  i came across this lovely frame at my local goodwill.  work with me here.  try to look through your "what it'll look like with a few coats of paint" goggles.

yep, she's gold.  very gold.  and not even wood.  so i took this bad boy home, did a rough sand, primed it with krylon primer and spray painted it in a couple of coats of valspar satin white.  let me also mention here that i ran across this marvelous idea on pinterest to make your own spray paint.  wonderful!  cheap, easy and a total flop.  doesn't work.  if you happen to have a successful bout with this method, please--let me know!  so now we have a lovely white frame.

after that, leshia and i traced the shape of the frame on some wire with a permanent marker and then clipped it with wire cutters.  we then stapled it to the back of the frame with a staple gun.  voila!  funtional/lovely wall decor! 

i bought two 3/4 dowel rods and stained with minwax provincial.  usually this is a little too red for my taste, but it turned out more walnut-y on the rods.  i also bought some little end caps in the same section as the dowel rods at lowe's.  i stained them and hot glued them to the ends of the rods.  i just guessed at how long i wanted my rods and cut them with my little stanley hand saw.

once that was all done, leshia and i screwed the little hooks into the walls (this can be harder than it looks if you hit a stud.)  the electricity also went out during this process.  we were not going to quit until the jewelry was hung so we did the rest by flashlight. 

and there you have it!  my very own jewelry wall.  let me know if you try it and feel free to send us a picture of your creation! :)



Well, here we are!

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Hi y’all!  Welcome to our brand new blog!  We are so excited to finally be up and running!  Big thanks to Nina at Nina’s Design Studio for all of her fabulous work on the blog! 

You can learn a little more about each of us under our “about us” tab.  But just to give you a little background—we are two twenty (ahem, thirty) something ladies chasing a big dream.  We love, love, love dressing up our homes, our closets and our faces. Girly girls in so many aspects, but consider yourself warned—we live in a tiny town in Kentucky so you miiiiight see some camo on here every once in a while.  Our husbands spend their free time hunting and gathering.  (That is possibly a bit of an overstatement.)   Matter of fact, both of us hunt, too.  And it is quite a sight to behold. 

Anyway, we hope that you stumble across something on our blog that you find helpful.  Whether it’s a project, a pretty little outfit, or a recap of a crazy day, know that we’re so excited to be here sharing it all with you!  Thanks for stopping by! 

We’d love to hear from you, so comment below or shoot us an email!