Happy Mother's Day! {Silhouette necklace project}

Happy Mother's Day

to all of you special, beautiful moms who might be reading this!

I hope you get a chance to kick your feet up and 

maybe even get a little bit pampered today

because I'm SURE you deserve it...

after all, you are a mom!

A special happy Mother's Day to my own amazing mom!

{Photo taken at last year's Mother's Day family get together. A four generation picture!}

Mom- I don't know how you did all that you did

(teacher, coach, athletic director, kept our home immaculate, spent time with Erin and I,

kept up with the laundry, got dinner on the table, showed up to all of our

events, took us to church faithfully, the list could go on and on...),

but you did it all with excellence and I couldn't have asked for

a better mom!

Thank you for EVERYTHING! You are amazing!

Also- happy Mother's Day to my dear mom-in-law Linda!
Your warmth and love to us are very appreciated,
and you too are an excellent example of what a mother should be!

{Claire with her Grandma Linda}

Now, if either of you are reading this before I have given you your gifts,

please do not proceed any further.

{unless you want a preview of part of your gift!}

Ready?

Ta da!
Silhouette necklaces of my little Claire's face!
I made one for each of her grandmas.

I saw the idea for these silhouette necklaces @

Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss. 

Julie gives pretty thorough instructions in her post,

and since I'm not patient enough to take

pictures of every step along the way when I make something,

I'll let you read her tutorial if you want to find out how to 

make these guys.

And I'm pretty sure you'll want to make some.

The only thing I did differently than she did,
was color in the silhouettes with a black sharpie after I cut them out.
Otherwise, they weren't completely black.
Also, I couldn't find any chains at Hobby Lobby that I liked with the
charm pieces I picked out (or whatever their technical names are;
I'm not so hot with technical terms)
so I bought a necklace cord kit in black to use instead.
However, I couldn't understand how to afix the clasp pieces
that came with the cord onto the cord, so alas,
I strung some ribbon through the charms as a last resort.
I don't think the result is all that bad though!

I had to make one for myself too, of course!
I'm so excited to take this sweet little face with me wherever I go now :)

So there you have it.
I think these little guys would make sweet gifts for just about any occasion.
Plus, they are quick and easy!
{They will be even easier once my Silhouette SD machine arrives!}

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Well helloooo!
Did you miss me?
I thought so.
Life has been busy!
And... the weather is FINALLY warming up,
so the sunshine has been calling me
away from computer time.

Plus, my creating has been on hold because...
I ordered a Silhouette SD and it hasn't come in the mail yet and now why
would I want to make anything without it???
Yay! I'm so excited!
Those hard earned mileage checks I get from my school
for transporting from one school to the other
are finally paying off :)

But in the meantime,
I thought maybe I'd pass along of a few things that
I currently love:

{1}
Gallery walls.
So fun, so personalizeable, such a great way to fill a blank wall space.
I happen to love all things birds in my decorating
(hence, "Nesting Time,")
so here's a lovely example:

Bird themed Gallery Wall

Our Humble A{Bowe}ed

{2}
Cute summery bags/totes.
Who doesn't need more of these?
This little bag I found is sweet enough
to make me want to dust off my sewing machine,
untangle the thread that is lodged inside of it,
and hone my sewing skills!

Ruffle Tote @ Loves All Things Vintage

{3}
Silhouette Art
I love the vintage-y feel of silhouettes,
and the fact that they can really
personalize your space too.
(Apparently I'm into personalizing)
Check out this example and many other's at
Paper Clips and Playpens

love. love. love.

{4}
Claire's new skills.
I know, this one isn't a craft,
but I want a record of some of the amazing talents
of Claire at her ripe old age of 13 months.
Recently, she has started saying "octopus,"
"meow," and "messy."
She also now laughs LOUDLY
as if she heard the most hysterical thing ever,
whenever people around her start laughing.
She loves to hug and kiss,
and she likes to pretend to feed her babies.
She loves being sung to, and she sometimes sings along.
She especially loves "This Little Light of Mine"
and she likes to "shine her light."
She is at such a fun stage and if I let myself,
I can get pretty emotional thinking about the fact that she won't
be this age for long.
So I guess I can't take this time for granted, and soak in
all the special moments each day that I have with her.

That's all I got for tonight, so happy nesting!

I want this book... for free!

So this is a super quick post to 

tell you about a little ebook I just came across,

and I happen to want it.

And it happens to be FREE today only,

if I merely blog about it.

I HATE CLEANING

and I'm not very good at it.

Hopefully, this book will help

and my house will be sparkling clean and beautiful

in just 31 days :)

Spray paint + Entryway + Easter

Hello friends!

Do you remember when I showed you 

our drab entryway?

Well it looking a little something like this:

{Boring}

Well, I'm glad to say our entryway looks a LITTLE

bit better now than it did back then.

But first, I have to show you a treasure that

I found at a local antique mall.

I forgot to take a true "before" shot,

so you will see it mid-transformation.

Check this out:

Do you think this is as great as I do?

Well just wait... it's about to get much better!

Wah-lah! Our not perfect, but much better than before entryway!

I still need to find some branches or something of some kind

for the tall red vase under the mirror,

but I would LOVE to eventually do a board and batten

treatment to the wall in this area.

But, for now, this will have to do!

I added a basket under the bench, handy for storing Claire's shoes.

I added a framed photo under the hook thingy (forget what those are called),

and I put a bonsai plant, or whatever that is, next to the bench.

I got the plant from my parents' house a long time ago.

The pillow has our last initial on it made from buttons hot-glued onto it.

Here's a closer look:

And, one more look at my fun new mirror!

What are some fun thrifty things you have found lately?

I thought I'd end this post with a few shots from 

Easter Sunday.

This year, the true meaning behind Easter seemed especially

significant to me.

As a new parent, I've found myself wrestling lately

with the idea of death- thinking about what would happen if I or Wes 

were to die and what that would mean for Claire.

Morbid, I know.

But, death is part of life and something we all have to deal

with at some time or another.

Wes, as a nurse, is faced with death regularly and so

hearing stories from him also reminds me of how

fragile our life on earth truly is.

Anyway, all this is to say that this Easter,

it really hit home to me knowing that I can rest

assured that Jesus conquered the grave, and death is not the end,

but really only the beginning for those who are in Christ!

And for those of us left behind when a loved one dies,

we have the great Comforter here who knows our pain

and can offer us peace that passes understanding.

This is truly something to celebrate, and to live our lives for!

Check out this song by Matt Maher...

I hope the lyrics touch your spirit as they have mine.

Here are some pics of our Easter Sunday!

{I think this one is my fav!}

Have a great week, and happy nesting!

Guest Bloggin' It

Hey lovelies!

Hop on over to Living in Yellow today

where you will find none other than myself

as a guest blogger!

Erin, the author of Living in Yellow,

happens to be my little sister.

So, while she may have felt obligated to afford me this opportunity,

I am honored nonetheless :).

{Erin and I}

While you are over at Living in Yellow,

be sure to look around.

You will crack up, guaranteed.

If I were you, I'd click on the Best of LIY tab

where you can go through her archive of

"Awkward and Awesome Thursday" posts.

My sister is great at pointing out the awkward in life,

but also the awesome!

She is also one of the most positive,

fun-spirited person, sweet people you will ever meet.

So what are you waiting for?

Head on over to LIY!

Happy nesting ya'll!

(I'm headed to Nashville in a few weeks... I have to practice the lingo!)

I have a craft room!

Well folks, it's time.

It's time to show you a little sumthin sumthin 

I've been cooking up

here at the homefront.

There is still some tweaking that needs to happen for sure,

but I am happy with the progress that 

has occurred in creating this new...

craft/office space!

But first, let's back up a few months and see what I was working with...

This.

And this.

I know it's dark, but that's probably for the best.

Basically, this space was an unorganized disaster that 

practically gives me an anxiety attack just looking at it.

Oh, and it had the most putrid rug I've ever seen accessorizing it.

Although, why not use a putrid rug in an unorganized disaster like this?

I mean, how was I expected to CREATE in a place

like this???

BUT, change has come, and I'm pretty happy with it.

Behold, the new craft space:

The cubed shelving unit is from IKEA... it's the same one shown above

in the before shots.

However, now it has baskets, file boxes, and magazine boxes

filling {most of} its spaces, and it makes me smile.

{Closer image of the IKEA shelf}

Above the shelf I framed some scrapbook paper and called it art.

Cheap, simple, and effective!

On the wall to the left of the shelving, I hung an organizer thingy

and a magazine holder (from IKEA).

This is now where I store Martha Stewart and BHG mags,

along with my "idea file" (where I put magazine clippings

of ideas that I hope to actually do some day).

On the wall to the right of the shelving I hung a few shelves (from IKEA of course!)

I need to somewhat revamp what I have on these shelves

in time (I sort of just threw some random things on there for now),

but I plan to use the shelves for both decorative and functional purposes.

This is a diaper box that I covered in burlap and slapped a flower on.

Right now it has fabric in it, but in time I plan to get a few wire

baskets for two of the squares on my IKEA shelving unit

to hold the fabric so that I can see my selection more easily.

I thought it would be smart to store my spice rack on this shelf.

That way I have to run to the basement every time I cook.

Juuuust kidding :)

Still on the to-do list is to dump these spices

(we got them as a wedding gift, I figure they are probably expired by now),

wash the containers, 

and use them to store small crafty materials like beads and what-have-you.

Now, let's look at the craft space in the context of our basement:

In time, this will also serve as our "office" space

because the room we currently use as an office will 

hopefully be used for our next child.

We don't have a ton of "office" stuff so I don't think this will be a problem.

Eventually I may want to change out the table

for a more functional "work" table.

This table was purchased at a garage sale and we used as our kitchen table

for awhile.

But for now, I can make it work.

Also, I have a fun chalkboard I am in the process of sprucing up a bit

that I plan to hang to the right of the shelves.

{If you're lucky, I'll show it to you.}

Oh, and I would also like to find/make

a fun rug to put down in this space because currently

the carpeting in this area is a bunch of small pieces

fit together that aren't really attached to the floor.

Thanks for checking out my new space!

Be sure to check back later this week for some new adventures

with my friends, the spray paint cans!

Have a blessed week, and happy nesting!

Linking this post to:

A Bowl Full of Lemons
Tatertots and Jello

A Week Without an Alarm Clock: A Tribute to Spring Break

On the last day of school before spring break,

I told some of my students that I planned on

"practicing for summer vacation"

during my spring break.

Well I am happy to report that I did JUST that!

My week at home was filled with most all of my favorites:

Spending quality time with Wes and Claire...

visiting with the grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles...

{Claire with her aunt Erin}

sprucing up our home...

{Spring "Mantel" Redo}

getting daily exercise...

{I didn't take a photo of this... you don't want to see it}

catching up with friends...

{We got to see Viktor and Kristen, and meet their little Emily for the first time!

Kristen and I are good friends from college, and we hadn't seen each other in 

over 2 years!}

and doing a little shopping.

{Claire loving her new glittery pink shoes so much that she had to wear them around the house with her PJs} 

I also got to experience some fun firsts with Claire:

Her first trip to the zoo...

{Petting the bunny...}

{...and apparently not too amused with the rest of the zoo.}

her first carousel ride...
{bad mommy forgot to bring the camera for this excursion... boo!}

and her first visit to the park!

So fun!

All in all, I was able to return to school today
with a full heart,
ready to pour into the kids at school
and finish strong the last 8 weeks.
Summer break... I faintly hear you calling my name.
Don't worry... I'm coming!

What fun springy things are you up to?

Be sure to check back in later this week...
I'll be sharing some more spray paint fun,
along with my new craft space.
I know, I know... the fun never stops here :)

Have a great week, and happy nesting!