Discovering Your Style

So, I've been looking around a lot lately,

 at my house that is.

Taking notice of what I have up for decor, and what I don't.

I know it's typically difficult after the holidays,

because the house inevitably feels "empty".

But sometimes things just don't sit right.

And that's when the wheels start turning.

SO I turn to the pages pictures (on the internet that is).

Pinterest, to be exact.

I know I probably mention it in about every other post.

But I think this sight has almost 

ruled out magazines for me completely.

Which, if you know me at all, 

or remember this post,

you know I have a genuine love for a new magazine,

that has been genetically handed down to me, from my mom,

from her mom.

I mean we are talking about the giddiness you get 

before the first day of school.

Anyways,

when things don't feel just right with the decor in my house,

I turn to my favorite photos, and see what it is that

I love so much about those photos,

and what it is that

I don't love so much about my house.

Exhibit A:

Gorgeous Entryway :) love the color, the floors, the furniture,

the lights, and the feeling of crisp WHITE.

Again, the crisp white feeling. Fresh Flowers. Even though it's simple and not that noticeable 

the oars in the back drop. The worn-in wood, adds a touch of warmth and charm

that I love.

Again, aged, worn wood. I love the character this adds, in any piece.

So in looking around my house. I'm noticing it's time to phase out the stuff I 

first bought when we got married (almost 7 years ago), 

when I was a new wife,

trying to make our apartment pretty.

I had a love for black (and still do, as mentioned here and here) accessories back then.

Maybe a little on the modern side, but my style has never been modern.

Black was easy, it matched, it looked nice,

and while I still like it,

I'm finding there is something just off.

I've always loved anything white.

I would live in an all white house if it were just me, but it's not.

My favorite color to wear is white.

So it's a no brainer that that's what I like to decorate with.

Exhibit B:

Simply put, b-E-A-utiful.

Love the furniture piece , and all of the lovely white dishes.

Even the vintage boxes below.

White pitchers, white plates on the wall, and the mix of natural textures as well.

I think you are getting the idea, I mean do I need to say more :)

So, I've summed up to the idea, that I need to invest in some white pitchers,

maybe some vases, some white plates, and maybe

some accessories.

The nice thing about white, is it always matches, and it never goes out of style.

Although I may be a little particular in just what 

white pitcher I get.

But I'm excited to have narrowed down my search 

to what I feel is the missing link,

in tying some of my rooms together.

Easy fix right.

Well I will be sure to let you know how it goes.

So when it comes down to it, as you take a look around your home,

if things feel a little off, or just not exactly what

you would like to see.

Turn to pictures that you love, and see what's missing.

Like "What's in the picture that you love

so much, that is not in your home?"

~Happy Weekend Everyone :)

~BDD

35 by 35

Well, the title pretty much about sums it up.

Months ago I ran across this list, from a sweet blogger I follow,

and being a list person myself,

I was instantly drawn in.

If you're not a list freak like me, than you might not 

understand my explicit joy that comes from this process,

but nonetheless I encourage you to read on.

For some reason lists bring peace of mind for me.

And writing them out is even more helpful.

Sometimes when I can't sleep, 

I write lists.

Sometimes when I have too many thoughts in my head,

I write lists.

Sometimes when I'm bored 

I write lists.

And sometimes when things feel chaotic,

I W.R.I.T.E. lists.

They are super helpful for me, and I liked the challenge of having a

"To DO" list for fun.

So without further intro... my list.

35 things I would like to have done by the time I'm 35,

in complete random order (btw).

Here we go:

1. Make homemade bread from scratch. (Thanks to this fabulous/easy recipe).
2. Make a successful pie crust from scratch.
3. Give more generously.
4. Make a scrappy quilt.
5. Home school my children.
6. Make my own piece of furniture. (i.e. Jesse)
7. Be purposeful in God's calling on my life.
8. To not have a "PILE" of "DRAWER" full of stuff = be more organized.
9. Play the piano.
10. Instill the awe and love of God to my kids.
11. Bless a total stranger.
12. Use our savings account for more than just "keep the change" (start this year).
13. Repurpose something old.
14. Run a 5k.
15. Be done having babies.
16. Have a fully functional desk space.
17. Go on another honeymoon - just me and the hubby.
18. See the west coast (I was born in California).
19. Be in shape.
20. Own a home.
21. Own my dream car.
22. Take a pilate's reformer class.
23. Have new living room furniture.
24. Coordinate more women's events/ministries.
25. Cook.like.Ina.
26. Experience God in a new way.
27. Have a green thumb. (flowers)
28. Also, have a thriving produce garden. (veggies)
29. Have a successful blog.
30. Spend a week at the lake with my kids and my husband.
31. Help people love the space they live in.
32. Take bolder chances in decorating.
33. Know the Word.
34. Go on a girls vacation with just my mom and my sisters.
35. Go to New York (again), but see central park, Serendipity, and the Plaza Hotel.

So as you can see, only three of these lovely items are crossed off

my list, so that means I better get crack-o-lacken :)

Again, I know I might not be able to complete all of these,

looks like I will be traveling a LOT,

but it was fun to do, fun to think about,

and hopefully complete.

~What about you? Are you a list maker?

~Do you have things, or maybe just one thing you would like to accomplish?

Let me leave you with this quote :

~Have a great weekend :)

~BDD

~cUpCaKe LiNeR bAnNeR~

This past week our baby girl turned ONE.

oh my gosh.

ONE.

One of the decorations I made for her party 

was this cute and really simple little banner

out of cupcake liners:

I started with grabbing 2 different sizes of cupcake liners.

One with a pattern and one just plain white.

The I grabbed some fake flowers and some metal tab pins to hold it all together.

I started assembling, basically just layering the smaller cupcake liner

on top of the larger one, then the flower, and finishing with the 

pin in the middle to hold it all together.

Like this:

I then grabbed my hot glue gun out, to attach some simple

white string to the backs of them.

I put a dot of hot glue on the back of the cupcake liners,

right on the folder over metal tabs

so that way everything would be centered.

simple.

And this is a close up of what I got:

I love the look of the round, fanned-out liners, it was so unique looking from the typical

streamer, or store-bought banner.

Perfect girly touch for our perfect little girly :)

I also made this pom poms out of different colored tissue paper

I picked up for $1 a pack using this 

simple method.

We did these for a wedding I decorated this past summer,

so I was pretty familiar with this idea.

This is what I got:

I can't believe her 1st birthday has already come and gone,

but I'm really looking forward to the next

phase of toddler-hood with our

little girly.

The fun is just beginning :)

~BDD

1st Birthday Party

I can't believe it.

Our baby girl is 1 already.

I feel like it wasn't too long ago and we were celebrating

my son's 1st birthday, and here we are again.

Here she is just 5 days old :) so precious.

And here she is now, 1 year.

We kept things pretty simple for her birthday. Just family this time around,

and we had a great time celebrating this little princess.

More on the decorations in a minute, first time for some presents.

(unfortunately with a night time party, the lighting isn't the best, 

but you get the idea)

Once she saw there was stuff to take out of the bag, she wanted no help :)

Checking out all her new clothes :)

She was more into reading the cards, who knew? :)

Carter got a little present too :)

Can you tell he's just a "little" excited.

Time for some cake:

Strawberry cake w/ strawberry frosting, and fresh strawberries :)

"Happy Birthday to you..."

( I made the fabric banner in the background to also hang in her room down the road.)

Very hesitant to touch it.

Hands full, and Carter wanting to get in on the action.

Using my chalkboard sign to display a simple

birthday message.

I made this pom pom out of cup cake liners,

and brought out her little

silver tea set she got 

from her Me Me for christmas :)

Adding some white frames,

with similar colors of the decorations,

to keep the shabby chic theme going.

I used more cupcake liners to make this little banner.

Will add the tutorial later, so simple.

(p.s. check out the new rug in the living room,

more on that later too.)

I made the POM POM's out of tissue paper.

Super easy and simple.

Adding some decor to the ledge shelves in our dining room.

The pom pom on the left was made out of 

cutting up some of the pink napkins I had picked up for the 

party.

Adorable little flowers, I picked up @ Target

I used an old shutter that a friend gave me

and displayed pictures of the 

birthday girl.

~ Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake~

~BDD

~Re-Purposed Chalkboard Sign~

So last week, I had a fantastic night out with two of my favorite ladies.

Not only was it refreshing to spend time with them,

bought I got to browse and shop 

WITHOUT

the kids :) I love spending time with

my kids, but I think anyone can agree how important it

is to have a break.

So 

since neither of them had been we headed to 

hobby lobby, probably one of

my all time favorite stores.

They have so many cool things there, and such a 

wide variety, it's a one stop shop in 

my mind. 

AND they always have these great 50% off sales,

who can beat that.

So while we were there, I scored this very gold

serving platter, but before I even

put it in my cart I knew what I was doing with it.

Here it is in it's lovely SHINY gold state.

I started first by spray painting the edges with two different

colors. First silver:

Then I sprayed lightly over the silver with a speckled brown,

but just enough so the silver would still

peek through, giving it a more aged look.

(note: the great thing about spray paint, is you keep spraying until

you like how it looks, and if you mess up, you can literally start

over, with a fresh spray of paint.)

Then I grabbed my chalkboard paint, and painted the inside 

of the tray with a small paintbrush.

And this is what I got:

I love the scalloped edges, and that the spray paint almost gives it

an antique sort-of finish = perfect.

It sits on top of our mantle (which is in disarray from taking down christmas decorations,

and looking quite bare, because I don't have exactly what I want for up there

just yet, but this fills the space nicely), so glad it has 

a nice home up there :)

~Have you found anything recently that you have been able to transform?

~Or maybe something you have had in your mind for awhile that you would like to try?

~Leave a comment, I'd love to hear what you've been up too :)

~BDD