Spring plans.

So, Thursday is the FIRST day of Spring - YAY! I'm am so excited! Here are some plans I have for spring...

1. Celebrate my 24th birthday with my favorite girls @ my FAVORITE restaurant, Goodness Gracious on Good Friday!

2. Plant some of these...We had four hydrangea bushes planted at our old house, but we accidentally left them there! I may go back and get them! Ha!

3. Organize our office/craft room. It currently looks like this....

I'm thinking about doing something like this... (I have an antique hutch that needs to be painted, and would be GREAT for storing all my scrapbook materials).

4. Paint my laundry "closet" and make it super cute and bright like this... 5. Organize my closet (and put all my SPRING clothes out) and organize the GARAGE! EEEkkk!

So, needless to say, I have LOTS of things I want to do! Brad and I are also planning on buying a new sofa set in May, so we have been looking for different sets that we like. I really like this set - it fits so well with our nautical theme!

Brad thinks it looks too much like what we already have - I'll definitely be asking for opinions!

What are your plans for spring?

Blessings, y'all!

Party Flowers!

Since I had a couple of requests about how to make the paper flowers, I thought I would dedicate a whole a post to them! I have to give credit to the wonderful MARTHA STEWART for these. When I was planning my wedding, I found an article about these flowers in the Martha Stewart Weddings book - they looked fairly easy, and I thought they were adorable! For my wedding, we did them all in red and yellow (my wedding colors), but for the United Way event I'm planning, we did them in red, yellow, blue and a couple in green. They are so easy to make, and I hope to see y'all make some as well!

Step 1 - you will need about 10 sheets of 20"x 30" tissue paper (you may have to order this from a wholesale place - I ordered mine from Nashville Wraps). Lay the paper out flat in a stack.

Step 2 - Make 1 1/2" accordian folds as shown below.

This is what the paper will look like when you finish making the folds.

Step 3 - Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, slip over center of tissue, and twist to secure.

Step 4 - With scissors, trim both ends of the paper into rounded or pointy ends. I did a pointy end on this flower.

Step 5 - Open up the creases so it resembles a fan.

Step 6 - Separate layers, pulling one piece of tissue paper from the center one at a time. (Make sure you are very gentle during this part - you don't want to pull too hard, or you will rip the tissue).

This is what the flower will start to resemble as you are pulling the layers up.

Step 7 - This is what the flower looks like after you have pulled all the layers up. They may have some holes, or they may not be completely rounded, so I always give mine a good shake to fluff them out.

Here is a completed flower - I have it hanging from the ceiling here. Isn't it adorable???

This is what my parents' house looked like for most of the weekend - this is only a small section of the flowers - the whole house was covered with them!

This is a big arrangement my mom and I made - we attached the flowers to some curly willow branches and stuck them in a huge vase. I think it's the cutest thing I've ever seen! I just wish we would have thought about this for my wedding! Now here are a couple of pictures from my wedding. We lined the outer edges of the tent in the yellow and red flowers, and then we filled the ceiling with white paper lanterns. I loved everything about my little southern country wedding!

Hopefully my directions weren't too complicated! I hope y'all will all make these flowers - just make sure you show me what you did with them! I'm off to decorate for our big event that is TOMORROW!!!! I am going to take lots of pictures so I can show the final result :)

Blessings, y'all!

The picture.

Here is the picture that I referred to in my last post - the first picture is of my great-grandmother. She is probably close to 18 years old in this picture.

Now, here is a picture of me. Do you think we look alike? I think it looks EXACTLY like I do!
Anyways, my grandparents brought me a couple of pictures yesterday that were on the slideshow, and I just love to show them off!

This weekend was super busy - sometimes I wish I could just have a relaxing and calm weekend with NO work!

Friday night, I spent the night at my mom's house since my dad was out of town watching my brother play baseball in Alabama. We ordered a pizza from Sir Pizza and watched "The Game Plan" with The Rock - it was actually kind of cute! The little girl is so ADORABLE, so of course I loved watching her. I worked on Saturday at the shop - we weren't too busy, so I got a chance to move around some displays and clean up a bit. On Saturday night, Brad and I went to Dave and Buster's in Nashville with one of his co-workers, JoAnna, and her fiancé - Micah. I have never been to Dave and Buster's, and of course it was PACKED with people watching the UT vs. Memphis basketball game. Brad and I played a ton of games, and we won over 700 tickets! It was a fun and LATE night.

Brad opted out of church on Sunday because he was tired, and my mom has been sick, so I ended up going by myself. Sometimes I like going to church by myself - I feel like I really get into the praise and worship (maybe it's because I don't have to keep poking Brad when he falls asleep! Ha!). I spent Sunday afternoon at my mom's house cooking lunch - we made turkey chili, and my grandparents came over to eat. We had a good time sitting around talking about everything under the sun.

After a trip to Marshall's and TJ Maxx (where I got a TON of goodies), we began to make these....

We made these for my wedding to use in the outdoor tent, and I thought they would be cute for an upcoming event we have at United Way. I can't wait to post the finished result, but I guess you'll have to wait! So far, I've made 20, and I have 20 more to go!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, too! I don't know about y'all, but I am so ready for SPRING!!! I have already started day-dreaming about all the pretty flowers I am going to plant!

Catching up...

Well, I'm BACK!!! I had a wonderful trip to Jacksonville, Florida - although if you ask me, I think the whole "sunshine state" thing is a lie! It was rainy and dreary pretty much from the time we landed on Tuesday until we left on Friday (although I was blinded by the sun on the plane on the way BACK to Tennessee!) I had a wonderful time with my grandmother, and we got to do some catching up during our trip. I spent the majority of my day in workshops learning about the new advertising campaign for United Way, but I got to spend the evenings with my grandmother. Here is a picture of us from Wednesday night at a reception they held at the Jacksonville Jaguars stadium - we got to see the field and spend the the evening on the terrace (where to the top dogs spend their time during football games). I learned a lot at the conference, and I'm super fired up about merging our United Way with the new advertising campaign! I'll keep y'all up-to-date on those occurances!

Other random things that have been going on in my life - I have become addicted to crafting every single night! Before I got to bed, I will pull out some paper and either make cards, or scrapbook. It's funny because Brad is posted up in the office doing his puzzle (the boy is addicted to puzzles), and I'm in my little corner working on some crafts! Here are a few examples of the cards I made last week - one was for my good friend, Myranda, who just got engaged. The other one was for my other sweet friend, Megan. And lastly, the 'thanks' card was for a dear lady who goes to my church. One of my new year's resolutions was to be more creative and share that creativity with others, and I think cardmaking might be it!

Here is an example of the invitation I made for a birthday party my family has coming up - my Uncle Billy's birthday is January 31st, my mom's birthday is February 11th and my Papa's birthday is February 21st, so we do all three together! It's at my grandparents' barn, so I tried to make it look country! I thought it turned out pretty cute!

Here is another little craft I worked on last week. Last year, I got one of these CD case calendars from The Write Impression, and when it came time for a new calendar year, I thought instead of buying the sheets for each month, I would make them myself! I only did February, and I'm going to try and get March done here in the next few weeks. I love having a calendar with the entire month in front of me, so this works perfectly! So, if you have an extra CD case lying around, you can make your own desk calendar!

Yesterday, my mom and I made a trip to the TJ Maxx Home Goods store in Mt. Juliet (about 30 minutes from Murfreesboro). It was the first time I have ever been, and let me just say that I'm HOOKED! We literally spent HOURS in there! I got so many great ideas for my house, and even though I didn't make any big purchases yesterday, I can see some in the future! I did pick up this framed picture to go in my master bathroom. Brad and I bought a new shower curtain on Saturday night at Marshall's, and I think this picture is the PERFECT compliment!

Other things that are of interest...while I was at the airport on Tuesday waiting to leave for Jacksonville, my friend Myranda (that just got engaged) called to ask me to be in her wedding! I was so shocked that I started crying! Myranda is one of my sorority sisters, and we have recently gotten very close, even though she lives in Chattanooga. She will be moving to Murfreesboro in the summer, and I CANNOT wait! It's so nice to have so many of my old friends moving back home! I cannot wait until her wedding, and I ordered my dress on Saturday. Myranda's colors are navy blue and pink (how preppy is that?), and the bridesmaids' dresses are navy blue strapless with the cutest pleats in the bottom and then we are wearing pink sashes! I can't wait until her wedding in July!

Lastly, one of my other new year's resolutions was to read more and stop watching so much television. I'm proud to report that since the new year, I have read THREE books! I read one this weekend - I couldn't put it down. I read The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd earlier this year, and I re-read The Secret Life of Bees, also by Sue Monk Kidd. The Secret Life of Bees is one of my favorite books, and I always recommend it to others. This weekend I read The Choice by Nicolas Sparks - he is seriously one of those authors that grabs you in the beginning and has a hold of you until you finish reading. Although he is an extremely feminine writer, I can't stop reading him! I'm now reading Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson, and I'll let y'all know how that one goes! I love reading books that are set in the South - do y'all have a book that you just LOVE recommending to other people???

Well, this has been an extremely long post, but I had to get y'all caught up since I've been gone! I will let y'all know that I did read my daily blogs every day while I was in Jacksonville on my blackberry - thanks for keeping me interested!

Blessings, y'all!

Things that make me SMILE!!!

This is going to be a terribly random post, but I just have SO many things to be excited about, and I want to share them ALL with y'all! So, here are a few things that are making this gal smile from ear to ear....


Two of my Christmas presents from Brad FINALLY came in! I got my PSA Stamp with our new address, so I don't have to write out our address every single time! And I also got a set of Tervis Tumblers with our monogram on them! I got Brad a Georgia Tervis Tumbler for Christmas last year, and he LOVES it! They are great gifts - especially for men since they have basically every school logo! Plus, they NEVER break! I love love love 'em!!!!

I got this precious little sign from Marshall's the other day for $2.99!!!! I thought it would fit perfectly in Turner's little nook where his food and water bowl sit! There's the cutest little howling dog on the sign as well as Psalm 104:33 - "I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have my being." LOVE IT!

This is a picture of the lampshade that I covered with this adorable black and white gingham fabric! I got the lampshade for $3.99 at Old Time Pottery and I got the fabric for a good deal at Wal-Mart! I had a little help from my mom covering it, too!

Here's a picture of the finished lampshade - I plan to add some black pom-pom balls around the edge to give it a little extra something-something! I also made the little arrangement of pink peonies (also from Old Time Pottery) - since real peonies cost an arm and a leg, I thought this is a great way to enjoy my favorite flower ALL the time while I'm at work! I plan on making a "curtain" to go around my desk in black and white gingham fabric to cover all the cords from my computer and phone! So, pink and black are the colors for my office - I'll be sure to post pictures of the final product! What does your office look like?

This is a painting that I did for my parents' bedroom. They recently painted the walls a chocolate milk color, and then they painted all of their bedroom furniture black. My mom LOVES rust colors, so I thought this would be the PERFECT compliment to her new bedroom!

And then, my mom returned the favor! She painted this picture for Brad and me - it matches our front door perfectly, and I have it in our family room! We have a throw blanket and pillows that are the exact same color as the orangey-rust! I love it! Thank you, mom!

And who can resist this?? My mom, sister, and I have recently started covering clipboards in our favorite papers and giving them as gifts! This is one that I made for MYSELF! I love the colors - plus it kinda looks old-fashioned! Our dream is to open our own store one day and sell all the things we love - we even have our store name picked out and everything! What's the store name you ask??? Mattie Mae's! Mattie Kathleen was my grandmother's mother's name, and my grandfather's mother's name was Pellie Mae. They were both very important women in our lives, so we made a combination to honor them! So, be looking for our store one day :)

And finally, here is a picture of me working with my absolute FAVORITE Christmas gift - and I CANNOT believe I haven't told y'all about this already! My parents gave me a Cricut, and it is seriously the BEST gift for a scrapbooker/cardmaker like myself! You can use it to cut out shapes, letters, greetings, all sorts of stuff! Brad took this picture of me (in my pajamas!) last night as I was making a card for a very special someone! Email me your address, and I would be happy to send you a card - I LOVE MAIL!!! So, if you like to make cards or scrapbook - come to my house, and we can have a BLAST with my Cricut!!

Anyways, I know all of this is completely random, but they are just things that make me SO giddy! What makes you smile ear to ear????

Blessings, y'all!

Separated at birth?

Tonight, I got to meet up with my new friend, APRIL for coffee since we discovered that we actually live in the same town! How crazy is that?! Anyways, I seriously think this girl is my long lost sister - we are so much alike, it's scary. It was so nice to sit and talk with a young married woman like myself. I'm really excited about getting to chat with April more often, although it might feel like I'm talking to myself since we are practically the same person!


In other unrelated news, I made this diaper wreath for my boss, Rachel, who was hosting a baby shower for one of her friends. I saw one in a children's shop, and I thought "hey, I can do that." Anyways, I couldn't remember exactly how it was done, but it turned out cute anyways. I tied each of the diapers with lavender and mocha satin ribbons. And I have to tell you, I love those colors together! Rachel's friend is having a baby girl, and the nursery is decorated in lavender and mocha. Let me know what y'all think...I'm hoping I can make more of these for showers!