taylor-made news

Birthday Banners (and invites)

My dear friend Bethany is turning another year younger and she is a lover of theme parties (and let's be honest, who isn't) so she is throwing a beachy/seersucker birthday party. And i was so flattered that she asked me to help her put together the invitations and decor!

She had the cutest idea for invites

 
(don't you love the seersucker bow?!)

and i played off her great theme and put together a banner for the "party room"

 
i used my cricut to cut out the letters and the crabs and she is using all primary colors.

 
i think it turned out so cute!

 
I can't wait to show you pictures from the party!

dog days of summer

 
the dog days of summer are in full force.

either i have been working like a dog....

or i've been sick as a dog.

i have been battling strep throat all week in an effort to of course get back to work (haha) but mostly to prepare for our second wedding shower this weekend!!

which reminds me, i never shared our first wedding shower. so stay tuned for all that and more (there's my "news voice" coming in)

i promise i will have more posts to come, just let me catch up with life a little bit.

and in the meantime, you can hop over to The Budget Savvy Bride and check out my post about our "save the dates".

"Camp Kinkade": the final goodbye...

when i say my sister and i got a lot accomplished during "camp kinkade" i am not joking. she helped me with a few on-going projects i had in the works, and in turn we made her some pretty cool stuff to take home with her.

for example...

some fabric covered notebooks for school

 
 
tile coasters (this is the one i made for my friend at the local habitat for humanity. she made a purple one, but i guess i don't have a picture of it.

 
She also showed of her artsy side by coloring a Beatles picture

 
 
and we were going to make puzzle jewelry, but miss priss would rather play on her phone...

 

than help finish the dang puzzle haha

 
all in all "Camp Kinkade" was a great two weeks with my "baby" sister!  (and i kind of miss her already)

 

christmas in july gift exchange (year 2)

It's that time of year again for the Craftaholics Anonymous Christmas in July Gift Exchange!! I participated last summer and got an amazing gift and I swapped again with a partner in December where I sent something and got something great in return!

This year I was paired up with Anne from Anne Franklin Designs (and boy does this woman have talent! I had a lot to live up to.) While we were "getting to know" each other I found out she loves pink and green, she has three daughters and she likes anything vintage (just like me!).

So I got to work on a gift for her three girls...

 
They are bathing suit bags for them to throw their wet suits in after going to the pool.

And for Miss Anne I put together an organization kit made from vintage pink and green fabric.

 
 
 
A notebook with a pocket, a pencil case, and a clip board. I figured she was a busy mom, running her own business and a little extra help in the organization department would be a useful gift!

I am so excited to be a part of this fun swap again and I can't wait to show off my gift when it gets here.

blog break

i am taking a week long break from blogging, but when i return i have a LOT of fun stuff in store including:

"Camp Kinkade"

our first wedding shower!!!

on-going sewing projects

and lots and lots of baking!!

my little sister is staying with me for a week and we are having too much fun! i can't wait to share all the exciting things i've been up to lately.

the magic of spray paint

i love spray paint. it is one of my new favorite crafting "weapons"! if i see something in a thrift store that i don't love, 9 times out of 10 its because i don't love the color. well that's where my new friend spray paint comes in!

 
i set up a little temporary spray painting station in the yard...

 
using a piece of plywood i found on sale and my saw horses i bought with Christmas gift cards

 
and of course i couldn't get anything accomplished without my trusty assistant, june. haha

 
i started with a wooden key i found at a thrift store

 
and some gold candle holders (and a set of keys we will get to later)

 
and then i picked up a couple little birdies at the dollar store

 
then i spread them all out on the "spray station"

 
applied a coat of primer (which i just learned about and now highly recommend)

 
then after a couple of coats of spray paint...

 
my project was complete.

the wooden key now resides above my door

 

with the other members of my key collection
 
(and remember those keys from earlier? here they are now)

 
and the pretty birds and the candle holders now play a role in the spring scene on the entertainment center.

 
 

i'm spolied

there i said it. i am spoiled by some of the amazing people in my life.

i've talked about it before, but derek's mom spoils us with goodies every time we go to visit her. look what we came home from our latest trip to his hometown:

 
check out those delicious smelling candles!

 
now his aunt even bought me a few dresses the other day and she started saving fabric scraps for me!

 
derek's best friend knows i like to craft (hi karen) and she bought me some yarn. plus i bought these adorable vintage buttons.

 
i also have a co-worker who gave me two little lanterns from her recent wedding because she knew i could put them to use. sure enough they found the perfect home on my beach shelf!

 
so a big thank you to all the people who spoil me in my life! i promise i will make you a great gift in return.

when worlds collide

Today my real life world and my blog world came together and it was a pretty amazing experience. The story may take a little while to explain but I can sum it up by saying: the Lord works in mysterious ways!

This story starts a few years ago when WSMV in Nashville did a story on Audrey Caroline. After reading the story and watching the video (and going through a box of tissues) I was so moved! I immediately read the blog dedicated to this little baby and I really felt like this one woman's story changed something inside me.

Fast forward to about a year ago when I was reading one of my former sorority sister's blogs and she mentioned a friend of hers, Brooke, who had a similar story. (I'm not going to get all up in her business and tell you her story, but trust me if you start reading her blog, you won't quit). In one night I sat down and read every entry she had written about her journey with her baby Briar. I felt like I knew her. I know a lot of the time blog creepers (as I like to call them, myself included) feel like they are BFF's with the writers, but something about Brooke really connected to me. THEN I found out she lives in the same city as me! Crazy how things work, huh? (keep in mind I have never actually met her, I just *think* I know her haha)

So I have kept up with Brooke's blog and one day she wrote about the Mama Project that her friend Jessica was taking part in. So in the hop-scotch way the blog world goes, I started reading about this amazing photography project that was going on at Capture Photography

Last week I decided to e-mail Jessica and let her know how amazing I thought the Mama Project is, my connection to this topic as it related to Audrey Caroline, and how I wanted to find a way to help, or spread the word, or something. Much like Jessica writes, I feel called to do something to help women in similar situations and share the story of their incredible bravery.

Jessica e-mailed me back and we have been working on a way to get the story to work without exploiting these women, but by using it as an example of courage. We actually had a "coffee date" to discuss the options and afterwards she had another meeting to go to and I took a lunch break at the local thrift store. Well... I walk around the corner at the store and there is Jessica and Brooke!

We stood there for a while talking briefly about the potentially upcoming news story but mostly about how amazing/crazy/weird/exciting it is that all these random blogs brought the three of us face to face. Even if the news story doesn't work out, I still feel like there is a deeper reason God made me reach out to these total strangers. I may just be acting like a "blog creeper" but this whole experience could lead to real life friendships.

And if that isn't great enough (which it totally is) before I left the thrift store I found this AMAZING old window I can use in my wedding decor!!!

 

50's hat rack

for a while i have been looking for what i call a 1950's style accordian hat rack. and i know i've seen 100 at thrift stores, but just as i started really looking for one, i couldn't find it. then one day i get the following text from my sweet friend mackenzie...

 
she bought me one! i was so pumped because for a while i have been wanting to display my vintage scarves and old hats and purses.

 
i love the way it turned out! it looks like the cast of mad men could grab a prop at any time and run out the door. haha

 
this green scarf is SO pretty and looks great against that tan bag

 
plus i love seeing my scarves out on display instead of in a basket.

 
 
i am so pleased with how it turned out (and even more pelased that i have awesome friends who help me thrift!)

 

eudora's birthday

we are just celebrating up a storm here in georgia these days with holidays, engagements, birthdays and more!

we recently went out as a group (and restaurants beware... we take up a whole room with the t.v. crew goes out!) to celebrate our producer Eudora's birthday!

 
while i am a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, Eudora prefers Marilyn Monroe

 
so i found this aluminum sign at a thrift store and wrapped it up for her

 
we had a great time celebrating with her and the servers even embarrassed her by making her wear that "gorgeous" hat and singing to her.

 
Happy Birthday Eudora!!