i'm obsessed

I am completely obsessed with my new SMASH journal from K&Company.

I picked mine up at Hobby Lobby. It was $12.99 and then I used my 40% coupon. 

I have also seen them at Wal-mart for about the same price- and I know Michaels carries them too.

 

Isn't it beautiful!

I love all the pretty pages.

You can even buy fun accessories like pockets and stamps. Everything is super reasonably priced too: between $3-$5 & you can use your Hobby Lobby coupons.

I was so excited to start filling the pages.  

But pretty and fun don't always produce great ideas for entries. I was still kind of at a loss for how I would have stuff to actually SMASH on the pages.

Enter this:

Source: lilblueboo.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

I'm a huge fan of Ashley and her blog. 

Is it awkward to admit that, after I did my entries last night, I totally had a dream that I met her! 

Huge fan. 

In fact, do yourself a favor and check her awesomeness out over at 

www.lilblueboo.com 

The timing could not be more perfect. I'm excited everyday to see what prompts she'll introduce. I even shared my first two on Instagram. It's really fun to connect with so many other people that are participating. 

You can see the prompts on her website. The first one was to write this using your non dominant hand AND to draw your pen. 

By the way: FriXion pens are amazing. They're erasable w/o an eraser. It's fascinating!

 

And here is my drawing of the first classroom I can remember.

I really am obsessed- in a good way- about my new journal adventure. 

I think you should try it too!

multipurpose caddy

I found this basket at a rummage sale a couple weekend ago for just .50

 

I hit it up with some primer,

sprayed it with a few layers of glossy black spray paint that I had on hand,

gathered up some mason jars I had around the house,

And made an awesome little caddy that has multiple purposes!

It can be used in the office,

the kitchen,

or even the bathroom.

I'm kind of obsessed with how awesome it turned out. I'm having a tough time deciding where to use it because I love all the options.

large magnetic picture board

I've actually been in the crafting mood again recently. Feels good to go to bed with some paint on my hands! 

I've been meaning to post the projects as they are completed. Sometimes I even take pictures for a tutorial. But then, somewhere between completion and a blog post, my motivation gets lost. 

In an attempt to get over this. I'm going to just toss this tutorial at you. Simple. To the point.

Here goes.

I found this awesome frame at thrift store for $10:

I then bought a roll of steel at Menards:

I painted the frame (at midnight) in my backyard:

A simple pair of scissors cut the steel to size:

 

I used a generous about of E-6000 and a foam brush to adhere the metal to picture.

 

You'll want to work fairy fast at this point.

 

I gathered all kinds of heavy stuff from around my kitchen to help secure the bond.

 I just cut a piece of fabric to size and used glue to adhere it.

You can see the edges are a little frayed. I found some of this rope lying around and used hot glue to boarder the frame and hide the fray. 

 

 Then I was done. Loving the final product. But the frame sat in my hallway for a good month! At some point, my niece played with all the magnets and pictures. 

When I finally did get the frame hung, I had a really hard time getting a good photo of it. I wanted to show the details: the cute magnets I made, the fun pictures and quotes I posted, the pictures of me when I was little, how awesome it transformed my hallway. I wanted them to be Pin-worthy. Dang-it!

 But none of them turned out well. 

 

 I love it though. I love walking past and seeing the people I love. I love that it's easily changeable, that I made it, and that it was a fairly cheap transformation!

InstaSummer

 

My Mac had an unfortunate run in with a very strong magnet a few months ago. Even though my brother-in-law generously gave me his old Mac, I haven't quite gotten over my loss. Although I've created a few new project over the summer, I rarely spend time on a computer now and haven't uploaded pictures or written posts for them yet. I'm hopeful that this has just been a break. I'd love to get back to blogging again soon.

For now, I'll share some of my favorite Instagram moments from this summer. 

 Beautiful Kyrie on her wedding day. Such an honor to stand up and witness my friends love for each other. 

Fresh squeezed! 

Feeding the fish at the duck pond. Fun to pass a classic summer moment onto the next generation. 

Pool Day! 

I need another one. I've lost my tan.

Summer on the farm.

A little DIYing in the backyard....at midnight. The project is now complete and so awesome!

Hosted these amazing Summer Staffers for a a few days. 

Seriously classic jam. 

And then this one day....

I stumbled upon a church celebrating baptism on my way home from the flea market. 

I stayed, got connected, started Bible study with the young adults, and have renewed hope. 

Great day. Great story. Great God.

I've been helping out my neighbors a little bit more. I clean for them and take them to doctor appointments. This particular morning we went to breakfast and Emil put away the Tremendous 12 like a boss. 

And last week I watched my nieces. This is how they settled to watch an episode of Dora before bed. 

Man, I just love summer.

Treasure Hunting

The other day I stopped by to visit my grandma and she reminded me that our St. Vincent De Paul thrift store had moved into a much bigger space. So I headed over there and let myself get lost in the joy of the hunt and the thrill of the find.

 I walked in the door and immediately saw this frame. Oh man!

I had to stop myself from running over- which gave me time to say a quick prayer that the price was right. I flipped that baby over $9.99 : SOLD. 

It almost love the picture too. Almost. It won't survive the DIY I have in mind for the frame though. 

This sweet little bowl : $1.99. With some ribbon laced through those holes, it's going to be a pretty sweet little accessory.

And my favorite buy of the day:

Seriously endless possibilities. The entire roll was $4.99. I can't even stand it. 

I'm excited to get my hands dirty and turn these cheap thrill into some awesome pieces.