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Create : Front Door Before/After

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Last we left off  I was deciding what color to paint the front door. As you can tell – I went with yellow. I knew I didn’t want the yellow as light as the sample so I had them darken it by 25% and it turned into the best buttery yellow ever.

I brushed on the nooks and crannies and rolled the rest. This paint from Lowes is semi gloss with paint and primer in one. Three coats later we were in business.

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The front porch still needs to be decluttered but that door sure does look snazzy! I think the bar cart is going to find a new home and I need to stick my curb found foot stool in the garage until I get a chance to make it over. Maybe one day I will get some fabric added to the rocking chair seat and then we will be in business.

Until then here are some more after pictures of the entry!

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Create : Swatch This

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Wondering what these two pictures have in common? Besides showing me how bad I need to de-clutter my front porch?

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Surprisingly enough, its project time around here again!

 

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I have wanted to paint my front door since I moved in but with the all red brick it was just too hard to bight that bullet and pick a color.

For as along as I can remember, I've has this special place in my heart for red front doors. Unfortunately, there is no way that can happen at this abode.

Crazy thing about these pictures is that the large bottom swatch is the same as the dark top swatch. Oh, how lighting can change things.

I am leaning more towards the yellow (but a tad darker) and the dark teal. At the moment my intuition is telling me to paint the outside of the door (part that faces the street) yellow and the inside (part that faces the living room) dark teal.

My heart realllllly want to paint the door black but with the awnings over the front windows my living room can stay pretty dark and the black wouldn’t help much.

One day, though!

Painted anything lately? Ever tackled the front door?

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Picture This : Head-shots

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Photography is such a neat gift. This little hobby takes a moment in peoples lives and captures it forever. Holds the memories safe and sound to revisit at any time.

More than that, I love how my camera an be used to bless others.

I met Holly about 3 years ago while volunteering in our children's ministry at church. In those past three years God has used her and her wisdom to speak so much truth into my life. She is a well-spring of biblical knowledge and has a true heart of gold.

Yesterday Holly shot me a text explaining that a children’s book her and her dad wrote is being published and the publisher informed her she need a head-shot for the book today. We took on the challenge and shot it through the roof. Not so hard when you are as flexible and glowing as Holly.

Holly – I am so excited for this expansion in your family and career. Watching your family grow and your kiddos shine with pride over a new baby is really something special.

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Shop: Now Open

I finally got my booty in gear and put together some items for the shop. Take a gander and let me know what you think! Currently there is quite a bit of pallet art and vintage knick-knacks.

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Remember – If you don’t see something that is juuuuust perfect for your home/gift/nursery etc don’t hesitate to ask. All pallet art can be custom painted!

For those of you who missed out on Vintage Market Days – here is your chance to get your hands on some items.

Enjoy!

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Outdoor : Flowerbed Edging

Its been awhile since I have given any big house updates. Nothing that I am doing is all that interesting right now – I mean who wants to read about insulation?

One thing I am winging and DIYing is the edging of my front flower beds.

You'll remember this is what my yard looked liked when I bought my house a year and a half ago.

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Then I removed that lonely bush and tilled up two flower beds on either side of the front door…

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Since then I have had a tree come and go and plants added. I also enlisted a local lawn company to come out and fertilize which made a huge difference in the lawn.

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Here is the problem though, I never could decide what kind of edging I liked for that flower bed on the right side (the left is blocked by sidewalk). It has gotten to the point that I pull weeds and grass out of these beds MULTIPLE times a week and can never seem to keep up.

Lately, I have been traveling on the weekends for weddings and such, so it was a must I take advantage of this weekend to get a bit done.

First up dig a new “ditch” to outline the flower bed.

This was easy peasy – I just took a shovel and dug about 6 in down all the way around the border of the bed

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Note the obscene amount of weeds/grass – I sprayed roundup on them right before digging my border.

Next comes the edging.

My mom and I talked through a few options but I ended up settling with a rock border of sorts. However, you cant just pour rocks into your ditch and call it a day, your flowerbed and your sanity need something to hold the rock in place and block the grass/weeds.

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My flower bed isn't huge but this roll of 60ft of plastic edging did the trick. Because I need a barrier for the rock I bought two rolls of edging (120ft) – one that lays against the yard and one against the flower bed.

Cut those plastic straps and lay out the edging – the sun will warm it up and keep it from coiling as much.

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After laying it out grab your stakes and go to town pounding that edging in place. Make sure and space the stakes 6ft-ish apart. Some spots for me were closer than others because of the curves

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For my 60 ft of edging I used 12 stakes – in total I bought 24 (a grouping of 12 for each side)

This goes pretty fast so don’t worry about it taking all day. It took me about an hour to get both sides laid in.

If you are using just the edging and not filling with rock you wont need two sets.

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Its not perfect or finished by any means, but it’s a start. You’ll notice it doesn’t look perfectly straight and that’s okay. I am going to fill the gaps on the lawn side with dirt and the gaps on the flowerbed side with mulch.

Next up is pulling the, now dead, weeds/grass and adding new mulch. After the mulch is added then I can fill the ditch with rock.

The black edging will be covered with rock – all the eye will see is mulch//rock//grass

Here are a few examples:

Garden Edging

Break up Open Spaces

The Grass Is Greener

What do you have edging your flowerbeds? Brick? Stone? Nothing but plants? Do tell!

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Create: Last Minute 4th of July

 

How about some easy and fun last minute 4th of July food ideas? I picked all the easy ideas because… well it is last minute. Not to mention who doesn’t like easy?

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Holiday nails are a big favorite of mine. Tonight we paint. Think you could pull off any of these? I am probably going a bit more simple than the below but great inspiration none the less.

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You can see links to all these on my pinterest “Celebrate This” page.

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Capture: Ferguson Wedding Sneak Peek

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I have had the privilege of knowing Brad and Shannon for a few years now. The are such a great couple to be around and compliment each other to a tee. A few months before their wedding, Brads parents were in a very bad motorcycle accident that left his dad with some major injuries. Unfortunately, his dad wasn’t able to attend the wedding but we did get a chance to go visit him and the guys brought him his most favorite drink (root beer)! Watching Brad’s grace throughout the entire day made me admire him just that much more.

There is no possible way Shannon could have looked more beautiful on her special day. She was a radiant bride and so much fun to work with. Plus, I don’t think I have ever had a bride thank me so much for being there. With everything going on Shannon made a point to tell me how much she appreciated our work. So sweet!

Brad and Shannon – we cannot thank you enough for giving us the opportunity to be apart of such a special day.

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