Love, found on Etsy

I love Valentine's day stuff...and I love Etsy. Here are a few of my current favorites...

 Candy Cane art print found here

Loving this pink ring found here

Beautiful headband from Love Stitched found here

Belongs to You blocks found here

This is on my project list! Love pillow found here

I Love You Ring dish...adorable and found here

I Heart Ewe Valentine's Day cards found here

I Carry Your Heart necklace here

Felt Conversation Hearts found here

*I was not paid by any of these Etsy sellers...I just love their stuff!

Wordless Wednesday....doesn't get much cuter than this

*photo by erin vancura photography

Do it yourself table runner

While my mom was here she wanted to work on an easy project. After reading a post about do it yourself table runners on A Thoughtful Place, we decided to give it a try! This project is perfect because it requires absolutely no sewing...and it's also inexpensive. Score!

You will need a 6x9 canvas drop cloth. I found mine at Home Depot for under $10.  With this drop cloth you can make 4 table runners! What a deal! (I've also seen people make curtains out of these drop cloths, they are very versatile). You will also need wide painter's tape. The one we used was 2 inches wide. And then pick out a spray paint of your choice. I chose black because it's what I had on hand.

We used a table runner I already had to estimate the width and length. It turned out to be approximately 71 inches long and 13.5 inches wide. 

Cut the canvas to the size you want but leave about a half an inch on the unfinished sides.

Since this is no-sew I just used hot glue to secure the unfinished side. Make it easier on yourself by ironing your seam before you glue. 

Then use a hot glue gun to secure it. You will only have to do this to the top and one side because the other top and side are already sewn for you. When we made our second table runner (yes, we made 2!) we had to do this process for both sides because we cut the second one in the middle of the canvas so it did not have a pre-sewn edge....make sure to leave a half an inch on both sides in that case.

Then, use your painter's tape to tape a design on the runner. I went with a chevron design. Just a word of warning....this process took forever! At least an hour. I measured the middle of my runner so that I could line up the point of my chevron. Then I just eyeballed the rest. Once I had the first chevron down I used scrap pieces of tape to mark where the next one should go. And my mom totally helped me. I'm not so good with geometry and angles....and this totally brought back bad high school math memories! It didn't turn out perfectly, but I am probably the only one that will see the imperfections!

My mom made it much easier on herself and did stripes on her runner. It was so much faster.

After you tape your design then you get to spray paint it! Apply 2 coats of paint, allowing time for it to dry in-between coats.

Here is my finished table runner! I love how it turned out. 

And here is my mom's. Super cute and super easy. Here's a tip: make sure you press the tape down hard so that no spray paint can leak through. There are a few spots where the paint leaked through on ours, but it's not that noticeable. 

I still have enough canvas left over to make two more runners...I'm thinking one with a monogram on it is next!

The one where we wear matching hats

My mom came out this weekend for a little visit. She lives in California (where I grew up!) and it is always fun to have her out here with me, even if it is only for a few days. I did feel a little bad for her though...it was 75 degrees in California and -6 in Michigan! Yikes. We were so cold all weekend. Our hair even froze when we took Wrigley for a walk.

We were so cold that we had to buy matching pom pom hats. Because we're cute like that. 

The main reason my mom was out here (other than to spend time with me!) was to show us her new lake cottage! She closed on it the very end of December but we weren't able to see it when she was out here for Christmas. The lake it's on is about an hour from our house. We are SO excited to have a lake house to enjoy during the summer!

It needs some work...but we love projects! Here is what you see when you walk through the front door. 

View of the great room. The lake is to the left and the front door is to the right. Perfect for entertaining. And that ugly brown wall has to go asap. She already had a painter come and give her an estimate for painting the great room, kitchen, and dinning room.

Wrigley absolutely loved the house. He was ready to move in. 

The kitchen has a huge island and tons of storage. I'm jealous. The plan is to eventually paint the cabinets white and update the appliances. 

View of the kitchen from the great room. 

Kitchen and dining room. We have nothing against the color green but plan to paint this area Benjamin Moore's Pawnee (beige/light tan). The goal for this house is to make it feel like a cottage and use lots of soft colors and white. Oh and that horrible light fixture will also be replaced.

View of the lake! It's frozen!

Master bedroom with a door out to the deck and view of the lake. Perfect.

Large master bath....needs some updating but is in pretty good condition.

There are also two more bedrooms and one more bathroom. We are so excited to get to work on this place and go furniture shopping!

Wrigley loved the deep snow and huge yard. He didn't want to leave.

I'll be sure to share our progress on the lake cottage.
The husband has already said he wants to go there every weekend this summer....we'll see how that goes!

What I've been obsessing over lately....

Ever find something you love and you can't stop obsessing over it. Well, I do that all the time.

Like Dexter. On Tuesday I shared that it is my new favorite show. I've finished season one and now can't wait to see season two!

My mom said that she sees them filming the Dexter all the time. She lives in California....so Miami it is not.

Lately I've also been obsessed with animal crackers. You heard me right. The little animal shaped crackers that toddlers eat. I.LOVE.THEM. Can't get enough. And I like the Target brand the best. I almost cried the other day when the husband started packing some of my animal crackers in his lunch. What is he doing stealing my snack? Who does he think he is?

 Stash's double spice chai black tea is my absolute favorite tea. I have a cup of it with honey every morning at work. Sometimes more than one cup...it's that good.

I've also recently decided that I need these wire locker baskets. They would be the perfect addition to basically any room in my house. I'm officially on the hunt for the perfect baskets.

I've been obsessing over this clutch from Express for a few weeks now. I always carry a huge purse and never a clutch, but it just screams Julie, doesn't it? Maybe I can talk my mom into making a similar one for me? (Mom, get a new sewing machine asap! There are way too many projects I need you to work on!)

Speaking of my mom, she's out here visiting me and spoiling me. I heart her.

What are you obsessing over today?

Okay, I get it now!

For a while now I've heard people talk about how much they love the show Dexter on Showtime. And I just didn't get it. So out of curiosity this weekend I picked up season one and let me tell you....I'm obsessed! The guy is a serial killer....yet I like him. It's so strange but SO good!

I have four episodes left until I finish the season and I can't wait! 

So tell me, what other awesome shows am I missing out on????

The weekend is over...and other not so exciting stuff

Good morning everyone! Today in Michigan it is a chilly 14 degrees...I hope it's warmer where you are!

This weekend we got a ton of snow, so we spent a lot of time indoors sipping hot chocolate and watching movies. I love weekends like that. We rented The Social Network.....I thought it was good but the husband thought it was way too long and boring. It was sort of long, but still interesting. I wonder how much of it is true? I remember when we first got facebook in college...it was such a big deal and within a matter of a few days everyone was on it.

In other not so exciting news, Pancake begged and begged to be let out on our deck. Two seconds later he was singing a different tune.

A little bit colder than he had anticipated.

I enjoyed capturing his suffering. I think Wrigley liked it too.

Don't worry, I let him in...eventually.

So, how was your weekend?

Family Room Update

Remember when I shared our family room make-over?

 I love how it looked for Christmas. But once I had to take down all of the Christmas decorations, it looked a little....well sad. 

So I did what any budget savvy girl would do. I shopped the house! Shopping the house means you "shop" around what you already have and pull items that you aren't currently using and see what you can come up with. I found all of these items just sitting around collecting dust in various closets and baskets.

And here is the room now.

 Mantle display complete with mason jars that used to be my grandma's. 

Pine cones in a mercury glass vase. Adorable and easy.

 More mason jars. I'm sort of obsessed.

 I found a great home for my yarn wrapped letter. I also am so excited about the mason jar photo. It says "it's the little things" on it and I love it. Erin and I found it here.

Some more updates include finally finding the perfect shelf to display our family photos. It took forever to find one that 1) I liked, and 2) was inexpensive. Hobby Lobby to the rescue again!

I also found the perfect basket from Target to hold all of our games and remotes under the coffee table. 

I'm still working on window treatments, but so far I'm happy with how the room turned out! Now, what should my next project be???