Fair winds and following seas!

There are enough words to express my gratitude to our friends/neighbors. It has been truly a blessing and a honor to have these people in our lives. Thank you for everything you've done and for all the memories we've made! We will definitely miss you! May God continue to bless you, watch over & protect you, and guide you in all that you do. Love you Walker's!

Center piece for the food table. Madison's favorite meal prayer.

Fresh sunflowers are the best!

 

 

Love you always Hanna! Thank you for being a great role model for all the other military wives! I truly admire your strength and love!

 

Lemonade Party

This is great for summer parties! I did this spread for our staff meeting a couple years ago, during the hot summer days. It was quick, easy, and inexpensive!

There was lemonade, iced tea, and a fresh fruit bar so folks could flavor their lemonades or teas. We also made DIY chalkboard labeled mason jars.

Teacher Appreciation Week

It is so important to make educators feel loved and appreciated. What better way to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week than with flowers. 

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all our teachers out there! 

April Showers Brings May Flowers :)

Birds and The Trees painting

Family Tree

Originally, the leaves and branches were supposed to be all white. However, when beginning to paint on the white, I realized I needed to sand some of the stain off, so the paint could stick. As we began to sand, the tree looked pretty cool. So we decided not to paint it. 

Sooo with some scraps lying around, this piece was free! I found some left over wood that my husband had used for our headboard that he made. 

-I cut the wood half 

-I stained it with some stain lying around in the garage

-My friend drew the tree on with chalk, 

-Sanded the tree down to the shade that I liked

-For the birds, I printed out some templates and then traced them onto wax paper. From the wax paper, I carved out the birds onto the wood with an exacto knife, sanded the birds, and then hand painted over it. 

-For our last name, I sanded out a small ribbon and used the same Mod Podge method found in a previous post. Enjoy!

Pallet Signs

I absolutely am in love with pallets! So with this cute little piece- you'll need pallets, sander, wood glue, stain, chalk paint, words printed on inkjet printer (make sure words are flipped backwards), damp towel 

1) I used a pallet board that was cut in half. You can choose your own length and width. 

2) I sanded it down then put on a couple coats of a stain. 

3) After the stain was dry I coated it once with some chalk paint that I bought from Joann's. There's a wide selection of colors there. 

4) Once the paint is dry, I brushed on some Mod Podge where I wanted my letters to be. 

5) I placed my letters on ink-side faced down (the Mod Podge works as an adhesive, the ink will transfer onto the wood) Make sure to press out any bubbles 

6) Let the Mod Podge dry completely 

7) Once the Mod Podge is dry, grab a damp towel and slowly dab at the paper. Be careful to only remove the paper and not the ink, so be gentle. 

8) It might take a few tries, but you'll get the hang of it :)

Wine bottles & Twine

This was by far, one of my favorite projects! && super easy!

First, drink all the wine. You'll need four bottles. You can use twine or rope. For this I used rope, it gave the bottles more texture.

1) Tie a knot at the top of the bottle.
2) Use Elmer's glue to glue the twine/rope until you've reach the bottom.
3) Use hot glue on beginning (after untying the knot) and also at the bottom end of the rope.
4) You can use things you've found lying around for the letters. For this I used fabric flowers (leftover from my friend's projects), corks that we cut into thin slices, a canvas/burlap flower that I purchased from Michael's, and some pearls (also left over from my friend).

So I really only paid for the burlap flower and the rope. Well, and the wine. Haha.

DIY Tufted Headboard

My husband surprised me with this!

My husband built the frame and board. Sorry forgot to take before photos. I'll post the link to the instructions we used. The only difference was I used curtains instead of fabric, cause it was way cheaper. :)  

Find the instructions here: https://doordiy.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/tuft-luck/

Ah, the love of farm tables

Sooooo....this table used to be an all white, dirty and worn, dinner table. I originally painted it yellow, but my husband didn't like it. So I came home one day, and it was a completely different table. I must admit, he had a better choice in colors than I did. 

For this piece, he chopped off the legs down to the right size to make it into a coffee table. Sanded the whole table down and stained the wood in walnut. He then used teal spray paint (I know, cringe. I hate spray paint) to spray down the bottom and the legs. 

Looks pretty good though right?! 

Caramel Apple Buffet

Another great idea for staff meetings! This caramel apple buffet is perfect for autumn meetings. 

Red, White, and Blue

Easy and inexpensive ways to decorate for the Fourth of July! 

The cookies shown are shortbread cookies, with cream cheese frosting, fresh strawberries & blueberries! Delish!

DIY Autumn Themed Goody Bags

So this year, I wanted to opt out of the store bought treat bags and make my own. I searched around Pinterest and finally found one I liked. These one's are pretty small and are perfect for gift cards. These ones I made, we used for his teachers' gifts cards.
My inspiration on the left and my art on the right:

So for this, I used small brown paper bags I bought from Michael's. As well as an autumn theme stamp, some ribbon, and loose leaves from Joann's. All of these items were on sale for about 60-70% off. I also distressed the edges with black paint and a sponge brush. 

I also made bigger goody bags for my son's classmates. We aren't allowed to give food/candy so I needed bags large enough for coloring books and crayons. 

So for this I used the same stamp, plus different ones on top with heavier ink, painted on Halloween themed creatures with a paint brush and a stencil, also distressed the edges, and hole punched the top & tied it with raffia left over from my son's birthday party.