How PINteresting - Rope

Lately on Pinterest I have been finding lots of ropey goodness - Let's have a looksee, shall we??

I am really loving this bowl that I found over at The Pinterest Project .. It looks so super easy and fun!  I have also seen people make "jars" with this same technique which is also really cute!

Or how about this fun tie-back that I found over at Black & Poole??

This chandelier from Pottery Barn is pretty much amazing!!  

This is a cool technique to make rugs, coasters, placemats - The sky is the limit!!

I love the idea of hanging your pictures or mirrors with rope as seen in this home..

Very cool when used as a room divider!  From Design Sponge.

And what about that towel "bar" from Seafoam Dreams??!!!  This one got me really excited!  




So there you have it.  Some fun things to do with rope!  All would be super cheap and easy, to boot!  
Hopefully you have some new-found inspiration!

Northern Bound!

This weekend my entire family and I will be packing our bags and going 2 1/2 hours north to my parent's home on Clearwater Lake.

I am -so- excited!!  Despite eight loud children running around like banshees it is always a great time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the view.

This was a shot I took this past fall right after sun rise.  Gorgeous.

While there, we always run into quite a bit of wild life..

Jessica Awe Photography

My sister had a face-to-face with this snapper.  Awesome!

Hope his little smile leaves you with a spring in your step like it did mine.. <3

Hip, Hip Hop..

So yesterday on my way to work I killed a bird.  :(

It seems whenever I kill an animal, it is at the beginning of my day and then the rest of my day just SUCKS.  If you know me, I have a complex about killing ANYTHING - even an ant.  In fact, I remember specifically a time when I was maybe 8, and my twin boy cousins were over playing with us one afternoon.  We were out at the basketball court, and of course, the ants were building their hills in the cracks of the pavement.  The boys started stomping on them all, and I felt just awful.  I proceeded to start yelling at them to stop, and when they wouldn't, a major meltdown came.  I just felt so bad for those poor ants- ha!

Anyhow, my horrible bird accident really did put a damper on my day - BUT, when I was walking around the back of the building to go to my car at the end of the day, what was sitting there, just waiting for me, but this:

I mean, how cool is that!!  It was just sititng there, chillin', munching on some grass - watching me watch him.  I got really close to take some of these pictures, and it didn't even faze the thing!!

Maybe it was God's way of making me feel a bit better about the bird.  I like to think so. :)

Stripes!

Happy Wednesday, ya'll!!

Hope you had a great weekend!!  Mine was FULL of  some DIY! (Note: This post was meant for Monday.. Computer issues are really quite annoying, aren't they??)

I've really been wanting to paint my hallway with horizontal stripes ever since my SIL Candy (who is the most amazing woman ever!) did her's in grey and white.  It looked amazing and I needed it for my home!  I have had the cans of paint sitting in my spare shower (awesome storage space, I know) for the past three months and just kept putting it off and putting off, so finally, enough was enough!

Don't judge me by ridiculously dirty floor!!  I didn't clean up my mess before I snapped this photo!

Also, I didn't notice until I was finished that the colors really remind me of vanilla and chocolate ice cream... I must have been hungry when I was picking out paint!

Have you ever noticed that when you have kids, a project that should only take one day ends up taking three??  All of those little "helping" hands really get in the way sometimes!!  Don't they understand that you're trying to get things done???  Ha!

Here's a shot of what I caught my monster doing while I was working away being a neglectful parent:

Yes, she is trying to start it.  Too smart for her own good, I tell you!!

Have a great night!   <3

Blood, Sweat, and Flowers

Welll... Welcome to my blog!!  :)  This is my first time doing this, and I'm excited!!  Enjoy!

This past October my boyfriend and I bought our first house - talk about getting in over our heads!!  In six months we have had 6 breakdowns!  From the fridge, to the water heater, to our basement flooding - it has been one thing after another.

But, despite all the horrible (and expensive) mishaps, I feel proud to have my own home and also have an overwhelming urge to change every square inch of that house so that it is 100% ME.  If only I had the funds to pull off such a venture.  Oh well!!  Little by little, it will get done.

My first major project of this summer was to get some flower beds put in!!  This poor house came with literally NO landscaping - not even a single bush!  So, the weekend of Mother's Day my wonderful mother and I went for an afternoon of flower shopping.

Here is a before picture:

On Mother's Day, I forced Jeffrey to help me get digging and planting!!

Here is a shot of during:

Terrifying, I know!  (Notice my daughter's shovels and rakes??  She was such a fun helper!!)


Now, we are finally almost finished... We just need more mulch to top it off and some annuals along the edges of the beds.

Here is a shot of what it currently looks like:

Thank you, thank you.  :)  It has definitely come a LONG way but there is still so much to do!!

I bought the table and chair set at Home Depot the other day for $70!  Pretty cheap for a set.  It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but everything I was finding that I actually liked and that would fit in that spot was WAY over my budget.  Oh well!

You can see by the birdbath that we ran out of mulch.  That stuff just does not go nearly as far as you think it will!!

I will put up the finished product when I am FINALLY done!

Anybody else have any fun summer plans for their yards?  Please share!