A couple weeks ago, I showed you how to make this Sparkle Headband from Christmas clearance items.  Today, I have another simple DIY made from clearance items – a Valentine’s Day wreath!

I started with a white wreath that I bought for $2 at a thrift store.  You can use one that you already have, or even get one at the dollar store.  I got the red felt hearts from the Christmas clearance section at Target.  $.30 a pack!  I thought they were perfect for V-day, so I decided to make a festive wreath with them.

This isn’t an official “tutorial” because I just kind of made it up as I went along.  I used my hot glue gun to place the hearts in groups on the edges of the wreath.

Then I decided to add “xoxo” to the wreath, so I traced the letters onto white poster board and hung a purple piece of embroidery floss across the middle.

I hot glued the letters to the floss and hung the wreath on my front door with red ribbon.

Cute and easy right?!  I love a good, quick DIY:)

This weekend I took a lot of time to relax and get some rest (& I may or may not have watched 13+ episodes of Gilmore Girls).  I also did this:

Yep, that’s Chris – hanging out at my house for the third time…we may as well turn the place into a tattoo shop.  Chris added to one of my tattoos in April and he gave Stephanie her first ever tattoo in May.

Finished!  These tattoos are scripture references (Isaiah 30:21 & Isaiah 48:17) and I am fully in love with them.  I wanted them to almost look like coordinates and I only wanted numbers, no letters – so this is what I came up with.  I couldn’t be more pleased.  Thanks Chris for the solid tattoos – and Steph for taking photos!

What next…?

Last night I made migas – and it was SO yummy.  Migas is super easy to make and there are so many variations (mine was more Tex-Mex than authentic Mexican because I had a lot of eggs in the fridge), you can literally put anything into that you want.  The main point, in my opinion, are the tortillas – beyond that, get creative!

(General) Ingredients:

4 corn tortillas (corn tortillas make me a happy girl)

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion (I only used about 1/3 chopped)

8 eggs (beaten)

1 small tomato (chopped)

1 avocado (chopped or sliced, however you like it)

1 c. monterey jack cheese

1 lime

cilantro

Step 1: Keep the tortillas stacked and cut them into bite-size pieces (or tear them, whichever you prefer).

Step 2: Put the 2 tbsp. olive oil in a skillet on medium heat and add the tortillas.  Cook these for 5-6 minutes until golden brown and turning slightly cripsy.

Step 3: Add onion (and whatever other “harder” veggies you want that need to soften a bit – peppers, fresh garlic, etc.).  Cook these 5-6 minutes until they begin to soften.

Step 4: Add 8 eggs, a little salt and pepper, and scramble

Step 5: When the eggs are almost finished cooking, add “softer” veggies like tomatoes, green chiles, mushrooms, etc.

Step 6: Last, add 1 cup monterey jack cheese – mix it in until it just begins to melt and take the skillet off the burner

Step 7: Squeeze a little lime juice over the whole pan, serve it up and add some avocado, sour cream and cilantro to your heart’s content.

Seriously…Yum.

What do you like to put in your migas?

This DIY is so easy, cheap and fast!  I got some clearance sparkly leaf stems from the Christmas section (80% off!) and made this cute headband for my 4-year-old Gemma.  I used the same technique to make my wedding fascinator, but I used fake flower petals instead of plastic sparkly ones.  Here’s how you can make one for your daughter (or yourself!):

Cut the leaves off of the stems – this takes a little while, but will go faster if you have help (thanks Gem!).

Take some felt and cut a shape – any shape that you like.  I did a leaf/petal shape with mine, but you could do something more complicated like a flower or heart.  Measure some 1/4″ elastic around your child’s head and sew it to each end of the felt.  It’s okay if your felt and thread are different colors because we are going to cover them up with the leaves.

Get out your trusty hot glue gun and start gluing the leaves on the felt.  You can put them all in the same direction, or do it in a haphazard way.

Layer them as many times as you like until the whole piece of felt is covered.

And you’re done.  Easy right?  Gemma said she likes how it looks in her hair – so do I!  She’s such a cute little model.

We set the tree up between the living room and entryway – we’ve never had it here, but I really like how you can see it from every area of the downstairs.

View from the front door.

I put the tree up on a vintage wooden crate – I like having a large space underneath.

You got a sneak peek of this area in our video Christmas card!  I was fortunate to be able to obtain a shelf that my parents made from my sister’s wedding.  I knew I wanted to create a faux-fireplace looking shelf to house Christmas decorations and other favorite pieces.

“Remembrance, like a candle, burns brightest at Christmastime.”  Charles Dickens

Christmas cards.

I love this little guy!  Totally worth $.49!

Remember when I made these flowers?

12 Days of Christmas.  I cut the dark green edge off of this vintage linen that my mom-in-law gave me.

Garlands hanging from the ceiling make it feel like a party all the time.  I scored this Martha Stewart garland for a buck!

The paper flowers were used at our sister’s bridal shower and wedding.  It was good timing to be able to reuse those for Christmas.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my decorations!  See Stormie’s decorations here if you haven’t already.  Merry Christmas:)

Doily bowls are so pretty and make such a great gift.

Here are your supplies needed:

Doilies (thrifted or handmade)

Fabric Stiffener (can be found at any craft store)

Large bowl to use as a form

Seran wrap

Paint Brush

Step 1: Wrap your bowl(s) in seran wrap to protect it from the glue

Step 2: Arrange your doily over the bowl (use a bowl big enough to hold the entire doily without extra hanging off)

Step 3: Apply a layer of fabric stiffener to the entire doily, coating well

Step 4: Allow to dry for about 12-24 hours (re-coating if there are sections not hardening)

Step 5: Remove the doily from the bowl and apply fabric stiffener to the inside of the bowl

Step 6: Allow to dry completely

Enjoy for yourself or wrap carefully(maybe using some handmade washi tape?) and gift it to your favorite person.

You have a few days before Christmas, get on it!

If you don’t know what washi tape is, it is basically Japanese “masking tape”.  Typically printed with different patterns and colors and having an almost transparent look, it is great for decorating packages.  It really is a lovely thing; the only downside is how expensive it tends to be.

Luckily, when Stephanie and I went to this estate sale, I found some crepe paper in pretty colors and decided to make my own.  For Christmas this year, I wanted to use other forms of wrapping my gifts than just buying wrapping paper.

My supplies of choice have been brown paper, shelf liner, crepe paper, embroidery floss & vintage stamps {all thrifted or from garage and estate sales}.  Pretty AND cheap – my favorite.

Now let’s get to the washi tape.

Supplies needed:

Crepe paper or tissue paper

Double-sided tape

Pre-cut your strips of paper to be about the same width as your tape.  It doesn’t have to be exact, just try not to cut it too skinny or it won’t cover the tape.

1. Place a piece of double-sided tape on your package (or other surface if you are doing something else)

2. I tore off a little piece on the end of my crepe paper to get the rough washi tape ‘edge’

3. Place the paper over the tape you have down, pressing firmly

4. Tear off the other end just longer than your tape

Washi tape without the price tag.

Use it to decorate your packages in other ways.

I have another fun and easy tutorial to share on Wednesday – if you have any last minute gifts to make – so be sure to check back.

Until then,  have fun wrapping your Christmas packages!!

Learn how to make this adorable jersey pom pom.

Cute!  Every Christmas deserves a holly garland.  Learn how to make it.

Oooooh!  Such a sweet idea!  Polaroid ornaments – learn how to make them.

I love this jewel Christmas tree!  Learn how to make it.

Learn how to make these teeny-tiny ice skate ornaments.

Simple paper Christmas trees – learn how.  So many size and color possibilities!

Eeeeep!  Terrarium ornaments?!  Learn how.

Sweetest Matryoshka doll ever.  This would be perfect at any time of the year…don’t you think?  Learn how.

Tredessa wanted a vintage, 1940s-esque theme to the ceremony and reception.  The reception site was SO cool!  It was in the upstairs of a big barn, and had amazing exposed rafters, wood floors, and perfect views of the mountains.  It also had indoor plumbing (aka bathrooms), and heat.  Yay for heat in November.  It was also a dream come true because we got to start decorating a whole week before the wedding- hooray!  Our Dad strung hundreds of Christmas lights from the rafters to make the whole space glow.

This side of the barn was the “head” table.  Tredessa and Ryan sat here along with their wedding party.

Vintage cans, books, candle sticks, and handmade doilies (given to me by my mother-in-law!) adorned the middle of the tables.  I love that we used long tables instead of round.  It felt like a grand banquet in there:)

Different frames with white lace hung above the head table.

In the center of the ceiling we hung a dozen lace balls in varying sizes.  Our sister-in-law Jovan taught us how to make them – they turned out so cool, and I now have one at my house.

This was the gift table – I was in charge of this, and I filled it with vintage furniture, lace linens, and paper flowers.  The gifts sat on the table, floor, chair, trunk….pretty much where ever they could fit.

Annnnd, because you’ve been so patient for “real” photos, here is a peek of what the reception actually looked like on that night:

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Ahhh.  I just loved it.  Almost brings a tear to my eye…

We have been having weather in the negatives in Colorado lately and it is BITTER cold.  The sun is shining today though, yay!

This week, I’ve tried 2 tutorials from The Beauty Department (fantastic website!).

First, nails using reinforcement stickers.  See their tutorial here.

My results:

And today, with the help of a co-worker(because I’ve never French braided my own hair) I did this:

Tutorial for the Boho Braid here.

I love it!  Now I just need to learn how to French braid my own hair without my arms falling off from exhaustion!

I hope the snow melts soon because I’ve basically been living in my snow boots lately and I’d like to get out of them but I’m SO glad it is still scarf weather!

Love!