Doubt {Your] Doubt

One of my favorite quotes from conference so far.

And for a little more inspiration, head to this link and have a listen for yourself

{You will love it}

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2013/10?lang=eng

Halloween Decor {On a Budget}

Has anyone else been so excited to get their Halloween decorations up?

I don't know about you, but I get pretty sick of the same old decor every year, so I decided to start fresh. Now the only problem with starting fresh is buy new things. And when your on a student budget, buying new things doesn't actually happen. Thankfully I managed to round up everything for these projects right around my house.

Took my boys on a "scavenger hunt" for the perfect branches. And yes, I really did tell them it was a scavenger hunt. they loved every second of it! I even let my son help me spray paint the branches black...made his day.

Found a few Mason jars laying around, so I wrapped them in cute paper and filled them with dry beans.

The bats hanging from the tree were cut out using my Cricut. Then I spray glued them and covered them in glitter.

Grab an old frame and paint a piece of chipboard(or cardboard) to slide in it. Know one will even recognize that you actually recycled an old frame. The bats I cut out of vinyl, but you could paint those on as well.

(Free printable) Subway art over at eighteen25.

{Surprisingly...I know} I have a stockpile of canvas that I inherited...SCORE!

Taped that bad boy off and had the stripes painted in no time. I didn't have any chalkboard paint but I did have chalkboard fabric. So thats what the center is cut out of. Used a little E-6000 to glue it down to the canvas and it's as good as if I would have painted it on there.

* Halloween star I made last year, tutorial found here.
* Eek sign I painted last year as well. (traced a chevron pattern on a scrap piece of wood, painted it, and cut the Eek out of black vinyl).

Don't forget to check back next month. I still have no idea how I'll decorate for Thanksgiving...but I'll come up with something ;)

Pennant Banner {How To}

I have had lots of people ask about the banner I used in my cake smash photo shoot. It was so simple to make so I thought I would share some quick steps. 

First off: I bought a 1/4 yd of each fabric and had plenty of fabric for a 3yd banner, so if you don't want extra fabric gets less than 1/4yd.

• Fold your piece of fabric in half(wrong side together) and cut your triangle. You can really cut it any size you want depending on how you like your triangles to look. I did 4" across the top and 6" long.
•  I wanted my banner double sided, that's why I folded the fabric in half so I would have two triangles cut at the same time and ready to stitch together. Fastest is best, I tell ya!
• Now with your two triangles you just cut out(that should still be wrong sides together) stitch a long straight stitch 1/4" for the edge down both the (6") sides of the triangle.
• Once I had five triangles of each color sewn together and ready to use I started assembling the banner.
• Using (pre-made) bias tape, folded in half, I just placed my triangles right into the fold and straight stitched down the center of the tape. Laying one triangle right after the other, until I ran out of tape.   
• 
  

I'm sure I will be making many more of these banner (they are perfect for my photo shoots) so next time I will take step by step pictures. Until then, hopefully you can understand these steps. 

 

As for the cake, don't be fooled, It was super easy.

I just watched this how to video here and I was ready to go. I didn't even have the exact petal tip shown in the video(mine had a curve in it) and it still turned out great!

Not perfect, but cute enough for a smash cake photo shoot.

If you missed the carnival party decor check it out HERE

A {Carnival} Party

Our sweet little guy turned

ONE!

I love me a good themed party {lately}. After eyeing some adorable themed parties all over pinterest, I wanted to give it a try on my own. 

So here we go, this is what I came up with on my {GRAND} $20-$30 budget.  

Some may say over the top for my

{1 year old}

But come on, I'm a stay at home Mom/ Photographer. I want a good picture and I have lots of time to dedicate to my little guys. I made all the printable's and decor after the boys were in bed(in under 2 hrs). And spent less than $25.00

..So why not?

I got my adorable pictures that I will treasure for a lifetime.

And don't worry, I probably won't do this for EVERY birthday, just the important ones ;)

Check out pictures from the {SMASH CAKE} session here, on my photo blog.


Printable's: Made them in photoshop (I'll share those later)

Banner: $6 - Fabric from Hobby Lobby

Red Cake Stand: $13 - Hobby Lobby

Straws: $2 - Hobby Lobby

Popcorn Boxes: $2 - Hobby Lobby

Gold Ribbon: $2 - Hobby Lobby

Knitted Monkey: Gift from a friend

{All frames & jars I already owned}

A Dresser Makeover

Ever since we welcomed little man #2 into our home{almost a year ago} we have been in desperate need of a new dresser (we have nowhere for all these little man clothes). Now folks...I. AM. CHEAP. But just because I'm cheap doesn't mean I don't have taste. I wasn't about to go spend a hundred bucks on a dresser that I didn't love.

I had this vision in my head and it wasn't going anywhere.

I knew what I wanted and I was going to find it.

I scammed craigslist forever (Ok, more like a year or two). Finally found this gem, made my offer, and had it in my home and completed before the week was up!

I try to spray paint everything (because spray paint rocks) but I knew it would take a lot of spray paint, so I went with a can this time.

1 Quart of Valspar (interior paint/primer) in Cookie Crumb covered the whole thing perfectly. I even coated the drawers 3 times each. I also don't normally sand but I figured this dresser would get banged up enough that a good sanding would only help my cause.

And I of course finished it off with black antiquing glaze...because black glaze makes everything look better ;)

Completed the whole project in less than $60 (even that kind of seemed pricey to me)haha now you know how cheap I am!

A Sunday Thought.

If you want to hear and inspiring talk...

have a listen HERE.

Here are a few of my favorite parts from it. ENJOY:)

Framed {Chevron} Egg

Can you believe Easter is in 3days?

Where has time gone, seriously. It seemed to have just snuck right up on us.

I wanted to come up with something fun and new...and fast, since I will only have the rest of the week to display it. 

So here it is folks, the perfect last minute project.

Supplies:

• Burlap
• Acrylic Paint(the cheap stuff I had laying around the house) & paint brush
• Frame

I cut out all my stencils on my cricut, but it would be fairly easy to paint this without a stencil at all...or use a printer to print your shapes and cut them out. That's up to you!

I actually cut my egg shape out of laminate paper and stuck it to the burlap(I just forgot to take pictures). This way you don't have to worry about the paint bleeding through the paper.

So lets pretend that the yellow paper is really my laminate paper:)

...(and don't mind my sons little drawing).  

After my laminate egg stencil was placed I painted 1 coat of white and let dry completely.

I made myself a little chevron stripe stencil(out of chipboard) that I use {and re-use} for every project I can think of. Yes, I am that obsessed with chevron.

I traced my chevron stencil (with a pen) over the entire white egg. Then very carefully, (by hand) painted every other stripe the color of my choice.

 

This took less than 1hr start to finish.

Go grab a scrap of burlap, a couple bottles of paint, and you'll have yourself a cute new decoration just in time for Easter!