Site updates

New layout, new name, and new background. I really want someone to come in and spiffy the place up!

I'm full of ideas and I am working on ways to get them into reality.

I'm looking into resetting some tags.

And maybe a new laptop!

Still here, just busy

I have been so swamped. I owe my poor blog a big post on mom & my birthdays… and then another on Jexica’s wedding… and another on mom’s finally finalized divorce! Next up? The fourth of July, mine & Scott’s anniversary, then some ‘restful’ weeks… right… Life is never that nice!

I have been brainstorming a lot lately. I have some ideas I will share once I get them together, I can’t post before because I know the ones that it’s for will read this and I don’t want to ruin the surprise. But expect inspiration and tutorials on upcycling misc items. Think outside the box… heehee (you’ll get it later)

Then it’ll be baby prep time for Mrs. Lissa!!! Baby Teagan is going to be so spoilt!

~Tams

Wordless Wednesday

Things I love Thursday

I actually love being busy. I hate being bored, wasting time, and just generally doing nothing when I could be doing something. Don't get me wrong there are times when I want to do nothing and just veg on the sofa, those times come when I'm really busy.

I have been super busy as of late. I need a vacation! But in just 9 days Jessica is going to be married! And I'll have a lot more free time...

Maybe I can use that time to figure out what is wrong with my sewing machine!

~ Tamara

Pinterest found Tutorial Review

I found this great tutorial on Pinterest on an easier way to remove nail polish. Since I’ve been wearing a lot more of it lately I have had a hard time getting the nail polish off and still protecting my nails. This tutorial from gingerbreadmanne was so helpful. I did have to use a qtip for the edges but it was still better than what I was doing before, and my nails looked much better. I didn’t know going back and forth across the nail can make your nails peel.

Some tips from what I learned:

- Don’t put it in the cap like she does, mine had little pieces from the seal band and it caught the cotton dumping it over a couple times. {Side note: acetone will remove the painted finish from iron sinks…. oops}. I think I’m going to get out a glass shot glass and dedicate it for nail polish remover. REMEMBER: acetone will eat through most plastics!

-I am going to actually cut the cotton next time for a cleaner edge to sop up the remover easier.

-Don’t let it soak up too much remover, or when you go to squeeze the cotton off your nail you get acetone running all down your arm and all over the place. I think the cutting mentioned above will help eliminate this.

-She let hers sit on the nail for 1-2 minutes, I really only needed a good 45 seconds MAX after getting them all on the nail for it to take mine off. And I use a base coat, color, decoration, and then a top coat.

 

~Tamara

--This is the first post in a while without any photos! Crazy!

Summer Reading List

I have accumulated several books that I have had for a long time that I have yet to read, and they just keep piling up. So I’ve decided to do a summer reading list! I found these great printables {even tho I have far too many to fit on there} and they were my inspiration.

Source: Nicolesclasses.com

And this is my list so far, I know I have another box of books somewhere!

And I also picked up books 5,6,8, & 10 in the Janet Evanovich series. And the Vampire Armand by Anne Rice {free after picking up the others @ Savers, buy 4 get 1 free}.

I’m thinking that Sundays should be for reading? Maybe…

If you want to fan a great up and coming book club page then check THIS ONE out, it’s my friend Kristin and she always gives me great advice for books!  What are you reading this summer?

~Tamara

P.S. I’ll update soon on the awesome fun times of Jexica’s Lingerie shower and Bachelorette Party. Including a post on just the food I made!

Things I love Thursday

I'm posting inspiration I've found amongst the internet!

In order:
The shoes I want to wear when I get married! Love them!

Record side table diy via design sponge.

Hair idea for Jexica's wedding.

Another hair idea.

A great website to make you laugh : Disney gents from last night (also Disney ladies from last night)

Another hair idea (out of order but my phone won't let me change it)

Awesome tattoo placement, where I want some stars!

Ultimate gaming console! Epic.

Awesome idea for diy bookends! I'm doing this tonight.

A sweater from some random expensive website that I want to diy. Savers here I come!

((sorry this post is kind of a mess, I've been crazy busy with planning J's wedding! Three weeks! ))

~ Tamara

Wordless Wednesday... Err Thursday... Oops

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Should I DIY my wedding dress?

As little girls we have imaginations. And we let them wander. All throughout childhood and teen angst and heartache in college we still have daydreams… little wanders in the realm of fairy tales. I got my nerd in shining armor… but I was a little surprised at how expensive things are when it comes to the wedding dress. Admittedly my ideas on a wedding dress suited to me has changed as I became older. It changed as I changed.

As a little girl it was the big poofy white dress and the ride off into the sunset. As a teen I had a fascination with medieval  garb: the big train, the embroidery, the big sleeves, and corset base. Then in college (after prom with my massive dress that I couldn’t dance in) I went a bit more toward the rockabilly style with the shorter dress. Now, I know that shorter dresses don’t look good on me, that I can’t dance very well in big poofy dresses, and that medieval style is just a dash over the top.

When Jexica got engaged and we went shopping for her dress I got a dash of hope… I realized that wedding dresses aren’t $7,000 like on “Say Yes to the Dress”… but it came with a dash of reality… Jexica has a much bigger budget than I will. More than double. And I just can’t spend a lot of money on a dress I’m going to wear once. I’d rather spend that money else where.

I was inspired by Corinne’s DIY Wedding Dress and then I went on Crafster and saw that there were other brides that had made their own wedding dress. I had been looking a lot online and found some overseas websites where they make knock off dresses but I couldn’t try the dress on to make sure it was flattering first. And then I found several dresses I like that aren’t carried by any store around me… (one in Australia the other I’d have to drive down to Dallas)

I really like this dress: (this is the Australian one)

I live in the USofA and can’t fly on down to Australia to try this baby on. And they don’t list a price so I don’t even know what it costs. But I love the silhouette, the details, the sash, and the fact that is has STRAPS.

But I’m not a big lace person, I think it’s beautiful but I don’t wear it much. But I do love the shimmer tulle on this dress:

(the one in Dallas, the Cinderella dress… literally… from the Disney collections)

But the shimmer of the tulle is so me. OOOOOH shiny!

So last night while I lay awake in agony with allergies I started to peruse the patterns of the major companies… And I came across this:

(Vogue 2979, they were having a sale on their patterns too!)

It has the bottom that I would have a hard time making from scratch but the top is not right. But I do not believe that making the top would be difficult nor would finding a pattern if it came down to it.

Next hurdle? Fabrics… there is a severe lack of good fabrics here in Arkansas. We have a bit of a selection at Joanne’s but other than that it’s Hancocks (mostly cottons) and Hobby Lobby (also mostly cottons)… I don’t know where to get good fabrics or even what fabrics to use. Most commercial wedding dresses are polyester or other various cheap fabrics… yet they are hundreds/thousands of dollars. I am thinking since I want to do a sparkle tulle overlay (or polka dot?) that I might be able to get away with costume satin for the skirt. And I might try going around some thrift store and see if I can pick up a lace dress/top that I could overly the top with. Corinne gave a good tip on the dress she made since hers was a corset top there is a special fabric that goes as the lining of the corset that has NO stretch to help give structure, I might pick up a yard of that for my top just so it holds ‘the girls’ up.

But I definitely need more ideas from people who have done this before. Or even people who have made dresses more.

I’ve made a couple but not much. I got a year to get good! I think I might try to do something similar in black and red for a Halloween costume. I have a nice black mask. It’ll let me work with the fabric and figure out tricks and tips for helping make it a smoother process.

 

First things first… time to make a home made dress form… I’m gonna need backup!

 

~Tamara

Summer Crafts Inspiration

I seriously want to do these crafts this summer. This is my list.

(Click on the image for the link to the Pin)

Tshirt bangles – How fun would these be for all those random scraps of fabric.

 

Men’s button up cuff pockets. These would be great for organizing my purse.

 

Braided fabric necklaces. I have such pretty fabric for this!

 

Bow paper clips. I need some cute bookmarks.

 

Wish Bracelets. I miss friendship bracelets and anklets.

 

OOOOO Buttons! These are so adorable.

 

Flip flop update. Ruffles and comfy flip flops? I’m sold

 

Beaded bracelet with button closure. LOVE.

 

Braided belts. I need some new belts.

 

Simple Button Bobby Pins. For when I pin back braids.

 

Updated chain bracelet. I wonder if I could do something like this with the watch bands…

 

Quote scarf. I need to bust out the Sharpie Stained markers!

 

Flip flop update. Another version!!

 

Look for more craft inspirations posts.

-Baby gift inspirations

-DIY Clothes inspirations

-Smashbook inspirations

 

Or you can check me out on Pinterest!

Wordless Wednesday

Things I love Thursday

Yes, I do know that it is Friday. But yesterday started at 6 am and ended at 1am this morning. Long long day. I had Wine and Design: Runway Edition 2012. This year was much much bigger than the previous years. A lot more work and a lot more decorations and setup. But we definitely had a lot more people show up. Which is more money for the charity.

Loren did an amazing job with the decorations. Scott from Harding made this awesome sign which we will definitely use for future events! I love the river in the background of this photo too.

All that being said… I am worn out… lots of setup and trying to find missing tickets from locations, keeping up with money, collecting money and extra tickets from the committee members and just trying to keep will call all up to date, which it wasn’t there were people who purchased online that I didn’t know about and so they didn’t have a ticket and they were quite…. vocal about their anger and I just don’t like people who don’t listen to suggestions on what we can do to make them happy and are just rude… Obviously the night had ups and downs… I got most of the downs in the torrent of crazy long line/crowd at the door. The years past have never been that packed, which is a sign we sold a lot. Most of the good came after when the designers and reps talked about how much fun it was and what a great job we all did. I think the problem was mainly the general public. We ordered 16 (I believe) cases of wine and we were out by the time the runway started, we then had to go buy another 70 bottle as a store close by. Gotta keep the wine flowing. But then at the end of the night we still had some bottle left over. They had been corked so we had to take them home, they can’t be stored for our next event once they’ve been corked. Hence: my Sunday plans for a girly bracelet party is going to include:

Aww yeah! Free wine?! I haven’t tried any of these but I imagine the White Zin will be good.

Before all the festivities I had to go out to Lonoke to get tags for my new car… then when I went to put them on the car…. I didn’t have any screws so I stopped at O’Reilly Auto parts… took a few tries to find the right ones but I got my tags on! Woo. But while there I couldn’t help picking up a few things for my car, like a shoulder strap cushion, its way cushier… is that a word?… than my last strap (which was scooby doo from when I was 16, which was holy cow almost 10 years ago). I also picked up an air freshener because when I run the ac in the car it smells a bit funky. Like a mix between stale and mildew. So I got myself an Ed Hardy (don’t hate) orange pouch that hangs from the mirror. AND… I picked this up for my sister:

After all that running around my poor car was on E!

Which isn’t bad since Scott filled up the tank… over 2 weeks ago. We’ve gone all over Little Rock, driven to Cabot a few times, I’ve been driving it daily now and then all the errands for yesterday on top of going all the way out to Lonoke. And I’m just now on E. This is awesome… Ahh… Goodbye 12 mpg.

I had an eventful Thursday…

Quick wrap up… Things I love Thursday: Finishing a project, corks as decorations, free wine, my new air freshener, my sister and her love of the yankees, 40 mpg, and that moment when your head hits the pillow after a really long day.

 

~Tamara

 

PS. Does anybody have any solutions/remedies for getting “charilie horses” in their calfs? All that stuff yesterday and I woke up 4 times last night with them. I can barely walk today.