"nesting" and look books

i am in a season of life where i feel the need to "nest". i keep dreaming of one day having my own house to paint and decorate, my own garden to till and weed, my own sewing room to organize and bring life to my art. since i do not have these things at present, i am compelled to want to paint other's rooms, or rearrange mine and nikki's rooms over and over.

don't get me wrong, i LOVE the place i am in. i love the freedom i have. i love the life i get to live. the part of me that is looking forward, is played by a small child in anticipation of a future christmas. i am giddy with excitement for what will one day be. BUT it is just beginning to be summer outside and i wouldn't trade my excitement for christmas, for the sun on my face and the smell of flowers everywhere!

on another note:

i'm five.

the other day i played dress-up and the talented melodie pruitt captured my moment of five-ness.

so here you have it, a look book of sorts.

oh yes, how i adore summer. :)

without further ado...

THE APRON POST!

oh yay! my apologies on this taking so long. been under the weather a bit and busy making stuff. :)

my love for aprons started with me great grand-mother Inace Mae Owen. every year,for christmas, she gave basically everyone she knew an apron. somehow, as fate would have it, i got her ridiculously fabulous sewing machine when she passed.

i also inherited her love for sewing.

last year when i visited my nana, she gave me one of grandma owens aprons.

isn't it lovely??

it's so nice to know that she was fashionable as well as talented. :)

that was all it took. one black and white apron, with pocket and lace trim.

it had me at hello!

haha.

when i got home last year i went straight to my pile of random goodies and pulled out some old green sheets and a piece of upholstery fabric that had made a valance out of for, my nana.

my very first apron. i must admit i believe i spent more time pulling it apart than i did putting it together! it took me forever to finish!

i didn't have a pattern so this was also my first attempt at drafting one.

fast forward a year and they are still my favorite things to make!

(i am getting better at making them from scratch too!)

this one i made for suzan, because she has started frequenting a once-a-month cooking club

and didn't have one.

sad day, right?

i also made her a full length one:

my favorite part about this one???

the cute pleats in the back of course!

so you would think that after making almost a bazillion aprons i would never use a pattern.

that's what i thought.

until i stumbled on the most

AMAZING

website on the inter-web.

burda style has become one of my best friends ever!

as soon as i saw the obi apron, i knew i had to try it out.

remember this fab fabric from the salvation army?

it was two-dolla

half off!

it is now a fabulous obi apron!

(nikki so kindly sent these pics to me as i forgot to take a pic of them before i gave them to her)

i also made this one for her:

isn't she she so dang cute???

i miss this girl!

i also got inspired the other day by a headband i got about three years ago from

(of all places)

walgreens.

i made a few and thought i'd share:

i up-cycled these from old t-shirts and a skirt that was WAY too short.

kinda fun and flirty i think.

thank you mel for modeling!

alrighty folks ta-ta for now!

prom. *quick post

today was my baby sister's prom. i had the pleasure of doing her hair. she is so lovely and i cannot believe how much she had grown up. wow!

she takes my breath away!

yikes how am i going to feel on her wedding day??

so stunning!

Guest Blogger: Melodie Pruitt

Hey guys! It's Melodie. :)

(My Website)

Steph is by far one of my best friends, and has truly brought out the creative side of me since she moved in with my family. So, when I told her I needed more shelf space in my room, I was so excited to hear she was already cooking up a beautiful idea in her head!

Looking through the garage, we found an old shelf my Mom used to put toys on for daycare she used to use. Steph fell in love.

She briefly relayed her idea to me, and we ran out the door, heads cooking up with ideas.

We bought some spray paint, pretty papers, and some Mod Podge. (Mod Podge and spray paint are definitely top on my list of things I love.) Once we got home, we went straight to work.

With our KRYLON spray paint (metallic silver, of course) we went to work. We ran into a mishap with one of the spray paint bottles. But I simply blamed Stephanie, because as soon as I got ahold of it, it worked again. What can I say? I have the magic touch.

As soon as the spray paint was dry (and our brains had settled down from the temporary paint high), we got to work on the Mod Podge.

(Our papers, from JoAnn's, decorated in the perfect grandma prints that I LOVE, were a STEAL. Originally priced $.59, they were on sale for 4 for $1! How cool is that?!)

Steph did all the cutting (I have an issue with straight lines) and cut the papers to match the size of the back of each shelf. Then, we laid it out, and had a little too much fun with the Mod Podge.

We waited all night long for it to dry, and by mid-day the next day, it was finally dry.

(It looks a lot shinier and bumpier here than it actually is.)

I quickly loaded up my things on it, and found that everything fit perfectly. Even though, I know, in the near future, we may need to make another one because there isn't room for much more.

Isn't it PERFECT?!