Gettin' Crafty

I am SUCH a pinterest junkie, and lately I've been getting so inspired by the things I'm 'pinning'. I have never been the 'craftiest' girl, Martha Stewart, I am not...but some of the projects out there just look so easy, that I convinced myself to try them out!

The first was a pretty basic DIY chalkboard. I took two items that I really had no use for anymore and turned them into chalkboards.  One is a corkboard that I've had since I was like 12, (and yes I did have to use extra primer to paint over all the teenybopper musings, i.e. "I heart Dan" and "Erin +Liz=BFF!" LOL). The other was a mirror with a really cool frame-the mirror broke, but I kept the frame, because I just loved it and knew I would find something useful for it!

 2 coats of primer each!

2 coats of chalkboard paint, and they were ready to go!

After my successes with the chalkboards, I built up the courage to try making over two pillows with some fabric that I picked up. 

Materials: pillows, fabric, scissors, hem tape, iron

covering the pillows with fabric before I make the cut "measure twice, cut once"

Making the cuts, of course Gertie had to get in on the action!

She just had to see what I was doing :)

break for doggie kisses :)

and cuddles :)

back to work...

determine where you want hem, then find something semi-heavy to hold it down

I attempted to match up the hem...

clearly Gertie wanted to help

Hi Mom!

Iron the hem down-about 90 seconds applying pressure

voila! one pillow down...

I got this ma!

what?...I'm helping...

I used the fold of the fabric for the back, and hem tape for each side...then I decided to go with a velcro enclosure for the final side, so that I could mix it up with a different pillow cover if I ever wanted to...

A shot of the velcro...use the same method as hem tape. Iron for 90 seconds applying pressure (iron on the fabric side, not touching the actual velcro side)

and ta-da! all done!

So that marks my first adventure into the world of DIY crafting :) Up next, I think I'm going to attempt DIY roman shades found here or here ...eek!

Playing at the Park!

There is a park down the street from our new place that Gertie and I love-there are nature trails for me and fields to run around in for her!  We go for about an hour walk each day and lately the trees have been blooming and are just gorgeous. Today I attempted to capture some of their beauty, and of course had a mini-photo shoot with Gert :)

dslr fun!

I am loving my new dslr, but I am such a newbie! I've been reading the manual, and trying to push myself to get out of auto mode. I'm really enjoying it, but I definitely have a lot to learn....

Here are some of my favorite pictures so far, they are not perfect by any means, but I like 'em :)

More to come :)

we gonna party like it's your...

birthday!

 Coincidentally, my husband and I were born a day apart (and two years)...so every year we get to have a double birthday celebration extravaganza.  It's really fun for us,
and makes it feel like the party just don't stop :)

This year, my birthday fell on patriots day (here in Massachusetts we celebrate some pretty random holidays), my in-laws came up to visit us and we also got to experience the re-enactment of the 'shot heard round the world' which takes place every year at 5am on the green, in the town where we just moved. Although it was bright and early, we were all really excited to be a part of this event especially since starbucks opened it's doors at 4:30am :)

And the best part of all? I got this pretty little baby for my birthday!!

It's pretty amazing and I love it! I've already been reading up a ton on how to enhance my pictures and am planning on taking a course this summer :)

Here are some of my favorite shots from our birthday weekend extravaganza!

some of the fam

being silly :)

horseshoes-gertie's excited

love my in-laws!

two patriots decked out in garb-(and yes it was this dark at 4am)

sunrise over buckman tavern lexington, ma

the british are coming!

battle in full force

happy birthday babe!

yummmmm :)

love this shot :)

Easter Weekend through my iPhone

Easter weekend consisted of:

seeing best friends

manis/pedis

martha stewart's meyer lemon pound cake

driving around with the top down

gertie cuddles

qt with the fam

{adult} easter egg hunts

scrapes and bruises from said hunt

pistachio martinis

deviled egg maker

my cousin margie

Me trying out my mini-Martha look

my easter outfit :)

the in-laws

pistachio martini

brother love :)