Thursday, April 24, 2014

Summer Office

Summer Office

Red shirt
maurices.com

Monsoon linen pants
monsoon.co.uk

High heel pumps
$30 - newlook.com

Dolce Gabbana shopping bag
$2,105 - profilefashion.com

Decked Out

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

I bit the bullet...

After years of looking longingly at the DSLR cameras online, I bit the bullet, sort of. I bought a used model from someone in town (a professional photographer actually). It's not super new model and not very many megapixels (8 to be exact). But it was fairly cheap and came with accessories including a lens, strap, battery charger and usb cable.

I just got it yesterday. I haven't even had that much time to play around with. I took a few pics, wasn't sure what I was doing with all the settings, etc. Then I read a short explanation of most of the features (thanks, Pinterest!). After doing so, I took this:



I am in love! I can already see this is going to become an obsession, from which I'm not sure I'll recover. I was looking for something to take better pictures for the blog, but now I'm scheming to see if I can get my four year old to slow down enough for me to take pictures of her. Hopefully, you will all see the improvement in blog pictures as well!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Cowgirl Themed Birthday

My little girl turned four on Saturday. We had a super fun cowgirl themed birthday party for her. I'm going to share a lot of pictures, so be aware that this is a pic heavy post!

I made a deco-mesh wreath for the front door with burlap flowers:

I decorated the magnetic photo board for the occasion:


That picture is from last year. Maddy is growing so much!

I made a rag garland from pink and turquoise bandannas, burlap, tulle and cotton fabric to hang on the china hutch:


I made Maddy a tutu overall dress combo with some of the same fabrics:


I also bought her these cute boots on clearance as well as a hat, but she only wore both for about five seconds. (go figure!)

I knew she wouldn't wear the hat very long, so I made her this hair clip as well.


Here's one of her in the outfit (minus the boots and big hat)


Then there was the food spread.


My mom made the rope sign with Maddy's name.

I may have went overboard on sweet stuff.


My mother in law made the cake, as that is her specialty.


But I did make some cupcakes with chocolate and/or peanut butter cowboy boots on top.


Yum! We had hot dogs and hamburgers for the main dish (no picture of those!) I served pink lemonade in mason jars (sorry for this blurry pic).



I also had glass bottles of root beer on ice in a galvanized wash tub, but seem to have not pictures of that. I made a bandanna banner for above the food table:


I had goodie bags for the kids. I cheated on the bags and just used paper bags I found at the dollar store that had Woody and Buzz from Toy Story on them.


I also had plastic cowboy hats for the kids that had sheriff stars on them. Whew! That was quite a lot of making and decorating. I had so much fun doing it though. I love themed parties. I may have gone just a touch over board on this one. Maddy had fun,although opening presents was a bit overwhelming for her with so many people watching. I was surprised how many people dressed up with western shirts and hats (my hubby included)! I'm glad however, that Maddy's birthdays only come once a year.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Made by You MondayTime To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes WednesdayWildly Original Linky PartyClever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop