Wild Fires - When it hits home.

Texas is suffering from extreme drought conditions and recently, wildfires have been sweeping across the country.
Well this time it hit really close to home. My tia (aunt) and her family live on some acres south of San Antonio by Southside High School. Well, we found out today that her house is totally gone :(
It took out four houses and 50 acres.

We will be heading down there Friday afternoon to help. Our family is large and I am confident that there will be some serious work done.

So, as you go through your day, join me in sending prayers and thanksgivings their way.

Hi, I'm Mat!

I love long weekends.
I set aside some time this weekend for creativity since I have been a little off my game.
I decided to spruce up the kitchen.
I have this really functional (the soft squishy kind), yet bland kitchen mat.

I have seen some tutorials online for painting rugs, mats, etc.
I figured, it can't get any worse so I got to work.
The first step was covering the dark background with a base coat.

After that dried, I went on to paint it 3 different shades of yellow trying to find the right one to match my kitchen.

More dry time and then on to the creative aspect. I couldn't decide what pattern to do. Stripes? polka dots? words? Ok, wording....but what?
Neil came to the rescue with the suggestion of "YUM". Very appropriate.
I simply wrote on the mat with pencil.

I traced it with white acrylic paint and voila!

I did not add an overcoat of polyeurethane or anything that might help keep the paint on. I did drop water on it, stepped on it with shoes, bare feet, and socks to see what might happen. And nothing did. So I guess for now, we will see how that goes.

Its the perfect shade of yellow and it adds a little whimsy to our kitchen. Plus, it was FREE! I had all the paints already and I rescued a boring mat!

I would call that a successful crafting day.

My other half

Labor Day weekend of 2008, I was proposed to in a small one bedroom apartment after spending 6 weeks in Belize!
I was just out of college and felt a call to do some of HIS work so I headed out to Belize to work with a mission group. I was so ready, except for the fact that I would leave my boyfriend behind.
Ever since the day we met in September of 2006, we spent everyday together.
So this time away was either going to make us or break us.
Well, obviously you know it ends well :)
I was greeted at the airport by my dad and Neil.
Little did I know that dad had already given his blessing.
The first time we were alone, in apartment 8, he popped the question over pizza, ice cream, and Encahanted.
Simple and so very us.

Labor Day Weekend will always have a special place in my heart.
It is the day I gained my other half.

Sic 'em Bears

If you don't already know...we heart Baylor.
Yesterday was a day for the books! We opened our season against TCU(ranked 14th).
As usual, we were not expected to win. But WE DID!

We had great, shaded seats :)

Our QB, RGIII is expected to do great things this year and he started off the season with a bang.
2 Trick plays, 3 perfect long passes, and a big win.

We were ahead by 24 but they came back and it went down to the wire. We ended with an interception to win the game. Boy, those fans TCU fans were Not happy!

But it was a good game.

So good and unexpected that the fans stormed the field.

Looking forward to more exciting games...it's that time of year again!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today we celebrate another birthday! Happy Birthday! Hope you had a great day!
Here's to another year of renovations, grilling, modifying, and family time!

Rustic Wedding Recap

We ended our summer with a trip to Minnesota to celebrate a BAGNALL wedding. This wonderful family ushered in another member of the family in good fashion.

They had a great ceremony on Gull Lake on family property and hosted over 100 guests!

Their wedding was full of rustic elements.

And of course, no wedding is complete without a getaway car, I mean boat?

I just love weddings and spending time with family.

One of our highlights? We got to see our sister, too! Isn't she darling?

DIY Beadboard Door-Rock the Vote Reveal

Last month kicked off the ROCK the VOTE series here. The first vote was a makeover for these two orange doors:

The winning options was the beadboard inserts.

No matter what option won, it was going to be a DIY but this is like beginners DIY. It was so easy and super inexpensive when compared to purchasing brand new doors.

First I scoped out all the home improvement stores for just the right "beadboard".

I finally found what I was looking for...beadboard wallpaper. It looks exactly like the real thing. I put them against eachother and even the widths of stripes were the same! It has texture and depth so I am confident that you would never know the difference in person. As far as price goes, it was a steal. The real beadboard started at $23.00 for 24sq. ft. The roll was $20 for 65 sq. ft!

After bringing her home (no, nothing this beautiful and dainty could be a boy) I began the transformation by measuring out the size of the panels by using a level, yard stick, and a pencil.

To make life a little easier, I went with the width that the paper came in so that I only had to make two straight cuts per panel. In case you are wondering how hard it was to work with wallpaper, let me tell you, if I would have know wallpaper was this easy, it would be EVERYWHERE! jk.

I simply submerged it in the shower for 30 seconds. Then, I took it out, let it set for 5 minutes and then slapped it on the door. I smoothed it out with (don't laugh) a coaster, and wiped it down.
Here is a close up of the beading.

Here he (nothing this tall and awkward could be a girl) is with wall paper stuck on.

24 hours later it was dry and then began the process of adding trim. There are not many "cheap" options as far as trim goes but I did manage to get the cheapest one at $2.99 each.

I brought in the big guns (husband) for this part. And all I can say is that he did lots of math and didn't miss one cut! He comes highly recommended :)

Look at that banged up door. It was time for a facelift!
After everything was up, I caulked only the where the corners of the trim met and where the finishing nails went in. Then I painted it all white.

Here he is in all his glory!

Here is the breakdown for cost:

Doors - FREE

white paint - left over from cabinets

trim - $24.00 (I have one left over)

beadboard wallpaper - $20.00 (I have tons left over)

TOTAL = $44.00 or $22.00 EACH!

FYI: I priced a beadboard door at the store and the cheapest one I found was $179.99!

Wowzers! That's a good deal!

Drought Insurance

We have not had rain in our yard since May! I am not exaggerating.
Like many areas of Texas we are under a sever drought and our garden, trees, and yards are suffering. We had been talking about catching rain but we were convinced after our veggie garden died :(

My personal handyman put up a great rain water harvesting system using a set of directions from a workshop I went to. It was affordable and can work with any gutter system.

We were going for the 55 gallon blue barrels but ran across these bad boys.
They are 275 gallons EACH!

The "main" part of construction is the extension from the gutter to the totes (that's the official name).
This elbow is a sort of filter. The first bit or rain will bring debris with it. The water will go straight down and fill up leaving the debris at the bottom. When the downspout fills with water, the rest will go through the elbow and into the totes.....Got that? It's the best I got. Hopefully, the pictures will help.

The debris ends up here and can be cleaned out by opening the red side. But, beware with the pressure of the water. Step away from it when you open it.


Having these HUGE tanks in your yard my be obnoxious, or as in some neighborhoods around Waco, they may even be against homeowner association rules but for us it works fine. They are behind our shed which keeps them out of sight, but more importantly, they are near our garden.

We are so excited about them but we have not gotten to use them once!
If you have gutters, $60, and rain, you can do this!
Now all we need is rain!

Minnesota LOVE

We had so much fun in Minnesota. We got to enjoy nice weather, family, and a wedding!

We spent time around the fire.....

We spent time around at the lake....

We spend time admiring the beautiful sunsets......

Of course, we spent lots of time reading......

We made s'mores.....

We spent LOTS of time eating...and cooking....And of course, we watched these two get married!

The wedding was pretty cool. It was the first outdoor wedding I experienced (TX tends not to do those for some reason..) and it was fun! More on that later. The pictures are being edited.

But, we are back to the real world now and life sure comes at you fast. Between work, broken cars, sleep issues with puppies, a new roomie, and house stuff there is not enough time in the day.

However, I am working on the beadboard installation so stay tuned!

Happy Birthday MOM!

Today is a wonderful day.
It is the day a wonderful woman was born.

The same woman that would later be ...
the cutest cheerleader,

a wifey,

the prettiest woman I know,
the master of silly faces,

the life of the party,

a fun tia,

the most understanding sister,

my greatest defender,

my #1 fan,

a "nerdy" student,

a barber,
shrimp enchilada maker,
and of course, my mom!

Sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate but my heart is with you today!
Hope you have a good day..... Tell dad to take you dancing or something!
See you soon!

Minnesota, Here we come.

This year, I get the chance for 2 vacations. My first one to Colorado Springs was great. This one is to Minnesota to spend time at the lakehouse on Brainerd Lake. Neil spent most of his summers there and I love going for sometime in the summer. Plus, its a nice break from the Texas heat and we get to visit family.

Photo by Bjorn

This year, we get to vacation and attend a wedding for Bjorn, our cousin.

I love weddings. Not the romantic, kissy stuff. I like the decorating, dancing, and gift giving.

I usually try to make gifts because A) they are personalized B) its fun and C) they are cheaper (sometimes).

Well for this one, I got this idea from PINTEREST. (IF you don't know what that is, that is another post for another day. Lets just say it is the best way to waste away the day).

Anyways, back on track. This quilt was made by a mom for her son.

But it simply reminded me of Minnesota. So that lead me to my next idea...."I can do that for the gift!"

And I did. I can't post it till after the wedding but lets just say it look VERY similar. Hope they like it.

I wish it would have been bigger but I guess its the thought that counts.

Guest Blogging

Today is another first for this little blog.
I was asked to be a guest blogger at Type A Decorating Blog.
This is my first guest blog post and I was not familiar with it before she asked.
Basically, it is a chance to talk about my blog on her blog. It is a way to get more followers and reach an different audience. We are taking a tour through my kitchen.
If you are interested in my article visit her blog today by clicking on her button.