Dollar Tree Spoon Mirror DIY

A few days ago I just the Dollar Tree Value Seekers club and in doing so have found a ton of inspiration on their site.  I saw this spoon mirror and new I wanted to recreate it:

 

 

Isn't it crazy that it's made from plastic spoons!!!

 

Go here to join and see the full DIY:  http://www.dollartree.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageName=ValueSeekersClub

 

(No, I'm not being sponsored by them...I'm just a big fan of DT!)

 

Here's how mine turned out:

 

 

You can see our current hand-me down dinning chairs in the mirror. Those will be either getting a huge makeover or won't make the cut in the new house lol. Back to the mirror....isn't it cute??!!  It was not as time consuming as I thought it would be. The tricky party was breaking the spoons, but still leaving enough of the stick portion to be able to hold them on. 

 

What do you all think? Would you considering add a spoon mirror in your home?

~Kendra~

Dollar Tree Candle Stick Holder Makeover

Anyone that knows me, knows I'm kind of a Dollar Tree addict....I find tons of fun stuff there and love to use it for party planning, DIY & crafts, etc.  It's super cheap, so if a DIY doesn't turn out just right, you don't feel like it was a huge money waster. Apparently I could ramble on about DT for a while, but let's get on to the DIY:

 

Supplies:

-2 candle sticks

-Super Glue

-Spray Paint (I used Krylon Colormaster in Catalina Mist Satin)

 

I started with 2 simple clear candle stick holders:

 

 

 

I then glued them together some DT super glue:

 

 

Once the glue had time to dry, I spray painted them Catalina Mist (satin), which is a fun minty, light green:

 

 

The spray paint really made all the details on the piece pop...I just love it!!  What do you all think? Isn't this one of the easiest DIYs ever?!  If you give it a try, let me know how it goes :-)

~Kendra~

Simple Candle Update

When getting married, you receive tons and tons of gifts...we loved and appreciated all the beautiful gifts.  I decided to take this one in particular, which I got from my sweet aunt and uncle as part of an amazing gift basket, and add a little more to it.  It's a simple candle with a little black ribbon bow.

 

I wanted to add a little something special to make it stand out in our new future home.  I took some silver flat head tacks (left over from the cork board update) and stuck them in around the bottom edge of the candle in a single row.  Here's how it looks now:

 

 

 

It's a very subtle difference, but adds a fun touch! This project is so simple, less than 5 minutes, and could be done is so many patterns and designs.  I want to try adding a chevron pattern to one as well. Have u tried adding pins or tacks into plain candles to add some interest?  How'd yours turn out?

~Kendra~

It all comes back around

Yup, things around the Taylor house seem to always come back around.  When I went to college, my mom let me go to Target to pick out everything for my dorm room and I scored this adorable shiny silvery shower curtain. I used it all through college.  After college, it started it's second life as a fun side drape in my apartment window.  Then when I got married, it became a funky tablecloth.  Yup, that little shower curtain has seen many changes.  I finally decided to cut it up. No, don't worry. It's not going to it's final resting place yet...it's just starting another new life.  It's now the lovely cover for our cork board that's part of our family organization station.  So here she is in  all her new silvery glory.

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As you can tell, it's not plain silver now. I spray painted some fun striped to make it more cohesive with the rest of the room where it will be.  I also added the awesome silver flat head tacks around the edge, which I think adds a fun touch.

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Have u updated a cork board lately?  How'd you do it?  I'd love to hear all about it.

~Kendra~

Creating organization from chaos

Ok, so our routine around here is far from chaos, but hey-everyone has room for improvement when it comes to keeping your family organized whether it's a little family of 2 like ours or a larger family of 5 or so. I decided to start working on a family organization station, which I plan to put in our laundry/mud room.  I wanted it to be easily accessible, useful and still pretty. Here's what I've got going so far...

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From left to right: DIY Mail organizer, word art, chalkboard buckets, a cork board, a menu planner and monthly calendar.

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I so wish I had a picture of the mail organizer before. I got it at the thrift store for about $3. It was an outdated dark wood finished.  I simply painted it white and added chalkboard painted rectangles on the front of each section for even better organization. 

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The art was on the entry table at our wedding ceremony and I just love it.  I got it at Marshalls during our engagement.

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Next, I found these great chalkboard buckets in the $1 section at Target....score!! Got the cork board with a wedding gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Then I just printed the menu planner and calendar.  Did you know you can use dry erase markers on the glass in picture frames....works perfectly!!

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Do you have a family organization station? If so, does it really help? Any tips?

~Kendra~

Gallery Wall, Take One

I have been so inspired by all the beautiful gallery walls I've seen online, my fav is definitely Young House Love's version that you can see here: http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/04/its-done-and-we-heart-it/

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I decide to start working on one for when we move into our new home.  I purchased most of the frames at Dollar Tree and a few at Target.  They were either purchased gray or spray painted to match. Much like YHL's version, so far, I have tried to incorporate pretty prints, quotes and family pictures...I'm loving it, but it's definitely still got a ways to go.  Here's how it's looking:

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In the top left there's a calendar with our wedding date circled, there's pictures of us, a drawing my bestie did of the hubs and I back in college on the bottom left and much more....

 

What do you think?  Do you have a gallery wall in your home?

~Kendra~

How one vase got it's stripes...

My wedding florist came up with the great idea of making me a fake bouquet to use for my bridal portraits, which would #1 be cheaper than buying to real bouquets and #2 would give me a keepsake to save for ages. Perfection!  Well, I had been keeping the bouquet in a plain and simple clear dollar tree vase.  With thoughts of our new house swimming in my head, I immediately decided the boring vase needed to be more chic for our new place.  To me, this meant lovely little silver stripes. I got some spray paint from Michael's and even lucked out with finding painters tape at Dollar Tree. Love it when they have tons of craft stuff in stock!!!

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I simply placed stripes on the vase with the painters tape and then sprayed the entire thing with silver.  I let it dry a few minutes and then removed the tape.  Waited for it to fully dry and then....viola. A fresh and updated display....

 

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I just love the way the diamonds covering the stems shine through the clear stripes on the vase.  What do you think?  Have you tried a DIY like this?

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PS: The black 'T' was one of the entry table decorations at our wedding ceremony and the tray was a thrift store find...it was originally bare bamboo, but I spray painted it white to make it go with our other décor. I think the white really makes it stand out!

~Kendra~

Why have I been away so long.....

This year in particular, with work and everything, has gotten super busy!  It seems like 2013 is the biggest year of change this girls ever seen.  From getting married, a new job as Social Media Specialist at the company, moving to a new department, and finally the newest adventure.....buying our dream home.  We just closed on our house Friday and get to move into it in mid September...Soooo beyond excited!!

As life brings upon changes, this little piece of the internet may begin to change with it.  First, hopefully, with more posting.  Secondly, with the addition of some home décor DIY projects. I have already done tons to prepare for the big move...making a thrift bamboo tray a chic white, creating a family organization station, making a plain vase more fun with stripes, etc.  Hopefully, I can share all of these and more with you soon.  Just wanted to give anyone still tuning in a little update. 

~Kendra~

Workin it out....

So the hubby and I are on a total healthy lifestyle kick...like I was pre-engagement before life got busy and all things wedding and marriage took over. :-)  The fun, food and festivities did not fair too nicely on my usually well planned meals and exercise routines, so needless to say I gained about 7lbs and lost some tone. 

Thankfully my husband noticed that I was complaining about not feeling as healthy and not being focused on nutrition, so he encouraged me to get us back on track with my OCD planning self :-)  Yup, lately there have been several times my crazy planning-ness has come in quiet handy...the wedding, decorating our home, and planning meals and workouts. 

Before I got married, I cooked every once and a while, but my 'healthy' foods of choice were premade protein shakes, precooked grilled chicken and baked potatoes, which all required a microwave and basically no cooking skills.  Since we've gotten married, I have found a love for cooking I never thought I'd have....I seriously love it, even after a long day at work. It relaxes me, makes me feel like I am an asset to our household and makes me feeling like I am helping to make us healthier. 

So anyways, I thought I'd begin sharing this little healthy lifestyle change on here.  A few years ago I lost over 70lbs and have kept it off...minus that lil 7lb gain, and plan to keep it that way.  As I have told many people, I will never be one of those people who can eat whatever and stay skinny...I have to work at it.  Luckily, I seem to have found a way that works for me (and the hubs) and is not too much work.  We eat low calorie meals (like chicken quesadillas, random casseroles I whip up, ground turkey meatloaf, egg white omelets, interesting salads and all kinds of other randomness), drink only water (Well, the hubs likes milk and some Dr. Pepper, but not me) and snack on fruits and veggies during the day. 

For our workouts, we are currently doing P90X, which is kinda tough, but it seriously works...We did a 45 day round of it (a full round is 90 days) pre engagement and I loved the results...it really tones my tummy and legs. So it's worth the time commitment and sweatiness...lol  With that said, would yall be interested in seeing the recipes I create, seeing my workout updates, etc?  BTW I don't use recipes...I create all the meals on the fly. I'm organized, but I like to do my own thing lol

So anyways....that's where I've been off to this past week....the kitchen and the gym :-)  I've got a few outfits I need to post also....yay!!

~Kendra~

So I have been wearing all the new clothes the hubby got me on our honeymoon...we spent one whole day shopping just for me.  Do I have an awesome husband or what? :-) The top I wore today was from a fun resale shop...don't remember the name, but let me just say....San Fran has tons of awesome resale/thrift shops.  They are super ''green" there so recycling clothing s just natural.  I loved it!!

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What I Wore:

Cardi- about $9 at Talbots Outlet

Striped top- about $6 at Resale shop in SF (From the honeymoon)

Jeans- $20 at Talbots Outlet

Wedges- Payless

Belt- Free w/ skirt from Target

Earrings- $1 at MIZ Accessories

Gold bead bracelets- $7 at Target

Gold Chain Bracelet- 99cents at The TV Fashion Outlet

Outfit Total: $44

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You may have also noticed that I stopped spray tanning...I'm back to kicking it au-natural for the time being. :-) Gosh, I'm so glad I'm back...I've missed this!!

~Kendra~



More wedding pics :-)

A little about our day:  The theme was black, white and teal.  I wanted it to be fun and mainly DIY since I'm super crafty.  The reception included fruits and crackers, then dinner with open bar and dancing.  We also had a candy buffet, wish tree, scrapbook of all our engagement pictures, a photo booth, laminated picture thank you favors, recipe book favors, I Spy games & cameras on each table and more.  It was an incredible day that I will never forget.

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Some of the most precious memories: 

Wearing my mother garter and carrying the same hankie that my Nana carried on her wedding day.

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In my opinion, one of the best things that really made the reception a hit was the photo booth.  They even used the custom monogram I created on the photo strips. :-) 

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 I also designed out Candy Buffet...complete with chocolate covered pretzels made by my mom.

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Loved the fruit display!!

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We also had this lovely wish tree.  Everyone left us cute little notes...it was so much fun to read them and I will cherish them forever!!

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 Here is the table design I thought up and my lovely florist brought to life....tree branches with diamonds hanging from them...loved it!! I also made the picture/thank you note favors on the table and designed the custom napkins. :-)  DIY all the way!

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 My mom surprised my by having one of our engagement pics printed on canvas, so we displayed it at the entryway to the chapel.  Also, got the awesome word art from Marshalls for less than $20.  I DIYed our wedding guestbook, which included areas for people to sign along with pics of us on each page.

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My hubby and I listening to his beautiful sister sing "Look at me" by Carrie Underwood

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My daddy getting ready to walk me down the isle

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The Grooms cake...He graduated from Tech and is a huge Superman fan :-)

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 Getting his ring from my MOH :-) Don't you just love our adorable photo-bombing flower girls. hehehe

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Mrs. Taylor

 

I'm baaaaaaack :-)

That's right....after my long hiatus from the blogging world I am back and with a new last name to boot :-)  I have been married for a little over 3 weeks now and I have been loving every moment.  You wanna see a few pics...no prob :-)

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Our first dance to Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran

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The cake (I made the cake topper)

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The sweetheart table

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 My dress <3 p="">

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April 27, 2013 was the most amazing day of my life thus far.  I had an awesome engagement and wedding day. So now that all the wedding craziness has drawn to a close and we are beginning to settle in to our new normal...I thought it was about time I get back to one of my fav hobbies...this lovely little piece of the internet...my blog :-)

Yay!!!

Mrs. Taylor

Away too long....

First off, I'm sorry my blog has been left in the dust lately.  With planning a wedding, house hunting, premarital classes and crazy hours at work....there's not much time left for blogging.  I haven't taken any new outfit pics in weeks.  I will tell you though....I have been working hard to define my style in this changing phase of my life.  I'm moving towards a more professional, put together vibe, which the fiance loves (ie, button down shirts belted at the waist, dressy slacks, more heels and less 'easy to throw on' boots, less scarves and more necklaces, etc) 

Secondly, the wedding is coming along swimmingly....only 65 more days till we say "I do" and I could not be more excited!!  We recently started attending a new church, which we love and we are meeting tons of newly married/engaged couples who are in our same stage of life...which is awesome and uplifting. 

Once again, sorry for the long lapse in the blog.  Hoping to get back on it, honestly, after the wedding.  So keep a look out....I will be back :-)

~Kendra~