Princess Palooza

Over the weekend I hosted my nieces long awaited princess birthday party. 

Cute Rylie turned 5 years old and I thought it would be fun to host a party for her to introduce her to other little princesses of her same age. I wanted to help her make friends.

We had crafts, games, face painting, and a tea party. SO FUN!

We all dressed up as princesses and had a blast.

I think my favorite part was the tea party. 

 

The little princesses LOVED the face painting. 

We made princess hats and bracelets. The little girls got to search the treasure chest for jewels. 

And of course, Rylie's favorite part was opening all the presents. 

 I LOVED being able to put in an appearance as Snow White and I know my SIL really enjoyed dressing up as Rapunzel.  I really loved this party even though it was a TON of WORK for  Jeff and me. I really appreciate all the help everyone gave me and know that Rylie is going to remember her 5th birthday FOREVER! 

Hey maybe I chose the wrong profession....I should have been an event planner, its pretty fun. :-) 

I hEaRt ShAbBy ChIc

I don't know what it is about this design style but I ADORE it.

I think it's because it is so soft and romantic. 

It reminds me of my days playing dress-up in vintage hats, dresses and jewelry donated to me by my great aunt and grandma.

I love that it's something you can easily do to your own vintage hand me downs.

love that with this style you can have pieces in your home that have history. 

Here are some of my favorite Shabby Chic pieces I found while surfing Etsy. 

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Now, I know that when looking at shabby chic things the price tag can just about choke you...but, you can do what I do and scrounge through grandma's old furniture, the DI or KSL. 

Some man's trash could be your treasure!

If you use old things you already have or something you find at a yard sale, Shabby Chic furniture can be super affordable.....Assuming you are willing to put a little elbow grease into the project. 

That being said, here is my next project.

I just bought this hutch off of KSL. I haven't actually picked it up yet but the deal is done. I got this piece for below asking price! Which is, might I add, A STEAL! Its big and its old, but its in good condition and has curves. (Stole the picture from the KSL ad....and I'm not really sure whats under the bubble wrap but I'm sure I'll find out on Saturday.)

So I am thinking of doing it in an antique white with some distressing. Definitely French cottage inspired.Here is my inspiration for the re-do.

Yay! I'm excited!

I'm sure this project will take me a while but I will post pictures when Im done.

Of course...I still have 4 antique chairs I blogged about ages ago that are in the works.

Almost done.

It's a good thing my husband is patient and loving and likes the work I do on old furniture...because our basement has turned into my workshop and I have a lot more ideas brewing. 

 

Chandelier Re-do

I have been wanting a chandelier for a long time. One to hang over my dining table. The previous owners had had a lighting fixture hanging there but took it with them. So we have had this empty space on our ceiling for 1 1/2 years. 

The problem with chandeliers is they are pretty pricey. It hasn't been in our budget. 

Well, the other day my mom offered her old brass chandelier. She told me I had free rein to do with it as I pleased. Apparently she saw a show on TV where they took an old chandelier and spiffed it up. 

Well, I thought that that was something I could easily do. 

Here is the chandelier before:

It was obviously dated and needed new candle covers. It also was short one glass hurricane thanks to me dropping it... woopsie. Good thing I had other plans for this chandelier. 

I went ahead and spray painted it a hammered black. I then went online and bought some bling. 

Naturally I wanted a "FaNcY" chandelier.

I found, through searching the web, an affordable site, cristalier, that sold crystal/glass prisms and attachments for chandeliers.

Here is my after: 

So, there you have it. An old chandelier, in a new style. What do you think?

Harry Potter a Wedding and 100 Mosquito Bites

Thursday July 14 was the first day of a very enjoyable weekend. In an attempt to stick with tradition, Jeff and I came up with our HP t-shirts. 

Every year since HP started my friends and I get together and make funny  t-shirts and then go to the midnight showing. This year was no different.

This was so much fun but definitely a bitter sweet event. It was a blast to get together at midnight with close friends and see an amazing movie but it is so sad that this was the end of HP. I am definitely bummed that HP is over. The movie was EPIC and everything I hoped it would be. I am so glad that they ended with a bang. 

On Friday July 15, after very little sleep, my bestie Amelia got married! I am so glad that I can add her to my married friend group! I love her so much and Leland (the husband) is great. We are so happy for them!

Amelia looked amazing and her wedding was a blast!

The reception was at the beautiful Hidden Falls at thanksgiving point. It was the perfect background for such a wonderful day.

The rest of the weekend was spent resting (recovering from all the sleep deprivation) and treating all my mosquito bites. 

Slight down side of the Hidden Falls was all the mosquitoes attacking me. I counted 79 bites on my legs alone. Good times.

All in all, we had a very enjoyable weekend spending time with some of our favorite people.

And the Rockets Red Glare

We had a fabulous 4th of July BBQ. The kids played, the puppy played, and the adults ate a whole bunch of yummy food and talked. 

Jeff made us amazing dutch oven cobbler. Mmmmmm Yummy!

We also had a pinata....lightning McQueen of course...and bubbles, and....

I had to sneak in a puppy picture....;-)

Oh and I almost forgot....our tan-off results. Well, I must say my dear SIL totally won. I don't even look that tan in the pictures...but in my defense, everyone at work has been commenting on my amazing tan. ;-) 

Don't you think my SIL looks a smidge on the ethnic side? Yeah she is totally Jersey Shore Tan!

Jersey Shore Tan Off

Ok so I honestly have never seen Jersey shore, and I am 100% OK with that....BUT  like most people I have heard of it and seen a picture or two of the crazy tan people.

WELL

My SIL and I have discovered that we feel more  "summery" when we are tan.

SO.....

We have decided to have a tan off!

Inspiration: Jersey Shore

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Ok maybe not THAT extreme but you know, tan.

We are having a competition to see who is the most tan by the 4th of July family BBQ. Its kind of funny because we are both pretty fair skinned girls.

We started about a week ago and anything goes.

I have done a lot of real sun...tanning with the puppy is ALWAYS an experience, fake sun...I know, I know it's gonna kill me, and of course sunless tanner. I LOVE sunless tanner. I helps make my usually pink-tan into a tan-tan. ;-)

I know it sounds shocking but I CAN get tan...it just takes a lot of work which is why you usually see me as  pasty white. I think the tannest I have ever been was when I went on a singles cruise a few years back. I started the month before the cruise and tanned constantly as well as rubbed on that sunless tanner regularly.

Here is me on the cruise...as tan as I get. I think my brother said my face looked like leather. I love my brother...sometimes. Lets look beyond the fact that I appear to have raccoon eyes.....

I think I wouldn't mind getting this tan again...just without the raccoon eyes.

Now for those of you who like me pale...

Don't worry, I promise to be pale again by October....

It's about time I upgrade my Nikon. My current DSLR is pretty out of date and basically any model out there is an upgrade at this point.

I use to be really into photography...well, I'm still really "into" it but I use to do a lot more and practice a lot more. I have recently, the past year or two, gotten out of practice. I think I was worried people would consider me a "wannabe" or a "poser". BAH! It just seemed like so many people...everyone....was an "amateur" photographer. Maybe, subconsciously, I didn't want to pursue it any more because I didn't want to be like every other person in Utah.

Any way, I have recently gotten over this. I was thinking about it one day and wondering why I stopped. I am pretty good at it and I enjoy doing it....SO, I need to get back into it.

That being said, I have decided on what camera I want to upgrade to.....

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Now you can usually find bundles for cameras that include a few lenses and usually make them cheaper....But I also really want an additional lense.... Like maybe one of these...

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Now, Jeff would totally be on board with me getting a new fancier camera. For one, he is a gadget FREAK but also because then the my old DSLR would be all his. Of course he could play with the new on...once in awhile. 

Sigh, now I just need to come up with a few G's. :-)