diy: easy card holder

Is this a familiar sight for you?

Our fridge pretty much looked like this during our first Christmas in the house.  I loved having our cards displayed, but it got to be a pain when we were getting in and out of the fridge.  The dogs would knock cards off with their tails, the tape would rip and the card would fall to the floor... sometimes they were more of a hassle than anything.  So, I was determined to come up with a different solution for hanging them up.  I headed over to Pinterest to do some research and came up with a couple of ideas I liked.  My husband and I headed to the hardware store to figure out the rest.

What I really wanted to do was find an old shutter and use that... buttttt these days (thank you Pinterest) they are not that easy to come by, and usually have a hefty price on them because they have become so sought after.  So, we ditched that idea.  We were wandering the aisles and I came across the molding section.  I found rectangle shaped molding and thought that would be a good place to start.  My husband chimed in that we had left over chicken wire in the garage and suggested we staple it to the molding.  A quick coat of spray paint and I would be all set!

This project can easily be done for under $20.  The best part: you choose the size and shape of the frame, the color, the clothespins, etc.  You can personalize this as much as you want!  You could even stencil a design or paint a monogram onto the frame.  Ours is pretty simple which works well for us.  I also like that the size is not "unlimited", so when the frame gets full I know it is time to start recycling some old cards.

At Christmas we still have to use the fridge for a little bit of "overflow" space, but this card holder works great for us all year long!  

cruisin'

My husband and I went on vacation with my parents a couple of weeks ago.

Have you ever noticed that the amount of work you put in before and after a vacation almost make it not worth it?  But let's be honest, it is still awesome to get away, even for just a few days.  Get away from the noise, the busy-ness, the work.  Ya, it is pretty great.

We went on a cruise to Florida and the Bahamas.  If you have never been on a cruise before, let me tell you, I think they are GREAT!  There are so many great things about cruising that I just don't feel like you get with many other vacation experiences.   *Disclaimer: I have never been to an all-inclusive resort, but I imagine it might be similar to the perks of a cruise.  I think one of my favorite things about being on a cruise is the great food that you don't have to prepare yourself!  Not only is the food delicious, the service is top-notch and dining is available nearly 24-hours.  (This is why people gain weight on cruises.)  I also really enjoy the entertainment that is offered on a cruise.  Between live music, dance, musicals, comedians, and orchestras, there is something for just about everyone.

Anyway... this is really starting to sound like a commercial.  Sorry about that :)

Would you like to check out some photos?

Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean private island

Bionic Bar, Quantum of the Seas

Pool Deck, Quantum of the Seas

Nassau, Bahamas

So onto my story about how, even in the year 2015, internet sleuthing is hard:

During our time on the ship we made two friends, Max and Susana, who worked for Hublot, a watch company.  Both Max and Susana were not technically ship crew members, but they did have to work some during the week.  We had the chance to hang out with them several evenings and had a great time getting to know them.  So naturally, when we returned to the land of wi-fi, we tried to find them on facebook to connect.  It turns out, if you don't know someone's last name and you literally don't know any other facts about them besides the company they work for, it is really hard to find someone!  We did find one random article about Susana on some watch fanatic forum, but that only gave us the first initial of her last name... So, our friendship with Max and Susana will have to be short lived, I suppose.  If we wanted to be really creepy and desperate we could make one of those posterboards with our story and post it to facebook and have it shared around the world... but we aren't really that desperate.  They were fun though!  That is another great thing about being on a cruise, it is easy to make friends because most everyone else on the ship doesn't know anyone either :)

Now we have to get back into the swing of things... who wants to come to our house and cook for us? ;)

pinterest hacks

By now I am certain you have been on Pinterest, or at the very least, heard of it.  When Pinterest first got started, I really loved it and quickly became an "addict".  As the years have gone by, I still have an appreciation for it, but am sometimes disappointed with the amount of misguided or misleading pins the rest of us fall victim to.  We have all heard or seen the "Pinterest fails" and had ourselves a few good laughs.  But wouldn't it be great if everything on Pinterest was actually realistic and feasible for the rest of us?!  Today I am sharing a couple of my favorite "Pinterest hacks" that I have used in our house.

Hanging shoe organizer for cleaning supplies

G-E-N-I-U-S.
For real.  Our kitchen is on the small side, so cabinet space is not a surplus for us.  The idea of storing all of our cleaning supplies under our sink was not even worth entertaining.  Plus, when you store your supplies individually, if one spills or leaks it doesn't make a mess of the rest of the bottles!

Towel bar for scarves

We installed this almost immediately so I could wrangle my scarf collection.  It has worked wonders for me!  The key to organizing is making systems that are quick and easy to use, otherwise you won't use them at all.  I can always see all of my scarves at any given time and can quickly put them away.  I think it also adds a nice visual element, almost like decorating with your accessories.

DIY his/hers/theirs mail sorter

I picked up this pre-made mail sorter and painted it to coordinate with our kitchen.  The only negative to this project is I kind of wish the slots were a little bit bigger... but it still works great for us.  When I sort through the mail, most of it gets recycled or put away for filing/saving.  However, there are always those random pieces of mail we have to hang on to for a little while (coupons, items that need to be handled or mailed back).  I love that this mail can be sorted neatly but kept in sight so it gets taken care of.

Folded sheet sets inside pillow cases

view the pin here

For whatever reason, we have a large assortment of mismatched sheets.  I have kept these for the occasional overnight guest, but for the most part they remain untouched.  Since I've started putting entire sheet sets inside a pillow case, it is always easy for me to grab a clean, full set of sheets and not end up with six pillowcases and a flat sheet.


Of course, there are so many more ideas I have pinned that I want to try out or am saving for our next house.  Share some of your best (or worst!) Pinterest hacks in the comments below.  Don't forget to check out my Pinterest boards and follow me to see what else I find!

missing in action

Hey gang!  How are you?  If by chance you have stopped by the blog to check in, I apologize for my lack of presence lately.  I have put in some crazy overtime hours the past five weeks which kept me from making great new content over here.

Needless to say, I've already busted my 2015 resolution of posting 4x a month... but that won't keep my from trying the rest of this year!  I have some ideas for new posts, so keep your eyes peeled for some great new stuff.

What have I been up to, besides living at the office, you ask?  Great question.  One weekend we spent the whole time doing laundry and chores because we (I) had neglected them.  Last weekend we went to see Disney on Ice: Frozen.  It was phenomenal.  And no, we don't have kids ;)  I'm just a big Disney geek and loved it almost as much as the adorable 2.5 year-old behind us.  For the record:  I did not wear an Elsa costume (they don't come in my size...).  I randomly stopped drinking coffee for three days, but don't worry, I got back on the bandwagon!  Oh ya, I've worked on collecting our tax documents, but haven't actually gotten around the submitting them. Pretty much I've been really on top of things and life and stuff...

Check back soon, and I promise to have some new posts for you!  Also, it has snowed a lot the past week or two, but I swear that Spring will be here soon-ish.  And that means lots of fun outside projects :)

Happy Tuesday!

decor: headboard collage

As I wrote the title to this post I realized I like collages... so, just go with it ;)  k thanks.

I have loved quotes since I was a young girl.  I'm not sure what got me interested in them or how it started, but as long as I can remember I have kept a list of them.  Of course now that "list" has turned into several Pinterest boards, but I have old journals from middle school that I hand-wrote quotes for safe keeping.  So naturally, when I had my own home to decorate, there would be quotes everywhere! 

One of the first spaces I really focused on after we settled into our first home was our master bedroom.  There were a couple of reasons:  1) it actually had matching furniture (from my bedroom at my parents house)  2) for guests to access the second bathroom they have to walk through our master bedroom  3) it makes me happy to lay my head down on my pillow at night in a space that feels finished.  Its like my brain can finally stop working because the room I am in doesn't have a giant list of "to-do" items.

So I made this collage from some of my favorite love quotes:  (don't judge me for the old crappy cell phone picture)

As soon as we hung the frames on the wall I knew it wasn't quite finished.  The frames did not take up enough space compared to the headboard - there was too much empty space.  After a lot of shopping and searching Pinterest, I decided to add some large letters to the collage of frames.  The tricky part was, my husband didn't want to put a "bunch of holes in the wall" so he said we could hang up the letters as long as I could use all the existing nails and only add new ones.  I've always liked a challenge :)

After a little re-working, this was the final result! 

We finished this project almost two years ago and I still love it.  I've considered either swapping out some quotes or adding more frames for wedding photos, but I think it will look crowded.  So for now, it stays.

A lesson I have learned time and time again while decorating our house:  if you like something, go for it.  It may not be perfect right off the bat, but you have a start and can always find more things to make it work!

You can purchase these quotes from my Etsy shop to make your own collage!  This would look great above a bed or in a hallway, even above a dresser.

*Disclaimer: these quotes are not my original quotes, however, I did create the designs