Easy Glitter Feathers

glitter feathersOne of the few DIY projects I did for our wedding was the table decorations. I didn’t want to pay very much for flowers and I have a black thumb. So, we decorated the tables with dried baby’s breath and feathers. To give the feathers a little pizazz, I painted the ends with silver acrylic paint and dusted them with glitter. (I got the idea here.) I also tied the feathers on twine to create garlands.

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I am really happy with the way they turned out. Feathers never droop or die, so I’ll be able to have these in my house for years as a reminder of our wedding.

love,
melanie

Home Tour: Bedroom

DSC_1028It feels like it has been raining for the last month. I have the hardest time getting out of bed when it is raining. Rain pitter pattering on my tin roof is one of the best sounds in the world. Since I’ve spent so much time there lately (and I’ve cleaned a ton!), I thought I’d share my boudoir with you! I don’t think it will ever get any cleaner, so I had to document the occasion.

DSC_1022George made the moon backdrop for our wedding. He free-handed it. That man is amazing.
DSC_1023 DSC_1024My dad made this nightstand in woodshop when he was 16. He gave it to my grandma, and after she passed, he gave it to me. It is one of my most precious things.
DSC_1026 DSC_1033I love our little bedroom and our home, but I do hope spring will show up soon! I need to get out of this house!

love,
melanie

Rolling Pin Re-do

Rolling Pin

I’ve caught the spring cleaning bug early this year and I couldn’t be happier about it. This weekend I deep cleaned the carpets and sorted through closets to determine what we can sell or donate.

As I was sorting through our kitchen gadgets, I was looking at my sad, plain rolling pin and wishing it was a cute, vintage pin with colorful handles. But instead of throwing my perfectly useful pin away for a new (or old) one, I decided to paint the handles.

Rolling Pin Spray PaintRolling Pin & Spray Paint

This project couldn’t be easier. Grab a spare can of spray paint and paint away! The best tip I have from this project is to cover the parts of the pin that you don’t want to spray in tin foil. Tin foil easily wraps around hard-to-cover-areas without the struggle of paper and tape.

spraying rolling pinI (ok, George) sprayed the handles twice, but the brand of spray paint will determine the amount of times you’ll need to spray to ensure there is no wood showing through the paint.

How do you “upcyle” your old junk?

love,
melanie

New Orleans Honeymoon

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One of my favorite parts of the graveyards in New Orleans were the painted tombs. Colorful in life, colorful in death, right?!nola60001 nola60002 nola70001 nola80002Standing beside Voodoo Priestess, Marie Laveau‘s (disputed) tomb.

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nola30001For our honeymoon, George and I decided to forgo the traditional, all-inclusive beach trip for a darker, and dare I say, more exciting vacation to New Orleans.  And we didn’t regret a minute of it. The food was amazing, the history was rich and the beer was flowing!

As you can tell from the pictures, we visited several graveyards and we brought along cheapo, disposable cameras. I kind of love the way the pictures turned out. They are a little creepy, over-saturated, and look much older than digital photos. We also forgot to charge the digital camera– happy mistake! I brought the disposable cameras on our ghost tour too, but none of the pictures turned out. I think a ghost ruined the rest of our film!

If you are thinking about doing something a little off the beaten path for your honeymoon, I would highly recommend it. Get out there and see something new!

Did you go anywhere “different” for your honeymoon? Are you planning to go somewhere “different?” Let me know in the comments.

love,
melanie

 

Male Teacher Appreciation Gifts

This collage shows different male teacher appreciation gift ideas like pens, supplies and gift cards.

Being married to a male-identifying teacher and being around male instructors all day as a librarian made me think: Male teachers kinda get left out when it comes to gifting. There are tons of ideas on Pinterest, but most of them are geared towards female teachers. So, I thought to myself, “Self! We need a good reference for male teacher appreciation gifts!” Here are a few teacher appreciation gifts that folks of any gender will love.

Continue reading →

Easy Wedding Favors: Printed Brown Bags

Wedding favors on paper lunch bags

During the wedding planning process, DIY projects were not high on my list. I did manage to carve out some time to do a few easy and inexpensive crafts though. And I plan on sharing a few of them with you! I was super pleased with the way my wedding favors turned out. So, I’m sharing the how-to on those first!

For this project all you need is a little photoshop know-how, paper bags and a printer. (I would recommend a top-loading printer. Although it is possible to do with a bottom-loading printer. I have just found the top loading printers work better with the bags.)

wedding favorFirst, we designed our logo in Photoshop. We used the image of George and myself on our wedding invites too. Your design doesn’t have to be anything as elaborate as ours, a monogram would look nice too. If you don’t have Photoshop skills, you could even create your design in Word and then change your printer settings to the size of the bag.

Next, we changed the dimensions of the image in Photoshop to the dimensions of the paper bag and did a couple of test prints. After printing each bag, we added a can of RC Cola and a Moon Pie. In the South, an RC Cola and a Moon Pie is known as a working man’s lunch and both George and I have fond memories of eating Moon Pies and drinking RC Colas as kids.

Finally, we punched two holes in the top of the bag, looped a ribbon through and tied a bow. Quick, easy and cheap! Done!

**A helpful hint is to buy more bags than you need and be patient! If the bag has any kind of small tear or inconsistency, the printer may eat it. Just keep calm and carry on!**

Questions? Leave ’em in the comments!
love,
melanie

Gluten-free, Puffy, Berry Pancake

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After discovering my gluten-intolerance, I haven’t really missed bread, pasta or traditional desserts very much. The one thing I did miss was pancakes. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day– and it’s the most important, right? And nothing, I mean nothing, gets me out of bed faster than a piping hot cup of coffee and a giant pancake.

Gluten-free, Puffy Berry Pancakes (adapted from Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of fresh or frozen berries (I used frozen raspberries and strawberries)
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat butter and berries in a 10-inch oven-proof skillet over medium heat.

As berries heat, separate eggs into two bowls, one for egg whites and one for yolks. Beat the egg whites until peaks form. Then, add the vanilla and cinnamon to the egg yolks and whisk by hand. Fold the egg yolks into the egg whites.

Pour the egg mixture on top of the fruit in the skillet and spread it out evenly. Cook on the stove for 2 minutes on medium heat. Move the pan to the oven and cook for 12 minutes or until the pancake is puffy and brown on the edges.

Remove from the oven and top with butter and powdered sugar or a drizzle maple syrup!

What is your favorite meal of the day?
love,
melanie

Happy Birthday, love library!

Photo by heartlover1717 on Flickr

Photo by heartlover1717 on Flickr

One year ago today I started this little blog. It has gone through a lot of changes since the beginning. I wanted to write about weddings, but I quickly found out that I hated writing about weddings. I’ve tried things that have worked and didn’t work, and I appreciate anyone who has stuck around. I’ve got some fun things planned for this little blog and I hope ya’ll stick around for another year!

love,
melanie

Potential is More Important than Experience

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The job market is tough. I’ve been attempting to relocate for over a year, but it is much more difficult than I ever imagined. I’m just trying to remind myself that things happen for a reason and I have infinite potential. It just seems that quantity of experience keeps beating me. I have a great quality and variety of career experience, but my limited years of experience seem to be a hard thing to look past.

In the past year I’ve applied to almost 100 jobs. I’ve had the pleasure of one interview and zero job offers. It is a struggle. Some days there are feelings of inadequacy followed by hope, followed by hopelessness. I’ve tailored my résumé to each job and spent countless hours researching and filling out applications. And it’s hard to remain positive.

I thought the job market was better than it was 4 years ago when I completed my undergraduate degree. I went back to school because the job market was so tough. Now I have a job and I am incredibly thankful for it, but my job is in a rural location with very little potential for growth. George and I have big city dreams.

I thought of the quote in the picture above when I was trying to be cheer myself up. I want it to be true. I want my potential to outweigh my limited quantity of experience. I don’t want to work with someone who can’t see the amazing person that I am, the amazing work I currently do, and the amazing work I have the ability to do in the future.

I also think the above quote applies to all aspects of someone’s life– not just career life. You shouldn’t be romantically involved with someone who can’t recognize your potential. You shouldn’t be friends with someone who brings you down and doesn’t see the amazing person you are.

What do you think? Is potential more important than experience? Are you struggling in the current job market? Let me know in the comments!

Engagement Photos… One of the best wedding purchases we made

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Taking engagement pictures was one of the best decisions we made when planning our wedding. At first I thought the idea of engagement pictures was totally frivolous, unnecessary and maybe a little narcissistic.  But after I got thinking about it, I realized that I wanted a few professional pictures of George and I in our everyday clothes. We don’t wear wedding attire everyday, ya know?

So we called up our photographer and told him that we regretted not adding engagement photos to our wedding package. He then told us to meet him the upcoming weekend to take a few pictures! Engagement pictures was one of the best wedding purchases we made. I think I might even blow a few of the shots up and (finally) decorate our walls.

All photos credit of  Richard Israel Photography. He’s a great guy. I highly recommend him.

Did you decide to get engagement pictures taken? Let me know in the comments.

love,
melanie