Beach Treasure

I love long walks on the beach... or runs... or just layouts for that matter :)

One of the many reasons why is because you can find some awesome free things on the beach...

Star fish, coral, sea shells, cool glass bottles , and other beachy things!

It has become such a treasure hunt when we go, Im always looking for something neat.

The other day in a pile of sticks that had washed to shore I saw a stick...  not any stick... THE stick... seriously, the clouds parted and some sunlight directly hit this stick. (insert angelic singing here)

When I saw it I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, so without further adieu

Ta-DA our Handy swimsuit dryer! I really am proud of this, I thought it was pretty smart, plus a step up from the use of the door handle! And the best part is it was done in seriously five minutes! I just took some small nails and nailed it in... then made some lovely signs to make it extra cute!

Chalkboard art...

It is the rainy season here in Hawaii. So far it has not been to bad, the last couple of days though I found myself trapped inside.

So what to do when you don't want to get soaked at the beach?

Get your craft on that's what!

Today I made this...

It is my chalkboard art! I LOVE IT!

I am so excited about how it turned out!

I contemplated just using white paint instead of chalk, but I want it to be something that if I get sick of I can change. 

It gave our home that last little touch It needed I think :)

And since we live in 300 square feet of cozyness it is the first thing you notice when you walk in!

The Heart is on Oahu... because that is where we live...

And no the Compass does not say Hi... those are the Initials for Hawaii. If you didn't know that you probably just thought I am a pretty cheery gal.

If you want one too, and I know you do this is what you need:

30x40 foam board

Chalkboard spray paint

Some lightweight moulding

paint color of your choice

and some heavy duty apoxy

and of course chalk (even if you plan to use paint)

The rest is pretty simple. Spray the board with a couple of light coats of chalk board paint.

once dry, condition with chalk: rub the whole board with the side of a piece of chalk, and then wipe with a paper towel. Cut and Paint your moulding. Glue on your moulding using the apoxy. And finally use your mad art skills!

Ta-da chalkboard art... or menu if you so desire :)

Side note: I do know my directions.... It goes North EAST south west haha,

I just was thinking about drawing more than directions I just wanted to see if you noticed haha!

(thanks hubby for kindly pointing that out to me... good thing I didn't use paint!)

If fishes were wishes...

Then I could go out into my back yard and pick a couple from the river and wish for this:

A fabulous sewing machine.

So I could sew all the ruffles my heart desires... oh and some curtains :)

So I could edit some of the beautiful photo's we are taking!

I could design cute little labels, and cards, and stencils, and... the list could go on and on.

A home office/craft space that I could somehow magically pack away into my suitcase where ever we go. It would look quite a lot like this one, but with a framed chalk board wall... love!

A job in an interior design setting, a private plane to take me home and give my mom a birthday hug today, a private plane to take me to france, free french lessons, a money tree, cheesecake....

Fishes cant give you wishes you say?

Dang... guess ill have to settle for living in Hawaii.

Back to the Grindstone

Okay so we have been here a month and I still don't have a job. I have applied for everything near and far... in every store and bank... in food... in custodial... and if I don't find something this week McDonalds will receive my overqualified resume as well.
Things are fine, were not ready to declare ourselves completely broke yet thanks to the huge blessing I call savings, but I would sleep better at night If I found a source of income ya know?

With jobs constantly on the brain it got me thinking about the jobs I have had...

-Koolaid stand salesman
-Babysitter
-Hair stylist by way of hair school
-Balloon blower upper at party land (I think this was by far the most entertaining job I ever had and one of the most fun!)
-Chocolate Connoisseur
-Party planner/Receptionist at a cute store called On Occasion that just closed before we moved *tear*
-Retail associate at Saks in Arizona... ahem I may or may not have sent every penny I made right back to where it came from
-Nanny for two super cute boys who I already miss like crazy
-Piano Teacher

I look back and all I can think about were how wonderful all these jobs were, how I learned so much from each one, and hope that I'll end up right where I'm supposed to be again.

Tomorrow I have an Interview at Kahuku Elementary to be a recess aid haha! It's not very many hours but hopefully all will work out and I can at least do that until something opens up... like the Personal Banker job that is so perfect, so close, so everything we need/want that I found and applied to tonight!
Please pray that if it is ment to be, the job will be given to me because...

I really really would rather not work for the golden arches.

Hale means House

We remembered that our camera had video on it... 

so rather than taking you on a picture tour we decided that we would video it!

Hope you enjoy!

Early Christmas Surprise!

This was the first year my family drew names for Christmas and I LOVE it!

We got my sister Kaleigh's name and instantly knew we wanted to do something really special.

Because Kaleigh is the youngest in my family she has gotten all the hand-me-downs.

From clothes to beds most of what she owns used to be someone else's.

Sooo what did we do? 

We gave her a room makeover!

We have been working for about 2 months on this because Kaleigh needed new EVERYTHING!

We used a lot of what we already owned, and scored some awesome deals to make this a dream room for a little girl that is growing up fast!

So with out further hesitation...

BEFORE:
(side note: we had already started the deconstruction of her room when we realized we hadn't taken pictures yet... but you will get the idea!)

AFTER:

So it took us ALL day long to paint, sew, spray paint all the hardware in her room, and set up... so the color is not the best because of night time, but you get the idea!

She was screaming and freaking out when we showed her last night, the whole thing was a complete surprise for her even down to the colors! 

Pretty much I am going to win "best sister of the year" :)

STRIPES

I have lately Been obsessing over stripes....

Striped Furniture 

And Mostly Striped walls!

{My Favorite!}

 Stripes can take classic pieces and put a modern spin on them, I just love how fresh and new it looks!

I have an AMAZING idea....

Yesterday wood was acquired

Two colors of paint were bought

as well as 4 hinges!

Stay tuned!

Decorating Tiny

Maybe I am weird.

I have not been getting ANY sleep lately, And it is because of two little words.... Interior Design.

When I was 6th grade I remember not being able to sleep and I would start to think of decorating my room in all shades of pink and purple and that was it, I was out :)

Now it is the opposite. I cant sleep so I use the tactic that used to always work, but now I just find my self at 3 in the morning being overly excited, turning on the lamp and drawing out "my new fantastic Idea!"This is not good.... Not only for me, but for my cute hubby that in turn can also never get any shut eye! So here is my idea: I will start posting my "great Ideas" so that hopefully I can outlet some of my excitement! Here we go this is what I was thinking about until 3:30 last night!

Decorating Tiny Spaces. Here are some tips {That you may already know} But to hopefully help me get rid of the dark circles under my eyes please bear with me..... I'm begging you :) 

1- Go dark: 

Dark walls don't only make an impact in a room, they do the complete opposite of what you expect! When you have a light ceiling and dark walls it makes the room feel and appear bigger!

2- Fabric, Fabric, Fabric:

If you are renting use fabric to cover walls. It gives a room extra texture and you can easily apply it and peel off when you leave!

Here is a cute idea, you could do it as big small as you want:

http://brassyapple.blogspot.com/2010/08/studio-5-free-pattern.html

you could also make some fabric stripes!

3-Match Colors to Open up space:

In this picture the chairs are the same color as the walls and that helps open up the room!

4-Hide Away's:

I starting thinking about this when the new Ikea catalog came! Using the small space you have and being completely organized! I love the nesting tables in this picture! you could also put a pretty basket under to hide away books or whatnot if you don't have nesting tables. 

5- Closet Lighting

If you came to our house you would see a neat color coordinated closet {well at least if you told me you were coming over first hehe} But sometimes closets get the boot and you just shove in your belongings and close the door quickly so nothing falls out. I LOVE closet lighting it can make even the most jam packed closets seem bigger and make you want to play dress up!

whew!

Now hopefully I can get some sleep tonight :)

{All images came from House Beautiful}

Beachy House!!

Drum roll please.........
We sent off our deposit yesterday, and all I can think about is our cute beach house! I want to be there now! So with out further suspense here is a preview!

I also cant wait to get my hands in there and decorate! We decided that any extra money I make doing  hair cuts or extra piano lessons could go to the "Decorating the beach house fund!"

Here is some inspiration I have been collecting:

Goodness I cant Wait!

139 Days to go!

Conor

On Thursday Sarah gave birth to Conor! We had been saying forever, I think she will have it Sunday... Monday... Tuesday... I was so sure It would be Wednesday and then Conor and I could have had double birthday parties for the rest of our lives! But July 1 was the magical day! Here are some precious pictures! 

Conor looked at me for the longest time! He was so adorable!

Here are all three of us! I am so excited to be a nanny to two now! 

Congratulations Engel Family!

Heads, Boards, and Imagination OH MY!

What a weird combination of words the word headboard is.... why would you want to put your head on a board? {hehe}

Okay seriously I am dreaming of headboards! Beautiful, sculpted, plush, white, headboards that is....

{Some Inspiration}

Dreamy Eh? Here is The exact one I want to recreate!

I love everything about it. If we weren't trying to save every penny right now for Hawaii I would make one up to show all of you! Here is a great tutorial on how to make your own upholstered headboard.

Happy headboard making!

The Bub's is TWO!

Happy  Birthday to Kieran!

I love you!

Quatrefoil Wreath

It was time for a wreath update on our door, I just couldn't think of an idea I just loved though.... Until this!

I love it! It was by far the fastest project I have eve made! And to make it even better it only cost me two dollars to make!! 

Here is what you will need:
2 small foam wreaths
2 patterns of fabric
hot glue and gun
one yard of rick rack
one bead or button
the letter of you last name
thread and needle

To see how to make the wreath go HERE

Rosette Necklace take two

After a couple months I finally made another Rose Bib necklace... With Instructions :)

So first get some cute-a-lishous fabric!

Tear 1/2 inch strips of your fabric (I made 7 rosettes... so 7 strips)

Second you are going to Take the strip and Iron it in half.

Third Wrap the strip around a pencil.

Pull it off Gently.

And twirl it around into a flower :)

Next you are going to hot glue the flower to a small circle of felt, so it doesn't unravel.

After you have made all your rosettes arrange them in shape you want.

Place them on a full sheet of felt and trace around your shape... cut it out and glue the circles on.

Place your chain onto the bib and cut three pieces of ribbon....

You are going to make a loop with the ribbon, glueing down the ends to the felt. 

{That way you can switch out chains, depending on the length you desire}

AND YOUR DONE :)

Happy rosette Making!