SHE'S KIND OF A BIG DEAL

As you might know, I live in Oklahoma City and have grown up here.  You may not know that Hobby Lobby's corporate offices are based here, so while many of you are just now getting stores in your area, I've been shopping at Hobby Lobby since I was a girl (like for over 30 years!). 

I am SO happy to support such a wonderful Christian company, founded by a stellar family that puts their beliefs into practice every day.  In fact, last year our Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma received a $2 million designated gift from Hobby Lobby. This gift was specifically for the purchase a children's camp, Cross Timbers, at a new location for us. This is the very camp my daughter and I just went to a few weeks ago.  So, that's a lot of background about Hobby Lobby, but just so you know I will always happily promote Hobby Lobby any way I can and proudly stand behind their company.  

Now, about a year and a half ago my sister got a job at the HL corporate office.  She had just been laid off her former job, and even though it wasn't her "dream" job, she was offered a position that she accepted in order to get her foot in the door at the company.  Fast forward about a year, and some positions that DID inch toward her dream job came open, and she interviewed for them.  She wasn't hired for those positions, because they had a better plan for her once they got to know her and saw her amazing creative abilities.  

Hobby Lobby was in midst of launching itself into the video tutorial world and offered Sarah the position of Video Tutorial Coordinator to assist in those efforts. She works with a team of individuals in the Creative Department who help develop the projects shown, supply lists, scripts, props, instructions...and all the little details in between.  Oh, and as she got more involved, turns out that they wanted her IN FRONT of the camera too!  

So, my sister is the video tutorial girl for Hobby Lobby!

Her job as the Video Tutorial Coordinator enables her to wear many different hats.  She coordinates everyone involved in the process:  buyers, designers, video production team, photographers, and graphic artists.  They establish a project and break it down into steps for completion.  Then, she makes sure all of the steps make sense and works out an outline for the video.  After the video is shot, she coordinates post production photography and graphic art for printouts.

She works many long hours to help develop each project, teach herself what she needs to know in order to teach others, develops clear instructions, and many other behind-the-scenes tasks that have to get done in order to make what was once an idea for a video into a reality!

When we saw the preliminary videos online, we were so impressed!  My kids, however were kinda like, "Yeah, whatever, Aunt Sarah's on a video."  To them, it was just fun Aunt Sarah, who has a big dog and likes Star Wars and films them doing the Harlem Shake and plays video games and soccer in the back yard with them.  So, we had to redirect them by explaining what a cool opportunity this is and that she's kind of a big deal!  Then, they got it.

If you'd like to check out a few projects, you can see the project video page here.  I really want to make the Cabochon Bracelet, and my kids are crazy about the friendship bracelets.

Right now there are 4 videos uploaded, but any time they should be adding more, hopefully about a new one each week.  I can't wait to see what's next!

But even more exciting than her fun job...she just got engaged! 

One of her pals at work got a little creative with a Sharpie for a photo she's always wanted...

We're working towards an October wedding...THIS October! If you would like, you can read about the engagement here at her blog.  It's a good story and we can't wait for Micah to officially join the family!

Someday, I'll tell you about Basket Market...a local Hobby Lobby hideout of a store!

21

THE EMERALD LETTER

Today I have a couldn't-be-easier project for you!  I've sort-of moved away from having a wreath on my front door, for whatever reason, it's just been bare for a while.  So, when I saw this project, I knew exactly what I wanted to do to liven up the porch.  

I totally copied was inspired by Mrs. Devore's monogram door hanging, chevron ribbon and all.  I'm sure I've told you this before, but I just love every project that she does!  Remember?  I featured her amazing Cozy Coupe Cupcake Car here.  

I've had my eye on this burlap ribbon at Hobby Lobby for a while, and was glad to throw some in my cart for this project.  They have tons of new burlap ribbon with fun designs on it, have you seen them?  Lots of colors too!

I wanted a large letter and didn't find an option in the size and font I wanted at Hobby Lobby, so I picked up a giant cardboard letter at JoAnn's, for about $6 with a coupon.  After a quick spray paint job, I followed the tutorial at Dwellings by Devore and made a quick ribbon bow.  Then, I just hot glued the tie to the back, since the letter isn't heavy at all.

That's it!  Now I have a little personality back on my porch, with a strong hint of what's on the inside, lots of green and black and white!  

Did you accomplish any quick weekend projects?

13

FRIDAY FAVORITES (5)

Hooray for Friday!  We don't have any major plans for the weekend...just the way I like it.  Here's a few things that caught my eye this week.

Did you see this Teen Playhouse/Poolhouse at Finding Home?  Absolutely dreamy.  Those are some lucky girls to have a space like that just for them!

My Home Depot had some new Fiddle Leaf Figs in about a month ago.  It's a little bigger than the one I bought around Christmas, and since I've been able to keep that one alive I thought I'd try another one also.  I hope he's happy here and grows up big and strong.

A few days ago I came across this green leopard chair that Jesse redid.  Oh. My.  If you've read my blog for any time at all you know how much I love it.  Visit Scout and Nimble for some beautiful eye candy...Jesse's eye for color and style is blowing me away!

Apparently, I have a thing for chairs today, because I want to show you my friend Lisa's chair from Shine Your Light too.  She took a sad little hand-me-down from her in-laws and transformed it into this chic beauty:

I've never met a tree stump I didn't like, so when I saw this log planter from Kendra at A Proverbs 31 Wife, I was smitten!  The geraniums add the perfect pop of color.

And, a huge THANK YOU to these friends who have featured one of my projects lately.  Go visit them if you need some new weekend reads!  I'm so glad to have some new friends that these great ladies have sent over!

Diane at 13 Canadian Cottage 
(home tour), 

Carmel at Our Fifth House 
(peacock dresser), 

Katie at Decorate My Life 
(how to paint perfect stripes), 

Marian at Miss Mustard Seed 
(peacock dresser), 

Natasha Burns -you MUST check out her kitchen makeover! 
(drawer pull chalk holder),

Jenna at Rain on a Tin Roof  40+ gold projects! 
(green thrifted lamps and office gold lattice wall) 

Judy from Studio 3 Magazine 
(Dining Room) 

Have a great weekend, friends.  Do YOU have any fun plans?

10

LANTERNS IN THE KITCHEN

Finally, I've had a chance to photograph the big project that I've teased you about, then went on trip after trip before having the time to post about them.  

This project was waiting in the wings (a.k.a. the garage) for a long time.  I purchased these about 8 months ago at our Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  They were brand new in the box so they had several, but they were dated by their bright, shiny, brassy finish.

However, with their classic shape, large size and $50 price tag I knew I had found some winners.  I took the measurements and went home to consider them.  I wasn't sure on the size, so I made a very crude mock-up with some posterboard to get an idea of what they might be like over the island.    

It's may be hard to tell from the photos, but these lanterns are LARGE.  They are about 18" wide and the main lantern portion (not the chain) is 30" tall.  We decided to hang them a little high just to have plenty of head clearance, so the bottom edge is 38" from the top of the counter.  They are spread apart just a little more than I wanted them to be, but we had to work with the position of silly things like studs and ceiling braces.  Whatever.   

Everything in me wanted to paint those lights a fun color, but since our floor plan is so open I thought I'd better keep it consistent with the other lighting, which is all Oil-Rubbed Bronze.

One of the best parts is the cool shadows these lights throw up on the ceiling.

Did you notice the new design on the chalkboard wall?  I borrowed some lyrics from one of my favorite Brad Paisley songs...I think it's so true and applies to so many things in life!

Here's a little before shot without the lanterns:

And after:

Soon I'll have a follow-up post to show you what it took to make these lights work for our kitchen.  (*edited to add- go here to see the details of how we installed the lights.)  It was a semi-major project and there's lots of details!  I have one more project getting done right away in the kitchen, and if you follow my "Kitchen" board on Pinterest you might have a clue as to what it is!

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*A note on Commenting...

I wanted to make sure that you all know that I appreciate your comments SO much!  They truly keep me going. I've made a new commitment to answer each comment in a timely fashion, so if you don't get an e-mailed reply from me, it means that your comment came to my spam folder as a no-reply blogger and I can't respond.  Rats, but that's been happening a lot lately, even with many of you established bloggers!  Just wanted to let you know what the problem is in case you don't hear from me.  

Also, if you've e-mailed me a specific question or comment and I haven't responded, please ask me again!  I'm trying to go back through my inbox to those I might have missed, but I'm afraid some might have slipped through the cracks since I've been gone so much this summer.  I want to be as helpful as possible, so just get back with me again!

Thanks again!

Linking up with:

Sew a Fine Seam

The Shabby Nest

Thrifty Decor Chick Before & After Party

It's Overflowing

31

A GUEST POST AND A BABY SHOWER

I'm SO excited to be over at Brittany Makes today participating in her  Summer VIP Guest Blogger Series!  If you're visiting from Brittany's site, Welcome!  I'm so glad you're here.

Brittany got married a week and a half ago and invited me and some other friends to guest post while she is away on her 2 week (lucky duck!) honeymoon in Europe.  I'm crazy about all of Brittany's projects, and featured her DIY poufs as one of my Friday Favorites a few weeks ago.  

I hope you'll join me at Brittany Makes today and spend some time looking around.  I know you'll find lots of ideas you'll love!

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In other news, I wanted to share a few images from the Baby Shower I hosted over the weekend.  We were celebrating the upcoming birth of a sweet little baby girl, and her Mama couldn't be prettier!

There were several hostesses to help with the party, so they did most of the work, and one of them made the darling decorations.  She made a cute pennant banner and ribbon/fabric strip banner that I hung together on the china cabinet as a backdrop for the treat table.

I love the poms that she made out of tulle.  I've made them with tissue paper before, but the tulle ones were so soft and airy, they were perfect for the shower.  They didn't really work hanging from the chandelier where I originally wanted them, so I split them up and Deer got a statement necklace to wear for the party.  

It was a Sunday afternoon shower, so we kept the treats light.  Cupcakes, scrumptious sugar cookies, fruit, cheese and crackers, nuts and punch rounded out the selections.  

I didn't take a photo of it specifically, but if you need a good punch recipe, this one is fantastic and one of my stand-by favorites.  It's super easy...ready?  1 can of frozen Welch's White Grape Raspberry juice, 1 bottle of ginger ale, lots of crushed ice, and if you want it to look fancy throw in some frozen raspberries to float around in the bowl.  It's always a hit!  You could also substitute any of the other flavors of juice, they're yummy too.

Another great idea that these girls use at their showers...one of the hostesses brings a children's book and uses it as the guest book.  The guests can write a little message and sign their name in the book, and Mom and Baby will always have sweet memories of the shower when they read that selection together.  Sorry, I didn't get a picture of that idea either, but you get the point, right?

We are so excited about the arrival of Baby Blythe and are thankful for her sweet parents and the way they minister in our church.  We are praying for your family little Blythe and can't wait to meet you!  

7

I DID WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE IN THE FIRST PLACE {CHIANG MAI DRAGON}

I couldn't let it go.  As hard as I worked on them and as much as I liked the back of my dining room chairs, I couldn't stop thinking about the Chiang Mai Dragon fabric.  So, for Mother's Day and our Anniversary (and it probably needs to carry over to my birthday too!), I received 2 yards of this gloriously colorful bright fabric.  A very kind designer friend offered to order it for me at her price, but it was still crazy expensive.  Thus, several occasions worth of gifts!  And I wouldn't trade it for anything! 

If you're new here, this is what they looked like before.  Pretty, colorful, bold and good, but I compromised and didn't use what I REALLY wanted. 

How about a complete before, during, after and really after?

I did actually have someone else upholster the backs this time because I thought they would look more professional. But when I realized she did it exactly the way I did them originally, I wish I would have just done them myself.  At least I know I was on the right track for the next upholstery job!

I have enough left over for a couple of pillows, I just haven't gotten around to making those yet.  I had several options of how to lay the fabric out.  I tried the dragon centered in the middle, that's the part that's the most colorful, but it just didn't feel right to have that big reptile taking over the back of my dining room chairs.  So, he got the boot but might make an appearance on the pillows.

By the way, before I started reading design blogs a few years ago I'd never heard of Chiang Mai Dragon, but when I discovered it I caught the fever!  The colors and bold design are just unmatched in any other fabric...believe me, I searched long and hard for an alternative.

Did you notice anything else that's different?  I did it again.  I ordered a rug.  For my Entryway. 

When I ordered the striped rug, I knew all along that I might move it to my bedroom.  Well, over the Fourth, RugsUSA had another awesome 75% off sale and I jumped on it.  I ordered this one, which is a little bit of a twist on a traditional chevron.  The pattern is not quite as asymmetrical as I thought it would be from the website photo.  My girl says it makes her dizzy, and I agree a little bit.  I love it, it's not going anywhere, but if you're considering a rug like this and something like that might bother you, it might be better in a spot where there will be some furniture layered on it to somewhat break up the pattern.   

OK, if you've been around a while, I'm sure you're tired of posts about my chairs and my Entry, so I promise I'm done (except for ONE more post on my LAST project before my Dining Room is FINISHED!!, but that's not really about the chairs or the entry).  :)  Moving on to other things!

* * * * * * * * * * 

Oh yes, I almost blocked it all out and forgot, but thank you all for your sweet concern about our little flood last week!  We got new pad and the carpet re-installed on Tuesday, the cleaners came that afternoon, and after a few days we got everything moved back in.  Even in the midst of the headache, it does feel great to have everything clean and organized in those rooms now!  I put in a few late-nights, but everything was ready for the baby shower yesterday and I hope everyone had a great time.  I've got some cute pictures to show you later this week!

Linking up with:

Savvy Southern Style

A Stroll Thru Life

Sew a Fine Seam

It's Overflowing

37

MY "WELCOME HOME" FROM CAMP

Remember how I left you last Friday with the words "I'll be at Children's Camp with Emily until Sunday evening, and will finally have some time next week to photograph some GREAT projects I've finished up!"?  Well, I should have never opened my mouth...

This is what I came home from camp to.

Saturday afternoon while at camp I got a call and text from my husband that simply said "Call me."  Uh-oh.  When we got connected the conversation started out with "We're fine BUT..." and I knew something was wrong.

Long story short, we had been having some issues with the toilet in the kids' bathroom, and Saturday morning he and my son worked to replace and fix what needed to be done.  Not a big deal, they had done that kind of work before and felt confident about it.  So, they got the job done, did other things and relaxed for a few hours around the house, and then left on an errand (to pick something up across town for me).  When they walked in the door about an hour later, my husband said he heard the dreaded "hissing" sound and knew immediately something was wrong.  A seal on the water pipe that connects to the toilet from the wall had come loose, and water was going everywhere.  

We have floor air vents, so they were filling up and the kids' bedroom floors were soaked.  Thankfully, the water didn't quite make it to their bedroom door where the wood flooring in the hall starts.  

We have an AWESOME insurance agent (if you need one, they're the best!) who came over right away and worked for several hours with Ray to move furniture out, remove wet carpet, tear up the wet pad, and suck the water out of the vents.  Awesome I'm telling you...he completely went above and beyond.  Thanks Von!

This is bad, but it could have been so much worse.  We've never dealt with flooding before, and I can't imagine what it would have been like if the boys had been away from home longer than they were.  I'm so thankful!  They worked like dogs to get everything cleaned up and salvaged and stashed elsewhere around the house.  My guys are the best!

So, as I write, I'm waiting for the installers to come with a new pad and they will re-install the carpet in those rooms.  It's all dried out and fine.  But, I'm totally at a standstill as far as getting some things done until I can get everything out of their bedrooms back INTO their bedrooms!  

And, of course, I'm hosting a baby shower here this weekend, so all of the projects I planned to get done for that this week just flew out the door.  Fun times, right?

17

FRIDAY FAVORITES {4}

Happy Friday Friends!  Ready for the next installment of a few of my favorites?

I'd really like to have a couple of poufs.  However, they are so expensive!  So, when I came across this tutorial by Brittany I thought it was brilliant.  Her instructions are easy to follow and make this a totally doable project!   

DIY Poufs by Brittany Makes

I am crazy about all of the star and polka dot wall accents floating around blog-land.   The Nester made her own to spice up her laundry room ceiling (that fab light fixture isn't hurting anything either!).  I'm looking for just the right place in my home where I could try this out too.

Star decals from The Nester

Are you watching the current season of HGTV Star (formerly Design Star)? We don't subscribe to cable, but I'm keeping up by watching online after the fact.  I'm a little behind, so don't spoil anything for me!  I have been going back and watching past seasons, though.  Here's the funny thing...one day I was watching while eating lunch and my kids sat down and watched with me.  

I thought they were just desperate because they couldn't turn their own show on, since they had reached their limit for the day.  But, come to find out, they love it and beg to watch it now!  We just finished season 5 where Emily Henderson was a contestant.  Her work is so inspiring for me and I enjoyed watching her bloom in the competition. I lo-oo-oo-vv-vv-ed her room for the glass box challenge....the patterned fabric on the walls, the fiddle leaf fig, the cow hide rug, the vintage mirror and accessories...I could go on and on!

A few weeks ago I went with our youth group to camp to help cook.  Before we went, the sweet lady who headed up the kitchen brought me the ingredients to pre-cook meat for sloppy joes, and she brought me one of these, the ChopStir!  This is the coolest kitchen tool!  I've never been able to get hamburger meat teeny-tiny when browning it, and this baby did it...even when cooking 6 pounds at a time!  I'm thinking these would be great stocking stuffers....(if you're in my family pretend you didn't just see this!)

And, something funny to leave with you for the weekend.  My kids showed this to me the other day and highly enjoy re-enacting it often!  Not endorsing this show at all, but this clip is hilarious! (Stick with it, only about 30 seconds.)

I hope you have a great weekend!  I'll be at Children's Camp with Emily until Sunday evening, and will finally have some time next week to photograph some GREAT projects I've finished up!

12

THREE CHANGES...

Why has this summer been so busy?  Has it been that way for everyone?  I guess it might have something to do with having a child who is now involved in church youth group activities, so all of those on top of our regular camps, VBS, family events and vacation have brought a little havoc on the projects I've accomplished!  I've always heard it and never believed it, but you all with babies...this is the easiest you'll ever have it!  It only gets busier as they get bigger!

So, there are three little things that I've done lately.  Since adding the peacock blue dresser in the living room, right across an open space from the green china cabinet in the dining room, I've been trying to tone down a few other pieces to quiet them a little and let the colorful furniture pieces be the stars.

First up, the coffee table.  If you've been around here for a while, you'll remember that I bought it last summer at the thrift store and left it alone except for cleaning it up and adding gold paint to the feet.

I was ready for a change from the green top, so I painted it black.  I still love the rest of the table as-is, and the new top will make the piece much more neutral.  

Before...

and After.

My second victim was my sofa table.  I REALLY like how I finished it a few years ago-painted with a light green, distressed and glazed-but now it sits very close to the china cabinet and they just didn't work together.  

So, the base got a quick spray of black paint also.  Again, simple, but it blends with the surrounding furniture much better.

Before

and After.

Lastly, since I put the new Ikea clock over the back door, my little (or not) deer got kicked out of it's place.  I tried him in the entry and really like him even better there!

Before...

and After.

Little changes can make just as much of a difference as big dramatic ones!

Emily and I left for Church Children's Camp this morning...send thoughts of cool weather our way! (The forecast for the next few days is close to 100-grrr.)  I'll be here tomorrow though with some more of my favorite picks!

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