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Patio Paradise: The Plan + Mood Board

Patio Paradise Mood Board: Creating an inviting, relaxing patio oasis

I hope you had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend!   Not only did we spend time thanking those who served our country, but we enjoyed much of the long weekend soaking up the sun + enjoying the beautiful outdoors.  BUT like always, with playtime comes worktime.  Before setting our sights on BBQing & the beach, we worked all day Saturday on the outdoors.

Over the past month, we have been spilling hours into transforming our sideyard into a Patio Paradise!  I’m thrilled to be partnering with Lowe’s on this project to create a space that is inviting, relaxing, and truly a magical oasis.  With the new baby coming in just a few short weeks, I am banking on this new area being our stay-cation spot for the Summer.

Here’s a peek at the shopping and prepping that has gone into to making this Patio Paradise come to fruition…

Progress on creating a Patio Paradise

When you have a blah blank slate, there is alot that can be done. Only a few years ago, the area where our new oasis now sits was filled with a dilapidated above-ground pool + 15 overgrown trees.  It surely has taken a turn (for the better) since then!

Before

Before

I’m super excited for this outdoor space to be done & to share it with you.  As I’ve mentioned once and again (and maybe 48 other times), I don’t have a green thumb + many perennials are difficult to grow in my neck of the woods because of the long winters.  But, I can say that new buds are popping each day.  In no time, this space will be done and I’ll be able to share with you my new Patio Paradise!  In the meantime, if you’ve got your eye on any of the elements in my mood board, here are direct links to the sources…

Patio Paradise Mood Board: Creating an inviting, relaxing patio oasis

1. Outdoor Lights
2. Pergola
3. Garden Pot (navy)
4. Lanterns – Large & Small
5. Pillows – Blue Multi / White Medallion / Bird
6. (2) Side Chairs + Pillows
7. Loveseat + Coffee Table
8. White Garden Stool
9. Planter
10. Outdoor Rug
11. Pouf
12. Outdoor Fireplace

Once our Patio Paradise is complete, we’ll be ready for a big ole’ bash!  I wish you could all come.  The reveal + party pics coming soon.  In the meantime, later this week (or possible next week) I’ll be sharing the other outdoor spaces around our home.  Along with the patio, we’ve been busy updating the back deck + the front porch.  I better get back to work…

What updates have you made to your outdoor spaces this Spring?

Disclosure: I am super excited to be partnering with Lowe’s on this outdoor project.  I love working with Lowe’s because they offer a range of items with great design qualities.  As always, they did not tell me what to write, what to choose, and all thoughts are 100% my own.  They gave me free-reign on everything so my design ideas + thoughts are 100% genuine.

DIY: Wood Honeycomb Shelves

Even though we veered away from the original design for the revamped shared kids space, my son had his heart set on honeycomb shelves after I showed him the Land of Nod style.  And since this mama can’t let her boy down, I had to pull through.

But instead of buying, what did I do?  DIYed them, of course.  After a little research & this post by A Beautiful Mess, I was confident to move forward.

Not only are these honeycomb / hexagon shelves functional, the whole ensemble is like a piece of art.  And instead of painting the shelves a color or staining them a traditional wood finish, I chose an interesting blue hue which is in-trend and spot on with the other tones that I’ve introduced into the room.

Take a look…

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

The entire shelf composition runs the length of the twin bed, which is about 80″ long, and makes the entire wall truly come alive.  This “installation” also parallels with my Lowe’s Creative challenge project for this month which focuses on introducing the submerged color trend of watery, cool blue hues into a project.  With the size + interesting finish, this project is by far one of my favorites!

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Before we move forward, it has to be said that this project was a big challenge, but the bigger the venture, the better the result.  I don’t often do large-scale woodworking projects and at times I thought it was going to be a big F-A-I-L, but in the end the honeycomb shelves MAKE THE ROOM.  Take Away? Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.  Push through because in the end, it’ll be worth it!

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Like usual, before starting a larger scale project, I sketched out my idea and figured out the supplies I needed.  This was the first sketch…

Design 1 for honeycomb shelves

And then the shelves ended up evolving into this layout instead so not all of the shelves are actually attached…

Design 2 for honeycomb shelves

Supplies I used:

  • (7) 1″ x 6″ x 6′ long pieces of wood – each shelf took approximately (1) board
  • 1-1/2″ wood screws
  • 1-1/2″ corner brackets
  • Plastic toggle anchors
  • Stain or Paint – depending on how you want to finish the shelf surface
  • Other supplies: miter saw, tape measure, drill, sander, level, pencil

To save on time, I often have my wood cut while at shopping at Lowe’s, but for this project, I cut it at home because of the quantity needed + the angles.

Here are the steps I took:

1. I set the miter saw to 30 degrees and never touched the saw again for the entire project.  This angle is crucial so each of the 6 pieces will make the perfect hexagon shape.  I approximated that I wanted each finished shelf to be an overall dimension of about 14″ x 14″, and chose the length of 7″ for the long side of each piece.

After marking the wood with my tape measure + pencil, I made the first cut using the miter saw. Then I flipped the piece of wood over to make the second angled cut.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

This is what the first piece looked like when cut.

Then I cut about 42 more…

Size of cut for honeycomb shelf

2. Before taking the next steps of attaching each piece to make the shelves, I layed all the pieces out to see how they’d actually go together.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

3. Then we were ready to chug forward and attach these bad boys…

The first hexagon box was created using 6 pieces and all the angles faced each other.  It’s best to stand them up on their sides, so the floor acts like the wall. The Mister (who was a huge part of this project as well) and I actually moved from the carpet to a flat, hard surface so the pieces would lay flat.  The carpet was too cushy.

TIP: You must use wood screws for this project.  We started out with screws, but it wasn’t working right (because we didn’t pre-drill), then changed over to using nails.  BIG MISTAKE.

Once you have the angled wood pieces in position, first pre-drill the holes, then drill in the wood screws.  If you don’t pre-drill the holes, the wood will probably split, which is what happened to us atfirst.  Using a nail won’t work because they’ll pull out and the overall shelf won’t be stable / sturdy.  Believe me, these are all lessons we learned along the way!

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

4. When the first box is complete, you can either be done or add on to it to create a multi-honeycomb shelf like ours.  If you continue adding on to the first hexagon, you’ll use one side of the original hexagon to create the second hexagon. This time though, the cut angles won’t touch each other, but instead overlap.  I’ll be honest, it does get tricky at this point and the shelves become a big jigsaw puzzle.  We ended up with (1) 3 box shelf, (1) 2 box shelf, and (1) stand alone shelf.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

Once all the shelves were screwed together, we were ready for the next steps…  finish the surface + install.

It took me some time to determine how I wanted to finish the shelves.  At first I was going to paint them, but then steered away because I wanted to see the wood grain shine through.  That meant stain.  But, what stain?  In the end, I chose a gray / blue water-based stain by Minwax.  The submerged color seemed perfect with the other hues in the room and was ideal with what’s on-trend right now.

5. First, I gave the edges and all the surfaces a good sanding with my orbital sander.   Then using a rag, I applied the wood stain and almost instantly wiped it away so very little actually soaked into the wood.  Because of this, the drying time was very quick.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

6. About a day later, the shelves were ready to install.  I first attached the metal angle brackets to the shelves. Then I determined the height + positioning of where the shelves would be hung.

Next, the Mister + I marked the holes through the brackets and pre-drilled the holes into the wall.  As with hanging anything, I always love using plastic toggle drywall anchors (I shared a pic recently on Instagram).

Once the anchors were in each hole, we repositioned the shelves in place and screwed them in using a drill + screw.  It’s key to use a level as well so the shelf doesn’t get installed crooked!

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

At this point, the shelves were almost done…

I loved the look of the blue shelves against the lighter gray walls, but I still wanted to make them pop.  To do so, I chose to paint the front edge of the shelves a white color which matches the moulding throughout the room.  Two coats later with a small, flat brush did the trick.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

Lastly, so the metal brackets didn’t stand out so much, I painted those as well using the wall paint color.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

And then they were finally complete!

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

Love the under-the-bed wood rolling carts?  I shared the tutorial on how to make them earlier this week.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

These shelves are perfect to fill with books, toys in containers, and any fun thing(s) to display.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

And here is a pretty pinnable picture if you want to remember this project for a later date…

{DIY Tutorial} How-To Make Wood Honeycomb Shelves. Why spend hundreds, when you can make them yourself! These shelves complete the look of the room. So many great projects in this kids room makeover.

So what do you think?

Do you like the honeycomb / hexagon look?  Have you incorporated this new trend into your home? What has been your most difficult DIY project endeavour?

Lowes Creative Team Member Badge - Spring 2014

To gather even more unique, fun, and creative ideas for your indoor and outdoor Spring spaces, I would definitely suggest downloading the Lowe’s Creative Ideas app on your iphone and/or ipad.  I’m always checking out the FREE app for great seasonal + do-it-yourself inspiration.

 Also consider following Lowe’s on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram as well.

Disclosure: I am part of the Lowe’s Creative Team and was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to purchase items for my project.  I was also compensated for my time to use the products.  No one told me what to create, what to buy, how to use the product, or what to write.  All opinions are 100% mine!

DIY: Installing Groutable Luxury Vinyl Tile

I hope you had a nice weekend and if you’re in Sandy’s path, stay safe! We’ll see what she brings our way later today and tomorrow.

In the meantime, I spent much of last week working on my next Lowe’s Creative Team challenge.  This month’s project was a “create anything” project and it was the perfect opportunity to redo the foyer floor.  This project has been one that I’ve wanted to tackle since moving into our home.  The difficulty always has been, how.

The entrance into our home is not only the foyer, but also the space that leads to the garage, our laundry room, pantry, coat closet, and powder room. As being the major entrance and exit path into the home + all these important spaces, I couldn’t grasp the idea of a long period of downtime for this area.  With 2 kids and a busy schedule, it was mere impossible to not make this an easy 1 day project.  So that’s where the how came in.  How could it happen?

Well about a year ago, I learned about Groutable Luxury Vinyl Tile.  This treasure has changed my life and saved a whole lotta headaches!  I shared my first LVT project earlier this year when I redid my parents floor, and since have used it in many other spots like my bathroom and the kids.

When the time came to tackle this project, it was really the only product that would provide the desired look of ceramic tile (you would never know it’s vinyl) , plus the quick turnaround of starting and finishing in ONE DAY.

What’s incredible about this tile is that once it’s finished, it looks and feels EXACTLY like ceramic tile.  You would never know it’s vinyl.  Believe me, I would not use something that has a fake look!

My existing floor was in really good condition. None of the tiles were cracked or chipped, and the real reason for the new floor was to aesthetically update the space.

If you plan on tackling this project, it’s important to evaluate the condition of your existing floor.  You may need to remove the existing floor or put down a leveler before installing the new floor.  Chat with your local Lowe’s customer service peeps.  My local guy was really helpful in directing me in the right direction.

To start off, I gathered my supplies for the tile installation part:

  • Triangle Ruler
  • X-acto Blade
  • Spacers ( I used 1/8 spacers)
  • A pencil
  • Snips
  • Cutting surface

There are various ways to start laying the tile.  Most commonly, experts say to start the first tile in the center of the room, but for me I wanted a whole tile when you walk into the front door, so I started at that point.  Since the room isn’t a perfect square, there really is no “center”.

Installing the tiles is really easy.  Similar to regular peel-and-stick tiles (even though these luxury vinyl tiles are much thicker and more durable), you do just that…

Peel the backing off the corner edge (not the entire tile).

Using spacers, lay down the tile starting at the corner edge.

Once the tile is positioned in place, peel off the remainder of the paper backing.

For my foyer floor, I layed as many whole tiles first, then went back and tackled all the tiles that needed to be cut afterwards.

For the tiles that need to be cut, here’s how I tackled them…

  1. Mark the cut with a pencil.
  2. Use a triangle to draw a line and mark the cut.
  3. Score the tile surface 2-3 times with an X-acto blade.
  4. Gently snap the tile where it was scored.

For difficult, none straight cuts, here’s how I tackled them…

  1. Sketch the design to be cut on the tile surface.
  2. Cut out the design using an X-acto blade.
  3. See if it fits and make needed adjustments.
  4. Stick it down. It doesn’t need to be perfect because once it’s grouted, many imperfections aren’t obvious.

I put together a quick video (it’s pretty amateur, so don’t poke fun please) of how I cut the pieces if you need more know-how!

 

Ok, so once the tiles are set, you can move RIGHT ON TO GROUTING.  That’s one of the beauties about groutable vinyl tile – there’s no downtime or waiting like with ceramic tile or natural stone.

To prep for grouting, it’s important to cover the areas where you don’t want grout.  Basically that’s the base mouldings around the room. For this, I find it easiest and best to apply painters tape around the perimeter of the room.

Onto my favorite part because at this point, you’re more than halfway done 🙂

For the grouting steps, I gathered my supplies of:

  • Bowl of water
  • Tile sponge (one side has a sponge, the other side is abrasive)
  • Tile float
  • Luxury Vinyl Tile Grout

The tiling process for vinyl tile is exactly the same as if it were ceramic, but the grout itself is different.  There is specially made pre-mixed grout specific for luxury vinyl tile. I used pre-mixed grout made by Precision Components which I found at Lowe’s in the same section as the groutable vinyl tiles.  This premixed sanded acrylic grout has “good flexural strength and adhesion” and is recommended to use over traditional cement grouts.

*Don’t use sanded grout that you mix yourself!

I started applying the grout by the stairs, so I knew I could back out of the space without stepping on what I just grouted. Even though it’s okay to walk on the tiles, the grout does need time to set and dry.  Once ready to apply the grout, I found it best to use a low angle and then a higher angle to wipe the excess away.  Once the joint is filled with grout, you want to wipe as much away as possible so not to have huge clumps of grout left on the tile – it just makes more work to clean up.

Once you’ve got a section of about 3′ x 3′ covered in grout, use a damp sponge to wipe away the grout.

You can easily notice the areas that have been grouted and the areas that haven’t (yet).

Once the grout is completed, I took the tape off.  It’s very important – and I’m only sharing this from a bad experience – to remove the tape when the grout is still somewhat wet otherwise once it’s hardened it’s near impossible (been there, done that).

Once the tape is off, the floor was done!  YES.  Major Project COMPLETE.  This is a huge checkmark off my DIY list. Here’s the result…

This is the hallway that leads to the garage with the doors to the washer/dryer on the left and the doors to the coat closet/pantry on the right.  I recently added a splash of color to this door and since it’s metal, it’s been a great place to display the kids artwork, coupons, etc.  I’ll share more on that in a future post.

Do you see a little something sitting at the front door?  That’s our new little 4 month old kitty.  She’s so cute and she loves the new floor – hehe!

Groutable Vinyl Tile PROS and CONS

Affordable – Luxury Vinyl Tile runs about $1.00 – $2.00 sq. ft. and compared to ceramic or natural stone, it is very inexpensive. The tiles which I purchased from Lowe’s were $1.18 and the premixed grout (for my 200 sq. ft. space, I used 2 tubs) cost $8/each.  Ceramic tile is available in a range of prices, but usually starts at $2 per sq. ft. , so the savings right there is 50%.

No Experience Required – And I’m completely being honest with you.  It’s easy and if you’ve never tiled before, you can do it!   I think a person with little experience can complete this project with ease.  Measuring and cutting is really the most difficult part of the project, so take your time and measure correctly!  Installing ceramic tile is not difficult, but it is tricky and experience is helpful.  Cutting ceramic tile can often be difficult and time consuming.  For prior ceramic tile projects, I’ve used tile snips, a tile cutter, and a wet saw.  A wet saw is the best for cutting ceramic tile, but it’s not easy – I’ve made alot of mistakes.  In my estimation, ceramic tile would take about double the time for installation compared to installing groutable vinyl tile.

Grout Right Away – Immediately after you install the groutable vinyl tiles, you can start the grouting process.  This makes the entire process possible to complete in one day.  With ceramic tile, after you finish laying it, you have to let the adhesive dry for 24 hours before grouting, which results in a 2+ day project, so essential ceramic tile takes double the time.

Availability and Selection – I purchased this groutable vinyl tile at Lowe’s, but other home improvement stores also offer similar products.  The selection is not as vast as ceramic tile (which is a con), but I was surprised by the wide range of colors and textures.

One important part to mention is that the surface must be level underneath.  If there is any flexibility in the subfloor, ie: gaps between the tiles and the subfloor, then the grout could crack and pull away from the tiles – this could happen with ceramic tile and LVT.  Overall though, it’s a great product with an amazing result.  As being a huge part of our home, this new floor sure brings a smile to my face!

Onto the giveaway, which is HUGE!

Now’s your chance to try this project in your home or something completely new and different.  Lowe’s is generously giving one winner a $100 Gift Card to their store – how cool?!

This is the first giveaway that I’m using rafflecopter, so please email me if you’re having trouble – jburger.design@gmail.com (fingers crossed it works!).

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am part of the Lowe’s Creative Team and was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to purchase items for my project.  I was also compensated for my time to use the products.  No one told me what to create, what to buy, how to use the product, or what to write.  All opinions are 100% mine!

I link my projects to some of these parties: Skip to My Lou, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps on the Porch, Today’s Creative Blog, Stories of A to Z, All Things Heart & Home, House of Hepworths, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Tip Junkie

DIY: 3 in 1 Kids Play Tent – A Lowe’s Creative Idea

I hope you’re having a great week and I want to thank all of you who left such kind comments about my daughter’s room makeover. I already shared one DIY creation in the room (the washi tape initial) and I’m back today to share another part of the space for my first challenge as a Lowe’s Creative Team Member (learn more about that here).

One of my favorite parts of the room was creating a play tent. My kids, as most kids do, love creating forts and tents with blankets and pillows. They love the idea of a hidden place to play, read books, and tell stories. When embarking on this makeover, I thought a play tent would be the perfect addition for a small space in the corner of her room.  I didn’t want to make the tent dominate the space, but I also didn’t want it to be too small because what fun is that?!

My solution for the dilemma… A 3-in-1 tent with long panels to allow room for 1 child or 5.

Kids love options – am I right?!  You never know if they want to play by themselves in a little cocoon or if they want all their friends around to have a tea party, play barbies, or battle like droids (parents of Star War fans know what I’m talking about).

When starting this project, I of course, headed to Lowe’s to gather my supplies.

  • 1 x 6 board
  • flexible wood board (I ended up using a 4″ wide x 8′ long) wood toe kick thanks to the suggestion by a Lowe’s sales person)
  • nails, screws, and anchors
  • fabric of your choice
  • ribbon of your choice
  • drapery panels

To start off, I headed to my favorite home improvement store, Lowe’s, to gather my supplies.

1. Once home, I cut the 1″ x 6″ board into a 38″ piece and a 26″ piece (Lowe’s will also cut your wood pieces to size).  The nailed the two ends together.

2. Using anchors and screws ( I always use the self-screwing kind), I attached to the two pieces of wood to the corner space.  Then for the curve, I cut the 4″ wide x 8′ long toe kick in half.  Using finishing nails, I attached the flexible curved wood to the end of each 1″ x 6″ to finish the canopy base.

The curved wood was a little flimsy (obviously so it can bend), so I secured it in the back by hot gluing on paint sticks.

Once the base was done, the fun part started… adding the fabric.

In knowing that I was going to use white long panels, I wanted to add a bit of whimsy and fun to the valance, so I used a fun Duralee Ikea fabric along with drop cloth and a white pom-pom trim.

3. I cut a piece of drop cloth that was slightly larger that the valance, then wrapped it around the front of the valance and secured it in the back with hot glue.  The curved front sits about 1/2″ from the ceiling so I was able to wrap the fabric at the top as well.

Time to jazz it up!

4. After the drop cloth was in place, I added the colorful Ikat fabric.  I determined that I wanted to have a 3″ band of the fabric and marked it along the valance.  Then once again, I hot glued on the fabric.  Easy-Peasy!

secured the fabric in the front…

secured the fabric on the back…

5. Then I added the cute white pom-pom trim. Of course with hot glue… again.

For the last part of this 3-in-1 Kids Play Tent, are the panels.

Ok, so let’s take a step back and let me explain how and why I created these panels. Because of the dynamic fuschia in the room, I thought white panels would be a quieter, fresh contrast.  I also wanted them to feel light and airy, so decided on a sheer panel with a small pattern (sheers from Target).  The overall length was only 84″ and needed to be much longer, so I added a solid white cotton fabric (used from Ikea window panels) to the bottom.  They look pretty for the tent, but could also be used as drapery panels at a later date – I love creating things that can be used now AND later.

6. With right sides together, I sewed the two short ends of the panels.  I wasn’t worried about the length because the longer the better – this is how the large canopy is created.

7. Once the two panels were created, I attached them with staples to the ceiling on the inside of the valance.  I also overlapped the two panels creating a natural opening / closure.

8. Lastly, I added metal tie backs that I purchased at Lowe’s.  These tiebacks are perfect to pull back the panels and have the space wide open – like a stage for the kids to put on a play.

 

And it’s done. An exciting 3-in-1 Kids Play Tent.

1 – Panels completely pulled back

2 – A cozy hidden nook with panels drawn

3 – Panels pulled out creating a larger “tent”

What a fun spot! Within minutes of having this space done, my kids had all their stuffed animals, blankets, and pillows tucked away inside.

Well my little girl is calling me to go back into her tent – I gotta go!

To see more on this space, click over to see the Big Girl Bedroom {Reveal}

You can find more DIY creations in the Lowe’s Creative Magazine or the Lowe’s Ipad App for FREE!

Disclosure: I am part of the Lowe’s Creative Team and was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to purchase items for my project.  I was also compensated for my time to use the products.  No one told me what to create, what to buy, how to use the product, or what to write.  All opinions are 100% mine!

I link my projects to some of these parties: Skip to My Lou, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps on the Porch, Today’s Creative Blog, Stories of A to Z, All Things Heart & Home, House of Hepworths, Finding Fabulous, The Shabby Nest, Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Tip Junkie