Friday, September 28, 2012

a thought to ponder


glamping take 2

quite a while back i did a post on glamping (glamour camping). since the post isn't such a pretty one (i really don't know what i was thinking with this post- you can't even read it!), i decided to remake it and post it here.... because i'll be GLAMPING IT UP this weekend. i'm so excited i'm using all caps.


Thursday, September 27, 2012

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

crushing on kitchens

simply loving the simple-ness of these kitchens. i stand firm in my preference of white casework for a kitchen. an accent of beadboard, a butcherblock countertop, and glass-front cabinets. such a clean look.

photos via here + here

some thoughts

how do you pray? for whom do you pray? i find myself praying for those that i love and care about most often. praying for things happening in their lives, praying for those that don't have a relationship with God, and praying that i can be a witness to them. recently i realized that i haven't prayed to ask for help in my own life lately. and that i should take a moment to pray selfishly, for things i feel like i need more help doing.


Monday, September 24, 2012

a little ramble

comforted, relaxed, motivated, and prepared. that's how i like to start my Monday morning. ready to tackle the day but calmed from a weekend of relaxation.

unfortunately, that's not how my Monday started. a weekend of installs, an early wake up call today, several trips back-and-forth across town, a quick install, and a check up on a hectic jobsite. that's how my Monday started. and now that it's noon, i'm finally settling in at my desk with a cup of coffee to go through emails.

on a more exciting note, my dear friend Monica, who is also my Influence Conference roomie, text me this morning about how ready she is for the conference. it was a nice reminder of the excitement to come in the next couple weeks. a lot of the other attendees have been blogging about being nervous and shy when meeting people and how they hope they are able to really open up to others. i'm a little anxious about this too, because i tend to be quiet around anyone i don't know. but mostly, i'm ready to be around a group of awesome, awesome ladies who inspire me more and more as i get to know their blogs.

have you met Monica? she's done some guest posts for me in the past which can be found here & here.

easy, peasy banner DIY

last month i shared this post about my nephew's birthday party. remember it? yeaaah you do! so i'm gonna show you how i created the fun bunting-like banner for his party in a two-step process.


select a variety of napkins that match your party decor. premeasure your ribbon so you know exactly how long you want it.


A) leaving the napkin folded, cut through all the layers from the bottom to about 1/2 an inch from the top seam. make strips about 3/4" wide all the way across.

B) unfold the napkin, layout your piece of ribbon, and tape the ribbon to the napkin. then fold the napkin back over. repeat for the entire length of ribbon.

Then you hang it up and say "TA-DA!"

This is literally the easiest thing ever and it added such a colorful punch to the backyard party.

Friday, September 21, 2012

etsy furniture favorites

three pieces of furniture i'd love to snatch right off of etsy today...



1 / 2 / 3

shop it up!

GUYS! one of my favorite bloggers + stylists Emily Henderson is having a One Kings Lane sale starting today! She has a great variety of vintage furnishings and fun accessories. Her finds are going fast so check it out here RIGHT NOW.

Not a One Kings Lane member? Click here to become one!



Thursday, September 20, 2012

21 dates of summer: food + coffee + music

based on the last episode of the 21 dates series, one would think we aren't gonna make the deadline. especially considering TOMORROW is the last day of summer. however, we are right on track. i'm just not posting them like I should. so here is 3 in one...


burgers and pool at the pool hall in Kentucky. unfortunately this place is incredibly gross on the inside. i seriously doubt there is a board of health in this county because... well you get the point. worst part is... THEIR BURGERS ARE AMAZING. KJB's fam has been going to this joint for years without anyone getting sick, so i guess we will continue the trend.

one night it was time for some big decision making, so we headed to the Starbucks down the street, enjoyed the warm evening, and talked about our life plans. details to come from that conversation.

to make summer fade slowly into fall, we sat down with our iTunes open and made a combined playlist of some of our favorite songs of the summer. we also watched some Karmin covers on YouTube. i'm loving her lately.


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

3D wallflower DIY

since wedding planning and crafting ended back in May, i've been itching to do some new crafting. creating really playful backdrops especially. the DIY i'm gonna share today is really one of the most dramatic things i've seen. so get ready.... because it's bouts ta get crazy up in herr...

ok. maybe not really crazy. but i am kinda crazy in love with this backdrop idea.


cut your cardboard into a circle the size of your choice. this circle sets the size for the entire piece. my circle was about 8" in diameter and my flower came out to about 36". (to make these much smaller you would want to have a smaller circle but also cut down the construction paper.)

start rolling the construction paper into cones and tape down the ends. i used construction paper because it's inexpensive and has color on both sides. you could always use scrapbook paper with a pattern for a bold look. don't be afraid to vary the sizes of the cones because just like a real flower, no two petals are alike. once you have a mountain of cones, start hot gluing them to the edge of the cardboard circle.


start building up the flower buy layering the cones and hot gluing closer to the center. working your way out, the flower will naturally start to form a dome shape.


once you are satisfied with how full the flower is, you are done. add command strips to the back and adhere it to the wall. you can decide how you want your backdrop to look- if you want multiple flowers in one color but varied sizes, or all the same but a few different colors, or a mix of both.



if you were to recreate this look, how would you do it? what colors would you use?

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

buy it. you know you want it.

came across these pretty trays while internet window browsing. love the variety of background styles; really makes it so there's something for everyone.


get it here on parker & rain

Monday, September 17, 2012

bloggin' around

Check it out guys!


yeaah i'm late in the game. but i'm there!

my weekend + a mini DIY

this weekend was... well i worked. a lot. i worked at work and i worked to prepare for a yard sale and i worked around the apartment. so to say i'm a bit tired on this monday (as proof, i'm not getting this post up til 4.30 PM!), is an understatement. this morning was comprised of a furniture install that took my last bit of energy, and while i'd love to go home and nap after work, you'll find me in the grocery store. i'll potentially be zombie-walking so don't be nervy if you see me there.

sunday afternoon i took a little time to try out a DIY i've been wanting to do... the famous, personalized coffee mug. i thought i'd share my success with you favorites.

just decorate your mug -that'd be your coffee mug, not your face BYTHEWAY- and stick it in the oven to bake for 30 minutes at 350F. if you use a porcelaine pen, it will be dishwasher & microwave save. if you use the sharpie, keep it away from those two. also keep it away from super scratchy sponges/brushes or your "Always be youself. Unless you can be a unicorn. Then be a unicorn" mug will become a "Alw be yours Unless yo a unic then b uni" mug. not that i'd know or anything...

the possibilities on these are endless. my "things i love" mug is covered with a listing of things that make me smile which ensures a great start to the day.

and now a pretty picture. just because i can.



have you tried to make a personalized mug? how would you fancy up yours?

Friday, September 14, 2012

21 dates of summer: picnic + train

i'm several posts behind so today, i'm posting two dates in one. we only have a few dates left to complete the "challenge" and summer officially ends next weekend. i think we are gonna make it :)

here are dates ten & eleven!

he likes my attempt at cookin. especially when we can sit outside and enjoy the warmth of summer underneath a large shade tree.

while in Kentucky we went on a train ride to see an old coal mining area. it was gorgeous down there!
finally a halfway decent picture of yours truly! as the artist, i spent the trip inspired by colors and textures surrounding me. KJB, ever the learning teacher, absorbed the history of the area.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

patterns & letters

sarah watson knows whats up. patterned fabrics for Art Gallery Fabrics called Luxe in Bloom and the kind of hand-lettering i lust after... to say i adore her work is an understatement.


find sarah's work here

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

AUTUMN favorites

one of the things i'm loving for fall is the use of leather, especially in skirts. this round up has an option for every price range. pair with a pair of black pump or black boots, a blouse + blazer, or sweater for a simple, fashionable look.

39 / 94 / 95 / 345 / 895

Monday, September 10, 2012

decor 2 {wedding details}

unless you've been living under a rock, you know that photobooths at wedding are a MUST-HAVE. photographers and venues are adding them to their services so no one is left out. it's a great way for the bride and groom to document who was there and it gives guests something fun to do if they aren't the dancing queen that i am... oh sorry, did i say that?

my super-awesome-can't-be-topped photographer {meredith} offered us a photobooth package at a great price, but unfortunately it would have put me over my budget. we decided it was still something we wanted to do so, like many of our wedding projects, we went the DIY route. i had a pretty decent camera anyway and i didn't need it to be fancy. my sister's bff has been hanging around our family since they were little tykes so I asked her to be my photobooth "operator".


for props i contemplating purchasing sets like these from etsy. but when i came across this post on Oh Happy Day! i knew it would be perfect.


next was the background, which i completely adored. it was super easy to make and i actually made it months in advance, wrapped it in trashbags, and stored it under my bed. {pat on the back for being on the ball}


now you may think i'm nut-so for the coffee cup lids but one of our themes was food and this was one way i incorporated it. i just painted the lids and covered the center in glitter and hot-glued them to a piece of yarn. the book pages were cut with the 2" punch then strung together to make the garland. to direct people to center themselves on the background, i used some cut logs to define the area.

i'm so pleased with the way our photos for the photobooth came out. i ended up putting all the photos in a shutterfly album. this DIY version saved us gobs and we still have a cool way to see everyone that came to our celebration.

{top photos via our photobooth, all others from meredith rogers}

Thursday, September 6, 2012

i'm loving

one fall trend i can't seem to get enough of is blazers. i've picked up quite a few lately and i'm loving how versatile they are. on install days when i have to/get to wear jeans i can throw on a blazer over my tshirt and look nice enough for a client meeting.

1 / 2 / 3

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

21 dates of summer: movie

just a reminder to movie goers and penny pinchers... matinees cost less. choosing an early show time allowed us to cut our date cost in half. well it would have if we hadn't then spent it on popcorn and an icee :)

decor 1 {wedding details}

both KJB and I are close to our families and it was important to us to recognize that the success of our relationship and marriage would be modeled after our parents and grandparents. so one of my favorite things at the wedding reception was a cute little display of our affection for their marriages.
the display was set up directly across from the entrance to the reception site, so it was one of the first things you saw walking in. the banner reads "How Forever Feels" which is special to us for two reasons; first, it's a Kenny Chesney song we both love and second, it's a great way to express what marriage should feel like.

i encourage you if you are wedding planning to incorporate something so personal into your decor. our parents and grandparents loved this, and the guests loved seeing the old photos. our parents wedding photos are on the second row and grandparents on the third.

barn ladders fit the rustic decor for our site and reception style, but you could use anything you want. (this would look nice between trees or tent posts at an outdoor reception.) my fabric triangles were brown tweed in three shades and my letters i actually printed in gray and cut out by hand - definitely look for stickers because this took forever. since i had some other glitter in other decor, i covered  mini clothes pins with gold glitter. the photos I enlarged to the largest size i could without pixelating them- which you can see wasn't very big. these are around 4" x 6" prints.

did you incorporate family photos into your wedding decor? or will you do it when the time comes? how will you recreate this to fit your decor style?

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Influence Meet & Greet



i'm super duper excited because in just a few short weeks i'll be experiencing a life-changing adventure. while the Influence Conference doesn't claim that, i have a strong suspicion it will. don't know about the conference? just check this link here to find our more & get yo-self a ticket. i just know that God will be working in wondrous ways that weekend for so many and i can't wait to be apart of it!

someone had the genius idea to have a meet & greet link-up to get to know each other before the event. so, i'm going to quit my rambling here and start introducing myself...

hi, i'm courtney.



3 get-to-know-me things:
1/  i try really, really hard to stay focused but if you put something sparkly, lacey, frilly, shiny, or ruffly in front of me i'll be in la-la land for at least 15 minutes.

2/  camping is one of my favorite things to do in late summer/early fall. in fact, if it weren't for the conference, i would probably be camping that weekend.
3/  ET is hands down the creepiest movie EVER made. EVER.

2 things I’m looking forward to about the conference:

1/  SHOPPING at the sashes market!!!! (another fact: i may be addicted to shopping)
2/  learning what God has in store for me and this little bloggy

1 thing I can’t leave home without:
1/  i suppose i'll have to join the masses on this one and say my phone (although a close tie would be my watch, sunglasses, and a lip product)

hurry up October, i'm ready for this!



ps: who's with me on the ET thing?!

21 dates of summer: the fair

that lego display... isn't that the BOMB.COM? right?! funniest part is that this little kid came up beside me and said, "DANG! that's a lot of legos. who the heck has the free time to build this?" exactly, kid. then we got a kick butt caricature portrait done. it's pretty awesome. then KJB wanted to get buddy bands, so we did :)