Sprucing Up For Summer Using Pillows

 

Summer is just around the corner. I am kinda nervous about the heat here in Texas. you would think living here all my life I would be use to 98 degree 100% humidity summers. 

No! You. Never. Get. Use. To. It!

But...decorating makes me happy and might make the summer a little more bearable.

Here are my favorite pillows that will add a little pop to your house to usher in the summer fun.

West Elm Chevron- World Market - Etsy Chevron - Overstock Red- West Elm Bird - West Elm Flower - Overstock Blue - Peir 1 - Crate & Barrel - Wisteria

DIY Post-It Notes: How to make your own

Hi. 

My name is Kayla and I have an OBSESSION with office supplies.

Seriously, since my husband and I have been married I have not had to buy a single thing and its been almost 4 years. He forbids me to buy anything else until we have made a dent into the rest of our our stockpile. But....the other day we had a breakthrough! 

We ran out of Post-It Notes! Awesome! 

This was my chance to get some more. So I went to the store and saw how ridiculously expensive they have gotten! I mean its a piece of paper with a little adhesive that doesn't even stick that well!

Reasons why I have a love/hate relationship with Post-it Notes:

{ONE}

Seriously, why didn't I think of that!?! Someone is making a killing off these simple and stupid little sticky notes and its not me! But kudos to them.

{TWO}

They are so dang expensive! They are such an amazing product and everyone has them.
But for 1 of these cubes at Wal-Mart it is around $6 - $7!  Ya RIGHT!

 {THREE}
I love the ability to stick them anywhere but I don't always need the pad to be sticky.
Most of the time it is used for shopping lists and quick notes. AND...they don't stay sticky for very long! Nothing annoys  me more than seeing them on the floor below where I stuck them. Maybe it is worse here in Southeast Texas due to the humidity but they do not last long.


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So in my quest to be frugal and keep my husband happy by saving money, I found these little beauties at the Dollar Tree! One of my favorite stores, by the way. 200 sheet note pad for $1.00.
Perfect!

What you need:
-Crafter's Tape (I can get them for a dollar a piece and they last forever)
-Note Pad from the Dollar Tree
-Yep, that is it. =)

Take a note off and grab your tape reel. Mine is permanent but regular strength tape would be fine for daily stuff. But I use this one if I really want it to stick and re-stick. But for paper I would use the non-permanent kind so it does not rip it.

Write your note and flip it over. Most of the time I just put a 1/2" little piece but if I really want it to last a little longer like a sign that says, "DON'T EAT SUGAR" on the fridge as a reminder, I put a strip of it along the whole top.

And...you are done. Stick them anywhere. It seriously takes me like 2 seconds to add the tape to the back. I always keep on on my desk by my note pad. My husband was so impressed and especially loved that I spent $1 instead of $8. You could also use scrap paper up and do the same thing.

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Here are some fun ideas for Post-It Note Projects too.

I love this post-it note calendar. If I had wall space I would do one. =)

 
These are adorable and I might need to make some for the husband. =)

source

How to print on Post-It Notes. So cool.

Source

I love this! It is so cute. A Post-It Note pinata!

Source

What kind of things do you use post-it notes for?

Our RANDOM trip to Utah & a Sneak Peak!

Sorry I was MIA last week. We took a very last minute trip to Utah for a week so I was not able to work blog much. It was so fun though. I think it was the most relaxing one that we have had due to the fact that we didn't plan much and just enjoyed being with my husbands family. Here is a little recap of some of the things we did.

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PHOTO SHOOT WITH AUNT JESSICA
My sons have the best Aunt's. their Aunt Jessica does photography, graphic design, floral arrangement, and anything else crafty you can think of. She is just awesome. So she took all the boys to do a quick photo shoot. I love how they turned out. Here are just a few. =)

Carter @ 7 Months.

Mavrick @ 3 years old.

PLAYTIME WITH COUSINS

I have two adorable nephews in Utah that we don't get to see much so we try to let them play as much as we can while we are there. MOST of the time it went well. The two olders ones still don't have that concept of sharing down but they had fun in these tubes.

PIANO WITH GRANDPA & COOKIES WITH GRANDMA

BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS & BREAD MAKING

 I miss Utah sunsets with the mountains in the background. Its breathtaking. Also, my mother-in-law is a bread and emergency preparedness guru so while I was there I took advantage of her knowledge.

FISHING & DUTCH OVEN UP THE CANYON
Another thing I miss about Utah is the beautiful canyons and going up there for a little campfire and dinner. So fun.

PLAYING IN THE HIGH HIDE
At my in-laws house there is this little nook in the laundry room. Mavrick loved climbing up there and usually wanted me to go with him. While we were up there we hid from bears and dinosaurs. Oh the imagination of little boys. =)

HAVING FUN AT THE PARK

All in all we had a ton of fun and were glad we went.
Also...here is a little sneak peak of my son's room. It is coming together slowly but surely. More on this room in the next month.

Link Party Features

 Oh my goodness! I am so amazed at all the links that have been linked up! I wanted to share a few of my favorites from {wow me} Wednesday.

 (By the way, you can still link up. Its not over untill tomorrow. =)

I absolutely love these cute Knockoff Charmed Hair Ties

The Gunny Sack

These colored sprinkles will really come in handy next time I need a specific color for baking.

My World Made By Hand

Um...and something like this might be making it into my bathroom or sons bedroom very soon. LOVE IT!

Love Grows Wild

I bet these carrot cake pancakes are DELICIOUS! I am going to be trying these soon. I am in love with (good) carrot cake.

Teenage Cakeland

Check out this AMAZING living room make-over over.

 Suburbs Mama

This is one of the best tips I have ever seen for painting stripes on a wall. So much easier!

Nifty Thrifty Momma

Thanks for all who have been linking up. I LOVE looking at your projects. 

{wow me} Wednesday is still going on so link up!

Check out Ginger Snap Crafts for other fabulous {wow me} Wednesdays and tutorials.

{wow me} Wednesday Link Party & Recycled Glass Soda Bottles

Welcome to {wow me} Wednesday!

I am super excited to be Co-Hosting with Ginger today. She has the best link parties and for her 2 Year Blog Anniversary she is having the biggest link party EVER! Seriously, like 40 Co-Hosts and I get to be one of them. I love looking through projects that you guys do so link it up here and visit Ginger Snap Crafts. You will love it.

But First...I have a fun little quick tip for you.

So...when I plan a party I always try to use glass drink-ware if the budget allows. There is just something about drinking out of glass that steps a party up a knotch. Am I the only one who thinks that? Anyway...glasses in bulk are expensive. I mean the cute milk bottles and soda bottles that you can buy online or Etsy are at least $2 a piece. Well, for a wife of a student that is never in the budget.

So my brother recently just had a party where he and his 3 friends drank (no lie) over 18 bottles of Henry Weinhard's Orange Cream Soda. Teenage boys are ridiculous! The drink is pretty good but come on, 18?!?!

But as he was about to throw them out I snatched them up!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 Step {1} 

Take your bottles and soak them in HOT water. Not Cold. 

For some reason it doesn't come off as easy. I would let them soak for about 15 min

Step {2}

Peal stickers off bottles. Grab a metal scrub and lightly scrub off remaining sticker residue.
Let soak another 5 min.

Step {3}

Grab some Nail Polish Remover and a cotton ball and wipe off any of those annoying little expiration date stamps and any hard to get off sticker residue. BEST TIP EVER! Acetone gets anything off!

Step {4}

Take your bottles and put them in the dishwasher on a quick cycle.
And you are DONE!

Now I have 18 glass bottles to use for entertaining and parties and the best part is they were free!!! So next time you think about throwing those bottles out DON'T. 

You can dress them up with Baker's Twine, bottle wraps, paper, paper straws or fabric. The possibilities are endless. We used them for our Easter party and everyone loved them! Now I just need to find a place to store these bad boys. 

OK...now on to the main event!

{WOW ME} Wednesday!!!

These are the party rules: The "rules' are simple.
Please consider sharing this party on facebook, twitter, google+ or pinterest.
Link up to your post, not your main blog.
Must be something made by you!
{No etsy shops, giveaway or business links, please.}
Visit other links, make new friends & most of all have fun!

Have fun and come back to see some of the featured projects at Ginger Snap Crafts.

April Showers & My First Feature

GUESS WHAT!?! 

I was featured on Tidy Mom for my Formula Vases from last week! I know it doesn't seem like a huge deal but to bloggers...it is a very big deal! You can check it out here. I love her blog.

I cannot believe it is APRIL! Seriously, where have the last 3 months gone? We are welcoming in the month with some beautiful rain down here in Texas. I have always LOVED the rain. It is probably my favorite weather, not so much for getting stuff done but, its wonderful. I am pretty non-stop and rain just soothes me I think. Hopefully I am not the only "A" personality who feels this way. But here are some of my favorite little April Showers products from around the web.

April Print - Dress - Raindrop Garland - Cloud Print - Necklace - Girl and Rain Print

Also, tomorrow evening I will be co-hosting "Wow Me Wednesday" with my friend Ginger from Gingersnaps Crafts for her 2 year blog anniversary. So if you have any fun projects you have been wanting to show off make sure you come back tomorrow evening and link up with me and Ginger!