Saturday, April 12, 2014

Him vs Her


Today is our 1 year wedding anniversary! It's amazing how time passes so quickly. It doesn't even seem like a whole year has passed. While we are off celebrating, I thought I'd share a little about us. I've seen these him vs. her posts floating around lately, so here is our take on it:

Color:
Him - green
Her - purple

Gelato:
Him - tiramisu
Her - pistachio 

Outfit:
Him - Jordan shorts, t-shirt and bookbag 
Her - jeans and a tee

Shoes:
Him - Chuck Taylor's 
Her - none (I like to go barefoot)

Activities:
Him - any sport
Her - crafting, photography

Food:
Him - mom's spaghetti and meatballs
Her - mom's lasagna 

Music:
Him - hip-hop/reggae
Her - R&B/sole

Car:
Him - Ford Flex
Her - Nissan Altima

T.V.:
Him - everything on ESPN
Her - Big Bang, Glee, Parenthood

Word used to describe the other:
Him - crafty
Her - silly





Sunday, April 6, 2014

Spring Has Sprung

I completely forgot to post last week for Photo Friday. I was so wrapped up with report cards and testing that I just missed it. By the time I realized, it was already Monday. Here are the pictures from the week before last that I intended to share last Friday.



I am no green thumb by any means, but I do love to look at pretty flowers. Begonias are my favorite to plant because they bloom year round, and they can take a little neglect if I forget to water them. I love the way these hanging baskets add a pop of color to our back yard. Fingers crossed that they will survive past summer.

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Friday, March 21, 2014

We Jammin'

This post title just puts a smile on my face. Who doesn't love a little Bob in their day?? I'll be humming that one all night. 

Last week I shared some pictures from strawberry picking. We seriously have soooo many strawberries. After freezing many bags, my mom and I used the rest for some home-made jam. Yummy! It's not as hard as I thought it would be. It's actually kind of easy. We used the canning directions on Pioneer Woman's site.
Start by washing and hulling the strawberries.
Next place them on a rimmed baking sheet and mash them up. This was my favorite part.
Boil the strawberry mush. Then add pectin (it makes it thick) and a TON of sugar.
Finally add the jam to heated jars. Boil and then attach the lids. Let them cool overnight, and wait to hear the 'POP' of air tight freshness. Our jam turned out great! I see a lot of PB&J in my future.

Have you made jam before? What do you like to use your strawberries for?
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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Tufted Ottoman - Button Tufting Tutorial



So recently I've been posting about fun times using my new camera...and I've kinda been slacking on the home aspect of this blog. Not that we've been slacking on working on our house- we've been doing lots of things around here lately - I've just not blogged about them. So to correct that, over the next few weeks I'll be updating you on some of the things that we've been doing around the house. 

A while back I shared the new (well, new to us) sectional we bought to replace our black couch and the problem that it created- it clashed...bad! The bright red ottoman no longer matched the brown or our ever evolving style, but I knew Mr. Wonderful would never let me replace it. It holds too much sentimental value. That ottoman is the first piece of brand-new (it's very rare that we buy something new for the house) furniture we purchased together. Because getting something new was out of the question, I decided to give it a facelift.

Please excuse the horrid pictures taken with my phone. 
This project was done before I had my nifty new camera.

I reupholstered it and added button tufting. What a difference it makes in the room. It feels like a brand new piece! I am ecstatic with the final result and it was so simple. Below are directions for doing it yourself.  

Here's what you'll need:


  • Fabric of your choice (I'm loving geometric patterns lately)
  • Staple gun
  • Measuring tape
  • Shank buttons (I bought a button covering kit so they would be the same material but any shank buttons would work)
  • Any type of sew threw buttons - these won't be visible 
  • Upholstery needle (it must be long enough to stick all the way through the piece you're adding buttons to )
  • Floral wire or upholstery thread

Step-by-step

First, I used a staple gun to staple the fabric over what already existed. I didn't see the point in removing it. (If your fabric is thin or light colored, you may want to remove what's underneath so it doesn't show through)

Start by stapling along the center of each side making sure to pull the fabric taunt. Check to insure the fabric pattern is straight and even. Once you have it how you like it, continue stapling along the edges but stop when you get close to the corner. Don't be shy with the staples- you'll need a lot of them each edge. I place mine about an inch apart.

The corners are where it can be a little tricky. You have the option of continuing to pull everything tight and create a rounded corner without any creases, or you can fold the fabric to make a more square corner.
Normally I like the look of the rounded corners better, but I wanted to keep the square look of our ottoman so I went for the pleats. To do this, start by folding in the corner. Hold it in place with one staple. Then take the two "wings" sticking out and fold them in to create something like this. once you get it how you like it, staple everything into place. 


Now for the button tufting:

You'll need to figure out how many buttons you'll want and measure where you'll place them. Drill holes through the back where you want the buttons placed.
I knew I wanted 6 buttons- two rows with 3 buttons each, so on the underneath side I measured the length and divided it into four equal sections by drawing 3 lines. Then I measured the width and divided it into three equal sections by drawing 2 lines. This created 6 intersections. This is where the buttons will go. I drilled holes where the lines crossed.
Warning: This is the part I got most frustrated with.

You must now push the upholstery needle thorough the place on the front where you want the button to be and...
make it come out the hole you drilled in the back. I found that sticking the needle through backward helped clear a path through the foam so when I stuck it through the right way, it wasn't as difficult. I still spent a little time just stabbing away until I found the hole in the back.
Next thread a long piece of floral wire or upholstery thread through the shank button that will create the tufting. I covered my buttons so they would blend in with the fabric. Then put both ends of the wire or thread through eye of the needle. Pull the needle out the other end. You should now have your button on the front and two pieces of wire or string sticking out the back.
You will need to secure the thread using another button. It doesn't matter what these buttons look like because they will be on the underside or back. Put the wire or thread sticking out the back through 2 different holes of the button. Press the shank button on the front and gently pull the wire or thread at the same time until you have the shank as deep as you desire. Twist and knot the wire or thread to secure it.
When you're finished with all the buttons, spray a little Scotchgard for protection... and voila!

Come back soon for an update on some coordinating throw pillows, and check out Chic by Tab where I'll be partying this week.

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Thursday, March 13, 2014

Florida Grown - Find Beauty Friday

I was ecstatic when Aimee over at Click. Pray. Create. asked me to co-host this week's Find Beauty Friday Link-up! I've been linking up with her over the past few weeks. I'm so glad I found her blog. Find Beauty Friday is about taking the time to notice everyday beauty and capturing it. The link-up allows you to see what other bloggers have been up to and maybe make some new friends!
This past weekend we went strawberry picking. You'd figure a Florida girl like me who lives just an hour from Plant City (where the annual Strawberry Festival is held) would have done this before. Nope-this was new to me. What an experience. Everyone enjoyed it, even Mr. Wonderful who doesn't like strawberries (strange I know).
We tried coordinating our trip with long time friend Heather and her mom, Ms. Nancy (she was my sitter when I was younger, so she will always be Ms. Nancy to me), but it was a little difficult planning it last minute. Luckily the stars aligned and our paths crossed. I'm glad our moms got to see each other, and I'm looking forward to planning a girls date with them soon.

Come back next week for some homemade strawberry jam yumminess.

Join in the fun by link up your bits of beauty, and be sure to head on over to Click. Pray. Create. to check out Aimee and all of her awesomeness.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

My Favorite Little Guy

My best friend's son just turned 1! It's hard to believe a whole year has passed since he was born. I have some awesome pictures from his birthday, BUT they were shot in RAW and I'm still in the process of converting them :( I promise to share a few of those soon. Until then, check out these I took at our park adventure last weekend. This was his first time in the swing. He LOVED it.

At first I was a little disappointed that I didn't get better shots. When in the moment, it's hard for me to remember everything I've learned about my camera- aperture, shutter speed, ISO ahhh!...and then the moment is gone. I need to keep reminding myself that I'm still learning. So what if the pictures aren't perfect; I captured a moment that we will never be able to get back!
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Friday, February 21, 2014

Let It Fly

Last weekend Mr. Wonderful played in a football tournament. I decided to go all the way to Plant City and spend my day watching sweaty boys play football because that's what a good wife does (plus I figured it would be a great place for me to practice using my camera). The weather was beautiful- clear skys, a cool breeze and lots of sunshine. It felt so nice that I didn't realize that I got a little too much sun on my face until I got home and looked in the mirror. I'm a little frustrated with my lack of ability at the moment. There were so many moments I tried to capture, but just didn't come out right. Here's the best I got that day:
Mr. Wonderful's team lost their first game, but ended up winning 2 out of 3 games on Saturday and Played 2 more on Sunday. Team morale was definitely up at the end of the day.

I was having issues with Mr. Wonderful looking like a black shadow, so halfway through the day I decided to try to shoot in RAW format because I wanted to be able to adjust the levels more once the images were on my computer. Now that I have a ton of RAW images on my computer (I have tons from Sunday too) I'm completely overwhelmed with how to convert/edit them all. I have Elements and I'm pretty confident in my abilities using it. I downloaded the RAW file converter. It is just taking me for-ev-er to make all the adjustments. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.