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nail art: simple and chic halloween



happy halloween! i'm sooo excited and can't wait to dress up the littles and go see grandparents in a bit! but i wanted to drop by here and show you what my nails have been looking like this week. pretty simple, but fun. i used my Silhouette to cut out the decals, and some nail tape for the stripes.

DIY: you are my sunshine board

if you hadn't heard, we bought our second house this summer, and it was an exciting deal for us (our first was a small townhome in a college town that we still rent out). this time we bought a much bigger home that we will hopefully live in for at least 5 years. haha, however i believe we (kevin and i) thrive on change so i will be surprised if we are here longer-but great if we are!

one of the biggest problems i have had since moving in, is the space. there is so much of it! and man i want to fill it all! hah. okay not all of it because i love negative space, but i really haven't wanted to put up any of my old decorations. they feel too....cheap? chintzy? old? used? i don't know, and don't want to sound bratty by saying that. i guess i just want a more sophisticated/homey feel? so in a nutshell, yes, i am being really particular on my new decorations, and if it's not exactly what i want then i don't buy it. well the problem with that, is that the decorations i am looking at and want to buy, are more money (of course they are!). and now that we have a house, we don't have a lot of extra cash just lying around like before (just kidding, it doesn't ever feel like we have cash lying around-but you know what i mean?!).

one of the spaces that i wanted to decorate first was the downstairs half bath. while walking through stores like Target and Kolhs and World Market, i saw little signs with cute sayings on them, and i decided that's what i wanted the theme of our downstairs half bath to be: uplifting phrases. bright. sunny. and then i found this pin on Pinterest, and i took off from there.


i am SO excited with how it turned out. would you like to make your own?! okay here's what i did:


1. went out to my garage to see what scrap wood i had. wanna know something awesome? there are about 7 houses getting built around us, which means LOTS of extra/leftover wood laying out. score. we have a ton. but the pieces i ended up using, were actually leftovers from a project that Kevin had just finished. they are cheap picket-fence type boards. not sanded or anything but pretty rough. which is what i wanted. i think Kevin got them from Lowes.


2. measured and cut the boards using a miter saw. each board is about 3 1/4" - 3 1/2" wide, and my entire project/frame i made: 24"x22"


3. used some of the leftover wood stain from our house, and painted the boards with it to match the bathroom cabinets


4. let them dry


5. had Kevin cut strips from another skinny (but sturdy) board and use tiny nails (or screws-i can't remember) to secure the whole thing together (thanks babe! this was the boring part for me!)


6. cut out templates with my Silhouette SD, taped them on, and painted using a small paint brush



7. let dry and then hang up!


the fonts i used were arial (bold) and dasha.

i am seriously in love with how this turned out, and even happier that it didn't cost me anything. my plan is to make a variety of other boards like this (different widths/heights/depths) and put more fun quotes on them (because hello! who doesn't love to read in the bathroom), and place them in a collage with this one. the only trick is finding the time to do that :)

printable: book of mormon 90 days reading chart

i haven't mentioned it a ton here on this blog, but my religion/faith is a huge part of my life. i am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka Mormon or LDS). i go to church on Sundays, and this past week while i was at there (roaming the halls with my fairly loud 6 month old), i passed a bulletin board with this poster on it. 

lately i have been letting a lot of other stuff take priority over my need for spiritual study. to some, this may seem silly or trivial. to me, this is huge. making time to read my scriptures has always been important to me, and i can definitely see a difference in my day/attitude when i read them. so when i saw this poster, it was like a lightbulb went off above my head.

now, i've totally had sheets like this before - read the BofM in 30 days, that one chart that you get in Primary where you color it in as you go - but for whatever reason, when i saw this one i got really excited. i guess it was the perfect push to get me going, because i got home and started the challenge that day. buuuut of course i wanted to make my own chart. this is what i came up with:


the check-mark boxes help me to see where i am and give me that teeny feeling of accomplishment when i get to make that "x" in each one. and heck yes i'm sharing this with you! and i hope you get excited about it just like i am! there's a blue/green version too for the boys, or all you pink-haters out there (hehe). download here:


nail art: peachy geometric


i did these nails over the summer while living with my parents, in between our crazy moving and house hunting schedule (it was nuts you guys). i used the decals that i had created from this post, and this polish:


yep, it's my favorite summer go-to color, flip flop fantasy. i just love it. the taupe color on my ring fingers is Essie: sand tropez. and that mini notepad with the houndstooth print up there? another favorite. i saw it at my mom's house (and she said she got it at either Walmart or Shopko) and had to throw it in the pic! haha

and i just wanted to say thanks to you readers who keep stopping by, even though i know i am THEE absolute worst at updating and showing off my design work and craft projects. i want to (oh trust me, i freaking love blogging and writing and want to SO BAD) , but my littles just keep me pretty busy non-stop right now (or so it feels)! and when i do have a second to myself you can probably find me trying to squeeze in an Insanity workout, folding mountains of laundry, painting my nails, cleaning the kitchen or bathrooms, unwinding with a book, or napping. please tell me you can relate too! 

*see how i made my own nail decals here

*check out my latest premade template for blogger here (seriously love!)