Wood

I have been seeing a lot of wooden signs and reclaimed wooden furniture floating around Pinterest and in many other places. Over Christmas I got to see some signs my sister-in-law made and they were amazing. She uses pallet wood and then prints out letters and cuts around them to use as stencils. She fills the letters in with a sharpie which surprisingly looked really nice on the wood. I really love all the rustic wood projects I am seeing and I decided to try it out myself.

I couldn't find any reclaimed pallet wood or old barn wood and just used the regular wood you would find from Home Depot or Lowes. I told my husband what I wanted it to look like and he built it for me. I used a hammer to bang small divets into it so it didn't look so "new." I then stained it and started painting. When it was all done I smeared some Hodge Podge on the entire surface to give it a little sheen.

Here is a picture of the finished product hanging on my wall. I took a few other photos, but they all came out blurry. :(

I would love to make something larger like a headboard. I think it inspired my husband and now he is making us a similar style coffee table.

What are you working on or making lately?

Check it Out!

I have a long list of blogs that I follow and one of my favorites is The Roots & Feathers blog. I love Laura's jewelry, her style, and her photos are really lovely and have a magical feeling about them.

She is doing a give-a-way on her blog. It's not her own jewelry, but is gifting one lucky person a pretty scarf from the store Gaia Conceptions.

I LOVE these clothes!

Anyways-check out the give-a-way here and enter to win.

On another note- Here are a few new things I just finished up.

Two handmade leather pouches that slip onto your belt.

Tooled leather peacock bracelet (SOLD)

And probably the cutest thing I have ever made-A tiny furry stuffed animal for my niece.

Etsy Shops I Love

Christmas is coming soon and that means Christmas shopping! I wanted to share an Etsy shop that I LOVE and think would be a great choice for someone who has everything. Trust me-they don't have one of these.
It's called Wearable Planter. Check out the shop here

These mini planters are the cutest! What a fun idea too!
I had to buy one of the planter necklaces because I love miniature stuff. I haven't planted anything in mine yet, but I will be soon.

Do you have any favorite shops (not just etsy) where you like to find unique presents?

A few of my other favorite Etsy shops (I sell on etsy, but I actually love shopping on there more than selling).

Girlie Pains- Super cute printable stuff. It's hard to explain. Just check out the link. You will die of cuteness overload!

Run With The Tribe- To be honest, I am not so sure I could pull off wearing these clothes, but I love them and I love the whole vibe of this shop. I like that she hand sews every garment and I love her simple earthy jewelry.

All Things Pretty- The name of the shop says it all. Super unique beautiful things.


Maybe I will show you a few more of my favorites on there in the future. I have lots of favorites...

Sunday Offerings

Hello,
It's Sunday evening and I have been working the past couple of hours on my etsy shop trying to get it re-opened after it's been closed for like 2 months! I have been making several new things and the more I made, the more overwhelming it felt trying to start the process of entering everything into etsy. I don't know why, but I just really dislike the process of taking all the photos, uploading, adjusting if necessary, writing descriptions, and so on. I just love to make and that is about it. I do enjoy selling at craft shows though.

Here are a few new things I have made:

Last year I made doll necklaces for all my nieces and they really liked them. I also painted several custom dolls based off photos of people's kids and with Christmas coming I thought it would be fun to offer these 3 in my etsy shop.

This is a necklace I made about a month ago. It is the first time I got to use the fancy bezel wire. The stone is a moonstone and I love the color of the beads. Reminds me of a tropical ocean.

The two pictures above are handmade copper pendants with clear resin and a preserved leaf. They are both strung on long 30" leather cords.

I recently bought a large piece of vegetable tanned leather that has inspired me to make some leather projects. I am currently working on 2 medium sized purses, two little belt pouches, and a leather and turquoise bracelet. I haven't worked with leather in a long while and it feels nice to be playing around with it again.

All of these items are for sale in my Etsy shop if you happen to be interested. :)

Rings and Things

I haven't done much metal-smithing lately because I am running low on silver and also on inspiring stones. I had started making a bezel for the turquoise stone below about 2 months ago and just didn't feel inspired to do anything further with it. It sat on my table until last night. I think I started working on it around 9:30 or 10 and found myself staying up WAY too late to finish it.

I love metal-smithing. It's a challenging hobby (also a hobby that has major pain potential! Fire, chemicals, and sharp tools. Your hands take a beating!) and a lot of times I completely mess stuff up, but when I finally get it right, it feels good to have something that is "wearable" and pretty.

Besides that, I also wanted to share with you 2 recipes!

I ran across this recipe to make your own cream soda from scratch. I LOVE cream soda and I like the idea of making your own "soda". My husband once made homemade ginger ale and I was kind of afraid of it honestly. It sat in a big jug in our fridge, fermenting, for a long while. Had lots of floaty things in it...hmm....no thanks. He said it tasted like alcohol. Perhaps it fermented way too long, ha ha.

I made the recipe the other day and it's pretty great. I think I still prefer store brand cream soda, but I have a feeling it can be perfected a bit to get a more similar taste. I just served some to a friend and he said it was awesome...

Another recipe that you MUST try is The Pioneer Woman's recipe for cauliflower soup!!!!!! Find it HERE.

Oh MY it is Gooooooood! Total comfort food! I was telling my friend that I had made cauliflower soup and she was like "wow, I have never heard of that before. Sounds healthy." I laughed because although it does have lots of cauliflower and some other vegetables it's not at all what I would consider to be healthy. But, you don't eat comfort food because it's healthy. I think I am about to have the last of it for a late lunch. mmmmmm......

Just for Fun

I love fashion, but don't really have the budget to buy many new clothes or shoes and accessories. Thankfully I can make my own jewelry and that makes things a lot more fun.

Being 30, I feel like I am stuck between wanting to dress like I did in high school and also experimenting with some things I might have once considered more mature. Actually, I think it's a fun place to be with fashion and style because I am still figuring it all out and trying to learn what looks good on me and what doesn't.

Unfortunately, as much as I love the skinny jeans look with flats it's just not something my body pulls off well. Bummer! Oh well! (I rarely put pics of myself on here, but here you go)

I pretty much wear my purple Converse shoes everyday no matter what colored top I have on. It's starting to be more fall like here in TN and it makes me want to break out some boots. I usually live in them during fall and winter. I have been looking for a new pair and really wanted some Frye Boots, but by golly those things are way to expensive and although I may save up one day I decided to find something more in my price range. I didn't think I would find a pair, but I did and they are actually really comfortable!

AND they have a heel! I don't know what is up with my feet, but shoes with heels never fly with me. They always kill my feet. Heels are fun because they help a fairly short girl out. I also like to imagine that wearing heels makes my legs look A LOT thinner, but I think that is just my imagination talking. Haha...

Did you notice my new striped shirt from the thrift store? I love this color green, but this is my favorite part-

MINI GOLD SEQUINS! So random right? A little sprinkling of sequins at the shoulder???

This morning I was going through my jewelry drawer and found these two copper bangles I made a long while back. At the time I didn't have a nice way to polish them and I didn't end up really liking how they looked. This morning I got out my flex shaft drill and polished them using a polishing compound. Geezzzzz it made ALL the difference! I REALLY like them and will probably wear them every day now.

 Then I thought- maybe I will display them on my dogs back....she didn't mind...

Just curious:
Are you into fashion? Has your style changed much through the years?

Brokenness

It's Sunday afternoon and it's been such a nice day around here. I just got done making a key lime pie for our church group tonight and forgot that you actually have to bake it-it's now in the freezer in hopes it will cool down in time. It's always a bit nerve racking when you bring something for people to eat that you can't first test yourself.

I also just finished up a little necklace and doodle. My friend asked if I could come up with something about being "broken." Not broken hearted mind you. More like- the times in life where you find that you have absolutely nothing to give, nothing to offer, your sad or mad and you finally give up(I guess broken hearted would fit the description after all)-but in spite of it what comes out of it? It got me thinking about these times in my life and how some of the most beautiful things have been born out of these moments. Personal growth, more compassion for others, realizing that I am not ultimately in control (I like to believe I am, haha) and how freeing that really is.

PS. I have my first Psychology exam tomorrow! Yikes! I am a bit nervous.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!