Fall Sunflower Wreath

Happy Labor Day Weekend Y'all!

I had a pretty relaxing weekend, I tried to do basically nothing to decompress after the first two weeks of school, but on Sunday I got my DIY on for the first time in a while.

Guys, I really told myself that I wasn't going to drag out the fall decor until September 22, and I really wanted to mean it. Alas, I lit a fall candle and began decorating.

My fall decorations are basically the same as last year, although I typically change up the arrangement year to year.

The one thing I didn't have is a good fall wreath. I have a burlap wreath that I made a few years back, but I've never really been super in love with it, even though it's good for all seasons.

I believe that patience is a virtue, but I don't have a multitude of it, so instead of waiting a day for Hobby Lobby to open,  I made do. I got the flowers all from Walmart (the were actually all part of a $5 bouquet) and the wreath and berries came from Michael's. I did have the chevron ribbon in my ribbon box, but I believe it is from Hobby Lobby.

Guys, I'm obsessed. I keep opening my door just to see it!

DIY Vanity Desk Makeover | Magnolia Home + Amy Howard

I have spent years lusting over pictures of vanities on Pinterest. I have just always wanted a beautiful place to sit and do my hair and makeup in the morning.

For Christmas this year, my mom found me a refinished desk (and chair) on Craigslist. It was beautiful and the shades of Grey actually perfectly matched my duvet cover. Unfortunately, the person who refinished the desk, didn't do any kind of sanding or stripping and painted latex paint over the already existing varnish. With the the slightest scratch, the paint would just peel right off.

Even so, my vanity has become my happy place. I love starting my day there.

We knew pretty much from day one that we would need to refinish the desk and my mom agreed that as soon as the weather warmed up that she would come over and help with the project. I really wasn't in a super big hurry, though.

Cut to last week, I happened to be in ACE Hardware and saw Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Home paint colors. I fell in LOVE with Ella Rose. My favorite color of all time is light dusty blush pink. I was drooling over several shades wishing that I lived in a house I could paint instead of my apartment, when it dawned on my that I did in fact have a project that I could use the paint on- my vanity.

I decided to use Amy Howard One Step paint and tinted it to the color Ella Rose. This paint boasts that not sanding or stripping in necessary, but I went ahead and sanded anyway to be safe. I'm such a fan of Amy Howard's paint, it goes on smoothly and really goes a long way.

We sanded the desk and chair down to bare wood, so the repainting process went really smoothly. I decided to stain and not paint the top of the desk and used Rust-Oleum's stain in Kona, which is a deep chocolate color. I think it paired really nicely with the Ella Rose color. I sealed the whole thing with Miniwax's Polycrylic in a satin finish.

I decided not to recover the chair cushion yet, I haven't found anything I like better and I think it ties in nicely to the color of my duvet cover. I bought the new drawer pulls on Amazon and I really like the look of them.

pics

Over all, I'm so happy with how this project turned out. A makeover has made my happy place, even happier.

Adventure Themed Classroom!

This year, I embarked on my 4th year teaching. And with that, moved into my 3rd classroom.

I thought, fresh classroom, fresh start and decided to do a huge overhaul. I really wanted my room this year to feel "homey" and less "classroom-y". This year I am teaching Geography, so the adventure theme came naturally!

Most days, I spend more awake time here, than I do at home, so I have to create a space I love!


This summer I purchases a Cricut, which was one of the best things I've ever done. Not only has it fed into my love to monogram- everything, it helped me create my favorite bulletin board ever.

 These are some of the countries we will "visit" this year in Geography. For me, bulletin boards have always been more decorative than anything else, and I LOVE this one. Typically the "new" wears off pretty fast, but two months in, I'm still obsessed!

 Boy Meets World is my favorite show of all time. Mr. Feeny has always been a role model to me. So every one of my classrooms has had "Believe in yourself. Dream. Try. Do good." It's a reminder for me as much as it is for the kids.

Because of the tech set up, my desk needed to be in front of a bulletin board this year, so I decided to make it a picture wall. I made DIY Polaroids, and used my Cricut to cut out the words and bunting, as well as my name for my desk. The blocks on my desk came from ETSY and I LOVE them and always get so many compliments!

The pom-poms were another Pinterest tutorial that I bring back every year, and the other decor was picked up from Hobby Lobby! I could not love this room more and I'm so hoping I keep this room, so I don't have to redo everything next year!

My file cabinet makeover is detailed here :)

DIY Decor: Wood & Fabric Cross Wall Decor

Look who's back, about 14 months later. Oops.

I actually have a few crafty posts to do in the near future, so maybe I'll stick around for awhile, no promises though!


So recently my Grandma saw these beautiful wooden and fabric crosses online and fell in love.



They are totally beautiful, but pricey at $70 a pop.

I decided to try my hand at making her one and honestly this may be one of the easiest DIYs I've ever done. Literally the most difficult part is cutting and sanding down the wood.


My Grandma was so excited she cried! <<I'm not even joking!



The fabric was from Walmart, and very much compliments her house, the flower came from Hobby Lobby.


My best friend teaches at a local Catholic school, so I decided to make her one that would compliment her classroom. In her case both the fabric and flower came from Walmart.



Seriously a simple, cheap and beautiful DIY. My mom has requested that I make her one to hang in a gallery wall! (Hopefully a post to follow when I finish designing her gallery wall!)