Simple DIY Teacher Gift using Succulents

My kids last day of preschool was today, and my oldest moves on to kindergarten next year. Sniff Sniff! He's growing up so fast and I just wish he would slow down!

As you can tell by his expression....he's a total ham:)

Anyways, If your childs last day of school is approaching quickly and you are looking for a quick and easy teacher gift idea, here's one I made with succulents.

I bought the plants at Lowes, and the burlap and pots at Walmart. I found the wooden tags from Joannes and painted them with chalkboard paint.

I love the way they turned out, and hopefully their teachers did too.

Here's another easy DIY teacher gift I shared last year. Click on the picture to be taken to the tutorial.

Enjoy the long weekend!! Are your kids almost done with school? What are your survival plans for this summer?!

Braces Then....Invisalign Now.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Invisalign. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

Brace face. Tinsel teeth. Metal Mouth. If you wore braces as a teenager, you've probably have heard them all. I wore them for almost 3 years, and the pain and discomfort of wearing braces is something I will never forget. I used to have to carry around wax in my pocket to apply to my brackets so they wouldn't cut up the inside of my mouth. And don't even get me started on those rubber bands!! (At least I was lucky enough that I didn't have to suffer through head gear.)

I clearly remember the pain after the first day of wearing my braces. My Mom had to grind my food up in a food grinder just so I was able to eat something. I think after that I lived on a liquid diet for about a week before I was able to chew again. And when I was able to finally eat solids again, I was constantly getting food stuck in my braces! I always had to have my friends look at my teeth when I was done eating so they could let me know if I missed a piece of my lunch.

 Yup. That's me in the 8th grade circa 1991. Braces, Big bangs and all!  Probably the most embarrassing photo I have ever posted of myself on the internet. 22 (gasp!) years later, my teeth are still pretty straight and I don't regret suffering for a few years for a nicer smile, BUT if we had Invisalign way back then, WOW would it have made my life so much easier! Imagine.....you could take your braces off to eat!

Braces seem to be a thing of the past, just like big bangs. Gone are the days of clunky head gear, elastics, and a mouth full of metal. The Invisalign and Invisalign Teen system uses clear, lightweight, removable plastic aligners that fit your teeth smoothly and snugly. AND they are just as effective as traditional braces with results in less time, usually about a year. Everyone I knew that had traditional braces were in them for about 3!

Another benefit of using Invisalign for Teens or pre-teens is since the aligners are removable, kids can eat, brush and floss as they normally would, which is a struggle with traditional braces. Remember trying to floss?! I used to  have to thread the floss in between the wires on every.single.tooth. And since Invisalign is virtually invisible, your child will be able to smile in confidence instead of hiding their mouth full of metal.

I know a few adults that have also benefited from Invisalign. If you are unhappy with your smile and need to straighten those teeth, or if you had braces in the past and just had a few teeth move out of alignment (like me!) and want a quick fix, this system would be perfect. For more information on Invisalign and Invisalign Teen, make sure to check out their website, or click here to find a doctor near you that specializes in Invisalign.

So, if you had to do it all over again, which option would you choose?! Traditional braces, or Invisalign? Can you guess what my answer would be?!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post written by me. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

Sunday Reading ~ From Auto Garage to Hip Home

This young couple from Salt Lake City turned an old Auto Garage into a hip living space with a cool industrial vibe. They embraced the raw, unfinished areas of the home and highlighted them instead of hiding them, and used furnishings that were either salvaged or thrifted to create a totally cool Industrial but warm feeling first home.

Take the Tour!

from Houzz

What's Inspriring Me ~ A. Malson Interior Design

If you are a designer, decorator, stylist, or a just a homeowner who loves to constantly improve your home, chances are you are constantly looking for inspiration. Whether it be thumbing through a design book, flipping the pages of a magazine, or catching your favorite show on HGTV, inspiring design is what gets our creative juices flowing and generates ideas.

I thought it would be fun to put together a new series that shows you what is currently inspiring me, and maybe in turn, you will like what you see and be inspired too. Here you will find a bit of anything and everything that sparks my creativity; Designers whose work I  admire, Bloggers homes who blow me away, music I'm loving, a new favorite store I discovered, etc. So without further adieu, lets check out a designer whose work I think is, well, just the bees knees!

~

I first came across A. Malson Interior Design (previously Domicile Interior Design) a while back and bookmarked a few of her projects.

I love  how she takes traditional design and mixes it up with a few modern pieces and vintage finds. Her feel is relaxed yet sofisticated with a dash of exotic, and her styling is absolutly superb! Lets take a look at some projects from A.Malson Interior Design.

Are you inspired yet?! Make sure to check out the rest of her portfolio over at A.Malson Interior Design.

Encouraging Creativity with Kiwi Crates

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a fairly creative person. Creativity is what feeds my soul. It is my form of expression. I try to add creativity into my everyday life, whether it be in the form of a DIY project, a recipe or a craft.

I love to share my creative side with my kids and encourage them to discover their imagination. Studies have shown that kids who are given the opportunity to explore and learn using their imagination grow into strong creative thinkers and problem solvers. Just think of all the inventions, medical breakthroughs and technological advances that never would have happened if it wasn't for those strong creative thinkers.

However, I find it tough sometimes to find the time to think up new and exciting creative projects for my kids to do. Then I discovered  Kiwi Crates. Kiwi Crates are convenient, fun & imaginative new project boxes designed for children age 3-7 that are delivered right to your door, every month. They are designed by parents to encourage kids to explore arts & crafts, science and imaginative play.

I don't know about your kids, but mine LOVE getting packages in the mail!

When the green box arrived at the door, they couldn't wait to tear into it to find out what fun and inspiring craft was waiting for them to explore.

Trendy Tuesday ~ High Point Trends

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of joining my blogging buddy Nancy on a quick weekend trip to check out High Point Market.  For those of you who don't know what High Point is, its the worlds largest, twice a year, trade-only Market for furniture & textile manufacturers to showcase their merchandise for the upcoming seasons. It’s basically an entire city filled with anything and everything related to interior design, and it is wonderful:)



I went along primarily for the design inspiration and the overabundance of eye candy. There was something fabulous to look at around every corner, and it can be incredibly overwhelming if you have never been there before. This was my first time attending High Point Market and Nancy was a wonderful tour guide. She took me to some amazing little shops and showrooms. Here we are outside of Oly.

We even had a celebrity sighting!! Candice Olsen was speaking at Surya about her new line of rugs.

 She is such a great speaker, so casual yet informative and funny!! And her new rug line is gorgeous too.

So while I was scouring the Market and drooling over the showrooms, I kept noticing some common trends among a lot of them. Some of these trends you may already of seen before from a few trend setting bloggers who have created clever DIY inspired projects (yay clever bloggers!) and some are new to me. Today I'm going to share my finds with you!

 First up...Neon.

Lots of neon! Especially yellow. Neon needs to be done in small doses and treated as a clever accent. A neon painted chair frame or neon piping on a classic neutral upholstery make these traditional pieces feel more modern. One of my favorite ways of incorporating neon was in the pillow that you can see just a hint of in the top left corner. (Why didn't I get a picture of this?! Grr.) You can kind of see that it had a classic navy & taupe floral pattern on the front, but the back of the cushion was neon yellow. This contrast was striking against the black sette!

 Secondly, nail head trim.

We noticed lots of furniture that was completely upholstered, usually in a natural linen fabric, and then detailed with nail head trim. How fabulous is that dresser?! This is one trend that I have seen a lot of DIY bloggers replicate.

Next, natural wood lighting.

Lately I have seen quite a few bloggers create their own beaded light fixtures, and I personally LOVE this look! We saw tons of beaded chandeliers using both natural and painted wooden beads as well as some simple geometric framed shades made with untreated wood that surround the bulb or fixture. These fixtures have great potential to be DIY'd!

 

  

While we are still talking lighting, we also noticed a trend towards using over-sized light fixtures above tables. Some were huge and industrial looking, some were in the form of giant glass beaded chandeliers (of which I didn't snap a picture! Oh well...c'est la vie!) and others were just a large grouping of lights like the last one in the collage above. You can get a sense of just how big these lights were by comparing the aged brass pendant to the size of my head! Huge! (The pendant, not my head!) Either way, I love the statement they would make in any dining space!

In furniture trends, there were a lot of pieces with spindle. or turned legs.

They ranged anywhere from very ornate to more contemporary and simple. Do you think we going to be seeing a growing resurgence of Early American style furniture?! The spindle leg furniture definitely has more of a country feel, but the pieces looked right at home in some of the more contemporary showrooms.

And lastly, this is a new one for me. Denim.

I have to admit, I'm not really loving it. We saw lots of pieces that were covered in denim jeans or shirts. The chair on the bottom left wasn't bad. It's hard to see, but it was upholstered with a dark denim shirt, and the seams made it interesting. But the other two?!?! I think I will leave the acid wash jeans at the Goodwill, thank-you very much.

And since I saw SO many fabulous things at High Point, I cant help but share a few more pics with you of pieces that really stood out!

I just love the curves of this round sofa from Design Legacy

 This entire space from Emporium Home is just breathtaking! The wallpaper, the Chandelier, those chairs! Swoon!

And this Emerald green table! What a beauty!! From Worlds Away.

Nancy and I were both head over heels for this fabulous blue velvet sofa with gold legs. The mustard pillows look just devine on it:)

How cool are these outdoor chairs from Four Hands?!?

 

This one one of my absolute favorite finds from  Bobo Intriguing objects.

I must find a way to DIY this! And these over-sized zinc letters, also from  Bobo Intriguing objects were pretty cool too.

These cowhide rugs that you could custom make into ANY pattern you  like were pretty awesome. Take a look at some of the options.

 

And I couldn't leave out this stunning light fixture from none other than Arteriors. Swoon.

So what do you thin of these upcoming trends spotted at High Point? Any you like? Any you love? Any you'd wish would stay at High Point?!

There was so much more that we didn't get to see, but these showrooms are by far the ones that stood out for me. Make sure you click the links to visit! You will probably find a lot of my featured trends here too:)

Bobo Intriguing objects
Halo Styles
Four Hands
Oly
Arteriors
Worlds Away.
Design Legacy
Emporium Home
Noir
Dovetail
Capel Rugs

Derby Inspired

Hey Y’all! Tomorrow is Derby Day here in Kentucky! The first Saturday in May has quickly become one of my favorite weekends to spend here in the Bluegrass State. Although I’ve never actually gone to the Derby (it’s on my Bucket List though!) we do usually go to a party every year where you get to dress up and wear fancy hats while sipping on Mint Juleps and try and act (somewhat) civilized for the evening, but that is pretty hard to do after a few Bourbons;)

So to honor this great Kentucky tradition, I thought I would share some of my favorite Derby Inspired Home Decor.

A fellow Kentuckian, Carmel from Our Fifth House has a knack of beautifully incorporating Derby Inspired elements into her decor. I just love this horseshoe art!!

Horseshoe Art from Our Fifth House

Reading Nook with Horse Art from Our Fifth House