Whimsical Porch & Home Tour Link Up

I don't know if you have caught on yet or not but I've been apart of a Tour of Homes this week! It has been truly awesome and I am so glad that I was asked to participate! The tour is ending today and I highly encourage y'all to join us! Not only can you tour around and visit by going to Like A Saturday but you can also link up your Holiday Home Tour and Projects at the end of this post!! 

In my tour I shared a tiny bit of my new favorite spot. This tour motivated me to really get going on finishing up the house. I mean, it's been six months so it's about time! So I finally got around to making our back porch a porch rather than a garage :)

I think the #1 reason I love this space so much is these stunning windows! I found them over the summer at a thrift shop with my mom and sister. I saw one of the side lights sticking out behind a rack of clothes and knew I just had to have whatever it was! The guys working probably thought I was crazy because I had no purpose for these giant windows but for about $150 bucks I just had to have them!! Reed made a quick frame to hold them up, I sealed them with out door sealant and WA LA a stunning whimsical doorway to our yard :)

Next is this papasan chair and the burlap lights. I got the papasan at a thrift shop (surprise). It didn't have a pillow but for the price I couldn't pass it up! Then I about choked when I learned the price of cushions so I decided to make my own out of a drop cloth and $3 Walmart pillows :) You can check out that tutorial HERE.
But really I think what makes this space glow and seem so warm and cozy is the lights framing the window. I originally intended them to be nothing but Christmas decoration and just thought the porch needed that sparkle for the season. But shoot girl, I'm leaving these suckers up all year round! All I did was find an old dried out branch to hang from the ceiling, then tide burlap ribbon to it so it was just long enough to graze the floor. Then I took my white lights and draped them in the space in between. Pretty simple for how much fun it adds to the space!

Finally is this old box. It is actually an old farm box from Reeds family down in Charleston. It has the name of the farm, Sunny Side Farms, and is beautifully sturdy. Reed and I found it the other day going through some of his families storage and I just had to have it. This beauty didn't need to be in some storage container! Even though it is upside down I think it's a pretty rad "coffee table".

Well, thats the tour of my whimsical porch. I love it and everything is going to stay exactly the way it is. Well, maybe not my charlie brown style christmas tree even though I do love it :) 

I can't wait for some good ole warm southern days to cuddle up with my pup and a good book!

but enough about my home lets see some of yours!! Please share with me some of your rad house tours and Holiday projects! 

Boondocks Christmas Home Tour 2013

I've been sooo excited about this house tour! I have had some of my Christmas decoration up since before Thanksgiving so waiting this long to share with you has been so hard! But if Rachel of Like A Saturday didn't ask me to be a part of this home tour I don't know if I would have decorated the way I did. And I'm basically obsessed with how I got to decorate :) 

Be sure to check out Like A Saturday and be sure to follow all the blogs that have been a part of the tour since Monday! And if you're coming from What Meegan Makes, Christmas Tree Home Tour welcome! If not be sure to head over and check out her beautiful blue Christmas!

Now that you've made it all the way out to the boondocks lets get this tour started!
Our front porch is the perfect southern style porch. Long and deep with loads of room to enjoy the view of our fabulously large yard!

I'll be sharing how I made this easy gas can table, and the day bed out of nothing but left over scraps. Be on the look out for these tutorials in the next few weeks! 

Now that we are in-side our humble abode kick your shoes off and relax awhile!
The tree and mantel are perfect for making a cozy little living room and when we get that Christmas candle going I could stay forever! 

Check out how I made the faux weathered wood boards, the simple natural wreath, and the paper stars.
And don't forget to check out the post on our Natural Cotton and Burlap Christmas Tree!

I love our little Nativity scenes!

Now, do you want something to drink or to snack on?
Lets take a whirl around the kitchen real quick. I've got lots of little vignettes going on :)

Well, if you've gotta go at least it's ending with my absolute favorite spot in the house! We finally got our back porch in shape and ready to use! I've still got some other projects to make it 100% complete but I still can't wait until warmer weather to sit out there with a book!
 

 I've got my charlie brown tree, cozy little papasan chair with my DIY cushion, leaded windows and the best view of my little "santa's workshop"! (studio).
DREAMYYYY

Now be sure to head over to Absolutely Arkansas to continue the Christmas Home tour!

If you didn't make it over to the boondocks after visiting What Meegan Makes then head over now, trust me you don't wanna miss it! 

And don't forget to check back Friday to join us in a Link party and the final homes of the tours!

The Little Drummer Boy

My all time favorite Christmas Carol is The Little Drummer Boy. I mean, who doesn't like it?! It has like the most catchy beat to it and you get to sing a fun drum beat :) I found (what I think) is the best version of this song last week. It was a video going "viral" on my Facebook timeline. But boy I am so glad I chose to listen to this because it has been playing non-stop.

So here is the best version of The Little Drummer Boy by Pentatonix.

Now that all of y'alls minds have been completely blown by that unreal musical talent I have another reason for talking about this song :)

I think, other than the pure awesome-ness of this song, that the reason this song has been on repeat for about a week is because it is how my heart feels. No I don't play the drums and I'm not a little boy. But I do understand the feeling of wanting to come before the Lord and give Him gifts that are worthy of His praise. Sadly, as humans our attempts at gifts will never really be worthy. It doesn't matter if they are gifts of frankincense, gold or myrrh they will never be better than the gift of eternal life that the little baby in a manger gave us.

I've been focusing on this a lot this season, I love giving gifts and want to show my friends how much I honor them. But with out having a steady income it is hard to feel like anything I can do is worthy. I know this is a earthly example but boy does that line "I have no gifts to bring" resinate. I want to give worthy gifts so badly.

So despite the fact that we are poor little humans that have no gifts worthy of the Lord on our own, I think we can learn a lot from the poor little drummer boy. He said he was poor, had no gifts, but asked to play his drum. He wanted to share his talent with the Lord and bless Him in the only way he knew how. I think this song embodies so much of what our attitudes should be all year long. We should be constantly wanting to bring gifts to the Lord. I think Mary would nod constantly if each of us offered up our God given talents in praise.

I hope that I have been able to do that. I may not have a job, or money to buy "worthy" gifts this season. However, God has blessed me with a creative mind and has given me the resources to share it with others! I'm not just talking about my art, or ETSY shop. I've had so much fun with this blog through out this Holiday season. I think he gave me this platform for a reason and I plan on playing it for Him as much as a can :)

Blogging, painting, or building may not be as catchy as playing the drum but I sure do think that it is a way I can praise, and honor the Lord. As long as I play my best for Him I am fully confident that He is smiling at me. 

Now go listen to the song again cause its awesome, but this time really listen to it. Listen to the boy that is giving the only gift he had all to honor the little baby boy that would save the world.

Come, they told me, pa rum pa pum pum
A newborn King to see, pa rum pa pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pa pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pa pum pum, 
Rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum
So to honor Him, pa rum pa pum pum
When we come

Little baby, pa rum pa pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pa pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pa pum pum
That's fit to give our King, pa rum pa pum pum, 
Rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum
Shall I play for You, pa rum pa pum pum

Mary nodded, pa rum pa pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pa pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pa pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pa pum pum, 
Rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum
Then He smiled at me, pa rum pa pum pum
Me and my drum
When we come

Paper Star Tutorial [Christmas Mantel 2013]

Ok, I may have started a bad addiction  tradition. I am totally decorated for Christmas (minus the outside) and we still are still over a week away from Thanksgiving! But my excuse is that I have no one but me and the hubs coming over until after Thanksgiving, so why decorate when no one will see it???

Anyway, blogging is supporting this addiction tradition so I am going to take full advantage and show yall some tutorials for my super cheap and easy decorations! So far I've shared how I got the weathered wood look and how I made that pretty dang good looking wreath (if I do say so myself). Now it is time to share the fabulous paper stars that I've got pretty much everywhere and never wanna take down :)

First things first. You need some sort of glue (I used modge podge because I use it for everything.) paper, and scissors. Thats it! Then all you do is head over to Home Made Gifts Made Easy and check out their PDF download for the pattern. (She has a tutorial too, but I'm some one who basically never reads directions. I glance then do it how every I want.. oops!)

Second, make sure you have your baby cuddled in your lap and the best TV marathon you can think of. Yes, it is easy enough that you can do cuddled up with your pup while watching TV!! 

Third. Use those scissors and cut out all your pieces. The PDF has 3 different sizes and you can even resize them to fit what you are looking for. This is actually smaller than the smallest file provided. 

Once everything is cut out grab a ruler/straight edge. (sorry I forgot that in my materials pictures!) line it up with the dotted line and bend. Do this to each dotted line. Once you have folded and creased the paper nicely add glue to your right hand tab. This will be the tab that you tuck in to create the "cone" point of the stars. 

Fourth. Repeat that process for all 5 pieces of your star. Then once you have all of your "cones" put together you can start attaching them to one another. This was a bit tricky. Apparently I needed more elbow room and was annoying Tepe so she left. 

To attach them simple put a small amount of glue on the OUTSIDE of the two tabs on the top of your cone. Then you simply fit the taps to the underside of your next cone. If you are using double sided tape or a faster drying glue it would probably be less hectic. But I enjoyed the elbow flailing so I contorted my fingers to pinch the pieces together until they dried. 

Getting the first two together is relatively easy, attaching the next 2 are a bit harder but you can do it!
 

Fifth. Once you have four of your cones together it really looks like a star. I've found that it is easier to attach the final point if you 1. wait until the glue is totally dry. 2. pinch them all down flat. Yes, these stars can be folded and stored "flat"! But what this does is make it easier for you to get your fingers inside to attach the final point. 

Sixth. Attach your final point! It is a bit tricky and totally requires some strange finger twists and probably lots of elbow room. But it is possible! However, all you will be doing is attaching ONE SIDE of your final point. You can see in the first picture below that if you hold it by one end there is a slight gap. You can fix it by 1. tying some fishing line between your final ends or 2. glueing it together. I left mine alone because I'm lazy and I messed with them enough that it wasn't super noticeable :)  But leaving the unfinished side allows you to fold up your star and store flat once you are ready to take them down, or you can affix the side permanently and just never take them down :) 

And thats it! Just repeat that process as many times as stars your heart desires! I have 1 large, 2 mediums, 4 smalls, and 3 extra smalls all around our house. 

For our mantel I hung the stars by pocking a hole the through top point and threading fishing line through it and tying that to a thumb tack. I love that you can't see the fishing line, it makes them look like they are just floating!  

And thats my third tutorial for this mantel. I LOVE the way it is going. I may just have to keep it up forever... just kidding, but maybe. Don't forget to check out how I made the Faux Weathered Boards, and the Easy DIY Wreath! I'll be adding a few more tutorials next week too so be sure to check them out!! 

Easy DIY Holiday Wreath

Goodness me I've been unbelievably busy. I've been filling lots of orders, and I had my in-laws come visit so it has been non stop for what feels like weeks! I decided I wanted to get a little holiday decorations up before the in-laws left so I got started on the mantel.

Now this is the first time I've been able to really decorate for the Holidays. I'm so excited for Christmas this year, I get to collect goodies, pick a theme, and get it all together! I started the other day by pulling down everything I have from last year. Which isn't much, basically one small moving box full. 

I don't have a big budget to get my "theme" together so I am doing as much on my own with free goodies from nature and some good stuff from wally world and the dollar tree. For my mantel I  knew I wanted a wreath in the center. I picked up 2 grape vine wreaths. But wanted to be sparing with them so I decided to pull them apart. This allowed me to use them in other places around the house! 

Here you can see how it looks when pulled apart. 1. is the original wreath. 2. is the thick vine that holds it completely together. it takes a while but you just tug and pull until you find the end and un wrap it. 3 and 4 are the two halves that fit together to create the original wreath. You can tell that one is a little more sturdy looking. Basically the two are intertwined almost perfectly so pull pull pull and then you can find the one or two vines that hold them together.

Once I got the grapevine split I realized it was pretty thin. I had some awesome cream color burlap "ribbon". I'm not really sure what it is but it is awesome and only $7 at Walmart so I stocked up on it :) By cutting a strip and looping it through the wreath it added a good bit of weight back so it didn't look so wimpy any more.

Then I collected some cedar branches and added the flower from the Dollar Tree. I just added a few sprigs of cedar and made sure not to leave them to tight, making it more organic :)

This wreath took me less than 30 minutes to make. The hardest part was getting that dang grapevine wreath separated, but you don't need to do that unless you are like me and trying to get as many projects out of one as possible :)
I love the way it turned out, and the cedar will be easy to replace when it dries out, so that pretty green pop will stay all season long!

To finish up my mantel I figured why not add some of those distressed boards I've been selling so much of! I wanted mine to look different so I opted for a vertical and horizontal combo. I picked my theme to be pretty natural, seeing that I can't buy too much. Sticking with wood tones makes it easy to add in any pops of color that may show up :) 

I also used some left over card stock and made some rad paper stars! I LOVE them and think it plays off well with the "Night Devine" theme :) I've still got some dressing up to do but I love the way its going! 

So happy with how my first ever Christmas mantel turned out. Now I know why people get so amped about decorating for the Holidays :) 

Toilet Paper Crafts

I know its a week from Christmas so its almost too late to be postin more Christmas crafts. 

But these are some fun easy and FREE decorations. 

For our Burlap Christmas Tree  we needed a star. 

I tried to find one at the dollar store and Wal-Mart but I just didn't like any. 

I had been saving toilet paper and paper towel tubes for awhile and decided this would be a fun project  to use them for. 

First I cut up the rolls in to about half inch pieces. 

Then I  glued pieces together at the ends. 

Once I had the pieces started I then began just playing around and trying to make a star shape. 

I found that using hot glue allowed this project to go fairly quickly. 

This was the end shape that I came up with. I started with the 4 glued together and then just filled in the gaps until I ran out of pieces.  I love the way it turned out :) 

My favorite craft are these Toilet Paper Reindeer! 

I wanted some decorations other than on the tree so I decided to make something small to put on the book shelf. 

For this craft I just used 3 toilet paper tubes, twigs from the yard, and hot glue. 

I started off with 1 whole tube as the body and added 4 twigs as the legs. 

I just put a drop of hot glue  where I wanted the legs placed.

Mine are a little wonky but I thought that added character :) 

Then I cut another tube in half and used it as the head. I added a smaller thicker twig for the neck and glued it to both the head and body. 

Then I added forked twigs for the antlers. 

This craft took a little longer than the star but was still less than 20 minutes total. 

Both of these crafts where so fun!

I think they both look great unfinished but was thinking today that spraying the deer white would add a little more winter whimsy. 

I'm probably going to leave the deer out all year just cause I think they are so cute!

Now that it is a week before Christmas I am finally finished decorating :) 

Reed and I leave on Thursday the 20th go fly down to Nicaragua and spend Christmas with his family. 

I know I've been posting really randomly lately but I wont post anything for about a week. 

I'm gonna try and keep yall updated on facebook and instagram but who knows! 

I hope that each and every one of you have a fabulous Holiday season with your family!! 

Don't forget that Meegan from What Meegan Makes will be guest posting on Wednesday!