Do you love raw crystal as much as I do?

I'm loving all the raw crystal and gemstone jewelry that has been popping up lately! I love the unfinished, natural look and I especially love it when it is combined with a nice, long necklace. Long necklaces are my favorite! But there are also some amazing cocktail rings being made out there in the Etsy world too. I'm really going to work this summer on learning to pull off a cocktail ring. Ever since I got engaged and now married I feel weird about wearing any ring other than my engagement and wedding ring.

But I digress, here are some of the pieces I've been drooling over lately. All of these pieces are $45 or under. I like to keep things on the cheaper side when at all possible and while I don't consider $45 super cheap, it is at least a lot better than the pricing you tend to see in your typical fashion magazines and stores these days. And besides wouldn't you rather support an independent retailer anyway?

Source: Moorea Seal's Etsy Shop

Source: Rozzie's Etsy Shop

Source: Yirweh Jewelry's Etsy Shop

Source: Larkin and Larkin's Etsy Shop

Source: Nubambu's Etsy Shop

Source: CuppaCoffee's Etsy Shop

Source: CyanOwl's Etsy Shop

However, if you prefer to "go your own way" and decide that you want to take on the task of getting crafty and making one of these gorgeous necklaces yourself you can always try out this tutorial from Seablanket.

Oooh, I can't wait to make this: Leather Leaf Necklace

I can't wait to pick up some supplies to make this awesome necklace. I mean let's be honest, what a cute, quick jewelry idea! Check out the full instructions at Missie Krissie...

DIY: How cute is this?

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Saw this cute bracelet tutorial by following a link featured on Divine Chaos. How cute is that? And it looks pretty simple to make too!

I'm back kinda and a fun DIY

So we are settling in up here in beautiful WNC but not quite used to the day-to-day yet. I'm sorry I've been absent for so long but for those of you who are clicking on still I promise to have up update on our house and such soon (for example, we're planning on making a trip to Ikea this weekend for a cool bed that we've wanted for a long time...won't that be fun?).

In the meantime here is a totally awesome DIY from a Honestly...WTF. I mean honestly how cute is this idea...and how easy!

Quick Craft: Well, this is adorable!

Check out this super cute craft/planter. Have you ever seen anything so darling! I've always wanted a really whimsical garden space and this would blend in just fine. I also think it would be fun to plant a different herb on each level. It could be a living spice rack!

Source: Craftzine.com

Anthro inspired top

Check out this quick and easy DIY top. I was flipping through the latest Anthro catalog when I saw the Climbing cowl neck and thought that I could do something very similar.

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I found an old t-shirt that wasn't getting much use and used fabric shears to make a scoop neck and shorter sleeve.

Next I used pins to get the shape I wanted. First on one side and next on the other. I didn't want this to look too matchy matchy so I used different amounts of stitches on each side.




Finally I used my sewing machine to stitch everything up and hand sewed a couple stitches to hold the neck in the way I wanted it. I'm pretty happy with the result. Not bad for my first try and it does look awful close to the anthro top. Forgive the horrible picture of me. I'm wearing another tank top under this shirt and it makes me look like I have eight stomachs :-(

Peeps

Well Easter is only a few days away and you know what that means...peeps! I'm not a huge peeps fan, actually that's not true. I'm a HUGE peeps fan! I think they are adorable, I just don't really care for eating them, until now. Check out what I found while surfing the web: Easter Peeps in a Jar!

If you do a simple google search of "Easter Peeps in a Jar" you'll find tons of examples. This is basically a really cute DIY Easter gift that you can give to friends and family. You can use the adorable jar as decor during the holiday and when Easter is over you can use the contents in the jar to make a delicious graham cracker and chocolate treat!

Here are some examples and variations that I found online.

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And here's a Halloween version of the craft.

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Well these are cool!

Check out this super creative earring DIY I found...I might have to try these out!

Great scarf DIY

So the dogs woke me up early and to try and keep them from waking Beau up I decided to get up with them and go in the other room. We're trying to get Rocky used to sleeping later than 5am but the closest we've gotten so far is about 6:30am. Thank goodness we prefer mornings to nights.


I signed on my email this morning and found a really nice comment from a new blog friend Lola's Girl. Check out her blog if you haven't done so already. She has a blog post this week all about fun, spring scarves and one of them reminded me of a fun project I found over at another great blog called Pretty Ditty.

Scarf from Rouche


Scarf from Pretty Ditty

I actually found this project last fall but it is definitely more a spring scarf so I hadn't posted it yet. I made one of these for my sister in law Lauren and she really liked it. It's super easy and relatively quick too. The toughest part for me was finding fabric because I was looking last fall but you should have no problems now that spring is on it's way.


I apologize but I didn't take pictures because it was a rush birthday gift but I definitely plan on making another one soon so I'll be sure to take pictures of that one.

Quick Craft: Rope jewlery

Check out this total awesome DIY from ...Love Maegan. It is so quick, cheap and easy that you could easily recreate this cute look in just an hour or so. It just uses curtain ties and some ribbon. How cool is that?

I'm always looking for new, fun blogs to be inspired by and I'm totally digging ...Love Maegan so be sure to check out her blog whether you like the craft or not. And because I love how you can totally start out on one person's blog and end up at a blog you've never visited before, here is the 6 Degrees of Separation (more like three I guess) for how I got to ...Love Maegan.

Divine Chaos>One Pearl Button>...Love Maegan

Happy Weekend! We're planning on spending as much time outside as possible so hopefully I'll have lots of fun pictures to post soon!

Weekend fun

Hey guys,

It's beautiful in GA today and Beau and I are headed outside with the puppies for some fun in the sun. But just in case you aren't blessed with the same weather here are some fun ideas for the weekend.

1) Make Polymer clay buttons with the help of this tutorial via Craft Stylish.

2) Crochet your own coffee sleeve. I used this tutorial this morning and it was super quick and easy. I'll post pics of my coffee sleeve soon.

Combine the two to make something like this! (picture source)

I plan on adding buttons to mine later.

3) Go see Shutter Island. Beau and I did last night and it was amazing! We are still talking about it. A lot of people have said they thought it would be scary but it really wasn't. It was more of a psychological thriller.

Quick Crafting from Cakies

Source: Cakies


Check out this awesome and quick DIY from Cakies. I made one of these a couple months ago and it instantly became my new favorite headband. Ruby's blog is definitely one of my new favorites!

I love blogs like hers! You know the kind where you read the stories, check out the pictures and can just see the wonderful love that the family shares :-)

Also check out Smile and Wave. This is the blog that led me to Ruby's blog Cakies. This blog gives you that same warm fuzzy feeling when you read it and Rachel is posting a ton of fun love stories this month. It is definitely worth a read.

Quick crafting: Dog shirt

Do you find a hard time finding dog shirts that fit the style of you and your pup? I do. I get so sick of all the cheesy sayings and frilly designs. I want shirts for my dog that match my style. I see cute designs all the time in the baby section but baby shirts always left too much fabric around my pup's stomach. Until now.

Here's what you need to know to turn a baby t-shirt to an awesome t-shirt for your pup.

Supplies:
Baby t-shirt (I used size 6-9 months but use your discretion based on your pup's size)
Scissors
Sewing machine or needle and thread

1. Try the shirt on your dog to eyeball how much you will need to alter it.

2. Remove the shirt and cut vertically down the back center. Remember the image on the front of a baby shirt is the image that will be on the back of your dog.

3. Turn inside out and match the two cut ends together. You may want to pin your ends in to place.
4. Sew vertically down the shirt. Use your estimate from earlier to determine where to sew. Be sure not to make the shirt too small. It's better to leave too much room at first and have to go back and do this step again than to sew it too tight.

5. Cut any excess fabric but be sure to leave 1/2 inch to an inch in case of fraying.
6. Turn right side out and dress your dog! How snazzy right?



Let me know if you try this out. I'd love to see pictures of your adorable pups in their awesome new shirts.