My sweet mom is always up for entertaining, which I absolutely love. She's also always up for some DIY fun. She invited Whitney and myself over to make our pinterest fall wreath dreams come true. We snacked on some apps (homemade pimento cheese and meatball subs!!) and then we got to work. I may have ended up crying a few tears after a painful encounter with a hot glue gun but it was still a great night. Even if my middle finger on my left hand is pretty much ruined right now. This paragraph has taken way too long to type. So, now I'll hush.... and give my finger a rest. 

Whitney's, mine & Mom's finished products below!

I'm going to add some white polkadots on my E and Mom still has to finish her bow, but I'm so happy with how they all turned out. They fit our style and personality so well :)

& of course we had the cutest helper around to make sure our wreaths were perfect, sweet Bella!

the curtains.

Yes! The. Curtains. They are officially up and hanging proud. From beginning to end, these little devils were a pain in my rear but I am so happy with them. Mainly happy to be finished with them, but I also love the way they turned out!

It all started with an idea I found on Pinterest. Like most ideas that seem like a great idea until you try it and then you want to scream and yell at that stupid website that makes you feel like any DIY project is really easy. We have all had our Pinterest catastrophes, right? Well, these curtains are mine. I wanted curtains that ended up like THIS but after several trial runs with a straight line and a few screams at the tape, hard wood floors, my aching back and Pinterest I decided that stripes were not going to happen! Then I found THIS lovely DIY curtain painting project and I was sold! I ran to my local Michaels art store and picked up the same exact foam stamps that A Beautiful Mess used and I was ready to go!

I have to give Peter credit for the help with hanging the curtains and for the idea of the design. Going from large circles to small circles all the way up the curtains makes me think of champagne, and champagne is always a good thing! I love how they turned out!!!

Bridal Shower Brunch.

On Saturday I had the most fun morning with my Mom spoiling the latest Bride to Be! Madison and I have been friends for over 10 years and I am so excited about her journey into the wife life. I know that her and her future hubby will be so happy together and I love the fact that she is marrying the male version of myself. It is kind of ironic how similar her and Peter are also, funny how that happened! 

The shower was so much fun and I'm looking forward to the next few months with many celebrations for this sweet bride. She deserves every second of love and I'm glad we got to love her a lot over the weekend! 

So thankful for our sweet Mamas!!!

This photo below is one of my favorites! So much love in it and I'm so glad that Madison's Grandmama was able to come to the shower! 

Now on to the gift opening!! It was so much fun to watch her excitement with each gift she opened. Madison told everyone how thankful she was and how wonderful it was to have so many people she loves in one room and also shared how her #1 love language is gifts so she was feeling super loved. 

It was wonderful!! 

Speaking of love languages I've realized since becoming a wife that service is most definitely one of mine. Peter's #1 love language is service so I'm not sure if he has converted me or if I just didn't realize what mine was until now. Either way, I love to throw a party and serve those I love. Entertaining and hosting is  one of my passions in life and I love to fill our home with happiness. The decorating is one of my favorite things to do so I thought I'd share a little bit of that with all of you! 

All of the frames used for the food were purchased at Michael's and I found them for $0.50 each! The hanging mobile under the chandelier was made with paper and string from Michael's also. My mom and I bought all the flowers at Publix or Trader Joes. I'm thankful that my Mom has the same love for entertaining since she was so helpful during the preparations for the shower. I love co-hosting with her!! Peter also gets an honorable mention  since he woke up early Saturday morning to help get everything prepared and made the tasty waffles for us! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful Mom and Hubby!!

All of the desserts were from Publix also except for the doughnut holes are from Dunkin Doughnuts.

It was a wonderful morning for sure!! So glad that we were able to celebrate together and it was so much fun to meet some new people also! 

** Disclaimer that all stores mentioned in this post are not a sponsor. 

However if Michael's would like to sponsor this blog that would be wonderful since they do receive a lot of money from me. ;) **

A Bunch of Frames on a Wall.

One of the scariest endeavors with home decor so far has been the dreaded frame gallery. From the beginning of the house plans I knew the perfect spot for a bunch of framed pictures but I didn't know where to start. What frames do I use…? How do I decide on the pictures…? What design do I need to use for the frames…? Oh man, it was overwhelming.

After some researching on what type of feel and design I wanted I found a few styles I was hoping to recreate.

 Here are the steps I used to complete the wall:

1// select the number of frames and the different sizes needed

2// pick the pictures/prints for each frame while laying them out on the floor to position them in the design you like

3// outline the frames on newspapers and cut them out and then tape them to the wall to confirm the frame sizes and locations

4// once you are happy with the result nail the holes in the right areas and remove the newspaper

5// hang frames and enjoy

**Just a few tips to make the job a little easier... when I try to locate the right spot for the nails I always use a little dab of toothpaste on the back of the frame where the nail should go and then line up the bottom of the frame to the newspaper and press the top of the frame against the wall. This will make the perfect mark for the nail so you won't have to make any guesses. **

see the DIY prints I made here & here

and the frames were all purchased at Ikea and are the RIBBA series

A new kind of and.

So far this month my goals have been going pretty well and I’m almost finished with that #2 item; completing the gallery wall in the front hallway. I finished my first DIY print a little while ago and I've had all the photos printed for the other frames but there was one frame that I was having some trouble with. All of the frames used for the front hallway are from IKEA and I've really liked them but the one I was having problems with is an odd shape. The frame is 9”x9” so it was a little difficult to find the right photo to fit. I finally realized that I should make another print to solve the problem. 

After some searching I decided I wanted to paint an ampersand but not your average ampersand. I found many examples on Pinterest and wanted to do a little tweaking to make it my own. It kind of looks like a letter E also which conveniently works for our home since our last name starts with an E. I also decided to make the print a little more personal and added our wedding date below the ampersand because that day was the official date that we became an AND. Peter & Cassie. I love the way that sounds!

**This post is not sponsored by IKEA.

1 John 4:19

When I put number 35 on my 101 in 1001 I couldn't wait to get started on it. I knew that I wanted to make a print of a bible verse for the collage wall in our front hallway but I wasn't sure which one. I spent some time thinking about what verse best represents our home right now. With us being newlyweds and learning how to love each other in a selfless way I wanted the bible verse to be a daily reminder on how to love. I knew instantly which one to use.

As long as we remember that He loved us first and to mirror our love for each other to His kind of love then I think we will love each other well. After all, that love is the most selfless love ever experienced and I want to be thankful for that every day. 

While I was painting I made an accidental smudge. First time painter problems I guess... the more I looked at it the more I realized I wanted a little color anyways. I decided to paint a little red heart to cover the black smudge and I really love the way it turned out. 

Today is also our 4 month anniversary!

It has been a happy four months and I'm so thankful that I have that man to love.

Homemade Christmas Wreath

With all of the Pinterest finds for this Holiday season I was most in love with homemade wreaths! Even if they were a little scary to try I was game for it. I bought some embroidery hoops from Michael’s and used green floral wire to attach the greenery. I started with a search around our back yard to find limbs and branches that I thought would work well. I wanted them all to be different but similar. I had the big Christmas tree in our backyard in mind first but that didn’t work out since the branches were too hard to form into circles and they were incredibly sharp. The softer branches were a lot easier to work with.

I started the first wreath by securing each branch to the hoop one by one but it wasn't a sfull as I was hoping for. After I thought I was finished I sat it to the side. 

With the second wreath I knew I could try something a little different since it was the smallest of the three. I took some fresh rosemary from the yard and made 3 long pieces into a circle the same size as the hoop. Once I made sure the size was right I then secured the stems to the hoop with the wire. This was a lot easier and looked more natural also.

The last wreath is probably my favorite. I curved the branches to fit the hoops and tried to wrap them around to make sure the placement as right. Since these branches were softer I could lay it on the floor and take a look at it without having to secure it. This made it a lot easier to see where more limbs were needed and then I could wrap the wire around certain sections but still have some of the greenery loose.

After I was finished with the last wreath I went back to add a few more pieces to the first one using the same technique that I used with the last. It was still hard to make it full but I liked the way they all looked different.

The fourth wreath was made with fake garland and a hot glue gun. It was my first try and I was a little nervous about the real stuff but now looking at the final products I wish I wouldn't have used the fourth hoop with the garland. But oh well... now I know! 

Once I finished with all of the wreaths I took some red ribbon and wrapped it around the hoop twice and used a staple gun to secure the ribbon on the hoop. Once I decided how long I wanted the ribbon to be I cut the ribbon and used the staple gun to attach the ribbon to the top of the window. This way there are no bows and the style is simpler. Exactly what I was hoping for.

Now that I have tried out these baby wreaths with greenery from our yard I have a few ideas for the rest of the house and I’m pretty excited about those too!! I’m going to try my best to do something a little creative and fun with the branches I cut from the Christmas tree in our back yard but you’ll have to wait a little later to see if that works out. Crossing my fingers!!! 

Once again, I'm happy to join in the Holiday Cheer link up!

You can other Holiday Crafts Here & Here!

Master Bedroom Re-Do // Part Two

Like I said yesterday, we didn't have much to do to the actual room but there was plenty of work for the furniture. We also were super blessed with all the furniture being given to us which made us so happy. The only money spent in our Master was on the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and the new lamps/vanity mirror. When we first saw the house I fell in love with the beautiful vanity in one of the girls bedrooms so when we put an offer on the house we asked for that also. Once again, we were blessed when they said yes! 

This was the before furniture except for the vanity was painted red.... 

and after a lot of painting, waxing and sweating I am happy to share the below photos.

^^^ the paint color was ASCP Paris Grey and the ASCP clear wax.

^^^ new necklace from my sweet mom. It says Mrs. cause I'm a Mrs. and all...

^^^ my necklace from the wedding day and some special jewelry that Peter has given me.

I really love it and I'm so happy with the outcome. Definitely have some more ideas in my head and once those are completed I will share more!!