Happy Anniversary to our Home!

As I am sitting here waiting for supper to finish, I realize, we have been in our home for a year now!

WHAT?!

Where did the time go?!

It seems like only yesterday we were moving into our first home.

For the first few months I was pretty convinced our house was built on an ancient burial ground, considering all the bad luck we had.

BUT...

I am ONLY going to focus on the GOOD as I toast to our ONE YEAR of home ownership!

Let's see...

Ok, I have to admit, I took little to NO pictures when we first bought this house (and still don't).

Lucky for me, everything can be found on the internet.

I do regret not having something to show me just how much we have really done.

I am always so focused on what more needs to be done.

Sooooo I thought I would post what before and afters that I DO have!

Before

After!

Moved the fan, updated baseboards and painted!

Want to learn how to make the "Family" sign? Click here

(semi) Before. This was during reno when our shower was leaking into the kitchen wall...ugh!

Again ancient burial ground.

After.

Matt installed those sconces, built the bench and painted. The bench serves as storage too :)

(he also put in two recessed lights where the fan was)

Now for the main attraction.

The dreadful yard.

Bless Matt's heart, really.

He knew this was going to be a MAJOR project home and he knew our one and only contractor was going to be Ashworth's and Sons

But he knew this is what I wanted and he was ready to make it everything I had dreamed of.

Before...

      

After...

Matt put in a hitching post and made it a wash rack.

Got our first (Charlie Brown) Christmas tree...and planted it.

We later got another baby tree

got rid of our completely unreliable gate and fence...

and replaced with an iron gate and new wall and installed sprinklers for the arena.

aaaand for the icing on the cake....

Grass :) aaaahh my favorite part!

WOW!

I can't believe how much really has been done.

What's on the list for the next year?

Well if you remember from my post back in...MARCH?! ugh... We had to rip out our master shower.

Click here to read about that awful day

So since March me, my fiance and future brother-in-law have ALL been sharing ONE shower.

Luckily for our schedules, it really hasn't imposed a problem on anyone.

BUT I DO have some exciting things to post on that, but that will come at a later time.

Let's just say...I should be posting on the master shower oh so soon!

I can't wait to see what fun project we...well I come up with ;) luckily Matt enjoys them all...so he says!

.     .     .     .

Need help with DIY's? Have questions on HOW TO's?!

Feel free to reach out to us!

Anywhere from: bugets, to upgrading ideas and how to save the most money and get the most done... we have become experts!

XO,

Dana

2 Years Going on 32

Happy anniversary to my handsome cowboy hubby to be!!

Well, it was on October 3rd :)

 

That's a picture of our VERY first trail ride together.

Who knew we would be choosing to walk hand in hand on many trail rides to come.

I can't believe it's only been 2 years!

Seriously!

I feel like we are an old married couple.

Man can a year fly by.

I remember this same time last year I came home to a candlelit dinner with his homemade lasagna in the oven, him greeting me with the most amazing smile, flowers and our favorite bottle of wine and the first thing out of my mouth was "I put an offer in on a house"!

Needless to say, Matt wasn't too enthusiastic about the news considering I didn't even consult with him.

We did not get that home; however, I decided to include Matt on my next potential purchase.

Which, is the house that we currently have now!

(Speaking of, that one year will be here October 30! Say What?!)

I was given a pretty nice anniversary present!

yep! My very own Hoyt bow!

Watch out Katniss Everdean!

We changed our cable company and now have the hunting channel; and since I forfeited the rights to the remote, I haven't really watched anything other than shows on the latest and greatest hunting gear

And thus...a new archer was born.

I plan to venture on my first hunting trip next year. Eeek!

I have never met a person that I butt heads with so much, but I also never found anyone who truly understands me, loves my unconditionally and will go to the moon and back if that is what would make me happy

Thank you for loving me every single day Matt and for always telling me you love me.

I love you!! xo

 

Wooden Letters Weekend Craft!

Happy Monday!!

This morning I decided that I wanted to share my newest DIY!!

My kitchen is ALMOST done (probably not, are we ever done upgrading?)

Walls are put back up, recessed lighting in, fan installed, baseboards, bench and sconces to name a few :)

My new wall in my kitchen was rather bare....

Thus, this weeks DIY was born!

<3

My goal is to start some thrifting and get some vintage frames and have pictures of friends, family and of course…my beloved animals!

Wooden Letters are so fun to decorate because the options are limitless.

Below is how I made mine and who knows, you might learn something new, or spark some ideas of your own!

I did each letter differently.

Remember, I live on a ranch so my decor is very....mismatched : )

F

You will need:

1. Mod Podge

2. A brush

3. Fabric

4. Wooden Letter

For the F, I picked out a fabric that had clocks on it.

First, you flip the fabric over so the print side is facing down.

Then, place the letter on the fabric also face down.

Trace the letter, but be sure to leave a little room so you can completely cover the sides of the letter.

Cut the traced shape out.

On the front side of the letter, paint on the Mod Podge.

Since I wanted the sides covered with fabric as well, I also put Mod Podge on the sides.

The piece of fabric was a little shorter then my letter.

NO WORRIES!

I just used a piece of left over fabric and some burlap to cover the connecting line and you can't even tell!

I dressed the letter up with a "vintage" flower and vintage buttons.

A

You will need:

1. Two different colors of acrylic paint

2. Vaseline

3. 80 grit sand paper

4. Wooden letter

5. Paint Brush

I decided to go with a more distressed look for my A.

First, you paint the areas that you would like the second color to show.

This is really optional, but makes the sanding ALOT easier...put Vaseline on the areas of the letter you want the top color to show through.

A very very light amount of Vaseline, or the top coat will not stick at all and just get all over the place.

Then paint the entire letter with your lighter top coat.

Once completely dried, start sanding in the areas that the Vaseline was put, or any where you painted till the bottom coat comes through.

Keep sanding until you get your desired look!

M

1. Elmer's Glue

2. Top and bottom paint colors (acrylic)

3. Paint brush

4. Wooden Letters

I love the way the M turned out.

I did a crackle effect for this one, and I really LOVE it!

First, paint the letter with your desired bottom color (what will come through the cracks)

Then completely cover the letter with Elmer's glue (using a paint brush)

I did mine kind of thick hoping it would show up in the pictures.

Now, here's the tricky part....

Don't paint too soon or it will not work at all, the glue will get all over and it will be a mess; don't paint too late or it will hardly crack.

Patience.

Wait until it is "tacky" or super sticky

I waited about 5 min or so and then would lightly touch areas and if it didn't feel sticky, then I would wait until it did.

Once the glue feels pretty sticky, go ahead and paint your second color right on top of it.

Now this part is fun!

You really get to see your work come alive!

As the glue dries, your top coat will begin to "crack"

Cool huh?!

I

The I is very similar to the F, but instead of using a fabric, I used a piece of scrap book paper.

What you will need:

1. Scrap book paper

2. Mod Podge

3. Sand Paper

4. Wooden Letter

The I by far was the easiest.

So I started off the same way as I did with the F.

Flip the scrap book paper face down and place the wooden letter face down on the fabric.

Then trace the letter.

I traced exactly along the I instead of leaving room for the edges (paper wouldn't wrap as nicely as the fabric would).

I then used an exact-o blade and cut along the traced letter.

On the front of the letter, paint on a thin layer of mod podge and place the cut out on top

Once the paper and letter are COMPLETELY dry, lightly sand the edges of the letter to give a more "finished" look.

I also dressed this letter up with burlap and a flower.

L

The L by far took the longest, but it ended up being my FAVORITE!

What you will need:

1. Twin

2. Glue gun and LOTS of glue sticks

3. Wooden Letter

First things first.... When doing this project, I did ALL my lines horizontal.

So since I knew all the main wraps would be going in one direction, I first had to cover the parts that wouldn't be able to be covered by the horizontal wraps.

Start cutting a bunch of little pieces of twin and let  the gluing begin!!

Once all the areas that don't make the horizontal line cut are covered, glue an uncut piece of twine at the VERY top of the letter (on the BACK) and begin to wrap, and wrap and wrap!

I would put hot glue across the back of the letter every third wrap or so.

This part takes some time!

Make sure the twin is tight and as close together as you can get it!

Almost done!

If there are areas that you can see the letter, just cut a piece of twin and fit it right in!

Once I got all my visible white areas covered, I wanted to dress this letter up too!

I used some lace flowers I had left over from my wedding crafts.

Now you see why this one is my favorite ;)

Y

The Y I did the same way as the M

I did crackle paint.

Except I used a pastel pink and yellow as my colors

I decided to add some purls, lace and butterfly's to give it a different look then the M

Again, I like mismatched!

Sorry the actual wall pictures came out so DARK!

I took them this morning on my way to work at 4:30 in the MORNING!