DIY Mason Jar Snow Globes

Soooo this one time on Pinterest... I pinned these really adorable snow globes. Cue snow globe picture here.

And of course I had to have them for myself soo here's my version! 

I started off by getting the small trees at Walmart for surprisingly very cheap (Under $4 for all of them). Then I purchased the large jar, small Ball jar, and fake snow at Hobby Lobby. 

As you can see the largest tree was actually a little too tall for my jar. Thankfully, I just popped off the base of the tree and then used some wire cutters to trim the tree to the height I needed. Then just pop the wires back into the base with some hot glue and the height is perfect. 

Next, just hot glue your trees onto the insides of the lids as so.

Add some of your fake snow (but just enough to cover the bottom of the trees) and then shake to get some snow onto the trees and you're done!!

They are so adorable and I am in love with them!! How do you like them?!

And here they are in their new home in our home! Don't worry there will be more Christmas/ Winter decorations around them soon. I just wanted to get this craft done for people who are planning ahead for the holiday season. 

All in all I think the total cost for me was about $17 total for all three unless you have all of the jars on hand. Unfortunately, I only had the medium sized one on hand. Aren't they so cute?! 

Peace,
Allison

Is Fall Really Over Already?!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by now that I am not counting down to one specific event. I feel like it just turned to Fall and now it's practically gone, already being overcome by Christmas decorations and peppermint mochas. Well, now that it's already over I might as well update on what has happened these past two months.

Once we got back from our mini-moon in Southport, NC (more on that soon)...

We quickly got back to wedded reality bliss. However, before we were completely back to reality we did spend an insane (to us) amount of money requiring two carts worth (never done that before!) at Bed, Bath, and Beyond getting all of the things we really wanted off of our registry. Thankfully, we had many gift cards and coupons, so no worries! And now our kitchen is full on stocked with matching dishes, nice pots and pans, and casserole dishes. Yes, casserole dishes folks. It's like I'm really an adult now or something!  

We made it to the SC State Fair for the very last night of the season and took a ride on the Ferris Wheel. 

Later in October, while in Charlotte visiting my dad we finally made it to Scarowinds. 

I've always wanted to go and it was actually well worth it! The haunted houses throughout were actually pretty well done and I definitely jumped quite a few times. Everything was great except when we got stuck on one of the roller coasters at the very beginning of the first hill for a good 15 minutes... not my idea of a good time. Then try inching up that entire hill after the ride hasn't even been tested again! Terrifying, that's what it is. 

Yes, I had just enough time (15 whole minutes) to sneak out my phone and take a picture. Obviously, one of us wasn't very scared. 

I also picked up our wedding gift from my brother, this beautiful iron and wood shelf that he made. He makes awesome rustic furnishings and decorations in his business called Hous Furniture. I absolutely love it and already had it's spot all picked out long before we got it home. I also may or may not have picked up that lamp at Target specifically to go on this shelf a few months before, hehe. 

Finally, Halloween showed up and Rhiley surprisingly still fits in her She"ruff" costume. The costume made for some great laughs all night as she ran around with the toy gun falling out all over the house and then stood guard at the door protecting her candy bowl. Just kidding, she was locked upstairs with music on so she wouldn't bark and scare off our (whopping 15!) Trick or Treaters. The sad life of an embarrassingly loud dog mom. 

I also got around to decorating for Fall a little on the late side. I made the banner and picked up some small pumpkins and gourds to spice things up. 

Finally, we made it to the Clinton Sease Farm Corn Maze for our 3rd year together! Of course we had to do our annual corn people photo. Check out the photos from our previous years below. 

Fall 2013:

Marriage is doing well for us, can't you tell? All in good fun people. Don't worry no husbands were harmed in the making of this photo. 

 Fall 2012:

Brandon with the our friends the Broders who we've gone to the Corn Maze every year with. 

Fall 2011:

What are you going to miss most about Fall?? 

Peace,

Allison

DIY Wooden Spheres

Here's an easy DIY I was able to accomplish in one evening and I love it! All you need are two embroidery hoops that you can get for about $1.50 or less each depending on the size you choose. Then, all you need is your favorite color stain and some brass round tacks. It's really that simple! 

First, I just played around with the hoops until I got them to the position I wanted. I chose to have both of the hooked ends overlap which ended up looking pretty cool after all was said and done. 

Next, I gathered my stain and brush and got to work. Finally, I added the brass tacks on each of the overlapping points except where the hooks overlap which balanced out the presence of the hooked ends. Voila! Not too shabby for a 15 minute, <$5 project. 

How do you like them? Let me know! 

Peace, 

Allison 

Laundry Room Before & After!

Remember when I said we finally completed the Laundry Room?! Okay, I know it is odd to have made so much headway in a laundry room of all rooms but when the laundry room is the hallway to the garage and mudroom for shoes, it is basically a room we see way to much of on a daily basis. So without further ado... here are the BEFORE & AFTERS. 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Wall Color: Martha Living Wrought Iron ( A deep, navy blue tone)
Wash/ Dry Signs: Hobby Lobby cardboard letters spray painted metallic 
Laundry Sign: World Market
Light Fixture: Lowe's 

Overall, none of these were very costly upgrades. The light fixture was a splurge that was obviously not necessary but adds a little character to the room and I love it. 

Let me know what you think!! I'd love to hear from you. 

Peace, 
Allison 


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Love Letters & The Notebook

So I'm gonna get a little mushy with y'all today. While many parts of our wedding flew by in a blur, there were a few special moments where I actually felt like time practically stood still or at least inched by so I was able to take it all in. Reading the letters we wrote to each other on the day of our wedding was one of those stand-still moments. 

I knew long before our wedding that I wanted to write Brandon a letter for him to read on the day of (yes even before I saw it on Pinterest). I have always been way better at expressing my feelings and thoughts on paper than in person and for as long as I can remember I have written down snipits of my life and poems of how I feel in random notebooks, so I knew I wanted to memorialize our day in a special way. I had actually written a little something three years prior (only a year after we had started dating) suggesting that I could already see Brandon being my husband and growing old with him which I also gave him to read on the day of. It actually ended up being almost more emotional than the actual letter I wrote for the day of the wedding. 

When I suggested to Brandon that I wanted to write him a letter for the day of our wedding, he surprisingly agreed quite quickly to also write me one so that we could exchange them before we saw each other. Little did I know it was one of the most memorable moments from the entire day. Thankfully, because of our little "video project" (a wedding post soon to come) we were able to capture both of our emotional reactions to the letters on film which was really sweet to watch later since we weren't in each other's rooms when we read them. 

For my letter, I wanted to make it a little extra special and start a new tradition as well. I had read somewhere a while back of a married couple that, in an effort to keep the spark alive in their relationship, started a love note journal tradition. The journal was where they would take turns writing a letter (of love, apology, encouragement, etc) at a random time (a high point or low point in their relationship) and hide it in a spot where the other half was bound to find it (ie. on top of the cereal bowls in the cabinet, in the passenger seat of their car, etc.). Our wedding day seemed like the perfect time to begin this tradition. 

I purchased a nice leather bound journal at Barnes & Noble months before the wedding and on the day of the wedding while we were at the salon taking turns getting our hair done, I wrote my letter. It was actually a great emotional outlet on such a high energy, emotionally charged day. I started by telling Brandon how I felt about him when I first met him and continued on about how much our relationship has grown since then. Our relationship is by no means perfect ( I would never expect it to be) but I was actually able to tell him how much of a sense of stability he has been in my life. I added in the little poem/ writing that I mentioned earlier behind the letter I wrote the day of the wedding. The funny part is that even though the date from the past writing was on it, Brandon skimmed past it and assumed it was just an addition to what I had written that day. I guess that just goes to show sappy and romantic women are in comparison to men that I was even able to think that far in the future despite only being a year into our relationship. I ended my letter with a little note for him to look inside his ring for my gift to him that was a surprise engraving that says, "Love you forever 09.28.2013." 

While we were both getting dressed with our bridal party in our respective rooms we had the Maid of Honor and Best Man deliver the letters to each other. 

 I'll let you see for yourself the pictures our wonderful photographer, Jamie Brant Photography captured during the writing and reading of our love letters.

 

And then as if the letter wasn't already enough (It was!), Brandon gave me a very thoughtful necklace that totally matched the pearl earrings I was wearing. He knew that I had decided not to wear a necklace originally because I couldn't find one that I thought did my dress justice. Little did I know, he found the perfect one that had an infinity symbol and a pearl.

The love letters were one of my absolute favorite memories from our wedding! I know that sounds kind of crazy but at the end of the day, the fact that I can go back and look at our letters and read about where each other's thoughts were on that day just makes it that much more special. 

Peace, 

Allison 

:: wedding photos by Jamie Brant Photography ::

Stay tuned for the Laundry Room BEFORE & AFTER reveal later this weekend.