a little giveaway

So, this adorable blog is doing a great giveaway!

Click on the picture below to read about it and enter to win!

Good luck!

Bathroom Re-do

I have been working my my bathroom for a couple of weeks and wanted to share my projects.  There are still a few things left to do, but this gives you an idea.  Unfortunately, I don't have any before pictures, so I'll just have to explain some.

First of all, I wanted to do all of this for under $100, AND  I did!!!

My old bathroom had yellow walls, a cream cabinet with silver hardware.   Here is what I did..

.When you open the door, you look a this wall...very plain, so I made this cute canvas that is a 16 x 20 with whimsical lettering....what do you think?

Here is a better picture of the canvas....

I worked on the cabinet for a few days, and this is what I came up with.  Remember, the cabinet was a dingy cream color.

So, I removed all doors and drawers, spray painted the hardware black and painted the cabinet a light tan color.  Once that dried, I took a dark stain and brushed it on the cabinet then immediately wiped it off with a clean cloth.  I love the distressed look that it gave to the cabinet.  It was EXACTLY the look I was going for.

The rest is decor...

I love blue and brown (my husband does NOT), so, I chose a blue for the walls and brown for accents.  I have not sewn the window treatment yet, but plan to finish that this week.  Then I had these white plaques from Southern Living at Home stored in a chest.  I pulled them out and they got a little touch of brown paint to make the design show up just a little more.

This is one of my favorite parts of the room.  The plant is in an old candy dish that was my great-grandmother's.  I love the sweet touch that it adds to the bathroom.  The lamp came from Wal-mart for $10 and the brown leather box came up from the basement.  I love the look of personalized items in any part of the house, so I added an ivory linen hemstitched handtowel with an "L" on it. (These will be offered on my etsy shop!)
The angel planter at the top is something that I will hold on to forever.  Yes, there is a story behind that precious cherub.  I had a baby boy (my 2nd child out of 4) who was stillborn at 39 weeks.  This planter was given to me with a beautiful plant after his death.  The plant was re-planted and the planter was put in this bathroom.  That was 7 years ago, and the planter has never been anywhere else in my house.  I am planning on giving him a fresh coat of paint, but not just yet.

Here is a closer look at the hemstitched towel...

I have so much enjoyed my bathroom re-do and can't wait until it is "completely" finshed.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Stationery Special!

I'm back from the beach with the kids and my mom.  I was ready to get home to see my hubby!  But, we did have a great time!

I came home to find this awesome stationery special.  I am a consultant with the cutest stationery company around.  It is called Yours Truly Deisngs.   We have all kinds of notepads and notecards.  There are some that are PERFECT for school.  The "From the Mom of..." notepads.  You MUST check those out before school starts.  One notepad for all of your kids notes to the teachers.

Also, the laminated calendar is a MUST have for the school year.  If you are like me, life is very busy with sports, school, church and all of the little appointments here and there.  This calendar can go on your fridge and you use a wet erase maker to write everything on it for the week.

 And, here are the new designs....

And...here is the special...place an order with any of the new designs and receive a FREE 25 sheet notepad or a set of 4 flat notecards!  The FREE product does have to be the same design and text as what you order.  Please let me know if you have any questions! I would be happy to help you with your order. If you do not need help, plese add me as your consultant...Julie Lewis.

Let me know your thoughts on these products and designs...we love feedback!!!

Family Photo Frame

So, this weekend, my Grandmother (Maw-Maw) turned 92 years old!  She is an amazing lady and I love her dearly.  I think if the blogging world had been around in her day, she definitely would have been involved in it.

A few things about Maw-Maw...she loves her family and loves Jesus!  She was always an amazing cook.  I would ask her how to make something, like biscuits, and here is what she would say. "You take your flour in a big bowl, just a few handfuls of flour.  Then, you take about 5 fingers ful of shortning and work that in real good, but not too much.  Your buscits will be hard if you work it too much.  Then you just pour in your buttermilk and work that in just a little."  Ok, now, who in the world can follow that recipe???  I couldn't, but I will always remember that this is how she told me to make homemade biscuits.   I love to cook and I think that came from her.

Another thing, my Maw-Maw sewed A LOT! Well, I have also followed along in those footsteps as well.  I enjoy sewing, and especially enjoy teaching people how to sew.

My Maw-Maw also has (yes, still does) a green thumb.  She can make anything grow!  I can remember my mom talking about taking what she thought was a "dead" plant to my grandmother to see if she could save it, and guess what...she did!!  I wish I could say that I got a green thumb from her, but unfortunately, I didn't.

Now, since it was her birthday, I wanted to give her something special from my family (including my brothers and their families).  So, I printed off a photo of my whole family from the beach, then found a wooden frame and painted it for her.  I like how it turned out.  Now, my Maw-Maw has 3 children...my dad, and his 2 sisters.  This photo is of my dad's part of her family.  Maw-Maw has the 3 children, 3 in-laws, 6 grandchildren plus in-laws and 7 great-grandchildren with 2 more on the way.  I'd say she is a very blessed lady!

Here is the frame, after a little story of her...

We had a great time at her party, thanks to my aunt being an awesome hostess!  It was great to see family that we haven't seen in a really long time.

I am linking this up here...

and here....

Chic Click Carnival

I am joining a blog party called Chic Click Carnival.  The purpose of this is to introduce myself and one other new "peep" to the blogging world....so...a little about me...

I am a stay at home mom, most of the time.  I do teach preschool 2 days a week.  There are 3 beautiful children and an amazing man living in my home that I call family.  I have 2 sons and a daughter.  My family is so precious to me and I would do anything in the world for them.  My other love is my Savior!  Without Jesus Christ in my life, I don't know where I would be....scary thought!

I love to do any type of craft.  Sew, scrapbook, paint, and yes, I consider cooking to be a craft.  My blog is for those things that I love to do.

I visited a page from this party called The Celebration Shoppe.  It is really fun!  Has great ideas for parties...so, check it out when you can.  


The site hosting the chic click carnival is..."Skip to My Lou"  It is a great blog!

New project: Journal Cover

Yay!!  I have a new project...journal covers.  This is an awesome project because it can be for boys or girls, men or women.  The one that I made is for ME!  I love journals and am in desperate need of a prayer journal...so...I made a cover for one of those ugly composition books that you can get really cheap.  Here is how it turned out...

What do you think?  Need a little closer look???

I just love the ragged ruffle and the button adds just a little something extra.  You can always add an initial or word on it somewhere, or do it in camo for a boy!

Oh, how my mind is spinning with ideas right now.

I will be adding this to my etsy shop along with this set below...

So, check out my etsy shop when you have a minute.

Here's the link... julieklewis.etsy.com

It's called "A Little Whimsey".  

I like to add a little whimsey to my life and think everyone should at some point! 

Have an awesome weekend!!

Girls in Ruffles!

So, here is a gift set that I made for a friend to give as a baby gift.  

Don't you just love the little ruffles???  I wanted to "girl-ify" (if that can be a word) it a little for cuteness.  There is a burp cloth, a bib and a onesie.  The bib has a light pink minky dot fabric on the backside, so it is extra soft!

Once my friend saw the first set, she asked me to make a t-shirt for the big sister that matches...this is what I came up with.   SO.....here is the "matching set"...

Would you like a set like this????

I am linking this up to...

Coca-Cola Cake...YUMMY!!!

I tried a new recipe the other day, and it turned out pretty good.  So, I'm sharing it with you!

It is a "Coca-Cola" Cake...BUT my version is a "Dr. K" cake.  I'm sure you can google to find the original recipe.

Cake:
2 cups sugar
2 c plus 1 TBSP cake flour
1 1/2 cups small marshmallows
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 TBSP cocoa
1 Cup of Dr. Pepper, Dr. K, or Mr. Pibb
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk or regular milk with a splash of lime juice
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons cocoa
6 TBSP of the soft drink, or whatever is left in the can
1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans ( I didn't put this in)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Cream together the butter, cocoa, and sugar. Add in the eggs and oil. Slowly add in the dry ingredients alternating with the milk. Fold in the soft drink and marshmallows. Pour into a well-greased 9-by-13-inch pan and bake 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven and frost
immediately.
To make frosting, combine butter, cocoa and soft drink in a saucepan. Bring to a
boil and pour over confectioners' sugar, blending well. Add vanilla extract and
pecans. Spread over hot cake. When cool, cut into squares and serve.

I like this the best when it is still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but my husband likes it best totally cooled all by itself.

If you make it, let me know how it turns out!

Linky Party!

I am so excited to be a part of my very first Linky Party!  It is New Friend's Friday...
check it out....

 

New Friend Friday!



and


Friendly Friday Follow