HIJ :)

Hello there!  It's Mrs. here with an update on our Dating A-Z.  We're about 1/3 through the alphabet dates, and we have had a blast so far!  The past 3 dates are the perfect example of trying new things, but also adapting to fit our time and budget.

**No neighbors or pets
were harmed in the
making of this date** ;)

H is for Hunting
So the original plan was to take Mr. to a Horse and Huntsman club for part of his Father's Day gift.  However, we just didn't have the money for the whole deal (trip, babysitter, ammo, etc...), and we ended up spending the day with family too.  BUT....we were able to set up a small "hunting range" in our backyard. This is a prime example of something that I may not have taken the time to stop and do with Mr., but he really appreciated us spending time together doing something that he enjoys.


I is for IKEA

I know this is going to be hard to believe, but Mr. had NEVER been to IKEA!!!!! WHAT?!?!?!?!  I decided that we needed to have that be part of our "I" experience.  We took Little Miss with us, and had fun roaming through the exhibits, and were even able to find the perfect shelves to fit a bare wall in our living room.  We also enjoyed some iced coffee that I had made (thanks Annie's Eats for these tasty, and easy recipes!!!  DIY iced coffee and DIY coffe syrups).  Again, nothing super crazy, but fun to have a reason to make the trek to IKEA.

J is for Jazz

For those that know us, it's no secret that I love music.  I am always amazed at the amount of talent that some musicians have been gifted with; especially for genres like jazz--I am SO not gifted with jazz!  I actually surprised Mr. with this date and got reservations and arranged a sitter.  It was a great night of conversation, good food, amaing music.  So fun to have a night "out on the town".

So there you have it!  Onto our next letters....let us know if you have any ideas! :)  For those of you that have joined in by dating through the ABCs, or just going through the alphabet to try new things, we would love to hear from you too!  Here's to making some more memories with the ones you love...

Pinterest+Garage Sales=FUN

Hey!  It's the Mrs. here.  I've been meaning to do another "pinterest post", but was waiting to score some great deals for the projects I wanted to do.  No more waiting.....I'm pretty sure I got the steals of the century at a farm sale the Mr. and I went to a while ago. 

flower/yarn wreath original pin here

not as professional as
the real deal, but it
will do for now :)

There are pictures of fun wreaths like these all over the place, not just on pinterest.  I was wanting to learn how to make them, and my friend ("Mrs. E") helped me out with a quick tutorial.
1. Wrap a wreath with yarn, twine, etc.... and fasten with hot glue.  Mr. was nice enough to help me with this part....it can get tangled and messy quite quickly.  (I love the look of twine, but had some yarn leftover from making Little Miss's Cabbage Patch wig for Halloween--teehee!!!)
2. Add embellishments.  There are so many examples and ideas out there, but I stuck with the felt flowers, again with a tutorial from Mrs. E.  I cut different sizes of circles, cut each circle into "spirals", and rolled them into the shape of flowers.  I fastened the flowers as I went with fabric glue instead of hot glue (less finger burning!)
3. Attach flowers to wreath.  I was able to use push pins to fasten mine because my flowers were light-weight, and I knew I would be keeping it indoors.  You may need to use a more heavy duty resource depending on where your wreath will be.

chalkboard
There's really not much to say about this one....I've seen them all over, and thought they were so cute!  I found this chalkboard at the farm sale for $0.50....not kidding!  All it took to complete this project was some soap and water, and a little paint.  (I did put painters tape on the chalkboard while I painted the frame, but I tend to be a messy painter!)  If you can't find a chalkboard (they can be surprisingly hard to come by) you can always paint a surface with chalkboard paint too.


We ended up putting these both together
on a shelf in our living room.

(took us a couple coats to
get the deeper color)

chicken wire frame  original pin here
Again, this is a project I have seen several times, and have been wanting to do. Farm sale to the rescue again, I got this 2' x 3' frame for $0.25. That's right......25 CENTS!!!! I was so excited. :)
1. We gave the frame a good scrubbing, and spray painted it red.
2. The chicken wire was a tiny bit too narrow, but were able to stretch it out to fit.
3. Staple the chicken wire to the frame.  (We stapled it from front to back because the staples were long and would stick out the front.)



Finished product...fills up the bare wall in our bedroom perfectly!
Now we just need to add a few more pictures and things to it.



These projects were SO SIMPLE, but have really added a personal touch to our home...not to mention I just had fun making them! :) And because I was able to find some great used items, they didn't cost us hardly anything! I hope this inspires you to turn something old into something new for your home.