Do-It Yourself: Framed Jewelry

There's really been a whole lot of DIY action around here lately. Yesterday I hinted at something in the works that involved hot glue and maybe a frame or two. My jewelry box does not hold all of my jewelry, so I wanted some extra storage that doubled as decoration. We have a lot of walls with few things to put on them. Enter my DIY project of the month. (:

* Today, I'd like to actually reveal the fruits of yesterday's DIY labor. *

This was my inspiration to do something

about my jewelry messiness:

Source: laurenconrad.com via Ashley on Pinterest

After seeing this image on Lauren Conrad's blog,
I knew exactly what needed to be done.

I found some frames I could use
and bought some jewelry wire...

Not to mention, I am always looking for excuses projects
that require the use of a hot glue gun...


I also busted out my husband's electric drill!


* No need to shy away from a power tool *

I only ran into one minor problem with my construction, but I managed to deal with it fairly easily. There's always at least one issue or setback isn't there? You never get through a DIY project without learning a better way to do something the next time. Trial and error will become your new best friend when doing-it-yourself. Next time I made a jewelry organizer I will make it better than the last one!

Here you have it!

the big reveal:

I might even make a couple more of these
jewelry frames
to hang in our closet...

What do you think?
Would you use this in your house?


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Happy Friday everyone!


We're off to Titusville, FL to hopefully {that's if there are no delays}
watch the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Office Update & Gallery Wall Love

Alright, blog friends. I know that last week I promised an update on how the office/guest-room was moving along. You saw my sea-inspired palette, and you saw the new shelving that we picked out for the space too. Unfortunately, the room is not nearly as far along as I had hoped.

There have been a few new additions to the room though,

so I will share that progress with you now!

 

Both the chair and desk are new to this room since I last blogged about our office/guest-room. I'm loving the crisp white desk, and our Henriksdal chair from Ikea is perfectly at home with it's linen cover and birch legs. Now all we need is a water view and maybe even some fog rolling in off of the water. That would be my ideal office space.

Aside from the desk and chair, I also put my collection of Coastal Living magazines in their place. {Don't worry. I didn't tell them where they could go; I just placed them neatly in their Ikea magazine boxes} I also re-purposed some things, like that vase filled with seashells from our honeymoon. Slowly but surely, things are coming together in this room.

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Even with the addition of some new furniture, there is still one big empty wall next to our shelving unit that could use some serious help. By help, I mean that it can use some space filler. The first thing that came to mind was to create a gallery wall. I am in love with gallery walls!

We have a crazy assortment of frames, so I'm most likely going to do some painting in order to tone things down a bit. I don't want the mixed colors of the frames to become the focal point in this room... or do I? Either way, I think they could use some paint and pretty new colors. This is really exciting, because we've never had a gallery wall before. (:

Here are a few inspiration images that

I 'pinned' to my Pinterest boards:

Source: theletteredcottage.net via Ashley on Pinterest

Source: potterybarn.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I love the mixed colors and sizes of frames in the second image.

What do you think? All one color...
or frames with a mixture of colors?

4th of July and Fireworks

I know I already shared some of our 4th of July activities with you,

but there are just a couple more things I'd like to share.

I have a 4th of July tip and

a fireworks video {it's at the bottom if you want to see it first} for you!

We got off to a late start yesterday, because we thought it would be a good idea to visit Clearwater Beach on the 4th of July. Lesson learned: Do your research! Never visit Clearwater Beach on the 4th of July! Okay, maybe I'm being a little melodramatic here, but we spent what felt like hours {it was probably more like 20 minutes} driving around 'hunting' for a parking spot. It was less than an enjoyable, and we felt that being charged $30 for parking was highway robbery! {yes, some parking lots, the ones that still had spaces available, were charging that much to park for a few hours at the beach} Needless to say, we drove away from the Clearwater Beach area as quickly as possible and headed towards another beach that we had in mind.

After our little 'Clearwater setback', we drove off to our second beach of choice! Honeymoon Island is a Florida state park near the town of Dunedin, and we thought that the $8 entrance fee (for two people in one vehicle) might deter some people from spending the 4th of July there. That $8 entrance fee was well worth the peace of mind that came with finding a parking space the second that we pulled up to the beach! After parking and carrying our things to the beach, we spent a really lovely afternoon at the Honeymoon Island beach. The beach was crowded, and that was expected on a holiday. However, parking was easy, and that made us happy.

We parked our umbrella, blanket, and chairs and promptly headed straight for the water!

The sun was shining, and the breeze, thankfully, was blowing.

Our day on the beach would not have been complete without sipping a couple of Colorado-brewed beers. The red, white, and blue cans were appropriate for the holiday.

After the parking setback at Clearwater Beach, we were really happy with our decision to bail and head to Honeymoon Island instead. It was busy, but the smaller beach was more down our alley.

The 4th of July is obviously a very popular, and really busy, holiday in this country. People are on vacation, kids are out of school, and everyone wants a good party. Patience is key. Know what you're getting yourself into when you visit popular tourist destinations... especially when visiting them on a holiday.


I know myself well enough to know that I'm one of those people who would rather visit places during the 'slow time' of the year. Disney World is much more enjoyable between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The ski slopes in Colorado are great during the week days. After yesterday, I've learned to avoid any major beach destinations during the 4th of July. Have some patience, know yourself, plan ahead, and your holiday will go more smoothly.

Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for:
{warning: turn down your volume}

The Saint Petersburg Pier fireworks!

I hope you enjoyed them as much as we did. (:

Happy Birthday, America!

Happy 4th of July!

The 4th of July was always one of my favorite times as a child growing up in northern Michigan. As kids, my friends and I would spend the entire day swimming in the lake, and we'd all look like bright red lobsters by the end of the day. Fitting for the 4th of July I suppose. What better than to sport red skin and a blue swimsuit for the holiday? {Oy vey! Sunburned skin is so taboo in this day and age.} I can still picture all of our picnic foods and hot dogs cooking on the grill. One of my mom's friends would always make a big batch of fruit salad, but she would use the watermelon as a 'basket' to hold the fruit. However, in the midst of all the holiday activities, the one thing that I always loved about the 4th of July was the fireworks! 

I'm still a sucker for a good fireworks show.

Even though today is the 4th of July, I already wore some red, white, and blue over the weekend. I could hardly contain myself.

red bracelet: forever21

blue&white bracelet: handmade by my cousin

Over the weekend we also enjoyed a minor league baseball game.

I mean, it doesn't really get any more American than baseball. Plus we enjoyed hot dogs and a couple of cold beers. Watching a baseball game was the perfect 4th of July activity, and we stayed for the fireworks after the game too!

Even though we watched

a baseball game and fireworks over the weekend,

I've been most excited about the food we've been eating lately!

Alisha, over at Alisha & Brandon, shared this really great recipe for strawberry shortcake, so of course I had to give it a try!

We may, or may not, have eaten this for breakfast yesterday. Oops.

{don't judge us} The strawberry shortcake turned out amazing, and that recipe is going in my binder of favorite foods! Thanks for sharing, Alisha. (:

Even though we ate strawberry shortcake for breakfast yesterday, we did enjoy a really healthy breakfast of fruit, granola, and yogurt a few days ago.

It was appropriately red, white, and blue for the holiday!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Please remember the people who serve our country,

and keep them in your thoughts today {and every day}!

May you also spit lots of watermelon seeds, eat too much food, watch a firework display, and maybe even play with some sparklers. (:

Challenge Me

Today I'm linking up over @ Outside Voice.

Lauren made the word 'challenge' her most recent

'Get the Picture' photo theme.

{ Head over there now to link-up or read all about

the many definitions of 'challenge'. }

|ˈch alənj| noun: a task or situation that tests someone's abilities.

Lauren asks us, "What is challenging?"

and "What challenges you?".

A challenge can take on many forms and definitions. Challenges may consist of the mental, physical, or emotional variety. By definition, a challenge tests our abilities. Everyone has such different abilities, strengths, and weaknesses; it's no wonder that we all find different things to be challenging.

For me, a challenge is something that seems near impossible but turns out to be a character builder instead. Challenging tasks are often just a state of mind that can be overcome. Anything can be a challenge if you let it, but challenges are made to be overcome. Taking on a challenge is almost always worth the effort, and the rewards are typically bigger than you could imagine. Sometimes the best gifts are in the unknown, and challenges are exactly that, an unknown area just waiting to be explored. Nothing is impossible, and with each challenge you learn more about your own capabilities. Not to mention, the view from atop a challenge is pretty incredible! There is always something to learn from a challenge.

If we let a challenge scare us away, then we probably won't get the opportunity to experience the growth and joy that comes from stomping on a difficult task. It feels great to push through something that most people think you're not capable of doing. There's something wonderful in knowing that most challenges can be overcome with some perseverance, determination, heart, and sheer will. Anything is possible. Don't let challenges stand in your way.

The power of the mind is amazing, so use it to your advantage. Challenges make you realize that you're much stronger than your body's limits. Set your mind on a goal, forget about the pain, and hopefully the challenge you face won't seem so challenging any more. Thinking about mind over matter always comes in handy when facing a tough situation.

Some of my best learning has come from challenging situations. I surely would not be who I am today without the challenges I've faced in life. With age, life experiences, and growth, I expect my definition of the word 'challenge' will change with me. Maybe I will reach a point where things just don't seem so challenging anymore? Maybe not. Either way, I welcome life's challenges; learning and growing will always be a part of my life.

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Now go and link up with Lauren over at Outside Voice!

Remember: Everyone defines a challenge differently than you, so use that knowledge to help others through their life challenges. We'll all be better in the long run if we help each other through the tough times. It just wouldn't be nice to purposely make life more challenging for others now... would it?

I Have the Blues

Do you have a favorite book, or even author, that always picks you up when you are down? For a long time now, one of my go-to authors has been Nicholas Sparks. His books never fail to make me smile, and sometimes cry, because he weaves the most inspiring love stories known to man. His stories always involve a coastal setting, and the locations alone charm you with their romantic allure.

{I have yet to read a Nicholas Sparks book that I dislike}

I tell you, that Nicholas Sparks is an author after my own heart. Wait, you feel the same way too? Well heck. I was feeling special for a minute. Either way, I just love the way his love stories make you feel as if you heart just grew by a few inches. Nicholas Sparks is my go-to author for an uplifting story when days are blue.

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As you might know, I've been working on making the den/guest-room in our apartment feel extra special and inviting. Let's be honest though, this room won't be just for our favorite guests. I hope to spend lots of quality time blogging away in this sea-inspired room myself. In order to make guests feel welcome in Florida and myself feel inspired to be creative, I hope to add some touches that meet both of those goals. Little reminders of life on the water always make me feel at home.

Just yesterday I peeked over at our new bookshelf and realized that it could really use a pile of pretty blue books on one shelf in particular. Luckily our other bookshelf had quite a few books to choose from, so I pulled some books in varying shades of blue. Oddly enough, each title that I pulled from the shelves included coastal influences. Each book was just perfect for this sea-inspired room!

books: top to bottom  { 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 }


I hope you're enjoying this little sneak peek of our office/guest-room. Next week I'll share more of the progress. There are still a few hundred piles to clean up around the room. I also have a big plan for part of the room, but I'm not sure if it will be completed next week. I'll try though. (:

As you can see, I have the blues.
{Good thing we're talking about the color and not the feeling}

Do you like seeing books stacked
in varying shades of one color?

~ One more peek ~

I found these frames at Target over a year ago or so.

They find themselves right at home in a sea-inspired room.

Okay, that's all you get for now!

I hope you're having a great week!