DIY: Shiny Red Shoes

I recently thrifted a comfortable pair of leather sandals. Immediately when I tried them on and they fit, I knew I wanted to give them a fun little face lift. They had some years of wear on them, for certain, but they were also super cute! I love DIY projects that involve shoes! Growing up, along with million other dreams, I had a dream of becoming a shoe designer. Buying a pair of shoes and making them my own is sort of like being a shoe designer. No? Let's pretend it is. Let me live my dreams!

So here is what I did. For this little make over I used a thin paint brush and red acrylic paint along with a little bit of water. I diluted a little bit of paint with the same amount of water and started to paint my sandals. I didn't tape around the shoes, so I painted carefully not to get the sides. When an accident occurred, I just wiped the paint off with a damp paper towel. No biggie! Also, I used a big trash bag for my work surface! After the first round of paint diluted in water, I gave about three coats of just paint on the shoes with no drying in between! Then after they dried, I gave two more coats!

When hubs saw the shoes, his exact words were "Wow they are hot! I am so proud of you."  Nothing makes me happier than making my husby proud! ;) It is the most rewarding feeling ever! Yes, this project is no big deal, easy peasy, but in my husband's eyes I'm the world's best shoe designer. Heehee. 

I'll cut myself some slack and let you all know that I put in my best effort and worked on these babies for a couple of days! There! 

Oh and I even water-proofed them with triple thick glaze after I made sure the paint was dry, because you just never know when lets-jump-in-a-puddle-moment would come! ;)

The glaze made them shiny. Shiny shoes bring back memories of me being five years old. I don't remember this but my mom told me a story of a time when her friend took me shopping for a pair of shoes and we came back home after a long day of searching, empty handed!  Apparently my five old self was not satisfied with any of the choices.  Today when I am not satisfied with a shoe 100% I turn it into a project! ;) So these shiny red shoes cost me $4! I thrifted them for $3 and the paint was just a buck.  I had triple thick glaze left over from sandals makeover project. I had so much fun creating these cheerful sandals.  I will be wearing them a lot this summer!  Red is my favorite color and anything that's comfortable is always a win in my book! ;)  What is your favorite DIY project?  Thank you for reading!  Happy weekend!  xo, m.

Lots of Green!

It has been awhile since I've done a garden update.  Well here it is, folks!  It's all green and beautiful!  Loving every second of gardening!  I love taking peeks at my garden each morning, afternoon and evening!  This evening I just got done watering my plants! 

Cannot wait till these little guys will be ready :)

 Plenty of radishes!  Yumm!  Spring salad anyone? 

This will be a sugar snap pea... soon!

My tomatoes that I've planted around May 10th, froze over night on May 13th.  Why is there frost in May? Why? We were in DC that day and didn't have a chance to cover them... :( So sad!  I do have the best dad in the whole wide world though, and he planted new ones for me!  Surprise!  We were away celebrating our anniversary and I thought as soon as we get back I will buy new plants and wait until June to plant them! But my daddy beat me to it, we came home to beautiful tomato plants standing strong.  Ahhh... the stories of gardening.  Hopefully no more frost, but more of this...

How is your garden doing this spring?? :) Thanks for stopping by! xo, m.

"Young And Beautiful"

I have the sweetest husband on earth. No doubt. I've been wanting to watch The Great Gatsby ever since I heard it's coming out. I love the 1920s. I've read the book and knew this movie will be just magical. Knowing that Leonardo DiCaprio will be starring in it was just the silver lining! :) Anyway, my hubby took me to watch it!!! I was so excited! I thought I'd be going with my girlfriends to see it, but he suggested we go see it together! I love my girlfriends, but this was amazing news to me!!! We went to see the 9:40 show on our anniversary!!! My heart was happy! We typically don't go out to watch movies, so this was special! (Don't worry, we have date nights often, but they don't involve a movie theater, more like ice cream and park... and exploring... and ice cream... and adventures... and road trips.) Did I say ice cream twice?! ;) Sometimes it's smoothies!

Why am I talking about The Great Gatsby today? Well, you see, the song by Lana Del Rey "Young And Beautiful" is on repeat in my head all.day.long!!! My husband and I both LOVE Lana's voice and her music.  When we sat in the theatre holding hands and our full attention on the movie and heard Lana singing we both were smitten! (I expected great music in this film, but didn't know whose music it would be!) We grinned at each other and did a little hand squeeze from excitement. Are we dorky or what?! 

The whole movie was magical and the music was AMAZEBALLS! Both hubby and I LOVED this movie and couldn't stop talking about it for the next couple of days! ;) 

After the movie we left for our trip to Wilmington. We loved spending our 3 year anniversary at our home with a home cooked meal. One of our favorite things to do is having a homemade dinner together! So we decided we will leave town after our anniversary is over. Best decision ever! :) 

If you haven't watched the movie yet, go see it, you will love it! And listen to Lana more often if you haven't been doing so yet! ;)

I have to leave you all with the lyrics... Just 'cause. 

Btw, the song is still in my head!! (I don't mind it one bit!) :) 

"Young And Beautiful"

I've seen the world

Done it all

Had my cake now

Diamonds, brilliant

In Bel Air now

Hot summer nights, mid July

When you and I were forever wild

The crazy days, city lights

The way you'd play with me like a child

Will you still love me

When I'm no longer young and beautiful?

Will you still love me

When I got nothing but my aching soul?

I know you will, I know you will

I know that you will

Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?

I've seen the world, lit it up

As my stage now

Channeling angels in a new age now

Hot summer days, rock n roll

The way you play for me at your show

And all the ways I got to know

Your pretty face and electric soul

Will you still love me

When I'm no longer young and beautiful?

Will you still love me

When I got nothing but my aching soul?

I know you will, I know you will

I know that you will

Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?

Dear lord, when I get to heaven

Please let me bring my man

When he comes tell me that you'll let him in

Father tell me if you can

All that grace, all that body

All that face makes me wanna party

He's my sun, he makes me shine like diamonds

And will you still love me

When I'm no longer young and beautiful?

Will you still love me

When I got nothing but my aching soul?

I know you will, I know you will

I know that you will

Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?

Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?

Will you still love me when I'm not young and beautiful?

So what movie have you seen lately that you just LOVE?! What kind of music do you love to listen to? I would love to hear from you! Thank you for stopping by! Have a lovely day! Hugs, M. 

Our Anniversary Trip (Part Dos)

My love and I have safely returned back home from our amazing little trip. We had the best time! Much needed quality time, it's so good for our marriage! We did a lot of walking, exploring downtown, ate delicious food (too much food!) soaked up vitamin D at the beach, laughed and dreamed.  Oh and ate ice cream! Kilwin's ice cream to be exact. SO good! 

I am so thankful for my best friend, my soul mate, my (way) better half! No matter where we are and what we do, as long as we are together - I am the happiest! How was your weekend?! I hope it was just as fun! Happy Tuesday! Love, m. 

P.S. Fun time with O tonight! So looking forward to it! I get to meet her new fuzzy friend! Eeek!!! 

Obsessed with ABM App + Vacationing

If you are an Instagram lover like myself, I am sure you've seen/heard/bought/used A Beautiful Mess app already. It's a new photo editing app and I am in love with it. I've been reading Elsie's and Emma's blog for quite some time now, and was so excited to learn about the app! It's amazing and I can't stop using it! I think I will never upload another photo to Instagram without using ABM app... It's addicting! 

My hubby and I are away on a little vacation celebrating our three year anniversary and I'm popping in to share a few of the fun shots I've snapped so far! 

We drove about six hours to get to Wilmington, NC. Our first time visiting this town and we are loving it!  Relaxing on the beach, exploring the historic downtown and eating scrumptious food! It's so good to get away for a little bit. I hope you all are having an amazing Friday! I'll be back to post more pictures later! Happy weekend, friends!!! xo.m.

Our Gallery Wall

It was time to fill one of the walls in our living room.  I've been collecting picture frames, clocks and DIY picture art.  I spray painted most of the picture frames the colors that would fit our style.  I chose red and brown.  It would be boring to stay with just two colors, so I mixed in silver along with other shades of red and brown.  My Instagram canvases have a lot of shades of red in them as well, so I thought they would be a perfect fit in our gallery wall!  Don't be afraid to mix things up a bit! ;)  Throw different shapes and sizes in the mix as well!  You'll appreciate it later, promise!  

First I laid everything down on the floor to see how I wanted them to be hung.  We tried to get the spacing as even as possible and mixed bigger frames with smaller ones.  I really wanted to create a square or a rectangle with the frames on the wall. I took a picture of my layout and my kind husband offered to hang everything up.  Things don't always go as planned.  Right?  Good thing we love being spontaneous.

I think we changed the order of our pictures 22135795 times and added and took away frames before we were actually happy with the final result!  This wall will always be a work in progress.  I can see us adding more pretty things as we go...
What items do you love to collect?  Thank you for taking a peek at our living room wall! Happy day!  xo. m. 

Bottles and Twigs-Photo Display

 

Today I am going to share another way to display photos around your home.

I printed my Instagram pictures from Foxgram  and they arrived super quickly right to my doorstep!  I am extremely pleased with the quality.  I bought pretty clothes pins at Michael's.  I can never leave that store with just one item.  I am sure most of my DIYer friends would agree with me on this one.  We saved curly willow twigs from our brother's wedding last October.  We had similar twigs at our wedding, too, but unfortunately we did not save them then.  I like twigs in general, but these are extra special since they remind me of a fun time we had at our brother's wedding!  Oh and the bottles... let me tell you about bottles... I pick my wine by the prettiest wine bottles! ;)  I have quite a collection of different glass bottles.  

It was pretty simple and easy to do, but I really do love the look!  The bottles are standing on a dresser in our bedroom.  I shared a simple necklace holder DIY project that goes well with my twigs and bottles.  I shared an Instagram canvas  back in April and I can't wait to think of other fun ideas to display our memories around the home, other than just in picture frames!
Thank you for reading!  Have a lovely day!  xox, M.
P.S. If you shared ideas of displaying photos, please leave a link in the comments and I will head over to take a peek!  ;) 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there and of course to my wonderful, loving, caring mommy.  She is the world's best mom, please spare the argument! ;) 

 

 Proverbs 31:26-31 "She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive , and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."  

This is so true about my mom.  She is my role model  and I pray to be more like her!  I was blessed with an incredible mom!  I hope you all are having an amazing day and giving hugs and kisses to your mommas!

 xo. m. 

 

Etsy Love: Tea + Foxes

I am back for another round of Etsy love! :) I hope you all, lovelies, are having a wonderful start to the weekend!  I am SO glad it's here!
How cute is  this print?!  Tea lover over here.

 


This ring  is adorbs!  I kind of need it!  :)

 

Along with these pretties!  I'm in love with pretty rings.  Rings are my favorite.

 

I am head over heels in love with collars.  Yes.  Every new dress that I buy has.to.have.a.collar! ;)  Or I guess I could just get this pretty thing and wear it with a simple dress or shirt.  Hmmm... that's an idea!

 

 What are you in love with these days?

Oksana shared her therapy  and this is mine... a little bit of window shopping is always a good idea!  I had a lovely date night with my mister tonight and I am thankful for it.  Tomorrow will be a busy day for us doing house work and maybe a few projects?  Thanks for stopping by, and have an awesome weekend! Blessings, M. 

Hair Therapy!

You hear this a lot from me.  I had a tough day... blah blah blah! Well I seem to have those types of days often.  Maybe I am just a drama queen an over-reactor.  Well guess what?! I was flipping out today and decided to do something big to mix things up. I thought of getting another cat to keep Moose company but my husband made it crystal clear that the animal is not welcome. ( Maybe next time, after I butter him up!)  So I got a hair cut.  Now, you must understand I am very subtle in my usual haircut. Just about two weeks ago I went to a random stylist (BIG Mistake) instead of my usual one and to put it nicely, I will never let her touch my hair again! I was too lazy to travel an extra 30 minutes to get a haircut across town and for that I suffered for two weeks with crooked bangs that were too short to cut again.  Thankfully, my hair grows fairly quick so I was able to get that fixed after two weeks.  Do they give just anyone cosmetology licenses? I hope the DMV doesn't operate the same way.  I AM sounding like a drama queen today!  I am enjoying my new haircut very much! It feels fresh and looks different... I may be going back to get a few more layers.  Am I really the only one who wakes up one day and is like "What a great day to chop my hair off and buy a cat." ?! I don't want to know how my mid-life crisis will turn out! Thank you for reading today! I hope all of you are having a blessed week! Love, O

Graveyards. Creepy or Serene?

Dear readers: I would like to share a thought I had today and I hope it does not offend anyone because that is not he purpose of it . Today I was driving by the graveyard I pass by every morning going to work and caught sight of the twisted tree that grows in the center of a few graves. The rainy, misty morning was the perfect backdrop for the scene in the graveyard.  I do not associate graveyards with sadness or loss. The only close family member that died was my pops, (cancer) but I did not know him very well at the young age of 7 but I heard he was a wonderful man who, I am sure, is in heaven! Since I was running late to work, I drove by resisting to take a picture. After work, I almost passed the graveyard again but decided to stop in and take a picture. I drove through the opened Victorian gates. I threw off me heels off (which I had worn 10 hours straight, on my feet most of the day) and sank by bare feet into the soft wet grass. The snaps I took were romantic in a way and peaceful looking. The whole place just symbolized rest for me. Exactly what I needed after a day of nothing going right. (OK, before I go emo on you, I will conclude my thought :) I think my perspective will change of graveyards after one that I really love will leave the earth but for now? I have to say I have only had good memories in graveyards. I have jogged daily around a graveyard and never ever had any strangers intrude. I would practice my sketching while leaning against a tree and I even shared my first kiss with my husband on our date to the graveyard Annnnd... That's a long story. Again, I have complete respect for graveyards and the deceased ! I just wanted to share what was in my head :) What are your perspectives of graveyards? Are they creepy? Quiet? Peaceful? Thank you for letting me share my thoughts... I'm so random! -O

This is the same exact spot where me and Hubs kissed... How romantic! LOL

Weekends are for...

We had another wonderful weekend  filled with lots of project dreaming and planning! The highlight of my weekend was when my husband sat down next to me in our cozy living room putting his arm around my shoulders and said, "Let's look through your Pinterest board."  He wanted to see my pinned ideas and dream with me about future projects.  It became one of our favorite things to do.  We love to work on our house together making it our home.  It's so special!
Here is a little run down of our weekend. My garden is loving all the rain! / Snuggling with our cuddle bug while it's pouring outside! / Working on a Bible lesson with my little helper.  / Eating Mexican food with our friends after helping them move to their new place. Friends + Mexican food = the best!
How was your weekend?  Any special highlights? Happy Monday! xox, m. 
P.S. It's been so cold here and rain is on the forecast for most of the week!  Fireplace is on.  Perfect weather for crafty messes!  O and I have something up our sleeves  for tomorrow evening.  Can't wait! :)

A Fresh Coat of Paint

I am so eager to be jumping back into blogging.  I am finally over my finals (all but one) and I am ready for new challenges to come my way!  Anywho... today at work I was not feeling very peachy so during my lunch break I decided to do a bit of therapy shopping at Goodwill down the street.  So what did I buy? I bought a old worn wooden coffee table (for 6 bucks!) a candle and an old clock (to add to my clock collection).  So this $6 table may have been an impulse buy but I do not regret it! As soon as I went home after work, I got busy and painted it using and off-white paint left over from my last project ( my insticts did tell me to buy a whole gallon!).  I love the antique-shabby chic look that transpired.  I enjoyed painting the  I'm so happy to be back and thanks for reading! -O

I won't even feel bad about my husband not using a coaster for his coffee... You can always apply a fresh coat of paint :)

The candle I purchased smelled so good while I painted the table!

I liked the wood underneath but I wanted a piece to go with my barn-inspired table (click on the link here :)

I love neutrals! You can never go wrong!

I missed you wonderful readers!