Seasonal Decorating

 

Well despite the fact that the forecasted high for today is 79 degrees, fall really is in full swing here in Virginia. We're having a strange dose of Indian summer this week, but the weather channel is promising that next week our temperatures will match the yellow, orange, and red that has taken over this area of the country. The Davis household, too, has taken on all the great autumnal hues of the season with mums, pumpkins, wreaths, and some pretty framed paper telling us exactly what time of year it is adorning our faux-mantel (faux, because it is actually the shelf that houses our speakers, but those aren't very pretty so I cover them up despite my husband's contention).



The letters were really easy and minimally time consuming to make. I started out with a few sheets of pretty paper measuring 12x12. Some came from my craft closet and the rest I bought from the single sheet bins at Michaels. (Be sure to use a coupon if you go; they ALWAYS have them available online!)

 

 

I cut the sheets down to 8x10 and 5x7 squares to fit my frames. This takes a little planning to make sure you get your paper in the order you want.

I also picked up some stencils from Michaels while I was there. I loved the font for these, but there are so many possibilities of how you could do this! If only I was artsy and could free hand... *sigh*

Use high gloss craft paint in a dark color to get the letters to stand out from the background. Mine is of course Martha Stewart.

 

The next step is pretty self-explanatory. Paint in the stencils and don't worry if your lines aren't exact. I think the homemade look adds charm to these little guys.

 

Annnd... VOILA! Frame them up and display!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I cannot get enough of this time of year. I think decorating our little apartment is just my way of trying to bring some of the beauty out there, in here. Have you ever stopped to think about how strange and magnificent it is that the earth is at its most colorful right before it becomes the most bleak? God crafted the seasons to take us from the radiant heat of summer into a bold and crisp fall that transforms the earth into fiery color just before everything dies and becomes dismal and barren; and then from the nothingness He brings new life in spring with some of the sweetest shades imaginable. Who else could have thought to order life this way? Who else could have known how to precisely purpose the world like this? Only one; and to Him I am in awe.

I hope you're getting a chance to take in this beauty in like I am! With any luck Joe and I will be out and about in it again soon.. I think there may be some apple picking in our future!

Love,
DD

Linking up this project here:

 

Party Pinwheels and more

Yesterday, September 17, was my precious little brother's 14th birthday!! It's amazing to me that one of the first kids I ever took care of is now 14 years of age... *sigh* but that is not the point of this post. I was talking to my mom about her preparations for his "family birthday dinner" ( a huge tradition in our house) and realized I am very much a girl after my mother's own heart. Every birthday and holiday was a great celebration in the Majors household. Every holiday included my mom making any where from 3-10 wreaths to hang in and around the house and every birthday brought half of Party City into our living room. Well turns out when you grow up in a house like that you become an event planner. At least in my case...

Bringing us to the point of this post: I thought I would share some easy (yet somewhat time consuming) DIY birthday decorations that I made for my husband's birthday back in April, which you can read about here.

 

I first made some festive birthday pinwheels like ones I had spotted on pinterest, and strung them up across our dining nook.

 

  

1. To make the pinwheels I used a mini stapler and sheets of 5 x 7 paper I got from Michaels to scrapbook. This was a better use.

 2. I folded 2 sheets of the same pattern accordian style.

 3. Then, I put one on top of the other with the fronts facing the same way and stapled in the middle. 



4. Finally, all I had to do to finish these up was fan them back out and staple the two sides where they met. Anndd Voila!

 

 I hung mine with closepins on yarn because I ran out of time to thread them together. It worked out for me!

 

I also made a super easy Happy Birthday penant banner (as seen above) from some free printables found here. Just pick your patterns, fill in the letter, print, cut, and presto! Birthday Banner.

 

One of Joe's birthday happies was what will most likely be used as a tailgaiting bucket and some local craft beer from around Charlottesville to fill it up.  I birthdayed up the tub using recycled wedding supplies.

 

 

I just downloaded a neat font from DaFont, printed, cut out with a Martha Stewart Circle cutter and pasted onto some scalloped card stock that I affixed to the tub with ribbon.  Easy, cheap project.. especially when everything comes from your craft closet.

 

Hope you get some party crafting inspiration!

 

 

Love,

DD

 

 

 



Apartment Therapy

As promised, following my last post, I am updating with lots of goodies from the past few weeks.

A couple of weekends ago, my dear family drove up to Charlottesville to pay me a visit and see my first apartment as a married lady.  And of course my parents would not care what the place looked like, but if you know me, you know I dress to impress... and this of course includes my home.  I had all kind of project ideas I wanted to implement to make my house our home, but with a new job and few precious months with my husband before he would be gone for the summer, I had little creativity and energy to do anymore around our place than rearranging the magazines on the coffee table.

Family coming was just the kick in the pants I need to get the ball rolling and a few things I've been itching to do.

The first thing was to FINALLY finish painting our bedroom.  When we moved into our apartment the entire place was beige... and I mean BEIGE. Floor to ceiling.  Moulding, trim, doors, walls, ceiling.. beige. A few months after we moved in, I went to work painting all the moulding, trims, and interior doors and nice clean semi-gloss white.  Then I filled in the living room, kitchen and hallway walls with a sunny yellow, and finished off the kitchen with a super cheap backsplash (i.e. Sherwin Williams wallpaper that looks deceivingly like metal.)


I decided to get out of my comfort zone in our bedroom and try out an accent wall. For some this is less than uncomfortable, but I'm a bit of a traditional girl... just let me live in Pottery Barn and I would be pretty happy. BUT, I knew I would only be in this apartment for a couple more years, so why not try something out now? If I liked it I could implement it in other homes in the future, if not, at least I know what I don't like.

Before:

During: Hello skyblue accent wall!

After: The bright, tranquil, cottage-y bedroom I was dreaming of. UNFORTUNATELY.. my sad little iphone camera get a wee bit wet so the lens makes everything look kind of foggy.. but you get the idea!

*The reupholstered ottoman will get a post all its own.  Completely worth it, but, guys, what a project!

Drawers were painted using Valspar Eggplant undercoat, crackle glaze finish, and Valspar Antique white over coat. Also, I realize I have much too much jewelry and am STILL working on a good way to organize. I would love suggestions!

Brown wooden shelves from Target.. I always say, a little spray paint goes a looonng way!

This bedroom comes fully equipped with a cuddly cat who doubles as a table ornament.

Sorry it took so long to finally get some pictures up.  I'd say I'll be more diligent in getting up specifics from some of the projects that made this room.. but I probably won't.  This week is busy busy busy and next week I'm headed to see my husband in the muggy south. It's going to be wonderful! 

Stay tuned.. I will post again, eventually.

Lots of love,

DD

Hubby Birthday!

Happy Birthday to THIS Guy!

If you are on the Virginia Is for Lovers blogging train, then you know this guy deserves a very special day all his own. Unfortunately, since Law School finals have arrived, we decided that this year we would pretend that April 29 was actually yesterday.... of course that did not stop me from bringing over the birthday wishes and celebrations to his TRUE Jour de Naissance, because, personally, I think this hubby deserves two days of celebration anyway!

My incredible husband sadly spent the better part of his pseudo birthday and his real birthday studying for those darn finals, but I tried to make his few hours of freedom extra special with some festive handmade frills and a cake I knew he wouldn't be able to pass on.

Birthday Corner at the Davis'

TL: Birthday Banner printed from Anders Ruff, TR: Beverage Bucket for tailgates
BL: Bucket adorned with Dianna original cutouts BR: Paper ornaments on twine (tutorial from the Handmade Home)

When I was trying to decide what kind of cake to make my hubby for his special day, I knew whatever the flavors, it needed to be "manly." And what says manly bakery delight more than a cake imitating the flavors of an Irish Car Bomb?  That's right. Each major part of the cake featured one of the ingredients found in an Irish Car Bomb, you know, the over the top beverage composed of three different irish alcohols.  An Irish stout went into the chocolate cake, Irish Liqueur such as Bailey's Irish Cream went into this fabulous swiss meringue buttercream, and irish whiskey flavored the chocolate ganache.  

(The full recipe to be posted in my recipe box soon!)

So Happy Birthday to you, Love.  You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I love celebrating your birth!!

XOXO,

DD