A fabric face-lift

We are in the process of working on our latest DIY project: a fabric face-lift! It's one of those projects that I've wanted to do since we moved here, but have procrastinated actually starting it because I thought it would be much more work than it actually is {do you have one of those?} Also, it's actually a lot easier than what I thought it would be thanks to my handy husband, Will. Here's a brief tutorial to recovering chairs:

Step 1:

Pick out your fabric!

The yellow fabric above is for the kitchen chairs and the colorful paisley fabric is for the kitchen window valences. I thought these two fabrics coordinated well together because I wanted something a little more simple for the chair cushions and something a little more fun for the window valences. So, this is what I picked!

Step 2:

Gather all of your supplies

All you need for this project is fabric, drill, staple gun, staples, and pliers.

Step 3:

Use the drill to unscrew the old chair cushion

Step 4:

Once the cushion is removed, take the pliers and pick out the old staples

After taking out the old staples, the old fabric will come right off.

Step 5:

Use the old fabric shape as a template to cut the new fabric piece

Step 6:

Use the staple gun to staple the new fabric onto the chair cushion

 Hold the fabric very tightly to ensure smooth fabric. Otherwise, you may have creases if it is not tightly stapled.

Step 7:

Once the new fabric is stapled onto the cushion, drill the cushion back to chair, and voila!

This is one of our four kitchen chairs. We still have our eight dining room chairs to recover, but I'm just so glad to be done with our old {rainbow as I call it} kitchen chairs.

Old

New

There you have it: out with the old, in with the new! Let me know if you have any tips to recovering chairs that I may not have considered this go-round. Have a good night, readers!

Today marks a year

August is here! Can hardly believe it! "Summer" has come and is almost gone {for Will at least.} He has his summer school night class final this Thursday {please say a prayer for him if you think about it} and then starts his second year of law school in a couple of weeks. Wow, where has the time gone?

Speaking of time, we have now lived in Jackson for a whole year! We moved here last summer {July 29th to be exact} and I cannot believe it has been a year. As some of you may know, I had a hard transition coming from the small college town of Starkville to the big, "metro" city of Jackson. I think it was more post-college that was so hard and getting used to the newness of everything, but that's a different story. I'm so thankful to God for His continual pouring of blessings on Will and me, and how He has caused me to grow and love where I am now.

Today marks a whole year of me working at my still beloved Anthro! I've come a long way from starting off part-time. I honestly thought that it would only be a part-time job when we moved to Jackson and that I would find a full-time job at a hospital or some kind of advertising firm where I could use my marketing degree. However, the Lord had other plans in mind for me. {Still continuing to learn that His plans are greater than my plans.} I'm so thankful to do what I love--selling and working with people. I cannot tell you how many people I have met and connections I've made just through work alone--not to mention, how many people I see at my job. In fact, I've seen people that I haven't seen in months or even years and it is so fun to just catch up on life!

Even though we've been in Jackson only a year, there's already some updates I want to make on our duplex. Yes, we are renting and we will probably continue to rent until Will gets out of school, but I still want to make it a livable and enjoyable place! Decorating and updating are always on my mind. In fact, I am always getting ideas off of my latest social network obsession: pintrest. If you don't have one, get one. Yes, it's just another distraction, but it is a fun way to get decorating ideas, recipe ideas, etc. Seeing all of these decorating websites and ideas, I have been inspired to learn how to sew!

With that idea in mind, my mom is going to teach me how to make throw pillows, and we are also going to make new window valances for the kitchen.

I am also planning on recovering our dining room and kitchen chairs with some of this fabric, and I CAN'T WAIT! The fabric on our chairs right now has been on my to-do list to change ever since we moved to Jackson, but I just haven't gotten around to it. We are finally getting around to it! I will be sure to post a before and after picture once we are finished.

Back in one of my older blog posts, I mentioned Will working on a project for me in our den. I just realized that I never posted a picture of what he did. So, here it is! Below is the before picture. {Unfortunately, the only before picture I took was at Christmas time, so please note that the white reindeer did not sit on the piano for 9 months of us living here!}

Before

After

Will made those two shelves for me so that I had more room to display decor. I think he did a pretty good job! The four green brackets that the wooden boards are sitting on are from Anthro, and Will found the wood at his dad's shop. All he did was measure the wall space and bracket length, cut the wood to those measurements, sand it, and put a natural gloss on it. Then he just placed it on top of the brackets. Ta-da-there are our two new shelves! I made it sound so easy, and I ain't no wood-worker, but according to Will, it was that easy to make.

Have any of you been working on any home projects or do you have any ideas for home projects? I'm always so interested an open to any kind of decorating ideas--so please share if you any! Have a wonderful week!

Summer days driftin' away

For those of you who do not already know, today has been extremely hot! Not to mention humid. On days like today, I often think of things that would make the day a little less hot and a little more bearable.

Of course, the first thoughts that come to mind are food-related.

my favorite snack in the world

Who doesn't like fresh avocado slices on a sandwich or salad or homemade guacamole on a hot summer day?! Love making guacamole with fresh avocados, a dash of salt and pepper, splash of lemon or lime juice, fresh tomatoes from our family's gardens, and a little bit of purple onion! Delishyy!

Or what about  a slice of cold, juicy watermelon?! Watermelon is definitely one of those things I can't get enough of in the summertime!

 A nice, cold glass of lemonade makes any day better. Especially the freshly squeezed kind. Well, crystal light works, too, either way lemonade makes me happy! I love the saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." This quote is cheesy, but true. We should make the most of every opportunity we have in life and seek to bring the best out of any situation that may come our way. You're gonna get what you give!

What makes your long, summer days better?! Of course, mine are food-related, but a good book will do it, too! I am in the middle of reading "Heaven is for Real." Great book--short and easy read. Definitely recommend it!

Well, y'all, there's some random thoughts for you from me on this hot day. Hope you all have had a Happy Thursday--the weekend is right around the corner! {Yay!!} We're getting ready to leave for Meridian, MS this weekend to see my little sister-in-law Erin Morgan at the State Junior Miss program. She is currently serving as Jones County's Junior Miss, and will be competing at the Mississippi Jr. Miss program on Saturday. We're so proud of her!

Bye for now blogger friends!

Baked Oatmeal

Happy Monday, all! Hope your weekend was lovely!

If you are experiencing the "Monday Blues" as I call it, here is a yummy recipe that might get your taste-buds salivating and that you may want to try for your breakfast in the morning.

Baked Oatmeal. Ever heard of it?

When I used to think of oatmeal, I used to think of "healthy, old people" breakfast. But now, I have truly come to enjoy oatmeal--especially this sweet, new Baked Oatmeal recipe. For any of you who have a huge sweet tooth like me, I think you will love it. Will says it tastes like an oatmeal cookie. I agree. It's that good.

So for your ingredients, all you need is:

1/2 cup of oil

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1/4 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup of milk

2 tsp. of vanilla

1 tsp. of baking soda

3 cups of old fashion oats

fresh strawberries and/or blueberries

In a large bowl, stir together all of the above ingredients {except strawberries and blueberries}.

Transfer to an 8 in., greased {pam-sprayed} dish. Bake at @ 350 for 30-35 mins. Serve with fresh strawberries and a drizzle of milk on top. Bacon is a good side for it, too! It gives you a little bit of sweet and salty.

I added fresh blueberries from Will's grandparents house to mine. It was delicious. Well anything with fresh blueberries from Granny and Granddaddy's house is delicious!

And if you want, invite sweet company like these two to enjoy with you!

There you have it! Baked Oatmeal! If you decide to try it, let me know what you think! Enjoy :)

Life for a week

Long time, no blog! Well, our week at the beach has come and gone and I am sad to say we are back to the hustle and bustle, of well, life. It was a very much needed break though, and as you will see from the pictures below, we relaxed and chilled to the max! We read, slept, ate, swam, laughed, tubed, fished, cooked, played {games}, etc.

This family beach trip was different from any other beach trip we've been on before. We had a new member to add to the bunch, and his name is....{I bet you can't guess!}

 

 Little Sam!

Isn't he precious!?

I love this little baby! Without him, this years family beach trip, would not have been complete!

Uncle Bubba, Aunt Bugsy, and Aunt Nana

Uncle Cuz Will

Sweet Daddy and Mommy

Along with Sam, we also had another fun addition to our beach trip this year....Stephanie! Stephanie is our brother's girlfriend, and we had so much fun getting to spend time with her this past week.

Ben and Steph

The gang

Very silly together. Hey, y'all, "I got no strings to hold me down!"

 Speaking of Stephanie, I know I mentioned to you in the last post about us girls going to watch her in the Miss Mississippi Talent Prelims before we went to the beach. Well, let me just tell you, she not only WON Talent Prelims, but she also got 4th alternate in the Miss Mississippi pageant. We were so proud of her!

One of the highlights of our trip was not only celebrating the 4th of July, but also celebrating Dad's birthday on the 3rd.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Cute Parents

Where's Hannah?

We always tell my dad his birthday is extra special because he gets fireworks every year on his birthday :)

One of my favorite things my dad brings with him on our beach trips is his baby boat.

Cruising the bay

Tubing on the bay

One afternoon our brother Ben took Hannah, Will, and I out on the boat to tube. I haven't tubed in a couple of summers at least, and boy did I feel it the next day and the day after that and day after that.  I'm pretty sure I used muscles that day that I didn't even know I had, but it was worth all the soreness in the world--we had so much fun!

While my dad would take the guys out fishing some mornings, we girls {and Sam} would hit up the pool or the beach!

Momma Kat and me

Amy and Baby Sam

Hannah and Steph

Mom and I again

happy place :)

I wish I would have taken pictures of all the delicious meals we had on the trip, but even pictures wouldn't do justice to how yummy everything was. From kabobs to our shrimp boil, we ate well! We often tease my older sister Amy about how organized and planned she is, but truth is, if it was left up to my little sister, brother, and me, I don't know if things would get done. So here is a picture of me with two of the most organized and efficient women I know!

Thanks you two for everything you did to make our trip so wonderful!

Well, folks, that pretty much sums up our week long trip in a nutshell! We did go to the Track one night and ride go-carts and got ice-cream, but sadly I didn't document pictures of that. I do have a "you had to be there kind-of stories" to tell or else you may not think it's that funny. But, picture with me Amy and Ben riding go-cart doubles. A little kid t-bones their cart {at full speed}, they cause a traffic jam at the front of the race with every cart on the track hitting bumpers left and right{I'm pretty sure some people experienced whiplash!}. It was a pretty funny sight!

I also need to tell you about my new loves I discovered while on the trip: banana grams, Mexican train, coke zero, coca almonds, and pretzels and hummus!

I've always been an avid diet coke fan, but I might just say that coke zero is even better than diet coke.

 Did I just say that? How many of you think coke zero is better than diet coke?

Please let me know who you are by becoming a follower or commenting! Sometimes, I wonder if I am  writing to myself or if it would just be easier to download the pictures on facebook. Let me know who you are {if you are still with me after this rather lengthy post!}Thanks, y'all :) Until next time!