How to Add Character Pieces to your Home

Anybody think I fell off the map? I sure did. Last week I had a mini vacation visiting my family and friends in Utah! No blogging, just eating lots of food, chatting, watching movies, going to Soda Run and trying a Dr. Evil (it's only the greatest thing to hit my mouth... Coconut and Dr. Pepper. YUM!).

After getting back to the big city of Las Vegas I was bombarded by the husband spoiling me with a date night to seafood and comedian John Caparulo on Friday night and Nascar Trucks on Saturday! It was a blast. You may have already seen my updates on instagram. If you're not a follower, you should be http://instagram.com/jay_zeeee. You can check out my awesome redneckedness (it's a real word, don't worry about it).

Anyways, last night my husband took me out to a dry lake bed just outside of Vegas with the intention of taking pictures of somethings for my blog. He's the sweetest.

So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to my beautiful typewriter...

Isn't she a beaut?? We found this diamond at a garage sale in Cliff's hometown. As soon as a I saw it I fell in love. For me, this typewriter is a representation of who I am. It's unique, antique, tells a story, and is super cute. 

My suggestions for you when adding character pieces to your home are the following:

1. Add pieces to your home that make you happy. It doesn't matter if it was on the latest magazine cover. You are the one who lives in your home so make sure it makes you happy.

2. Don't pass up a bargain. At first my husband didn't think we needed another item to fill our tiny one bedroom apartment, but I stood my ground knowing finding a typewriter in this fun color again may be difficult. 

3. You don't need to find everything overnight. Decorating a home should take time. Don't run out and buy everything you see. Find the small pieces that make an impact on your home. 

4. Thrift shopping can be a good thing. Thank you Macklemore for making Thrift Shopping famous. I am a total hipster since I thrift shopped before it was cool ;)

You can find a diamond in the rough. You just need vision sometimes to alter a picture frame or sculpture to how you want it.

5. Start small. If you aren't sure what you like, use website such as pinterest or magazines to gain inspiration to what catches your eye and pleases your inner designer. Trust me, you will know after you pin 30 yellow tables that you really like yellow tables. 

Do you have any tips for adding unique character pieces to your home? I would love to hear it!

Pillow Cover Winner

Our pillow cover drawing is over! If you missed entering this awesome giveaway stay tuned for more exciting chances to win things. 

So who is ready to see who won???

Drum roll.....

PAIGE RASMUSSEN!

Yay! I will message her with the details!

Also have you seen any fun fall crafts lately? I am ready to do a fall craft! Stay tuned for some fun fall ideas!

DIY Wedding Centerpiece

Since my last wedding inspired post was so popular, I decided to make it a regular post on the blog. Today I am sharing pictures of my centerpieces I had at my wedding reception.

TA DA! Look how pretty they turned out!

A lot of help from my family and friends went into making these possible. I had 3 elements in my centerpieces. The first was a large mason jar filled with lemons and babies breath. We simply bought a large order of babies breath and went crazy with it. We also bought a ton of lemons to make these beautiful and natural centerpieces at my outdoor reception.

The second item on the agenda was ANOTHER smaller mason jar modge podged with lace my mom found on a super sale in our local fabric store.

The third were these awesome candle holders my dad made! He was such a trooper throughout the whole wedding process. I printed off pinterest pictures and basically told him to make it! He went up in the mountains, found some fallen tree branches, and made these sweet candles holders. 

All together the centerpieces were very affordable and the perfect style for my country vintage shabby chic wedding!

If you like this style and want more wedding ideas check out my pretty DIY background here!

Also if you haven't entered to win these adorable pillows make sure to enter here!

Now go win yourself some pillows! Ta Ta!

GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS...

It's giveaway time! That's right. My favorite time of the day.

How would you like to win these two lovely pillow covers to make any room in your house bright and fun?!

All you need to do is follow me on some social media to enter for the prize! Easy enough right?! Hurry before time runs out!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

50% Off Printables

Right now in my Etsy shop I am selling my printables for 50% off the listed price with coupon code: FALLTIME. Don't miss out on this awesome sale!

Just go check out my shop here. Shop til you drop. Then enter the code and purchase.

Simple :)

Follow Me with Bloglovin'

Hello lovelies. I'm sure you are all wondering what all of my changes are to the blog. I just can't quit remodeling. You may not love all the changes, but one thing you will love are my new buttons I recently added!

It's super easy to follow me now just by clicking on any of these buttons on the top right corner of my blog. So I'm sure most of you know what twitter, facebook, pinterest and hopefully what an email address is ;) but what in the world is BLOGLOVIN'?? 

Well my friends, it's only the easiest way to follow your favorite blogs. Since google did away with "Reader" it is hard to transition and stay in touch with all of the old blogs you used to follow. Let me tell you that Bloglovin is really easy to use, and helps you find the greatest blogs on all the topics you love. 

On my web browser, it even tells me how many new posts are available to read from my fav bloggers! Such a great way to stay up to date on my blog reading. 

Oh and did I mention they have an app for that. Download the newest version for your iphone or ipad here. 

So what I am asking you to do now is click any of the buttons with a plus sign, make a bloglovin' account and keep reading!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Printables on Etsy

Hey ya'll! Today I'm super excited to announce that I officially opened my own Etsy shop! If you don't know what Etsy is check it out here. You will love all of the handmade and vintage things people sell.

I am constantly making things for myself, so I thought why not share the love to the public. I only have printables up for sale right now. I'm not really sure how to market this so I thought I would share it with my followers!

Check out my shop Love Your Pretty Prints and make sure to favorite it and everything you see! I would love the support!

Here are the two printables I have available for sale! The first a fall themed one for my favorite time of the year.

The second this darling saying I LOVE that inspires me!

Thanks for all your support!

-Jess

DIY Topiary Crafternoon Project

My apartment seemed lacking some life. Since we can't have pets and I can't keep a plant alive, I turned to the next best thing... a Topiary!

This project was EASY! Anyone could make this super cute craft and it was very cheap.

The supplies you will need are:

• 2 different size moss balls (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby)
• 1 Dowel (You choose what size fits best with your moss balls)
• Jute String
• Container to hold topiary
• Extra moss for the container
• Foam
• Hot Glue Gun

I started by putting the dowel through the center of the two topiary balls. I eyeballed what looked good for the spacing. I then glued and wrapped the jute around the dowel to give it a more natural look. 

I just bought a cheap flower pot and painted it the color I wanted to coordinate with the room. I already had the mustard yellow (or Mac and Cheese yellow) craft paint and used a foam brush to apply.

I bought the foam at the same time as the pot and found the same circumference to fit perfectly into the pot to hold the dowel up. I measured to find the middle and made a hole. 

I then hot glued the extra moss I bought to the foam. This is super fun but soo messy!

I then placed it in the pot and touched up the edges where the foam was still showing. 

 All you need to do now is put the dowel in the pot! Easy project! 

My husband even loves the color and life it brings to our apartment! Let me know what you think! If you like this project you may want to check out our dresser revamped into an entertainment center here.

-Jess

Oh and one more thing. I've been contemplating a give away... How would you like to win cute items for your home?? 

Where to Buy Statement Necklaces for Cheap

Statement necklaces are a trendy and fun item that can make an outfit complete, but can also break the bank. JCrew and Anthropologie are two stores that have some necklaces I lust over, but definitely cannot afford.

One of my favorite sites to buy clothes and jewelry is andRuby. They always keep up on the trends and sell their items for low prices.

Here are a few of my favorite necklaces I have found.

Rose J.Crew inspired necklace. $15. Buy it here.

I own the red flower one and I absolutely love it. 

Fancy Fringe Necklace. $11.99. Buy it here.

Also have you ever checked out GroopDealz?? It's an addicting website. They have deals on some of the cutest items that are popular, but they are only available for a short time (usually about 24-48 hours). If you like something, you just have to buy it since it might not be there tomorrow.

Some of my favorites I am tempted to buy are these beauties:

 Isn't this gorgeous?? Buy it here. Only $10.

Okay this one is a no brainer. Buy it now. Here. Only $12.99. 

Let me know what your favorite places to buy trendy jewelry are!

If you like this post, you may want to check out my summer fashion list under $15 here.

-Jess

DIY Wedding Backdrop

Oh hey, I'm alive. I just took a little break from blogging since life is hectic. I have been sick, grad school just began, and Cliff just had surgery (you can read about it on my other blog). I haven't had time to be super crafty woman and thrifter of the week, but I have a ton of fun wedding projects I haven't shared yet. I am so excited to talk about this super easy wedding backdrop. The truth is I wasn't the person who made this. I helped a little, but I owe this project to my lovely mom and friend Jen. They helped make tons of my wedding decorations while I was still in grad school.

So as you can see this backdrop is shabby chic and perfect to create with your own styles and colors. I used a few different types of lace I found on clearance at a local fabric store, burlap, and a mint green fabric. And when I say I, I mean my mom and Jen haha. It was simply the task of cutting the strips to the desired length and tying them to some rope (keeping with the rustic shabby chic look). I actually named the style/theme of my wedding as "country vintage shabby chic" and yes my husband memorized it. He was such a trooper. 

Just my mini session with Harmony before the reception.

I borrowed old doors from my parents in law and boom we had the perfect backdrop to stand in front of during the line. It also held the perfect place to do the cake cutting at our outdoor reception.

Overall it wasn't too expensive to make, and it turned out perfect for my wedding theme! Thanks Mommy and Jen for the perfect DIY!