DIY Blue Mason Jars

Happy Labor day!! I couldn't think of a more fitting post than to share with you my favorite something blue...

Mason Jars. Oh how I love thee! In my house mason jars are like laughter, filling every nook and cranny in the most unsuspecting of ways. So after a little research and a recent trip to a craft store I decided to spread the mason jar love by making  a few for an upcoming October wedding. I've dubbed this project: create awesome blue mason jars for a kick ass wedding....


Here's what you'll need to complete this project.....

1.) A few awesome mason jars
2.) A sponge brush
3.) Light Blue Gloss Enamel (you can purchase this at your local Michaels)

Directions

1.) Lightly brush on your blue enamel paint (inside of your mason jar)
2.) Allow your jars to dry outside for 48 hours
3.) Bake your mason jars in a preheated oven of 200 degrees for 30 minutes (this is an absolute step if you plan on washing your mason jars and using them over and over again).
4.) **These are dishwasher safe, so feel free to throw them in there when you're done**

Proud Business Owner!

I can't believe I'm "double posting" today, oh blog how I've missed you!

It's been two years since I've started my business and looking back at this experience and onward into my future, it's been amazing. Year 1 was all about building my business, year 2 was about refining my style, and going into year 3 has become about building my brand. I've said it once and I'll say it again, this business has changed me. It's allowed me to truly shine in a light that I could have never imagined, I've had the opportunity to work with the most talented clients I've ever met and become their day of coordinator and in the fall I will have had the opportunity to completely design a wedding. I've been featured in wonderful blogs and have certainly proven myself in a competitive industry, but admittedly I still have down days and doubts if this industry will eat me alive.

If you own a business and haven't questioned if you're good enough, talented enough, creative enough, and ready to be that 1 in 5 businesses that still stands after 5 years than you're lucky! I've thought all of these things and more and that's honestly what keeps me going.  When I've been on my feet for 16 hours I still find the strength to write, to shop for more plates to added to my well curated collection, and to reach out to my colleagues in hopes of working together again. It's work, it's a lot of work, it's the hardest work I've ever done, but I know hard work pays off. Today I was brought to tears knowing that the hard work I put in many months ago will be featured in an online digital magazine featuring my design, plates and work. My heart is swollen with gratitude.

All of the beautiful images that you will see came from Shawnea of, Don't FRETT Photography and the two of us can't wait to share the edition with you when it's out!

For now, I'm going to keep a lid on where you'll see our work but please do continue to show your love and support! I'm positive we'll both be filling up your news feed with the most amazing real weddings and inspiration you've ever seen.

Queen DIY Headboard (Creating your headboard) Part 2

Before you begin reading this post, check out the materials you'll need here! Whew ok, so you've hung in there with me, downloaded the Jo Ann's fabric App, and you're now ready to put your headboard together. Awesome!

Right about now I'm wishing I had taken more pictures while I was creating this, but I was super focused.

1.) Before you begin this project you'll want to make sure that you've covered all of your buttons with the coordinating fabric that you'll be using on your headboard. You should have done this using the cover button kit. Don't worry it's self explanatory!

2) Now that you're looking at your pegboard decide where you want your buttons to go. I used a black marker to indicate where my 9  buttons would be. I first counted the number of holes-found the middle-and then the outer edges. Basically you want to make sure your buttons line up on either side of your headboard.

3.) Measure out your foam, cut-adhesive-apply the foam to your peg board.

4.) Cover it with batting stapling all around your peg board

5.) Stand up your peg board (or drape across a saw horse if you have one) and begin wrapping the fabric around your peg board. I had my handy bf help with this part. I ONLY secured a few areas on each side with the staple gun just to hold the fabric in place. Remember you haven't added your buttons so don't pull too tightly on either side!

6.) Thread your loooooooooong upholstery needle with the upholstery thread-loop your button in and place through the foam until you located your marked area on the other side. Be patient this may take a few minutes.

7.) Once you've found it pull VERY tightly and staple! Try going in a zip-zag motion avoiding the other holes

8.) All of your buttons have gone through ,and you're exhausted, hang in there...2 steps away from beautiful!

9.) Secure your top-bottom-and sides, pulling tightly and securing by stapling.

10.) Admire your work...you've made it!

**You can certainly secure this to your wall-bed-or simply lean against the wall. It's very simple. Now for my one and only picture and finished product. I hope you enjoy!

Here's the only before picture I captured.....

And Here's the final product! I can absolutely see myself doing another post juuuuuuuust about bedding so stay tuned.

Queen DIY Headboard (Materials only post) Part 1

Hi blog world! Guess who's back with a special treat to share with you? Meeeeeeeeeeee. If you're here you know that I love me a good diy (do it yourself) project, well last winter I became obsessed with making my very own DIY tufted headboard. I found a bah-gillion tutorials, like this one from Centsational Girl which was a really good jumping off point for me, it helped me to see the shapes and styles I liked and well didn't like. I certainly toyed around with the idea of having a curved headboard  but my boyfriends said it would be too feminine for his likes. Somewhere down the road I also decided that I really wanted the upholstered button--not so tufted but slightly tufted look....I must have read about 20 tutorials until finally deciding to get started.  Fair warning this post is going to be long, so I've decided to split it up into two parts. This post is what you want to read before you begin your project to make sure you have everything.


Fabric: The very first thing I did was pick out a fabric and color that would compliment my room and bedding, my room is painted in a gorgeous color called davenport tan by Benjamin Moore. The fabric I chose is a heavy weight velvet in a deeper gray, I purchased it from Jo Ann's fabric from the final clearance sale section for $4 a yard! I couldn't get to the register fast enough to purchase 5 yards, but please keep in mind that while this was a steal it was also a gamble because it couldn't be taken back.  If you don't already have the Jo'Ann's fabric app, get one and NOW! I signed up while I was in the store with my I-Phone and there were tons of coupons that I could use right off my phone, for this I used a 40% off your purchase.

Fabric Price=$12.00

Batting & Foam: This was by far the most expensive part of the project! Once again using Jo Ann's fabric's I purchased the most inexpensive batting (trust me it's just going to cover you foam) and 4'' thick foam.  I kid you not I almost had a heart attack when I saw how expensive the foam was going to be! I already had foam at home so I only needed another two. Using the Jo Ann's fabric app I used a 50% off regular price item AND a 10% off your full purchase, I was absolutely extra cheap and paid separately for each item.

Batting & Foam=$25.00

Headboard: After reading a bah-gillion tutorials I decided this is where I was going to take a big risk, everywhere I read kept telling me that I needed to get a piece of plywood...my genius moment was when I discovered I would use Peg board instead. I mean why not right? Peg board comes in a variety of size sheets and already has the holes....um GENIUS! Thanks to my local Lowes store I was able to get a large piece for  $14.98 and have them make one cut for free. I obviously needed a shorter length, but I still wanted it to be a bit over sized for my queen bed. If you're going for a standard queen size 62'' width should be fine.

Headboard Material= $14.98

Additional Materials: For this project you're going to want to make sure you have the following: a staple gun, staples, scissors, LONG upholstery needles, upholstery thread, button covers, button cover kit, spray adhesive, patience, and a hand to hold your headboard! Some of the things I had on hand and any others I had to purchase I again used the 50% and 10% off! I saved a lot of money like this and time but having the app right on my phone!

Additional Materials=$15.00

Total Project Cost=66.98 including tax, probably closer to $75.00

Ready to begin assembling your headboard? Head over to the part 2 version!

Apartment Proud: Kitchen

A few years ago I moved to THE perfect apartment, I have all of the benefits of living and working out of a beautiful space all the while infusing it with tons of southern charm and childhood memories. After watching about a ga-zillion episodes of Nate Berkus and his "apartment proud" segment, I thought to myself...well I'm apartment proud, I should share it!

I couldn't think of any better place to start than in my kitchen! The heart of our home. As you can see I love the green apple color and you'll find hints of it all around the kitchen. A while ago I had a dining room table but later decided that I could better utilize the space with chairs/bar-stools/and a bookcase.


I love my kitchen because of.....


1.) My green chairs, they remind me of the 70's and I think about them being something my mom would have grown up with.


2.) My sink because it's a double sink and it's deep enough to wash all of my vintage plates


3.) My bookcase! Who said you have to use a bookcase for books? I've carefully pulled together all of the things that we use on a daily place and made it apart of our decor. It's filled with wine glasses, gorgeous white plates, large mason jars, pitchers for iced tea, painted silverware, and some other goodies.

When I think about our apartment and all the work we've done to make it feel like home I couldn't be happier with the outcome! I hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse into our kitchen stay tuned for more "apartment proud" posts.

Monday: DIY Canvas Art work

Monday's are my favorite day of the week, yes you read that right! Monday's are the day when I get to proudly show off my latest DIY project to you and (hopefully) inspire you to begin or complete that DIY project that has been rolling around in your head or home for months.

As you know I've taken on the challenge of completely designing and revamping my bedroom with rehabbed or re-purposed items I've picked up or found around the house. This week I decided to work on adding some unique art work to my walls.

I had 2 old canvas art hangings that I just didn't have the heart to throw away, but I had no idea what to do with them....so they went into the dark hole of my walk in closet for about 2 years...waiting to become beautiful again. This weekend I had a "light bulb" moment, why not paint them and make them EXACTLY what I wanted!

The total cost of this project was: $0
Supplies:
White paint and roller
Painters tape
Gold Spray paint
Patience.....lots and lots of Patience!

Here's the step by step...enjoy!

#1 Identify 2 large pieces you'd like to rehab...below are mine

#2 Paint IT and let it dry! I chose white because I had an idea in my head of the look I was going for. Don't forget to paint the sides.

#3 Get creative, I decided to go with a chevron style strip because I love that pattern and new it would work well in my space.

#4 Spray paint it (OUTSIDE) and let it dry. It's extremely important that you (a.) do this outside and (b.) that you let it dry completely before handling it.

#5 Tear off the tape...

#6 Hang and Enjoy! Overall I'm extremely happy with the way this project came out, I found a way to reuse and enjoy something that otherwise would have been thrown away. I hope you're enjoying all of these fun projects, next week a DIY Tufted Headboard....yup we said it!

Monday: DIY chair rehab

We've been diy'ing like crazy the past two weeks and if you haven't noticed we've been working on a new room! My boyfriend and I have been slumming it design wise in decorating our bedroom, it will be almost 3 years this summer and we've FINALLY decided to make our home cozy in each and every room. I should first tell you that we live in a historic home so it's charm and character are already inviting, but charm + character + historic can also sound like old. We moved  in with a yellow bedroom and while it was a fine color it certainly wasn't the color for us....we now have a beautiful pottery barn davenport tan on the walls and it's to-die-for. Our goal is to redesign our room on-a-dime,  in my eyes design shouldn't be expensive it should be practical and with a lot of elbow grease affordable. We're starting with a bed and a mirror (I told you we were slumming it!) and everything else that you see we're buying,rehabbing, and making it fabulous as we go along. Last week we previewed our first amazing find for the room , and did a beautiful rehab (if we say say ourselves). Moving forward each week we will be bringing you something new that we've added, rehabbed, and diy'ed our hearts out.

Today his and her's chairs an upholstering journey......

We found these amazing chairs on Saturday and couldn't believe our eyes, 2 chairs for $14! I know what you're thinking are you crazy? These amazing, I think not! But look a little closer, the shape of the chair, arms, and design in the back is practically begging to be returned to something beautiful. I was at first a little disappointed that both chairs weren't identical, but that was until my boyfriend said that they could be his and her chairs for our bedroom, I WAS SOLD!

The first thing I did when I got home was to bring them outside to start looking at them closer and taking them apart so that the rehab journey could begin.  Yup I still loved them, at this point probably even more, next Mike decided that we'd paint them antique white (really like I'd oppose lol).

If you are new to painting furniture please remember to follow these steps:
Sand, Wipe off excess dirt, Prime, Paint, Second Coat.  Trust me if you skip a step you won't love the finished product as much.  

For the upholstering make sure you have the following tools:
Staple Gun
Sharp Scissors
Batting (purchased at Joann)
Foam (1 1/2 or 2 inches should be fine, also purchased at Joann)
Fabric (I purchased 3 yards, but I will use it around the room for other things!)
Spray Adhesive
Patience!


To begin upholstering you want to remove all of the old fabric, I was so excited to rip off this ugly pattern that I could barely contain my excitement, that was until I found another layer of ugly fabric!! Anyways after you have just the wood then you want to start using your own padding that will make for new seating.  With your spray adhesive add your foam to the board, then you'll want to wrap your batting around the seat and staple in the back.  now you're ready for your fabric!! I started with stapling the middle of every side first because you'll want to make sure your edges are perfect.

Now you're ready for your fabric!! I started with stapling the middle of every side first because you'll want to make sure your edges are perfect. The entire process shouldn't take you longer than 30 minutes and it's worth it, the finished product is just stunning!

Tips:

We found beautiful chenille fabric for $4 a yard at Joann fabric in the red tag section...seriously chenille! Don't skimp on fabric!! I was determined to have an expensive look for a fraction of the price and it worked! P.s. If you have a smart phone make sure you get Joann's free app I saved 50% off my full priced item and 10% off my entire purchase..

HELLO PRETTY

Oh hello Friday, it's nice to see you again! If you're joining us  today you're in for a dose of HELLO PRETTY. A few months ago we were excited to partner with Shawnea of  Don't FRETT Photography to do a fun photoshoot in our studio, and wow did she deliver. We found the sweetest flowers and had lots of yummy treats laying around the house eager to be placed in front of a camera. If you adore the vintage dresser as much as I do you can read all about the DIY tutorial here.

I started out with the prettiest ribbon in my stash (yes I have a ribbon stash...don't judge) and decided to give   the dresser a lattice look. Seriously how much do you love it? From there I added a few of my favs; depression glass, vintage cake holders, vintage glasses, peonies, ranunculus, and a container that said sweets. All of this was a recipe for  HELLO PRETTY.

How sweet is this cake? It was absolutely delicious!

Our studio smelled like lime cookies for days.......

And last but not least when a photoshoot works out juuuuuust as I've planned, I look like THIS! Huge thanks and big hugs to Shawnea at Don't FRETT Photography who supplied all of the beautiful images and great conversation afterward. Here's to the weekend, we'll see you back here on Monday for another fabulous DIY project that we can't wait to show you.

Wolf pack?

Last week I posted this picture on facebook and I couldn't help but wonder.... am I building a business or a bigger wolf pack (network of close friends...term from The Hangover)?

Photography: Don't FRETT Photography

I work with clients for as little as a few weeks to 15+ months, and during that time we're building a bond, celebrating the success of small and large decisions, laughing, crying, eating, and at the end celebrating their wedding. After their wedding we're still celebrating, laughing, crying, shopping, eating, and talking on the phone while I make my way in to Boston each morning. Ladies and gentlemen it looks like I'm building a bigger wolf pack and having a lot of fun doing it!

Love my clients!

Add caption

Monday: DIY Dresser #2

Hi Lovelies! Boy do I have a treat for you today...and it's just the perfect thing to get you over the afternoon hump on a Monday. Last week I went hunting for the next addition to my home and found myself in DIY heaven when I spotted this FREE dresser....

Ok, so not exactly the beauty you were expecting, but I saw the beauty in bones of this piece and just knew with a little love it would look fabulous!  So I began sanding, priming, and 3 coats of paint later, I had THIS!  I saved the hardware buy spray painting it gold and then sealing it....and BOY what a difference.

Total cost of this project: $16

Plate Love

TGIF! I can't believe this week has zoomed by so quickly, and what a fabulous week it has been indeed. Today's Friday so let's talk all about another element of my business, vintage plates. My obsession for vintage or vintage inspired plate ware is an ever growing collection and each piece is handpicked by you guessed it, me. There is something very special to me about depression glass, pastel colors, 23 carat gold china, Limoge, and Noritake that just reminds me of a time I can only dream about and somewhere between yards of vintage lace, flowing chiffon and silk are my vintage lovelies for the perfect table setting at your affair. I've been asked by more than a few friends and brides exactly how many I have, and my answer is always "more than one girl needs", you're just going to have to take my word on it.

Where can you find these beauties for your wedding? Here of course! But did you know that you could also rent them through New England Country Rentals, where our plates are apart of a full vintage line? YES, you can! It's been such a dream come true to be able to collaborate with New England Country Rentals in order to spread our  love for plates far and wide. No post would be complete without pictures so check out where we were featured this week and another one of our fav's.

Enjoy your Friday lovelies and Happy Memorial Day.

Photo Credit: Kelly Dillon Photography

Photo Credit: Kelly Dillon Photography

Photo Credit: Henry Photographers

Gettin' all pretty!

Why hello! This week is flying by, and I have so many wonderful things to share with you that I hardly know where to begin. This is the one time during the week where I feel like I can share with you a bit of what's going on with Making ME and the direction we're going in....soooooooooo (close eyes-squint nose-and type)

We're officially getting a whole new look! Gah, it's taken me months to share this news with you but I truly couldn't be happier. It's a business owner's dream to step into the big world of entrepreneurship knowing that they have the kind of brand that people will remember. The entire process has been so amazing and dreamy, I can't even begin to tell you how much I adore the dynamic duo that's making it all happen, Makewell.

I ABSOLUTELY can't wait to show you the new "Making ME"!! Stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled for some amazingness.....and because no blog post is complete without a cute pic, check out this sneak peak at our studio!

DIY: Dream Dresser

Happy Monday. I absolutely couldn't wait to sit at my computer and write today's blog post! Monday's are all about perfecting the art of D.I.Y'ing (aka do it yourself) and showing it off, for now I'll only be featuring the projects that I D.I.Y but as my house and studio are completed I'm sure I'll have more to show you.

Last summer I was determined to find a dresser that could be used as a multi-functioning piece, I searched and scoured websites like freecycle and craigslist until finally giving up. Then one day while browsing craigslist I found it,the dresser I had searched months for. The dresser was a little banged up, but the lines and details were perfect and for $5 hell I could ignore any scrapes and scratches. I put the dresser in my living room and used it for my 1 year business party and I was starting to see it's potential.

 Below is the dresser! Not to shabby for a $5 find right? After seeing pictures I knew that I had made the right choice but the color was just all wrong for me, I'm from the south and LOVE white furniture! It's cliche but if this dresser was going to stay in my home I had to make it me.

Photo Credit: Summer Street Photography 

So the transformation project began to turn boring into BAM......

Step #1 

Sand the dresser so that it can be ready for primer and paint. I'd recommend doing this outside. You'll thank me later!

Materials to Sand: Free! My landlord is awesome!

Step #2

Pic out a Primer and a Paint (I had a water damage stain that if I hadn't primed the dresser the ugly mark would have been noticeable). I also should tell you that I initially used a flat paint, but after realizing it could get a bit dirty I repainted with a gloss antique white. It still looks gorgeous!

Paint: Lowes $20 for Paint, Primer, and a new brush!

Step #3 

Accessorize-Accessorize-Accessorize! I wanted mismatched hardware and decided right then and there to come up with a color palette for the entire studio space. Deciding not to fight with the existing vintage wallpaper but include it into the color palette was the right choice and it gave me the exact pop of silver I was looking for. 

Hardware: Anthropologie $12 for 4 new nobs on super sale!

Step #4

Enjoy it!

Finding the perfect dresser took a while, finding the perfect paint and accessories took only a few days but it was all worth it. This is my dream dresser and I made it for under $40. It's now nicely tucked away in my studio and has been used as a mini-bar, dessert station, brunch area, and more! I like to think this studio is a place where all things pretty go and I'm happy to say that this was one of the first pieces. 

Photo Credit: Don't Frett Photography

Blog Brain working!

Today is THE DAY that I get back on the blogging horse and with a 3 month hiatus I'm finally feeling like my writers block is over! Seriously blogging is a lot harder than I EVER thought it would be, some days I would sit at my computer just thinking about topics to write about and it was torture. So to get myself in a better blog space I'll be blogging 4 times a week on specific topics (hello organization.bye-bye scatter brain!). As many of may know my business has really grown up over the past year, we went from just being wedding planners to include vintage plate rentals (absolute obsession) and that entails a lot more than just wedding talk.  This has also been the year that we've opened our own studio and have been crafting our way to perfection! So FINALLY we have a lot to say! I hope you'll stay with me on this fun journey to becoming a better blogger and drop me a line, comment, or just leave some love when you can.


So DRUM ROLL please for our weekly line up.


Monday: D.I.Y crafting our way to perfect projects


Wednesday: Weddings & The business of planning


Friday: Make My Plate


Weekends: Fav pics from around the web

Are you ready to rent?

Many years ago when I started collecting vintage plates I had no idea that what I'm dubbing as the "plate phenomenon" would take off and boy am I happy it did. Now knee deep in plates I'm happy couples get to add an extra special touch to their wedding by using my vintage plates.

Deciding whether or not you should rent? Well let's dish, no literally let's talk about why you should be thinking about renting.

1.) It takes a lot of time, let me repeat A LOT of time to collect these one of a kind pieces. It's taken me years to build a collection that I'm proud to put together for clients.

2.) What on earth are you going to do with the hundreds of dishes after your wedding? When you rent with me, NADA I'll pick them up and you can enjoy the lovely comments from all of your guests for years to come.

3.) They're gorgeous...pinky-promise-swear

4.) Ok really, do you really need anymore reasons?

Below is a preview of our awesome vintage collection....Love-Like-Share-Pin these babies to your hearts content....

Photo Credit: Henry Photographers

Photo Credit: Henry Photographers