My birthday wishlist

So, your favorite blogger will turn 32 29ish in exactly three months from today. There are a few finds from Etsy that are on my birthday wish list. I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to hang onto my money for things like food and kids stuff, or I would have already bought every single one of these things. 

 One thing I want is this sign. I'd get it in these colors exactly and put it in the girls bathroom. Handmade? Handpainted (not vinyl)? Score. My children seem to think that "Go wash your hands" means "Go run some water on them for .42 seconds, ignore the soap, and then shake the water off of your hands all over the mirror." I don't know if this sign would help them remember how to wash their hands, but it's so awesome I don't think I'd care anymore. So this sign would save me the stress of yelling at them. Score.

WordWhipped "Wash Your Hands sign"  $60 plus shipping

I am DYING to get this stencil. (How do you become one of those lucky blogs that get to do reviews on this kind of stuff?)  I want to use it in my older girls room. When the baby comes, the two older ones are going to have to share a room again. The oldest isn't excited to share a room again, and I'm trying to make sure it's super cool for them. Arielle already has a blue wall in her room, I'd use this stencil with white paint. So pretty! Think I could just serve mac and cheese for the next two weeks, and spend my grocery money on this instead? 

Royal Design Studio stencil "Rockin' Roses" $69 plus shipping

I keep browsing through Etsy, looking for things for the girls room, ways to personalize it even though it'll be a shared space. How awesome would these be above their beds? We're planning on doing bunk beds, and I'd love to have each of their names above their bed. Imagine these, with "Arielle" and "Jasmin" in bright yellow? Gorgeous! 

DeckyDecor "Custom wood name sign" $50 plus shipping

Now, it's obvious I have a love for wood signs (perhaps I need to add "scroll saw" to my Christmas wish list, but then you'd have to read a post about me cutting off my thumb or something). And you know that your favorite blogger lives in Texas, right? My husband (from St Louis) always teases me for saying "y'all". So how perfect would this sign be? We plan on extending the back patio in the fall, so I'm starting to keep an eye out for things to decorate it. I think this sign in barnwood red would be perfect. Throw in his "Sweet Tea" sign, and my back porch would be perfect. Think he'd take me on as his honorary granddaughter and make me one for my birthday? A girl can always dream, right? :)

SlippinSouthern "Hey y'all" sign $50 plus shipping

I am in love with these candle holders. Just pop in a tealight (which is included in the price). I think they'd go perfectly on my dining room table. Imagine a group of them, tied with some raffia, on a distressed wooden tray? Perfection. I could also see these at a rustic wedding. I love that the birch is cut from fallen trees, so you're not hurting the environment.

My Garden Gate "10 birch bark candle holders" $35 plus shipping.

I know you've seen those fabulous alphabet walls that are everywhere. I adore them, and would LOVE to have one in the new baby's room. I have a couple of girlfriends who have put one together for their kids, and their main complaint was being able to find all of the letters. It took one of them 6 months to find all of the letters. If you want to save the hassle, something like this would be a great option. The letters range in size from 6 to 12 inches. How cool would it be to order one of these for a baby shower? Or, if you've having a Baby Sprinkle and aren't having guests bring gifts, maybe ask all of them to chip in $10 instead and split the cost. You could have a table with scrapbook paper, craft paint, mod podge and other embellishments, and have each guest decorate one or two. What a great way to remember your baby shower! I think my favorite letter is the button O. And the J. Cause, everyone who's name starts with a J is awesome.

GalleryWoodLetters $85 plus shipping

 
 So if I was rich, or my kids and husband didn't expect me to feed them, these are the things that would be on their way to me, because I would have already bought them. 

What's on your birthday wish list this year? 

PictureHealing? Music Saves Lives? What's that?

So, I got a pretty cool email last week from a guy named Chris. He saw a picture of me on my blog and wanted to know if he could use it. The picture? It's one I posted a while back of me donating blood. That hot guy in the background is my husband, he donates too.

We donate every single time we can. Do you know why? All because of this little girl.

With all of Ava's 7 surgeries, she's had quite a few blood transfusions. This pic was taken during her blood transfusion (see the red tube in the middle of the pic?) from her last emergency surgery in August 2011.

It's not my favorite thing to do, I'll admit. I have a slight phobia about needles (yes, the tattooed, pierced chick hates needles). 

Did you know that one pint of blood can save three lives?  

Did you know that someone needs blood every 2 seconds?

Did you know that there is no substitute for human blood?

So, why did Chris want my super awesome pic? 

"I was hoping you'd allow us to use in a short video we're doing for a charity partner of ours called Music Saves Lives and the Vans Warped Tour. The picture would display for a few seconds and we'll give your blog address and credit on the screen as well."

Ummm, heck yeah you can! I was familiar with the Vans Warped Tour, and had heard of Music Saves Lives, but couldn't tell you exactly what they are. Well, now I know. 

"Music Saves Lives started its mission to education about the importance of blood donation and the bone marrow registry, sharing facts, educating and empowering youth. Music Saves Lives encourages participation, and commitment to action in a life saving way. These simple commitments, like donating blood, running a blood drive, and registering for the marrow program to save those with leukemia and other blood disorders, all connect back to strengthening the community."

So, Chris works for a company called PictureHealing. (Now, I did not know until I did research for this post that Chris is the Executive Director of PictureHealing. Yowzas). Now, I'm a huge fan of Instagram, but I only like a couple of their filters, so all of my pictures end up looking the same. So, any photo filter program (that's FREE) is worth checking out to me. 

It was super easy to find. Just went to my app store on my iPhone, searched for PictureHealing, and voila. 

Did I read that right? By using and sharing my photos, I'm helping out my favorite charities?  

"By taking and sharing the pictures, you’ll earn points, and those points are how we decipher how much of our revenues go to your chosen three charities. We’ve partnered with some really amazing orgs like Music Saves Lives, Smile Train, Keep-A-Breast, The Fender Music Foundation, and Casa Pacifica. We’re up to about 50 so far. Most of which spread the gamut of interests so that you’ll be able to identify with a few!"

Okay, that in itself is awesome. But not only that, I love having some new filters to play with. To show you, I just snapped a quick shot of some fruit on my counter. The first button shows you the different photo filters you can chose from. Brighten the photo, change it to black and white, etc. 
 

The second button is the level of distressing and texture that you want, if any. 

And the third button is my favorite. It's the different frames you can pick. I use these two the most. 

Now, not only did I have a "feel good" moment that my simple act of donating blood was going to encourage others, Chris (Hi Chris!) offered to give me two tickets to the Vans Warped Tour as a thank you. Now, me being pregnant, in Texas, with the concert outdoors in July, is selfishly giving my tickets to my husband and his music loving friend. You're welcome, Jake and Dwayne. :) 

Hobby Lobby, how do I love thee?

I am, like, the biggest Hobby Lobby fan. I can get lost in there for HOURS. Not only do they have a ton of fun stuff to look at, they have a lot of great supplies. 97.5% of my projects involve supplies I've bought at Hobby Lobby. 

I bought the Mod Podge I used on my paint chip wall art at Hobby Lobby. Gotta love those 40% off coupons!

I bought the fabric I used on my UFC subway art pillow there too.

Two guesses where I got the stencils for my vintage name board?

The wood and center piece of my Ballard inspired spool came from there too.

Remember the first craft project I did on my blog, my kitchen letters? I got the cardboard letters and the scrapbook paper at my favorite store too.

My dog's bed made out of a curbside find was made more awesome thanks to fabric and feet that I got there too.

My Crate & Barrel inspired pillow? Yup, got the fabric at Hobby Lobby.

And my baby themed subway art? The wood board, cardstock and scrapbook paper came from there too.










I'm the biggest fan of Hobby Lobby, and an even bigger fan of the 40% off coupons that they have fairly often. I have them in my sidebar and header, print one out and go get yourself something new. Home decor, craft supplies, they've got it all. 

What craft store is your favorite, and why? 

Design Star rocked my socks off

Remember last week, when I told you that Design Star was premiering that night? Did you watch it? Are you going to watch it tonight at 9pm/8c on on HGTV?

I missed it when it showed on TV, since we were still on vacation in St Louis. But did you know that you can catch it here on HGTV? It's under "Highlights from the show", where it says "Watch the full episode."

In last weeks episode, the 12 designers were paired up, and they had to design a room in the penthouse that they were all staying in. I won't share all of the details, in case you missed it. But let's say that there were some fabulous rooms, and some not so fabulous rooms. 

I said last week that the designer I liked so far was Leslie, simply for the fact that she's from Dallas, just like yours truly. After seeing the episode, I still dig her. She's a bit on the aggressive side, but who doesn't like a woman who speaks her mind. 

Another designer I'm keeping my eye on is Bret. I wasn't impressed with the room that he did, but hey, anyone who is tatted up is worth watching in my book.  

I thought that David Bromstad did a great job as their mentor. Kept them motivated, gave some suggestions without tearing them down. I was also impressed with the judges. Very professional, but honest.


I'm excited for tonight's episode, looks like it'll be a good one!

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign by Crafterminds and HGTV Design Star. My opinions are my own.

Design Star? Vern Yip? David Bromstad? Yes Please!

Okay, we're all familiar with HGTV, right? And we all know how awesome it is, right?

Did you know that the newest season of Design Star is premiering tonight at 9pm/8c?

Now, I'll be honest, I'm not familiar with Design Star. Heard of it, but never watched it. I do know that David Bromstad (the hottie behind Color Splash) won the first season of Design Star. Did you know that he's the mentor this season?

You can meet the cast before the show airs tonight! I think I'm going for Leslie Ezelle. She's the pretty blonde just to the left of the center of the pic. She's a fellow Dallas hottie and a mom to a blended family. You've got my vote, chick.

Now, the thing that I'm most excited about? Vern Yip is one of the judges this season. You might know Vern from Trading Spaces. He was by far my favorite designer on there. Nothing crazy like feathers or zebra print on the walls. Just good, clean, eye catching design. Other judges are fan favorites Genevieve Gorder and Candice Olsen.

I will be tuning in, I'm excited to see what the new people come up with (and hopefully come up with some ideas for my house).

Have you seen Design Star? Are you already a fan of the show, or are you an excited newbie like me?


If you are a newbie like me, no worries! You can catch up on ALL the previous seasons at HGTV.com. That's what I will be doing during naptime in the next couple of weeks. And yeah, that's way more fun important than cleaning (like I should be doing during naptime. Oops).

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign by Crafterminds and HGTV Design Star. My opinions are my own.