fabric covered thumb tacks

Inspired to re-decorate my cube at work, I came across this tutorial for fabric covered thumb tacks on How About Orange. Jessica's instructions are spot-on and easy to follow.

Instead of using wedding dress size buttons, however, I used 2 packs of Dritz 5/8"buttons from JoAnn's. These buttons were the perfect size to attach to plain, boring thumbtacks. 

This turned out to be a perfect craft project to do while watching a Hallmark movie {don't judge} on Sunday night. The biggest challenge? Deciding which bits of fabric from my scrap bag to use! 

pasta with sausage and tomatoes

 

 {yum}

Inspired by "A Month of Easy Dinners" in my newest Real Simple magazine, I picked up the ingredients for pasta with sausage and tomatoes during my Sunday grocery errands. We threw it together last night for dinner and the results were delicious. The only tricky part was keeping the roasting tomatoes and sausage from setting off the smoke detector! {I only set it off twice. Strangely enough, there was never any smoke...but at least we know it works!}

Find the recipe here.

I'll be back later this week to post 2 new sewing crafts: fabric bunting and fabric covered thumb tacks!

reader diy: modpodge letters

Inspired by this post, my far away dear friend Kim created these super cute letters for her new baby niece and her own kitchen! Love these! Can't wait to see her in the DC area soon and celebrate her wedding in July!

reader diy: farmhouse door headboard

One of my very best Tennessee friends recently finished an impressive DIY headboard project! For as long as I've known her, Kathryn has always had a creative idea up her sleeve. From designing "make your own monster" games in high school Spanish FLTA (where we team taught 3rd graders Spanish!) to scouting flea markets and Goodwill for sturdy pieces to furnish her grad school apartment, Kat is crafty and skilled in ways I truly admire. Today I'm excited to showcase one of her newest projects - a headboard made out of a salvaged door from the 1917 farmhouse her grandfather grew up in.

{the finished product!}

In her own words, here's how she created it:

"All I had to do (which turned out to take several months) was remove the loose paint chips with a wire brush, add some coats of polyurethane to seal the wood, cut the excess molding off, and build a frame. I used tools from my dad's garage, including homemade polyurethane in a mason jar, a circular saw, and wood screws."

{original color of the door} 

{before and after staining}

"I also prevailed on my wonderful boyfriend Zach to help me build the frame, which meant I tried to tell him what to do and he did it a completely different way and of course it turned out much better! All in all, the only things I had to purchase were paintbrushes, bolts for the bed frame, and four 2x4s for the headboard frame."

{almost finished!} 

{all done! Puppy Buster makes a great model!}

Kat has great plans to refinish two windows from the farmhouse and turn them into picture windows - literally! She's going to put family photos in each pane of one window and scenes from a hiking trip in the other.

So excited to celebrate Kat and this awesome headboard project! Next up, a cute and colorful DIY project from best friend Kim!

If you have crafty projects you've made recently, send them my way!

dear Boden

Dear Boden,

You had me at hello. From the first moment I discovered you sitting on the break room table at my very first big girl job, I knew we'd have a long and colorful relationship. The patterns of your skirts and tops make my heart swoon. The jewels on your dresses are just the right amount of sparkly. The models you showcase make life in your clothes look so. much. fun.

Then, you went and outdid yourself. You already had my eye. Now you have my whole heart. Thanks for sending me a fall preview catalog with a cover entirely personalized for me. Your cover made me look twice, up close, and even impressed Karl, my real-life true love. I bet you did this for all the girls, but that's ok. This love letter's a total framer. Way to score some big time loyalty points, Boden.

{I swoon}

{pencils, buttons, polka dots, oh my}

{so clever!}

{apologizing just because...you're a thoughtful one, Boden}

{how did you guess that I love colored pencils?}

Love,

Meredith

p.s. Do any readers out there love Boden as much as I do? Did you get a personalized catalog too?

scenes of summer

Whew! It's been awhile. To all those who have dropped by recently, I'm sorry it's taken so long to see something new! I've been struggling to find the time and motivation to blog lately. Summer has been jam packed with starting a new job, celebrating several wonderful weddings, spontaneous BBQs, visits from family and friends, baseball games, cabin weekends, camping, lake walks and continually finding ways to stay cool despite the humid Minnesota heat. {However, today is strangely kind of chilly!} Most of above mentioned activities happen after a very full work day or on the weekends which leaves little time left to blog. So, in an effort not to be a total blog delinquent, here's a photo dump of some fun things we've been up to lately:

{time out from a pedal pub ride to splash in a downtown fountain}

{delicious hobo dinners on my 2nd ever camping trip}

{Karl is a fan of dinner too}

{the camping gurus: my father in law Rolf and Karl}

{Lake Calhoun sunset}

{photo booth fun at John and Alissa's wonderful wedding}

{silly friend love}

{jump for my love}

{with my big sister at the Twins game}

My parents just left after an amazing week-long visit to Minneapolis. We had a blast--more pictures to come soon of our adventures. It's so much fun to have a little bit of the south here in the midwest!