Thursday, September 22, 2011

flashback friday's the third + the ugly sweater

the weeks have been FLYING by. 
how is it already friday!?

here is my ugly sweater. 

you will really want to read this story. it's quite hilarious.

for this, you will need a little background.

my hubby & i moved from utah to idaho in may of this year.

long story short, we are moving BACK to utah on saturday. [hooray, hooray]

we love our home. and can't wait to be back.
okay. now that you know that,
i bought this sweater at the di a little bit ago for $3.
i seriously love it. 
i came home to show my hubby. all giddy inside that i found such a great sweater for such a great price.
and this is what he said:
(well, first he just laughed)
"we have been in idaho WAAY too long. 
when we get back to utah, you are going to think that sweater is so ugly!"
now he didn't say those exact words, but something similar :)
then...
we were talking to my bro & sis in law on skype a couple days after.
we love them. it has been so hard for us to be away from them and again, 
can't wait to be back!
i told them the story of what the hubby said.
they laughed.
"in fact," (this is me speaking) 
"i am going to go get the sweater to show it to you, because it really is not bad!"
i even said "H, you will probably like it!"
(H is my sis in law)
nobody gets names online except me :)
to my surprise,
H&J busted up in laughter.
I MUST BE CRAZY!! 
cause i LOVE my ugly sweater.
so i said:
"you know what, i am going to take pictures of me wearing my sweater 
and you will see how GREAT it really is."
J has been pestering me to get pictures up here since i said that.
so without further ado, brother:

MY UGLY SWEATER:




what do you think now... still ugly!?
so readers... i need you to help me settle this debate!!
leave a comment
and/or
take a vote:

  • that sweater really is great. i don't care what you say :)
  • great job lauryn, you can definitely style an UGLY sweater to make it GREAT!
  • lauryn, you are crazy. i agree with your hubs and H&J
More polls: Hotel Las Vegas

a dress mesh, but i don't sew.

i sewed guys!!


be proud of me.
i'm so proud of myself.
:)


these dresses really are not that bad.
are you curious why i destroyed them?
i really never wore the black one. so i wasn't sad to let it go.
the gray one was my favorite. but it had the weirdest stains that appeared.
some all over the skirt.
and one bleach stain on the top.
i really don't know how they got there.

so here's what i did.
cut off the top of the gray dress and the bottom of the black one and sewed them together.
then i took the ruffles from the black dress and hand stitched them to the gray top to cover the bleach spot.
now...
you may know, i am not a seamstress.
but i made this work!
sorta... 
[[no laughing.]]
i am showing you how bad i am at sewing.

despite my beginner-ness,
 i figured out an answer to it all..
a belt.

and now it looks great :)


do you like the necklace? my bestie made it for me a while back.
love you ky! 

 

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

how to draw halloween characters

i realize it is only september. 
but seriously. halloween is my FAVORITE holiday. 
i have got to soak it up as LOOONG as i can. 
if you didn't know already, i love working with little kids. 
i can't wait to be able to teach kindergarten one day. 
i do not have any kids of my own yet, but when i do, 
i want them to feel they can be a part of my crafting too!! 
so today i made a how to draw halloween characters page. 

witch:

frankie: 


and the vampire bat:


these are free for your use....anywhere you want!!
but here's the deal.
i would LOVE to see what little kiddies created using these drawings.
if you use these how to draw templates, 
please take or scan in a picture of the child's drawing and we will have a 
show and tell with the kid's pictures here at love notes!!
email me with the pictures you have @ 
laurynashli1@gmail.com

seriously, 
how FUN would it be to have a show off party for our KIDS!!
tell your friends guys.. this is going to be great :)

if you would like, here is a document with all three on one page:


Saturday, September 17, 2011

fall jeans LOVE

This post brought to you by Express. All opinions are 100% mine.
i love jeans.
especially in the fall. 
i love the new shapes that are showing up this season.
of course i'm a huge fan of skinny's. i'll be honest. they are the vast majority of my pants drawer.
but i am love love loving the high waisted wide legs.
pretty yes?
and i am so happy colored jeans are coming back in.
they were a short fad for awhile and went out before i could even wear mine enough! 
i can't wait to get my hands on some more.
which means it's time for shopping!
i was so excited to get this offer from Express jeans via social spark
(if you haven't heard of social spark yet, check it out!)
anyhow..
express asked me to post about some of their killer women's jeans
what girl does not want to talk about, read about, oogle and drool at CLOTHES,
love.
here are some of my ABSOLUTE favs:
EXTREME STRETCH STELLA JEAN LEGGING at Express
and the wide leg, like i mentioned earlier.
REROCK FLARE LEG EXTENDED TAB JEAN at Express
and talk about some fantastic color! i would die to have some red jeans. AWESOME!
ZELDA JEAN LEGGING at Express
i would love to wear these ensembles:
and to make this whole swooning over fashion thing even BETTER!!! express is giving away a pair of their fabulous jeans. enter the giveaway on facebook by clicking this link:
now it's your turn!
comment on this post and tell me which express jeans you are lovin' and the reason you love them.
isn't fall fashion the best!
Visit Sponsor's Site

Friday, September 16, 2011

duct tape & doily pennant banner

hey everybody!
this post is up VERY late...i was sick last night and still sick this morning.
ugh. so sorry.
better late than never??

remember this bunting? from my first craft fair?
(in the corner)


today i'm letting you in on a secret:
all i used in this was duct tape, yarn, & paper doilies.
easy right!
(sorry about the dark pictures. again...sick.)

   

i have it hanging above the craft room window:

Thursday, September 15, 2011

inspired by color {red+teal}

i have been loving this color combo lately
red + teal
i love this color combo.
i used it to get dressed today:




*red lipstick
*red earrings
*red scarf (used as a belt)
*teal tank

happy thursday lovelies.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

{m+l} our names in a tree

we went camping over labor day weekend
and i got a BUNCH of wood from a construction site for FREE!! yaay! 
i was so excited. i will be showing you little ways i used up this wood.
at random times, in random posts.

here's #1
on a little block of wood.

my hubby & i met in high school.
we carved our names in a tree one time 
at a park in layton, ut.
with a key.
we went back to check it out a couple times.
who knows if it is still there. that was 5-6 years ago. (ish).
anywho. i have seen wood burning & drawings of tree carvings.
and i love them. 
since i actually did this, i wanted to re-create it.
but a little more save-able and not on a random tree in a park.

i originally started this post as a tutorial.
this is how far i got:

pencil it:                                        x-acto it:       

carve it:                                       ink it:

AND then....
i just started carving, painting, inking, painting, sanding
in different orders til i got something i liked.
so i stopped the tutorial.
sorry.
and i ended up with this:

i love it! & my hubby does too.

BE IN LOVE!


i entered this project in @ crafting with the stars!




Monday, September 12, 2011

clothespin wreath & remembering 9.11

about a month ago i guest posted over at mine for the making.
kara, the mastermind behind mine for the making, 
so graciously invited me, because i was so busy doing the abc's of hair,
i was never able to post about it on here!
check out the tutorial for this vintage clothespin wreath by clicking here.


kara is one of the nicest people i have met here in this HUGE blog world.
she always comments on my stuff, 
she posted about flashback fridays on her facebook page!
&
she helps me feel confident in blogging.
like i'm actually being successful! ha.
so go check out her blog if you haven't already.
thank you so much kara.

=============================================

on a much different note, 
it is crazy to me that i lived during such a horrific event in US history.
it is an event that my children will learn about in school.
and i will be able to tell them where i was, 
what i was doing, 
how i felt.

this week especially, 
i hope we can remember the incredible heroes 
who gave their lives for our country.
for their children, family, friends, neighbors 
who were heroes as well.

my we all stand united in this beautiful country.
in honor, i made a 9.11 printable.
enjoy :)





Wednesday, September 7, 2011

his & hers xoxo

SIDE NOTE: i finally joined bloglovin!
widget coming soon, i'd love for you to follow!

 i made these xoxo letters when we lived in our little apartment in bountiful.
i wanted something to go over the cabinets:


when we moved to idaho, we didn't have this over the counter space
(which is exactly what i created them for!)
so i had to find an alternative.
our wall was looking pretty bare with just the clock, so i decided to use the xo's here.
i hung them with 3M mounting tape.


now you're probably curious as to how these are his & hers.
well, for one XO set i used my hubby's magazines:
TRANSWORLD. he's a big boarding buff. specially snowboarding.



see the boarders?

and for the other XO set, i used my magazines:
VOUGE, ELLE, LUCKY, ya know. the works for girls :)

  

fashion baby!

{PICTURE COMING HERE SOON, my camera died!}

so here's what i did. easy peasy.
i got the letters at robert's,
ripped magazine pages out that were about the same color
(blues & blacks - tans & whites)
i mod podged the surface of the letters, 
arranged the pages on the letters
(the edges were hanging off like crazy at this point)
let that dry.
used an exacto knife to cut the excess magazine off around the letters
added another layer of mod podge on top of it all
and that was it!
i left the letters wooden, i liked the look of the raw wood.
i sand my edges. i liked the rugged (ish) edges.
but painted & sanded would be darling too.
i have done that with wood & mag pages before.

buh bye!

a little cork board

i made myself a cork board a little while ago.
i used some fabric i got at the thrift store (yeah!)
a long wooden board
4 cork board squares
3M mounting tape
spray adhesive
& a 
staple gun.

here's how it went:
cut the fabric to the appropriate size.
spray glue the side of the board that will be covered in fabric so the fabric doesn't loosen up.
fold over the back and staple.
pull tight so there is no extra room.


stick some 3M tape on the corners of each cork board pieces:

arrange beautifully on your fabric:

add some embellishing-i added rub ons:

hang up with more 3M tape:

i have it above my desk!



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