Monogram |

Simple, Personalized Party/Shower Favors

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Amy

Last week I hosted a tea in honor of my Mother’s birthday at my favorite Tea Room {the same place we held Terry’s baby shower last winter} for a few of her closest friends. Since many of my Mom’ms friends were traveling to attend the party, I wanted to give them each a little favor to take home and remember her special day.

The decor was pink, girly and flowery {an easy choice since my mom loves gardens and flowers}, so when I saw these cute pink, flower-shaped soaps I knew they would be perfect. Having seen all the creative ways Christy has used these monograms from For Chic Sake, I decided to make a personalized card for each guest, which I then attached to each soap as a take-home gift.

Making these was simple. I chose a printable and customizable monogram in colors I liked via For Chic Sake and just typed in each guest’s monogram. I saved the file on my computer, then resized each file and cropped it into a square shape. I used my design software, but I think you could do this fairly easily in any number of computer programs.

I printed out each monogram on white cardstock. To make them extra special, I layered them on a second page of cardstock with double-sided tape right on the edge to make the monograms extra thick, almost cardboard weight. I cut each one carefully with my guillotine paper cutter after they were attached to get a perfectly clean edge. I think the extra thickness just made them a bit more special.

I enclosed each soap in a simple plastic “goody” type bag and tied it with a pretty ribbon. Then I attached the card on top, easy.

They were just a little added touch to what was a wonderful celebration.

and, wishing you the happiest of birthdays, Mom!

XO,

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Posted in Birthday Parties, Crafts, Projects & Printables, Uncategorized, Weddings & Events | Tagged baby shower favors, bridal shower favor, entertaining, event, for chics sake, garden party, Monogram, Pink, printable, shower favor, tea party | Leave a comment

Spring Front Porch in Greens and Burlap

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Christy

At some point, I should publish a list of all my front porch posts, because there are quite a few. I LOVE to change things up on the porch for different holidays and seasons. After taking down my Valentine’s wreath after that holiday, it was time to decorate a porch in a way that would take me through until spring. Since we’re putting the house on the rental market in just a couple of weeks, I wanted things to look clean, crisp, and welcoming. Here’s what I came up with:

Last spring, I also used a combination of bright green and burlap; and you can read about that HERE. The green cushions I used last year were Goodwill purchases and did not survive the summer (too much sun fade), so that’s why you don’t see them again. This year, the green comes from florist’s moss, in the “B” on my door, and in the moss sphere in the urn. The “B” was SO easy to make–the tutorial is HERE–I just posted it last week. Amy posted the tutorial on the moss ball HERE and it was a little trickier because of the shape, but not by much.

The white urn was a Goodwill find, although the tag on the bottom says it was originally from Kirkland’s. I’ve been toying with spray painting it black. Any thoughts?

The house number porch pillows are an easy project–I just slipcovered existing pillows using the tutorial I posted HERE. The polka dot cushion is from one of my favorite Ebay stores–I buy all my outdoor pillows there, and the old window is from the Nashville flea market. The chandelier is from a yard sale.

I also planted some white violas in my two black urns–it’s still cold out, but it’s warm enough for them! I added sphagnum moss and tiny grapevine balls for visual interest.

The black wicker chairs are from a yard sale. I scored both of them for $5. They just got a new coat of black spray paint (I respray them pretty much every year) and they’re good to go for another season.

The plant stand is from Hobby Lobby, a few years ago. My little old wicker table finally died this winter, so I spray painted this guy black and put him out there to take its place. I need a little table to hold my coffee or wine (depending on the time of day while I watch the kids playing out front.

In the end, probably what made the biggest difference was that we trimmed all the bushes in the front and spread new black mulch. Well, my husband trimmed the bushes and spread new black mulch. I was busy doing something else (maybe hiding in my closet?).

Anyone need to rent a house in Nashville with a sweet front porch and a whole lot of chandeliers inside? Just give me a yell!

Happy-almost-spring, and thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in DIY, Home Tours, Porches, Real Spaces, Spring, Yards and Landscaping | Tagged Burlap, Monogram, moss, Porch, topiary | 8 Comments

DIY Moss Letters–Bring a Burst of Spring to your Front Door!

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Christy

I don’t know about you, but I have an almost pathological obsession with taking down my holiday decor. Today is February 15th, and the few red and pink Valentine’s Day items in my house go away TODAY! Yes, I have a hard time leaving my Christmas decorations up until New Year’s, but I force myself.

Since I’m taking down my decoupaged hugs and kisses XO wreath today (read about that HERE for next year), I needed something to replace it on my front door. And since it’s mid-February, for those of us here in Tennessee, it’s almost Spring. So, what better color than green for the front door?

Pottery Barn sells their moss letters for $79 a pop. Of course, theirs are LIVE moss, but even so, that’s a little steep for me. I completed this project for about $17, and that’s including the cost of a glue gun and hot glue sticks, which I already had on hand.

Here’s what I bought at Hobby Lobby:

The big wood letters are $12.99 at Hobby Lobby; I bought mine on a 50% off week. It’s 18″ high. The sheets of moss are $7.99, and I used my 40% off coupon. I also bought a roll of burlap ribbon there for $2.50, since I had just cut up the last of my old grain sack from the flea market.

Amy talks about covering a sphere with moss HERE, and I just followed her directions, which are basically cut the moss to fit, glue it to the form, and cut slits to make it lay flat. I copy all of her ideas eventually, anyway. Did y’all know we were college roommates? Sometimes I think we’re twins separated at birth because our taste is pretty much identical, but I digress…back to the moss! I think the moss is very easy to work with–it’s so forgiving since it doesn’t show the seams when you glue in a small scrap to fill in a spot. However, mark my words, it makes an absolutely gigantic mess! Be prepared to vacuum your counter, your floor, and yourself when you’re done! I only had half a package of moss when I started this project, and I ran out part way through. I hate when that happens!

Um, yes, I covered a sphere with moss and stuck it in an urn. Amy told me to! And doesn’t it look great?!

After an emergency stop at Hobby Lobby, where the manager knows me by name (it’s like when Norm used to walk into Cheers, if you’re old enough to remember that), I plugged in the glue gun again and finished up the project. Here’s what I wound up with:

Here are a couple of tips:

Run the moss around the edges of the letter. Mine covered all the unfinished wood. I guess to save a little on moss/glue/work, you could also spray paint your edges dark green, but I think this looks better.
Save all the tiny pieces you have left over from trimming the moss; you can glue that on your letter in any gaps you see and no one will be able to tell. Or, use it on the next project.
I used the burlap ribbon to dress things up a bit; however, the letter is actually hanging on a metal wreath hanger. The burlap hides it, though. I formed a bow through trial and error (there is NO method to my madness when it comes to bow-making) and secured it with florist wire). As an aside, I really, really like the burlap ribbon I bought at HobLob!

That’s it–easy! I’m probably going to put this letter on the front door and take the moss sphere and the urn out there, too. I already have a big wooden “B” on the old window hanging on my porch, and that would be redundant, so that’s going to go on the screened porch for awhile, and I’m going to hang a grapevine wreath in its place. I’ll let you see a few pictures when I’m done, either in a post or on our Facebook page.

What do you guys have on your front porches these days?

Thanks for stopping by!

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Posted in Before and After, Crafts, DIY, Porches, Spring | Tagged diy, initial, letter, Monogram, moss, tutorial | 21 Comments

~Thrift Store Tray Gets a Bright Makeover~

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Christy

A few months ago, I was making my usual weekly stop into Goodwill, when I came across the cutest breakfast in bed tray. It was dark red and $5, which seemed expensive to me (for a thrift store, at least!) but I saw potential. I debated painting it white or black, my usual colors, and using it in the kitchen or the screened porch, but then I thought it would also make a cute piece for my daughter’s room, which we’re currently updating with pops of watermelon pink (read my first post on her room HERE). Enter my trusty can of spray paint…I used Krylon’s “Watermelon” gloss and gave it a couple of coats. Here’s how it turned out:

When I first sprayed the top, it looked a little bare, so I used my Silhouette Cameo and some white vinyl to make a monogram to put on top. The font is a free one called “Contribute” and it’s one of my favorites for monograms. My daughter is a Francophile and wants to bring a little bit of Paris into her room, too, so I debated putting something French on the tray, but I want to avoid “Paris Overkill” if at all possible!

The more I get to know this little tray, the happier I am that I spent so much $$ on it. The legs fold under and secure so it can be used as a regular tray, too, if we ever want to put it on top of her bookshelf or desk as a display piece.

I’ll continue to share pieces from her room as we go, and hopefully we’ll have the full reveal for you in a week or two!

Thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in Before and After, DIY, Kids Rooms | Tagged bedroom, diy, Girl, Monogram, paint, Pink, thrift store, tray, watermelon | 4 Comments

A Tale of Two Chairs

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Amy

Hello! It’s finally feeling like summer vacation around here…my kids are out of school and we just finished two great (but tiring) weeks of VBS so I am finally, after a long break, getting back to some DIY projects around the house.

Today I am sharing two chair makeovers I recently completed. I say ‘completed’ because the first one was more then a year in the making and I finally finished. You can tell you aren’t loving a project when it takes that long to finish it– apparently upholstering just isn’t my thing. Though, it also might have had something to do with the hundreds and hundreds of staples that needed to be forcibly pulled out of the chair after I ripped the fabric off?

Regardless, its a huge improvement and had I known I would be so glad to have it finished, I would have done it sooner.

So, here is the before of this lovely golden beauty.

I had a set of these chairs, but the yellow colored fabric never went with my house. I had bought both chairs at a model home furniture sale for $50. You see, once upon a time I had a job selling new homes and we were able to buy the furniture from the old models at next to nothing, a nice perk! I had given my friend Tracey one of the two chairs, which she made work nicely in her office {You can see her home HERE}, but the yellow just never worked in my house.

So, here is the new and improved version…

Over the last year I bought 3 different fabrics (a beige linen, and a brown zebra, and then the black and white I finally used) as I could never settle on how I thought it should look. This chair is in my office, in front of my computer, so it gets quite a bit of use.

You also get a sneak peak at my office in these pictures, I am finishing the room up {I just need to get the fabric and make the curtains} and then it will be done. Its been fun to work with a pure black and white color scheme, its a little more interesting then the cream/beige/white elsewhere in my home.

The second chair is my daughter’s chair at her little “art” area in my office, right next to my desk.

The chairs to her table didn’t survive our last move, so I picked up this little chair for her on my last trip to IKEA.

Christy has been quoted saying “There isn’t much I won’t stick a monogram on!”, I took a page from her book and ordered a vinyl monogram to jazz up her chair HERE.

She loves her chair and her art table, and its nice to have our separate ‘work’ spaces so close to each other.

Have you redone any furniture lately? I have a HUGE project just sitting in my garage that is next on my list, and I can’t wait to start on it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharing at~

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Posted in Before and After, DIY, Projects & Printables | Tagged black and white, Chair, children's chair, diy, Monogram, Office, upholstery | 4 Comments

Spring Giveaway! ~Monogrammed Burlap Tote Bag~ Plus Updated Home Tour

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Christy

Wouldn’t you love to sling this bag over your shoulder as the weather warms up? It’s the perfect size to use as a large purse, grocery tote, gym bag, or to hold library books (or even the never-ending pile of kids’ stuff you need to haul out to the car every day).

This bag comes in natural-colored, lined burlap with a black script monogram (your choice as to whether to use your first or last initial).

To enter, just “like” us on Facebook HERE, and leave us a comment at the bottom of this post letting us know (and if you already like us, of course, just leave us a comment telling us that). If you were following us through Google Friend Connect, which has gone away forever then please take a minute to join up via Linky Followers over on the right and leave us a *second* comment down below telling us you did. For a third entry, just follow us on Twitter over on the right and leave us a *third* comment down at the bottom. Make sense? Up to three entries if you link up with 11 Magnolia Lane every which way!

Also, I spent a couple of hours this morning updating our 11 Magnolia Lane Home Tour {here} or just click on the link at the top. This is the house that we lived in in North Carolina, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. I can’t claim much credit as all I did was move in and decorate–the owners are the ones who did the massive renovation that made it the gem that it is today. If you like old houses, then you’ll love looking at this tour.

Also, tomorrow I’ll be posting my master bedroom and sitting area/office redo reveal. If you watched my master bathroom reveal {here} then this is the final piece of the master suite puzzle that I’ve been putting together since January. Stop by tomorrow to check it out! Here’s a sneak peak:

We’ll be running the bag contest today through Monday, April 9th at 12:00 noon Eastern Time. Good luck, and thanks for entering!

Posted in giveaways | Tagged bag, Burlap, giveaway, Monogram, purse, tote | 39 Comments

And Finally…A Headboard

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Amy

While you can certainly find upholstered headboards galore in “Blogland”, I am so pleased that a) I got around to making one and b) that it came out just how I wanted it to, so I had to share.

For YEARS my husband and I have needed a real grown-up bed, and we have been planning on upgrading to a king-sized “Sleep Number”–but life tends to get in the way and we have yet to do so. While that is still our plan, this will then become our guest bed (hopefully) in the near future. I expect it will get a lot of use as we are moving to the beach, and therefore hoping for lots of company!

A few things I wanted to mention now that I have completed this project. Its SO easy! It took me just a few hours, and cost less then $100. The hardest part was getting it hung on the wall. Its still not 100% straight and that would be because our level has gone missing, it would have helped to have it. My husband and I each say the other used it last…hmmm….

First off, I procrastinated this project for months years because the idea of getting to Home Depot and getting a 70″ by 30″ board, cut and out the door with (screaming) child (ren) in tow was just too much for me. So, in my usual fashion, last weekend I sent my husband to handle it for me, which he kindly did. I purchased regular right-off-the-rack linen from Joann’s…I didn’t want to wait for special order fabric. I was nervous about this, but it worked perfectly. I did use a cotton lining layer over the batting just as a precaution, however.

My favorite part is the Monogram. Can I tell you how wonderful Diane is from Klein’s Embroidery? She was super patient with my (graphic designer) self that just needed a particular style of “B” for our monogram. She let me find one on the internet (which I did from Embroidery Arts) and she downloaded it for me and created perfectly on my fabric. And, she now has it on file so I can use it on other projects from here on out, my perfection-istic side is just thrilled to pieces with it. (Any of you with a “B” name out there are welcome to use it, just give her a shout!)

I used the nailhead trim on a roll, which was really easy to use, but hard to find. I ordered it from Beacon Fabrics and I have tons leftover.

We hung it in the wall studs, with D ring hooks as I saw recommended by Centsational Girl (who has a great, inspiring tutorial on this project here) and since its coming down in a few months to move, we didn’t stress too much over it, but it seems very secure and at least not too likely to fall on our heads when we sleep.

I won’t bore you with all the steps. But here is a quick look at what I did…

Here is the fabric, which I spent a great deal of time ironing first. Isn’t that monogram pretty? I love monograms…sigh…

I covered the board first in white cotton batting (two layers) stapled it on, and then over that, stapled on plain white cotton lining fabric and pulled very tight.

Here is the “underlayer” picture.Here it is all covered.I added the nailhead trim (oops no picture) but its easy. And here it is all, hung up and done. Like so many things, I wish I had done it years ago!

Note: I am now off in search of the perfect accent pillow…that cute fleur de lis is “borrowed” from my living room for the photo op. (I just couldn’t wait till I found a new one to post this) So, I am off to ETSY to search for the ideal grainsack or maybe burlap little pillow…hmmm….we’ll see what I find! Suggestions?

Linking up to:

Posted in DIY, Home Inspiration, Projects & Printables, Real Spaces, Uncategorized | Tagged Decorating, diy, headboard, make your own, Monogram, nailhead trim | 4 Comments

Girls in White Dresses (with Red Ball Fringe…)

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Amy

By Amy

I can only say that inspiration for this little dress for my daughter struck me in the middle of the night. And, that would be because my social butterfly is ”visiting” in the middle of the night so random things pop into my head as I am up with her at all hours these days! She had received these darling le Top red and white tights as a birthday gift and I knew I wanted her to wear them with something for Christmas. They were too casual for her ”dressy” Christmas dress but way too cute not to wear.

The tights that started it all!

I remembered I had picked up a very plain white cotton dress at a Consignment Sale last year, which she never had worn. It was just really boring, I suppose I bought it just because it was like $3 and in perfect shape.

I am of the belief that you can monogram anything (actually I think that’s a direct quote from Christy?!), and I definitely know that you can add ball fringe to just about anything and make it cute. So, I ran the plain, boring, white dress by my local embroidery shop and 10 minutes later it had her initials on the top in red. Instant improvement.

I picked up some red ball fringe at JoAnn’s, and stitched it around the bottom inside hem. Now, I know that I could have used something to fuse it (or a machine) which would have been quicker but its a small dress, so hand-sewing it didn’t take very long but it did seem like the hard way to do it. Regardless, it was one show worth of something to do while watching TV.

The Ball Fringe Magic

I also thought I could really jazz it up with some red Ric Rac around the sleeves but it was the week of Christmas and that– along with MANY other things– didn’t happen (like the second half of my Christmas Cards!). But, she did have an adorable dress for our family Christmas gathering on Christmas night, all for about $10. And, its going to be perfect for Valentine’s Day too!