DIY Photo Heart

 

Last week I got all hopped up on Starbucks during one of my weekly Target/Hobby Lobby trips, and this was born.

 

 

 

If I had to count the number of pictures I've taken of Miss Lara over the past 12 weeks, it's rapidly approaching 1,000.

I mean, if you looked at this face all day...

I have printed off all the pictures I've taken since birth because I'm terrified the internets going to totally shut down one of these days due to a cyber apocalypse, and I'd lose all my online albums. 

I adore each and every picture because they all remind me of a different moment in time, and the emotion to go along with it. She's brought so much love into our lives these past few months and I didn't want to miss a thing. 

If you'd like to make your own, it was SUPER simple & super cheap. Speaking my love language right there.

 

4 supplies: 

Foam Board (30% off at Hobby Lobby), Xacto Knife

Scotch double sided tape

LOTS OF PICTURES. 

Total spent was less than $10 thanks to Snapfish, the online service I use to print my pics. They give me 100 free prints a month, then add in discounts found on the RetailMeNot app, I print 200-300 pictures at a time for less than $15, INCLUDING SHIPPING. 

To start, I free handed the heart without tracing. Remember it doesn't have to be perfect, you are simply using it to provide support and direction on photo placement. Your pictures will stick out all around the edges.

Then you simply begin placing photos all over the heart using the double sided tape.

Thankfully I had a pretty good 'lil helper. 

We decided to hang it up in the stairwell for now. We used some command strips so it could be moved if need be. For now, I'm digging it. I love seeing our little girl everytime I use the stairs. Makes the daily up down, up down, up down trips a hundred times more enjoyable. 

What are some creative ways you've displayed your pictures outside of traditional frames??

That time we moved our bed into the closet.

What. A. Weekend.

 

If you couldn't tell by my Instagram pics Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed ourselves.  But I promise, our weekend wasn't all play. 

 

We've been working on our master bedroom "project" for the past month or so & I'm happy to say, we finally, finally  got 'er finished up.  But not without a few wrenches. Isn't that how all DIY's go?

 

When we bought the house, we knew we wanted to take on this project early on. As some know, Jon built me a dressing room attached to our master bedroom....

 

 

 

....so there was no need for the measly old closet in our actual bedroom. 

 

So, why not move our bed into it? 

 

First we had to remove the shelving & rod.

 

 

Then we had to mud & sand it down.

 

And mind you, in these photos it looks like Jon is doing all the work, but this photo was totally staged.  I promise. I sanded the ENTIRE wall myself.  And then had to scrub every frickin' inch of the bedroom because that crap gets everywhere!  I took a pic of the headboard just to prove it.

 After we got 'er all sanded down, time to bust out the paint.  I wanted to paint the closet to match the darker trim & baseboards surrounding it.  Instead of taking a wood sample with me to select the paint color, I decided to "eyeball" it. 

 

Bad idea.  Very bad idea.

It turned out super red, so we ended up having to paint the entire space.

Twice.

We installed a new light fixture with a dimmer switch. 

 

 

The dimmer allows for a nice ambiance in the room & I just love it.
Who knew a dimmer could be so  romantic? ;)

 

Then off to Etsy I went in search of the perfect monogram to hang above our bed.

 

I swear I must've looked at over 100 different fonts...GOOD LORD.  I had no idea there were that many to frickin' choose from!!

 

I finally found one I fell in love with, ordered that sucker & as soon as we got it up on the wall we realized the sucker didn't stick to the paint we used on the wall.

 

Awesome.  Just awesome.

 

So we beat the system.  We hand painted that sucker.  She ain't goin' nowhere now.

 

 

 

I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  But hey, it was worth it.

 

Hope you all had an amazing  weekend, not involving hand painting a monogram on your wall.

 

 

Linking up with Carly & Molly .  And you should too.

 

And as always, Sami & Leeann.  Thanks ladies for hosting one of my favorite link ups week after week!




Tootles! And please, say a prayer for me to make it thru this Monday.

Ugghh.

 



Saw It, Pinned It, Did It: Halloween Edition

This new link up hosted by the fabulous duo, Katie & Steph, could not have come at a better time.

Considering my house has been completely overtaken with glue guns, modge podge & lotssssss of orange & black.

Thank you Michaels.

I picked my 3 fave DIY's I completed in prep for our first Halloween Part-tay last weekend. 

Some of you have seen some teasers on my Instagram (@annexenos) feed these past couple weeks, but I saved some for this link up.

If you're stopping by from KCCO, first and foremost....WELCOME FRIENDS!  Secondly, you've seen the adorABLE Glass Vase Makeover. 

The original source was of course, our dear friend Pinterest.

View original source here.

This is pretty cut & dry folks, you glue the orange carstock to the vase with the black cardstock design on top. 

I know, super easy. 

The only thing I would add to Katie's instructions is to stay FAR away from the spray adhesive.  Go with the Modge Podge, folks.

Way easier & now my absolute FAVORITE crafting supply.  I use it TIME & TIME again.  The black roses....impossible to find.  I bought some cheapo ones from Walmart & the $0.96 black spray paint, and threw those puppies in the vase.  So Halloween-ey.

View original pin here.

This project is great when you have that perfect little wall to hang it on.  Since the main wall of our living room is french doors, there was the perfect spot right between both sets of doors.

Supplies Needed:

White (or wooden) Letters

Halloween Craft Paper

Ribbon

And of course, ol faithful, Modge Podge

Trace, cut, glue & hang!

View original pin here.

If you have a mantle, you can agree that it is the BEST place to decorate season in and season out. 

Supplies Needed:

All the supplies listed for the project above, two super cute projects & only one set of supplies!

I will say, this project is not for the in patient.  It took me about 3.5 hours to complete, but so worth it.

A tip for you:  BE SURE & MEASURE OUT FLAGS.  Don't try to wing it.  Measure the mantle, see what space you have to work with.  Cut the ribbon that will HOLD the flags first, then measure & see what size flags will fit.  I used the back of the half used Halloween paper for my white circles, versus buying white cardstock.

Ok...almost done.  Just a couple more.

I don't have a good daylight pic of this next project, so I'll use the actual Pinterest photo to give you an idea of how it turned out.

I saw the inspiration photo and just KNEW I had to re create.  So, I went to our local Pier1.   Does anyone else have a love affair with that place???  If I was rich, I would be in there EVERYDAY.  Ugghhh.  I die over their decor!!

Anyway, we have a long concrete staircase leading down to our house.  So what better accent than light up pumpkins!  Snagged these suckers up (on sale of course) for around $15.  The hooks, compliments of Home Depot. 

Speaking of love affairs.....(cough cough, Home Depot, cough).

And last, but absolutely not least.  My FAVORITE Halloween decor at the Xenos house this season...

View original pin here.

Everyone has a wheelbarrow....or maybe it's a Midwest thing. 

Grab yourself a bag 'o bones & a bag o' dirt, and plop the wheelbarrow wherever you please.

I hope you love how everything turned out!  I know I do.

Just call me Ms. Pinterest. 

Now head on over & link up!

Things I Love.

Hey.

Do you remember me?

I'm Anne.  And I blog around here.

And I love vodka.

Like big bottles of vodka.

I also love my girlfriends.

I love antiques....boy do I love antiques.  Combine that with a super handy husband & you can creat a little something like this.

I love that we leave for our cruise in T-4 days.

And last, but certainly not least.  I love Pinterest...can I get an AMEN. 

 I also love Link Ups.  So when I came across Katie & Stephs  fab new link up.  I knew I had to get in on that shizzzz.  'Speshially with all the DIY Halloween projects that have taken a dump in my house as of late.

Hello.  Perfect timing.

See you again tomorrow.

I know, two days in a row.

Can you frickin' believe it!?

I can't.

A Very Striped Reveal.

The day has come to show off our semi-finished product that is our newly striped living room.

When I came across the gazillion striped rooms on Pinterest, I just knew I had to give it a go. 

And i'm going to be completely honest with you.  I mean, when am I not?

It was TOUGH, ya 'all.  I swear there are probably 8 coats of paint on those poor walls. 

But when you start out with this....

One coat just won't do.  Shit, 3 coats won't do.

But after many many hours....

....we finally got to this!

Home Sweet Lake Home.

Happy Friday ya 'all!

Wedding Week Link Up: Part Two, The Rehearsal Dinner

Im always down for a good party...especially a link up party! Here goes part two!
Have I ever mentioned that I love wine....almost as much as I love my husband. So, it only makes sense that we hosted our Rehearsal Dinner at a winery.
J & I were married in an adorable little town in Excelsior Springs, Missouri at a rustic old 1940-esque resort called The Elms.
I loved the fact that it was only an hour or so outside Kansas City however it gave the guests the treat of a weekend "getaway."
We had such a blast the year we took to plan as we were able to take day trips to Excelsior with our families and bridal party to show them the plans we had made.
One of my favorite spots in Excelsior was an adorable little winery on main street called Willow Spring Mercantile.
I fell in LOVE the minute I walked in the little brick building and just knew it was the perfect, intimate setting we were looking for.  And believe me, I enjoyed PLENTY of bottles of wine there the year leading up to the wedding.  I mean, we had to keep them in business & I think we did our share. 
My advice to planning brides when picking the spot:  If it feels right, then it's right.  Book immediately!
Listen ladies, you've spent endless hours agonizing over every last wedding detail, what color of ties for the groomsmen, and tasted WAY too many wedding cakes.  Don't do it to yourself on this one.
If it feels good and you fall in love with the setting, just go with it!
Keep it simple. 
We did have to do a little seating arrangement as the place was tight. What I did was picked out about 12 celebrity couples (famous....and infamous.  Bill Clinton & Monica Lewinsky.  Yes please..ha!)
Each centerpiece included a photo of a famous couple.  The kids table was Woody & Jesse.  LOVE me some Toy Story! 
Then I printed out about five copies of each and gave them to the people who would be sitting at the coinciding table.  When they walked into the winery, they found the table that had their couple as the centerpiece and there ya have it.  Simple, cheap and hilarious.
For the invites I busted out a little DIY job.  I used our engagement photos and a cute poem I found on the internet.  Just plugged in some personal touches and here ya have it!

Jon popped the question and Anne said yes
All the planning is over from  the decor to the dress
Only one thing remains for this day to be great
Practice makes Perfect
April 22nd is the date
We'll practice out the ceremony
And iron out the kinks

Then it's off to the Mercantile Winery

For some dinner and some drinks

Please join the Bride & Groom to be
At 6:00 for a rehearsal
The Elms Resort

Now onto some pics!



My handsome groom!



The adorable kiddos!




My nephew


Flower girl, Addy



Ahhhhhmazing friends!!!!!



My beautiful Mom!







Back at the resort for the after party!







Last photo of the night, My beautiful bridesmaids!!!!! We love us some Natty Light. Don't judge.

The night turned out amazing! All you need is a venue that pulls on those heart strings and wonderful friends and family to fill that perfect place with love!