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Your Turn To Shine- No. 50

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Hey there! Can you believe it's officially fall already?! Where has this year gone?? And to think I'm less than 8 weeks away from my due date! Eeeeeek! :) Speaking of which, if any of you are expecting moms or recently gave birth, I've got a sweet little giveaway of newborn goodies going on this week so be sure to take a peek or share with any mommas-to-be you know!

Our link party will be undergoing some changes in a few weeks, so stay tuned. But for now, link your latests projects below! And enjoy the cooler weather! :)

DIY Nursery Height Chart and a Giveaway!!!

Hi, friends! There's some excitement going on around here today! I've gathered four of my friends who are currently expecting or recent new mommas to do a little DIY nursery art blog hop! We've each come up with some great art for our nurseries that we hope will inspire you!

In addition, we've got a giveaway for all of our mommas-to-be and new mommas! You have a chance to win some great gender neutral baby goodies and a Buy Buy Baby gift card! Check out my project below and then see the giveaway details!!! Don't forget to visit my friends' blogs to see their crafty nursery projects too! :)

DIY Nursery Blog Hop & Baby Bundle Giveaway

Hot Air Balloon Nursery Mood Board

I'm so excited to plan and decorate our baby boy's future nursery! When I was browsing around stores for bedding, I felt really uninspired by the designs and themes available. I wanted something bright and colorful and a little bit different. I started brainstorming, googling, and pinning and eventually stumbled across this adorable hot air balloon mobile which is actually for a girl nursery, but I instantly fell in love with the idea of a hot air balloon themed nursery!

Then, I started brainstorming color ideas. My friend Ashley told me about Carousel Designs, and I spent hours browsing their many many color and pattern options. I narrowed it down to a navy blue herringbone pattern with orange and seafoam accents. I ordered fabric swatches in almost every orange and aqua color they had available to help me narrow down exactly what shades I wanted. It was so much fun to design my bedding!

And so a nursery idea was born. I had a color and a theme! Time to start planning! Today, I just wanted to share my mood board of some of the inspiration I have found for a baby boy's hot air balloon nursery! I'm so excited to get started on crafting and decorating!

Mood Board for an orange, navy blue, and aqua hot air balloon nursery for a baby boy! Great ideas and inspiration!

Your Turn To Shine- No. 49

YTTS new logo

Welcome back to the Your Turn To Shine link party! Thanks for joining us every week! We love to see your latest projects!

Second Trimester Must Haves

Great list of must have items for the second trimester!

Oh my goodness, I absolutely cannot believe I am already in the third trimester!!! Time is really flying, and now I find myself savoring every last minute of this pregnancy before it's gone! Of course I am even more excited to meet our little man, but this part is fun too :)

Now that I'm into the third trimester, I thought I'd share a few things that were helpful in getting through the second trimester. I was lucky enough to have morning sickness until about 18 weeks, but for most women, that seems to subside after the first trimester. In addition to morning sickness, some new discomforts appear, but it's also time to start fun things like planning the nursery, baby shower registry, etc.

Your Turn To Shine- No. 48

YTTS new logo

Happy Thursday!! It's time for our weekly link party! We love to see what projects you've been working on! This week, I'm sad to say that one of our hostesses, Kendra from Joy In Our Home will no longer be hosting, but I am so happy for her to be able to spend more time with her family! She has been such a pleasure to work with and will be greatly missed!!!

September Monthly DIY Challenge- Pegboard Jewelry Organizer

Hello, everyone! Hope you had a fun-filled Labor Day weekend! It's time for the Monthly DIY Challenge again! If you haven't heard about the challenge before, each month some of my crafty friends and I pick a challenge item or material to create something out of. I absolutely love seeing how many different ways we come up with to use the same items! It's so much fun! You can see our previous projects here or search for #monthlyDIYchallenge on Instagram!


Your Turn To Shine- No. 47

Your Turn To Shine weekly link party! Share your crafts and recipes!


Wedding gift- Family name sign

Wedding gift idea- Last name sign


Have you ever had a friend that you just know will be a life long friend? Someone who you maybe don't see very often, but when you do it's like you never skipped a beat? You can start right where you left off. And you could never possibly forget all of the memories you've had together. Well, that's what it's like with my friend Sarah. 
Sarah and I have been friends since middle school, when an alphabetical seating chart in choir class had us destined to sit next to each other. By our first year of high school we were best friends. We had sleepovers where we stayed up until four in the morning talking about boys, the latest high school drama, and family matters. We laughed, and we cried. We wrote ridiculously long notes that I still can't throw away all these years later because I still giggle when I read them. We had some years where we weren't as close as others, and some years where we were attached at the hip, but we were always there for each other when it mattered most. 

Here's an awkward picture of how cool we were at our prom in 2006 :)
High school prom

Sarah has lived in a different state since we parted ways for college almost ten years ago (has it really been that long?!). We saw each other sporadically through college, but I still knew all about her friends, her sorority, and that dreamy red head she had her eye on. They eventually started dating, and I must say, he was the perfect match for Sarah. I'll save you the story, but I will never forget the day I met him. It's one we will always laugh about. 
This June, I couldn't have been more excited to attend Sarah's wedding. She was going to marry her dream man, that red headed gentleman. I don't think anyone who knew Sarah growing up could have pictured a man any more perfect for her! I was so excited that I could be there to celebrate a childhood dream come true with one of my oldest friends.

Aren't these two just stunning?? I can't wait to see the rest of their wedding photos by Karena Dixon!!!
Sarah & Andy's Wedding

I used to make gifts for Sarah back in the day. I never had money to buy gifts, and me being the crafty lady that I am, I always came up with something to make... photo collages... hideous purses that I was so proud of... all kinds of things. So I wanted to keep the tradition going and make her a wedding gift. I love making signs these days, and last name signs are always a great wedding gift. 
I started with a plain wooden sign* that you can purchase at your local craft store.

Wedding gift idea- Family Name Sign

I painted the sign with a neutral color. You can never go wrong with neutrals when making gifts. Neutrals go with almost anyone's decor color pallet!

Then I used my favorite text transfer method to add the lettering. You can learn how to do this here. It's so easy! I print out my text in different fonts and sizes, cut everything out, move it around to see what combination and layout I like best, and then I follow the transfer method to trace my printed fonts. It ends up looking like this...

Wedding gift idea- Family Name Sign

Fill in all of the penciled letters with an archival ink marker* or pen. You can also use paint for this, but I find I have more control with a marker. 

Wedding gift idea- Family Name Sign

I added a ribbon to the back using a staple gun to make it easy to hang.

Wedding gift idea- Family Name Sign

I'm so happy for Sarah and wish her and her husband all the happiness in the world in the years ahead! I also hope that our friendship will continue to stand the test of time and that we will continue to be there for each other during life's monumental moments!!!

My forever friend and I with a baby bump and a wedding dress!

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