Guest Post: My Friend Stephanie

Happy Monday everyone!!The kiddos and I had a fun and busy weekend (sadly my hubby had to work all weekend). I'll have some pictures of our fun for you tomorrow.

Today, I would like to introduce you all to my sweet friend Stephanie. Stephanie and I became close friends when we both worked in the hotel industry long ago (pre-kids). She is super sweet, super talented, and a beautiful woman inside and out. Take it away Stephanie :)

Hello My Third True Love readers, my name is Stephanie and I blog over at Food, Drinks, & A Flirty Apron. Today I want to share with you a Valentine's Day craft that I recently did with my 2 girls. I've been staring at this old, dead tree in my backyard since November. I finally got some time to cut some branches (or maybe my husband did it for me), and turn it into something new and pretty, just in time for Valentine's Day.

Once the branches were cut, we bought some silver metallic spray paint at Home Depot for $3.79. After putting down some newspaper, I got to "tag" my branches beautiful.

I found some pieces of red, purple and pink construction paper and cut heart shapes in different sizes. My helpers helped me to tape string (from our Christmas Tree) onto the hearts. Once the branches had dried, I arranged them in a tall silver vase on my buffet table. My little ones helped to decorate the branches with the heart ornaments they made.

We decorated the table as well, with more hearts and a bronze plate as a base for the Valentine tree. A few yards of tulle from Joann Fabric & Craft Stores helped to spruce up the space a bit, and cute polka-dot ribbon sealed the deal.

A couple of cupcake led lights from Kohl's and some heart votives from Big Lots help make the table a bit more festive. And voila...the dead tree has new life in our dining room, all for under $8.00. It makes me smile every time I walk down the hall.

Of course, these little helpers make me smile too.

Thanks for letting me guest post Ali!! Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Isn't that tree of hearts adorable!!?? Thanks so much Stephanie, the countdown to V-day begins :)

Friday's Etsy Faves

Better late than never, right?? I'm writing this post at 10pm on Friday night so it is still Friday :)
Let's get right to it, k!?

First up are these ADORABLE fabric tags from Doble Ele. It looks like they are made with fabric tape on one side and kraft paper on the back. SO SO cute!

Next on my list of faves is this SUPER pretty purse from Peace Love N Polka Dots:

It's upholstery grade tweed fabric so it is super durable. I am in love with that bow!!

Next up are these adorable vintage French flash cards from Poor Little Robin. I'm not going to lie, I am seriously contemplating buying these.

SERIOUSLY awesome!!!

I also love the classic and beautiful look of this letter press Valentine's Day card from Steel Petal Press.

Josh and I say this sweet little phrase to each other and it makes me smile ;) (apologies for the cheese-fest, ha ha).

I am also loving this gorgeous locket from Stella Saves the Day. I love the little embroidered heart & all it needs is a pic of me and my HOT man to make it perfect ;)

The locket is the perfect size and I love the long chain with the toggle clasp. SO cool!

And last but certainly not least is this super unique and cool vintage rotating organizer thingy from Junk from my trunk.

You mount it under a shelf and you can store all of your crafty treasures in it. It just looks sooooo cool, no!?

That's all folks!!! This Saturday I'm off to a petting zoo b-day party with the kids, and maybe I'll squeeze some crafting in if there's time. Superbowl Sunday....I will NOT be watching football. My sweet mother in law will be watching my kiddos while I head to the local flea market with my sis, sis-in-law, and some friends. YAY!!! It has been WAY too long since I've flea'd.
Happy weekend everyone, xoxo

The writing on the wall.

Happy hApPy Friday eve everyone :)
So...during "nap" time yesterday (I put the word nap in quotes because yesterday neither of my kids fell asleep during nap time. This is a rare and unwelcome change and I am NOT a fan) I got a little crafty. My mojo isn't fully back yet but this quick and easy project definitely helped.

Let me start out by saying that I browse pintrest daily and always leave it feeling inspired. Over the holidays my awesomely creative friend Cassie pinned this beauty and I quickly hit "re-pin."

                                                                            (source)
Back story: I am SO SO lucky and I get to go to Maryland this May to visit Cassie and her family!! YAY!! We have a week full of thrifting, crafting, eating, and hanging out in our pj's planned. Anyway, she pinned it and said we should make these when we are together. I, of course, yelled YES!

After Christmas, I went to Target and stocked up on tinsel garlands for us to use when it was on sale for 80% off. I think each 15' garland was like $.55 each or something awesome like that. I got gold for myself and silver for Cassie. I also got a strand of red because...well....you just never know.

Fast forward to yesterday and this happened....Poof!

Ha ha! Like magic :)
All I did was cut some large letters out of red/burgundy card stock...

...and then I just hot glued the tinsel garland onto the letters (cutting it to size as I was gluing it). Super EASY! The only thing that was a bit tricky was trying not to be too messy. The minute you cut a tinsel garland, it starts shedding EVERYWHERE! I just squeezed a tiny blob of hot glue on the end right after I cut it & It worked like a charm. After I was done gluing it, I just used thumb tacks to hang them on the wall (just make sure you bury your tacks in the fluff so you can't see them).

Do you LOVE it as much as I do!? Do you wish you stocked up on tinsel garlands after Xmas!? I totally wish I got some in every color!! Well, there's always next year!! Ha ha :)

Just getting started.

Happy hump day everyone :)
February 1st! A fresh start....well, for me anyway. I mentioned earlier that my sis in law and I are having a fitness challenge with one another. We both needed some help staying motivated so we joined forces and started our challenge on Jan 2nd. We each keep track of our own workouts (honor system here, people) for the month. I'm using this cute little notebook.

 The one who works out the most each month, gets a $10 Michael's gift card purchased for them by the loser. We recently decided to add weekly check-ins so neither of us slack off.
I'll admit. I was pathetic in January. PATHETIC!

(I'm borrowing Hayden's pez to cover up my weight, ha ha! I'm not normally shy about that sort of thing, but I think I'll keep it private for now. Let's just say that I will be really happy if I lose 10 pounds, and thrilled if I lose 15).

 Because of my pathetic-ness, Darcy will be able to spend ten of my (Josh's) hard earned dollars at Michael's. Congrats to the winner!!

February - YOU ARE MINE!!!!!

See...already off to a great start :)
I'll check in with you from time to time to let you know if I am "on" or "off" the wagon. I'm definitely optimistic! I have been really good with my healthy eating so far. I'm actually surprising the heck out of myself. Typically I am a "eat whatever I feel like" kind of girl and that has definitely not served me well.

Wish me luck people, I'm gonna need it :)

Feeling nostalgic....

Hi everyone, happy Tuesday :)
My crafting/diy mojo is still lagging. I have a few projects that I could work on, but I'm feeling seriously blah and unmotivated. Not too sure why, but hopefully it passes soon. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my little nephew Oliver (due Feb 15th) and I find myself feeling nostalgic about my own little babies. Being almost 6 years old and almost 3 years old makes them most certainly NOT babies anymore :( Just thought I'd post a few pics of my little bugs when they were tiny. I miss squeezing them and I fear that poor little Oliver will most definitely suffer because of this. I'll try not to squeeze him too hard ;)

Sweet baby Noah...

And my beautiful baby girl Hayden.....

{sigh} These pictures put the hugest lump in my throat. It's not that I'm unhappy with where we are now. It's just....I don't know. It all just goes way too fast.
WARNING OLIVER: When you get here, you will be smothered with loved and squeezed so tightly by your auntie that you may not be able to breath for a second. I'll try my best to control myself, but I can't guarantee anything.
{sigh}

Friday's Etsy Faves...again :)

Sorry people, I fell off the face of the Earth this week. Well, not really. But combine a lack of motivation and a lost camera charger and that was me this week. Ha ha! I do have another round of Etsy faves for you though :)

LOOK at this aweome diy kit to make your own vintage wreath from In Color Order:

Isn't that wreath amazing!!!!!? You get all the supplies to make it in the kit. Awesome!! I love it so so much!

I am also loving this adorable anchor bracelet from Simply Chic 93. I love anything nautical :)

This USA map out of colorful vintage buttons from Jillian Audrey Designs is to-die-for!! Isn't it gorgeous!!!??

SO happy and colorful, I just love it!

Last but certainly not least is this beautiful glittery fringe banner from Nice:

I love the drama that the fringe adds to those beautiful glittery letters! SO so pretty!!!!

I plan to be productive this weekend so hopefully I'll have some projects to share next week :)
I hope your weekend is a great one!! xo

Friday's Etsy Faves...

I fell off the wagon a bit and haven't done a "Friday's Etsy Faves" in a while. I love love love browsing around Etsy and I really do love sharing with you the happy treasures that I find there :)

First up today, just LOOK at this super adorable retro Valentine banner from RawBone Studio. SO stinkin' adorable!!!

My next fave is this super cute mustache calendar from Two Pooch Paperie. Ha ha!! Love it!

I am also lovin' this cute personalized leather business card holder from Bambina. I desperately need something cute to keep my business cards in (my purse is essentially a trash can at this point).

And my final fave for the day are these super "now" tags from REDSTARink . I love the pattern and colors on these :)

Freakin' Etsy!!! I LOVE U!!!!
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend :)