Inman Park Festival

{Atlanta, Georgia}

 It's been a couple years since we've hit up the Inman Park Festival.  

Brian offered to play porter for the day ~ give the guy a beer and he'll be up for just about anything!  We had a great time walking the grounds, listening to live music + people watching.  And of course checking out the markets!  

Here's a few that caught our eye: 

 So She Sews' {Recycled + Handmade items} was the first booth we stopped by.  Brooke creates everything from State Art to Skirts + Totes.  Be sure to check out her site + her etsy shop for some eco-friendly gift options.  

I'm typically not too keen on most bird houses, but I LOVED the quirky cute designs that Roadside Recycler's create.  Especially since they're entirely made from old house parts!

While at the Park we were introduced to an Interior Design Firm local to Atlanta.  Stephanie from Balance Design was a pleasure to chat with and we even picked up some colorful pillows from her booth {photo: left}.

Stephanie's booth also displayed work from Scott Dilley, a Georgian Carpenter + Artist.  We loved his deer head wall art!  You can find his work here.

We couldn't leave without picking something up for Rawley!  

Big Daddy Biscuits was perfect!  

We must have had Bacon on our mind as we got a kick out of 

Felted Heart's Bacon Bib!

The girls from Bee Good Design had an uber-cute display!  We loved their positive art, felted totes + home decor ~ all great gift options for this upcoming Mother's Day!!  To place your order contact them here!

Have you attended any festivals lately?  We'd LOVE to hear about it!

Festival Season

{What's In Your Bag?}

April + May kick off Festival Season in most places!  

We'll be hitting up the2012 Inman Park Festival.

Keep It Simple

Sunglasses ~ Cash ~ LipGloss ~ Hair Tie ~ Pencil ~ "Must See" List

Also taking our Camera and an empty Tote

We'll likely leave with more than we show up with!  

What festivals are you attending this year?

Reader's Digest Condensed Books

 {Reader's Digest Books}

I'm sure most of you have stumbled upon the old Reader's Digest books at some point.  We love the punchy colors and retro designs that cover these.  Most of ours have been purchased for $1-$2 from our local Goodwill + Thrift Stores.  We plan to use ours around the house + for seasonal decor.
Looking for more creative uses?

Check out what these talented bloggers came up with:

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Creative Crafter Cathe from Just Something I Made sewed pockets into hers.  What a great place to store receipts or to-do lists.  To see her How To click here!

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 All right peeps ~ whip out your band saw for this one!  I LOVE the Monogram Letter Marji from Ashbee Design made.  This would be adorable on a mantel or in a nursery.  Now to just purchase a band saw!  To see Marji's Monogram  Project click here!

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 And for all you newly engaged couples out there, I couldn't help but think this Engagement Shoot from Aimee and Tabor Jean Photography was cute!  And of course they used Vintage Reader's Digest Books!  Go here to check out Aimee's Blog!

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Not wanting to spend hours searching your local thrift stores?  Check out this listing from The Robin's Nest Etsy Shop!  She's done the searching for you!

Do you collect Reader's Digest Books?  Have a creative use?  

We'd love to hear from you!

Dining Room Ceiling ~ Part I

 After a very relaxing weekend it's time for us to get back on track with the house renovations.  While Brian was away on business I decided to get a head start on our Dining Room Ceiling.  The demolition work is always the easiest and let's be honest, kinda fun!  We've taken down popcorn ceilings before, first in the guest bedroom, then in our bedroom.  We can't stress enough ~ safety first ~ we always recommend a buddy system when doing demolition projects.  Because we've done this before I felt very confident going this time alone.

 Supplies area always minimal for these type of tasks.  First remove all furniture, tape up door ways to minimize dust + cleanup, get ladder + the following supplies:

Slip proof shoes ~ Sturdy Gloves ~ Goggles ~ Face Mask

Crow Bar ~ Utility Knife ~ Hammer

When working around any type of lighting or electric work ~ turn off the power!!

 While we don't have anything against popcorn ceiling (not sure if this is the technical term for it?) ~ we don't like it in our house.  It has cracks, and is sagging in multiple places, frankly it's an eye soar.  We've discovered in other rooms that underneath is the original wood slat ceiling ~ and of course I was super stoked when I found it in the dining room as well!   

 Slowly start in the center, taking away a little at a time.  Keep working your way around the room, use the crow bar to help give leverage and the utility knife to score around edges.

 Can you believe this hunter green ceiling?  

 

Phew!  Got the ceiling down and the room cleaned.  By no means are we done yet.  We'll still need to fill in cracks, seal the ceiling, paint and put molding up. 

But at least Part I is done!

Front Porch Makeover ~ Part VI

 

This post is long overdue ~ I'm sure the pumpkins are a dead giveaway!  After starting Part I of our Front Porch Makeover, Brian's parents came down last October to help with the project.

It took us some time to decide what to do under the porch ~ in the end we finalized on completely redoing the lattice that was originally there.  Brian and his dad also came up with a simple solution to frame the lattice.

 

 

 While the guys continued on the porch ~ Janie was hard at work clearing out the mess of overgrowth on the side of our house.  She did an amazing job!!

 

 

 

I was thrilled when the guys decided to add double doors on the side giving us additional storage space!

 

 

Here's what our Front Porch looks like today.

While our Front Porch Makeover is almost a year in the making, we still have quite a bit to do for curb appeal.  

This summer we're hoping to accomplish the following:

Paint the House ~ Finish Window Trim ~ Fix Gutter ~ Decide On Walkway

Frogmore Stew

{Perfect Ending to the Perfect Weekend}

Brian and I are thrilled to now have weekends off together!  After a very relaxing Saturday & Sunday, we made a Charleston favorite ~ Frogmore Stew!  

Go here for the How To ~ Enjoy!