Pure Appiness: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

It's not everyday you get the opportunity to dress as Troy Polamalu at work (I happen to look related to the guy). Our department had a costume + cube decoration contest for Halloween. I won neither but it was still fun to celebrate the day! I had to take advantage in dressing up :)

Costume Contest

Welcome to my cube. Muahahahaaaaaaaa

Bat-O-Lanterns! I made these myself!

Mummy!

Included with our contests was an office-wide snack day. I decided to make some scrumptious Pumpkin Dip that sounds as good as it tastes. It reminds me of the delicious Pumpkin Torte my mom makes during the holidays. It's the perfect dessert for this time of year. The dip is very light and tastes great with apples, ginger snaps, or Vanilla Wafers. Nom nom nom! It only took 10 minutes to whip up so if you're in a time crunch, it's the perfect dish to make! Below is the recipe:

Pumpkin Dip

One 15 oz can of pumpkin pie mix

One 5 oz box of instant vanilla pudding

One 16 oz container of cool whip

1/2 tbl Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 tbl Cinnamon

• Mix pumpkin, pudding mix, cool whip, and pumpkin pie spice together (by hand) in a large bowl.

• Chill for several hours before serving.

• Sprinkle with cinnamon, and serve with fresh apples slices, vanilla wafers or ginger snaps.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween! It will be our first Halloween in our own home and we are super excited. There are plenty of kids in the neighborhood, so we're hoping to see some great costumes and give out lots of candy! Hopefully Apollo won't scare them off when they come to the door :)

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

16¢ DIY Coasters

Coasters for 16¢?! Sign me up!

Jeremy and I put all of our wedding money that we received from our awesome friends and family towards a living room set. That living room set happened to come with a coffee table...a pretty nice one at that. We would rather not ruin this table with left-over residue from drink glasses. Needless to say, we were in desperate need of some coasters!

My inner Martha Stewart turned to the beloved Pinterest for help. I found that you could make your own coasters for 16¢ just by using 4x4 tiles, Mod Podge, Clear Spray Paint, Felt Pads, and Scrapbook Paper.

We had a gift card for Lowes, so we headed there for the tiles and spray paint. Sure enough, they had single tiles for 16¢ each! AWESOME!!!! I grabbed some clear spray paint and we headed to Michaels for Mod Podge and Felt. I already had some scrapbook paper waiting for me at home, so no need to buy that small expense.

Once I had all my supplies, I cut my scrapbook paper down to 4x4 inch squares. I then used the Mod Podge, painting the back of the paper and gluing it to the tiles. Once secure, I added another coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper to add that extra shine and to protect the edges from curling.

After the Mod Podge was dry, I took my tiles outside to add a coat of clear spray paint for the final surface. Just make sure to spray an even coat because I made the mistake of not doing that. I started this project at night and didn't wait to spray paint in the daylight like I should have. (I get a little excited and anxious) This made a few coasters look a little blotchy....but only if you REALLY look at the detail. I let it slide. Just don't mention it when you come over ;)

Next, I used my handy dandy hot glue gun to paste the felt to the bottom of the coaster. This was to make sure the coasters weren't all clanky on the glass and wood surface of our coffee table. You could buy felt pads but I just bought a sheet of felt and cut it down to 4x4 inches just like the scrap book paper. It worked out perfectly and the felt sheets were only 20¢ a piece.

There we have it! You can make your own coasters for a great deal! I plan to make some Appalachian coasters for the Man Loft :)

Go Panthers!

P.S. Do you like the new look to the blog?!

Monday, October 17, 2011

I actually made something I saw on Pinterest

Pinterest. What an awesome, addictive site to store and browse photos of all things that you find interesting. It has become another one of my staple websites to explore, along with Twitter and Facebook. Pinterest is mainly a collage of photos that people find online. They simply "pin" a picture referencing the site and then that picture goes to the main site. Genius.

Now that I have my own home to design and decorate (it's coming together slowly but surely), Pinterest comes in handy. Through Pinterest, I am able to see all sorts of ideas that I can use to enhance our home. It's not only great for DIY projects, but recipes, photography, design, and styling as well!

I am SUPER excited to decorate for the holidays! I was scanning the DIY section and noticed a fairly easy project of yarn wreaths. I decided to give it a try.

I headed to A.C. Moore and loaded my basket with yarn, a foam wreath, and fake flowers. All that was needed was a glue gun, which I already had at home.

These DIY projects are nice to do on the weekend because Jeremy takes over our only TV with football. I love me some football but Jeremy LOVES him some football. There's a big difference. These little projects give me something to do and we are able to be in the same room at peace :)

This wreath was pretty easy to make! All I had to do was glue one piece and then go around the wreath making sure each piece touched each other securely. Simple. Once I was done with that, I glued the flowers, and VOILA! A beautiful wreath to hang on the door. I plan on making one for Christmas, as well. Super, super easy!

I do have a downside to my little project. I went out to buy one of those over-the-door hangers so I could hang my wreath. Once I got home, the door wouldn't shut with it on. BUMMER. Now I need to go out and find a thinner one. For now our door is bare, but soon we'll have some decorations to bring a little bit of Fall into our home.

Oh yeah, the grand total for this project was only $12.95. Woohoo! I'm not gonna lie, that foam thing cost more than I thought it would. Oh well. It all turned out the way I wanted, so I'm happy!

Happy Pinning, everyone :)

Monday, October 3, 2011

Charlotte STYLE Magazine Fall 2011

Alright folks, I can finally talk about one of my freelance projects that I've been working on for the month of September. Before I begin, let's back track a little bit. In Fall of 2008, I interned with Charlotte STYLE Magazine, an online publication just getting it's start in the Queen City. I stayed with them until Fall of 2009, eventually taking over as Art Director, overseeing all artwork put into the magazine. In 2009, I managed to juggle three jobs and it got to be a little much. I loved working with Charlotte STYLE, but it was time to leave. About two months ago, the publisher contacted me to see if I would like to join the team again for the Fall 2011 issue. Feeling a little bored at work, and wanting a challenge for myself, I gladly accepted.

I wanted a challenge, and I got it. This issue took a lot of time and effort but it was SO worth it. I had so much fun and it really made me love the world of graphic design all over again. It brought excitement and joy to my day. Something I have been missing in my work for the past year. I actually felt like I had a purpose as a designer again!

I am so proud of this magazine and how it has improved over the past 2 years. The magazine itself got an entire makeover and I can't express enough how glad I am to be a part of this amazing team.

Last Friday night, we revealed the DOUBLE cover to the public and the magazine went live. It can be found online at http://charlottestylemag.com (be sure to take a look!) and you can also order it for print (go ahead, buy a copy!). Below are some memories from the issue release party. I was glad that my husband and good friend, Elyse were there for support. Thanks guys!!