Let it Fake Snow

This year I saw a fun photo on Pinterest with fake snow and knew that we had to do something like that for our Christmas cards this year.  It is SO hard to take photos with Evan around the holidays because he is usually doing fly out shows and isn't done with work until closer to Christmas.  We had a window of opportunity before Thanksgiving to take the pictures, so I bought the fake snow and had our best friends take the pictures.  Kyle threw the snow on us while Lyndi snapped away.  It was hilarious.   We are so lucky to have those two in our lives.     

Friends that climb on their cars to throw fake snow on you are keepers.   I am so excited to wrap up school next week.  I only have one semester left!  Hope you all are staying warm.  Ironically we are in the middle of a huge snowstorm while I talk about fake snow.  I have a mechanical engineering final on Saturday and there is a rumor that if it gets cancelled we don't have to make it up. Crossing my fingers for more!

We break for pie

This Saturday we had our 3rd annual pie social ( Previous years here and here )  and I am still full. But if we are being honest here, I would eat all of these pies over and over again.  Like sneak to my fridge at midnight and eat them out of the pie dish with a fork.  That's how good they all were.  And I wouldn't recover before mentioned pie with foil after the midnight binge, I know Evan would want me to mention that.  Anyways...

 We had three guys join in and make a pie, and we were all really impressed.  So impressed that I dedicate this year to the boys! Good job!  We love you!  Dusty's pie has convinced me that sweet potato pie is better than pumpkin. Try his pie and you will agree!  Sorry ladies, he is taken by the sweetest girl on the planet.

I have really grown to adore this party.  I love how our home fills with sweet friends, laughter, and unlimited pie.  After everyone has left for the evening I just can't help but be so incredibly grateful.  

**Thank you to the sweet friends who brought pie! As tradition follows, here's a list of "What's the pie, Who is it by?" (In order of top pictures) Sweet Potato Shepard's pie brought by Blake, Oatmeal Cream Icebox brought by Kyle, Peach brought by Lyndi (she also brought her much requested Chicken Pot Pie), Pecan brought by Morganne, Sweet Potato brought by Dusty and Jasmine, Brown Butter Pear Pie brought by Kate and accompanied by honey Matt and Brandy, and Apple brought by Sarah!**  I made Caramel Pecan Pie, and dang. I am making it again because it was delicious!

Textured Vase DIY

Lately I've been wanting something a little bit more on trend in the vase world.  But I have 608 normal vases and Evan would make me sleep on the sofa if I bought another.  And it's cold there. So...  Enter the easiest vase redo of all time! 

You need: Sculpey bake clay, an old vase (or candle, that's what mine is) , spray paint, hot glue and liquid gilding.  You could do the regular gold leaf version, but I have been digging the liquid gilding lately.  It's less of a hassle. 

Work your clay into the shape you want.  Keep in mind that you want it to be flush with the glass.  I found that it was easier to stick the shapes on the glass when the clay was soft causing it to have a flat side.  That also makes it easier for gluing. 

Bake your shapes until the clay is hard.  Let the clay cool for around 20 minutes.  Then glue the clay shapes to the vase in a fun design or pattern.  There are so many things you can do! Or keep it fun and random.  After everything is dry, clear all the excess hot glue off and spray paint the vase.  Afterwards paint the shapes with the liquid gilding.  This is one of those projects where imperfection looks awesome.  So tell your craft anxiety to get out of town. Then high five yourself for how reckless you are.  

These babies are kind of addicting to make.  I love how textured they are.  And there are so many possibilities for their use!   They would be great for staging bookshelves, organizing makeup, or as a last minute gift.  

Freedom or Bust

I've been spending my days and nights at the studio buried under school projects.  The kind where you and your friends sing Britney Spears "Lucky" at 1 am because you are going crazy from stress and it's the only thing that feels right. On Wednesday I turned in my last project and ran out of that building.  We celebrated the next day with lunch at Caspers ( the quirkiest restaurant with the sweetest people) and then an old fashioned trim and shave for Evan.  We ended my day of freedom by taking Elton (who turned 4!) for a birthday walk around a really cool art installation in town.  It feels good to breathe in the fresh air! 

October Days

Evan left for work earlier this month only to fly back this week because the tour had been cancelled last minute.  October is my favorite month by far, so I was a little excited to find out he would be home for it.  I picked him up the day before my birthday and we haven't looked back.  We've got things to do.  Fall things.  And I'm sure he is so thrilled...  So far we have already been to a haunted corn maze, pumpkin patch and have decorated for Halloween.  We still have pumpkins to carve and apples to pick. Oh and scary movies to watch.  Here's to unexpected extra time and making the most of it! Happy Monday guys!

Weekending

This weekend was spent mostly outside soaking up the last bits of summer.  And dang these last bits of summer in Missouri are hot and swampy! Saturday was spent watching a very dear friend get married in his backyard.  That night we stayed away from the heat and watched Silence of the Lambs.  I had never seen any of those movies before so of course we are watching them all.  Evan has taken to calling me Casereese now, so there's that.

On Sunday we drove to the country to visit both of our families.  My parent's live on a small farm complete with a pond and and a little orchard.  It is a true getaway.  If you ever get out that way stop by and I am sure my mom will give you a tour in her pink golf cart.  She has a lead foot though.  Just a disclaimer.

Evan's parents only live 10 minutes away from mine.  It's so crazy to think we grew up so close to each other and never bumped into one another.  Evan's dad made sopapillas and now that's all I can think about...So good.

It was one of those weekends that you don't want to end.  And where you wish you had unlimited sopapillas to get through Monday!

Labor Day

Today has been lazy in the best way.  Waking up late, scooter rides with no destination, and gas station slurpies.  If we are being honest here though I am ready to kick summer out the door.  It's time for fall, according to everyone on Pinterest.  Guys, I agree.  I agreeeee. 

Also, something has been in the works for a while.  I've got a little blog makeover coming which is why I haven't been posting as much lately.  Things will be shifting and changing over here, so bear with me!

I hope everyone had an easygoing weekend with no labor.  If you did work, go treat yourself to a slurpee because you deserve it!

A 2 day Getaway

A couple of weeks ago, late at night,  Evan and I found ourselves looking at our schedules counting down the days and saying screw this!  Why wait?!  The next day I had a flight booked to San Francisco where he had two days off in a row.  

The first thing we did was promptly buy me a jacket.  I packed completely wrong!  It was freezing, but I'm a cold weather gal so I was happy about it.

That night we took a cab to the Golden Gate Park and watched The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  I've always wanted to see them play and Evan's friend was playing the festival so he got us in.  Randomly awesome!  

I kept telling Evan that all I wanted to do was see the Golden Gate Bridge.  We had to go.  I needed to see this amazing bridge.  Which was hilarious because we didn't see it at all.  We walked on it, but the fog was so thick that you could only see a couple of feet in front of you.  We couldn't stop laughing.  It will always be one of my favorite memories. 

We walked around Fisherman's Wharf and had the most amazing clam chowder.  It would be a dream to live that close to the ocean and have fresh seafood everyday! I wonder if people think about Springfield and Cashew Chicken that way?  I'm guessing no.

The trip was short and sweet with a huge heap of laughter.  This guy makes me laugh so incredibly hard.  We hadn't seen each other in almost two months so the past few days meant a lot to us.  San Francisco, you are a ball.  Thanks for the sweet memories.

DIY String Wrap Planter

This is kind of my favorite thing I've made in a while. Cheap and so easy! Just how I like my diy and my men.  Well by men I mean Evan.

 Again with the plants.  I'm sorry guys, they just are my jam right now.

I bought these planters a couple of years ago from the Target $1 section.  They were originally yellow, but didn't work with anything I had so I thought I'd just spray paint them for a quick facelift.  

They looked ok, but were just kind of boring.  So I started experimenting with different things to jazz up the planters.  Which is how the string planter happened.

All you need are 2 different kinds of spray paint, a planter, medium sized string, and tape.

First spray your planter one base color.  I chose gold because I wanted a metallic finish that showed up really well.  

Next, wrap the string around the planter.  Try to make the design interesting.  Cross over certain areas, make other areas thicker and thinner, things like that.  Tape the top of your string down in the opening so it will be easy to take off. 

Now, spray paint the planter again and let it dry for an hour.  After dry unwrap your planter and give yourself a high five.  Because you are awesome.

I was actually really surprised how cool this little project turned out.  Maybe because I thought that it wouldn't really work so I wasn't invested in it?  No pressure for success.

This guy is sitting on my guest room night stand right now.  I can't believe it was once green!  

 The planter will probably move around the house though because I want to see it all the time.  Do you guys do that?  I feel like I just put all of my favorite things in my living room so they can be seen daily.

I can't wait to try out other mediums for planters.  It's fun to just experiment and see what happens.  I guess that is the beauty of diy!

Around Here

Thankful it is Friday.  Evan and I plan to jam all of summer into the next two days.  He leaves on Tuesday for tour with the Jonas Brothers and won't be back until the middle of August.  Bleh.  There is a lot of scooter rides, snow cones, and front porch sitting in our future.  Happy weekend friends!

Ya! Housewarming gift

Recently one of my dear friends, Emily, moved into a new apartment with her boyfriend.  She has been so excited about getting into the space and making it a home. So of course a housewarming gift was in order.  

This summer I have been filling my house to the brim with plants.  And what is better than a little plant as a housewarming gift?  

I've been obsessed with these little gold dishes from Target and bought them up every time I saw them because they make the perfect pots.  Sorry if you kept trying to buy them and they were out of stock, it was me.  Guilty.  Seriously so pretty and $5 bones.  The bad news is that I think Target already stopped carrying them.  Why do you do that Target?! 

I picked out a little plant to add to a dish and then topped it off with the tag.  To make the tag I took a striped straw, cut it in half and then glued a vintage layaway tag on either side.  I topped it off with YA! which really describes my excitement for her! 

Such a fun and easy housewarming gift!  

Golden Girl

Do you guys want to take a moment?

I know. Is it wrong to love a brass faucet with wild and reckless abandon? Because when I took this baby out of the box I fell head over heels.  At first I was apprehensive.  We checked all the places locally and had to turn to the internet.  Then after deciding between the hundreds of brass faucets I chose this one.  

I got cold feet.  I doubted it.  Would I get tired of it?  Would it look gaudy? Would it be too shiny? Too 90s?  But then I threw caution to the wind and ordered that bad boy.  We didn't spend all that money on my college education for me to just go the safe route.

Plus there is a return policy. 

I won't be returning this beauty.  I mean look at those knobs!  It is the perfect combo of vintage and modern.  I am glad that I went the brass route.  It brings in a lot of warmth, and often times bathrooms are kinda cold and sterile feeling.

We order the countertop on Friday and then it's a waiting game until it is done.  I'll probably just be staring at this faucet until they arrive.  I can't wait! 

Headboard Party

A couple of weeks ago Evan and I were laying in bed talking about headboards.  I know, world changing coversation over at the Bovee house.  We had just went shopping for a bed set and were discouraged at the fact that all the styles we liked didn't use box springs and were pretty expensive.  So then I just casually mentioned that people make their own headboards all the time.

Then this happened the next day...

Threaten a man's wallet and he will move mountains.  Just kidding...But really.  Also don't mind the St. Patricks Day wreath. 

I came home from work and found him in the garage sawing away.  He followed the headboard tutorial from Young House Love and had all the woodwork done in a couple of hours.  We went to Joann's and got the batting with a 40% off coupon.  

What really took the longest was deciding on what fabric to go with.  In the end we chose a simple and  timeless greek key pattern.  I didn't want to do anything too crazy or colorful because we like to rotate colors a lot.  

The upholstery took about an hour.  We didn't do any tufting or nailhead trim.  Just kept it simple.  We could add that later if we decide we need to jazz it up.

Tada! The finished product!

It is super soft to prop your head against.  It's not perfect by any means but we are pretty in love with it.  I think in the end it cost around $50 to make it.  We had some of the wood already so that helped.

Now it is time for new pillows and lamps! I am going to casually mention a window seat for our little nook and see what happens. ha!