art gallery

i came across the cutest idea last night and had to share for all my mom friends. as a kid who LIVED for arts and crafts days at school, this project made me so happy.

this mom made a "brag board" of all her kids' artwork, so they can proudly look at their masterpieces, and in return, i think the custom art adds some nice character to their home.


after seeing this, i know that a good idea always comes from somewhere or is also done is many other fashions, so here are some of my favs i found:


this looks like molding of some sort with clips attached.


this mom took took pictures of her boys' art then made a collage in photoshop and added her boys' pics and names for an added touch. love it.


use an empty frame. we found a huge empty frame with some nice detail on the side of the road and i've been toying around with putting lots of loose art and other things i love in it, but i'm not convinced yet. this pic just reminded me what you can do with something so simple.


this is my absolute favorite. i love this idea of not confining it to the playroom or your child's room, but having it take up an entire wall in a high-traveled area. the ability to switch it out or frame the ones you really like, just make it even more personal.

this would also be a fun excuse to try out magnetic paint.



all this talk makes me want to break out the glue, paper towel rolls, and markers and start creating! :)

must have [aussie hair]

i did the unthinkable.

after 11 years of using the same hair product, i switched. BIG mistake. big. huge. (10 pts. if you can name that movie) i've always gone with what i know. i don't like change, so it was very unlike me to grab a different bottle of scrunch spray at the store last month instead of my precious grape-scented aussie spray.

it was at the ripe age of 14 that i found the purple bottle and people started associating me the smell of grape. i always recommend aussie to anyone with kind of wavy hair and tell them that it will change their life. because it will. it does the job without getting flaky or making your hair hard.

so why i tried to branch out is beyond me. i will never do it again. after 3 days of wondering how i randomly developed dandruff, i realized it was the after effects of a scrunch spray impostor.

lesson learned. jenny & aussie 4 life.

betsy's big day

i met betsy in 4th grade. we became fast friends and she was even one of the first sleepovers i can remember being invited to. i'm so grateful that we've stayed in touch for this long and am VERY excited that she's moving to baton rouge! she has always been someone who is genuinely happy for you and who always has your best interest in mind. when i was planning my own wedding, i was insecure thinking that no one really cared to hear the flowers i wanted or the color scheme i chose, but she insisted that i get all my magazine clippings and "wedding binder" from the car and tell her all about it. she sat there, asked questions, and showed support for every decision that i was debating. i never told her, but that conversation did wonders for me while i was trying to make sense of the chaotic wedding world i was trying to navigate at the time.

this past saturday, it was her turn to walk down the aisle. she made such a gorgeous bride as she made her way to her groom that was grinning from ear to ear. you could just see their excitement that's been 5 years in the making.

after the ceremony, naturally, we found a way into their hotel room (thank you Lauren for your Hilton connections!) and gave it some ambiance. :)





after we gave it our touch (classy of course), we headed to the reception. we had soooo much fun! the food...oh the food. i've never been to an outside reception before and i have to say it's a new fav. as much as i love big 300+ people weddings, there is just something about smaller weddings that make you feel more included and a part of the couple's special day.

and then the pictures began.

"hey betsy! you should get on the rock and we'll all crowd around."



"ummmmm guys, this is weird...can i get down please??"

me and the bride (who was rocking jcrew and FABulous hair!)


the happy couple

congrats again on y'all's wedding! it was such an amazing extension of who you are. happy honeymoon and see y'all in BR! wohoooo!

idol doppelganger

the conversation went a little something like this:

me: so looks like you officially have a doppelganger
joel: a what?
me: a doppelganger...a double...someone who looks like you
joel: really? who?
me: some guy from american idol
joel: american idol???? nooooooooooooooooooo!!!


so many people have told me how much joel not only resembles lee but their mannerisms are even similar. neither of us watch american idol, so i had to look him up after about the 5th person told me. and i haven't stopped laughing since. joel can't stand it bc he's held on to the only other person that he was told he resembled...the guy from 300. hahahaha


someone told him this YEARS ago when it first came out and he still holds on to it. probably b/c the 300 guy is so hardcore.

and then there's this guy:


with a little hair gel and taped-on nails, he still might be kinda pushing it.

either way, there's no getting around it. he definitely has a new one...like it or not. :)

DIY [vase au naturale]

today was a-mazing. i got to sleep in, got a much-needed haircut, spent the afternoon crafting, and finished it off with dinner at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that joel's been wanting to take me to (8 sisters in st. francisville--delish!!). it's probably been one of my most relaxing days in a long, long time. i was so excited to finally get around to some projects that i've had in mind for a while now. it all started with a half-off glass sale at hobby lobby, so i knew which project i wanted to tackle first. i LOVE natural fibers, so this is the first project i have in that category. i have another one in the works that i'll share later, but this one didn't take that long at all.

basically, all you need is a twine-like material, a vase (maybe an old one you don't care for anymore?), and hot glue if you're impatient like me or normal glue if you can wait for it to dry. :)


next time, i will probably use a more uniform vase like a cylinder because i ran into a couple problems with this one as i got further down. with a vase that is one size you wouldn't even need to use that much hot glue because if you hot glue the top then you can just wind the twine down until you hot glue the bottom end.


i LOVE how it turned out and plan on making two more of these that are different shapes. it's home will be in the office space that i'm creating, but this spot will have to do for now. :)

more crafts to come!!