Hiatus

So, here's the deal.....

I started blogging because I am so AWE-inspired by the other women whose blogs I am devoted to reading. I feel a true sense of community among these women. 

Women, who like me, are trying to juggle and succeed at it all: being a wife, raising children, teaching said children the true importance of life, running a business,
CREATING- any and everything, and INSPIRING! 

The last two I believe are the natural fiber of why I love the blogging community;
in CREATING, we are empowering one another to believe in our own abilities! 

That's INSPIRING! 

Jesus said, "Give a man a fish, you feed him a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him a lifetime." 

I believe that we are teaching one another to fish! 

As inspiring as this whole concept is, it's very intimidating to put yourself out there, and
I have been letting that fear cripple me. 

That's why I haven't posted since February,
but I believe that I have a voice and natural talents that are meant to be shared!

I want to inspire others, as others have inspired me!

So, I am back!!

Until next time, here's a SNEAK PEAK of the Board and Batten that we've been working on in the Dining Room and Hallway!
Tutorial and reveal to come!

-Natalie

A Ruffled Heart

I woke up this morning in regret!

I forgot to buy Harper a shirt to wear with her tutu for Valentine's Day. 

So, during nap-time I did what any respectable mother would try to do, 

I made her one!!

Here's how it went.....

I had this pretty red ribbon left over from a Christmas present.

I kept seeing ladies over the blogesphere make ruffles for their various projects. 

It is SOOO simple!!

All I did was run the red ribbon through the sewing machine w/ a straight line, NO ZIGZAG!

I used red thread to match on the top and underneath used white in my bobbin. 

This helps to see for the next step.

Next, just hold the underneath string, in my case -the white one, and then push the ribbon up in a ruffle. 

WARNING!!! BE GENTLE ON THE STRING!! IT WILL SNAP!!

After I had created my ruffle, I laid out my design to see how it looked. 

I noticed that the center of the heart was going to show if I didn't fill it.

This made me think to sew a "V" onto the shirt before tacking on my heart. 

Doing this also aided in creating an outline for the shape of the heart, which centered it!

I ran that part back through the sewing machine. 

If you're afraid of the sewing machine, you could simply glue this part or hand-sew it!

Lastly, I laid the ruffles on top and sewed them on by hand.

How cute is my VALENTINE in this top with her little tutu?!?!

 And THE RED DOOR is always a beautiful backdrop!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

I hope that everyone experiences the love.

P.S. I used Instagram to edit the photos of Harper. 

Click here to follow me! 

XOXO,

Natalie

Harper is ONE! ONE IN A FLASH.

Like most mother's, I eagerly anticipated the birthday of my first and only child.
I wanted everything to be perfect!
So a few months beforehand I began researching ideas on Pinterest for her party.
I wanted something unique and not theme related to any characters, and in my search I found
"ONE IN A FLASH"!
It's original source was Elle Belle's Creations;
her party was over the top and had me excited to start planning.
 I also checked out a few other's who had used the same idea. Go check out The Macs aswell!
 Both of these mother's were able to create beautiful, affordable parties that, I believe, created lasting memories!

For Harper's invites I used Sassygfx on Etsy.
 It was $16.00 for the digital file.
I just e-mailed her the details of the party and a few photos of Harper that my cousin, Anna, and I took, she sent me a proof and had me approve, and then she sent me the final file for print.
From there I just went to my local Wal-Mart and had them printed!

 My favorite part of this whole party, was the basis of it centering around photos. 

I set a photo booth in my home salon using two flat, white sheets and a few items that added pops of color w/o taking away from the people in the photos: paper garland, a green chair, props, and balloons!

Check here for a tutorial on how to make the paper garland!

The sweet birthday girl!

Here is the free printable that I used to create the photos props. 

I printed the originals and cut them out and then hot glued them to skewers sticks, making sure to glue over the pointed end. I then used the originals as templates to cut out more colorful replicas of the same items. I had one bucket of props here in the photo booth. 

I also created a second bucket of props to use as a centerpiece on the picnic table outside!

Everyone had a great time in here.
Excuse the picture overload. I tried to only use my favorites, but

we had so much fun!

After taking photos we went outside for cake and the hubby grilled hot dogs. 

Somehow in the hustle and bustle of the party, we forgot to photograph the food setup w/ the cupcake stand......tear! There was a lot of work put into them. 

Oh well....

I made a pendant banner out of scrapbook paper and printed the letters to Harper's name onto card stock as a topper for her cake. 

I simply used a glue stick to attach the two different papers. 

Then I used the glue stick to attach the pendants to the red/white baker's twine.

I tied the twine to wooden skewers to stick into Harper's smash cake.

 Harper feeding daddy!

Sweet kisses for mommy!

SMASH!!!

Here are a few photos of Harper opening her gifts. 

I was pretty impressed with her attention span during this!! 

She received some great gifts!

We had a bounce house and the trampoline set up for the kids!

All of the kids received these glasses and bubbles, from Hobby Lobby, that were in little brown bags with the saying, "Thanks for making Harper's birthday Picture Perfect!" 

Harper loved the glasses minus the nose!

Can you tell that a certain little girl had partied too hard at this point? 

Thank you to everyone that made Harper's day extra special! 

And an EXTRA BIG THANK YOU to my cousin, Anna, for taking the photos and helping with the decorations.  

Also to my sister, Erica, for your support and for glueing all of the cupcake toppers together, that were not pictured!

 Lastly, to my awesome sister-in-law for baking the cupcakes and cake!

LOVE, 

THE KORRECKT'S

Before and After....THAT green set!!

I bought this set for $30 at a yardsale! I saw it and wasn't thrilled with the wood color or that lovely floral pattern, but the lines were beautiful! I knew that there was some promise after putting in a little elbow grease! 

Before:

 

AND After:

This was the usual furniture painting process. I removed the cushion and then sanded, primed, sanded, painted, dried, and painted again. I then decided that I wanted the grooves to stand out a little more and so I went back with a thin paint brush and white acrylic paint and painted the grooves!! I used a paper towel to smudge the acrylic paint a little. I didn't want a perfect look. It needed to look worn! For the fabric, I used good ole' drop cloth, $10 for a two pack! Can't beat it! 

 Here we used the chair as a prop for the photo booth at Harper's first birthday party. The color was great against the white sheet back drop!

Sweet Harper!

Happy Monday, Ya'll!

xoxo, Natalie

Cardboard Deer Head & Gratitude

 It is an honor to have someone trust you with their hair, and I've found that once a client becomes a "regular"you become family! I value that trust!! I also value that friendship! More times than not, client's are blessing me with gifts. That was the case when I was pregnant with Harper. 

Over Christmas I was overwhelmed with that same generosity! Tiny Phillips is a kindred spirit; she and I both love to craft. She is also a loyal client! Her last appointment she showed up with this little dear deer for me! I ADORE it! I can't tell you how many times I had thought of making several of these, and it meant so much more to me knowing that someone put in the time to bless me with such a gift. I am full of gratitude! 

Here he hangs! 

(look at the vintage buttons she used for eyes)

Here is a broader view, the shampoo corner. 

I also had a sweet client and friend of ours provide the plexiglass behind the sink. I was so stoked about that!!! You have NO idea how many times I have already touched the paint up there. So, this really warmed my heart. Thanks Terri Smith!

This little corner also had some new art to the chalkboard.

It's the same font as the logo. 

Thanks for stopping in,

Natalie

THE Red Door....glazing process.

I chose to name my business The Red Door Salon because with it being attached to my home, I needed a landmark to distinguish were customers should go. So, I knew when looking for a door that I was going to want to paint it. With that, why buy new? To Craigslist we searched and we found this Beauty; I'm pretty sure we paid about $125 for it. Not too shabby for an exterior door! 

Here are the steps for painting....

First, sand!! Just enough to rough it up. I used a palm sander with 125 fine grit paper.

2nd- Prime (not pictured). To make it simple I just used a can of primer spray paint to cut down on time! I had a well ventilated space. 

3rd-paint two to three coats of your chosen paint color. I don't have the name of the color I used on hand but if anyone is interested in the name, just let me know and I can provide it.  

After that has dried you start the fun part, the glazing!!

I've seen people use several different products for glazing. I wanted to go the cheapest route possible and therefore I found this MinWax Express color gel stain on sale for a dollar at Home Depot. Score!! I bought several tubes because of the price but I probably used less than a quarter of the tube. 

As seen, I used a fine painting brush so that I could easily get into any and all cracks desired. Just simply brush on and then with a paper towel wipe/smear off. It gives a worn, sort of, aged look!  

Lastly, seal with an outdoor PolyUrethane to protect from the weather! 

I loved the results so much that I decided to repeat the process on the interior of the door!

 I would love to link up with anyone else and their glazing victories!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Natalie