Christmas in July!

I love that summer is finally winding down and Fall will soon be here. The best part of Fall almost being here? It means it's almost Christmas time! I LOVE Christmas. Not just because of gift giving and receiving or the good food. But mostly because of the decorating. I may or may not put up my Christmas tree the week before Thanksgiving. I can't help it I love to pull out all my decorations and fill up my house. After having two Christmases in our house I pretty much have the inside covered. But my outside is definitely lacking. We don't put up Christmas lights on the house because my mother scared me to death with the number of people who are injured falling off roofs and I would never forgive myself if something happened to the boyfriend. So everything's gotta be on the exterior or on the porch.

Here are a couple pictures of what's serving as my inspiration right now:

via

This one I would need to tone down just a little bit it's a tad much for me. But I am starting to get on board with the deco mesh. 

via BHG

I really like how they incorporated the deco mesh into a traditional garland. I could definitely see me doing something like this.

I have never worked with deco mesh but now I'm intrigued and want to try my hand at it. Good thing I have about 3 months to perfect it! 

p.s. my birthday is on Friday! I am really annoying everyone I know with this information but oh well. 

$5 to save my sanity...

Hello there!

Weekends always seem so short to me. Of course not doing anything but watch movies all day on Saturday and having to do everything (laundry, grocery shopping, dusting/vacuuming, dishes, etc.) on Sunday can kind of shorten up the weekend.

I have mentioned it before but I'll say it again, my kitchen leaves a lot to the imagination in the organizing department. There doesn't seem to be enough space for anything. Especially my ever growing collection of tupperware. I just got a new 22 piece set because the previous 15 piece just wasn't enough and didn't have enough various sizes. Where was I going to put all this new tupperware? Same place I always did...in a pile in our corner cabinet.

I promise I didn't stage this photo. This is how it always looks. Definitely not organized and definitely not easy to grab a piece of tupperware/lid. When I start to think about the disorganized aspects of my house I tend to get hives anxiety. It drives me nuts and I want to fix it immediately. So during my lunch I ran over to the dollar store to look for some storage solutions. I was pretty much expecting to spray paint since anything I would find would probably be neon. Happily, no spray painting was necessary because I found these guys.

Excuse the counter mess. I told you I missed cleaning day!

When I got home I pulled everything out and tried to find the best solution. First I thought I'd use a few containers so that the tupperware and lids could stay together. Didn't work. Epic fail actually. So I chose the easy route and just organized all the lids into one container.

After that I moved some things around on our lazy susan and put the tupperware on the top shelf so that they're actually easier to see and grab. See nice and organized.

The lids did not fit however. So they found a new home right next door under the sink. I know sounds gross but it's actually really clean down there.

While I was at it I used a couple containers to wrangle all the plastic bags in the world. I have that many, definitely need to start recycling them more often or invest in some reusable ones. Also, I used another container to organize all my cleaning supplies that live under the sink.

Found a use for another container to hold my potatoes in the pantry and keep them up off the floor. I still have one more of my nifty containers and think it would make the perfect fabric scrap home. I might actually go pick up a few more to help get my craft/guest room organized.

This project cost me $5 and saved my sanity.

Next time I promise I'll use my big girl camera instead of my iPhone.

My 411

Today I'm linking up with From Mrs. to Mama

I just recently discovered her and she's pretty hilarious. I found her through Live.Love.Lauren. 

1. How long have you been blogging? And what got you started on blogging? Has your blog changed?

I've been blogging on and off for a bout 2 years. But just got serious about it at the end of June.

                                          2. Did you go to college? If so where, and what did you study?

Yes I did. I graduated in 2011 from New Mexico State University with my Bachelor's of Business Administration with a major in Marketing. 

My cute grandparents and I

3. Where have you traveled?

Well I was born overseas in England and since then haven't really been out of the country except for Mexico. I have been to a few states. 

4. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy?

It's not really buying anything but I'd pay off my student loans....It's sad when you look back and ask if it was really worth it. But next would be a new house! I would love a big new house outside the city with a 5 car garage for the boyfriend (yes he has that many cars or projects as he calls them).

5. What are your 3 biggest pet peeves?

1. When people stand too close to me in line. If I can feel you breathing on me or you keep bumping into me you're too close!

2. People who drive 20 miles under the speed limit. Seriously I'm not exaggerating I run into this all the time.

3. Automated systems. I just want to talk to a real person especially when the automated system doesn't understand a word I say.

6. What is your favorite movie?

I have a few:

7. What is your drink of choice; wine, beer, or liquor. Or Water, Soda, Tea?

I love soda and tea... I really need to stop drinking soda like bad.

8. What is something you enjoy to do when you have me time?

I enjoy reading a lot. Ever since I've graduated it's been great to be able to read something other than a textbook. This is what I read last and I highly recommend it if you have a good sense of humor and aren't easily offended. I literally laughed out loud the whole time.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?

Definitely Target. I love Target and it's pretty lame but I'm super excited that our's is getting groceries.

10. Share with us an embarrassing moment of your past? Or present.

Pretty much everyday is an embarrassing moment for me. I'm constantly running into things, tripping, hitting my elbows or knees on something. Almost all of the time in front of someone, just recently I ran into the door frame of our office at the same time I got a cramp in my leg and almost fell on my face in front of a student. 

11. What day would you love to relive again?

The first date with my now boyfriend. 

12. If your life was turned into a movie... what actor would play you?

Kristen Bell. She's hilarious and can laugh at herself so I really like her. We definitely look nothing alike.

13. What are the jobs you had in high school/college/the early years?

I have worked as a telemarketer, at a local pizza place, at an RV dealership, Best Buy, a hospital, the school I used to go too, on a car lot, as a data entry clerk, at a bank, I've literally done a little of everything.

14. Show us a picture from high school or college.

From the bottom: Kristina, Me, Jackie... The summer I was super tan ahhh I miss it but not worth the skin cancer risk.

15. If you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?

I would definitely go to Europe. Mainly England and Ireland. I really want to see where I was born and both the boyfriend and I are part Irish. 

16. Show us the most current picture of you, or your family, or anything of meaning to you. 

The boyfriend and I when we went snowboarding for his birthday last year. Still pretty current. 

17. Where do you see your life 5 years from now?

Being married and having kids. Maybe teaching! If that all goes according to plan.

Guilty Pleasures...

I have plenty of guilty pleasures... awesome 90's music for one. I LOVE me some Soundgarden, The Cranberries, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bush, Alanis Morisette, Liz Phair, Jewel... this list could go on forever. Sometimes I like to watch Dawson's Creek on netflix just because they played some awesome music, that is if you are able to tune out the constant teenage angst! Geez never realized it when I was an angsty teenager... and yes I know angsty is not a word... 

But my biggest guilty pleasure has to be celebrity gossip... trust me I know, one of the worst things to love. But I do love it. Even though the Kardashians ANNOY THE CRAP OUT OF ME... I can't help wanting to know what Kourtney named her baby or what's the latest going on with Khloe and her baby dreams. Kim is the one I do stay away from, she annoys me on a whole different level and now that she's paired up with Kanye I cannot handle it. (I dislike him more than any person should dislike someone they've never met.) Now I do realize that by reading about them I am keeping them famous and perpetuating the vicious cycle that is their family. But I cannot control myself I tell you. 

The Katie Homes/Tom Cruise divorce? I was all over that one. Me and mom would have lengthy discussions about what the latest news was with their divorce. (Hmmm maybe I have her to blame for this.) Also, I realize that taking entertainment away from someone's divorce makes me a horrible person. But what can I say? Does it help if I was on her side?

What was the inspiration behind writing an entire post about my little sickness guilty pleasure? E! has changed their website. Now most people wouldn't care about this. But you're messing with the way I get my gossip people. I loathe the new website. 

I miss my old E! News that let me read the beginning of the article before forcing me to waste a click by grabbing me with a headline that really has nothing to do with the story. 

That's it and I promise to never bother you with my insanity again.... 

My name is...

My name is Jessica and I am addicted to fabric... (cue, "Hi Jessica!"). But seriously if I had an infinite amount of extra spending money it would be spent on fabric. Fabric is my addiction and fabric.com is my enabler. I love them. Their prices are great and so is their customer service. Not to mention the selection is ridiculous and huge plus they are always having some kind of sale. Not necessarily good for someone like me but hey it doesn't hurt to window shop right? And with the invention of Pinterest I can now create a neat little wish list to remind of stuff I've liked. I need to get rid of the 10+ yards I currently have before I can buy anymore fabric or I'll need it all to keep me warm after the boyfriend throws me out for filling the house with fabric.

Here are just some fabrics I've had my eyes on lately:

Joel Dewberry Heirloom Blockprint Blossom Dandelion

David Walker for Free Spirit Get Together Hearts Pink

Sharon Kropp Babysaurus Baby Dinos All Over Navy

Exclusively Quilters Fresh Meadow Nature Cream

I mainly make things for children so while all these fabrics are different they would definitely work as some really cute blankets, burp cloths, or other accessories. I especially love the Heirloom Blockprint, it would be a great print to add to a classic nursery.

*I have not been compensated by fabric.com or any of the designers of this fabric. If they want to feed my addiction and send me some fabric I am more than open to discussing that. 

Being creative is hard sometimes

This weekend was a pretty interesting one and not really in a good way. My day off on Friday started off well enough. I was pretty motivated when I woke up and decided I was going to mow the grass and break out the weed whacker to edge everything up nice and pretty. Well after 3 hours of that I thought I was going to die of heat stroke or get attacked by the curious species of spiders apparently living in our backyard. But back to the interesting part. The boyfriend had felt sick since the day before and started throwing up that morning (he was at work so I didn't abandon him to clean the yard). Well after he got home took a nap he started to throw up more (sorry if this is TMI) but this time he was vomiting blood (now it's definitely TMI). So after a few hours, a few arguments, and a few calls to both our parents, he finally decided he needed to go the emergency room. Five hours later he had medicine/fluids in him and was feeling a lot better. Long story short he's gonna be okay. They didn't really know what was wrong with him and referred him to a different doctor. We got home about 2 am and him being sick really made the rest of the weekend a sleepless lazy one.

But! I do have something to share with you. I decided to try my hand at creating word art (is it called typography art?) I don't know, the cool quote art that people use in their kitchens, nurseries, or their entire house. I love this quote, "Let her sleep...for when she wakes she will move mountains." It's filed away in my future babies file. I just think it makes a perfect decoration for a girl's nursery. So I created a printable that I'm thinking of putting up in my etsy store. Let me know if this is something that you (who am I talking too?) think people would be interested in.


Obviously the one I'd sell would be without the watermarks, this just took me a long time so I don't want someone just to print it off...

Update* This printable is now available in my etsy shop... One Crafty Cupcake on Etsy

I just love the little hearts... especially since if you squint they could be mountains...

I'm a little behind

So I said that I would have a cool project with Raspberry spray paint on Saturday. But it's still not done.  I'm pretty impatient and waiting for paint to dry can only keep me occupied for so long. So while I would be waiting for one coat to dry I would get distracted with laundry, cleaning, basically the not fun aspects of life. So hopefully I'll have a post about it this week.

Right now I currently subscribe to Birchbox. It's a monthly subscription service for beauty samples that costs only $10. The first two boxes I got were just okay but I promised I would give it 3 chances. Well the 3rd box was much better and now I am patiently waiting for my 4th box. It's a great way to try new products and discover things/brands you didn't even know existed. The best perk of Birchbox is that you earn points for the money you spend either in their online store or through your subscription. You also earn points for reviews. 100 points = $10 to spend on products. You can click on the logo below and it will take you straight to Birchbox!

Another thing I wanted to tell you about was Julep. It's also a monthly subscription service but instead of make up you get nail polish... I've always wanted to try julep but I'm not gonna lie I'm kind of cheap and $19.99 is a little too much for me. But I got a nifty promo code that makes your first box only .01. That's right you get to try it out for only a penny.
If you're interested in trying it out use code: COLOR2012

When you go to the Julep website you take a style quiz and that decides what box you will get. I was "Classic with a Twist". So I will be getting this box:

I'm pretty happy with it.... super happy that it's only a penny! If you're interested click on the logo below. What do you have to lose besides one penny?

*I was not compensated in any way by either company. I just like to share deals and cool new things that I find.

Apparently you can kill succulents...

So I'm still working on my kitchen organization plans. I think I'm gonna be putting the pot rack up this weekend. That's if I can wrangle my boyfriend into helping me. If it's gonna fall on his head it's not gonna be my fault :).

So I've been really wanting some succulents for my desk at work. I love the way they look and since they're low maintenance I thought there was a good chance I might not kill them (too late!). I bought three cute succulents at Wal-Mart for $2.50 each (kind of expensive since they're so tiny) and since I love procrastination I barely planted them today. Unfortunately, the one in the middle did not make it through the planting process. Which stinks, it was my favorite. Trust me it was cuter when I first bought it.

One day I'll take the time to properly stage my photos

I was looking for a pot forever and couldn't find one I liked anywhere. Then I found this wide mouth jar at Hobby Lobby and thought that it was a good choice. Good thing the third one got obliterated because it definitely wouldn't have fit. Oh well, now I have something cute and green to put on my desk. We don't have windows so I definitely need something green to keep me from going crazy.

I'll have a new post tomorrow showing what I used this fun spray paint for. I'm pretty excited about it!