New Obsession

I know when most people bring up obsessions, I get a little uneasy...

"Oh no, it's about to get weird."

But I assure you, I'm not about to get weird. Well.. weirder.

   I want to share with you one of my new favorite places to visit online! It's an online consignment shop called ThredUp. Perhaps you've heard of it? No? Well then keep reading!

   ThredUp has so many amazing brands of clothing and accessories at up to 90% off retail- what's not to love?! You can even order a polka dot bag to sell your old clothing, but I suggest reading what clothing items they accept first. They even have designer bags and shoes. But I'm a clothing kinda girl. That's just the way it is.

   If you're not into shopping for yourself, may I suggest checking out their kids clothing (yes, they sell clothing for kids!) or perhaps the Juniors section, or maybe New With Tags clothing to give as a gift? No, really. There's new clothing at up to 90% off the tag price!

   I'm sharing my personal invitation link here: Emily is inviting you to ThredUp!
And some of my style shops (so you can see a little of what kind of clothing and accessories they offer) here:

Fresh and Feminine 

Nautical Nonsense

Junior Dream

Love for the Timeless

Mega Maxis

Tribal, Aztec, & Animal

Floral Fantasy

   Following any of those links will get you a $10 off credit to use on your first order ☺ BUT, you will have to pay the $5.99 shipping and handling fee. Which really isn't bad if you choose to purchase something $9.99 or under. That item will only cost you the $5.99 shipping!

   So if you don't already have an account, you really should check it out! I'm going to update this post after while with some of the items I've ordered in the past. I have purchased from them 5 separate times, and have no complaints! Although shipping can be a little slow (up to 8 days), but I'm a patient person! *wink*

   Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest and right here on my blog!

2015?? Really???

Woah. It's been a hot minute since I've posted... Allow me to apologize and maybe share what's been going on in my life (not that anybody is interested- you can always skip this post ;))

I did my fourth year of summer missions work with churches throughout my county. I made a new bestie through that, and am so glad God brought her into my life! She is awesome! I'm in the middle of decision making time, whether or not I will do it again this coming summer. I'm leaning toward yeeeess, unless something else pops up that will have me too busy. But I'm super excited either way!

Let's see, I went to Children's Hope in Jacmel, Haiti for the second time back in August. It was just as incredible on the second round as the first! This time we did less community work, and stayed mostly at the orphanage getting to know the kids and helping our hosts with anything they requested.

I'm currently substitute teaching in an elementary school. It's really opened my eyes to if I think education is really where I want to be. I feel God's calling in my life is to work with children, but maybe He's leading me to work outside of the United States. I gots some prayin' to do! (Considering I'll be back in school soon!)

I think that's a sum-up of all the big stuff. Not too much going on. Oh, yeah! I also started singing in the church choir since my mom became the music leader. Like what even? But anywho, I've been meaning to get some new crafts and different things posted, but my blog is a back burner type of thing; I do it when I can/want to.

Hopefully, I'll be posting some new things very soon.. so keep a look out! ☺

Who I Am Designs Jewelry

So, I've been making jewelry for about the past year in efforts to raise money for missions trips to Haiti. I just thought that I would share some of my creations with everyone ☺ I hope you enjoy!

Though I do not currently have online buying available, I hope to be able to do that very soon! As always, follow me on Pinterest and check out more jewelry on Facebook and this special Pinterest page here.

Valentine's Nerd

Hello, hello, my lovelies!

Valentine's Day is approaching quickly and I thought this year I would go a little overboard on my sweetie's gift. You see, I indulge his nerd side as often as I can, and I figured he would get a real kick out of this Star Wars themed gift. It is oh so much better than that standard box of mystery chocolate- you know the one (toothpaste flavor, oh yum!)

I originally picked up some Star Wars goodies in early January to hold until his birthday (March is just too far..), but I just couldn't resist giving them to him for Valentine's Day. He'll be so surprised! I think he'll love it, but according to him, he's loves everything I do that's personalized. Awwww... 

Below, I'll show you everything I put in his box. And when I say I like to indulge his nerd side, I also mean his childlike heart.. Very childlike heart. There are a few extra things I threw in for good measure, which you will see.

Things you will need:

- If it is Star Wars related, GET IT

- A nifty box to put all those treasures in

- Star Wars Valentines add to the overall appeal 

Yup, it really is that simple. And since it is themed, this gift can pretty much cost as little or as much as you want. It all depends on the contents.

Here we go..

I chose a sturdy container so that it could hold whatever I wanted to add. Dollar Tree has tons of options in many different colors. I picked red like Darth Vader's lightsaber. (This is coming from someone who, sadly, hasn't even successfully sat through any of the original films. Maybe that's what we'll do with the rest of the day..) 

When I was in my local Dirt Cheap, I came across lots of ten cent finds, including lots of Star Wars goodies. I didn't spend more than a dollar on any of the small items. What a great find!

There was a 100 piece puzzle, two small stuffed figures, a giant Yoda eraser, a Grad&Go play pack, a Darth Vader cup, and a full size play lightsaber! Can you say awesome? No worries, I got both of us covered: AWESOME! 

My only real splurge in the box was the Blu-Ray/DVD 6-disc combo pack of the three original films. I also got this really cool light-up candy lightsaber (which I've given him before and he loves).

I placed the Star Wars Valentines on each of the items in the box as a "corny yet cool" feature. My favorite is R2-D2: I bet you whistle at all the droids. Boom. I just love that.

It really came together great and may be one of the best themed gifts I've given him since the Zombie Survival Kit. That was a classic...

Now, amongst all the super Star Wars stuff, I put some cutesy/corny more traditional Valentines. My sweetheart likes dinosaurs, too, so I fashioned some little homemade things together for his gift including a hand-drawn dino picture and a card tied to a plastic T-rex from the Dollar Tree. 

There's also a little stuffed bear in there with the tagline: I love you "beary" much!

So, you've now seen this years Valentine's Day gift! You can follow me on Pinterest and LIKE my page on Facebook! Happy gifting! ♥

Book of Love: A Personalized Scrapbook

    I'm finally getting around to posting this (it took me long enough..), but this was part of my honey's Christmas present! I saw an idea similar to this one somewhere online, but it wasn't as detailed as I was hoping, so I wanted to put mine up ☺ 

    Some of you will be stepping out of your comfort zone on this one. It requires gutting an old book.. *GASP* The horror! I know, I know. I felt bad doing it, but honestly, no one in my household is going to read that Reader's Digest from the fifties. Now, if you make it past this stage, it's clean sailing.

   

    Here is what you'll need:

• An old book- think thrift shop find 
• Glue (and maybe tape)
• Photos 
• Scrapbook pages
• Stickers to decorate (I also used wooden shapes)
• A binder center or rings (I used rings)
• White 4X6 notecards

Ok, gut that book! Just make sure you only take out the pages, but leave the entire cover intact! It won't work if the cover gets ruined.

Next, cover the inside with pretty scrapbook paper.

 Poke the rings through the book's spine. If you decide to use a binder center instead, you will not be able to glue the ribbon down, ok? And you will need to used really strong glue to put it in place ☺ These will hold your pages inside. I used wooden shapes to decorate my inner covers and some of the pages I added. To cover the inside spine, I took a strip of thick ribbon and glued it down.

The pages were also made from scrapbook paper and I placed a white notecard on the pages I wanted to add text to.

Some pages were decorated with ribbon and stickers.

I used some of my favorite mushy quotes and special messages on some pages and glued pictures to the white backsides of other pages. Instead of typing anything, I hand wrote all of it so that it would be even more special.

Make your book as unique as you can ☺ The person who receives it will love all the work you put into it!

                                           Happy crafting!

Monogram Mania!

Everything!

Etsy.com

I don't know about you guys, but monogram is a staple here in the South. We monogram everything, and I do mean everything. So here is my first freebie post! It's for, you guessed it- monogrammed wallpapers! Is that too far? Eh, who cares! I'm also posting links to some of the most adorable monogrammed accessories I've seen floating about the web.

Also on Etsy.com

Monogram not your thing?

Try finding a fab background and adding a block of color with your favorite quote or song lyrics over it!

My current desktop!

Polka dots

Latest obsession? Lilly  Pulitzer!

Stripes

Not sure how to do it yourself? Open up "Paint" in your computers start menu under accessories and add text over this picture. Don't wanna d it yourself? I hear ya! Tell me what you want in the comments and I'd be happy to do it for you! Free, of course ☺ Leave me your email, too!

On Mission in: Haiti

     Hey everybody! Wow, let me blow the dust off my blog here.. Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but now I'm back! ☺ I have plenty of things to share in coming posts, but I figured I would start off sharing about my recent trip to Haiti! 

     September 7-14, I was in Haiti on a mission trip with a team of ten other people. It was an amazing experience, and yesterday I learned I may be able to go back next summer! There are so many things I could share about the awesomeness of God, He was definitely with us every step of the way- from getting bags checked to traveling by tap-tap through Jacmel. God is so good! 

     I will share some photos in this post, all of scenery and I will update again later when I have more time! 

     The last evening we were in Haiti, our hosts, Tommy and Joy Schwindling of the Alabama House in Jacmel, Haiti, took our team out to dinner at Caplamandu. All of the following photos were from the restaurants balcony.

The view from Caplamandu.

Sunset

Beach

Flowers

Sunset

  And here's one of me and one of the sweet children I met while there.

   Though Haiti has many devastating parts, it was indeed a beautiful country. God is moving there, His grace and His mercy are enough.