Project Post 15: Pipe & Pallet Clothes Rack

I titled this as a project post, but I'm not going to give you step-by-step instructions on how to make this. Partly because it's self-explanatory, and partly because I wasn't around for the assembly because it was a gift for me and done in top secret :)

I know you've seen these around - they are in a lot of retail spaces right now.

{Galvanized pipe rack at J. Crew Factory store}

{Black pipe rack at Nordstrom in the toddler department}

{Black pipe rack at Nordstrom in the toddler department}

I snapped these pictures with my iphone and sent them to Tyler, telling him I wanted a variation of this. We have some old pallets and I wanted a pallet base with casters, so it would be easily movable (instead of the T'd-off base seen above)(that's not really a term but I bet you know what I mean).

After I saw these, I searched Pinterest for something similar and got a lot of results. Here are some that I pinned to my "projects" board:

Original sources here (in respective order): Rack 1, Rack 2, Rack 3, Rack 4, Rack 5.

And here's mine, complete with snapshots of it out in the middle of beautiful scenery, because that's how everyone photographs their Christmas presents, right? Totally normal.

It's just made with 3/4" galvanized threaded pipe and fittings, and boards from an old pallet. We had a few old pallets that my dad gave us and Tyler picked the best-looking planks from them to use. These have a few holes in them, which I love, and the color is great too.

{Merry Christmas to me! :)}

{....and just because the scenery was beautiful....}

J o y

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great  j o y,  which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
{Luke 2: 10-11} 

We sort of have a theme with our Christmas celebrations this year - you guessed it: joy. I've been studying a lot about joy lately in my reading, and I definitely think it's a great thing to focus on - and not just for Christmas. I have always loved scriptures and songs about joy - and there are a lot of them. We got married at Christmastime, and our wedding processional was "Joy to the World." I'm really glad we did that.



The LORD has done great things for us,
   and we are filled with  j o y. 
{Psalm 126:3}

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of  j o y. 
{Psalm 107: 21-22}

So, when Amy designed our Christmas card for this year, she sort of read my mind (without knowing it). I just gave her a very vague description of what I'd like, and she came up with a masterpiece!



{Image courtesy of www.amy-dale.com}

{Image courtesy of www.amy-dale.com}

I hope your Christmas season has been and will be  f i l l e d  with  j o y !

Project Post 14: Vintage Christmas Music Garland

When I invested in the little scalloped punch I bought a couple of months ago (I told you in this post that I bought it to make Levi's cupcake toppers for his party), I had big plans for using it for lots of other crafts. One thing that immediately came to mind was using it to make garland for Christmas. During my subconscious brainstorming, I thought about just using red and green card stock...and then I started thinking creatively. I asked my mom to round up some old music that I could cut up (she plays the piano and has a library full of music), so she found a few very old books, and as a bonus they were even Christmas anthems and hymns.

I was making the garland for my mom's tree. My sister bought her some beautiful "vintage music" Christmas ornaments from Pottery Barn last year, and she already had lots of music-themed ornaments from previous years.

The garland turned out cuter than I imagined it would. I made some for my tree too. I will post some pictures of it soon. Here are some pictures of the garland on my mom and dad's tree (before the tree was fully decorated). ***UPDATE - Added more pictures below of their tree and my tree, finished.

Here are some updated shots of both trees with our music garland:) I also made some music garland for one of my grandma's trees and for the other grandma, I made some garland out of old Christmas cards. Both grandmas LOVED them.

{My parents' music-themed tree}

{My little tree}

{My little tree}

Holiday Season Upon Us

{My favorite boy on Thanksgiving and his favorite pose (fist in mouth)}

Happy Cyber Monday! I hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving weekend, survived Black Friday, and participated in Small Business Saturday. We had a great Thanksgiving with family.


I'm not naturally a Black Friday shopper (not big on shopping in crowds), but my husband's family not only shops on Black Friday, they drive to Dallas to do it (it's a tradition that started when my husband was a few months old) - so while you were all getting trampled at Wal-Mart and Best Buy, we headed to the big D to fight their crowds. Crazy? Maybe...but it was an adventure :)


We had reservations to attend Breakfast with Santa at Neiman Marcus (also part of the tradition) and it was really fun to anticipate Levi's reaction to the big man in red. Verdict: he's just not so sure yet! {see pictures}

{Made my first pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving}

{Levi's breakfast at Breakfast with Santa}

{Candy cane balloon from Santa's elf}

{static!}

{Who are you and why are you poking my face?}

{no caption necessary, really}

{Hanging out while everyone gets ready}

{good Cajun food}

{cozy shopper}

Happy T h a n k s g i v i n g !!!

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
 ² Worship the LORD with gladness;
   come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the LORD is God.
   It is he who made us, and we are his;
   we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
   and his courts with praise;
   give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
   his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Toys

Well, I am typing to you straight from my brand-new shiny silver took-forever-to-get-even-though-I-paid-for-expedited-shipping keyboard, in which every key works, including a, x, z, !, @, #, $, 1, 2, 3, 4, and even my tab and shift keys. Hallll-lelujah!

In the process of switching the keyboards, someone gained a new toy. I love the new toy, because any time my computer was in sight, he made a beeline for the keyboard, wanting to add his touch to everything I did (especially blogging). Last night he was playing with it on the coffee table, and he thought he was controlling the tv.

I am so thankful to have a working keyboard again. Life is going to be so much easier blogging and returning emails without having to fight my husband for his computer............ :) Happy Tuesday!

Hall of Fame Cardigan

This sweater pretty much has the exact same story as my hall-of-fame shoes that I posted about several months ago. I bought it at The Limited back when The Limited was cool 10 or 11 years ago (joking..............kind of). I was "school shopping" with my mom and she and I both bought one of these sweaters (hers is black) for something like $7 each. It has lasted 5 moves, several garage sales, lots of wear, and one decade and I still love it. It has been a great staple in my closet.




{Two things I love: scalloped necklines and tortoise buttons}