Tuesday night was our basketball Senior Night. This was Maris' last home regular season game of her high school career. Big fat sigh. The team always goes out to dinner before home games {a huge thank-you to Bogarts Restaurant for providing these meals each year!}  

 

 

Here are our 4 seniors at dinner. I love how dressed-up, stylish and feminine they are in school on game days. Then they go into the gym locker room and come out transformed into fierce, scrappy competitive athletes. awesome.

 

     

 

During the game, we celebrated Cindi Simmons. Coach Simmons has been the womens basketball and volleyball coach at our high school for the last 25 years {!!} You may remember this painting I did for her at the end of volleyball season, She has been a wonderful coach, mentor, and friend to Maris and to all of her players. 

 

 

We did a reception in the cafeteria after the boys game where we invited all ex-players, students, teachers and friends.

 

 

I made tiered serving platters -- some out of trophy parts, others out of foam balls, one out of a basketball net, and one out of a vase filled with miniature balls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I painted miniature basketballs with craft paint and paint markers. {fyi -- basketballs are fantastic to paint on! They accept paint beautifully} 

 

 

 

I made a 5 foot tall '25' covered in photos of decades of highlights of Coach Simmons many teams. This was such a fun interactive prop that brought everyone over to try to find a picture of themselves or a photo from the year they graduated.  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Cindi's {proud} mom made her a special cake.

 

 

We had such fun creating this volleyball trophy tired server. Did you know you can make your own trophies?? I walked into our local trophy shop/warehouse and I was like a kid in a candy store. I WILL be going back because I now have other ideas percolating.   

 

 

Maris made a special video documentary about Cindi where she interviewed past players, family members, school officials and community leaders with the help of one of her favorite teachers, Mrs. Henson. Cindi wasn't aware of the video and there were many wet eyes as well as some giggles as so many shared what she had meant in their lives.

 

 

  

 

 

 

Being able to express how much you care about someone is just the best. I was so honored to get to publicly be a part of thanking Cindi for the incredible role she has played in Maris' maturity. She has been instrumental in teaching how important relationships are both on and off the court. She has believed in Maris as a leader and given her the confidence and support so vital to a young ladies self-esteem. If you are a mama of a young girl, please consider encouraging her to be an athlete. It's life changing.

 And for you other mamas who already have athletes and want to know how to make the desert stands and the giant numbers for your next sports banquet, come back tomorrow for details. 

 

Oh, and Happy Valentines Day!!!

 

** for all you UNC Tarheel basketball fans, Cindi is the mom of sophomore Jackson Simmons #21 !  Not only does she coach great athletes, she births them too!! ** 

 

      

 

Here's a sweet little valentine gift that can be given out to little kids or big kids alike. I first spotted it on pinterest here. All you need are matches, chalkboard paint, a paintbrush, and some redhots.   

 

 

 

Buy a pack of matches {these were sold in a set of 10}

 

 

Empty out the matches. Using a small paintbrush, paint the box with chalkboard paint. Let it cure for at least a day. Using the side of a piece of chalk, cover all the paint on the box with the chalk and wipe it off with your finger. Write your love message and fill with red hots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

In case you are in need of some simple Valentines decorating ideas, then you'll love todays

 

Valentine Decor!

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If you can tap some nails and wrap some string then you can easily tackle this String Art heart. For full instructions, visit here.

 

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A sweet dimensional heart garland can drape across your mantle, on your headboard, or across a window. To make one, visit here.

 

 

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If you are planning a sweethearts party, I love the idea of spraypainting these inexpensive IKEA frames, print off a sweet saying and place in the frames. An easy table backdrop.  

 

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Go all white with your tablecloth and add some inexpensive white dishes, pop it with a red napkin and instant table decor.

 

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If you a kabillion pieces of scrap fabric like myself, you can purchase some embroidery hoops, frame your scraps, and embellish with simple stitches, stamped letters, or attach some trim. A sweet little gallery arrangement.

 

{Shannon Berrey Design}

I shared this simple project with you a few years ago. Empty some wine bottles {enjoy!}, spray them with primer and then flat black paint {cheaper than chalkboard paint and works just as well for this project} and you can write a message to your sweetheart.

{Shannon Berrey Design}

If you want to put some pretties in these 'vases', then create a few paper flowers. 

 

{Shannon Berrey Design}

For added height to your arrangement, hot glue some smaller tissue flowers and green construction paper leaves onto branches. You can save them and reuse each year.  

 

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. If you want a little more drama, drape paper pom-poms, lanterns and twisted crepe paper streamers over wooden dowels. This was for an anniversary party, but, I think it would be perfect for a Valentine soiree!!

 

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If you are luck enough to have a warm February 14th, then take your party of 2 outside and set up a little picnic surrounded with little hand made heart stakes.

 

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And if you need a blanket to lay down for your picnic, grab a few yards of linen and some red embroidery floss and with big cross stitches create yourself a big heart blanket.

 

 

  

 

 

I have had a few emails about the fabrics that I used in my dining room, so I thought I would share my wonderful sources today. I first was introduced to the talents of artist Golly Bard on Poppytalk. Her family gave Holly this nickname as a little girl and it's stuck. Her studio is in a beautifully restored church in Virginia that she shares with an interior designer.  

 

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She works directly from nature; more often, she simply starts painting from memory or her imagination.  Her influences have a certain obsession with natural history, nature science and anatomy, but, not in a harsh, educational style. Her paintings are light and sweet, with a whimsical feeling.

 

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Show me a slice of wood and I am a happy, happy girl. The variations of the colors, the repetitions and explanation of it's age in the rings...I find them simply beautiful.

I knew that I wanted to use her mossy logs somewhere in my house and when I found out that she had created fabric on Spoonflower with her designs, I was thrilled! I sent off for samples of several designs:

 

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I am saving the delicate fern fabric {middle} for another project. I wanted to use both the nests and the logs in my dining room -- I know it's crazy to use both, but it works. Because these are big, bold designs, I wanted to find a smaller coordinating fabric.

 

 

 

I love this Helicopter Herringbone {zoomed image} by artist Rachel Gilbert Cornish {babysisterrae} also on Spoonflower. I remember playing with these little seed pods as a child in the backyard. We would throw them up as high as we could and watch them twirl softly back down to our sandpile. They are so sweet illustrated individually, but the way she designed this fabric, it made the prettiest herringbone pattern. I knew this would be the perfect compliment to the mossy logs for dining room chair slipcovers.

I found my vintage end chairs about a year and a half ago. I love their silhouette and they were in fairly good condition. So good, that they sat untouched all this time. But, the vintage fabric was starting to shred on the seat and finding the Golly Bard fabrics inspired me to recover them.

 

 

 

The mossy logs went on the exterior of the slipcover.

  

 

   And the helicopter on the inside seat and inside back. I love the way the green in the helicopter fabric pulls out the mossy greens of the wood slices.

 

 

 I don't have a slipcover tutorial because I make a pattern specific for the piece I am covering. I first make a pattern out of another inexpensive fabric. *tip - for my pattern fabric, I always try to use a fabric with stripes or a plaid because it makes lining up the pieces so much easier. Then, I pin, snip and mark as I go.  

 

 

 Then I transfer the pattern to the 'real' fabric. Cut out the pieces, sew them together and pull them over the chair, tucking into the seams for a nice snug fit.

 

 

 

 

 

On the other 6 chairs {that I painted green last year} I recovered the seats with a staplegun using the Birds Nest fabric. I love the green paint with the green eggs. 

 

 

 

I think all of the fabrics are so pretty together! A huge shout out to Holly and Rachael for creating such beautiful fabrics. You inspire me!