What I Wore Wednesday {Thrift Store Edition}

Ok, it's that day of the week where I embarrass myself and show pictures of my Goodwill clothes.

Seriously.

I cringe when I see pictures of myself, and you probably do the same thing. But what I'm hoping to accomplish with these posts is inspire you to try doing the thrift store thing. You'll be amazed at what you find if you're patient (keyword). But if thrifting isn't your thing, that's totally fine, too!

So, here goes.

Cardi: Target

Tank: Target

Skirt: DownEast Basics

Scarf: Goodwill

Boots: Plato's Closet consignment

Flower pin: made by me

White tank: Ross

Purple cardi: Plato's Closet consignment (Anthropologie)

Skinnies: Kmart

Shoes: Christmas Tree Shoppes ($6 - for reals)

Oh, and I tried a new technique for curling my hair and actually really like it. It's called "no heat curls" and you can see a tutorial here. All it takes is a headband - no curling iron or curlers needed.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

"Selling Handmade" Series & a Winner!

I'm thrilled to be a part of a blog series that  RitaJoy at Harbour Breeze put together.

I'm giving my two cents about having an Etsy shop, along with Gina from Shabby Creek Cottage, Jami from Freckled Laundry, and Lisa from The Pennington Point.



The series will be going on all week at Harbour Breeze, so head on over if you are interested in starting a handmade shop or have questions about the process.

The series started yesterday and continues for 7 days and here's the schedule:

Day 1: “Meet the Teachers” {4 bloggers tell their Handmade Business stories}

Day 2: “Product Branding” {Graphic Design and Store Banners}

Day 3: “Organizing a Workspace” {When you live where you work!}

Day 4: “Presenting your Product” {Tips for photographing your products}

Day 5: “Wrapping up a Sale” {Packaging for shipment}

Day 6: “Promoting Your Shop” {Getting the word out}

Day 7: “Balancing it all” {Multitasking in life!}

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And on another note, the winner of the DownEast Basics giveaways is Mary!!

Thanks everyone who entered to win!



Hello Monday

Man, is it just me or are the weeks just flying by?? It seems like just two minutes ago that it was last Monday.

Anyway, here I am in my little corner of the world sharing some "Hello Mondays".

Hello brand new blossoms on the cherry tree by our porch. Yummy-ness.

Hello bright sunshine. I missed you this weekend. Welcome back. You are loved.

Hello yellow school bus. Take good care of my little girl.

Hello incredibly messy play room. Oh well, happy memories are made here.

Hello new decorating project that I worked on over the weekend. Cannot wait to share!

Hello ear that has been closed for days due to allergies. Please open. Like, now. (anyone have any remedies?)

Hope you all have a great week!

My {Favorite} Fonts

I get a lot of questions about the type of fonts that I use for the signs that I make, so I thought I'd create a post listing my favs. I'm a little bit obsessed with fonts and typography, and it's always fun for me to find new ones.

My favorite website for finding new (and free) fonts:

www.dafonts.com

www.101freefonts.com

www.urbanfonts.com

Below are the fonts that I use most often and links (at the end of this post) where you can download them.

To download these fonts, click the links below:

Engravers MT

Aquarelle

Loopi

Champignon

EcuyerDAX

Modern No. 20

Some Wheatz Swashes

Doris Day

Edwardian Script

Freebooter Script

Tangerine

Nymphette

For a great tutorial on how to download fonts, visit this blog.

Enjoy!

What I Wore Wednesday {DownEast Basics Giveaway!}

Hi friends! It's "What I Wore Wednesday" and today I'm hosting a giveaway for DownEast Basics!

Yay for free cute stuff!!

This lavender top is from DownEast Basics, and I love it. It's comfy, has feminine detailing (I'm all about the details), and is the perfect top for Spring.

White jacket: Goodwill

Skinnies: Kmart

Shoes: Clarks Outlet

In case you haven't heard of them before, DownEast Basic clothing is very affordable, as well as chic and very feminine. Here are a few more looks from them that I love.

So here's the dealio on the giveaway:

For a chance to win, if you are a Pinterest member, pin one of their outfits and leave me a comment letting me know which outfit you pinned.

If Pinterest isn't your thing or you want another chance to win, leave me a comment telling me which outfit/piece of clothing is your favorite or follow DownEast Basics on Facebook.

Winner will receive one piece of their choice from DownEast Basics! Hurry – winner will be selected at random on March 26! Happy Spring! 

 ***** THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED *****

Hello Monday

It's Monday! Time for a fresh new week. YES.

I'm linking up with the fabulous Lisa Leonard for some pictures and "Hello Mondays" today.

Hello playing outside in the BEAUTIFUL Spring weather and getting filthy. This little girl knows how to walk but prefers to crawl when she's outside.

 Hello playing tennis out on the driveway with Jack, who loves every minute of it.

Hello massive barn doors that hubs cut down for me to create some more signs. Love that man.

Hello painting outside in the warm sunshine. 

Hello little helpers. I can't resist letting them "help" me. They love it.

Hello putting the finishing touches on this door. It's a good feeling!

I hope your Monday is filled with singing birds and warm breezes! What are you thankful for this week?

The latest signs {and a little about my bid-ness}

Today I thought I'd share some of my latest signs. If you need ideas for signs, I also have a link on my sidebar where you can see many more that I've done. > > >

Here's a family sign I created with an old door and rustic hinges:



A sign using a door with a verse from Zephaniah...

I really like how this one turned out. It's made from a 16" x 20" canvas.

And this last one is a simple one using canvas as well.

And now, a little bit about my bid-ness. Sorry, I mean business. Whenever I say "business" in my head, I feel all ghetto for some reason.

I started my sign-making business about a year ago and it started really randomly and was not thought-out at all. I made a few signs to hang in my house, because I happen to really like them. People saw them and started ordering them from me.

Last summer I bought some old doors from a reader who lived nearby (thank you Lisa!!) and created some signs using them. I found that old doors and salvaged wood could make some really cool art and started selling them in my Etsy shop.

{This was one of the first art pieces I made using a barn door.}

I made a few signs that got really popular thanks to Pinterest. These are the top two:

I've received hundreds of requests for these signs and, unfortunately, I don't have enough time to make nearly enough to meet the demand, but I do the best that I can.

Now I'm mostly working on custom orders, and I really enjoy the designing aspect of the job. I don't particularly enjoy churning out hundreds of signs that are all mostly the same. But I do occasionally still take orders for the popular signs.

I do almost all the work myself, and I have a few friends who will help me every now and then. Husband is my grunt man. He picks up wood for me, cuts it (power tools make me nervous), cleans the wood, and does all my packaging when the signs are ready for shipping, which takes LOTS of time. I ship 95% of the signs that I make, and they are usually very large and heavy, so it can be tricky. I absolutely couldn't have my business without husband's help. And he really enjoys it, which is awesome.

One of the great things about my business right now is that I can choose the projects and art pieces that I want to work on. And I feel so blessed to be able to have an at-home job where I can take care of my babies and still generate extra income for our family.

My Etsy shop has been pretty empty recently, because I'm mostly making custom pieces right now. But I hope to (someday) get a bit more caught up and add some things to my shop. If you are interested in a sign for your home, send me an email maweaver1@gmail.com and I'd love to work with you!

And if you've ordered a sign from me, thank you!! I've really enjoyed getting to know my clients and have had the most positive, encouraging interaction with everyone I've dealt with. You guys are the best!

My Little Happys

Random little things that are making me smile today...

Avery loves exercising with me in the evenings. She gets so into it and totally cracks me up. I, on the other hand, don't love it quite as much. (In case you are interested, right now I'm into doing Pilates following YouTube videos.)

Getting this little person out of the crib three times a day makes me happy. I love her crazy bed hair.

And this little guy is my right hand man. He is a very picky eater, always jolly in the morning (when I am not), loves wrecking my painting supplies, likes to pester his older sister, and is all-around hilareous. He misses Avery so much in the mornings when she's at school. He constantly asks, "Is it time to pick up Avery yet?".

It's time to pick up Avery from school! Yay!!

The music we rock to while we eat lunch. Thank you Pandora! Love it.

I started some seeds indoors a few weeks ago and it's so exciting to see growth! I planted lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, parsley, and basil. Can't wait to plant my little garden in the spring!

Avery's in this cute little kick of writing love notes to us. I LOVE how she tries to sound out and spell words. Adorableness.

(Sara, me, & baby Violet)

Sisterrrrrss!!! I love having a younger sister who is at a totally different stage of life than I am. She gives me a new perspective on things. I'm jealous of the fact that she has perfect teeth and can become best friends with a perfect stranger in two minutes. Outgoing and loveable, that girl. (and did I mention she is single? ahem.)

I was making flowers out of napkins the other day and Avery wanted to make herself a flower ring. I loved her creation.

I'm so thankful for the many little happys in my life!

 

What I Wore Wednesday {Thrift Store Edition}

Here are a few of my "What I Wore" outfits from the past week...

Striped dress: Goodwill (Old Navy)

Yellow cardi: H&M

Boots: Plato's Closet Consignment

Scarf: Goodwill (Target)

Top: Ann Taylor Loft Outlet

Cardi: Goodwill (Ann Taylor Loft)

Skirt: Plato's Closet Consignment

Shoes: Goodwill

Flower pin: Amelia's discount grocery

Love Sign {just for me}

 Happy Monday friends!

The sun is shining and it's time to take a deep breath and jump into the fresh new week!

I've been wanting to make a sign just for me for a while now and just haven't had the time to put into it. And I had a hard time deciding what scripture or quote I wanted to use. It's easy to give other people ideas on signs, but when it's for my own house, it took a long time to decide.

So, here is what I finally came up with.

I just love the way this wood looks.

I started with a barn door that was free of paint and stain. I brushed white paint onto the wood, then immediately wiped it with a damp cloth so that the grain of the wood shows. It took some experimenting to get it looking the way I wanted.

Then I used my normal method for painting the lettering, which you can read about here.



I hung the sign above the little dresser in our entry, and it'll stay there until I inevitably decide to change things around and will probably sell the sign! That's usually what happens when I make something for myself!

I hope you all have a great week!