I can hardly believe that it has been a year since I said "I do" to Darren Christopher Hutslar. This year has been so much better than I ever imagined it would be. I think that since I didn't get married until I was 25 years old that I was much more prepared for what "real" married life was going to entail. I wasn't expecting it to be perfect... in fact I expected it to be pretty awful! That sounds horrible, I know, but you wouldn't believe how many people told me that their first year of marriage was the most difficult. So that's what I prepared myself for. I was pleasantly surprised that my first year of marriage was anything but hard. Yes, it was an adjustment for me to have to move all my stuff around to make room for him in a house I lived in by myself for three years. Yes, we've had some really difficult decisions to make over the last 365 days. And yes, we've had to face horrible circumstances together in the past few months. But what made this year so wonderful for me is just knowing that we have each other. Waiting so long for that made me realize that I don't need to focus on all the petty stuff... I just need to be thankful to have such an amazing person by my side and charish every day that he's here with me. I think that may have had something to do with this year being a good one.



Copyright She Designs Photography

 

Copyright She Designs Photography



Copyright She Designs Photography



Copyright She Designs Photography



Copyright She Designs Photography



Copyright She Designs Photography

   

DIY "Dipped" Wooden Utensils

By now I'm sure most of you have already caught wind of the "dipping" craze that is going around. I'm totally in love with the concept. Ever since I saw some cute paint dipped kitchen utensils on Pinterest I have been itching to try it out myself. So here goes!

You will need paint, shellac, and some wooden utensils. I picked my paint and utensils up at Walmart and my shellac at the local hardware store.

Step 1:  Tape off a line where you want the paint to stop. I used Washi Tape, but you can use any kind of masking tape or painter's tape.


Step 2:  Open the paint cans and give the paint a good stirring. Next, pour the paint into something that you can dip the untensils into. If you have a gallon size paint can you can skip this step since it is deep enough to dip into. I just used some vases I had under my sink that I have not used in awhile.

Step 3:  This is where it gets a little tricky. I had seen around the Internet where people were brushing on their paint instead of dipping their objects into the paint. Now, I just thought "Why are they doing that? That takes away the whole 'dipping' aspect!". Well, now I know why they did it that way! Once you dip the utensils into the paint, they will drip for a long time. Obviously none of us have time to stand there and hold each utensil for an hour waiting for it to stop dripping! I couldn't figure out how to do this until "Wah-lah!"... it came to me! I pulled out my metal clothes hanger on wheels and hung the untensils out to dry with skirt hangers! This step would be much easier if you were to have a clothesline outside. Unfortunately I do not so I had to improvise. So here is my homemade contraption in action....

Yes, I am aware of how hysterical this is! I'm sure your wondering "Is she just letting that drip onto her floors?". That is where Mr. Hefty comes in!

How pretty! It could totally be like some famous artwork in New York City, couldn't it?!


Step 4:  After they stop dripping, give them a second coat of paint. Yes, I said it.


Step 5:  After they are dry (which may take a couple of hours depending on your paint) you may or may not have to sand a little bit of extra paint from the bottom of each utensil. Don't worry - I have never sanded anything in my life and I was able to do this with no problems.  :)


Step 6:   Apply a coat of food safe shellac. Warning: this stuff is very sticky! I had never worked with it before so I was caught off guard. Be glad you were told in advance!

 Step 7:  Remove the tape and admire your creations! Since it is the week of Memorial Day and I am feeling festive I chose Red, White, and Blue paint.

 NOTE: Even though the shellac is food safe, I wouldn't recommend you let your kids use these spoons as a teething toy or anything. There is still paint under the layer of shellac.

So to wrap it up I want to tell you what I learned from this project that other blogs won't tell you! First, this is a fairly easy project, but it requires a lot of patience as it takes awhile to complete. Second, make absolutely sure that everything is dry before you go on to the next step. There is nothing worse than getting 4 steps in only to have to go back to the beginning. Lastly, have fun! Don't stress about it being perfect! If you don't get it right the first time, try it again. When you finally get it the way you want it you'll feel like a superstar!

Memorial Day Sale!

With Memorial Day right around the corner I have been thinking about what I can do to celebrate this year. Since the holiday is on May 28th this year I think that I've come up with something. How about 28% off your entire purchase from my Etsy shop? Is that festive enough? You bet it is! Be excited!!! I sure am!

New Today at Bahana Splits Boutique

NEW TODAY! Horizontal Stripe Treat Bags at Bahana Splits Boutique! Available colors are Orange, Gray, Yellow, Red, Aqua Blue, Black, Lime Green, Hot Pink, and Purple!

DIY Twine Wrapped Block Letter

Hello! Today I'm going to share how to spiff up a monogram letter with Baker's Twine! Now, this was totally an experiment for me... I am not a pro at this by any means! This project turned out to be fun, challenging, and a learning experience all wrapped into one. Anyway, let's get started!

The materials you need for this project are a monogram letter and Baker's Twine. I just used an old faux leather letter that was leftover from a bridal shower someone did for me for my monogram. The baker's twine is available for purchase in my Etsy shop, Bahana Splits Boutique .

I started by wrapping the Baker's Twine around the letter in a vertical pattern. This is so that the top and bottom of the letter will be covered in twine. Once this was done, I proceeded to wrap the twine horizontally around the remainder of the monogram.

Once this was done, I proceeded to wrap the twine horizontally around the remainder of the monogram. Lastly, I wrapped the middle of the "H" vertically. This helped distinguish the middle of the letter.

And ta-da! Here 'tis in my entertainment center next to a picture frame I still need to print a picture for! Looking back, I wish I would have used like a Kraft colored monogram letter or even spray-painted the letter white before starting... that way the black wouldn't show through as easily. But all in all I like it! It is cute and crafty and I made it so that's cool! Here are a couple of other shots... one is from a far away view of the entertainment center and one is a shot of my mantle. I may just put it there if I so fancy!

Thanks for tuning in! Tata for now!

Grow, Garden, Grow

Today was an "Oh my goodness, our garden needs help" day at the Hutslar house. We have been super busy the past few weeks and have barely been home. So today we hit it hard while we had the chance. There was a lot of weeding involved and it was hot, sweaty, and kind of gross.... but it felt good.  :)  It was nice to get out there and really "work".

So how was Mother's Day for everyone? I think that this is the very first Mom's Day where I have been apart from mine. But I was able to spend most of the day with my lovely Mother-In-Law so that was a pretty good substitute. She's a pretty awesome mom too.

Speaking of being a mom! I'm not a human mommy yet, but let me introduce you to my cat child, Simba! He is the MOST precious thing ever! Simba loves to cuddle constantly and is a total mommy's boy (which is awesome!) Darren doesn't want to admit it, but he knows it's true too.