Package Design: Rivet & Sway

This is not a sponsored post for Rivet & Sway, all opinions are my own. 

Last week I came across the designer glasses brand Rivet & Sway. First off their logo is ADORABLE, cute little ampersand turned glasses, just perfect. Anyhow, they have this deal where you can have 5 different frames sent to your house for you to try, for 5 days, at absolutely no cost to you. I'm hoping to upgrade my own glasses this summer, and thought "why not!?". A few easy clicks on their site, a couple days later, and this little beauty arrived at my house. 

I opened up the box, excited to see the frames I'd picked out, but what I got was much MUCH more than just glasses. 

Just let your eyeballs gaze at that beautiful packaging! Gold foil details, watercolor graphics, clean lines, I hadn't even placed a single frame on my face yet and I was already sold. 

I'll just let you enjoy the pictures I IMMEDIATELY started snapping once I opened the lid. 

Seriously, it is going to KILL me to have to send this box back to Rivet & Sway. I may keep that little card with the gold foil geometric shapes, it would be perfect in a little frame somewhere.
Along with letting you test out 5 frames at home, they also have fit and styling advice as well as a blog you can follow on their website. 

Unfortunately none of the frames look totally fabulous on me, so I'll keep searching, but it was fun to try on some different styles and get an idea of what I want! 

Kitchen Curtains = DONE!

Happy Monday! This weekend was absolutely GORGEOUS! I hope you were able to get outside at some point and soak up some rays from that wonderful sunshine. 

My weekend was quite eventful. Friday night was prom at Eric's high school, and since he was in charge of the after-prom I got to help chaperon! The whole thing was a huge success and the students had a great time. Of course that meant we didn't get to bed until 5am Saturday morning...yeah, bit rough. 

Saturday I headed to Muncie and hung out with my sister Angie. I also was able to meet up with a great friend of mine and spent hours catching up, it was awesome. That night Angie and I stayed up just talking, and before we knew it, 3am rolled around making it the second night in a row I was up WAY later than I ever am. 

Needless to say I was a bit sluggish this morning. 

OK, enough about how I'm slowly turning into an old lady who can't miss her bedtime. 

I got back to Cincy early Sunday, and rounded up Eric to help me finish these dang curtains! 

This has been the scene in our dinning room for way too long. Two hours later and our kitchen no longer looked like this...

It looked like this! 

It's all about the accessories people. 

I am just tickled with how these turned out! The pop of orange is just what that wall needed to break up the white. 

It did take some trial and error to get them perfect, but once the first one was complete, the second one went super quick. The fabric we chose is from fabric.com if anyone is wondering. 

On another note, I can now add "can sew a straight line" to my crafty resume. 

Finally, a little throw-back to what our kitchen originally looked like. 

Transformation Tuesday  Monday!

Did you get any major projects done this weekend? It would have been a perfect time to start crossing things off that backyard to-do list. 

15 Day Drawing Challenge

On April 10th, I stumbled upon this post by Wit and Whistle, about a 15 Day Drawing Challenge she created. Before you scroll down and go straight to the pictures, you should check out Wit and Whistle, because she has some of the most adorable, funny, snarky, and beautifully drawn cards on her site. The ones featured now for Mother's Day are especially fun. 

OK, back to the challenge. 

After glancing at the topics for each day I thought to myself, "This is exactly what I've been needing." Something to make me step back from the computer, pick up a pen, and just doodle. Some days turned out better than others, but that was the point. The goal wasn't to create 15 masterpieces, the goal was to simply draw. Below are what I came up with each day. If you follow me on Instagram you've already seen these, but for those of you who don't, I hope you enjoy my 15 Day Drawing Challenge drawings! 

Day 1: A Pattern - swirls on swirls on swirls 

Day 2: An Animal - my favorite owl planter

Day 3: Favorite Thing To Wear -  my wedding ring 

Day 4: Something You Found On The Ground Outside - one of our bushes outside is blooming with these precious little pink buds

Day 5: Recipe Instructions - s'mores!

Day 6: A Word - joy, my Facebook feed is just full of newborn babies and their parents beaming with joy. 

Day 7: An Insect - my own version of The Beatles (minus one Ringo)

Day 8: A Cross Section - a large diet coke, from McDonalds of course! 

Day 9: An Animal Doing Something Only Humans Can Do - wear mascara

Day 10: Something In A Jar - my wine cork collection

Day 11: A Diagram - graphs and charts of nothing in particular

Day 12: Something You're Afraid Of  - I hate spiders. Even looking up pictures to draw this gave me the creeps

Day 13: A Plant - burn yourself in my kitchen? Slather some aloe on that!

Day 14: Your Favorite Food - peanut butter, can't get enough, just give me a spoon and I'm good

Day 15: Something Microscopic - nerve cells

And that is everything! It really was nice having a topic each day, since most of the time when I want to draw I find myself staring at a blank page for 30 minutes. 
Have you ever done any kind of challenge like this? I'm thinking of creating my own the next time I need a doodle-pick-me-up. 

Craigslist Browsing Through Cincy

OK, so I apologize for the hiatus. Eric and I have actually been pretty busy lately...just not with anything worth sharing. Not that we're boring people! We've just been out and about, and all the projects I have just aren't quite ready yet. 

A few thing that HAVE happened (to prove we're not just sitting on our butts): 

• Had a FANTASTIC birthday week featuring multiple dinners with my favorite people ever! 

• Removed the random bars from our stairs 
• Found a taller end-table for our living room 
• Hung curtains in our bedroom

Never underestimate how curtains can finish the look of a room.

• Bought these dressers to use as bedside tables, which I talked about here
• Went to Miss Kim's promenade 

Someone explain to me who this beautiful young woman is, and where my baby sister went. 

and finally...

• Finished a curtain for our kitchen!

We've been trying super hard to find the time to finish the second one, but hey 50% done

Something I have found time for though is Craigslist browsing! If you read my blog at all, you already know my love affair with Craigslist. One man's trash is truly another man's treasure, and if you can keep an eye out for good bones and clean lines, you are destined to discover a beautiful piece among the chaos. 

Here are a few winners that I've spotted in the Cincinnati area. 

I've included some links, but you never know how long these listings are going to last, early bird gets the worm!

$40 for this beauty of a desk/bureau. Check out those champaign details and hardware, swoon! I want this so bad. I'm envisioning the frame painted white, but the drawers kept the natural wood for a dramatic contrast.

You can always find a decent china cabinet on Craigslist. This one is $250, but for it's size that's a great price. The lattice detail on the front makes this one unique, as well as those beautiful pulls on the drawers. You could paint this puppy a vibrant accent color or keep the wood as is. 

Another little vintage desk, this one also $40. I love the brass handles and the lines running across the top. 

$20 bucks for this dresser. Look at all those drawers! Clean lines, adorable feet, and super funky hardware! 

If you can reupholster, or know someone who can, the possibilities of mind-blowing FABULOUSNESS are absolutely infinite with this 6-piece living room set. $700 could get you a couch, love seat, sofa seat, two side tables, and a coffee table. If you're feeling bold, just envision  a playful fabric all over the seat with a nice accent color framing it all out. The mix of modern and classic could be incredible. 

Got a mudroom that tends to collect everything and anything you drop at the door? These industrial style lockers could be the key to organization success! $125 for a set of three. 

I've been on a bamboo kick lately, and these $25 chairs are just the ticket. Looks like you could easily recover those cushions, and if you like maybe give the wood a bright coat of new paint! Throw an adorable pillow on each and this pair is looking snazzy! 

I honestly don't think you can go wrong with brass. Give it a little elbow grease (or lemon juice and baking soda) to shine this bad boy up, and for $100 you've got a STUNNING bed frame. 

Do you have something from Craigslist that you've overhauled and made your own? 

In other news;  I'm working on giving my blog a little makeover, we'll see how it goes.  

AND this is my 100th post! Woooo!!! *throws mini batch of confetti* 

Be sure to have a wonderful Easter! 

MK Originals

Hello everyone! 

I want to dedicate this post to one incredibly special woman,  and show a few examples of her amazing skill! 

For as long as I can remember, my grandmother has been a maker of beautiful things. Whether it was knitting an afghan, working with dried flowers, playing a musical instrument, or painting illustrations on boxes, baskets, and miniature birdhouses. She is a true creative soul, and is always willing to share that passion with us. Growing up, visits to our grandparent's usually included learning how to count stitches, playing the piano, painting in old t-shirts, and of course watching Jeopardy and raiding the cookie drawer. 

One of Grandma's specialties is making jewelry. These "MK Originals" have become some of the most cherished pieces in my jewelry box, and I know all of my cousins and aunts feel the same way. No matter who she is creating the jewelry for, she always seems to capture that person's style perfectly. 

She also made all of the jewelry for my wedding. Along with all of the earrings for my bridesmaids and flower girl, she created this incredibly beautiful purple statement necklace which I am STILL obsessed with. 

Bottom line, Grandma Marilyn K is a rock star. 

We love her endlessly, and are always so thankful for the beautiful things that come from her hand as well as her heart. 

:)