five pinterest crafts.

we went to the lake this past weekend and took some photos of the awesome glaciers. i can't wait to share more of those photos with y'all.

while trying to kick these winter blues i am looking at lots of ways to get active outdoors and get my creative spark back by getting crafty again. so here are my latest inspirations from pinterest i am looking to achieve this week.

--- i am very excited to attempt to make this chunky scarf this week. there is such a great tutorial and i love the final look. it will come in handy this week at we enter into some more cold weather.

--- there are a few new recipes i'm looking to try out this week. my husband is a sucker for spinach and artichoke dip, so i'm excited to twist things around and try out this awesome chicken recipe as well as creating some homemade french vanilla creamer.

--- to prepare our hearts and home for easter, i am excited to be partaking in 40 bags in 40 days. a sweet friend of mine is doing it and i decided this year i would jump on the band wagon. i want to make more room for jesus in our hearts and our home so i'm looking forward to de-cluttering; and it will make spring cleaning that much easier.

--- this year i'm working on making all personalized, homemade birthday cards [and hopefully christmas cards]. i am excited to start making and mailing them out to some sweet friends of mine.

--- i really want to make some jewelry too. we're trying to be wise with our finances these days, especially while we're living off one income - so i think this washer necklace will be budget friendly.

bridal shower invites.

did i already share with you how excited i am that one of my best friends is getting married soon?!!!

i am so excited to celebrate her big day in just over one month!

this is my first time being a matron of honor.

it's was my first time planning any sort of showers.

i wanted to make it personal, memorable and unique.

so i thought.. why not make it all handmade!

i figured i made a handmade wedding, why can't i do a handmade shower too??

and so.. i did!

here are the invitations i made..

these are the supplies. paper. your stamp. embossing ink. embossing powder in the color you would like. (you can use clear ink and a colored powder OR a colored ink with clear powder - they turn out the same way.). a tray to dispose of the extra powder. a heat gun.

i got some colored paper and created the invite on the computer and left some open spaces for some crafty touches. like stamping and embossing. two of my favorite things for cards and invites!

my wedding invites were also handmade, stamped and embossed!

i did this sample on a white invite to make sure it turned out how i was envisioning.

the process..

first you stamp on the paper where you want. i don't have a photo of this since it was clear.

then you dump the powder on it. i like to make sure i get the entire stamp covered.

once you have all the ink covered, shake off the extra powder into the tray to save and use again. i usually tap the paper lightly to make sure the powder around the design is off too, otherwise that will also get embossed.

once you're happy with how it looks, start up that heat gun! i hold the gun about 6-8 inches away and then once it starts embossing i usually adjust as needed. be careful to not hold it in one place too long, otherwise you will burn the paper.

let it sit aside, it will be hot. the paper will also probably be a little wavy or discolored, no worries! it will lay back down and the color comes back after a couple minutes.

after trying my sample on white, i moved on to the real deal.

once they were all stamped and embossed i added the final touches (a strip of paper on the bottom, the thread and paper at the top [where i wrote where they are registered on one side and rvsp date on the other]) and they were ready to send out!

what do you think?
miss riss didn't even understand them.. silly girl.
do you?

artwork.

so as some of you know i went to school for interior design.. i didn't end up with my degree in that.. i was like between 1/2-1 year away from finishing. sometimes i think i'm crazy for not finishing. i still think the change i made at that time was the right thing for me. none the less.. my passion for interior design is still there. if you want to know more about me you can look back at [this] post.

i have always said if some day i can design and decorate my own home, that would be worth all the schooling and debt the program brought me into. [it's an expensive program... let me tell you!]. the house mr. b and i are in right now is definitely not our final home.. this morning was a pain trying to get ready when we only have 1 bathroom and too many people. but it's been fun trying to make things our own in this home.

you can see [here] where i updated the bathroom and i promise the walls are not that bright. one of the photos just about blinded me.. it's bright.. but definitely not like the photos.

i even attempted to create a [craft room] out of a scary basement area.. that is STILL a work in progress - like most of my crafts are.. who am i kidding.. that's my life - a constate work in progess!

our home is very very very small.. it's a perfect beginner home though.. [this] is the big change i made to the dining area and then i added [this] farm table just a couple weeks ago!

if you look at one thing that i haven't done yet.. [other than in one spot in the bathroom] there is no art work! i have nothing on the walls in our home! it's horrible. i am so scared to hang things up.. why? becuase i change my mind often. i like to keep things fresh and move stuff around. i know i will be so much happier with the home if i just hang things up.

so recently i made a bold move.. you know what groupon is right? well i found a groupon for canvas photos of all different sizes. the biggest size [24"x36"] was the biggest bang for my buck. have i ever mentioned that i am dutch? i like saving as much as possible. and i thought i would make a bold statement with them.

well - i waited until the VERY last minute to place my order and the pictures i really really wanted were either too big of a file for they didn't crop right. so i was nervous. found some wedding photos that would fit and placed the order. i was seriously so nervous how they would turn out.. i've been waiting for over a week and they arrived last night!! friends, i couldn't be MORE happy with how they turned out! seriously!!!!

here they are before i hung them up.. and here is after!

and they are SUCH great quality too!!!! i should take a photo of our entire living room with them so you can see how great they look and how they just make this room pop! :) i was so excited i called my mom and made her come over with her friends to check them out!! :)

i posted these photos on instagram and facebook last night and have gotten lots of questions about them so here is the deets:

- i found them through groupon

- the company is called picture it on canvas

- i have seen this deal a total of 3 times [the first time i missed the deadline and was so upset, but then i saw it again and made sure to purchase them :). and then it was there again just recently actually..]

- you can only get one per person - another great bonus from being married ;) now i can use 2 people for every time there's an offer out there.

if you have any other questions you can comment or email me at onefourthreeblog[at]gmail[dot]com!

hope you all have a wonderful saturday :)

- jennifer.

i got a package!

so - i am very excited!! look what came in the mail!!

i am super super excited!!!

i saw SO many different fabrics i wanted to buy.. but i need to take it one project at a time. i really wanted a chevron pattern and looked all over at some local stores but couldn't find what i had in mind. then i saw this website on pinterest and thought i would check there.

well i found exactly what i was looking for!

then i decided to grab a couple other fabrics to use and get free shipping of course ;).

i can't wait to show you what i'm going to do with each one of them!

if you get a chance, go check this store out! they have TONS of great fabrics! and they are much cheaper. :)

stay tuned for the final product...

creating fun.

the weather has been so beautiful these past couple weeks! this is not the normal winter for us. usually we are still buried in 2 feet of snow, roads covered in ice and there is no such thing as above freezing temperatures. but listen to the forecast for this week starting tomorrow.. 61, 61, 54, 70, 61. do you see that?!?!? it's supposed to be 70 degrees on wednesday!! with SUN!! it's getting me very excited for spring!! and spring gets me excited for garage sales!! i've already got a running list of things i'll be looking for this spring and summer at garage sales.

but before i get ahead myself too quickly.. i have some goodies that i'm working on right now :)

this was a quick fun DIY project i made and mr. bv helped me with! a chalk board!!!

we have this pantry that we got from target to have more storage for food and baking supplies. it was looking boring and i wanted to add something. mr. bv had asked me if we could hang something up to write prayer requests and praises on. so that got my mind turning and i thought why not a chalk board on the pantry!!

here is a tutorial for what we did!

i wanted to make our own chalk board paint from a mixture i found on pinterest

this mixture is 1 cup of flat paint and 2 tbs of unsanded grout. mix them together and you have chalkboard paint! the reason i wanted to do it this way is because i needed the flat black paint for another project and now i have unsanded grout for other chalkboard paint colors i want to make in the future!

here is the pantry before.. with the picture on the right you can kind of see the shine finish that is on it. well.. i didn't really think anything of the finish until this happened...

i knew it was going to be more work.. but i didn't lose hope! mr. bv took the pantry downstairs and sanded the entire finish off - down to the bare wood. then we took it and painted it again and turned out MUCH better :)

once we painted it, we had to sand it again to get the little bumps out. mr. bv sanded it with 100 grit sand paper and it turned out soo good! i'm super happy with the finished result! and now we enjoy having space to write current prayer requests and praises!

and here it is again! :) now on to the next idea i have in mind!

have a fabulous saturday!

- jennifer - 

my own craft area!

I love to craft! Our home is not very big.. and not having a place to craft was driving me crazy!!

My husband got a workshop table when we moved in and I was jealous. A few weeks later I was on Pinterest and saw this picture of a craft table.. it's from the ivy cottage blog. You can click the link to see the table and DIY instructions to have you own.

I brainstormed with B and we figured out a little different way to make the table but with the same(ish) idea.

So now here is my new craft area!!

We went to the store and bought a 4' by 8' piece of melamine board so there was a nice finish to the top of my table. We also bought some 2" by 2" by 8" board to build a support for the table. B measured it all out, cut it, and drilled it together. Then we nailed the frame to the table top. After that we put together shelving units we got for the table to sit on. Here was the finished product!!

I liked the idea and it's sort of the same idea as the table I saw on Pinterest.. but it wasn't very sturdy for me. My table is heavier since I didn't use the doors (I didn't want a crack in the middle of the table). B ended up adding legs and it's MUCH better now! So after some addition changes, here is my most recent craft table!

There still have a lot of work to be done to it. I need to paint the frame and legs, but I love being able to have such a large table to craft all over!! It's been SO handy! I have even found B putting his stuff over there because I have more space than him now ;)

It was such a cheap project!

Melamine: $24.00

Wood for frame and legs: $12.00

Shelving units $15.00 (each)

Craft Table DIY: $51.00

That's SO much cheaper than tables online for that size... I didn't realize how expensive they are! I'll do an update sometime once I have the area more finished too :)

- Jennifer -

first tutorial ever: dining room chair cushions!

Hello!

It's been so long since I've updated my blog. So many things have happened between August and now! To start.. I am now married to the most WONDERFUL amazing man God could have EVER blessed me with!! We got married in September :) It's such a fun adventure being our own family now and starting our own journey as a married couple. We have enjoyed things like: starting holiday traditions, hosting friends in our new home, preparing meals together, coffee in our pajamas days, and doing crafts/projects together for our home and others!

This past weekend B was out of town helping a friend do some work on his truck and I stayed home. I decided it was time to tackle a bigger project around the house. This is a picture of our dining room...

And here is a picture now!

Do you see the difference?? Yes, I know the walls are still bare. I'm nervous to hang things up - which isn't like me! haha I'll get there soon :) But other than the blank walls do you see??? I made new chair cushions! When we first moved the dining table and chairs in, I said the green needed to go immediately! Well.. life got really busy really fast. I finally got a free weekend and tackled them with my amazing mother! The table and chairs (and walls) still need some loving, but at least the green is gone!!

This was my Saturday afternoon:

Look at that green! Ah! This table set was my great aunt's set that got passed down, sorry El.. I just couldn't handle the green any longer!

After we tore the plastic green seating off, the padding underneath was SUPER thin! They were pretty hard.. but now they are nice and plush :) 

We took foam and outlined the seats and cut them out, the foam was not easy to cut straight with scissors, but it worked!

I didn't want to have a crazy print on the chairs, but I didn't want a solid color either.. I found this orange linen at the store and my mom threw out the idea of burlap across it. I was nervous about it being itchy on legs and if it would not lay right, but it worked great!

I measured out the center and tacked down the burlap to the linen. To keep the burlap from moving, I ended up sewing it down in 5 rows. I was only going to do 2 lines... but quickly realized the middle section moved and shifted.

I finally got to use my new sewing machine! I got it on Black Friday at Target and was super excited to use it!!

My mom pulled the fabric tight while I put the staples in. I had to be a little creative with the corners.. and I'm sorry I must have missed a photo of them. I tucked them and twisted them underneath to get a small pucker on both ends.

and VUALA! Here they are now!!!

We had to have some fun after! This is my AMAZING mother and I :) We like to have LOTS of fun together! I am SO thankful for all her love, support, and help! I love you momma!

It's so much more enjoyable to sit at the dining room table for meals now. So much more comfy too. Now I need to just tackle those walls...

Thanks for stopping by and reading! Hope you enjoyed my first tutorial!

- Jennifer -