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stormieariel 2016

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

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After showing our display holder, I decided I would show off our Christmas tree as well. Every year putting up the Christmas tree is a great reminder of God's loving mercy for us. We take this reminder a step further by hanging tags on our tree with some of the different names of God.


I must say this personalized touch is my favorite thing to put on the tree. We are able to reread these names every year and reflect on these names to understand who God is. Another personal touch to our tree is the vintage glass ornaments Babcia gifted us with last year. I love vintage and antique decor and was excited to receive all these from my grandmother.


The last personal touch to our tree is random ornaments Anthony and I pick out every year. We will go to the store and pick out an ornament each that represents us in some way.

Anthony played the saxophone in high school.
I was able to travel to London
the year before starting high school.
I love how all these pieces join together and create a meaningful tree for my hubby and I to admire and reminisce during the holidays.




Linking up with: Remodelaholic and Made in a Day 

Do you decorate a tree for Christmas?
What is your favorite decor item for the holidays?
What traditions do you and your family have?
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Monday, December 15, 2014

Rustic Display Holder

Rustic Display Holder

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A few weeks after moving into our new house, we stopped by our old neighbor's house to ask them if they planned to use the pallet sitting out on their driveway (it had been sitting there for months and I was constantly keeping my eye on it). Luckily for us me, they handed it over gladly and said there were plenty more in the backyard if we wanted them. Um? Yah!!

However, we haven't gone back to get more quite yet because my garage is still filled with everything else left to unpack. Besides, I hadn't even decided, at that point, what I was going to do with the one we had.

Wall Shelf.
Wine Rack.
Herb Garden Shelf.
Raised Pallet Garden.

The list goes on; I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to pallets alone. You should totally check it out. Anywho, I finally decided what I would do with the first pallet: garage organizer to store left over wood from previous projects, lawn care equipment and the like of such things. To create that we had to remove a board and decided to remove the one that was cracked and broken. I immediately knew what I wanted to create using that broken piece of wood.


During the holidays, I plan to use my display holder to hang our stockings and afterwards I will move the holder into our closet for my necklaces. I am enjoying the look and style of our holder. I also created a smaller version with three knobs that I will be offering on my etsy shop soon (stay updated to know when to grab it!) As for now, enjoy the rest of the pictures.



How do you display your stockings?
Do you stalk your neighbors trash?
Are you a DIYer or do you prefer to purchase?


Linking up with: Remodelaholic, Thrifty Decor Chick, McCall Manor
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Sunday, December 14, 2014

Introducing stormieariel decor...

Introducing stormieariel decor...

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A few years ago, I looked into hobbies that could bring in extra money. I loved dogs and was raised around breeding so I decided that was the perfect income hobby. While I will continue that hobby, it isn't a constant flow unless you have multiple dogs. We now only have two dogs, Labrador retrievers, and plan to keep it that way, at least for now. 

So, Anthony started thinking of other hobbies we can do to bring in extra money as well. He came up with quite a few but one we can enjoy together is building and creating. Which is why we set up shop (I don't really know what that means but sounded cool).

Not only will we be creating decor for our house but for your house too! If there is something you like that we created, we will be more than glad to take orders and customize it! We have already started creating a few items and some are already listed on my etsy shop. Of course, items I have created in the past can be ordered as well!
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Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Here and There

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As many of you may already know, we bought a new house.

When we started the house hunt, I already started  thinking of all the ways I can personalize our future house to make it into our home. Once we finally knew which house was ours, my head went spinning nonstop. I even purged all my Pinterest boards pertaining to our home. I was more excited then ever to start working on our new house.

My first line of business, moving into the house, was making it livable for all of us while getting ready to host 25+ people for Thanksgiving. I was able to accomplish both things this last month and now I cannot wait to start all these other projects I have in mind.

However, Christmas is two weeks away (I am hosting Christmas Eve dinner with a gift exchange) and money is tight. All the beautiful things I would love to do and most likely would take forever for me to complete anyways is on hold at least for a little bit. I am not at all disappointed because it gives me more time to enjoy this holiday season with my hubby. We are both on break from school and he has vacation time coming up, exciting!

I also can take my time unpacking all the other boxes left in the garage (and possibly complete some smaller projects I started up and never completed).

As always, my posts will continue to be sporadic. I hope you all (if anyone) sticks with me!
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Friday, December 5, 2014

How to Decorate: Above the Kitchen Cabinets

How to Decorate: Above the Kitchen Cabinets

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In our first home, I researched for weeks on the art of decorating above the kitchen cabinets. There were many tips and tricks from so many bloggers. I kept some of those tips in mind and kind of created my own way. Now I am not an expert but I can give some advice of things I have learned along the way.

1. You do not have to buy new items, you can use things laying around the house like a basket:


2. Alternate heights of objects. I use this technique because of the varying height of our ceiling at our old house and the new house and this allows it to be more appealing to the eye and brings interest, in my opinion.

3. Layers. Certain items need to be layered to create more of a visual.


4. It takes time to make it feel right for you. This step is the hardest. You will do a lot of rearranging and it will seem endless and hopeless but once you got it right it will be magical. 

I have gone through so many arrangements for this small area:




I still am not pleased but I know it will get there eventually (and I will share my magical moment with y'all when it happens).

Most importantly, stay patient and remember to enjoy the moments turning your house into a home. There isn't a need to make everything Pinterest perfect, make your home represent you and your family not somebody else's.
Linking up with: A Life in Balance
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Saturday, November 29, 2014

Tabletalk

Tabletalk

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So the last you heard from me, Ant and I made the decision to attempt to build a dining table once we moved into our new house.

That time frame gave us four weeks before Thanksgiving which sounded very doable. However, due to unseen circumstances our closing date was postponed two weeks.

Once we were finally homeowners to our anticipated house, we were two weeks away from Thanksgiving and things seemed pretty hectic.

Not only did we need to focus on making things livable for all of our sake but we needed to figure out a seating arrangment since we were gonna host Thanksgiving for 25+ people asap.

Basically, we found a table similar to the one I wanted to build at a local antique store with all the details I was swooning over!


I originally wanted to place this table in the eat in kitchen however the table is a little fragile and probably wouldn't last every day use. Because of that, the table resides in the formal dining room and I cannot wait until the room is complete.

Although, my cousin and I were able to play around with tablescape ideas for Thanksgiving. 



Little progress like this makes my heart happy and excited for the next thing in store, whatever that may be!
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Friday, October 31, 2014

Lost Files

Lost Files

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In honor of our first home with a few days left before our move, I figured I would share undocumented projects that were near complete. 

I showed sneak peaks of our coat closet project:



And I think I mentioned the closet remodel for the second bedroom as well. Let's start with the secondary closet.

Our remodel started due to necessity. The wire shelf crashed because of the weight of things we needed in that closet. We didn't remodel right away, we rigged it and were careful with it. However, our niece was gonna move in and would need to use the closet. We rushed and completed the project in two days. We always planned to add the finishing touches to make the shoe shelf look more built in instead of forced in but after my niece moved out, my grandmother moved in.

This is the only picture from the remodel. Bad blogger.

Still very functional and the new owners can take out the shoe shelf if they want to add another rod.

The coat closet wasn't a necessity, more of a want.

I hate those wire shelving.

Anthony and I would just throw our jackets and belts on the dining chairs. The pile kept growing but it's just a hassle to take a hanger out and put the jacket on a hanger and hang it. I thought of creating hooks instead of a rod and looked to Pinterest. I saw many people had already created it in their own homes and it made me that more excited to try it. So we did! The only thing we didn't get to do was add shelving and paint the walls. However, the coat closet still came out beautiful and functional:


And that's the last of the house projects for our first home. I am sad to say bye but I'm excited for what is ahead!

Stayed tuned for an announcement!!


Linking up with:

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2014/10/link-party-palooza-giveaway-home-made-collection.html#more-65442
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Thursday, October 23, 2014

Furniture Building

Furniture Building

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So I've been thinking like ALOT about making a dining table. The more I think about it, the more I love the idea!! I have been scanning my previous pins on Pinterest for inspiration:

http://houseandhome.com/design/photo-gallery-farmhouse-style?page=0

http://ana-white.com/2013/05/plans/husky-farmhouse-table



My ultimate inspiration came down to this one:

http://www.rivieramaison.com/page/42/Home.html

I love the curvy legs, kinda reminds me of a french provincial dresser. Gosh, what I would do to have one of those in my bedroom. Anywho, I don't think I would paint the bottom white, I would keep it all the same wood tone: dark walnut. I am even thinking of refinishing the silver chest and end table to dark walnut. The coffee table is already that stain color.

So, I have been so caught up in my vision I even hand drew my version (shows how much thought I have really put into it):



And guess what!

Anthony is fully on board!! First things first, we move into the new house; buy all the tools we need that we don't already have. Then, we will also need to order table legs:

http://www.osbornewood.com/1190.cfm


Since this is our first time building furniture, I am not confident that we could create those gorgeous curves I love which is why we are purchasing the legs. The legs will also match the silver chest, end table and coffee table in the living room which will help keep consistency. However, everything else will be handmade.  

I am so excited to start this project with my hubby!! Hopefully we survive and a beautiful piece comes out! Stay posted for updates on our move and furniture building process.

P.S. Depending on how well this project turns out, we may also build our formal dining room table as well.
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Monday, October 20, 2014

New House, New Project

New House, New Project

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We finally sold our bedroom furniture, it wasn't the price I was hoping for but it's finally out of the way. 

In my first master bedroom plan, I was going to sell it and work on a custom headboard.




But...

We are in the middle of selling our house and buying a new one!! 

Originally we planned to live at our current house for at least 5 years especially since we haven't started a family yet. Our little 2 bedroom house was perfect for us and our dogs. However, my grandmother, Babcia, moved in with us and we desperately need our own bathroom and a little more privacy (the bedrooms are so close to each other in our current house). While I'm sad that I won't be able to complete everything I had planned for this house, I'm excited to start decorating and beginning projects at the new one!!

We already have the house picked out, approved, and accepted. We are only waiting on closing now.

I have quite a few projects to begin once we move in. The most important is some type of table for eating as we will be hosting Thanksgiving. We sold our little table because it's counter height and Babcia had a difficult time being able to sit on them comfortably and get off of them safely. 

For the kitchen table, I would like a 6 seat table. I had my eyes on the Cindy Crawford Ocean Grove white table 

http://www.roomstogo.com/product/Dining-Tables/Cindy-Crawford-Home-Ocean-Grove-White-Leg-Dining-Table/42106319/


but I'm not to crazy about the finish on top. It's like a cherry finish and I prefer the brown wood tone like dark walnut. 

All other tables I found in the stain color I like aren't as good quality and solid as the Cindy Crawford one.

I previously played with the idea of building a farmhouse table but I didn't want to go through the hassle. The idea reappeared and I'm leaning towards it again. I already had some pins on Pinterest pinned from my previously thought so I will be going back to those and see if I can successfully build a table in time for Thanksgiving! 

No promises that I will even follow through yet, it's still an idea and I have to get Anthony fully on board.
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Saturday, October 11, 2014

Our Closet Story

Our Closet Story

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When we bought our house a little over two years ago, our master bedroom closet wasn't what it is now. I have shown you a snippet a few months ago when showing the master bedroom and mentioned I needed to do a post for our closet separately.

Well that day has finally came. 

When we purchased our house, there was a big gaping hole where a closet would be. There wasn't any shelving, rods, doors, nada. Just open space.

I imagine the closet looked like this once upon a time:


This picture is from a house a few doors down that is the EXACT same floor plan. So our closet had a door but I'm glad the previous owners made the decision to remove those hideous doors in our house.

Anywho, when moving in I had a clean slate to design a closet that would work for me. Most people jump to Pinterest for inspiration and most of the time, I am one of those people. But not this time, I went for function. I needed shelving for my shoes because let's be honest, I have too many. The other thing I needed in our closet was wood rods. I cannot stand the wire shelving stuff for closets. I also have way too many clothes that those things rip out the wall. (No joke, we had to remodel the coat closet and secondary bedroom closet because of this).

So I gave measurements to my father in law and a visual explanation of what I wanted to do. The next weekend, they show up with a floor to ceiling shoe shelf my grandfather in law built and installed my new shelving unit. Than they went to Home Depot to buy two wood rods and installed those. And that was that. I had a custom made closet.


The next step was to install doors. Pinterest helped with inspiration. I wanted bifold doors like these:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/closet-door-cou-106501

I also thought of a sliding barn door but decided to eventually install sliding doors withOUT mirrors like these:

 All in all, we will not be installing doors. I plan to leave our closet open and let new owners decide what they want to do. I don't have an actual step by step tutorial for our custom closet as my in-laws did most of the work. Maybe one day, I can actual watch them and give a tutorial but no promises!

Have you had to remodel your closet? How did you find inspiration?
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Sunday, September 28, 2014

DIY Fall Wreath

DIY Fall Wreath

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Last Spring, I created my own Spring wreath for half the price of others listed. I knew I had to create a Fall wreath on my own as well. I was in love with quite a few wreath inspirations that cost $45+ and was determined to cut that price in half for my DIY version.

I gathered my supplies from Garden Ridge which is now known as at home.


I already had the sunflowers and glue gun. I purchased the wreath, harvest bunch and burlap ribbon for about $15. #winning

I glued the flowers and ribbon on the exact same way I did for the DIY Spring Wreath. I also followed this tutorial to create the bow. It was super easy to follow and took less than 10 minutes.


In total, I completed this project in less than an hour. I may add a little something more down the road but as of now it couldn't be anymore perfect.
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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

30x30 Week 14

30x30 Week 14

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I don't think I should even call the challenge Thirty with 30 anymore. I have used more than 30 items, most from my current wardrobe and my recent purchases as a gift to myself for reaching one of my weightloss goals. I also haven't even made 30 outfits, I believe I am short by quite a few.

Either way, I have had fun creating outfits with clothes I already have and seeing my body change and fit into smaller sizes! This weekend, I got a picture of one outfit. I know, I stink at this blog thing.

Top: New York & Company / Shorts: American Eagle / Shoes: Austin Trading Co.

This outfit was one of my favorites. I am finally coming into my own style and I'm loving it.

That's it for now! See ya next week!

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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

30x30 Week 13

30x30 Week 13

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Hey Guys! So I missed week 12 of the challenge but more than made up for it in week 13. I wore 4 different outfits however I did make new purchases. 


When I first started this challenge, I wanted to avoid shopping to give myself time to get closer to my goal weight and save money. I haven't reached my goal weight but I'm not sure I want to have a goal weight anymore. I'm becoming more comfortable with my body and I don't think the number on a scale can give me the happiness or contentment I want for myself.

So my goals have changed, I want to wear size small in shirts and size 8 in pants. I have met one of these goals so I rewarded myself with some new clothing.

I am now a small in shirts and blouses! I was so excited when I started noticing my mediums were a bit too loose so I went to the mall for the heck of it and tried on some smalls and they fit!! So three of these outfits this week is including a shirt I got on sale for about $9 that is a size small:)

The first outfit is everything I already owned but the shirt just wasn't included in the challenge. I wore this outfit to run an errand for school.

Shirt: Academy / Shorts: Old Navy / Shoes: Sperry's

After a trip to the mall, my hubby took me on a date to the movies and I wanted to wear one of my new shirts.

Shirt: New York & Company / Pants: American Eagle / Shoes: Sperry's

Since I only wore the shirt for 2 hours, I didn't to pair it with slacks the next morning for church.

Shirt: New York & Company / Pants: Banana Republic / Shoes: Dexter

& to enjoy the rest of the afternoon I switched out the slacks and heels for some comfy shorts (new purchase) and sandals.

Shirt & Shorts: New York & Company / Shoes: Walmart

I enjoyed all my outfits this past week but my favorite was from date night and lounging Sunday afternoon. I can definitely see more outfits using this shirt so I think it was well worth the $9.

Which outfit is your favorite? Do you plan to take on this challenge?

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Sunday, July 6, 2014

Mission: Let's Get Serious COMPLETED

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The past few months, Anthony and I have been working on paying down our debt. Honestly we don't have that much, just our house, Anthony's student loans and our credit card. It's not a lot of places we owe but the amounts do add up to quite a bit. We decided to start with the smallest debt which was our credit card.

We have struggled to pay down this debt for years, as soon as we would make progress, we would max it out. For years this happened but we decided to get serious (hence the name).

Before we decided how much to pay a month or our goal date, we broke down our bills with the average amounts. Other monthly expenses followed including Mission: Let's Get Serious.

Once we were able to see what our income looked like in ratio to bills and necessities, we decided on a goal date. To find out the amount we needed to pay each month to make our goal we divided the debt into the amount of months. For example, we started in February and wanted to pay off our credit card by June so we divided the amount of our credit by 5 which gave us the monthly payment we needed to pay. It was a reasonable amount so we decided it was a go.


We completed our mission and have now began discussing which debt we will tackle next. We started with the smaller debt first because we knew it would be easier and now discussing the next one is difficult because it's not going to take only 5 months or even a year to tackle the rest. However, that won't stop us from our bigger goal of being debt-free.

I share this with you not to brag but to give inspiration to others to tackle their debt now. I was inspired by Kelly at View Along the Way when she humbly shared the news of being completely debt-free.

Do you have debt? How are you tackling it, smallest to biggest or biggest to smallest?
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