~winner~

And we have a winner folks!
{love pillow}

The winner is the writer of the blog, Happy Turtle!
Congratulations! Don't forget, their is still time to enter my Minted giveaway. Click here to enter!

xoxo

~thrifty thursday~{fabric scrap garland}

Recently my mom gave me a bag filled with vintage fabrics.

I was in the middle of making a different project with them {which I will share shortly} and decided to make a garland for Valentine's Day.
These are so easy, kids can make them. I feel silly even doing a tutorial. Basically you just tear strips of varying widths and lengths of fabric.
I also used some lace trim and ribbon on mine.

You can use any material for base. Twine, ribbon, cording. I had leather cording on hand, so that is what I used. I
tied it from one kitchen cupboard handle to one a few feet down and started randomly tying pieces on.

You can make it as full or as sparse as you'd like.
I made mine pretty full.

And there you have it!
xoxo

~a custom heart art print from Minted~{giveaway}

A few days ago I shared with you on instagram my heart snapshot art that I bought from Minted.
A Valentines Day present for myself if you will.

Well today, Minted is offering one just for a lucky My Sweet Savannah reader!
That's 2 giveaways in one week! Click here to enter the other giveaway going on.

Here is the mock up of mine, I haven't received it yet.
I am on pins and needles waiting for it to arrive.

Isn't that darling? It took me about 3-4 days to finally settle on photos that the whole family agreed upon~
picky, picky, picky. But, I think I got some really special ones in there.

So, how would you like to be entered to win a 16x16 custom heart art piece, FRAMED?!

{valued at $118.00}


Just go to Minted and let me know what you see that really stands out to you.
Not only does Minted create beautiful Christmas cards, see our passed years here,
but they have the most darling Valentine's Day cards. If you'd like to order any Valentine's Day cards,
use the promo code HEART10 to get 10% off!

In order to ensure delivery by Valentine's day, you must purchase by Thursday this week.

For an extra entry, pls. like Minted on Facebook, and for yet another entry, follow them on Pinterest.

That's 3 chances to win!

Good luck friends! I will announce the winner one week from today.

xoxo

~life is beauty full~

I recently stumbled across Sarah {blondemamalove} on instagram and instantly fell
in love with her photos. She has a darling family and an equally darling house.
Today I'd like to share with you the upstairs in her carriage house and introduce you to her
new blog if you haven't seen it already!

I recently had a chance to chat with Sarah and I asked her a few questions.
One of the questions I asked was about her style and how she would describe it.
Here is what she had to say:


i would say it's eclectic. i like for my house to feel crisp and clean... yet warm, inviting and charming. i like a neutral palette... then i am free to add in color as i choose and change it for holidays, parties, seasons, or simply to get a change. i am ever changing. and my style is ever evolving. right now i am very into a boho-chic look. i like the collected feel.... and really that doesn't happen over night... you have to be patient. only have things in your house that you love. and take the time to wait for those items... be it furniture or decor. i feel like your house is your back drop for your life's story.

Another question I asked was where her favorite places are to shop. Aren't you dying to know?

boutiques. i love finding eclectic, "found" items... that are not found everywhere. i just love the feel of charming boutiques...
art fairs. my parents are both artists. i grew up going to art fairs. and it is in my blood. i love collecting pieces of art year to year.
as far as stores... anthropologie (of course) again, i love their eclectic, unique feel. even though it's a main stream store, it doesn't feel like that!!... it feels very boutique-ish
for big furniture pieces i love restoration hardware. their pieces are beautiful and i have never been disappointed by anything i've bought there!

Where does Sarah get most of her inspiration from?

of course pinterest. i mean, really... can't say enough about what a wonderful tool for inspiration it is.
but i also love a good ol' design book or magazine... there is something about seeing it in print. and i love the feel of paper.
i've gotten a lot of inspiration from traveling, and visiting different boutique hotels. for instance, my love of white came from the mondrian hotel in miami years ago.

I know you are dying to see more pictures of this carriage house, so head right over here to do so. Make sure you check out the rest of her lovely blog to see glimpses into her main home decorated for the holidays!

xoxo

~love pillow~ {& a giveaway}

I love this time of year. I love adding in bits of pink for Valentines day in my home.
What about you? Are you a red or a pink person?

I recently just got this sweet little love pillow.
This etsy artist makes the cutest pillows, custom ones too.
Check out her shop right here.

If you would like a chance to win a $30 credit to their etsy shop, Coverlove,
visit their shop and comment back here telling me what you would pick out.
I will announce the winner this Friday.
Good luck, xoxo

~chalk painted candlesticks~

I wanted to show you an easy way to make a bunch of mix and match candlesticks go together.
Since Annie Sloan chalk paint covers practically any surface, I decided to use it on this project.
I started with candlesticks in varying sizes and styles and finishes.

Gave them all 2 coats of Annie Sloan cocoa paint….

And finished off with both clear and dark wax.
Much better!

xoxo

~thrifty thursday~

I just realized that most of my thrifty Thursday projects have been painting related.
Since I am sure not all of you are painters, or even have interest in painting, I will try to vary my future projects.

But, for today, I regret to tell you that this one is, yet again, another painting project.

I saw this print at Anthropologie and instantly fell in love.
{for those of you that do not paint, you can always just buy the print!}

I thought it would be fun to try and paint my own, so I set out to find a perfect canvas to paint on.
This is what I found at my local thrift shop:

I remember how much I loved this book when Savannah was a baby. Very sweet print, but not really what I need at this stage in my life.
So, I painted it with a coat of Annie Sloan pure white paint and let my creativity do the rest!
The end result is fun.
It's bright and cheery.
Yes, mine looks more like a paint by number but it's still fun.
What do you think?

Shall we do a before and after?

xoxo

~simplify~

Since we have a new puppy, I have been staying at home all day every day.
Therefore I have been working on several projects to keep myself busy.

{I won't lie though, I've been watching a lot of Lifetime movies}

A couple days ago I looked around at the house and it looked like an unorganized
craft room threw up all over. Clutter everywhere! I was starting to feel claustrophobic.
So yesterday I cleaned, I cleaned like there was no tomorrow.
I scrubbed, I washed, I fluffed, and most importantly, I simplified.
Let me tell you, it's like a breath of fresh air in here.

Now, back to the couch to watch more lifetime movies and snuggle with the puppy.

xoxo

~a porch refresh~

I posted a photo of our little porch makeover I just did on instagram,
{under mysweetsavannah}
and it turned out to be my most liked photo!

The porch was looking rather neglected with it's dead fall flowers, and well, that was it.

So, out came the dead plants and in went a $20 boxwood from Home Depot.
I love boxwood, kinda have a slight obsession with them!

I also had a couple smaller boxwoods in little grey pots inside my home, so I moved those out too.

And, because I was on a boxwood craze, I rescued the other one in front from a different spot in the yard and planted it there too.
Easy, a little greenery goes a long way.

During the holidays I had a Christmas themed door mat, and since that holiday is over,
I decided to move my indoor outdoor rug from Ballard Designs out there.

A little welcoming artwork, and the porch was complete!

Voila! 10 minutes to a much more inviting entry!

p.s. I had a lot of questions on the house numbers on our door. I bought them years ago, can't remember where, but etsy sells a ton of vinyl decals……..

xoxo

~loving~{pops of color}

Maybe it's the hope of spring on the horizon.
Maybe it's the blank slate I am left with after Christmas.
Whatever it is, I am really loving fresh pops of color lately.
Here are a few of my favorites:

Yarn bombed antlers!

I see a DIY in my near future!

I just ordered this print and still want more from her collection!

I'm thinking about adding some colorful plates mixed in with my white ironstone on my dining room walls.
These I just love!

I am also thinking about adding some color to our dining room hutch shelves with these.

Oh, more of these too!

And finally, I recently discovered this blog which is full of color and fun crafts!


Here's to a happy color filled week!

xoxo

~pantry made with Ikea bookshelves~

Our pantry in our kitchen is the size of a regular closet. When we first added it, we chose wire shelving.
That quickly became old because things would tip over and it was just a giant mess.
It just so happened that 2 Ikea billy bookshelves fit perfectly.

I like how everything is all neat and tidy now. I recently made a trip to the store and loaded up on matching glass canisters. I think this makes a huge difference.
It's so easy now when I am baking, I can see everything clearly.

Another thing I bought was inexpensive white stacking bins. They keep all the kids snacks separated and it makes making school lunches a breeze.

I found some cute pantry labels online that I was going to use for my glass canisters, but I needed pretty specific ones, so I made my own.
I started with this floral design {thank you Shabby Blogs!} and went from there. I bought sticker paper at the office supply store and printed them at home on my printer. If you are going to do this I highly recommend "reposition-able" sticker paper. There's nothing nothing worse than having to scrape sticker residue off glass, am I right?

And, just for you lovelies, I am including all the ones I made, for you to print and use!
Just copy them into a word document, size them accordingly, and print!

Enjoy them!

~vol 25 giveaway WINNER~

Wow! This giveaway sure had a lot of entries!
I am so pleased to announce the winner of this giveaway because she is
one of my favorites.

The Nester!


I cannot wait to see what you do with your new poster and see which one you choose!

If you didn't win and would still like to purchase one, Jessica from Vol 25 is offering FREE SHIPPING with the
discount code

SHIPPEDFREEDISCOUNT

Just use that code at checkout in her etsy shop!

xoxo

~thrifty thursday~

I almost walked right by these signs in the thrift store.
But something stopped me in my tracks. No, it wasn't the electric pink, but
it was the "bones" of these signs. Something that reminded me
of Sugarboo Designs, the way they were trimmed out.
So, I swiped them up and walked proudly out of the store!

Here they are in all their bright glory:

Here is what I did to make them a little more me.
First I painted the frame with Annie Sloan COCOA. Then I dry brushed on some grey stain.
Then I painted the inside with Annie Sloans pure white.

Ah, better already!
With Valentines day coming up I thought I'd make these all lovey dovey.

For the first one, I painted on a black X and O and then the word forever in deep red. Sanded the
whole piece down when it was dry to age it, and added a coat of Annie Sloan clear wax to finish it off!

The next one I added a favorite quote. I did this with my handy dandy rubber alphabet
stamps. It's not perfect, but I like the way the letters are a little wonky. What do you think?

And a little side by side action:

Much better wouldn't you say?
Lesson here is, don't pass things like this up, even if the color is burning your eyeballs!

On a personal note, my daughter Savannah is raising money for her relay for life team that she participates in every year. If anyone
would like to donate, even a dollar, pls. click here.

Here is her story:

My Reason to Relay
I relay for everyone who is going through cancer, everyone thats battling cancer at this very moment, and all the survivors out there. Everyday thousands of people loose there life and dont get to celebrate there next birthday. They dont get to see there kids grow up and experience everything amazing as we grow up. My goal is to raise $1,500. My aunt is a survivor and I know many other close family friends who have cancer. Lets end cancer and show it whos in charge. Please donate to my page and help save someones birthday and memories to come.

Thank you!

xoxo