a little bit of austin in little rock.

Aaron and I took a trip to Austin, TX over the week of July 4th. We had been debating on going to the beach for our summer vacation, and it just didn't seem to work out....which I was very sad about! BUT we have some family that has an absolutely beautiful lakehouse in Austin that they so graciously let us use for the week. I have been a couple of times, and LOVE Austin, but Aaron had never been. So, we decided to venture on down to Texas (even though Aaron was a little wary of going to the home of the Longhorns). We BOTH ended up loving it!! We swam at Barton Springs, kayaked in the river, ran by Town Lake, saw the infamous bats downtown, shopped, and ate some FABULOUS food! One of our favorite restaurants was a place called Hula Hut, located on Town Lake. It was the cutest little restaurant and the yummiest food. Aaron and I both ordered the fish tacos and we both loved them. I tried to recreate the yumminess here at home, and although they were not quite the same, it did feel like a little bit of Austin here at home! I found the recipe online, and added some of my own "touches".

Here are a few pictures from Hula Hut:

THE Hula Hut 

And here is the yummy recipe:

I hope you enjoy this little taste of Austin! :)

Summer means crafting!

Okay, okay, okay, I know it has been waaaaay too long since my last blog. My goal of once a week is totally shattered! I think I need a blog accountability partner! ha I am officially on summer break and loving every minute of it. My summers consist of laying by the pool, reading, spending time with my husband, a little bit of working, and a lot of crafting. I have TONS of crafts on my to do list this summer. So, hopefully I will be keeping that once a week blog goal!

We have already begun a lot of home renovations for the summer. Our three big projects are the backyard, the kitchen, and the master bedroom. The backyard is still a work in progress. We got two trees cut down, and my wonderful husband planted grass, and it is growing!! woo hoo! The kitchen is ALMOST done. We got the cabinets painted and did several "little" projects. I will post pictures of it as soon as everything is done! I can't wait to get started on our bedroom!

For now, here are a couple of DIY projects that I have done lately. The first is a monogram moss letter. I saw these at Pottery Barn and fell in love! Then I looked at the $79 price tag, and new I could not afford. So, I decided to put some of that resourcefulness into action and made one. I really like how it turned out, and it was SO easy! Super cheap too, the whole thing cost me about $5. Sorry, I am horrible about taking before and after pictures. But here is kind of what I did:
I got a cardboard box and cut it into a "w". I used a box cutter to make it really even. I then used a hot glue gun to glue on the sheet moss. THAT IS IT! SO easy!!! Here is a picture of how it turned out. I am still not sure where I want to use it. I may even tie a ribbon on it and hang it on the front door.

The other thing I found that I was really excited about was an old vintage glass bottle that again I had seen at Pottery Barn. I really loved it, and almost considered spending the $69 because I could not find one somewhere else. But then, I stumbled upon the perfect one at TJ Maxx, and to make it even better, it was $3.99. I ended up buying two because it was such a good buy. They were packaged with lemonade and all the labels included. All it took was a little hot water and soap and the labels came right off. I LOVE them! Run, do not walk to TJ Maxx and get one! :)

Happy crafting!

things i'm loving.....waaaaay overdue.

WOW! It has been far too long since I have posted. Life has been crazy at the Williams' household. But school is winding down and with it brings one of my very favorite seasons...summer. My crafting and around the house "to do list" is about a two pages long. We are currently in the middle of landscaping our backyard....and about to embark upon the journey of updating our kitchen!! I have absolutely loved our home! I think the funnest part about our home has been the renovations we have made. We have really been able to "make it our own". I think I have enjoyed that more than having a brand new home! I will be posting lots of pictures of our upcoming projects.

For now, I am going to share a few things that I am really loving right now. I have recently decided that I am going to start collecting cookbooks. I can seriously thumb through a cookbook over and over like it is a fashion magazine. That is strange for me to say because I have never been much of a cook, but it is something I enjoy and want to get better at. I especially love cookbooks with bright colorful pictures. 

Here are a few that I HIGHLY recommend. I have already looked through both of these about 10 times. 

You will LOVE this cookbook! The pages are beautiful and the pictures make you wish you were eating dinner with Gwyneth and her family. :)

I love all of the linens, antique silverware, and the beautiful table settings. 

The other cookbook that I love right now was given to me by a dear friend for my birthday. It is just a fun "must have" cookbook filled with classic yummies. 

Now, this is no Gwyneth health cookbook. It is good 'ole southern cooking. I just love all of the antiqued pages. It looks like it was passed down from generation to generation!

I hope you find the same bit of "happy" that I found from these cookbooks. Check back (sooner than later) for some updates! 

Spring Break Lovin'

I am back in the workin' routine. I cannot believe Spring Break is already over and April is almost here! Ah! Where do the days go?? I am loving being back at school! I just love my precious kiddos! They are a joy to be around. I love seeing the little girls coming in with crimped hair, informing me that their hair looks just like mine. How can that not brighten your day? Yes, I do love being back as school, but I also LOVE a good break! My Spring Break was full of lots of crafting, coffee drinking, morning show watching, and lots of worshiping.
Two things I am going to share today! :) First of all, I FELL IN LOVE with a new TV show over the break. Okay, don't laugh, The Nate Berkus Show. It's great, trust me, you will fall in love too. Lots of ideas on ways to renovate, refurbish, and buy things on a budget, which is totally what I need! My favorite low budget idea was from Erica Domesek, author of P.S. I Made This (fabulous website that you HAVE to check out). Her challenge was to create a piece of wall art for $5 or less!!! So, here is what she did.......

Is that not great??? I love it! I have made this my next "project". Aaron and I are working on doing a little redecorating in OUR bedroom now! :) I love the idea of being able to display old pictures of our families! I have already bought several vintage plates and a handheld mirror! Cannot wait to get some pictures to get started! Needless to say, I have added the Nate Berkus Show on my tivo.

Also over Spring Break I was able to have lots of my own quiet time with the Lord. It was so refreshing! I don't even have kids yet and I often feel like my quiet times are always interrupted with something. I have been doing an awesome study by Kelly Minter called No Other Gods. It has been an amazing study, and I would recommend it to any woman! It is a Bible Study that is centered around meeting with women. At the end of each week, there is a recipe to make with the group. So neat! Unfortunately, I have not been able to attend the group Bible Study, but I am still loving it by myself! Kelly is a passionate and very down to earth author. She makes you feel as though you are sitting on the couch drinking coffee with her. I have learned so much about myself, and about "gods" I have in my life that I would have NEVER labeled that. It has led me into a closer relationship with Christ where my trust is in Him alone because he is my God! Great book that I highly recommend!

That is my Spring Break in a nutshell...or a little more.  :)

The Big Reveal....

I have gotten a little, okay a lot behind on posting. I guess my weekly blog goal was a little to lofty. Spring Break has given me a lot of time to craft and in return, things to blog about! :) Aaron and I have been very busy the last couple of weeks. We went to Nashville for a couple days where Aaron wrote music, and we got to spend some time with our friend Lacey Brown. It was great to see her and all that she has done since Idol. She is an incredibly talented girl, and if you haven't heard of her, you need to. Check her out here: http://www.thelaceybrown.com/ We have also been staying busy with the new Saturday night service at Fellowship. Aaron has done a great job of leading this service. We have really enjoyed attending on Saturday nights. It has given us a true Sabbath on Sundays. Okay, so enough of all that....and on to my latest crafting project.

So last time I blogged I told you of our guest room that needed some serious updating. Well, I FINALLY got to it. There are still a few finishing touches, but it is mostly done! I am terrible at taking before and after pictures. I got one picture of Aaron painting the fireplace before, but none of the bedroom before. So here is the fireplace mantle before:

Again, sorry there are no before pictures of the bedroom, let's just say it needed some work. So, here it is...the big reveal...... :)

I am really happy we finally got it done. Now we just need our first guests! :) I have a lot more crafting to do this week. So, I should be blogging some more soon! 

Dreaming....

Ok, I am getting behind on my weekly blog post! So, I thought I would write a quick blog to keep up with my goal!! :) Next week I will hopefully have some pictures of our house, before and after. The guest bedroom is still a work in progress. We are now looking for a queen size bed frame. If any of you readers know someone who has one that is not in use, I would love to take it off their hands. :)

For now, I am going to show you one of my new favorite blogs! I stumbled across Sausha's blog and immidiately started following her. She is very creative, and does some amazing furniture renovation. I am even using her kitchen as my design "inspiration" for our kitchen remodeling. Check it out and follow her! :)

http://showandtell-sausha.blogspot.com/

Here is a picture of the kitchen that I just love! I am dreaming about renovating my kitchen!

Week One Post, Check

So far so good on my goal of one blog a week! :) My newest and current project is redecorating our guest bedroom. We moved into our first home about a year ago, and we have slowly redone everything room by room. My "get it all done" personality has had to settle down and learn to be content. As strange as it may sound, God really has taught me to be content through the process of renovating our home.
So, here we are, a year into it, and we have completely finished the living room, guest bathroom, and our office/craft room. I will post pictures of all that later. For now, I am going to fill you in on some of my ideas for the guest bedroom. I really want it to be a "getaway" for people to come stay. I want them to feel welcome and at home. My theme for the room is shabby chic with a little bed and breakfast feel. As my blog title says, I am learning to be resourceful. So, my idea was to use a fireplace mantel as the headboard because I just knew I could find one for really inexpensive. Well, I ended up getting a HUGE fireplace mantel for FREE from a sweet lady at work. We just painted it white and it is sitting in the garage waiting to be distressed. I will post pictures of it all later, but for now, here are some pictures from Pottery Barn where I got some of my inspiration. Enjoy!