DIY: Fabric Hoops

Please say hello to my new mantle. I spotted the idea of the fabric hoops from my friend Stefanie's pinterest {originally spotted on The Purl Bee} a while ago. I fell in love with the idea instantly, but didn't have time to put it into action until now.

Materials
To make one fabric hoop

• A square of fabric, at least 2" wider than your hoop in all directions. I used scrap fabrics along with fabric quarters you can purchase from Joann for $1.99 {they're on sale right now for .99 cents}
  
• A wooden embroidery hoop in any size {I got mine from Hobby Lobby and they were .79 cents - $1.99}
• Elmer's or fabric glue of any type
• Fabric scissor

• Place fabric in the hoop, pull taught
• I originally trim all the extra fabric, but after a couple of trials, I figured that it looks better if you leave a little bit of extra fabric. You can run a small line of glue around the inside hoop, just next to the fabric
• Press fabric into glue, all the way around
• Allow glue to dry
• Trim fabric to edge of hoop
  

I also used one of my old favorite t-shirt from To Write Love On Her Arms that I can no longer fit in.




I wanted to add some more personal touch with something special to the hubby and I. We used this phrase a lot {almost as much as I love you} around our house. I made this with some rick rack from Joann and fabric glue, but I didn't like the way it turn out at all, so I"ll probably experiment with some more ideas.







It is still a work in progress because I haven't found a frame for my grandma picture yet. I'm also on the hunt for some less generic fabric, so I'll post the final product at a later date.

Do you have or know of any online fabric resource {on the cheap, please}? I"m making a trip to Ikea this Sunday, so maybe I'll find some fun and a bit more eclectic fabrics there.

DIY: Shadow Box

I was cleaning out my husband's office closet today and found a few goodies including a small 5x7 white shadow box. I wanted an excuse to take a break from cleaning, so I put the shadow box to use right away.




The end result. I don't remember where I got the little poem from, but I had it written on my board of randomness. You might also be wondering why is there a random patch of polka dots under the word "I'll"...well I made a flub, but I didn't want to start over...so, yeah.




My favorite part was definitely the billy balls. Did you know that dried billy balls look the same as fresh one? These billy balls are 4 months old and they're still in awesome shape.




I think it added a cute touch to my side table...don't you?

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun. I hope your Monday had been lovely so far. I spent most of today catching up on cleaning and laundry. I also spent a good part of my day rewatching season 1 of One Tree Hill {don't be judging}.

Snippet and Ink's Wedding

Last week Kathryn from Snippet and Ink shared her wedding's video and I pretty much bawled while watching it. I've been following Kathryn's blog for a little over 2 years now, so I feel a deep connection to Kathryn despite not knowing her in person {I hope this doesn't make me sound like a creeper}. Kathryn wedding is not only beautiful, but it truly celebrated the couple and their marriage.

Kathryn + Ryan's Wedding Film from Sandbox Love on Vimeo.

Ok, somebody give me a tissue. I love the interview of the couple. I love hearing the story of how they met and their journey from Hi to I do! Ok, somebody give me another tissue. What a beautiful celebration of marriage.




Click here to check out Kathryn's warm {watching her video and looking at her photos makes me feel warm and fuzzy} winter wedding in San Francisco and the celebration of Kathryn and Ryan's union through the captivating photography of Elizabeth Messina. Be sure to check back with Snippet and Ink through out the week {and hopefully continually so} for more inspirations and wedding details.

Sandbox Love wonderfully captured the day on video.
Photo of the couple dancing from Elizabeth Messina {one of my all time favorite photographer}.


Congrats on finding your home in each other Kathryn and Ryan!!!

Help, give me something to sew.

I attempted my first reupholster project a while ago. It wasn't too complicated. I just stapled {with a staple gun} the new fabric over the old one.











Anypooh. I recently bought this little beauty ...



why hello miss Singer Brilliance. This was a pretty exciting purchase, because it took me about 7 months of saving up loose coins to finally take this little miss home.




I actually still have a lot of the fabric from the reupholster project left. I'm itching to start sewing. I know that I want to make some new throw pillow covers, but I'm not sure if I wanted to use those fabric or shop for new one. Would it be too matchy matchy? What do y'all think? Do you have any easy sewing project you would like to pass on {I would love you forever}?

Childhood memories and laughters.

We finally got internet over the weekend. Whoooohoooo {doing a celebration dance}!! This weekend was pretty wonderful. We had two weddings on Saturday, and they both had some of my favorite details to date and they were both at two of my favorites venues.




Wedding number one was a morning wedding with a brunch and mimosa reception {yum!} at the Aldredge House in the historical Swiss Avenue District of Dallas. It was an eclectic wedding with a touch of vintage. I seriously can't wait to share more from this wedding. I had the best time ever setting up this wedding. It was pure fun!!




The second wedding was at the charming Flour Mill in Mckinney. It's a brand new venue and it is already on the top of my favorite venues list.


My mom also came back from Viet Nam over the weekend and brought back the best kind of presents. One of the biggest material lost I've had is a huge albums of my old baby pictures. I lost it during a move from California to Texas about 10 years ago. Well because I am so blessed, my mom found an album of old pictures of her and my 5th birthday during this trip. I am so excited to get to share this with y'all.




My mom with her best friend, who she is still best friend with. They've been best friends for about 40 years {I can't wait to grow old together with my best friends}. They were 17 in this picture.




My mom when she was 15. Now y'all know where I got my round face from.




There wasn't a date behind this picture, but we're guessing she's 17 in this picture.




My mom at 17. Isn't she beautiful. This is one of my favorite picture of her.



This was at my mom 16th birthday party. The boy in the left corner was my mom first crush and boyfriend. They went on two dates before he moved to Canada. They're still friend.

These pictures below are from my 5th birthday. I counted at least 3 different outfits change. Hahahaha.




My mom and I. This picture makes me melt a little {I love you, mom!!}.




Outfit number one.







Outfit number 2. I remember {or at least, I was told} hating this dress. It was frilly, itchy, and extremely hot.




This is my uncle. He is a pretty special man. He pretty much raised me. I am an uncle girl. He took me to school every day and would save up his pay check to buy me school supplies. Every Saturday night when I was little he would let me stay up late and watch American movies with him {with out my mom knowledge oh course, because we mostly watched action movies}. When I'm sad he would take me out and drive me around the city at night. Those are some of my favorite childhood memory. I can not begin to express the gratitude I have for him. I love you, Cau Tu!!!




Third outfit and also my favorite. You might be wondering why is there a Christmas tree when it is August {check out the date in the upper right hand corner}. Apparently for my 5th birthday, I wanted a Christmas party according to my mom. I think I was pretty spoil as a child.

P.s My mom told me that the reason why I didn't smile wide {like I usually do} in all of my birthday pictures is because apparently I was missing my 4 front teethes.

The best present of all is the picture below.




This is my grandma when she was 24 {that's how old I'm turning this year}. My grandma is one of the most influential people in my life. She taught me what matter most in life and how to give and give again. After a full and long day of work {3am - 6pm} 3 days a week she would teach the girls in our neighborhood who couldn't afford to go to school {there are no public school in Viet Nam} how to sew and mend so that they have a way to make a living. I missed her dearly and every time I laugh, I would think of her. She also taught me how to laugh and really live and not be afraid to pursue my passion. One of the thing my mom, my aunt and I have in common is our laughters. We laugh a lot and and we laugh really loud. We all got that from my grandmother.

If In Doubt. Bake a Cake.

I used to work at a bakery , so cakes will always have a soft spot in my heart. Here are some of my favorite cakes around the blogs right now.

This frosting free cake spotted on Martha Stewart is just simply striking.

SWOON is all I got to say about this pink ruffle cake spotted on Ruffled Blog. Melanie from My Sweet and Saucy did a tutorial for this ruffle cake here.

I think this purple ombre {a french term meaning "shaded". Usually a mulicolored stripe, with color graduating from light to dark} cake would be perfect for a spring wedding.

The cake is by Maggie Austin Cake from Postcards and Pretties spotted on Evie Shaffer's pinterest.

This cake from Sprinkle Bakes was inspired by the Crown Jewel Cake {a.k.a Broken Glass Cake} that was first spotted on the back of Jello's boxes in the late 1950's. The recipe looks complicated, but I would love to give this a try sometime with a friend {I always like to try complicated recipes with a friend, so it'll at least be fun even if the result is a disaster}.

I wouldn't mind this whimsy cake for my next birthday {What do you think Vivien?}.

The cake is by Nine Cakes from 100 Layer Cakes spotted on Victoria's pinterest.

You're probably not surprise that I love this cake {if you are, please take a look at my blog banner}. Not only am I in love with this cake, but I'm also in love this whole wedding on a strawberry farm. Swoon Swoon Swoon!!

Do you have a favorite recipe? Please share. I used to baked a lot, but I haven't been baking much lately due to busyness. I'm hoping to change that soon, especially since my husband recently made a very tempting offer. He promised to do all the cleaning every time I bake as an incentive for me to start baking again.

Styled

Hi friends!! It has been forever {at least that was how I felt like}. Our internet has been down for the past week and we've been duking it out with our internet provider. I don't want to say much more about that, because it will drive me crazy thinking about it. I have so much to catch up on around the blogging world. What were some of your favorite posts last week?

On a happier note, Victoria of A Subtle Revelry just launched Styled Magazine with the subtitle of "the art of merry making" {don't you just adore that}. The magazine is filled to brim with beautiful photos and inspirations for your next party.

One of my favorite featured from the magazine is Wardrobe to Party where each party scene is based of an outfit. My favorite of the party scene {see below} was styled by Melanie from You Are My Fave.

Photo by Katie from Be Katelyn

Now go and see all the loveliness of Styled.

The Blue Balloon

I was searching for some vintage library cards for a party I"m planning and I ended up stumbling across a delightful etsy shop called The Blue Balloon. It is filled with charming vintage jewelry {along with a few other things}. Her designs has an effortless style to it that also lend her jewelry a sense of nostalgia that I can't help but fall in love with.

This was the item that helped me discover The Blue Balloon.

Don't you just love it? Which piece is your favorite? I pretty much love them all.

All photos are from The Blue Balloon.

I WON I WON I WON

It is an extremely happy Monday for me. I just found out that I won the L Letterpress giveaway over at Urban Scarlet. I was so happy that I fell off my bed. I seriously can't wait to play with my L Letterpress Epic Combo Kit. Thank you so much Justine {Urban Scarlet} and Laura {Lifestyle Crafts}!!!

P.s Right now you can receive 20% off from Lifestyle Crafts when you enter BLOGURBAN at checkout.

In the name of hope

This friday I will be joining a community of bloggers in silence to raise awareness and respect and acknowledge the devastation going on in Japan. See more info here.

I have a started a post about the devastation in Japan last friday, but couldn't bring myself to finish writing it. My heart became more broken and heavier with each words I was typing and each picture I was uploading. I had to step away from my computer, phone and all social media because it was just too painful. I started cleaning my condo and saw this quote I had written on my inspiration board a while ago.

"Always act in the name of hope!!"

This advice has always been helpful to me, especially in time of despair. In this moment when everything feel impossible and unfixable if we can all pull together and act in the name of hope, we can make a small beginning of good and sometimes we can even begin to turn the tides...so lets act in the name of hope for our brothers and sisters in Japan.

You can get involved and donate through For Japan with Love and here is also a list of organizations to donate to that are specifically helping Japan.

As I'm talking about hope, I realized that it is a gift that I have been given. For me before I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior, I was in an awful hopeless place. I just wanted to share that I know for many what's going on in Japan right now seem hopeless, but there is hope. You may not be able to see or feel the hope, but it is there for you. How do we find the hope? There is only one place where hope can be found, and that is in Jesus Christ.

This photo is from Nameless and I spotted this on Oh, Hello Friend.

I would love to talk to you more about this, please talk to me at CrookedStoveTop@gmail.com.