Photo of the Day 4.4.12

I totally slacked on my promise to update my April Photo Challenge each night. I'm at day four and I have only posted one picture. I'm proud to say I've at least been doing the challenge via Instagram and Twitter. It's only day four, so I'm not going to toot my horn just yet. I decided no time better than the present to catch up. 

4. Someone who makes you happy

3. Mail

2. Color

Terrarium Project

The weather hasn't been cooperating for me the past two weekends to get much progress done on the pallet. Cold, gloomy and rainy conditions do not bode well for outdoor spray painting. So I took last weekend to do a little indoor plant project and make a terrarium for the succulents I purchased a few months back.

For the past few weeks the plants have simply been living in the windowsill in our bedroom. I put two of the succulents in little Anthropologie drinking glasses, but other than that they've been living in those plastic terra cotta colored planters.

I've had these hurricane glass candle holders in Jordan's window forever. So long I even forgot they were in the window sill. Obviously it's been quite some time since we've used the candles, so I opted to ditch the candles and reuse the hurricane glass for my terrariums. I also had some leftover vases from flower arrangements Jordan send that I decided I could put to good use in this project, too. 

I hit up Home Depot and purchased some stones as well as cactus soil.

While I was there I couldn't help but snag a few more tiny succulent plants.

I got to work building my terrariums. First a thin layer of the small stones

I didn't get an in between picture, but the next step was adding soil and actually planting the plant before putting one more thin layer of stone on top. I followed simple instructions I found online. I've found a bit more detailed terrarium projects that include 4-5 layers of sand and different types of soil and stones below the plant, but I wanted to do something simple and easy for my first terrarium project.

And where did my non-succulent plants go? While at Home Depot I purchased two mini teal planters for the two plants that were not going in the terrarium. They are simple houseplants that I haven't killed yet, so I'm rewarding myself by putting them in actual real pots and not just leaving them in the plastic terra cotta colored holders.

One of them I put on my nightstand.

The other is adding some bright color to our sofa table. I'm not sure how great the sunlight is that comes in from there, so I'll need to keep an eye out on whether the plan starts to wilt and if I need to move it elsewhere. I also still need to find a good picture for that Crate & Barrel frame I've had for several months. Just waiting for the perfect one. Maybe a nice family shot from our vacation later this month.

Doesn't adding a little green instantly make the house look cheerier?

I'm Dreaming of a White Office

I'm in desperate need of some space to do my work. I'm craving some sort of real work space that doesn't include a couch and a TV.  We have a small room in our basement that was the office of the previous owners. I'm planning to revamp that space into my little office. The room currently holds gift wrap, boxes and bags, holiday decor, leftover wedding stuff, Jordan's man room decor, and all my craft supplies. I need to clean out, clean up, and organize the space. Of course I can't start this until I finish the guest room.

So in the meantime, I'm dreaming.....

The Happy Home

Bright Bazaar

Decorpad

Me oh My

Three above images via Pinterest

Speaking of the guest room, no I have not forgotten or given up on the pallet. Two weekends in a row of rainy, gloomy weather has put me behind a bit in finishing since I do my painting and sanding on the deck. With a three day weekend ahead, I'm planning on getting some serious guest room work done. 

March Photo Challenge Recap

Do you even want to hear my poor excuses for failing yet another Photo a Day Challenge? If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you may have noticed how my photo challenge pictures suddenly halted about 2/3 into the month. I was so determined and motivated to complete March since February was a bust. Yet somehow, around the same mark (the 17th this time) I started to slip. Apparently I skipped 18 all together, went straight to 19 and just gave up after that. 20 was Before and After and I was over thinking how I would do it and in the end just gave up. 

Regardless, I decided to share with you the photo categories I did complete for the month of March.

Some of the photos I tried to have some fun with. Like on day 14 there was literally not a cloud in the sky on the day I had to photograph clouds. So mine was sort of an opposite photo. But I wanted to be real for that day and not take the picture the following day when there were clouds. I cheated a little in that 5 was actually from the morning Lucy was born. It was the first picture of Jordan and Lucy at 2am and he had that grin on his face for hours. Either way, I was on a roll and I bombed. Again.

Now I told myself that if I couldn't do March, I wasn't going to make a big deal out of attempting April's Challenge. In fact, I forgot about the photo challenge all together until Jordan mentioned it yesterday.  He told me to do it again this month and said he would do it with me as a motivator to keep going. Plus knowing us, it will turn into a little friendly competition over who will last the longest. And I can't let him win!

As another push, I plan to post my Photo a Day photo on the blog each day. That should serve as another little kick in the butt each day knowing that it will be a little more noticeable if i give up this time. I won't be able to sneak off quietly the way I did the past two months.

So without further adieu, the categories for April:

And of course here is day 1 (properly taken and posted yesterday)

1. Your Reflection #photoadayApril

Stay tuned for today's picture later this evening!

Caught My Eye This Week

BEAUTY

A different take on the flat iron curls I've tried before. Going to give these a whirl as I strongly dislike my hair when it's stick straight. I've been wearing my hair more like this on a daily basis. I love the look of straight ends and intentionally avoid the last inch and a half when curling my hair.

I don't know if it's the back and forth weather, or the fact that I've fallen asleep with my makeup on more often that I should lately (oops), but my skin has been dull and dry. I've gotten back into this beauty regimen this past week and I swear that my skin is thanking me. 

Now that I'm creeping up on my scary age this summer (28!), I have sort of started to obsess over my skin, examining every fine line and sun spot I can see. I found these great tips for keeping your skin fresh and wrinkle free. I also need to kick up the SPF and stop pretending I'm a sun baby.

I want to have more fun and be more experimental with my manis. TBD has tons of awesome manicure ideas, this one is my favorite.

I'm a big fan of the natural makeup look for Spring/Summer. Bye-bye heavy eye makeup and dry looking powder, hello fresh, dewey skin and pink cheeks.

Free People April catalog preview.

HEALTH & FOOD

I've told you about my friend Andrea's tumblr EatBetterLiveWell. I've really been trying to add more kale and quinoa to my diet and she offers some great recipes that I plan to try. Andrea gave up meat for lent and has been substituting quinoa for the protein in her diet. I'm proud to say that I've been eating healthier than usual lately (with the exception of a few treats) as well as exercising a lot more than normal. I can say I really notice a different in how I feel on a daily basis.

I want to eat this for lunch everyday.

DIY & HOME

I found myself pinning two great terrarium inspirations (here and here) within the past week. I think I'm ready to give my own a try. 

I'm ready to jump on board with the paint chip art trend. Now to decide what color scheme to go with and where to put it...

I'm currently in the middle of a wall art project inspired by this great herringbone painting I pinned a while back. It's taking me a while to complete, but I'm so excited with how it's turning out. Can't wait to show you all.

I just came across this post yesterday as I've been trying to plan some good lighting for the guest room. Very seriously considering this beauty. Hello gold!!

What caught your eye this week?