Prayers for the families...

Those poor babies and their families.  My heart and prayers go out to all the people affected by this tragic event.

Hold onto your loved ones tight....

Christmas 2012

My annual tradition of decking the halls on Black Friday was a success...I'm getting better every year. Enjoy!!

A small school + A big miracle = Elephant tears and Giant smiles!

The school I work at has been HUGELY blessed and we are so psyched for what is about to happen in our building.  I really don't know how else to explain this whole process besides just letting you read it for yourselves.  

Monkee See-Monkee Do Project with Microsoft for the Monument

Make sure you have a box of tissues with you!

AND PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

THE MORE PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT, THE MORE HELP WE GET!!!

I'm an Apple girl!

I finally came into the 21st-century. The other day I got an Apple iPhone 5! I'm having a blast with it!

I joined Instagram, Passbook is super cool, and Siri is my new best friend!

Hopefully I'll have some time to do Instagram photo dumps, so keep an eye out for those!

Off to play with my new phone, see ya!

Fall semester has begun...

So that means I probably won't be around too much! :( {boo!}

This semester of grad classes are definitely probably going to kick my butt so I'll be super busy with reading and doing projects.  

Hopefully, I'll get some crafting time in there somewhere and maybe even put a post up here and there.  

Just letting you know that I am alive, just not well being a good girl and doing my homework! ;)

Keep an eye on things for me in the blogosphere, will ya?!

I really like Fall...

...and I'm starting early!

I started making stuff for Fall decor and I'm pleased with what I've come up with already!

Take a looksie!

This is a fall plaque I made from cardboard, burlap and random ribbon and twine I had lying around.

I love this wreath, but I'm not so sure how much it loves me back.  I burnt some wrist skin off making this baby.  Ouch!

This is just a preview of what I have planned for fall...stay tuned for some more sneak peeks!

Last Free Weekend...

for a while!

Monday, I go back to work for the 2012-2013 school year.  Kind of bittersweet since I love my job, but I got so many projects done this summer!  And I feel refreshed and ready to go back for a new school year.  

We're wrapping the summer up by heading to Bass Pro Shops to check out their camping gear.  We're planning a camping trip to a star party in the near future to use the telescope!  It's up in Cherry Springs Park in Pennsylvania and it will great!

Tomorrow is a first birthday party! I love those!  The kid is so darn cute and we got him a little Puma jumpsuit!

Well, here's a little photo montage of this summer and all the fun we had here at the Fensch residence!  I had a lot of Blog-firsts this summer and I am proud to say that I joined a few linky parties, made some new friends on the blogosphere and am ready to get moving on this blog!

1) Chevron Rug 2) My first Pinterest Challenge Party 3) Reorganization! 4 &5) First Anniversary Shoot 6) Telescope 7) Driftwood Decor 8) New Car 9) Bathroom Showcase 10) DIY Bench and Hooks 11) DIY Growth Chart 12) Shellac

How was your summer vaca?  Do anything special? Any big projects?  Are you ready for fall?! (I know I am! ;)

Leave a nice note and I'll come hang out at your blog, too!

BTW, I'm linking up over at tatertots & jello for the Weekend Wrap-up!

DIY Chevron Rug

I had this ratty old rug (sorry, no before picture; I jumped right on this project!) that was under all of our shoes in the front entryway.  Well, it had some stains that I got out with a mixture of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide (thank you, Pinterest!) and it dried overnight.  Today, I painted it my favorite print right now, CHEVRON!

Here is a short and hopefully simple tutorial on what I did!

1.  Tape down your rug in a chevron print.  I didn't use a template for this part because I just wanted to get it done! ;) I just eyed it out and taped it down.

2.  Next, using an exacto knife, cut the excess pieces of tape so you have a crisp chevron look, like below!

3. Tada!

4.  Now, you're ready for paint! I really contemplated painting it a crazy color like, blue or green, but ended up going neutral and painted it a sandy color.

5.  Using a cheapo roller brush, just roll the paint on.  Don't worry about covering the tape.  If it's good tape, you won't have to worry about spillage!

6.  Next, just wait patiently for it to dry!

 7. DONE! (okay, so I didn't wait patiently and ripped the tape off about 10 minutes after I painted it! I was just so psyched to see it!)
Here are a few more photos!

Ollie loves to pose for photos!

So, how do you like?!  Try your own and let me know how it turns out!

I'm linking up over at The Shabby Nest, The Shabby Creek Cottage and tatertots & jello!
Head over for some great project ideas!

First Anniversary Shoot

So a few weekends ago, Hubby dearest and I went to get our first anniversary shoot done.  I shared a few quick shots with you in this post and now here are some of my faves from the day!

All photos were taken by Sean Dackermann Photography.

DIY Bench

I decided that since summer is slowly coming to an abrupt end and school will start up again, I would finish the summer with a big project.  Yes, this bench is big for me considering the only power tool I own is a drill.  I went to Lowe's and had the handymen cut my pieces for me and took them home to build this darling little bench that took me about 2 hours to make (not including the stain and stencil; that only took about an hour).  Sorry, there is no tutorial for this one, but I was inspired by a great blog I found via Pinterest.  Check out some of her projects, really cute!

Enjoy!

Yep, added it to the bedroom with my cute DIY Hook Hanger! :)

Any last minute end-of-the-summer projects in your line-up?

BTW, I'm linking up over at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday! And The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday! And tatertots & jello for Weekend Wrapup! Go check out all the fun projects over there!

First Anniversary: Part Two

I definitely married the best man in the universe!

This past weekend was full of great surprises.  Saturday, we went to Kennywood, a Pittsburgh amusement park that hubby and I have been to several times before.  When we got there, I wanted to ride rides, but hubby insisted on walking around...until we got the carousel.  When we got on, Ricky's cousin arrived with his girlfriend, leading me to believe it was just a coincidence.  Then my brother arrived and more friends and family after that.  He had arranged all these people to arrive and spend the day with us! So awesome!

Then we headed to the family camp out and had some fun roasting marshmallows and hot dogs.

Sunday, we hung out with my mom until dinner at the Omni, where we all stayed the night before our wedding.  Dinner was amazing and we got back to our room, a rose, strawberries and champagne, our wedding album and our top tier of our cake were there. So romantic and so well-planned!

Such a romantic and sweet weekend! Great job, honey! Love you forever!

First Anniversary!

Ladies and Gents, today marks our first wedding anniversary!

I can't believe how fast it went!  It feels like that day just happened and we should be headed back to Maui! :(  I planned a fun day full of surprises for my Mister on Saturday!

First, he has been wanting a telescope and told him he would basically never ever get it because it was too expensive and a ridiculous idea.  Well, we went to pick it up on Saturday morning! And we took it out for a star party with some friends last night and saw SATURN!!! {So cool, btw!}

Pretty cool, huh?!

Later in the day on Saturday, I surprised him with an Anniversary Photo Shoot! It was so much fun and he loved it! Here are a few from the day! Can't wait to see the rest!

My fave so far! {I found the idea on Pinterest!}

Tonight we are going out to eat and then just hanging out together! 

This weekend is his surprise weekend.  We are going home to the Burgh and that's all I know...I'm a little nervous but super excited for what he might have planned!

Look for that post sometime next week!

~Ami~

Reorganization: One of my favorite words!

This weekend, it was rainy and yucky and kind of chilly (nice break from the heat these last couple of weeks).  So I took full advantage of the inclement weather and decided to

REORGANIZE!

I love to do it and it comes naturally to me!

I started with the kitchen and moved some stuff around; my craft corner, the table and the mess under the sink got revamped.

The living room was easy because there isn't much there.  But right now there is a heap of stuff that needs donated and thrown out.  Kind of excited about junk piles!

My pride and joy is my hall closet!  I totally cleaned it out, moved some stuff to other closets and even threw a bunch of stuff out.  Here are some before shots:

Pretty bad, huh?  That's what a messy loving husband and two dogs will do to your closet.

If you remember in a previous post, I said I was thinking about some storage bins and trying to decide what to use.  Well, Target's dollar section came to the rescue!  I got these cuties for $2.50 a piece and did my own little bit of hocus pocus on them to fit my decor.  I love them and they are the perfect fit for my shelves.  

I am still working on covering up my other bins and debating whether or not to spend the $29.99 on the amazing wire basket at Marshall's for my hair dryer/irons.  The cardboard box would go up in flames after one hair-do!

Those towels are not purple...yuk...they are brown; but my phone is stupid and takes really bad pictures.

The left side of the closet is waiting for a privacy curtain to go up.  Just need to find the right fabric/curtain!

How do you like?  Do you randomly reorganize too?  What kind of weekend mischief did you get into?

~Ami~

Linking up to TheShabbyNest: Frugal Friday