DIY Wooden Wall Art for $9

We have slowly been pulling our master bedroom together and I am still trying to figure out the direction I want to go with it. Somewhere between rustic and modern and I feel like we are on our way. You can see our initial reveal here and our refinished side tables here.

One thing we have been lacking is something to hang over our bed. Until now, I hadn't found the piece that screamed "me me me!"

We have had some scrap wood in our garage for a couple weeks and I had envisioned exactly what Chris built me. Something rustic, but not barn-like. Something feminine, but manly all at the same time. Chris brought my vision to life...and that's why I married him!

I started by laying out the boards how I wanted them. I didn't want it to look too modern so by keeping the boards different lengths it allowed for less of a geometric look.

Once laid out, Chris went to cutting smaller boards to secure the back and nail all the boards together. Once the boards we secured all together, we got a chain and 'distressed' the wood. After the distressing, we got to staining.

He made a square frame for the back and we then added two screws and some picture wire in order to make it easy to hang on the wall.

I found these milk bottles at WalMart for $3 a piece in the clearance section.

Each one of the glass bottles hangs on a nail that is sunk about a half inch into the wood. Since this is hanging over our bed, I wanted to make sure they wouldn't fall off!

Luckily the stud was directly in the center of our headboard, so Chris screwed in a screw and we no longer have a blank wall above our bed! I will add that the other night Chris got up in the middle of the night paranoid that it was going to fall on our head. I hung it back up last weekend and he hasn't mentioned anything sense. I am going to blame his paranoia on a bad dream.

  

Since the wood was free and we already had the stain, the only things we had to buy were the milk bottles, totaling $9. I am looking for some plants, possibly old cotton plants, to put in each bottle. I will just have to try some things out and see what works!

Next up for our bedroom update: new bedside lamps! I am so over our modern ones we have now. I actually hate them, so my Mom has offered to get us new lamps for Christmas (but she is coming next week so I am getting them a little early!). I can't for y'all to see what I have in mind!

So what do you think? I am in love with it!! Duvet here, similar here DIY Headboard here, very similar here Lamps DIY, similar here Side Table here, similar here Curtains here, similar here Anniversary Pillow was a gift!
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I'm not a juicer, not at all.

Friday nights from here on out (or at least until the end of the school year!) will be full of a whole lot of snoozing. You can count on me being in bed by 8:00pm every Friday for the whole school year. As a teacher, your exhaustion builds day by day and by Friday you can hardly keep your eyes open. Mentally, you are drained. It's a good thing because I love my job and my cherubs, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I am pooped by Friday night.
Saturday Chris and I woke up early (because we went to bed so early) and headed to the Chestnut Square Farmer's Market. I had been wanting to go for weeks now, but would either forget about it, or we would be busy. I love fresh fruits and veggies, so I was happy to be able to stock up.
While we were there we came across a vendor selling fresh pressed juices. I know juicing is all the rage right now, but I have always said I'd rather eat my vegetables on my plate rather than in a drink. Andddd after trying over a half dozen of their fresh pressed juices, I can firmly stand behind that statement 100%. Disgusting. You name a combo, we tried it, and they were all gross. I mean I literally had to choke the samples down and some I just had to throw away. I was determined to like one combination they sold, but nope, nada, nothing. All I tasted was dirt and grass, and Chris agreed.
From the juices we moseyed on over to a baked goods vendor and managed to purchase two loaves of pumpkin bread. That's more our style. It was delicious! Make a fresh pressed juice taste like pumpkin bread and you'd sell me on it!

After we made our round and gathered our fresh produce we headed back home for a pretty lazy afternoon. I met up with Caitlin at Starbucks to talk about The Lovely Lookbook, but other than that we just relaxed.

Later Saturday night my best friend Alisa and Chris's best friend Jake came over to watch football and hangout. Alisa didn't intend on staying the night, but we both fell asleep on the couch and I didn't want to wake her up when I finally moved into the bedroom.
Sunday I woke up early and headed to the grocery store. Chris wanted to cook for everyone, so when I got back we made cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon, and hash browns for Jake and Alisa. Back to the couch Alisa and I went after breakfast and that is where we remained until mid afternoon.
She left to head back into Dallas while I did some laundry, worked on some things for school, cleaned up a little, and relaxed.
It was just the weekend I needed after a long week at school trying to still get into the swing of things!
Happy Monday!

Linking up with Leeann & Kimberlee!

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5 Reason I Don't Shop Online

I should have titled this "5 Reasons I Don't Buy Clothes Online." It might surprise most of you, but I can count on one hand the items of clothes I have bought online. Here are five reasons I choose to only shop in the store.
1. You are more aware of what you are buying when you physically have the clothes in your hand. There are times that friends have said/posted about something showing up at their door that they totally forgot they ordered. Point proven. If you forgot about it, you probably didn't need it.
2. I am impatient. I don't want to wait for it to get to my house. I also don't want to have to worry about returning it. If I shop in the store I can try it on there and not waste my time going back into the store...and we all know that you walk into a store to return something and come out with more than you intended.
3. It can be addicting. The feeling of seeing a box on your doorstep is a feeling we all love. Even if you know exactly what is in that box, it still feels like Christmas. I don't want to toy with that happy feeling for the fear that it could get out of control. Plus, what fun is Christmas if you are getting boxes all year long?
4. It's a waste of time, personally. I already hate being on the computer (weird because I blog, but it is the main reason I left accounting), but scouring the internet for something to buy is not appealing to me. I can walk in a store, make a few rounds, and in ten minutes be able to decide if I want to buy or try anything on. To me, the clothes shopping on the internet is like searching for a needle in a haystack. You find something, look at it from every angle, Google to see if it is cheaper somewhere else, then look at other similar stores to see if you like something more, and finally, after 30 minutes searching for the perfect black cardigan, you purchase the one you found in the first place.
5. Shopping at the store gets me out of the house. Even if I don't buy anything, I usually go shopping with a friend which means we are getting to catch up and spend time together. Once I'm out of the house I am more likely to run the errands I have been procrastinating. And, it never hurts for me to get off the couch and make some laps around the mall.
So there ya have it. My five reasons why I choose to not shop online. I know in the blogging world tons of bloggers make money off their online sales which I am a complete proponent of. I link up items when I feel like it, and I do make a small commission off of the purchases, but BELIEVE ME, I am never going to shout from the rooftops that you need to buy what I'm wearing. I don't shop online, so I don't expect my readers to.
What do you think? Why do you or don't you shop online?
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Linking up with Annie and Natalie!