mice and birds

Monday, October 25, 2010

our engagement photos

hello lovely,
finally got the engagement photo disk from my parent's house! niles and i could't be happier with our engagement photos. they are so totally us. hope you enjoy :)

xoxo,
alyssa renee

for your own awesome imago photos talk to tim!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

diy heroes vol 2:brabsies and shannon's fall inspired diy wedding

hello loves!
as promised here are some of the cute diy projects shannon made for her wedding. shannon i helping me out by letting me use some of her mason jars for our wedding. (and she has a lot!) i loved her "guest book": a tree painting guests helped create with thumb prints. i also loved the word search on the backs of the programs. an entertaining touch. there were many many more diy details at the wedding, she even made the runner! here are some of my favorites!
xoxo,
alyssa renee

signs greeted us as we entered the par. this cute sign was at the front of the ceremony

please note the monogram at the end of the runner... amazing.

baby corn was a big hit

bears on top of the cake ♡ they call each other bear

my heart explodes

the "guest book"

and the reason we were all here...

♥ true love

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

diy heroes vol 2 sneak peek

my dear friends brandon and shannon just got hitched and i couldn't be happier! shannon has been quite the diy inspiration for me. here is a sneak peek into their adorable wedding. more to come!
xoxo,
alyssa renee

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

{ mice and birds salutes diy heroes! }

mr & mrs homeowner

hello lovely,

here's to you taylor and jon! jon and taylor are new home owners who weren't afraid to think outside the box. with a lot of hands-on projects, and an eye for detail they turned a plain jane into a southern belle. taylor admits jon was the mastermind behind most of these projects, but she had a vision, and a sassy one at that. how did they do it? for starters they had an eye. being able to imagine the potential for this house was half the battle. the other half? learning how to do projects on their own while saving money. jon's best advice is "don't be afraid to try. you can learn everything you need from research online." that's how he learned to do a lot of the projects in the home. jon and taylor are also quite the bargain hunters. keeping an eye on sales at nearby stores and many weekend trips to ikea in atlanta are how they saved money along the way.

my favorite feature in the house? an old window from big ed's was used as a light fixture in the kitchen. unfortunately i wasn't able to capture this in a good photo... basically jon screwed the window into the ceiling above the kitchen light and it looks amazing! so clever, that jon.

well enough gabbing... below are some pictures of the great transformation. i wish taylor and jon many years of happiness in their new home. future projects for the diy heroes? taylor says they might add another room and bathroom. for now, they are enjoying their new home.

before: front of the house

2 bedroom, 1 bath, living room, kitchen, dining room, laundry room

kitchen before

bathroom before

laundry room before

kitchen before again

the final product! jon added shutters and a decorative star from lowes for $23. taylor planted some flowers along the walkway as an extra touch. (jon was thrilled that they were pink and purple)

mr. and mrs. harris sit proudly on the steps of their new home

love the magnets on the fridge
side note: these letters graced my fridge when taylor and i lived together!

mr. and mrs on the other side of their awesome kitchen

this sink makes the new kitchen! taylor and jon bought this sink at ikea for less than $200. the same sink at lowes was $500! jon installed the sink with a little help from online diy videos

jon got a great deal on the stove. instead of buying a new range hood, jon sanded and painted the old one.

green walls, red chairs, brown table? taylor had trouble figuring out how to tie it all together! she pulled it off with this tablecloth from world market.

the living room table is one of my favorite features in the house. jon took an old door from the house and made a fabulous coffee table! taylor made curtains and added fresh flowers to finish off the room.

taylor made these pillows too! the fabric matches the curtains

i love candles in fireplaces :)

the new bathroom was a total shock to me! jon covered up the window, tiled the floor, added new fixtures, installed a new sink, and mirror! i'm sure there is more that i'm missing. it looks incredible! doing all of this on their own saved MAJOR cash along the way.

jon carved taylor's initials into a piece of wood, painted it, and made it a towel hook :)
is this not just the most precious details in the home?

taylor is a total germ-a-phobe. this sign fits her perfectly. the bench is just a shelf jon turned on its side, repainted and added extra shelving
never in my life would i have thought of that. jon you amaze me

jon built a closet around the water heater. taylor added a curtain as an inexpensive door. the table came from jon's work for free! jon cleaned and repainted it.

there are many MANY more projects i could blog about! but i think that is enough for now. hope you enjoyed the tour :) special thanks to taylor and jon for letting us admire your home.

xoxo,

alyssa renee

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

{ amazing }

this is the most amazing trash the dress session i've ever seen!
wish i could do something that awesome.
xoxo,
alyssa renee

ps
we got our engagement photos in and they look great. i'll share some of my favorites soon.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

{ nov 5th }

souce

(i can't wait)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

{ quiet }

shhh... do you hear that? it is the sound of nothing at all :) enjoying a quiet saturday morning after a quiet friday night. doggie is laying beside me snoozing (rare for him to be still), empty cereal bowl to my right, warm cocoa to my left. this is a moment i wanted to cherish.

i leave you with a few lovely things i found in my daily blog hunt.

xoxo,

alyssa renee