August in Review

August flew by for me and so did the summer!! I'm ready for fall but I'll also miss sunbathing at the pool and wearing cute sundresses!  It almost time to pull out the boots and skinny jeans. 

Here are some of our favorite posts from August:

Our new series, Tailgate Tuesday!

Post 1, Post 2, Post 3, Post 4

How to Update your Old Light Fixture

DIY Apartment Reveal

 How to Clean Outdoor Cushions

Outdoor Pillow Tutorial

Cheap and Easy Candle Holder

What was your favorite Southern Color post in August?
What would you like to see more of in September??

Happy Friday!
~Julia & Elizabeth

Cheap & Easy Candle Holder

How is everyone's week going?  Big plans for Labor Day weekend?

 

I'll be spending the weekend with my sista!! We have tons of activities planned: build her a fire pit, get our nails done, shopping at Opry, Centennial Park concert series, and lots of play time with my niece Lilly (her puppy)!

 

Here's a simple candle holder I threw together out of things I had sitting around my place.

To start, have your BF (husband, parents, sister, friend) send you flowers in a cute vase!

Second, rinse off the stones that are in the bottom of the vase.  And allow them to fully dry.

Fill up the vase with the green stones, almost to the very top.

Use Ikea's tealight candles in whatever color you like.

Shove the candles into the stones.

And there you go - a fun candle holder!

 

This project cost me zero dollars because I already had everything.  And luckily the color scheme is perfect for my new apartment!

 

Have you completed any free projects around your home lately?

 

~Elizabeth

 

Tailgate Tuesday: UGA pottery

Tailgating isn't a casual activity in the South where you just throw down some paper plates and a bag of potato chips.  Nope, we bring out the "fine china" to serve our pigs 'n' a blanket and 7-layer nacho dip!

Magnolia Lane Pottery is so fun! They sell everything from wine glasses, cookie jars, veggie plates and much more. And they have a wide variety of colleges they cater to.

A great thing about this pottery is that it's microwave & dishwasher safe! I have had mine for close to 5 years and everything is still in great condition.

Here's a dressed up cheese plate served on Magnolia Lane pottery.

I included: smoked guoda, sharp cheddar and baked brie with apricot jam. Plus there is smoked salmon and TJ's baked pita crackers and a garnish of fresh green grapes.

What is your style of tailgating?

~Elizabeth

Outdoor Pillow Tutorial

One of the things that my hubby and I love about our house is the backyard!! It's not huge but it definitely keeps us busy - plus my hubby rarely gets a weekend off so we don't want to spend it working in the yard.  The yard is fenced in (perfect for our four legged baby), has tons of trees and plants, has a great deck, and is pretty private.  We live in a newer subdivision so the houses are pretty close together but the trees really make our backyard private - which we love!  

I would say our backyard is 70% complete.  We want to replace the fence and add a firepit area.  I'm already dreaming of cool fall nights around the firepit roasting marshmallows and watching college football.  Ok...back to reality...so to get the firepit project started I bought 4 adirondack chairs and that's it.  I kind of need the hubs to help with the actual firepit area and he has been working like crazy lately.  But I can make the pillows for the chairs by myself and that is exactly what I did this past weekend.

I bought 4 yards of Waverly Sun N Shade Lovely Lattice Lagoon Outdoor Fabric from Fabric.com and was able to make 7 20x20in pillows. 

  

This was my first time buying fabric from Fabric.com and I was a little skeptical.  I mean it is so cheap compared to JoAnn's - it was only $11 a yard plus I found a 20% off coupon online and I qualified for free shipping.  When the fabric arrived I was very happy - it was the exact color I wanted!  There was only one small grease spot on the back of the fabric - luckily you can't really see it on the front of the fabric.

I'm sure most of you know how to make a pillow but here are step by step instructions in case you are a beginner. 

Step 1: Cut Fabric - to make 20x20in pillows I cut the fabric into 21x42in pieces

Step 2: Iron the Fabric - get all those wrinkles out

*I decided to iron the fabric after I cut it since 4 yards is a lot of fabric

Step 3: Fold the fabric in half so you have a 21x21in square

Step 4: Iron the crease where you folded the fabric

Step 5: Pin the fabric together - I put three pins on each side of the pillow

Step 6: Sew the fabric together - leave an opening to turn the fabric right side out and to insert the stuffing

 

Step 7: Turn the pillow right side out and stuff it - I used stuffing from old pillows

Step 8: Pin and sew the pillow closed.

There you go!  Now you have 7 outdoor pillows!

The pillows kind of mask all of the yucky stuff on the swing....right?!?! 

Here are the pillows on the adirondack chairs I bought.  The adirondack chairs are made of plastic which is fantastic - they can stay outside all year round.

I also bought four coral and turquoise pillows for the outdoor area from Home Depot.  They match the bench perfectly so I couldn't resist!  Plus they go great with my new turquoise pillows!

Do you have any backyard projects you just can't wait to get done?

~Julia

 

High Five for Friday: Is it October yet?

We made it to Friday!!! Yay...I thought this day would never come! 

Lately I have noticed that I am pinning a ton of fall/Halloween items on Pinterest.  I know I have a good month before I can start decorating for Halloween but I don't know if I can wait that long...eek.

Here are some of the Halloween/Fall items I've pinned:

Creepy Drink Labels

Every year our neighborhood has a Halloween cookout on Halloween.  We hand out candy and have a few cocktails...it's so much fun!  These labels would be perfect for wine and beer!

Trick or Treat Burlap Pillows

I love burlap!  It's so cheap (only about $4 a yard) and it's so easy to paint on!  I could definitely make these myself.

Fall Centerpiece

So simple yet absolutely gorgeous! Who can I convince to make me a box like this?

Log Candle Holder

We recently cut down some limbs in our backyard and I happened to save some of the logs.  This project is almost complete - now I just have to drill some holes into the top of those logs...I love easy projects.

Chocolate Dipped Apple Slices

This doesn't look that fall-eee...is that a word?!?!  Anyways...I love apples and I love going apple picking in the fall (or at least the idea of it - I haven't actually been apple picking in years).  This is a perfect way to use all of those apples you pick!

I hope everyone has a good weekend!!

~Julia