Home. Sweet. Home

I love Tennessee. I love everything about it; the mountains, the lakes, the parks, the seasons....I could go on and on. To me, there is nothing better. But as many of you know, I really love The University of Tennessee, especially the football and basketball. Everything about it is so fun to me! On Wednesday night, I got to spend some sweet time with my friend Rebecca at the UT vs. Mississippi State basketball game! Although it was a late game (9PM) and the lady next to us screamed until she blew out our eardrums, we had a blast! We had half court seats on the 10th row so we could hear and see all the action RIGHT in front of us. I love my time with Rebecca, and it makes me so sad that she will be leaving Knoxville very soon. On the other hand, I know I will be seeing lots of her in the coming months because of all the fun festivities leading up to her wedding on August 8th that I am a bridesmaid in. Thanks for a fun night Rebecca!

Recipes and Remembrances.

I thought everyone might be "lettered" out, so I wanted to post something a little different on here. My mammaw up in Virginia is the best "home-cooked" chef I know of, and she has created a recipe book of family favorites that have been created over the years and published it for everyone to have. She has been working on this book for years and finally had 350 copies delivered in December which are now sold out. She is in the process of ordering more, so let me know if you are interested and I can have one reserved for you! I wanted to post this though, because I created the cover for her! I even have a couple of recipes of my own in this book that I am pretty proud of! The price is 20 dollars for these, and if anyone knows how she cooks, this item is really priceless. Let me know if you are interested! Email me at hrichards14@gmail.com

BLESSED.

The "B" is wrought iron at the front of my neighborhood. The "L" is our barstool. The "E" is bricks on our house. The "S" is a pipe. The "S" is a topiary. The "E" is a belt buckle. The "D" is part of a stained-glass window. The price for this item is 45 dollars. If you are interested in this item or would like additional information, please email me at hrichards14@gmail.com

Jason Mraz.

My brother loved the idea of the letters for a Christmas gift for his girlfriend, Stephanie. If any of you know my brother, you know this is not something he would normally do, so he must be pretty smitten. They both love this Jason Mraz song, so that's what he wanted to spell out for her. Most of the letters you have seen in previous postings, but the "U" is an upside down door of a church, the "R" is logs, and the "S" is a topiary plant we have outside of our house. She loved it! I forgot to take a picture of it completed, but he put it in two separate frames. This is another idea of how to get creative with an idea like this. You can do last names, I saw a really cool one downtown that spelled "WINE", or you could do a word in a verse that is special to you. I will try to post some more ideas as they come to me, and also some more letters that I find along the way for you to see! The price for this item, being 7 letters and 2 frames is 50 dollars. If you are interested in this item or would like any additional information, please email me at hrichards14@gmail.com

Family.

This is what my parents have always stressed the importance of to my brother and I. It's times like these I really understand what they mean. This is another frame we added to the black and white wall in my parent's house. I had taken a few pictures that day and showed my parents both words they spelled out, and they decided to put both of them up. The "F" is a plant we have in the living room that we spend lots of time with one another. The "A" is logs that we use for the firepit by the pool, and if you have ever spent time with our family you know this is where we spend lots of time together. The "M" is leaves in the yard. The "I" is actually the sunsphere downtown, but my brother and I grew up loving it and we always played the game of who could see it first driving into downtown. The "L" is the barstool in the kitchen where we always sit, and the "Y" is a tree in the backyard. Like I said in the previous posting, I have most letters, but if you want a more personal feel I could come to your house to find some "letters" for a 10 dollar charge. The price for a 6-letter frame is 40 dollars. If you are interested in this item or would like additional information, email me at hrichards14@gmail.com

Home.

I gave this frame to my parents for Christmas this past year for them to hang on a wall of black and white pictures we have along our staircase. Each letter is taken with something that is around our house, and the word represents the memories we have together in our home and how special this place is to us. Not the place physically, but the place we have created inside of it. The "H" is the bricks outside of our house, the "O" is an iron piece that we have, the "M" is leaves (because it was a hard letter to find), and the "E" is the side of a candle sconce we have in our living room. I had so much fun looking for things around the house, and now I find myself looking for "letters" in nature and around town all the time! The next few days I will be posting some more projects that I have created with these letters to give you some ideas of what you would like to spell out! The price for these items will be 5 dollars per letter, and 10 dollars for the frame. The example price for this frame would be 30 dollars. If you are interested or would like more information, please email me at hrichards14@gmail.com

SPECIAL.

This is the word that describes my grandmother. This is the last picture that I have with her, and it is so special to me. Christmas is such a fun time for our family, and I just think she looks beautiful in this picture. My grandmother passed away suddenly early Thursday morning after a long battle with health complications. I miss her so much but I am reminded that she doesn't have to fight anymore, and I am so thankful for that. It also makes the paintings that I made for her even more special because I am so glad she got to give those to her friends that meant so much to her. Last Sunday was the first Sunday she had been able to go back to church since the first of the year because she had been sick, and I know they meant so much to the friends she gave them to because they told us that in the receiving of friends line on Sunday. I am so glad I got to be part of that. What a blessing she is to so many!

Shelves.

I have these wooden shelves hanging in my room, and I think they just add a personal feel; they are one of my favorite things about my room. Alot could be done with these...I could paint them solid and then sand them down for a shabby-chic feel (I like this look a lot), you could have a verse written on the front of them, etc. As with everything else I create for you, you can choose whatever color scheme you feel would work best for your room. I have two hanging in my room on each side of my bed. Another idea that I have seen in magazines...some people use shelves as a bedside table instead of using night stands (just an idea for you). The shelf shown above is 35" wide, but I have seen them shorter, and the price would vary depending on the size.

*Set of two package: 40 dollars

*One shelf: 25 dollars

Meet Adam.

The past few days have been BEAUTIFUL! I love that spring is so close, and even though I know there will be a few more dreadful days of winter, I can smell that Spring is so close and I can't wait! On Saturday I did my weekly babysitting with the boys, and Adam was there to join in the fun. As soon as I got there, they were ready to go on a walk around the neighborhood, and insisted on a trip to the neighborhood playground. After waving to to every person we passed by, yelling "oggie" to every pet in view, & running around the playground, I have never seen two boys fall asleep so fast as soon as we got home. I thought I would post some pics of them playing on this pretty day! Although we tried many times to get a picture of the 3 of us all together to post on here, we didn't even come close to getting everyone to look towards the camera. It was pretty comical....enjoy!!

My First Project!

Some of you may know that my grandmother was pretty sick in the hospital for most of the month of January, and thankfully she is doing much better now! So many of our family and friends have been so sweet to her during this time, and she asked me to paint five of these pieces to give to some of her friends from church as a way of thanking them for caring for her so well. This was my first project since starting the blog and I was so excited that I wanted to share with everyone! I plan of posting whatever projects that I create, so if you order a piece, it will be posted on the blog as well! Thanks Grandma!

Painting #3

This painting is just a fun little piece I did for my parents' bathroom. It is fun and simple and lots of people notice it when they walk in there. It is simple but I get a lot of compliments on it so I thought I would post it on here. As always, you can choose to do any color that works for you! The size of this canvas is 18x24 (I think). The price will depend on the size of the canvas. To give you an idea, the price for this painting that is shown is 25 dollars. If you have any questions or would like additional information, please email me at hrichards14@gmail.com

Painting #2...family

I first saw these paintings in a West Elm store, if you haven't heard of that store, it is a more contemporary version of Pottery Barn. I know you aren't supposed to take pictures of things in the store, but I did anyway. I actually made this painting for my grandmother to go in her house that she was fixing up a bit. She requested the green and yellow colors, but when I finished these and took them up to her house, I thought
the colors were too bright so I started over and
used more of an olive and tan color scheme...needless to say, they look much better in her house! If you want this actual painting that was never used, you can have it for a discounted price of 30 dollars! This painting can also be done in whichever colors you choose to use, and you could also purchase one of the canvas pieces, or all three depending on your vision for a room. The price for this item is as follows.

*1 12x12 canvas: 25 dollars
*3-piece set: 60 dollars
*Sale item shown on the left: 30 dollars
If you are interested in this item or have any questions, please email me at hrichards14@gmail.com

Faith, Family, Friends

This is a wooden piece that I painted to represent what is important to us as a family. It looks really good over a doorway, which is where we have ours hanging. It can say this or whatever you choose! Maybe a last name, "live, laugh, love", a verse of some kind, etc. This is a 2x4 wood piece, but it could be smaller or larger depending on your preference! The price for this item is 10 dollars. If you are interested in this item or have any questions, please email me at hrichards14@gmail.com

Earring Holders

If you're anything like me, you have a ton of earrings, and they are a big tangled mess. This has been one of the greatest things I have made for myself, because I use it ALL the time, and it has removed a lot of stress from my life by not having to untangle chains. This is an 8x10 picture frame, and you can have one created that is larger or smaller depending on how many earrings you have. This one is pink and yellow, but I put a black and white picture on here so you could get the idea of any color you would like. You could also choose to write someone's name around the frame, or a bible verse...whatever you choose!

I attached a ribbon to the back of this one and I have it hanging in my closet, but you could also choose not to have that as well. The price will vary depending on the size of the frame, but to give you an idea, an 8x10 frame would be 15 dollars. If you are interested or have any questions about this item, please email me at hrichards14@gmail.com

What do I do??

On Saturdays, I babysit two fun boys that I have watched grow up since they were babies. Since I got my new camera, I have had so much fun playing with it and learning all about how it works...I still have a lot to learn, but it is so fun! I thought I would bring my camera and take pictures of the boys since it was sunny outside, but I ended up only watching Davis, the youngest, because Adam was with his grandparents. So I will have to take pictures next week so you all can meet Adam, too! These boys bring so much joy to my life, and they make me laugh so much. Their family has been so good to me thoughout the years, and I am so thankful for them!

Davis had so much fun playing outside, and everything he did, he would say "CHEESE," and ask if he could see himself in the camera. This is Davis going down the slide, and playing in his playhouse outside!

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!

On Sunday night I watched the Super Bowl over at Aaron and Claire's house. The boys made everyone, including the girls, wear a jersey for the game to get into the spirit...it was so fun! We ate lots of yummy treats, and a good time was had by all!