A Colorful Life.

Well I'm sorry that I'm not sorry, for being absent. 

Things have been super busy with us moving, although I have been on Instagram still.

Lots of this:

And I am so thankful for the help in moving all our things up three flights and into our new apartment.

And the reason I'm still not present much is we are actually allowed to paint this time. Eeeekk.

So I've been spending my evenings organising, dreaming of paint, planning DIY projects and finally getting to this today:

Shower Curtain: Meijer 

Paint: Hang Ten from Valspar at Lowes

So I will be back, and hopefully with a tour of our cute new home.

But for now, I will probably continue making our place cute.

So thankful for the ability to do so.

I will be instagramming along the way ;)

@GloriousWithin

Much Love!

L

Details of the Bridal Shower.

Over the next few days, I thought I would share with you guys what had me so busy these past two weeks.

Remember the Bridal Shower ideas I shared here.

Well here is how they turned out...... 

I didn't have my nice camera with me during the shower as I was busy organizing things, but here are some pictures to give you an idea of the decorations. 

The first shows the pompoms made out of tissue paper, my amazing mom helped me with these.

I think they look amazing and are pretty easy. Definitely want to use these again if I plan another party. 

I didn't get a picture of the cupcake style lights, they did work although we had to tape them all together to get them to stay on the lights.

This was a fun game we played where the guests had to guess whether the happy couple were dating, engaged or just met in the pictures.

It was quite a hard game, I will admit.

Of course we did the toilet paper brides. 

Don't they look lovely? 

So many of the ladies brought such wonderful advice to share with my sister about marriage.

I was so thankful for such a wonderful group of ladies who were then willing to pray over my sister as she prepared for her upcoming marriage.

She has married into such a godly family full of wonderful women, her sister-in-laws are the sweetest ladies.

Praying that they are having a wonderful start to married life as they return from their honeymoon today.

What advice would you give a soon-to-be Bride?

Much Love,

L

Bridal Shower Planning & Tutorial.

My sister is the first person I have ever been Maid of Honor for.

So I am totally loving these few weeks before heading across the Atlantic 

mainly because I have been able to plan her Bridal Shower.
Here are some ideas so far:
(I know she doesn't read my blog....if you do happen to be on here sister STOP READING)

{via}

I went to party city and picked up some cupcake holders like these so that we can make a garland of flowers with fairy lights.
(Totally appropriate for indoor or outdoor depending on the weather, its England after all!)

And these pompoms will be in pink & silver.

{via}

I picked up some other fun things like a sash for her to wear and a Banner.
(I debated making a bunting but decided there were enough things to DIY)
I'm super excited to see all these things made up once we get there.
I will totally try and take some pictures of the finished product for you guys.



I also wanted to share a tutorial for the craft we will be doing together at the shower.



My sister has lately been into crafts so my mom & I decided we would add that as an activity to do as there won't be any gift opening. 
(partially because bringing gifts to a shower in England is not a tradition there and also cause they are moving to the States so we are asking everyone to have them shipped instead)



So.......

{I apologize for the bad lighting, this is due to the fact that our humble abode is currently a basement}


Materials Needed:
~ 2 earring pieces ~
~ 6 jump rings (I used 4mm) ~
~ 6 head pins (I used different lengths from a variety pack) ~
~ 1 larger pearl bead & 2 smaller ~
~ Jewellery making tool (I used A's Leatherman, but flat pliers would work) ~

Start by making a chain with your 3 jump rings (for one earring) and connect them to your earring piece using your tool.

Place the larger pearl bead on a long headpin and using the tool, bend it back to form a loop which ends back at the pearl.
(You may also want to loop the headpin through the last jump ring in the chain you made in the previous step, before you close it completely) 

Repeat the same process with the two smaller pearls, attaching them both to the first jump ring in your chain instead of the last. 

And repeat the entire process to make your second earring. 

And there you have a simple craft and a beautiful pair of drop pearl earrings.

Of course you can totally personalise these by adding more pearls to different jump rings 

and using different sized beads. And even make them longer by making a longer chain of rings.

Oh and just fyi, I bought all the supplies for $15 from Michaels (not the Leatherman though).

Happy Crafting!!

And if anyone tries to make these, I totally want to see your creation.

Much Love,

L

Christmas Tree Fun Part 1.

 Since we didn't have Christmas in our own home last year, we never got to buy a tree.

So this year we went shopping for our first Christmas tree.

Super exciting.

We got the space in the living room all set up before we headed out.

 We looked around the lot for the perfect tree.

I never knew that there were different types, call me naive =)

 Then, we found it. Our very own Douglas Fir tree.

 Here it is in our living room.

And we set about setting up our tree & decorating the home.

Anyway I will have Part 2 showing the finished tree up soon.

I gotta head to work.

Much Love,

L

P.S. I spent the morning working on this year's quilt so hopefully photos of that soon also.

Dreaming.

Source: things.konradolsson.se via Lisa on Pinterest

We had a change of plans, we are getting our tree today instead ekkkk!

I am dreaming of our tree. Obviously it won't look quite like this.

But it will be stunning all the same.I will post pictures when we have it.

I love seeing people's trees up. They are all so different & totally unique to each family.

What unique items are on your tree?

Much love,

L

Happy December!

Source: hgtv.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Today, I am dreaming of that mantle I may own someday. Scheming ways in which I would decorate it for Christmas. Time to break out those advent calendars.

Much love,

L

P.S. So glad my 3 yr-old friend now remembers whose birthday it is on Christmas, Jesus & not their own =) Adorable.

Ornament Tradition.

{Via}

Just in case you couldn't tell, I am a HUGE fan of the Disney Family Fun website. Totally sharing my secrets of the trade here. 

That can be blamed on a free subscription to their magazine which I got for a year after collecting pop tarts tokens. 

Personally, I work better with the website. You can sign up for emails & they will send you great craft projects. If you're going to be with kids during the winter, they have awesome crafts to keep you all busy.

My plan is to have a new special tree ornament every year. Last year we bought a 'First Christmas' ornament from Hallmark. 

{Via}

I am thinking of making a time capsule ornament for each year from now on. Writing the year on it and either adding little things from the year or just 2 photos. I bought the clear ornaments from Michaels for 60c each...awesome!

I can't wait to make the ornament before our tree goes up on saturday.

Do you guys make ornaments or have special ones every year?

Much Love,

L