DIY Friday!

It's Friday again! That means another DIY Farmhouse Fix for Less!! 

Today's project is less about the step by step of this specific project, and more about getting you to think outside the box with the things in your own home to transform them into something more functional for your lifestyle! :) 

So, when we moved our new house in September, our entertainment center was an older one that was my parents at some point, and had traveled with me through both undergrad and gradschool dorming, housing, ect. It had seen better days, but it had been a trusty TV, Playstation 4, and Nintendo 64 holder (ya know, the essentials) for quite a while. Chad decided to build a GORGEOUS entertainment center for our new home, so naturally, our sad little old one was of not much use anymore. 

It sat in the guest room for quite a while not doing a whole lot, but after we started our entry way project, I knew I wanted a bench to go underneath that. One day I was putting things away in the guest room and sat down on the entertainment center just for a break and realized it was perfect bench height!

So I asked Chad how feasible it would be to make this old entertainment center a bench, and he said we could give it a shot!

So we popped off the top and took off the glass doors. 

Chad then cut plywood to fit the size of the door opening and attached framing the replicate a barn door look. This plywood piece slid right in where the glass doors previously were.

Then we took 2, 2x12's and cut them to the appropriate length, put a brace on the bottom, and hinges on the back so that we could store things in the bench!

With some dark brown stain for the top and some Antique White paint for the body, we had a repurposed entertainment center that was now a bench! 

Unfortunately, when we put it in the hall way, it didn't quite fit the vision we had for an entryway bench; it was just a little too wide! 

So we found a new home for it as a cute nook coffee/reading area and I store all my seasonal decor inside of it!

I know that this DIY wasn't super specific with instruction, but like I said, its more about getting you to think outside the box with the pieces you already have! :) Whether its repainting, re-covering, re-finishing, antiquing, aging, whatever it may be! Take a look around your home for things you can put a new twist on and repurpose :) 

Happy Friday y'all! <3

DIY Friday!

Woohooo!!!! Happy Friday Loves!!! 

Look who has their DIY Friday post up ACTUALLY on Friday! #Winning 

Soooooo this week's projects is SUPER easy, but SUPER worth it if you're into that wall art! 

What you'll need: 

- A long, narrow piece of wood

- Paint (I used white and black)

- Sponge brushes

- Stencils

-120 grade sandpaper

In the boutiques in our town, there are TONS of rustic signs you can get to hang on your wall that have the town name, or say "Kitchen" or "Farmhouse", etc. like the ones below: 

And they sell for anywhere from $40-$80 a piece! Even more sometimes if you want it personalized with your family last name or coordinates of a location.

I wanted a rustic sign that either said Farmhouse or Tallahassee, but just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for one!  Sooooo I made one :) 

All you need is a board to the size of your liking (mine is left over plywood from one of my husband's projects). Mine is about 5 feet long.

Next, I went to Hobby Lobby to get some BIG 10in stencils for the lettering... and they were $25... so I figured I'd wait a little bit and ended up finding some at Target for $3!!! I grabbed those, sponge brushes for $2, and black acrylic paint for $2. ($7 total)

We had white paint left over from our entertainment center, so I put a white-ish coat of paint on the face of the board, let it dry, then got to stenciling! I am still getting used to documenting my projects, so I apologize for the lack of photos for each step! I put the stencils down (no, I did not tape them, the not-so-perfect letters where the paint bled a little added to the rustic look!), and sponge painted the letters with the black paint and let that dry. Then I took the 120 sand paper and sanded the whole thing, lightly. 

You can see the scratches and distressing in the paint! Which I thought was enough. Sand to your liking though :) 

You can see the stencils, sand paper and sponge brushes in this picture, so I didn't completely photo fail! 

Then we hung it up! Ta-da!!! A custom $80 rustic wood sign for $7 :) 

Now the more I look at it, the more I think I want to sand ours a little more, ha! 

Anyway, enjoy!! :) 

I'd love if ya'll posted your signs below if you make one :) 

Happy Fri-yay! <3

  

How to Create a Smaller Waist

Happy Thursday loves!

How many of you watched the Victoria's Secret runway fashion show this week? I know I did. I watch it every year, but this year was different. For YEARS I've watched that fashion show and coveted everything about those women because for the longest time, I wanted to BE one. I'm 5'10" and when I was younger, I thought that because I'm the same height they are, I could make my body look like theirs... That's how it works, right? Everyone that is the same height can look the exact same? WRONG. But I was naive then, and so consumed in my body dysmorphia and eating disorder that to me that made sense. I had read somewhere that the average weight for a Victoria's Secret model was 112lbs at 5'11. I don't remember where I read that, it was years ago, but that number stuck in my head, and became what I strived for....but when I finally hit that weight at the pit of my eating disorder, I STILL didn't look like them, go figure. 

NEWS FLASH! Everyone is build different, everyone has different bone structure, everyone carries weight different, everyone distributes their fat different, everyone retains water different, everyone develops muscle different, EVERYONE is different, and EVERYONE is BEAUTIFUL!!! I just didn't see it then. 

Now its easy to see that I'm not built like a VS model, period! Many ladies aren't and that's OKAY! You're perfect anyway :) 

Even though I was the SAME height and the SAME weight they were, I was shaped so differently. I'm built pretty broad, with wider shoulders and wider ribs, narrow hips and ZERO waist.... more like a 12 year old boy that a runway model, ha! I also have scoliosis so one of my wide set ribs sticks out further than the other. NONE of these things scream VS model, but for years I tried to mold myself into something I physically couldn't be... it wasn't realistic, and this year I was able to watch the show in a whole new light. 

I was happy for those women who ARE built like that, and CAN be those VS angels! Rock on girls! But I was also happy for myself, for doing with my body what I'M built like and what I CAN be, and that's STRONG and FUNCTIONAL! 

Do I weigh 112lbs? Nope! Almost 40 pounds more than that, but I can enjoy food with family, sweet treats, and the occasional drink without stress. Do I have a little tiny waist? Nope! But my core can support myself through carrying heavy things on my back, picking things up, and protecting my organs. Do I have a thigh gap? Nope! My legs touch all the way to my knees, but they can jump high, sprint, climb, carry heavy things...save my phone from falling in the toilet and hold lots of puppies in my lap :) Do I have thin, slender arms? Nope! But they can defend me in tussles, make one trip for my groceries, and pull me up COMPLETELY if I'm hanging off a ledge. ( I have this weird thing where I HAVE to be able to do pullups in the rare event that I may be hanging on the side of a cliff or something and need to pull myself up... no waiting around for rescue, gotta be strong ;) ) 

I'm not built like a VS model, but my body is functional and strong and that's all that matter to me! :) Embrace your body for what it CAN be and love it! <3

Now, you're probably thinking, what the heck does this blog title have to do with the rant you just went on? Well, you can't make your body something it isn't. I DON'T have a small waist, or any waist for that matter, and because that was something I focused on so heavily when I watched the fashion show, I'm SURE I'm not the only one that had that thought! I wanted to share with YOU you're not alone :) Even though we might not have tiny waists, we can create the illusion of having one by shaping the rest of our body. Muscles can be shaped, bone structure cannot (should not). Soooooo, how do you create a smaller waist?! By growing the things around your waist!! Your back, shoulders and booty! :) 

By growing my booty and back muscles a little, I've been able to create the illusion that I somewhat have a waist! My booty workouts are on on my Hump Day post, but here is a killer Back and Bicep workout that will tone your back and arms and help with the waist illusion! :) 

Super Sets: 

Lat Pulldowns- 3 sets of 12

Crazy 7's- 3 sets 

(theses are bicep curls where you hold the weights stationary with your elbows at 90 degrees, then on one side, do 7 curls, while the other arm is still holding at 90 degrees. Then switch, do 7 reps with the opposite arm and hold with the one you just did curls on. Continue in that fashion for 6,5,4,3,2,1, KILLER!)

Low Cable Rows- 3 sets of 10

Reverse Curls- 3 sets of 10 

Chin ups- 3 sets of 12

Dumbbell rows 3- sets of 12 each arm

Single Arm Rotating lat pulldowns- 3 sets of 12 each arm

Dumbbell bicep curls- 3 sets of 10

Dumbbell bent over rows- 3 sets of 1-

3 way cable bicep curls- 3 sets of 7 each direction (outward, front, inward.)

Wide Fly Burnout

 (start with the heaviest weight you can, and do as many reps as you can, then do a little less weight for as many reps and you can, etc. until you run out of dumbbells! ) 

Hammer Curl Burnout (Same fashion!)

Enjoy! :)