my summer wreath...

I know it's August and summer is coming to a close...but given the ridiculously hot temperatures outside I thought I'd share my super simple summer wreath.

It was super simple to create, took less than one nap time to finish, and was almost free.  The only purchase I had to make was the starfish.

It has the same look as my springtime ruffle wreath but simpler.

Now that I have a summer wreath hanging, I'm dreaming of a wreath for fall.  A walk through Hobby Lobby today almost made me believe that fall is just around the corner.  Who am I kidding, they make it seem like CHRISTMAS is just around the corner!  They have aisles and aisles of Christmas decorations out.  But, I'm not complaining...it's my favorite time of the year.

Do you have a summer wreath gracing your front door?  Or has the excessive heat melted it all away?

the pinterest challenge: project reveal!

Today's the day that the ladies over at Bower Power and Young House Love are revealing their projects for their Pinterest Challenge!  Have you checked out their projects?  Pretty fab!

I have been loving all of the pallet art pieces lately and have definitely been craving some pops of color in our house.  Here's a peak at my "Things I love" board on Pinterest...

And here's the project I decided to recreate!

As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to make my very own!

I actually had all of the materials for this in the goldmine of a shed in our backyard!  I used mending plates to attach the boards in the back together and then screwed the boards on top to give it a little more strength.

I painted the phrases on by hand, but I like the stamped look of the original...I might try to find some stamps to use in the future.

I loved the pop of color in the original (with the yellow paint), but this is going to hang in my sewing room/guest room that's painted an apple green.  I was worried about the colors clashing!  I definitely plan to distress the white painted letters a little so they aren't so stark, and add a bunting (like the original), but I'm pretty pleased with my zero dollar Pinterest challenge!

How about you?  Did you recreate something?

i love swagbucks: earn up to 50 swagbucks today!

I'll have another post coming later today, but wanted to let everyone know that today Swagbucks is having a Code Extravaganza!  They are offering up multiple Swag Codes throughout the day today where you'll have a chance to earn up to 50 Swag Bucks!

You'll have to check out the Swagbucks Blog, Widget, Toolbar, Twitter page, and Facebook page for the codes - it might be a lot to keep up with (especially with kiddos running around), but it's a good chance to at least catch a few free bucks.

In fact, if you check out the Swagbucks Twitter page before noon, you can grab 8 bucks!

You can usually earn a $5 Amazon gift card for 450 Swag Bucks, so you'd be well on your way if you catch the codes today!  You can also earn gift cards to Fandango, PayPal, etc!

If you're new to Swagbucks, head on over to sign up!


*This is my referral link, so I'll earn Swag Bucks if you sign up.  If you'd rather not sign up as a referral, visit www.swagbucks.com to sign up! :)