Feature You Friday #16

Time for my favorite post of the week-




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Today I'm sharing one of my new favorite blogs with you! Let's take a loot at how awesome Sarah from The Winthrop Chronicles is. First off-she's absolutely gorgeous-like model gorgeous. 

Financial Series Weed 4: We LOVE free stuff!

If you missed them be sure to check out Week One, Week Two, and Week Three.

Alright-we started off the series by talking about budgets-why they're important-and how you can use Mint.com to start putting your finances in order.

Then we started getting into the real reason for this series-designing on a budget. In Week Three we talked all about the power of paint and how it's one of the cheapest/easiest ways to update any room in your house.

Now we're going to talk about how much we all love free stuff. Because in all honesty-who, when offered a free item, is going to say no-I'd rather spend money for it. You would be surprised by all the places you can go to find free things to incorporate into your design.

My all-time favorite place to check out is the FREE section in my local ad listings. Each morning one of the first things I do is to log onto my local news station KSL and check out their "For Free" section under the classifieds.

It usually looks something like this-

It's a total hit or miss here so I like to check out Craigslist as well-

I usually keep both of these browsers open all day and will continually refresh them. If you do manage to find something you like you've got to be quick about it! Last weekend I saw an awesome dresser that had been up for 5 minutes by the time I called and it was already gone. 

But I've managed to luck out more than once. For example I scored the pallets to make my awesome Love is all you need sign off of the KSL free section. My sister-who is amazing at finding the best things-has scored old doors, window panes, door knobs, etc off the free section. I'm always amazed at what she can find!

After you check out the free section take a second look at dumpster diving. Most of the time there isn't actually any "diving" involved. I scored the awesome baby crib I used in my gallery wall by the dumpster in our apartment complex. It wasn't in it-just next to it, and I had Mojo scoop that baby right up!

I've found free picture frames (you can never have to many in my opinion), funky little statues, and even a dresser (which I'm working on now) out by the dumpster. 

And for the ultimate Dumpster Diving Guide look no further than the Diving Queen herself Redoux. She's got an awesome series going on-The Comprehensive Guide to Dumpster Diving Part One  and Part Two . The things she find always amaze me!  

If you're looking to make a big change with little impact to your wallet look no further than a nearby dumpster (or your neighbors yard)




Do you have some awesome money saving design tips? I'd love to have you be apart of the Financial Series as a guest blogger-email me at kari {at} morganandkari {dot} com!

Trend Alert: Polka Dots!

I am by no means a trend setter-nor do I ever expect to BE a trend-setter. But I love spotting new trends and I love love love that Polka Dots are coming back in! I'm not saying they're the next Chevron-BUT they are popping up all over Pinterest and craft blogs!

I think they have a bad rep for being considered to "little girlish"-so I wanted to show you some of the awesome ways you can decorate using Polka Dots without feeling like your 10 again. Via Pinterest of course!

How gorgeous is this Polka Dot Painting? Polka Dots are such a great way to bring color into a room without going overboard AND they can center a whole room design.

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If you love polka dots like I do and really want that wow factor-don't be afraid to fully integrate them into the design! I LOVE this modern and simplistic approach to polka dots-

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For those of you who are polka dot shy and want a more classic look check out this amazing bathroom done in a fresh French Chic style that also incorporates Polka Dots-

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And don't think walls are the only places you can show off Polka Dots feel free to incorporate them into a room using furniture. I love love love this dresser transformation!! 

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Check out these adorable Polka Dot Sheets from Pottery Barn! I've seen lots of tutorials on how to use sheets as curtains and wouldn't these look adorable as curtains in a craft room?

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Does anyone have a bridal shower/baby showers/or birthday party coming up? Check out this AMAZING polka dot cake-so cute and yummy!

I've loved seeing Polka Dots make a come-back and I can't wait to start incorporating them into my design style.

What are some of the current trends your crushing on?



I'm linking up to these fun places: Grateful Belly, The Vintage Apple

Tutorial Tuesday #46

I can't believe we've been doing Tutorial Tuesday for 46 weeks now!! Holy cow-I know I still have a smaller link party-but I love it and all of you for linking up each week!

Before we get into the features I want to tell you guys about an awesome blogger retreat coming up in May-

Have you heard about the Breathing Space Blogger Retreat? It's a retreat being put on here in Utah in the beautiful Day Break area. Here's what they have to say-

"The beautiful homes in Daybreak's North Shore model home village will be your bed & breakfast and home base for this relaxing weekend. Twelve complementary classes will be offered in tennis, photography, interior design, knitting, floral arranging, quilting, yoga, cooking, and more. Take as many as you can fit in, or none at all. Go shopping at Oh Sweet Sadie! in SoDa Row, or take a ride around the lake on a stylin' beach cruiser. It's the perfect weekend retreat to trade tips and relax with your fellow bloggers."

Doesn't that sound absolutely fantastic? If it's something you think you might be interested (and honestly who wouldn't be interested in a weekend all about relaxing?) Be sure to check out Breathing Spaces Retreat. Not only is it an awesome blogging/networking opportunity but it's also extremely affordable-it's only $75!! And don't forget to "like" Breathing Spaces on Facebook.

Alright let's get back to the awesome stuff you guys have been up to!

Cute Sarah from Repeat Crafter Me made these adorable number shirts!

Summer from Summer Scraps shares some great tips about buying wood-

How amazing does this BBQ chicken pizza look from Like Mother, Like Daughter? This is making me SO hungry!

And check out how cute this ribbon canvas from Jenna over at 2027 turned out! 

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week! I can not WAIT to see what you guys have been up to-take it away awesome people!

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Hunger Games Sign

I shared this tutorial last week as a part of the Hunger Games Series over at Rae Gun Ramblings. I now I get to share it over here.I know the Hunger Games has already been released but you can still make this fun sign as a tribute to the book and movie!

When Marissa asked for guest bloggers to participate in her totally awesome Hunger Games series I jumped at the chance! Some people say I'm a little obsessed interested in the Hunger games and I was so excited to be apart of this series. 

So I'm here to show my new Hunger Games sign. Here's what you'll need:

-Paper

-This Hunger Games Font

-Exacto Knife

-Burlap

-Foam Board

-Orange, Black, and Yellow Paint

To start off-use the Hunger Games Font and print off whatever saying you want to use. Then using your Exacto knife cut out the letters.

Then cut out your burlap into shapes you want to use on your banner-I just went with the traditional square. Using the template and black acrylic paint, paint the letters on the burlap. 

I really love to embrace the imperfections in my projects. For example-I accidentally did the M a little close to the side but don't mind how it turned out.

Then to step it up a notch-I took some foam board I had on hand and used a mixture of yellow and orange paint. This part was a lot of fun-once again I didn't really want it to be perfect and I loved expressing my "abstract artist side". Okay let's be honest-I don't have an abstract artist side but it was fun anyway.

Then I took my burlap banner and just taped the banner onto the foam board. I like to think that the orange and yellow look kind of like fire-you know, to go along with the whole Girl on Fire thing. 

This awesome banner is now hanging out in my craft room-inspiring me every day. 

I loved being apart of Marissa's series and if you haven't yet you should go check out her Hunger Games Link Party.

Blogs I'm love linking up to-Just Us Four

Feature You Friday #15

Alright it's Friday-my favorite day of the week-and Feature Your Friday-one of my favorite posts of the week!


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Today I'm featuring one of the lovely ladies who linked up to the Feature You Friday blog hop we had a few weeks ago. It was a great way for me to get awesome blogs to feature that I wouldn't have found otherwise.

This week we're getting to know Jutta from Creative Chaos . Jutta has some really amazing tutorials-like this Cake in a Jar! Yummy!

Or how about this adorable Doll House she made using crates?

And I'm loving this unique way she displays her plants-

And just looking at these pancakes is making me SO hungry!

Thanks to Jutta and everyone else who linked up. Be sure to go over and say hi to Jutta  and take a look around her awesome site!

Hanging out with Marissa

Sorry I'm not here today-I'm over at Marissa's place-Rae Gun Ramblings sharing the Hunger Games Banner I made as part of her "geek out" series!

I'd love for you to come check it out-and if you're here from Rae Gun I'm so happy to have you! Sit back, grab a cup of hot cocoa, a donut, and relax. We're so excited to have you here! 

If you like what you see I'd love to have you around more often-you can check out all the fun ways to follow along in the upper right hand corner of the page!

Let the games begin!

For those of you who don't know what the title of this post is referring to stop whatever your doing (including reading this post) and pick up the first Hunger Games book. You won't regret it.

If your continuing to read this you've obviously already read the books and now I get to share the shirt I made to wear to the movie on Friday!

Let's start off with the supplies, you'll need-

-a white t-shirt (I picked mine up from Hobby Lobby ages ago)
-black acrylic paint
-freezer paper

I printed of this image for my t-shirt. My original plan was to use the Mocking Jay pin except that it failed-horribly!

Then I traced the image onto my freezer paper like so-

Then cut out your design and get ready for awesomeness. This next part is why I love using freezer paper on fabric. Simply iron the freezer paper right on the fabric and you have an awesome stencil to follow-

It sticks great while your painting and peels off without any damage to the fabric. Paint your design-I used black but you could do a mixture of orange and yellow and go the whole "fire" route. 

Then simply peel the freezer paper off and...

Ta Da! You have your very own-super easy to make-Hunger Games shirt. You've still got two days before the premier and plenty of time to make your own!

And here I am with my cheesy smile and all ready for the big premier. I'll also be wearing this necklace and these earrings  that Mojo got me for my birthday.

My sisters and I (along with the husbands) are seeing it Friday night-when do the games start for you? 

Come back tomorrow-I've got another fun Hunger Games inspired tutorial for you!

I'm linking up to these great parties: Lil Luna, Southern Lovely, Rae Gun Ramblings, Organize and Decorate Everything, Blue Cricket Design, Seven Thirty Three, Oopsey Daisy, Ginger Snap Crafts, Grateful Belly, 36th Avenue, Embracing , Change Crafty, Scrappy, Happy, Two Yellow Birds Decor, Rae Gun Ramblings

Tutorial Tuesday #45

Big thanks to everyone who linked up last week! I love going through your projects and being SO inspired. You are all so awesome!

The Taylor House  showed off the adorable St. Patrick's Day basket she made for her kids. Super cute!

Cute Jill from Two Yellow Birds Decor shared the adorable sign she made for St. Patrick's Day-

Jenna from 2027 made this ADORABLE Herringbone Art! Thanks for the inspiration Jenna-I'm excited to try this out!

The true geek inside of me loved Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings's link up-such cute shopping bags!

Thanks so much everyone who linked up last week! I was (and always am) blown away how amazing and talent you guys are! Can't wait to see what you've been up to this week-

I got nuthin...

I'll be honest I didn't get inspired to craft/sew/or really do anything this weekend. It was kind of pathetic. So instead I spent time with my beautiful older sister, took pictures, and got excited for this weekend-Hunger Games baby! 

So here's my totally uneventful and awesomely relaxing weekend in pictures-

Showing off my geekiness, having lunch with Mojo and enjoying a Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sandwich, taking walks in the beautiful weather, finding pants my little sister should buy-they're named after her, buying fabric to start on my first skirt, and finding these awesome gems for a project I'm working on now. 

If you know what the top left picture is referring to you will automatically become even more awesome! Which is hard to do since your already so awesome!

Come back tomorrow for another Tutorial Tuesday and to see if your were featured!

Feature You Friday #14

Time for another one of my favorite posts of the week-
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I've got a fun new blog to introduce to you today-let's all say hello to Aubrey from Sweetness of the Everyday. Aubrey is just starting out in this big blogging world but she's already got so many great things to offer.

I'm in love with her Rainbow of Books in honor of St. Patrick's Day

As you all know from yesterday's post I'm a little obsessed with books right now (or all the time) and love that she used them in this way!

I love how shes used a regular old drink carrier as a fun gift basket for a baby shower! Such a cute idea-

And she's got a really great tutorial on how to make your own baby wipes for anyone trying to save a little money or be a little more "green".

All in all Aubrey has an awesome blog that you should all check out. She's such a sweet girl and has a great sense of humor as well. 

Don't forget to link up to this week's Tutorial Tuesday going on now!



*If you know someone's blog who deserves to be spotlight (it can be yours I won't tell) click on the "contact me" page at the top and shoot me an email!