hometown highlight: branch design studio

if you love flowers, you will love whitney of, branch design studio! i absolutely fell in love with flowers last year when i took a class on designing them and since then have been looking for a place to learn more! Lucky me, i have the amazing opportunity to work with whitney a few weekends a month and help her make brides dreams come true. here is a look at what she has to offer :)

{above images via juliet elizabeth photography}

{above images via squire fox photography}

{above images via marni pictures}

so if you are bride looking to get married in the charleston area, you HAVE to check her out!  i promise you will fall in love with all she has to offer!

-ashley

this is not a sponsored post

do-it-yourself

here are a few of my favorite d-i-y posts from around the web this week

personalized paperclips 

{via the sweetest occasion & lovely indeed}

the cutest party hat ever

{via one charming party}

easiest ottoman ever

def. making this one for myself 

{via say say yes to hoboken posted from Blueprint}

diy instructions here

the, perfect for spring, skirt

{via burda style}

hope some of these inspire you to make something yourself this week :)

coming later this week:

hometown highlight

thriftin'

stay tuned!

-ashley

for Japan with Love: a day of silence

if you are looking for a way to get involved, fellows bloggers of utterly engaged and ever ours are working with, For Japan With Love. All donations will go to shelter box, an organization that strives to continually provides relief for families with emergency strikes. please find a way to help.

DONATE

martha's kitchen

martha stewart. household name. domestic goddess. i'm currently in love with how organized her kitchen is.

thinking about putting glass panes in some of my cabinets

to show off my pretty things :)

i currently have my jewelry displayed in little bowls

but i'm loving how organized it could make my rather messy medicine drawer

i will be investing in one of these in our next place

something about the ways these look makes me want to go buy all white towels

re-defines junk drawer

our spices will take up way less room 

stored like this

we already have a place to store our flat-ware

but now i want some french-ivory flat-ware

gorgeous.

our tea collection is not nearly this big or pretty

but the mr. has plenty of coffee to store this way

check out the full slide show here

-ashley

obsession of the week: keychain

yes. a key chain. yes it takes something that simple to get me excited! but, this key chain was cast from an 18th century italian church key. fancy i know :)

{via at work design}

and if i have something that beautiful to carry my keys on

i must have something equally fabulous to hang it on

{via world market}



-ashley

seeing red

maybe this spring use red as one of your go-to's, your base or you neutral?


your guys can get in on the fun to.

{all of these looks are from zara's current collection}

i'm personally head over heels for the red shirt and camel blazer 

may have to find my way down to the ATL for some shopping

-ashley

thriftin'

part of making this blog a little more my own, i have decided to let ya'll in to my life a little more. part of my life is thrifting. i love anything old and finding a place for it in my home. or maybe your home? :) the majority of things in the mr. and i's home are either thrifted or given to us. mostly old, but i consider it loved. so weekly i will be posting some of the finds we have around our home and possibly (but not if the mr. can help it) new finds and where i will place them in our home. so here goes, first thriftin' post!

i feel as if i have a moderate amount of jewelry and as of late have started falling in love with placing it on display for all to see. so when i stumbled upon these i knew exactly what i would do with them....

and this is where they ended up.....

the mirror is also something i thrifted over a year ago at charleston's annual whale of a sale

and meet mr. bolivar

he was originally a bronzy color and i spray painted him white

i forgot the before picture for this one, sorry!

he currently resides next to our telly 

guarding our remotes

i am so excited about these i can hardly stand it!

i actually found this beautiful pair on craigslist

but hey, that's just the lazy-man's thrift store

i don't have an after pic, because there is no after yet

i am going to sit (no pun intended) on these awhile

obviously recover, possibly re-paint?

no final decisions have been made yet

but i can only imagine the outcome! 

i love this little guy

he caught my eye at one of our local goodwill shops 

and thought he would look mighty fine on my husbands bookcase

(it's his bookcase but some of my books and all the decor on it are mine)

he loves me :) so i'm allowed

he was actually intended to hold aftershave for men by avon

and in his precious life he did, trust me it still smells

on that same goodwill trip i found this beauty

i needed a bedside lamp and was really less than thrilled with anything new that was also in my price range

at $10 this could def. fill that space

i am on the lookout for a new shade for it 

i'm picky so it could be awhile

i originally intended on painting it, but the green is growing on me

and last, not thrifted, but gifted

the mr.'s grandmother had this in her home

she thought it looked like something i would like

so she gave it to me

i would say she is right! i love this! what's not to love really?

now i'm on the hunt for the perfect shade, seeing as there isn't one.

i'm thinking bright. 

so, there it is, my first thriftin' post. i hope you enjoy reading these as much as i enjoy writing them! next week i will showcase some of the thrifted staples in our home.

-ashley