Autumn, The Year's Last Loveliest Smile

    Is that not a beautiful quote?! I love it so had to share it. It is certainly fall around here! Cool days follwed by very cold nights...I love the days, but the cold mornings and evenings are a sharp reminder of what is coming, you know, the "W" word. Bbbbuuuuuuuurrrrrr, I shiver just thinking about it! There are many things to love about this time of year, the crispness in the air, the beautiful leaves as the trees change, and the FOOD! Ahhh I just love me a good soup and sandwhich, and ya cannot beat a homemade apple pie! Andrew and I went the the apple orchards a couple weeks ago, I made two apple pies and we have already devoured one...I am trying my hardest to save the other one for the holidays!
    I cannot believe that October has come to an end! This year has flown by and I do not think it is going to slow down. We celebrated our 28th and 24th birthdays earlier this month, we spent the day with family taking family pictures, opening presents, and eating good food! We also went to Denver for another UnPaved event, the kids were great! We rounded out October by going to the apple orchards. It was a PERFECT fall day. Andrew and I sipped wine, picked apples (not at the same time, don't worry :) ), then drove to another winery and sipped some more :) We just had a perfect day together! As I am sure I post every month, Andrew is busy with school, BUT we are on the final countdown...4 months to go!!!! Then in May it'll be official, get ready for a party at the Parr's! Ok, sorry, had to say it. Well, here are some pictures of what we have been up to this month:

Doin' what he does best

Andrew and I in Denver

Opening his guitar pedal I got him :)

Gorgeous watch and bracelet Andrew got me...as you can tell by
my face, this was the morning of my birthday!

Celebrating our birthdays with family, my first Northface fleece
from Steve and Karen

It's not fall without Husker football! Typical us lol

Wonderful friends

At the apple orchard!

A little wine

Such a perfect day!

Picking apples

Also had to pick the perfect pumpkin!

Family photo- Allison Koranda Photography

Allison Koranda Photography

Love this one- Allison Koranda Photography

    Well, it's been a great month and we are gearing up for an even busier one! We have something going on every weekend in November, all leading up to a nice relaxing family vacation at the end! If I do not post in November, have no fear, I will be back in early December with plenty to talk about and lots of fun vacation photos to share, of course. Love y'all!
- Carrie

End of summer already?

WOW what an ending to summer it has been! After my latest project, I picked up crocheting again. I started teaching myself last year and just got too busy. So, when I had a little extra time I started looking online and found tutorials. Since then I have purchased patterns and now have just started my own small business making hats and headbands for babies and children as well as photography props! I am pretty nervous about this new venture, but I am also really excited! I never pictured myself owning my own business, but I'm trying to not let it intimidate me. My items are great for photography, baby gifts, and of course the cold winter months fast approaching (for y'all Texans, not soon enough I'm sure!). Check me out at http://loopsandlace.com/

Speaking of cooling down, this first week of September is already starting to show us signs of fall!!! I love summer, but I am very ready for fall Fall is probably my favorite season, unlike the one that follows it! Starting tomorrow we'll be in the 70s for highs and 50s for lows...a drastic change from the 105 degree heat index we had two days ago!  I am sure we'll still have a few more warm days, but signs of cooler weather are here. Besides the cool weather, the other GREAT thing about fall is college football!!! Husker season officially kicks off today and I am psyched! The atmosphere in a college town makes college football that much better, I love it! Speaking of which, I need to get the house ready to have people over for the game, happy fall everyone!!

Channeling my Inner Martha

    It is July, and with the heat index hitting 126 degrees multiple times over the last three weeks, I have been channeling my inner Martha Stewart and crafting up a storm!  I enjoy making things, but have not had a place to do it.  Andrew has his office, so we decided I needed a place as well. Down to the basement I went!  I had purchased a bookcase almost a year ago with the intention of refinishing it once we found just the right spot for it. Well, tada, I finally decided it would come down to the basement with me to help organize all my crafty things.  We purchased a craft table and chair and refinished the bookcase to match.  I finally have lots of space to sew, crochet, scrapbook, or whatever else I come up with!  Here are a few photos of my new area all to myself:

Bookcase before....



Bookcase after!




My desk with lots of work space!




Love all the storage




Little organizers




My yarn baskets are overflowing already

    So there's my new space, I love it!!  There's enough room that Tonka likes to hang out in the air conditioning with me too, he isn't much help but he thinks he is!  I'm sure by now you're wondering what I have been up to in this new space, here are some photos of some appliqued onesies, a tutu, and come crochet hats:

    Well, I hope all of y'all are staying cool!  We decided to refinish the bookcase at the start of this super hot weather...woops!  Oh well, live and learn, it was a lot of work but I love how it turned out!  Either way we'll enjoy this heat while it lasts because we all know what comes a couple seasons from now!  Happy summer and I'm sure I'll be writing again soon!
-Carrie

Sweet Summertime!

Ahhhhhh summer is here! It has been another busy month in the Parr house! On May 24th, Andrew and I celebrated our 3rd Anniversary with a nice dinner out on the weekend, then Andrew made me a fabulous swordfish dinner on the actual day! It is something he does for me every year and it is always a nice treat.

My dad, step-mom Cindy, and niece Kailey visited us here in Nebraska (or as Kailey would say "The Braska), for the first time! It was the first time Dad and Cindy had ever seen our house. We had a great time, we went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday then the guys went shooting while Cindy and I took Kailey to the children's museum. She had a blast running through the 3 story museum trying on different costumes and playing in all of the different exhibits. It was such a hands on museum, she was all over the place! We definately got a workout running after her. We went to church on Sunday and Dad made some awesome food, as usual! I've missed his cooking. It was too short of a trip, but we had a great time and I know they'll be back soon. November will be here before we know it and we'll all be on a cruise ship together headed to the Caribbean! Here are some photos from the trip:

On our way to the Farmer's Market



Kailey got to look at a fire truck




Holding hands with Uncle Andrew



Dad and Andrew about to go shooting



Firegirl Kailey at the Children's Museum




Each exhibit had an outfit to dress up in!




Showing Kailey the little grapes at the vineyard




Andrew and I at James Arthur Vineyard




Whole family :)

Hope you enjoyed the post, I'll be writing again soon!
-Carrie

How To: Upholster a Headboard

    As promised, here it is!! Now there are two ways to upholster a headboard, either upholster an existing headboard, or upholster a cut sheet of plywood. I did the first option. For a long time I have not been a fan of the headboard in our guest room so as I have decorated the room bit by bit, this was one of my final touches! This room was pretty fun for me because there's a lot of personal touches in it; from a photo screen my grandpa made with landscape photos I took, to the artwork I painted above the bed, to the new upholstered headboard, it's been so much fun I'm kind of sad to be done...guess that means I'll have to find another room! :) Below are photos and instructions of how to upholster a headboard:

Supplies:
Wooden headboard
Foam (One bag was just enough, but it depends on the size of your headboard)
Batting (Same as above, I doubled the batting over)
Fabric (amount of fabric depends on the size of your headboard)
Iron
Staple gun

Before:

Step 1:
Lay out your foam and place your headboard face down on top. Start stapling it to the back, making sure your continuously pulling it tight. There's no need to put foam around the legs at this point.

Lay it out



Staple it




Finished from the back



Finished from the front

 Step 2:
Next, lay out your batting and do the same thing, remembering to pull tight as you go. I kept the batting folded over so it was doubled up. At this point, wrap the legs as well.


The legs make it a little more tricky




Finished from the back




Finished from the front

Step 4:
Iron your fabric front and back multiple times. You do not want any imperfections on your final piece so ironing out every wrinkle in important.

Step 5:
Wrap your fabric just as you have the other materials paying extra attention to smoothing the fabric and keeping wrinkles out. Before stapling your corners, wrap them and position the fabric in a way you like that looks nice, I played with mine a bit before it layed perfectly. The legs will be the trickiest part. Make sure you fold your edges over so there's a nice, clean, seamless look.



Pull tight and staple




Fold edges for a clean look




Don't forget to punch the holes in the batting and fabric
so you can re-attach your headboard!

Step 6:
Re-attach your headboard and admire your work! This project did not take me long at all. It was easy and made a big difference in the room!

    I hope y'all enjoyed another "how-to" craft project! I hope to see some that y'all make too, if you're going to use plywood you can have it cut into neat shapes, or drill through it and have a tufted headboard! There's lots of possibilities and plenty of room to get creative, happy crafting!
Love,
Carrie