My list of favorite books!

So you guys know that I love to read, so I am going to make a list of my favorite books with a mini review and summary. First off, I love fantasy/paranormal books. I always have (even before it was cool!)

1. My most favorite collection of books ever.
Harry Potter
By J. K. Rowling

-about a boy named Harry Potter who lost his parents as a baby due to the evil Voldemort and his adventures while attending the Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry and trying to defeat Voldemort in the process.
I love love love these books. I grew up with them. I remember my 1st grade teacher reading the sorcerers stone to the class. I remember staying up to the wee hours of the night reading the massive books. One of the only books I can read over and over and never get bored. I love the complexity of the story and the characters. Never had I read any books that made this fantasy world so real. There is such depth in Harry that at times you can feel his anguish and triumph. Though i'm sure most people have seen the movies (which are pretty good) I HIGHLY recommend reading them.

2. Best Paranormal Romance
The fever series
By Karen Marie Moning

-MacKayla Lane, a ditzy blonde who love pink frilly things has been happy in her perfect bubble of cute clothes, sunshine and dreaming of cute boys. Then she finds that her sister has been killed in a mysterious way while studying abroad in Ireland. Determined to figure out who (or what) has killed her sister she makes her journey to Dublin- where she discovers the awful truth of the fae and with the help on a dangerously dark man named Jericho she searches for the heart of all evil the Sinsar Dubh so she can destroy it and save the world from destruction.
As I got older and grew tired of Twilight but still searched for the great romance I was recommended these series by my friend Christy. Im not gonna lie it was a little hard to get hooked on at first but once you do Karen takes you by the heart for this not so typical paranormal romance. MacKayla goes through so much of a change- a loss of innocence if you will gradually from start to finish. Its horrifying and wonderful, it made me burst out laughing and the next second fill tears in my eyes. These books stick in your mind for a long time.

3. To kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee

-The story comes from the perspective of a young girl named Scout Finch, living an a small town of Alabama during the great depression. Her father Atticus Finch is a lawyer who is representing a black man Tom Robinson accused of raping a white woman. The author lets us see through Scouts innocent eyes of the trial, thoughts of her father and the man down the street named "boo" Radley. 
Such a great story. In the time of inequality this book has risen above all in terms of the message.  A book of a child growing up and a lost of innocence. And also a look at the world back then and what humans are capable of. Ill never forget reading this book in high school.

4. The Chronicles of Narnia
By C. S. Lewis

-For a lack of being able to type a summary of the books heres how Wikipedia describes the series:
Set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a place where animals talk, magic is common, and good battles evil, the series narrates the adventures of various children who play central roles in the unfolding history of that world. Except in The Horse and His Boy, the protagonists are all children from the real world magically transported to Narnia, where they are called upon by the lion Aslan to protect Narnia from evil and restore the throne to its rightful line. The books span the entire history of Narnia, from its creation in The Magician's Nephew, to its eventual destruction in The Last Battle.
Every child should read these books. Classic battles against good vs Evil. Teaches courage against fears and excites your imagination. Aslan is one of the best characters ever (its hard to beat when you are inspired by Jesus.) So many adventures to go on with the children in these books.

5. The Vampire Chronicles 
By Anne Rice 

A collection of books mostly told from the perspective of a Vampire named Lestat throughout his years.
-I haven't read these books in a really long time but I do love them. Way before Twilight there was Lestat and Anne Rice. Dark and beautiful, they are like no other vampire books.



Well I hope you liked it! Comment if there are any books you would like to add and what you think of my list!

xoxo
Alyssa

Frame it up!

Hola!

Sorry I've been gone so long, just haven't had the time or the motivation!
Today I am going to show you a really easy craft that I love!
When Daniel and I first got married and got our house we had a lot of people donate decorations to us (which helps so much for first time home buyers with no money!) anyway, we had these set of frames with what looks like vintage illustrations of fruit. Not that I didn't like the illustrations, they just weren't my kind of style and I didn't think it really fit with our house. So I decided to do something about it!

Here's a picture of the illustrations that were in the frames to begin with :

Like I said, not too bad but just not my style! (I am saving them for any kind of craft later...)

So I pulled those out and started looking online for a little piece of inspiration. Then I came across this awesome site called the The graphics fairy Its actually a blog where this lady has collected a TON of vintage images that you can print and use. The best part about it is that its FREE!!! She even has a craft section where you can see other peoples crafts to get some great ideas. So after about an hour of searching through all the wonderful images I found some vintage feathers that I really liked and that would fit well into the rectangular shape of my frame.

Here they are before I manipulated the images:

Pretty eh?

With the lack of having colored ink in my printer and the drive to Walmart I decided to manipulate the photos in the online picture editor Pixlr to make them black and white and gave them quite a bit more contrast. Then after some trial and error on printing I printed both of them on old vintage book paper and slapped them in the frames! 

Here's the finished product:

 I don't know why but in this picture the frame looks blue, but its really dark green like the one above....

I am still contemplating on weather I should paint the frames or not, even if I wanted to I'm not sure what color? 

Hope y'all liked it and I have inspired you to do something like it! Leave me comments to let me know what you think!!! 

xoxo

Alyssa

Pillow talk.

Thanks to my mother in laws gift for my birthday I was able to sew my own pillows! I was a little intimidated before but after I did the first one I was on a roll! Here's some pictures-

I wanted to go neutral colors with a small pattern. This fabric was perfect AND it was on sale 50% at joanns!

I put them with the pillows that we already had because they came out looking a little too small and it looks better with  the larger pillows behind them.

And this is Deuce sleeping on the floor while I take pictures of the pillows, I couldn't resist capturing his laziness.

There ya go! Leave me a comment and tell me what you think!
-Alyssa

Feeling artsy!

Daniel and I love to go to all the art festivals around this time of year. Being somewhat of an artist myself I love going to get inspiration and to just see all of the amazing things people can create. (and oh how I wish I could buy some!) This year over the insane crowd at the main street arts festival in Ft. Worth we saw a ton of cool works. But one artist stood out to me and made me get that excited feeling and really inspired me to do something like it! His name is Dolan Geiman. His work is awesome. Its Indy and simple, folksy and southern. found and fancy. Another thing about it was his booth really stood out. one of a kind stuff with amazing color and construction. Here's some examples:

This was one of the more impressive ones especially to see it in person. The fox is made up of hundreds of book and magazine clippings, while the canvas is plywood with white washed book pages. It had a sold sign on it (not that I could afford to buy it....) But I think this is freakin awesome.

This piece is like a cutout shadow box. So simple but really cool.

This is the piece that cought my eye from outside the tent. Symmetry and great form.

I love his work. I want to do things like this now. He also had some inexpensive printed panels that you could buy that all would look great in a kids room or nursery. Check him out at:
his website or His etsy shop

Stay tuned cause I have been having a ton of fun with my sewing machine making new pillows for the living room!

-Alyssa

Make me a Maxi

I love maxi dresses.

They are comfy where you can just lounge around the house on a hot summer day but they are cute enough where you can where them out pretty much anywhere and feel gorgeous.

I've been wanting a sewing machine forever....and then I got a great one for free from a fellow vet tech (thanks Kim!) I was so excited. I had so many tutorials on pinterest it was hard to decide which one to take on as my first sewing project. Then I remembered this lovely tutorial :http://asmallsnippet.blogspot.com/2011/09/wanna-make-dress.html

She explained everything so well, and it was pretty easy for a first time sewer...(after I figured out how to thread the thing!)  This dress took me about 2-3 hrs (with breaks of snacking and watching the movie that was on TV.) So here is the final result! Sorry the pictures are dark, Its rainy today and I didnt have a good place for  light.

Also it was really cheap to make, 2 yrds fabric - $10 and a ribbed tank from walmart- $3

I did make it a little long cause I have a feeling it will shrink in the wash since the fabric is 100% cotton so I would rather have it longer that too short!

I had so much fun doing this project I have another dress I am going to make like this but knee length.

Love. 

Alyssa

Fairytales....

One thing I have ALWAYS loved is weddings.... there's just something so magical about them. Once upon a time I wanted to be a wedding planner but then after watching the show "Bridezillas" I had no desire for dealing with people like that because really, I would just want to do every wedding how I would want it to be. I wasn't sure anyone would want that....I must confess even after being married for almost 3 years now I still occasionally browse wedding websites looking at all the fairy tale dresses, whimsical decorations and beautiful scenery. Here are some of my favorite wedding dresses, some that I dreamed about before I got married and could NEVER afford....none the less they are breathtaking.

Vera Wang - Eliza 

I would take away the black bow just because its not quite my style but this dress is so beautiful all that lace and layers of what looks like the softest organza ever how could you not feel like a princess in this?

monique lhuillier - emotion

I dont really have the body shape to fit this dress but I still cant help and greatly admire it. I love the romantic drapery of the bodice and the bottom is not too full...but just right. soft and gorgeous!

Badgley Mischka - Keeneland

If you want a simple A-line dress that still looks stunning this is the one. I love the ruched sweetheart top, the embellished waist, and the full soft skirt. Romantic and sophisticated! 

Anne Barge- Style 617

I freaking love lace. It makes everything pretty and whimsical. A simple fitted dress with gorgeous lace. Also good if you don't want that pure white look.

Ahhhh...it makes me think of our wedding. I loved it. For sure one of the best memories of my life. I loved wearing my dress and I hope every woman gets the chance to feel that pretty in her life.

p.s. I am getting a sewing machine from a friend and I am super excited! I don't have much experience but I am determined to make things.....

-Alyssa

Dress me up.

I have a ton of events coming up that I have to dress up for ( Daniel's graduation banquet, my friends wedding, my birthday....) I love trying to figure out what I am going to wear, even though most people hate it. I go online looking for what I like (even though Im too poor to buy any of it! But a girl can dream, right?)

SO here are some of my daydreams.....

Urban outfitters Sessun Paino Solo Dress. -$244(eek!)

(I really only like this dress from the back)

Mod cloth.com - rosette reception dress.- $65 

I love anything floral and the one shoulder is always feminine. 

Anthropologie Sea bands mini- $298

Simple and cute.

Forever21 strapless peplum dress- $22.80 (thats more like it!)

A step up from your typical LBD and pretty affordable.

Hope you liked my selection! Let me know which one is your fave with a comment <3

-Alyssa