Projects

The Mrs. Box

I’ve had my eye on a company called The Mrs. Box, who’s dainty velvet ring boxes frequently grace the Instagram and blog feeds of photographers, designers, and bride-to-be’s alike. They recently released their fall collection and I procured two of their new beautiful colors – The Nouvelle and The Scarlett – for two beautiful belles. The boxes themselves are small and light, perfect for housing a delicate engagement ring in it’s time off of a finger. They are handmade with unique limited edition velvet colors and are the ideal match for your most treasured baubles.

Xo,
Jackietara

Sam + Kyle

I was able to shoot an engagement session for the very first time with my friends Sam and Kyle a few weeks ago. Kyle proposed to Sam in May at Delaplane Cellars – a winery in Virginia – so they wanted to recreate their special moment for their photographs. Bryan joined me on the adventure, and we all met on an uncharacteristically cool day in August for a picnic and a little wine. Sam and Kyle are not the pose-y type, so we kept it casual and fun with a lot of jokes and laughter. It was a perfect afternoon!

Dara’s Baby Shower

My dear friend and colleague, Jen, asked me to photograph her best friend Dara’s baby shower at the end of August. I have been welcoming every opportunity to work on my photography skills , so I was incredibly excited to capture the sweet details of this jungle-themed shower and portraits of the mom-to-be, her friends, and family.

DIY Hangover Boxes

I discovered last week that it is incredibly easy and fun to create the sweetest little bachelorette party hangover boxes. Marci, the MOH for Chelsea’s September wedding, and I wanted to collaborate on decorating and filling simple white take-away boxes for each bachelorette party attendee to have during our weekend in Charleston, SC. I am not a professional calligrapher by any means, but I am pretty darn good at replicating, it seems.

After studying the work of a few pro’s, I mustered enough courage to put my pretty gold pen to paper. I wrote everyone’s name in my “faux calligraphy” and then jazzed up the boxes a little bit more with some delicate pink and purple watercolor flowers. Marci took care of the excellent – and much needed – fillings with mini Advil packs, mints, granola, and snacks to help revive us the morning after a lively night out. It was the perfect combination of cures to have on-hand!

A couple of my current calligraphy crushes:
Host and Toast: custom signs
Splotch and Line: lettering and art
Flora Waycott: illustrations and designs
Poppy and Scooter: calligraphy and stationery

Xo,
Jackietara

Whimsical Wedding Hair by PSC Hair Artistry

If you’ve been looking for the perfect whimsical wedding hair style and the person to do it, look no further. Paige Clifton of PSC Hair Artistry transformed my long locks into a sweet spirally up do, suited for a lovely crown of red roses, for a styled shoot at the beginning of March. Paige is based out of Annapolis, Maryland, and is launching her website on May 1, 2015!

In the meantime, you can check out her artful handiwork on Instagram @pschairartistry. Her beautiful hair designs were also recently featured in a Buzz Feed article, 8 Must-Have Looks for the 2015 Bride. I would say “I do” to any of these looks!

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Enaura Bridal Gown
Les Fleurs Floral Crown

Hair by PSC Hair Artistry
Makeup by Ashley Yalana
Coordinating by Pop the Cork Designs

Photography by CJK Visuals

My Dream Workspace

It has happened – I finally have my dream work space! No more wishing, wanting, and longing for the perfect place to dream, think, doodle, and be creative. I may even delete my “Dream Workspace” board on Pinterest. (OK, let’s not get too crazy…). The space speaks for itself, but there are a couple of things that I want to highlight.

My amazing friend Heather Mae, in addition to being a musician and fellow style blogger, refurbishes furniture and creates memo boards on her Etsy shop, ALittleLoved. She created a gold memo board for me with chalkboard panes and fabric panes for pinning my favorite notes and clippings. I love me some Pinterest, but there’s something irreplaceably gratifying about pinning things to a physical board.

Shelves were also an important piece of my workspace, so a little trip to Ikea and some gold spray paint did the trick. If you’re thinking about redoing your workspace, it doesn’t take much to give it a little uplift, and a little lift makes all the difference.

Xo,
Jackietara

Art + Aztec

I have never been much of a Black Friday or Cyber Monday fanatic (surprising, I know, considering my most trusty motto is “never pay full price”), but this year I gave Cyber Monday a go to knock a few “presents for him” off of the shopping list. My favorite gifts to give family and friends are usually of the homemade variety – crafts, cards, paintings, etc. – and I’m planning on continuing that tradition for the holidays this year. I’ve been experimenting with watercolors more lately, despite my previous frustration with this elusive type of paint, and I am slowly growing to love it. Contrary to my inner control freak, I get an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction as I let the colors drip and blend into each other on the page, much like a slowly melting popsicle on a hot summer day.

Now let’s talk about Aztec prints on capes and ponchos. I am completely in love with the makeshift poncho look we are seeing all over the place right now (even Maggie was wearing one in The Walking Dead!). You can have a poncho without having to buy one by wrapping a larger scarf or light blanket around your shoulders and belting it in the front to secure it. Or, just drape it around your shoulders for a more relaxed “at home” feel. With a blanket wrapped around you, though, you may never even want to leave the house. Consider yourself warned.

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South Moon Under Dress on sale!
H&M Scarf

Photography by Paul B. Jones

Furniture Facelift: Chalk Paint

My bedroom furniture was going through a mid-life crisis, so I decided to help a dressa’ out and give it a facelift. T’s parents were kind enough to give us a few pieces of furniture to get us started on our apartment, including our wooden dresser. I love the thing, with it’s antique key holes and brass handles, but brown wasn’t doing it for me, or our bedroom.

I’ve been gravitating toward greys and purples lately, so I thought a nice grey-blue color would do the trick with a darker slate color on the very top. On a random note, I have also been drawn to bright pink palettes lately. Not so much in the clothes that I wear, but flowers, shoes, prints, etc. I never used to be a “pink person,” but now it makes me so happy when I look at it! Anyway, back to the facelift… My mom suggested using a “less toxic” version of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, so we went with the CeCe Caldwell’s version of chalk paint and clear wax. The great thing about this paint is that you don’t need to sand or prime your furniture before you paint [gasp!]. All you need to do is follow these easy steps and voila, a practically new addition to your favorite room or space!

Step 1: Remove all hardware then wipe down with a damp cloth to get all the dust off.
Step 2: Paint. You may need to do 2 or 3 coats to prevent visible brush strokes on the furniture.
Step 4: Seal it. After the paint has dried for a couple hours, you can seal it with wax. Less is more when it comes to waxing the top of your dresser, so with a dry cloth take some wax and lightly apply in small sections. The wax can take up to 24 hours to dry, and even after that I recommend being delicate when putting decor back on top of your furniture.

I’m so happy with how my dresser turned out! One step closer to my dream bedroom…

Jackietara

DIY Berry Basket

Hi there and happy Friday! It’s been a roller coaster of a week, so I’m glad the weekend is finally here. Spring always takes forever to get here, but when it does finally arrive, it ignites with a fury and steamrolls into summer. There is always so much to do and so much I WANT to do, and at the end of every day I end up saying “there just isn’t enough time.” I have to say though, even after long days at the office I’ve been managing to stick to a basic workout routine during the week [big win for me!]. Working out even when I’m tired has dramatically increased my energy level [weird, I know] and has given me a much needed confidence boost. And I need both energy and confidence in huge doses right now with the amount I need/want to accomplish!

By basic I mean I am still no fitness pro [or even close], but I’ve gotten to a point where I exercise at least 3 days a week. On Tuesdays I join a small group that does Zumba together at work, after work, and interchange that with the Shirlington running club, also on Tuesdays, that I joined last fall. I have also picked up barre classes with a friend who is training to become an instructor, and the classes are free which helps my bottom line [literally]. And then there’s my at-least-once-a-week visits to the industrial building in Springfield that hosts the largest dance party workout class I have ever experienced: Kazaxe. Kazaxe has become my favorite part of my routine because it’s not only a great cardio workout [trust me, you sweat constantly] and endorphin booster, but it’s become a social gathering with some of my closest gal pals. And what could better than getting your twerk on with your closest friends?! One of those friends has recently started a fitness blog, which is amazing and you should follow along!

With all of this extra energy I have been pushing myself to keep my crafting going. Something I had been really wanting to do is to create a berry basket from clay. I already had extra Sculpey from my clay planter project, so I dedicated an afternoon a couple weeks ago to making one for my newly redecorated bathroom. I followed the basic steps from the post from A Beautiful Mess, tweaked it a bit, and voila! My very own berry basket. It took me a bit longer than I expected (about 2 hours), so I ended up only making one. I painted it black to match my sea glass and black decor in the bathroom and I think it feels right at home on the shelf. They are perfect for any nick nacks or do dads you have lying around… I started with q-tips and it’s now it’s holding three nail clipper kits, previously without a home [don’t ask me why I have three]. I’d love to make another to have on my bedroom dresser, leave the white clay color, and then paint the bottom gold!

Jackietara

Life is [hectic, but] beautiful

Where have you been all my life?! Well, my answer lately is “working late in a deserted office” or “cleaning and organizing my apartment.” It’s that time of year when everything speeds up, double time, and I feel like I’m standing still with the world around me whirling around me like a twister. Despite everything going on in my life, I feel restless and an urge to clean and purge, to start anew. It must be something about spring that just gets you going.

My most recent projects have been redecorating my outdated bathroom and creating a gallery wall above the couch in the living room. Somehow I took on both of these projects at once. Just a quick trip to home goods with a couple gal pals, and I was in deep. I finally got rid of all of my navy towels, shower curtain, and bathroom accessories that I’ve had since college [it was time for them to go] and replaced them with a new sea glass motif. Even more exciting, I got rid of our terrible “over the toilet organizer” from Target and replaced it with a hanging basket, which makes our tiny bathroom seem so much more roomy [trust me, it’s the little things]!

The gallery wall project is something that has been in the back of my mind for at least a year. We two lonely photographs on our wall that were just begging for some company, so I watched A Beautiful Mess’ gallery wall tutorial and got to it. I was also inspired by their DIY art collection blog post and decided to mod podge and paint an empty canvas – what a great outlet for my pent up energy! Although these projects took up a significant part of my weekend a couple weeks ago, they made me feel incredibly accomplished. I’m not normally that “handy,” so it was a good feeling!

I can’t say enough how happy I am it’s finally spring. My list of projects is quickly growing [so I’m glad I got to check two off my list!] and I’m itching to be outside as much as possible. Sunday brunching, here I come!

Jackietara

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