Loving the New Pinterest Mobile Design

So, I'm not sure how many of you all go onto the Pinterest app on your phones, but just the other day, I was browsing Pinterest on my lunch break, and discovered the really awesome new layout on the Pinterest app! 

I have an iPhone, and I recently installed a new update, so I don't know if the new update brought these changes on, or when they first appeared, but I'm loving the some of the new features. 

I went to my profile page to find my Boards, scrolled down a little, and this is what I saw:

Have you seen this before, or am I just late on this?! Not only can you change the way you are viewing your boards on this page, either by most recent or alphabetically, but now it gives you "tags" for each of your boards that you pin to.  

It made me laugh to see "Little Houses" as one of my tags - obviously this here blog, "This Little House of Mine" is in the category of Little Houses. :) I also apparently tend to save pins related to Jennifer Aniston (my idol), Kate Spade, Deviled eggs, Fall front porches, Weddings, and the list goes on. Pretty cool feature!

Scrolling down, I then saw what kinds of furniture I pin most to my Furniture board - and if you click on one of the tags - say "Ottomans" for example, it will show you all of the pins on that Board that relate to Ottomans. This is the greatest thing since sliced bread - and makes it super easy to sort for the exact kind of pins you are looking for within your own boards.

Needless to say, I found myself pretty occupied for a good 15 minutes just browsing through all of the categories that I pin the most. I can't say I'm surprised though, that my pin boards are filled with tags like "Ceramic animals," "Tassels," and "Throw pillows." You know, the important things in life.

What kinds of things do you pin often?

Painting Inspiration

Some of you might know I was an art major in college, specifically in graphic design, but I've always enjoyed drawing and making art in general. I don't have a lot of painting experience, but in recent years I've kind of experimented with painting on canvas, starting small of course. (Ok, really small!)

You can see some of the paintings I've created and documented on the blog: here, here, here, and here. They've really been just small paintings I've done for fun, completely experimenting, and some maybe not exactly turning out the way I hoped, but they were fun to make.

I have an urge to paint more this year, so I'm gathering a little inspiration here to help get me motivated for some more painting adventures to come. I found all of these images on Pinterest, and have saved them all to my Pinterest board, Art I Love.

I've recently discovered the paintings of Erin Gregory. She paints colorful bouquets of flowers - and those are two things I love to look at, flowers and color.

Her work is just gorgeous. I would love to paint something like these. I love the bright colors together and imagine these would be super fun to create.

I've gotten more into abstract art in recent years, and a lot of the paintings I experimented with are abstract. I like that when you're creating abstract art, you have total freedom of the colors and shapes and patterns that you paint. It doesn't have to resemble anything but what's in your imagination.

I also like the idea of painting nothing but strokes of color onto a canvas. Color alone can be so expressive, and I imagine that a painting like this can really make a statement and look great when it's hung in a room.

I gathered these particular images because they all look like fun painting projects that I wouldn't mind taking on this year and trying my own interpretations of. Maybe I'll get to painting again this winter while I'm still cooped up in the house with nothing to do. Some possible painting posts in the future? We'll see!

Summer Porch Inspiration: 2015 Edition

I know it's not summer yet, and barely even spring. But it's never too early to start thinking about your summer porch, right? The amazing weather we had yesterday for the first day of April has already put me into the summer mood!

Since my April 2013 Summer Porch Inspiration post was such a big hit (it's my #1 visited post and probably my most re-pinned pin on Pinterest), I'm back to share a few more inspiring front porch ideas - 2015 Edition. Get excited.

So here are a few for your viewing pleasure. Sources are below each photo.

From here

 From here

From here

From here

I love all of the inspiration out there on Pinterest and all over the web and blogland. So inspiring! Hope you all are getting a chance to enjoy some nice weather, wherever you are! 

Popular Pinterest Pins

Like that alliteration in the title there? Say that 3 times fast.

If you're an active Pinterest user like I am, you might see those emails come in all the time that say, "so-and-so repinned your pin...", and then it shows the image that they repinned of yours? Everyday when I am going through my emails I see these pop up and just kind of glance them over and don't pay much attention to them. The other day I got to thinking that many of these notification emails that I get have the same pinned images over and over. Popular pins tend to get more and more popular the more they're repinned. I don't know how it happens, but there are some pins that just get a ton more repins than others.

I pin a variety of things that catch my eye. From home decor ideas, to recipes, to fashion ideas, and fitness articles. Lately I've also been pinning a ton of wedding ideas, and vacation ideas (honeymoon coming up, woot!) I thought today that I would share just a few pins from my Pinterest that seem to get repinned a lot (i.e. my most popular pins). Since I don't have a Pinterest business account, I don't technically have a way to view my analytics (Pinterest just recently came out with that feature for businesses - read more here). But these links are just a few that I've noticed seem to be pretty popular. And I love them too!

1. Remote control storage idea from Yellow Brick Home

This one is funny to me, but this pin of mine gets pinned over and over! This was one of my first pins EVER. I pinned it because I thought it was such a clever and cute way to store remotes. And guess what - I actually used it for inspiration for my own cigar box-remote storage. And alluded to this pin in the post. How crazy is that.

2. Pom-pom dish towel DIY from Bower Power

I love Katie Bower and her blog and have been reading it for years. And I love this cute hand towel idea. I have never attempted it myself, mainly because I don't own a sewing machine, or sew, for that matter. But I have dreams that one day I might....

3. DIY Play kitchen from Young House Love

I have noticed that lately this is getting lots of repins. The moment I read this post I was in love with this project that John and Sherry at YHL so bravely took on for their daughter, Clara. Oh, how I miss the Petersik family! I was a loyal YHL reader and even met them on their book tour. These two are so creative, and I love this play kitchen that they put together. It reminded me of the one I got on Christmas morning when I was a young tot. Too fun!

4. Beginning photography tips from Katie Bower

Another pin-worthy post from Ms. Bower Power. I don't own a DSLR camera...yet. I pinned this for the day that I finally break down and spend the money to get one. I've been pining over the Canon Rebel for years now. Katie is an amazing photographer and has gotten better and better even since this post was written, in my opinion! These tips are great and I can't wait to use them someday.

5. My repurposed wine bottles

I kinda hate doing it, but I pin most of my DIY projects. Surprisingly, my post about my painted wine bottles and mason jars is one of the most repinned projects from my blog. Pretty cool, and such an easy project. It's even in my Popular Posts section over on my sidebar. It's probably one of my favorites, too.

So that's my short little list for ya. Who else is still obsessed with Pinterest? It's really taken off in the last few years, and I don't think it will go away any time soon. It's become the go-to search engine for some things for me, especially for recipes and wedding stuff. Anywho, that was fun! Have a good Thursday, everyone!

Wedding Day Hairstyle Ideas

Time for another wedding planning update. Saturday I got to pick up my dress! It arrived in my size, and it actually fit almost perfectly as is. I will have to schedule an alterations appt. soon though, to get the bottom hemmed since it's a little too long. There are a few other small changes I'll need too - since we're having an August wedding outside, I really want to make sure there's not too much excess fabric or crinoline. No major changes though. I'm excited to finally have my dress in my own hands!

Along with picking up my dress, I also ordered my veil. I plan on having a simple veil along with a simple, white flower in my hair. I've been looking at various hairstyle ideas for the big day and am gathering them up here. Most of them I found via Pinterest.

source: 1 2

source: 1  2

source

source: 1 2

I really want to keep it simple and maybe add some nice earrings, too. The only question - real flower or faux flower? I've seen some cute ones on Etsy, like this one. I don't want something too blingy or feathery, or something so huge it overwhelms me! The search is on...

DIY Christmas Ornament Ideas

Looking for some creative and festive DIY ornament ideas? You've come to the right place! I've gathered some of my favorites from the web and Pinterest, just in time for Christmas and gift giving time. I'm thinking about making some of these myself. 

First off - check out these beautiful ornaments, which you can make with styrofoam balls, brass tacks, and some string. Found on Pinterest here.

Chalkboard ornaments are really popular these days - this one in the photo above is actually made with fabric and meant to look like chalkboard. From Don't Disturb This Groove.

This one can be made with a wood slice, and some chalkboard paint, or just black craft paint. From How Lovely It is.

I love this travel-inspired ornament, which can be made with Mod Podge and a printed map. Found on Pinterest here.

This one is made from Scrabble tiles and some spray snow. From Crafts by Amanda.

Use old books to make these pretty paper ornaments. From Better Homes and Gardens.

Another wood slab ornament - and a monogram written with a Sharpie! Easy peasy. From All Things G&D.

I love simple pine cone ornaments. Instead of a silk ribbon, you can use a burlap ribbon for a more rustic look. From Make It, Love It.

Check out this pretty star made from twigs and some twine! I've seen stars made with cinnamon sticks, too. From here.

And I'll end with these pretty spray painted pinecones - make them as ornaments, or in a garland. Both super glam. From Miss Renaissance.

Hope you enjoyed these DIY ornament ideas. Now, what are you waiting for? Get crafting!

Christmas Porch Decorating Ideas

I don't know about you but I love looking on Pinterest for inspiration, especially around the holidays. There's just tons of eye candy and ideas galore. This week I've been decorating for Christmas and working on some new front porch decor for the holidays. I've found tons of inspiration from the web and today I've put together some of my favorite holiday front porch ideas right here.

First up, there's this beautiful front porch from The Relaxed Home. I love the idea of wrapping empty boxes up with paper and creating fake "presents." This porch has so many other different ideas too, from bundles of firewood, to a festive chalkboard, and a basket of pinecones.

Love the oversized lanterns in this one from PB&J Stories. And another way to display firewood - these are filling a box crate.

Here's the whole porch from a distance. Lots of other charming decor, including that festive red "NOEL" sign, and pretty holiday lights.

My front porch is including an old sleigh this year! So I'm super excited about old, vintage sleighs on porches at the moment. I also love the red plaid blanket. Looks so cozy! From Style Estate.

This porch from Cottage in the Oaks is impeccable. I only wish I had a front porch space like this one. More firewood in a box crate, mixed with some lanterns in varying heights, and a holiday message on a chalkboard. I spy another vintage sled in the background, too!

This hand-painted sign from Emily Sue looks really easy to do, and is so festive! Also love the basket of pinecones and ornaments.

Love the idea of using an old red wagon! From Unskinny Boppy.

This bench is decorated so cute - From Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures. I need to find some holiday pillows for our bench outside.

This little vignette from InteriorDesignWorld.com is so adorable. A mix of pinecones, firewood, and pine tree branches, lit up with some twinkle lights in a galvanized tub.

Lighted garland is always a nice touch and one of my favorite Christmas decor essentials. We have garland lining our porch railing. Love the poinsettias in the wagon, too. From The Kim Six Fix.

Pretty oversized lantern with ornaments and pinecones inside, right next to a vintage sled. From Our Southern Home.

The whole porch looks absolutely beautiful with all of the garland, and that red cheery pillow is so charming.

Have you started on your winter porch yet? Hopefully this gives you a little inspiration!