Frugal Friday~

Welcome to this week's edition of Frugal Friday! I must admit, today was a rough day. I had a migraine ALL day. But I did manage to get my Frugal Round-up together. And you'll be glad I did. I hope so anyway. Because did I mention I had a migraine ALL day? Oh, I did? Okay. Then...I guess I better just share those links with you... First up, Twice Lovely shared this darling damask dresser. (Lovin' the alliteration there, huh?) This dresser would look perfect in my gray and white master bedroom...I'm just sayin'. Next, Counting Our Blessings shared her $40 mudroom makeover. Love. it. Seriously...$40 never looked so good.

Stillwater Story shared her Williams Sonoma shell art knock-off. So pretty.

Oakridge Revival shared her ikat stencilled bath. This is fabulous!

Finally, Hill Country Homebody shared her master bath redo. Simply stunning!

Okay, y'all. It's your turn.

You know "da rules!"

1. Please link directly to your post and not just to your blog.

2. Please link back to The Shabby Nest.

3. Please visit other participants and leave them some comment love!

I reserve the right to remove any post that is not in keeping with the spirit of Frugal Friday including, but not limited to, those posts that link to your link party, your shop or giveaway, and those posts not linking back to the Shabby Nest. Thanks for playing fair!!

Going Ape Over Turning 4~

My baby turned 4 last weekend. 4!??! This age is a great age, though. Old enough to be somewhat self-sufficient, young enough to still want cuddles on a daily basis.

All the kiddos wanted to show you how old Mr. Three is. Mr. Three is the busiest of my four kiddos. And true to his busy nature, he had a hard time narrowing down the type of party he wanted. So, in the end, I "helped" him. I knew that last week was going to be a crazy one for me, so I wanted a party that was light on prep time. And while looking through the "party" aisle at Tar-jay a couple of weeks ago, the theme was decided for me when I saw these very cute invitations by Paul Frank. (What? Pre-made invitations? I know...so NOT me...but like I said...they're cute...AND busy week + desire for minimum prep = pre-made invites.)

I purchased these fun pre-made party hats. But, of course, they needed a little sumthin', sumthin'.

So I embellished them. This was super simple to do. I used my 3" circle craft punch to punch out these great monkey faces from some Paul Frank wrapping paper that we already had on hand. Then I just glued them on to each hat.

To add the fringe, I simply used red construction paper (which happened to be exactly the right length to wrap around each hat.) I cut 2" strips, then folded them in half and cut the fringe. To attach them to the hat, I simply stapled the bottom layer to the hat up near the fold, then folded the top layer back down to hide the staples.

For the party favors, I opted again for simplicity. I simply filled clear cellophane bags with some candy and punching balloons, then stood noisemakers on their ends so that the fun mylar came out the top of each bag, and tied them with curling ribbon and tags made from more red construction paper and monkey faces cut from the same wrapping paper.

The cupcakes followed suit. Rather than making cupcakes as I usually do, I bought them. GASP! To make them more personal, I added sprinkles, placed them inside colorful cupcake cups, and added toppers made from more of the wrapping paper. SO EASY!!!!!

To entertain this little group of 3-5 year olds, we made "sculptures" using toothpicks and marshmallows...this required a little bit of supervision, but nothing my bestie, and my two older kiddos couldn't handle.

Mr. Two eating his sculpture.

Then we played monkey-themed games including a relay race where each kiddo had to hold a banana under his chin while running the course, freeze dance (yeah, okay, so that really had no monkey theme), and red-monkey, green-monkey (the ape version of red-light, green-light).

My bestie and her cutie-pie (one of Mr. Three's besties...isn't that convenient?)

One of Mr. Three's favorite gifts...he's already worn the batteries out...no seriously.

Quite possibly the easiest party I've ever thrown...and the kiddos loved it!

Especially this kiddo...which is the whole point!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Three! We love you!!~

Behind the Scenes with Matthew Mead and Nie Nie~

Last week I had the amazing opportunity of working with Matthew Mead, the incomparable creative powerhouse behind Holiday with Matthew Mead magazine.

Along with his wife Jenny and Linda of Restyled Home, we created a beautiful photo shoot for Matthew's new Summer magazine featuring Stephanie Nielson of the Nie Nie Dialogues.

Alice Lane, one of my favorite home decor stores, was the setting for the photo shoot...and it could not have been more perfect. Stephanie, along with her lovely sisters, sisters-in-law, and close friends were the stylish models...and of course Matthew's incredible food stylings were featured as well.

I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was to meet and work alongside these fabulous people! So I'll show you instead...

Look at all those beautiful roses...and that's not even half of them. They were gorgeous!!

I spent quite a while prepping those babies...luckily I got to bring home some of the extras. (Ah, the perks of magazine life...)

Like I said...a lot of flower prepping. And even more food prepping...but I don't have a photo of that.

Matthew and Jenny snapping away.

Some of the lovely ladies...in their fabulous spring finery. (Those gals were dressed to the nines...let me tell you!)

A little glimpse of the pretty, pretty table setting.

Matthew snaps some photos of Stephanie.

Me and Nie Nie. Such a charming and gracious lady. So glad I was able to meet her. (I felt a bit like a groupie, I've been a fan of hers for.ev.ah.)

Here I am with Courtney (AKA C.Jane) Stephanie's sister and an amazing author and blogger! Don't ask me what that crazy grin on my face was for...apparently something was quite funny when this photo was snapped...yikes!

Not only did I get to see this beautiful photo shoot, but I got a sneaky peak of the photos for some of the other articles that will be appearing in Matthew Mead's Summer Magazine and I can tell you that you are definitely going to want to get a copy. But they are only available online. You can order yours here. And believe me, I would!

Thanks again to Matthew Mead and the gang for the chance to work alongside their awesome talent...and to have so much fun in the process!

Style by ME for Yours Truly

Yetserday,I had  the great opportunity to style a model for a photoshoot for the fall collection for Swedish clothing company Yours Truly, Im so happy for this and it was such fun

 

Here is pictures from the Spring &Summer collection

All clothes sewn up in India and all details are hand embroidered...

 

 Every single details is thought out and the clothes are of the highest quality

www.yourstrulyclothes.com

The photosession took place in *The old movie Town* in Solna/Stockholm
called Råsunda and it was an absolutely fantastic feeling knowing that Swedens
greats actors/tress and first Hollywood stars have been staying in the same premises

  Here is a picture of beautiful actess

Ingrid Bergman-the dreamy eyed actress of yesterday..

pictures from the shoot you can see on our facebook page ,

 with respect to all dealers will no pictures from the fall collection be published until  Its released for general eligibility

more iformation of the company you can see here, pictures cherrie flower from webb regissörsvillan and picture of Ingrid Bergman from webb buzztab.com

DownEast Basics: A Great Day for a Giveaway~

Hello my dear readers!! I am soooo excited for today's giveaway I can hardly stand it!! One of my very favorite clothing companies is DownEast Basics. I freely admit that most of what I wear is purchased there. Because not only are there clothes ADORABLE...they are AFFORDABLE as well. So when DownEast contacted me and asked if I would review one of their pieces and do a giveaway, I was thrilled. Here I am wearing the Pageant Top. I love this top because of it's assymetrical design and the fun ruffle detail! Not to mention the fact that the icy blue color made my eyes "pop"! (note to self: wear blue more often!) Here's just a small sample of the other great pieces that DownEast Basics is offering right now...

One of my very favorites...the Frosted Flowers cardi.

I love the blossom detail on the Rosy Cheeks skirt. Whimsical but elegant at the same time!

Love this vintage lace skirt...so romantic and fun!

Another favorite... the Round and Round tank. It would be fabulous with a pair of jeans and some flirty heels this summer!

Perfect for spring, this Flowerful top just makes me smile.

Here's the fun part...DownEast Basics has offered to give one reader of the Shabby Nest their choice of items from DownEast's New Arrivals! To enter just visit the New Arrivals section of their site, then come back and tell me which piece is your favorite!

For extra entries, follow DownEast Basics on Twitter, or Like them on Facebook. For extra entries to qualify, you must leave one additional comment for each. Drawing is open until Friday, April 1 at 11:59 MST. Drawing open to US residents only.

Good luck!!

Big Hair Styles

In case you were wondering, the big, full, long and layered hair style hasn't gone anywhere.  Cheryl Cole recently was seen with this very glamorous style.

Create this style on your own by first applying a volumizing hair product and/or a root volumizer product to damp hair.  Blow dry the hair using a large round brush. Direct all layers down and under.

When the hair is completely dry, add soft waves throughout using a medium barrel curling iron or hot rollers.  To finish off the style and create the height in the crown area, take small sections of hair and gently back comb them and smooth over the top with your fingers.

See more Long Hair Styles

Bring Spring Indoors~

I've been wondering when Spring is going to get around to actually making an appearance in these parts. Seems that this season is such a tease. One day the weather is warm, the birds are chirping, and buds are peaking up through the ground. The next day we are being dumped on with snow.

So I've decided to take matters into my own hands and bring a little bit of spring inside. Here are four super simple ways that I've brought spring to the Shabby Nest (try them to bring a little spring to your nest too)...
1. Adding blossoms.

Whether the blossoms are real like these roses...

Or faux like these cherry blossoms...

Flowers just shout "SPRING"!

2. Adding green.

Green is synonymous with spring. Don't worry about using real greenery (unless you want to, of course) such additions as faux topiaries and green spheres help bring in that spring-y feeling.

3. Adding birds.

Anything avian will help to make your home feel spring-ish.

Try adding nests (with eggs, of course!)...

Or little bird-statuary...

Or even bird art as I did on my fireplace mantle.

4. Adding a bit of blue.

Okay, so you might not want to paint a piece of furniture blue like I did...but doesn't it look super spring-y? If you don't want to go for anything quite this dramatic a little bit of blue, like the frame on my mantle - pictured above - will do the trick just as well.

With just these easy-to-add touches my home went from the winter blahs to the warmth of spring. Yours can too!!

Joining up with Centsational Girl's Spring Link-up!

Have a great day~