sponsor love

These sponsors make what I do here possible, and since there are a lot of great stuff out there, I thought I'd share some of my favorite finds :) Give them some love!

First up is Modcloth! All new customers will receive $10 off an order of $75 or more, which is pretty awesome. AND all orders above $150 ship free, even internationally!

Grow With Your Instincts wall planter // When I Grow Up planter

Their clothes are of course adorable, but my favorite products are always in their apartment section. Their Grow With Your Instincts wall planter ($29.99, 3 colors) is so cute and would enable my succulent hoarding habit, as would the fun When I Grow Up planter ($79.99), which would look great on an outdoor patio. I heart them.

Next up is Tiny Prints (or Shutterfly, or Wedding Paper Divas, or Treat, or BorrowLenses, who are all run by Tiny Prints). They are having a HUGE 30% off sale to celebrate their 10th birthday, so check it out! Their invitations are super cute and affordable, and they have cards for almost every occasion you can think of! Here are just three of my favorites:

housewarming party // surprise party// moving announcement

Many of their greeting cards can be sent via email too, if snail mail isn't your thing. I LOVE snail mail, so I'm giddy about all the options :)

Jane is a boutique daily deal site with a TON of cute stuff. Here are a few of my faves from their site today! Hurry, the deals don't last long.

striped camera bag // initial necklace

I'm loving that camera bag; I've been looking for a DSLR purse for awhile and this one is really affordable! Maybe for our trip to Hawaii? 

And finally, Blurb.  This company has been my go-to for photo book making for almost three years now, and I still love them just as much as I did when I first discovered them. I gave a pretty extensive review of their products in a previous post (here), but my favorite way of displaying photos are their standard jacketed landscape (10"x8") books. As always, new customers can get 15% off their first order (yay!).

Interested in sponsoring Brittany's Joy blog? Contact me for details!

Affiliate links provided by shareasale.com

Two years with Brittany's Joy (and counting!)

So, believe it or not, Brittany's Joy has been around for more than two years. It's second birthday came and went back in January! Just for fun, here are the top 5 most popular posts from the past year in no particular order:

No sew, no hem curtains

Back in  May of last year, I made some curtains I think I spent eleven dollars on the project in total, not counting the hardware (which I already had)? All this project required was seven yards of fabric, an iron, clip-on curtain rings, and a rod! Go check it out to see how easy this project was :)

Adding length to curtains

Another curtain post made it to the top! In this post, I lengthen some plain jute curtains from World Market using scrap fabric. I still have people asking me where I bought my bedroom curtains, so I'm pretty  happy with how they turned out.

Brittany's Joy Shop Reveal!

In August, I opened my very own Storenvy shop selling personalized wedding hangers, and it was met with great fanfare :) Thanks for the support, you guys! The store sells a few standard hangers for $10, personalized hangers starting at $18, and child-sized personalized hangers starting at $15. Interested in seeing more? Go visit my store! Use the code thankyou10 for 10% off any order :)

Sequin heart shirt refashion

I added sequin fabric to a plain t-shirt for Valentine's day to replicate some expensive designer brands.

Seaglass lamp DIY

Another bedroom post made the top! In this DIY, I recreate more pricey lamps using a candlestick, lamp kit, and a glass drill bit.

other popular (but not top 5) posts include:
The Magnetic Board Gallery Wall I made when I worked for my college
My extensive Blurb Books review
The tutorial on how to alter the neckline of a basic crew-neck t-shirt
My recipe for ricotta cheese and lasagna, (which reminds me, it's lunchtime!)

Judging from the popular posts, you guys like how-tos! If you're interested in other projects from the archives, check out my Tutorials section.

Now, it's your turn! What was your favorite post from 2013? Do you have a type of post you'd particularly enjoy seeing more of on the blog this year? Let me know in the comments!

miramar beach in february. be jealous.

 

Haaaappy Monday, friends!
I hope your weekend was fabulous. Ours was! We had some friends over for dinner Saturday night, went to the beach a few times, slept in, and invented new recipes (some successful, some not so much). Not too bad for a weekend.

Did you do anything fun?

the getaway that was meant to be

This past year has been pretty crazy, life-wise. We've had quite a few twists and turns; many were life-altering, most were unexpected. Some were devastating.

We needed a break, bad. A getaway. SOMETHING. We traveled a lot last year for weddings, and sometimes would extend the trip to include a weekend. Those were GREAT, but since we had jobs at so many of the weddings we didn't really get to enjoy the time. What we needed was a REAL getaway. A three-day weekend, longer if possible!

Lumahai Beach, Kauai via

Then, things started adding up. My good college friend, Alanna, gets engaged and books her wedding on her home island of Kauai. Flights would be expensive, but we knew that we wanted to be there for her, or at least I would go. We would figure it out. Another wedding weekend getaway. 

Could we both do it? Could we EXTEND it? You know, make the cost of the flight work double-time, a wedding and a vacation?

Aerial view of Lihue, Kauai via

The cost for the flight was painful for two people, but once our friend started getting really serious with her boyfriend, we started saving. By the time she got engaged, we knew we both could probably go! Another obstacle down. 

Then, Tim lands a new job with a new company, and he was given an extra five days of vacation time as a signing bonus. Which is paid, by the way, as vacation days are. FIVE! We could do a whole week, if we could find a good enough deal that wouldn't cut into our plan of saving for a home. 

via

So I start researching. Just to see. 

The final detail closed in a few weeks ago, and we were blown away. 

The Lord provided :)

via

A commission check we'd forgotten all about (from Tim's old job) arrived at our house, a check that would allow us to cover our whole trip and still have some left over to put into our savings. Seriously, praise God!

via

Vacation in Kauai 2014 just got booked. This is so happening. Seven days, six nights in paradise, with a great friend's wedding in the middle. All completely provided for. Can't get better than that.

Have you ever had the pieces for a plan fall together like that before?

Any recommendations about what to do while we're on Kauai?

Just some pictures of another hike we took this weekend :)

 

Our hike this time took us through some of the area damaged by the Tea fire our Junior year of college.  So many trees were still blackened and scarred, even five years later!

 We had a little picnic under the shelter of a wayward oak.

An overlook of our beautiful town. We could see all the way to the ocean, but the picture doesn't do the view justice. This picture also screams of our desperate need for rain--normally this time of year these hills are lush and green! 

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