Wednesday, February 27, 2013

What I Wore Wednesday: Wedding Edition

Ben and my 6 month wedding anniversary was Monday, so in honor of that, I want to give you all a photo dump of my bridal portraits. I cant put wedding pictures up because they have been submitted to a wedding magazine, but I can put the bridals up as a sneak peek! My portraits (as well as all of my other pictures) were taken by the incomparable Chelsea of Chelsea Patricia Photography. She is AMAZING. Seriously. She is the only one that could make me look THIS good!
So without further ado, here is the the photo dump!






























Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Upholstered Headboard: Simply Selman Style

I wanted to make a headboard for our room, and even had most of the supplies (more on that later), but I didn't have the piece that would actually make the headboard. So for our "anniversary," (Ben and I have been married for 6  months as of yesterday) we went to Home Depot and bought the materials needed to make it.


Finding straight wood at Home Depot was a challenge. This is Ben showing one of the worst pieces. Look at that curve!

So here is what we used:

A piece of Ecuaboard (no clue what this was, but it was lighter and about half the cost of plywood, so we went with that!)
4 pieces of 2x4 that Ben cut down to frame the board to give it more stability
2 twin size egg crates
Fabric (previously purchased)
A staple gun with staples
Upholstery tacks and various nails

The project cost a little less than $100, including all the supplies we had on hand like the egg crates and the fabric. You could definitely do this cheaper by using a less expensive fabric or only using one layer of padding. 

This is the "Ecuaboard" we used. It was 4 ft x 8ft and we had it cut down to size.
I bought 2 twin size egg crates for the padding.


The dimensions of the mattress topper were 37 1/2 x 73 1/2, and after measuring, I knew that I wanted my headboard to be 63 inches long (we have a Queen size bed for reference). Since I knew my padding was only 37 1/2 in wide, we decided to get our board cut to 63x35 (to leave room for wrapping the edges around). In hindsight, I would have cut it down to 30 or 31. We ended up having to leave the bottom part unwrapped (as far as the padding goes) because we wanted the top to be rounded and we knew the bottom wouldn't show. But it wouldn't be me if something didn't go wrong, right?

After we got home with all of our supplies, Ben got right to work cutting the frame and attaching it to the board (I cooked dinner and watched, in case you were wondering).  

Ben measuring and cutting the boards for the frame around the board.
Ben attaching the frame to the board. 
The finished back of the board. Ben framed it for extra stability. 
After the board was completed, we attached the first egg crate, smooth side down. Then we attached the second one smooth side up. We attached it by stapling it around the frame. Once we got through the second layer, we had to nail a few parts down because of the thickness of the padding, but for the most part the staples worked just fine.
Draping the padding over the board and finding out that we couldn't wrap it all the way around the bottom! 
Stapling in action! 
Close up of the egg crate stapled around the board. 
 Several of the tutorials on upholstered headboards that I have read have suggested using a piece of muslin or cheap fabric to go in between the layers, but I we just put the fabric right on top of the egg crate and I think ours turned out perfectly!

We just pulled the fabric super tight and put a crap ton of staples to hold it in place. We made sure that the corners were nice and sharp, and even had to go back and add MORE staples to keep the edges uniform and non-bumpy all the way around. (The double egg crate made for a sometimes non-uniform surface, so it may be better to just use one piece of solid foam to get an even surface).

I have had this fabric sitting around for quite some time now-almost a year and a half, actually! I bought it 2 summers ago to cover some yard sale chairs and never got around to having them covered. It was actually pretty expensive, so that drove the total cost of this project up, even though I have had the fabric for a while.
The finished product. What do you think??


 My next project is to upgrade the bedding. I want to pull some of the yellow in and get a new bedspread-still a neutral, just maybe a little more plush. I also want to add something over the bed. I have a couple ideas, but what do you think? What should I put above my bed?

Linking up with: Young House Love , This Gal Cooks, I Gotta Try That, and Northern Belle Diaries.










Monday, February 25, 2013

Oscar 2013 Fashion Wrap-Up

There was some great fashion at the Academy Awards last night! In fact, there was so much great fashion that I couldn't do a simple list. So here is my long wrap-up of the good (and bad) from last night's red carpet.

Best Dressed Couple: Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum: Gucci Suit
Jenna Dewan-Tatum: Rachel Roy Dress
Can we talk about how ridiculously beautiful these two are for just a second? I mean geez. That kid is going to come out a freaking super model! Not only did they look beautiful, but look at the way they look at each other! It is so refreshing to see a couple that ALWAYS look in love. I think that helps the way they look on the outside, too :)

Worst Dressed Couple: Helena Bottom Carter and Tim Burton



This is just bad. I can't even get started with them. I know they are kooky and this is just their style, but it's the freakin Oscars, people. Can you at least comb your hair??
Cutest: Quvenzhane Wallis
How cute is she? The curls, the headband, the puppy purse? She is so age appropriate and so freaking adorable I just can't get over it!


Now onto the WORST dressed of the evening:

6. The Hair

These ladies were all offenders because of their hair. Some of them might have been at least honorable mentions if if weren't for their hair, but I just can't abide by these looks!

Norah Jones in Tadashi Shoji: Beautiful dress, but it isn't flattering on her and the hair is just BAD.
Kristin Chenoweth in Tony Ward: Again, beautiful dress, but it's size is overpowering on her and the hair is just to severe for her tiny frame.
Maria Menounos in Ramona Keveza: This dress is killer, but that hair is bad 80's prom and it needs to go.
Kristin Stewart in Reem Acra: Great dress, bad hair, bad attitude. She just doesn't give a rip about being there and it shows. You are a star girl, so get used to it!
Salma Hayek in Alexander McQueen: I want to love this. I really do. But the hair...tiaras are only good for prom queens and 9 year olds so give it a rest please! The dress would have been stunning on someone like Nicole Kidman, but it just doesn't work for you!
Kelly Rowland in Donna Karan Atelier: The top of this dress is too structural for her. It makes her bust look weird! And the hair...I just cant...How can she go so wrong after being oh-so-right at the Grammys??

5. Brandi Glanville in her own Brand B design.
First of all, can we talk about why the heck this girl was there? Who let her in? Second of all, what the HECK is she wearing!!! Her hair and makeup are actually pretty, but the dress just does NOT fit her bubbies...it needs more fabric and it needs to be pulled up!

4. Renee Zellweger in Carolina Hererra
I am so not a fan of this dress on her. I may like it better on someone else, but on her I do NOT like it. And I REALLY cant stand the stupid bows on the back of the dress. But I am just not a fan overall.

3. Melissa McCarthy in David Meister
Oh wow. Where to start with this. Well, I guess we should start with the hair. I am a southern girl, so normally I am all about the big hair (the closer to Jesus, after all!), but this is just WRONG. It is just waayyyy to big! Her makeup is beautiful and that is about the only good thing I can say about this look. The dress looks like she bought some sweatshirt material and draped it around her body. Then she threw some shiny crap in there for funzies. I just cant.

2. Helen Hunt in H&M
WTF man. H&M should be embarrassed that they let this wrinkled mess walk down the red carpet. I think it is pretty ballin that they made a red carpet dress, and the dress is beautiful in its simplicity (and I don't even hate the styling too much), but oh my heavens...she needed to steam that dress like nobody's business! Did she not look in the mirror and think that she looked like day old linen pants??

1. Anne Hathaway in Prada

I am so confused by this dress. Why on EARTH would you put a dart in that exact location? I know it was not that cold out there that her bubbies would be showing like that!! GROSS!! I think the back is beautiful and a little risky. And her necklace is stunning. Her hair and makeup are soft and pretty, and I even like the color of this dress. But it seriously looks like a prom dress from 1990. I wish we all could have seen that Valentino that she was supposed to wear...I bet it would be SO much better than THIS!! Rachel Zoe...what were you thinking???

And now for the BEST fashion of the night!!

6. The Brunettes
Giuliana Rancic in Rafael Cennamo: I was seriously so impressed by her dress this year. A lot of people thought it was a safe choice for her, but I loved it's structural detail and classic simplicity. And her hair and makeup are pretty and not too over the top. This is actually the one look that Ben liked the best!
Sally Fields in Valentino: Holy cannoli she looks awesome! She looks elegant, age appropriate (BTW-she looks awesome for ANY age!), classic, and worthy of her nomination. She looks like a true star in this dress!
Catherine Zeta-Jones in Zuhair Murad: I wasn't overwhelmed by this dress, but I thought she looked pretty and very movie star-ish. Not to over the top, but not enough risk for me either.
Sandra Bullock in Elie Saab: I LOVE this dress. I am pretty much over the whole short skirt under a see through overlay trend, but this changed my mind. I thought it evoked old Hollywood glam without being too obvious, and I loved her pin straight hair pulled back to one side by the sparkly pin!

5. Stacy Keibler in Naeem Khan
I think the trend of Old Hollywood glam was evident last night! This dress was beautiful on her and I thought it was styled perfectly-with George Clooney as her accessory, of course :) I loved the neckline and the black belt hit her at the perfect waist cinching spot (because she totally needed to cinch that waist in-am I right??).

4. Amanda Seyfried in Alexander McQueen
If the top of this dress has fitted her properly (not as tight in the back and snugger in front) she would have been closer to the top of my best dressed list. But I couldn't over look those fit problems. But her simple hair, makeup, and accessories were perfect, and I thought she looked ladylike but young and edgy at the same time.

3. The Jennifers
Woweeeeee. These girls looked awesome! And notice that one Jennifer is noticeably missing from this group. I just couldn't include her because I was so underwhelmed by her safe and simple outfit and usual hair. Yes she looked beautiful, but she wasn't best dressed by any means!
Jennifer Hudson in Roberto Cavalli: I thought she killed this dress. It got mixed reviews, and I gotta say I wasn't crazy about her shoes (I thought they could have been a little darker to better match the dress), but I thought her body looked amazing and she looked classy and edgy at the same time.
Jennifer Garner in Gucci: This woman is seriously beautiful. The best part of her look? Her smile when she looked at her husband! Love truly is the best accessory! And that necklace was a close second! Oh, and the custom dyed shoes? Perfection!
Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture: This was a true Oscar gown. Yeah, the bottom was big. But it should be! It's the Oscars, after all! I thought she looked every bit the princess she should have been last night, and her tripping up the stairs made me like her that much more!!

2. The Redheads
Amy Adams in Oscar de la Renta: Most of the time I don't particularly care for what Amy Adams wears, but last night, she looked like a star (and from that smile, you can tell she knew it!). Her hair and makeup were soft and pretty and that color made me want spring to be here now!! The top fit her perfectly and hit at all the right places, and that skirt was all drama!
Jessica Chastain in Armani Prive: Jessica Jessica Jessica. When I made my picks for what I would wear to the Oscars, I chose an Armani Prive dress with the same shape. And boy was I right-it SO works for her. I think alot of people were shocked that she wore this color and that they actually liked it! But she looked like a true screen siren, and she kept that Old Hollywood theme going! She really was one of the biggest hits of the night!
1. Naomi Watts in Armani Prive

I cant even talk about how much I adore this dress. She won MY top spot because she was the only one that actually took a real RISK. She DESTROYED this custom dress, and I am just OBSESSED. She didn't go overboard with the hair, makeup, or accessories. This look was total perfection, head to toe!


So there you have it: Academy Awards Fashion 2013. This is my favorite awards show because I am obsessed with the couture, and this year did not disappoint.


Saturday, February 23, 2013

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!

Today is my wonderful parents 28th wedding anniversary. I didn't have time to get a card (and I probably wouldn't have mailed it in time anyway...), so here is your card Mom and Dad!!

Happy Anniversary from the best thing to ever happen to you ;)











Friday, February 22, 2013

Friday's Fancies: Oscar Edition

It's Oscar Weekend, y'all! And I SO wish I had an excuse to get all dressed up and fancy. But alas, I live in the Florida Panhandle, and well, we just don't do that here. But if I WERE to go to the Oscars, let me tell you..this is what I would wear. I looked at a lot of dresses to make my pick, but this dress from Giorgio Armani Prive just took the cake.


Uh...WOW. Seriously? Isn't this amazing???Someone HAS to wear this dress. I'm thinking Jessica Chastain would probably look AMAZING in this dress!!


And since we are dreaming here, I am TOTALLY going in Christian Louboutin's.

I thought that the velvet would play off of the velvet trim of the dress and the purple adds a touch of whimsy and a color that is unexpected with black.


And we might as well really go all out and go with the Judith Leiber clutch:)



Neil Lane Jewelry will complete the ensemble.



Pretty, right? Ugh, can I go to the Oscar's now??? I wont do hair and makeup here, because if I am going to the Academy Awards (as a nominee, of course!), then someone else is doing that for me!!

Have a good weekend, and come back Monday for the Oscar Fashion Recap!


Linking up to: Handbags and Handguns and Long Distance Loving.
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