Down by the Seashore...

...is really where I want to be right now, but instead, I'm here in Chicago preparing for our upcoming move very very soon! Yay!! Since Andrea isn't here with me and my other crafting partner moved away I have packed up the craft supplies for a while and just doing touches of decorating here and there. I found this lovely vintage flash card that says "Coral Reef" on it and I thought it made the perfect addition to this vignette. My mom sent me this beautiful and sparkly glittered anchor from Wendy Addison {one of my favs} so I hung it under this huge glass cloche. We've kept all the shells we have gathered from past trips and I love to sprinkle them around my house in the summertime.

Sally sells seashells down by the seashore...

Faithful and true

I love how this wooden 7 looks like it was found washed up on the seashore! It's creamy and chippy all in one and looks great on my robins egg blue walls. I was so happy to find it. It is huge and measures 2 feet tall!
For those who are wondering what the #7 means to me, it represents my husband and 5 children. I just love love love it!

Happy Summertime!!

xoxo,

tia & andrea

Beach & Fireflies...

Two of my favorite things about summertime are going to the beach with my family and watching the kids catch fireflies! We've caught a ton of fireflies this summer but as for the beach, well, I think we will have to pass this year because we are actually moving MUCH closer to the beach! Whoo-hoo! Yep, that's right....the Dowler 7 are moving down South to Virginia in a few weeks so I'm going to have to pass the torch to my sis-in-law, Andrea for a bit to keep up with our blog. I'm so excited to decorate a new house! I can't wait to browse all of my favorite blogs to get ideas and inspiration!

So....the beach will be put on hold this year but that is ok, because we are gaining so much more with this move. I'm so excited to be near old friends, closer to my family in the South, and make new friends. Plus, it's a whole new Crimson Clover market for me! Giddy up!!

But as for the fireflies....they continue to light up my life no matter where I am!

xoxo,

tia & andrea

Tia & Andrea

Two Junk Chix together in Chi-town!!!

We had so much fun last week together hanging out in Chicago!!!

We had some creative time together and will be posting our projects soon!!!

♥

Andrea & Tia

a cupcake...

A little cupcake yumminess for your Thursday night!!!!

This cupcake is one of many that I made tonight for a shower that is tomorrow. I made the little pick with a circle punch, some cardstock and a "a" stamp.

Enjoy!!!

♥

Andrea & Tia

Anthro Style Wreath

Craft night with the girls resulted in these adorable wreaths inspired by my all time favorite store....ANTHROPOLOGIE. They were so fun to make but more importantly, they were so easy! I just love projects that give you instant gratification!

Up close and personal with some of the details...
For mine, I decided to stick with a more neutral palette with touches of lime green, yellow, and robins egg blue.

We started out with these straw wreaths. You could use the styrofoam ones but we wanted ours to be really big and these were the perfect size. We gathered pearl pins, burlap, cloth flowers, vintage sheet music, ribbon and anything else we felt inspired by.


Vicki cut our strips of burlap for us. We needed 2 strips per wreath.




Once we got all of our burlap strips cut, Vick and I wrapped the burlap around the wreaths to cover up the straw.




We decided to leave the plastic packaging around the wreath so the straw wouldn't poke through the burlap. Using a straight pin, the burlap is held in place. And now the fun begins!





Here is my dear friend, Deanne embellishing her wreath with my daughter, Paige. Even a 5 year old can do this! So much fun!!

Using pearl pins and hot glue, we just kept adding yummy treasures to our wreath. Here is a rosette using white and natural coffee filters and topped off with a big pearl.

All 3 of our wreaths turned out very differently but all were quite fabulous! Here is what mine looks like hanging on my door...

Hope you have enjoyed our Anthro Style Wreath!!

Thank you so much, Jen! It is always a pleasure to work with you. I'm so excited to give away another original Crimson Clover design. Crimson Clover is unique handmade jewelry that is vintage and vintage inspired with a hip and modern feel...and sometimes a little edgy. I'm a stay at home mother of 5 who loves to create and everything that I design, make and carry is made here in the fabulous USA!

xoxo,

tia and andrea

Happy Independence Day!!

I'm so excited to celebrate this year's Independence Day. Why? Well, besides the cookouts, sparklers, and fireworks, this year, I get to celebrate it with my Two Junk Chix sidekick, Andrea. She, my brother and my nephew are coming to visit and we are so looking forward to it! This will be my last Fourth of July here in Chicago so we have some fun things planned. And hoping to get a little crafting in, as well. So to all of you from us...have a very safe and wonderful Fourth of July!! God Bless America!!

tia & andrea