Window Farm Part 2: Installation

Ok, I'm going to try and make this as uncomplicated as I possibly can. Ready, go! 

These are the tools you will need to hang your window farm. Plus some rope/string. I used some cotton rope from home depot. Shown is a ceiling hook and drill with a large drill bit. You may also need a butter knife.... we'll get to that in a second.


 First, put your ceiling hook together. Next (the hard part) is to make a hole big enough for this metal folding thing to fit through. I used the largest drill bit I had to get it started and then had to use a butter knife to make it bigger.   And screw it in.  Then make four equally spaced holes at the top water bottle (the one with the bottom cut off). Cut two pieces of string at equal lengths and attach like in the picture. Basically two holes across from each other get one string and you string them through the holes and make a knot so it doesn't come out. Annnd hang it up!   Ta-da! All hung! I actually ended up adding another bottle to the bottom on so I could make the "water reservoir" another planter. 
And because I didn't show this in the last post, this is what the very bottom bottle looks like with a little hole in the side so I could screw the cap on. This one will be the water reservoir.  So the next step is installing the air pump! This part is super easy. All you need is tubing, a cheap-o air pump, a t-valve, and a check valve.   This is something I changed recently. Minor little detail and doesn't take much time but on the water reservoir, I took the cap, drilled a little hole and glued about a 10" piece of tubing in with epoxy to seal it up. This way I can start it up and it'll pump water without having to siphon it. Before, I just had the tubing going up and through the little hole to get the cap through. But with it so far up, I had to take it out and siphon the water down before it would pump back up. Ya.  Anyways. So once that's all dried, screw in the cap to the bottom of the reservoir and now you have your first piece of tubing sticking out the bottom! 
Next, you're going to attach a piece of tubing that runs from the top (a little inside the top bottle, I secured it with duct tape) all the way down to just before the cap of the water reservoir. This makes sure that there's a little loop-dy loop at the bottom that helps with pumping.  Then, you're going to hook both of those up to the t-valve. They will go on the two ends across from each other, not the one sticking out by itself.  And the last part, which is kind of difficult to see, you will attach a tubing to the lonely sticking out part of the t-valve and connect that to the pump. And it's a good idea to cut it somewhere in that piece of tubing and stick in a check valve so water doesn't end up in the pump, especially if your pump is below the water reservoir like mine! And one more thing, I added a "silencer" at the top.... I'm not really sure if it helps but I like to think it does. I just got a medicine bottle, drilled a hole big enough for the tubing to fit in at the top and a bunch of little holes at the bottom.   Then I jammed the tubing at the very top ^^ into the medicine bottle and stuck it back in like you see below.  And here are my thriving little planties! 


The reservoir is a bit dirty.... I plan on somehow blocking out the light so that algae doesn't grow but haven't gotten around to it. 
Also, I apologize about the horrendous lighting, I had to take most of them at night! 
If you have any questions, feel free to ask away! It can seem a little complicated but once you get the hang of it, it's sooo easy! I'll be back later with the planting details. 

Girlish Garb: Shady Beach Town

Remember me?! Sorry I've been gone for a little bit. I JUST finished with school for the semester so I'm back in the game! Here's a little outfit post from when we visited Galveston (ie shady little beach town). We found some cool little places and I coaxed Brandon into taking these pictures for me (thanks hun!).


 Outfit Details: Favorite Shorts Ever: Thrifted/DIY Top: stolen from Brandon/DIY Belt: Also stolen from BrandonNecklace: Target (on clearance, holla!)Shades: Forever 21Gladiator Sandals: Forever 21
So my weekend: Friday: "Attempted" to go to a bar. I say attempted because we basically got kicked out (I guess I look too young?). Yep, never going there again. Saturday: Definitely made up for the embarrassment that was Friday. Got a new bike (!!!!), went to a baby shower, got my car repaired for free (that's always nice), got to take my new bike out for a spin and saved a turtle! Then, went back to my dad's house to eat some fajitas, swim in the pool, and drink margaritas. Swimming was particularly exciting because Eliza kind of learned to swim! Sunday: My mom and step-dad came down to celebrate my birthday, they took me out to lunch and then to Target for a little birthday shopping! I FINALLY got some dang rain boots and a few other cute things. Then I spent all night working on a project for my final and passed out cuddling with Eliza. 
Good weekend all in all. Except for the lame bar experience. I guess he could smell the newb on me.... Ugh.  Sometimes I don't like Houston....
Thanks for all the sweet comments on the new logo! I'm so glad you guys like it, hopefully it's here to stay ;). I will be responding to comments within the next few days so if you've left one, look out! 
P.S. how would you guys prefer me to respond to comments? Cause I don't think it notifies people of responses which is super lame. If you guys want to leave an email in your comment than I can respond via email? What do you think? 

Evolution of a Logo

So, in my two years I've changed my logo up quite a bit! I always like to change things up and improve and it's kind of fun, looking back and seeing how far I've come. I just revamped the logo a bit and thought I'd show you guys where I started from and how it evolved! 

Starting off with this cute little gal. This is the stamp version, sorry. But you get the picture.


 I decided I wanted it to look a little more graphic-y so then I drew some things, edited it on photoshop and came up with this....  I liked it but it wasn't really.... memorable. So then I added the antlers! I tried a few other things like braids and headbands blah, blah, blah, but these really stuck. After a while, it just got too busy. I wanted to simplify so I came up with this!  But it was so tall that it was hard to implement everywhere so the last couple of weeks, I've been designing a new, square version that's a little more boho/ragged but still simple and still my logo. And this is what I what happened:  
And if you've noticed, I decided to integrate it into my blog too! But to differentiate them a bit, I gave the one here a floral headband.... I just couldn't help myself ;)
What do you think?! You can go check out the new one in action here. 

Girlish Garb: Summer Lovin'

Prepare to see these shorts a lot! They are officially my summer go-to shorts. They're just so comfortable and easy and awesome!

 Outfit Details: Blouse- Thrifted Shorts-Thrifted/DIYBelt-Stolen from BrandonShoes- Forever 21 (last summer?)  Is this not the most ADORABLE swimsuit you've ever seen in your entire life? Thank you, Target! 
I'm almost un-sick now. Thank goodness! I can't wait to get outside and play! I'll be done with school in a week and we have some awesome vacations planned (: Hurray for summer! Any exciting plans for you? 

Mingle Monday: Me!!

In honor of my birthday, I decided for Mingle Monday that I'd answer the guest post questions myself! 

1.       What got you into blogging and how long have you been at it?

I started blogging in February 2010. Then, it was more of an extension of my business than a personal blog but now it's my hobby/love/inspiration 

2.       What does blogging mean to you? Business or pleasure?

Mostly pleasure. I LOVE blogging. It's definitely a creative outlet for me as well as a chance to connect with people I have something in common with. I get most of my inspiration from reading other blogs and learn new things everyday. It's also a way for my friends and family to see what I've been doing because I live hella far away from everyone I know. It would be great to earn a second income from this blog someday but for now, I'm just doing what I love!

3.       What do you mostly blog about?

Mostly DIY's, my personal style, tid bits about my life and food!

4.       What do you do besides blogging? What’s a normal day like in the life of Sam?

I work, go to school, and take care of my family... and blog. Here's what my normal days are like: 

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays: Wake up, hang out with Eliza for for approximately 4 hours while Brandon sleeps (he works early in the morning), Brandon wakes up, I go to work, come home, eat, go to sleep.  

Tuesdays and Thursdays: Take Eliza to Mother's Day Out, work, pick her up, hang out with Eliza (Brandon goes to school until 9 at night), cook dinner, eat, sleep.

Weekends vary but that's when we have all our family time so we try to make it fun!

5.       Do you plan out your posts or just kind of wing it? Strict schedule blogger or go with the flow blogger?

Mostly go with the flow. I usually have about 5-6 posts worth of pictures ready at any time. I kind of just post what I feel like that day as long as I am keeping up with everything. 

6.       Are you a daytime blogger or night owl blogger?

I mostly blog at night simply because that's when I have the most time (after Eliza goes to sleep of course). Occasionally I will blog during the day but that doesn't happen very often. 

7.       Name a few of your favorite blogs and why?
A Beautiful Mess- No brainer, my biggest inspiration
My Little Loves- For the hippy in me
Smile & Wave- She's got such great style
Snakes Nest- My newest favorite fashion blogger plus a mamma like me!
Bleubird- She lives in Houston! And is gorgeously awesome

There are so many more but I'll just put these. Also, I did a guest post over here. Check it out (:

Hope you guys had a wonderful weekend. I'm sick.... AGAIN. I don't even know. So I will be spending the rest of my day watching movies and drinking soup. I might even blog again because I'm a bit behind..... anyways, Happy Monday. 

Vintage Pop Up Show

It just occurred to me that I never posted the pictures from my pop up show! It took place at this really cool bar/cafe called Boheme in downtown Houston. I had soooo much fun and can't wait to do it again in June!


 My booth, in all it's glory  DIY clothes rack that I'll be sharing later ;) My two sister's came out to help me and were awesome! This is my older sister, Heather  I think my favorite part of my booth- recycled succulent planters (made from beer bottles!!!)  I'll share how I made my sign later too  Brandon "manning" the station.... aka drinking a mimosa   she's cute ;)  It got soo hot at some parts of the day but we stuck it through! Here's a look from our angle, it was a pretty cool place. Next time, I'll take more pictures of the actual cafe. 

My birthday thus far has been pretty good. Besides the few set backs (only seeing brandon for a couple of hours and getting sick), I've been enjoying all the love from friends and family! I did get sick in the middle of the day which made me really sad but luckily Brandon was able to come home and let me take a two hour nap! So that cured my sickness. Then I ate some mexican with my brother & dad and got my first official margaritaaaa! Now I'm home and get to spend a little more time with Brandon before he has to crash. Not a super exciting day but I've just been really happy/content/thankful.
This weekend we are going to Austin and the partying is going to go downnnn. I'm not a party girl, I hardly ever drink but hey, I'm 21!! So I'm just going to apologize ahead of time, if you follow me on twitter, it might get a little crazy. Just a warning. 

Hope your weekend is going to be as good as mine!!! 21 babaaaaay!