Hot Springs, North Carolina

Our second trip in The Jones was to Hot Springs, North Carolina. It is a neat little town about 30 minutes outside of Asheville, NC. The campground is privately, not state owned, so it's a little pricey at $40 a night, but the good thing about it is that friends can set up tents on the site, and no one will say anything, so we split the price and saved some money.  Camping is always more lively with friends :)

 This campground has a lot of sites that are right on the river where you can float, raft, or sit in a lounge chair and just watch.

But the best part about this campground though is that you are within walking distances from a spa, a bar-b-que, place, and two taverns. This town is really dog-friendly too, so we were able to take Hank with us and sit on the patio to eat at Spring Creek Tavern.

My friend, April, took some really awesome photos of our camping trip at: NamastApril 

Our little camper looks so cute in the woods!

Camping versus Hotel

On our maiden voyage to Skidaway State Park, I decided to do a cost comparison of camping versus staying in a hotel. Here are the totals:

	Camping	Hotel
Stay	$80 ($27 per night x 3)	Around $500 for 3 nights (this price is based on the average hotel cost close to downtown Savannah, GA)
Gas	$130 (had to take the truck)	$80 (based on my small car’s gas millage)
Food	$125 (based on only eating out once a day plus the grocery bill for breakfast & lunch food)	$150 (based on eating out 2 times a day since most hotels offer free breakfast)
Dog Care	$0	$30 boarding fee
Total	$335	$760
	Saved $425

We almost saved the price of the camper ($450)! Obviously by saving money you lose luxuries like private showers and such, but sometimes it does the heart well to rough it a little :) 

DIY Candle Holders

Supplies:
Stair spindles from Lowes around $2 each
Wooden platforms from Lowes around $2 each
Upcycled salsa jar lids
spray paint

Time :
about 30 min plus drying time

Steps:
1. Paint
2. Glue or screw platforms to spindles
3. Hot glue lids to top of spindles

This is a great way to upcycle lids. Aaron also had the idea to paint pop lids to hold long candles.

Maiden Voyage : Skidaway Island State Park

It was my goal to have "The Jones" ready by our spring break, and  though it's not finished *completely*, he was ready enough to get us the hell out of East Tennessee where snow was in the forecast for each day of our vacation.

Turned our storage door into a chalkboard 

We had planned all along for his first trip to be to Hot Springs,NC with some friends, but alas, we were snowed out/in. So, we did indeed have a case of March Sadness and on a whim loaded him up and headed to Skidaway Island State Park in Savannah, GA.

Sun Shine and Spanish Moss does the heart good! I found this campground just by googling "campgrounds near Savannah, Ga" It had lots of great reviews, and they all proved true. The sites were private, the showers clean, and the trails well marked.

We hiked each day we were there. I say "hiked," but it was more just like a walk since the land is very, very flat unlike the trails in the mountains were we are used to. Above are just a few of the amazing scenic spots we saw along the way.

Rooftop Bar View From Bohemian Hotel 

Each night, we made the 25 minute drive into downtown Savannah. We heart Savannah. It's where we honeymooned and may very well be our favorite city :)

The Azaleas were blooming all over the city!

To get to the nearest beach from Skidaway, you have to drive about 40 minutes to Tybee Island. I'm not going to lie, even though the sun was shining, it was chilly on the beach in March. But.....

We did throw down at The Crab Shack on Tybee. A platter as big is Aaron's face. Amazing.

After 3 nights, sadly, it was time to head home :( We will definitively return though; we LOVED it!

*Next post will be camping versus hotel when traveling* 

Vintage Sports Baby Shower and Maternity Shoot

Our Whichcrafters craft club hosted a shower for one of our members. She did the baby's room in a vintage sports theme, so that's the theme we went with for her shower and photo shoot. It turned out to be such a fun theme to work with!

I decorated my mantel with basketballs, daisies, and patriotic colors.

We took pictures before the shower at a local baseball field.

Baseball cake!

Here we are cheering our little mommy on! The flags that you see in the above two pictures were made out of felt and scrap fabric.

H is for Holden :)

I found some old trophies of mine and used them as food markers. I tried throwing the trophies out many, many times, but my mom always jumps in to rescue them. Thanks mom, they finally came in handy for something!

For our craft, we each painted a onesie. They are each so different and so cute! She loved them all!

Another Christmas Ornament

Well, with over a million repins, I've become a Pinterest sensation with last year's Christmas ornament, so I thought I would post another one to keep my fans happy ha :)

After our wedding, I dried my bouquet and used it to make a  shadowbox. I had a few petals leftover, so I had the idea to use them in a Christmas ornament.

 All I did was cut out a picture of our wedding flowers, roll it up, and insert it into the ornament opening. Then, I used tweezers to straighten it out. Lastly, I put in a few dried rose petals from my bouquet.

Ahhhh, memories.......

Egg Carton Seed Starters Year 3

This makes the 3rd year that I've used this method of starting seeds, and each year I've gotten great seedlings!

Here is how to make the mini-greenhouses : Link 

This year I had a new helper :)

I've used this method as well: Link 

Both methods have their benefits. When you use the egg carton method, you create a mini greenhouse that you don't have to water as often while the plants are tiny enough to keep the lids closed. However, you have to disrupt the roots when you plant them. Using the newspaper method, you have to water more often, but you can plant the newspaper and all into the ground. Last year we used both methods, and we saw NO difference in the plants once they matured and produced. We will probably use both methods again this year too because we are out of cartons and have tons more vegetables dancing in our heads :)