Merry Christmas!

Happy holidays everyone! I just love this time of year. Today I spent all day baking two types of cookies and two types of donuts. Yum right?

Baked Cake Donuts

2 cups cake flour, sifted

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Bake at 425 for 7-8 minutes

 

Pure deliciousness. I covered some in powdered sugar and some in a glaze. I mixed 2 cups powdered sugar with 1/4 milk and vanilla in a pan on warm. Then dipped the donuts in and covered them in sprinkles.

 

 

That's my new favorite holiday picture. It's just missing one of our cats, but the fact that I got Coco to participate and Opie to look so cute makes it good enough for me.

 

Happy holidays to everyone! Enjoy it safely.

 

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Christmas Cookies :)

This week I made some freakin awesome Christmas cookies... Or any time of year cookies. But yeah, here is the recipe.

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup unsifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (cut in chunks)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp of food coloring of your choice

1 1/2 cup holiday sprinkles

1. With a mixer combine all the dry ingredients.
2. Add in the butter a little at a time and then add in the vanilla. Mix well.
3. Divide dough into two parts, dye one and leave one plain... Or really however you would like to do this part.
4. Flatten out each section of dough onto a piece of wax paper. Place these in the fridge for at let a couple hours.
5. Once they are ready to come our of the fridge, place one flat on top of the other. You are going to roll this up into one log. I had some difficulty with the dough falling apart on this, so I used the wax paper to help roll. I also didn't care too much about what the swirls looked like.
6. When you have your log, roll it so the outside is covered in sprinkles.
7. Slice into 1/4"-1/8" slices. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or just lightly golden.

Seriously, these are the best cookies ever! The best part is you can easily change it up by switching the sprinkle, colors, or even adding flavors. Enjoy everyone :)

 

 

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Crochet Giraffe

I have become addicted to crocheting lately. Seriously, it relaxes me. So I decided to start crocheting some extra Christmas present for my nieces and nephews. Below is the giraffe I made from this pattern. I am really happy how it turned out seeing it was my first stuffed animal to make.

What homemade gifts are you all making this year? Love you all.

 

 

 

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Tuesday oh Tuesday

Apparently my animals think I need to wake up at 7:30.... They must not have gotten the memo that I no longer have class and can sleep in. And my husband is so sweet laying there in bed "Alana, wake up. Coco needs to go out." Well then, take her out! Oh well... It gave me a chance to go to the gym early this morning and then come back home and crawl into bed. That's right, I went to the gym, showered and went back to sleep. Ah the life of the unemployed.

The hubby and I went to see Playing for Keeps tonight and let me just tell you, Gerard Butler, oh my goodness that man is gorgeous. The movie was really good and a total chick flick, but I think the hubby liked it as much as I did :)

Tomorrow he has a doctor appointment for his arm. Hopefully more good news and maybe this time they will put in orders for physical therapy. Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful he has the VA system to take care of all this so we don't have to worry about cost, but they are so forgetful or take FOREVER to do something sometimes I wished we did pay. For example, we went into his appointment oh about two and a half months ago and his doctor was supposed to put in orders for a six week appt and also physical therapy... That never happened. Tomorrow is his six week appointment about four weeks to late. But whatever. I really don't want to bash on the VA system too much because we are just really lucky they are taking care of all of this.

Anyways, I will update you more on his shoulder tomorrow and the end of this week will be the final grades update :)

Hello my loves,

I've been busy... You've been busy... We are all busy. So, I won't bother you with excuses but here's the full update of the hubby and I since I stopped blogging.

We got a new baby kitty. His name is Opie, after the character from Sons of Anarchy. The hubby and I watched all the seasons in about 1-2 weeks. We are addicted.

There he is in all his furry glory. Absolutely precious right?

I just finished my last (fingers crossed) term of school. As of right now I know my grades in two of five classes... Just waiting on the rest so hopefully I know all of them at the end of this week.

The hubby took another trip to LA and had an interview with Full Screen, so fingers crossed on that job for him. It's exactly what he wants and needs. Plus, I think we are about 80% sure on moving down there early next year.

We booked our first anniversary cruise to the Caribbean. I am so excited. We leave February 3rd and get back on the 9th. I'm really nervous about the flight though. It's a long one and in the middle of the night, so no sleep for this girl.

I have been having a huge struggle with weight and medicine. A side effect of all my medicine is weight gain, and that I have been doing. The hubby got me a new gym membership today which is a huge help. I've been feeling really blah and down lately. It's time to start working on new medicines as well. Hopefully soon I can start feeling like a normal human being.

For right now, that is all I can think of. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers this holiday season and as we make huge decisions for our life together.

With love

 

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Party catch-up 2

Gabriel's Cowboy Bash

This little cowboy had am awesome 3rd birthday party. His mom, Laura, along with Glitter and Gold created an awesome event. Here's some of our favorite pictures from it.

 

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Party catch-up

Avery's Monster Bash

October 18th was my nephew Avery's first birthday! His mom and I threw him quite the monster bash. This was also the party that made me want to start a party planning business. But more on that later :) Here are some of my favorite pics from the day.

Happy birthday boy!

 

 

 

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Back to Blogging

I am finally back to blogging. I am done with this term of school and now have the waiting until grades are posted. I will know by Christmas if I am a college graduate. Almost there.

This one is going to be short and sweet... Longer blogs in the future with LOTS of new crafts and projects. Exciting new things for the hubby and I :)

That's our new baby Opie. Yes, he is named after a Sons of Anarchy character. He is an adorable yet annoying little guy.

Hubby is in LA right now and had a job interview with Full Screen earlier today. Keep your fingers crossed for this opportunity for him.

Check back soon for more updates and cool things.

With love,

 

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Birthday Boards

Mothers day is long past, but I just realized I never posted the gift I made for my momma. There are 24 birthdays in my family, starting with my parents and moving down to the kiddos. That's right- twenty four birthdays. My momma and poppa, six kids, six spouses, and ten kiddos (so far). On a good day I can remember what month everyone was born in so I knew this was the perfect gift to give... And a good way to make sure no birthdays are forgotten- especially mine :)

Let me introduce you to the birthday board. It's simple really. I used a board that I already had, some paint that I already had, bought some wood circles, bought some eye hooks and then bought some circle hooks. Really, it was that easy.

Paint the board. Let it dry. Space the eye hooks along the bottom- obviously you will need 12. I made my own stencil off of a free font I found online. Seriously, just google free fonts to download and you will find millions. They are everywhere and it is one of my new favorite things, plus they make it really easy to make your own stencils.

But back to the board. I had to get kind of creative with writing the names and dates onto a circle. The circles are small- like really small- and I couldn't find a paint pen with a fine enough tip. So I did what any crafty person would do and went with trial and error... Mostly error. Here is how I did it:

--- I took a mechanical pencil and dipped the lead into the paint. Slowly and carefully I wrote each persons name and the date which they were born onto a circle.

Make sure when doing this to put the date they were born on and not their age, otherwise you'll have to change it every year and that is just too much work.

But there you have it, all 24 birthdays displayed proudly. We only have one free month in our family. Crazy huh? I guess the rest of us planning on having kids have to plan them for August.

Happy crafting!

 

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Quiet books

The sister is on her vacation and that means the quiet books are done! Go us. It was about a month of work but four books are complete. Binding was the hardest part and we had to get creative with that. Here are the pictures from our books.

First was an animal book for Avery which I guess Lexie loved. Each page had something fun on it. For example, the alligator and the zipper mouth and the butterflies wings have crinkle paper in it.

Then there is Avery's touch and feel book. We picked our favorite (and basic) colors and used different textures of material on the pages.

Then there was Lexie's learning book. We put a lot of number counting and matching in this book.

Finally was Lexie's fun book. This one took the longest to make and turned out really well.

For inspiration and patterns check out imagineourlife. This is where we got any patterns that we used. The color book, Lexies learning book, car page, pizza page, and Mike dress up were our own creations. Feel free to use those as models for your own quiet books. A always, if you have any questions about these, feel free to ask and I will help the best I can!

Happy crafting!

 

 

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Summer

Summer is fading quickly... Except for this crazy hot weather we have been having here. I think Oregon missed the memo that summer is supposed to be wrapping up.

This summer has been a good one. The hubby and I did a lot of cool things and I'm getting a little sad to be going back to school. Luckily, it is only one last term. That's right, this December I will be done with college. It's a great feeling to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So much has happened since I started college in the fall of 2007. But alas, I am almost done.

As many of you know the hubby went down to LA for about three weeks to do some work. It was kind of a disappointing experience but yet it opened up some new doors. Keep your fingers crossed for new experiences for him. He really loves social media and there is a huge market for it right now. Let's just hope he can find his way into the business.

I hope everyone enjoys their last few weeks of summer weather... And for those who still have vacation, enjoy that as well. I am going to start my fall and enjoy some pumpkin spice everything. :)

 

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Fall Wreath

Fall may not be in the air quite yet, but I am very ready for it. Fall projects have been all over Pinterest lately. Making this wreath has me in the mood for fall.... Plus, the Febreeze fall and winter scents probably aren't helping. My house officially smells like cranberry downstairs. But I digress, here is the link to my inspiration for my wreath below.

See I told you I am all ready.

For this project you will need:

- An MDF wreath frame: I found mine at Michael's in the floral section.

- Twigs: you can either find these outside or purchase them. Michael's has them in their floral section for fairly cheap.

- Burlap (or just plain fabric): I found the burlap at JoAnn's for $3.99 a yard and they had a huge selection. Pick whatever colors appeal to you. I got a quarter yard of each color.

- Hot glue gun and A LOT of hot glue: I'm serious, this whole wreath is held together by the hot glue so make sure to stock up.

- Any other embellishments you would like.

I started by breaking (or cutting) my twigs into pieces about 6 inches long. Glue all of these around the MDF frame. I found it was easiest to put some glue onto the frame and then put sticks on. Space these as you would like.

Put your twig wreath to the side because now comes the fun part... Making the rosettes.

First you will need to cut circles out of some scrap fabric. However big you cut your circle is how big your rosette will be. Cut your burlap into sections about 1 inch thick and 24 inches long. Again, use your judgement on this depending on how you want your flowers to look.

Step 1- tie a knot on one end of the burlap. Glue this to the center of your circle.

Step 2- begin twisting the fabric and spiralling it around the knot. Use glue every now and then to hold it in place.

Step 3- continue the twist and spiral process until you have covered your whole circle and only have a small piece of burlap left. The tighter you twist the burlap the tighter the rose will be. So, if you want a rose with more "fluff" to it, don't twist it as tight.

Step 4- flip the rose over and glue the end of the burlap down.

Voila, you have one rosette. Continue this process until you have enough roses to go around the whole MDF frame.

At this point go ahead and grab your twig wreath again. Make sure that you have as many twigs as you want glued down. I added some fake white flower/ball type things I found at Michael's. Begin gluing the flowers down around the frame, placing them how you would like.

After about 15-20 glue sticks to should now be done... I told you it was a lot of glue. But, I do have to say I am really proud of this wreath. I love the way it turned out and the burlap and twigs are perfect for fall.

Tomorrow (or this week) I am going to post some more fall and Halloween decorations I am working on... I did mention I was obsessed with both of those things right now right? But anyways, more decorating and tutorials later :)

 

 

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Pure Craziness

The hubby is off in LA for work. We shipped him off on Saturday. It seriously feels like it has been so much longer. I miss him already. :( But good news, I booked a flight to go visit next week.

I leave my house Monday evening to go visit my sister and do more quiet book stuff. Then Thursday morning I start my long day of travel. I can't wait for my trip. Another vacation... I am one lucky girl. This time I will be laying on the beach in Santa Monica. Super excited for some Bubba Gump Shrimp Co :)

Anyways, I got some more quiet book pages done. These ones are for Lexie's learning book. They are all ideas from my sister and I and no patterns were used.

Cute right? I'm pretty proud of them. The balloon one could easily be made into different shapes. It's a great one because it uses fine motor skills and color matching. The next one is a bead counter. It has shape beads, so animal recognition could also be used. It also shows the number and dots to reinforce the number three different ways. Next is a number matching and then a pizza for her to make. The pizza is mostly just for fun because she loves pizza :)

Back to the craziness though. Over the weekend was the Oregon International Airshow out in Hillsboro. Friday night we went up to the local park to watch the show and the fireworks. Coco was not so sure she loved the fireworks so she cuddled in my sweatshirt.

The next day was insane. I took my husband to the airport and then we had record breaking temperatures here in Oregon. It reached 102. For real, that is just not even okay. We don't do that here in Oregon. The heat was terrible, but I was at my sisters with no AC and sewing all day. Ugh. We got through a lot of the quiet books.

Sunday we were back at the quiet books. It was hot, but not as hot as Sunday. It is finally cooling back down here.. I am a 70s and 80s kind of girl.

I think that it all I can rant about right now. The craziness is slowing down and I am gearing up for my next vacation!

 

 

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