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!

 

Posted with Blogsy

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!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

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 :)

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

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!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Quiet books

Quiet books have been all over Pinterest lately. My sister Megan is heading to Michigan soon for a family trip and friends wedding. Two kids and a long flight.... Some sort of entertainment is needed. Her and I thought making some quiet books would be a great idea. Well, the books were a great idea if someone else made them or it wasn't 102 degrees without an air conditioned house.

But, all that aside, we almost completed two in two days. We used patterns from Imagine Our Life. This women is absolutely insane and makes the cutest books ever. I seriously don't know how she does it. A few times my sister and I were cursing at her because she made us jealous. But, all our hate towards her aside, she is amazing. Her patterns are easy to follow and her blog gives amazingly detailed pictures of all her pages. I wish I could be as cool as her.

The first page we did was the sandcastle. It turned out great and had minimal hand sewing. The cutting was also really quick. This one was really simple to customize with colors and beads.

Next was the cupcake page. Now, cutting out the pattern should have been our first clue. This one was tedious. A LOT of hand stitching went into this one. But, the adorable oven that opens up to reveal cupcakes and all the other small details make this one a winner.

The road one is something that we just whipped up on our own. The only pattern I used was from her camping page for the brown bear. Megan is supposed to be sewing a little parking lot with pockets for the cars to go in and I am thinking about another car or two.

In honor of Lexie's first airplane trip we made her the airport page. It has a truck to move the bags from the airport to the plane. A helicopter that can be moved around. A small plane that flies on a string. The airplane had one area that opens up to put the bags in. We ended up adding another opening on the plane so that Megan could sew in a vinyl pocket and put a family picture in there for Lexie.

We kept telling her she was going to go on an airplane soon and her response was "I too big". It was really cute. Hopefully, she will enjoy her first flight! She will have two really cool books to keep her entertained on the trip.

This page was by far Lexie's favorite. She has an obsession with green monsters, especially Mike Wazowski. Since the book is for her, we decided to do something special. We made a Mike and girl Mr Potato Head- ish page. This was one of our creations and we had so much fun making it. We cut out some circles, blew up a picture of Mike to make the arms and legs, then sewed on the eyes... Well one eye for each. For the girl, we added some yarn hair. Her favorite outfit for mike was the pink polka dot tie. We made ties, skirts, lips, and mustaches. I think we are going to have to make more clothes for this page because she loves it so much.

We still have plenty left to do but the rest of the pages should be much more simple to make... But I'll let you know after we actually make them. Stay tuned for more quiet book pages through the next week or so.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Lately the hubby and I have been all about saving money. He is getting me into couponing, if anyone has any tips on me let me know. Something that I did in December to start our frugality was make our own laundry detergent. It is one of the best things that I have done, for real.

Here is what you'll need:

-1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax found in the detergent isle

-1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda found in the cooking isle

-1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz found in the detergent isle

-3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap, found in the detergent isle

-2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean

Start by grating up your fels-naptha soap. If you have one, use a food processor. The first time I made this I hand grated it and it took forever, plus I scraped some of my fingers. Next, add in all the other ingredients. You can mix this up in a garbage bag and enter add to your storage container, but that is not necessary.

This will make about 2 gallons of soap. You can find a large enough container at Walmart or Fred Meyers... Or basically any store.

This detergent is fairly mild, but works wonders. You will only need about 2 tablespoons per load because it does not have all the excess that store bought soap does. I even use this soap in my HE washer. Just put it straight into the barrel instead of into the dispenser.

That picture above was taken today. When I made my soap in December that container was full. Seven months later I am still using the same soap. It lasts forever.... Seriously, forever. I spent about $25 to make, so I would definitely say money-wise that this is worth it. The awesome part too, is it has no smell. If you want to add some, you can use the Purex crystals. Or do some homemade fabric softener, which I will do a post about later :)

 

Posted with Blogsy

More weight loss ish

Today is day three. I wanted to give more tips and things that I am doing.

Working out should be fun... Right? I am completely unmotivated at times... Like most of the time. To help solve this little issue I grabbed a mason jar from Michaels, added some glitter, and made a deal with my husband.

Every time I do a work out (running, push ups and sit ups) I get a dollar in the jar. Every three pounds I lose I get three more dollars. It really seems simple and childish, but it will keep me motivated. Once I get to $100 in the jar, I get to go shopping and buy myself whatever I want. Plus, the hubby can't complain if it's only a dollar every time :)

Next is have a goal and a partner. My goal is to do The Color Run in Portland on September 29th in Portland. That gives me all summer to prepare with no school or work (I know, I'm a lucky girl) to distract me. My other is a weight loss goal. Both of those are important so I have something to work towards. Partners are important to keep you motivated and accountable. My sister Megan is going to do the 5k with me. My friend Amber walks with me two times a week. That leaves me at least three days on my own, but my husband keeps me accountable for those.

I think the plan might be the most important part of all this. Here is my plan-

For The Color Run I will keep the workout schedule to the right. It's simple enough but also pushes you quite well. Plus, it's made for training for your first 5k and The Color Run. I will do that at least three days a week, along with my other workout stuff, and then two days of walking with Amber.

For weight loss I bought a scale, obviously, and put a notebook and my money jar next to it. I weigh myself every day and write down the weight in the book. Plus, the working out will help with the weight loss. Simple right? It's a harsh reality sometimes when I look at e scale. It is so hard for me to cope with the weight gain. I was always so little and never ever had to worry about weight. Then one day I saw how much I had gained and just didn't know what to do. After about 6 months of being depressed about it I am finally taking control of it.

The hubby and I are starting to eat healthier- at least one fruit or vegetable every meal. Less snacking- which was never really a problem of mine. Today, I decided I am done with soda. This pains me to say, but I can't drink it while I am trying to lose weight. No skipping meals. No eating for the last three hours before bed. Lots of water.

All the things above are simple changes that will be easy to do and will make a difference. I really hope that anyone who feels the need to lose some weight or make changes in their life will start with me. It really does help to have people to talk to and motivate you. Let me know if you're joining me on this journey!!!!!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Weight Loss

Yesterday was day one of losing weight. My goal is to get rid of 37 pounds.... This is the most I have weighed in my entire life. 162. It's scary for me to put a number on here, but I think I am going to have to. This will keep myself honest and committed to the goal.

The first step of the journey was buying a scale. Weighing myself everyday, from here on out. There is no way I can reach my goal weight without a scale.

Next, I have registered for a 5k at the end of September, The Color Run. My sister Megan is doing that with me. Yesterday I stared a couch to 5k running program. It is an eight week long running program. This week I have to run 3-5 times, 60 seconds running then 90 seconds walking, repeat 8 times. It seems simple, but I think by the end my butt will be kicked! Plus two days a week of walking with my friend Amber. Add to that, daily tripes to the dog park with Coco.

The road to weight loss isn't easy, but I am going to get there. No more making excuses.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Hectic Week is OVER!!!!!

This week has been absolutely insane! Let me give you the weekly breakdown.

Monday was the hubby's surgery. He didn't get anything done that will help heal his shoulder, but now we know what is wrong. His doctor used a camera and inserted it in the front of his shoulder and then into the back of his shoulder. Basically, his humeral head is non-existent now. It can be from a few things, but most likely from not moving it. His body stopped sending blood to that part of the bone because it wasn't being used and the bone died and was absorbed. So his shoulder joint is just cartilage. Now, you may be asking, what is the course of treatment? Well, after my brief discussion with his doctor after the surgery he told me three options. Obviously the first is a joint replacement. He can also drill holes into the bone to get blood back into the humeral head and hopefully the bone will regrow. The last is a joint replacement, but using a donor humeral head from a cadaver. As of right now I have no clue which way this is going to go. We meet with his doctor on August 1st, so we will know then and hopefully begin scheduling his next surgeries.

An hour after we got home from the hospital with Richard I was at the vet. For some reason we may never know, Coco had a seizure. That was one of the scariest things I have ever experienced. My poor puppy was so scared. We ended up watching her over night and giving her muscle relaxers. The next day she was so much better. Hopefully that never happens again.

The rest of the week was uneventful compared to Monday, but let's just say I am glad it's over. Last night/this morning, the hubby and I went to see The Dark Night Rises. Three hours later, it was really good. I enjoyed it a lot, but I won't say too much because I hate when people ruin movies for me. Just go see it.

My heart thoroughly goes out to the families affected by the Dark Knight Rises shooting in Aurora, CO. It is so sad that someone could be so messed up that they begin a shooting at a movie premiere, seemingly at random. Everyone is in my prayers, including the shooter and his family. I hope that everyone can find peace at this time of tragedy.

So there you have it, a quick rundown of the important highlights from my week. :)

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

DIY Home Cleaners

We have all been reading about natural cleaners and right now they are all over Pinterest. I found one that I figured I would try. Overall, any of these cleaners are really simple to make. Here is the link to the directions I used :)

For both cleaners:

12 oz spray bottles- I found some at Dollar Tree; the Container Store among others has them too.

Window Cleaner

– 3/4 cup vinegar
– 3/4 cup water
– 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
– 1/2 tsp liquid dish detergent
– 3 drops of orange (or whatever you like) essential oil
– 3 drops of vanilla (or whatever you like) essential oil


Countertop Spray

– 3/4 cup vinegar
– 3/4 cup water
– 1/2 tsp liquid dish detergent
– 10 drops of orange (or whatever you like) essential oil
– 10 drops of vanilla (or whatever you like) essential oil

Once you mix all the ingredients together, pour them into the spray bottles. For best results, shake them before each use. When washing your windows, use a news paper. It works a million times better. I also recommend making some cute little labels... But, there are also free printables on the link if you want to use her scents. Oh, she also has instructions for a soy wax candle to go with the sprays!

I have been using these sprays for awhile now and I love them. They are so simple to make, you can make them smell however you like, plus it is REALLY cheap to make.

My first test with this was to clean my microwave out and let me tell you, it practically wiped all the mess right off. I would mark this Pinterest pin as a win.

 

Lovelovelove

 

Posted with Blogsy

Birthday is Over

My birthday is all over :( It was good though. Richard got me a new pair of hot pink Toms. And I had my epic birthday cake. Plus, he woke me up with my birthday crown and a bowl of ice cream for breakfast.... And he didn't wake me up until 10am. How sweet of him right?

Coco had her first camping trip this weekend. She did really well.... Until it got cold or rainy, which was often since it was at the coast. Last night she was curled up in a wool blanket next to the fire. It was adorable. I wish I would have gotten pictures of it. She slept in my sleeping bag with me and did really well staying between my legs and feet. Except at one point last night I woke up and I couldn't find her... She had moved from between my legs to laying right next to me and on the ground... It was really weird. I am just glad she didn't try to escape!

Tomorrow is the big day... Richard is finally having his shoulder surgery. Surprisingly I am really nervous. I know it's shoulder surgery, but it's still scary. I know everything will be fine.... Except my four to six hours I will be sitting up at the VA hospital by myself waiting. Maybe I will ride the tram down and walk around downtown Portland. As long as its a nice day. But back to Richard. He is scared. I know it. But after tomorrow it will be a start to recovery, finally. Something to thoroughly look forward to.

I am going to push my Pinterest Interest for this week back to Tuesday so I can concentrate on my husband tomorrow.... Hope you all understand :) let me know if anyone has any suggestions for things they want to see on Pinterest Interest. I mean, I have a lot of things to go through, but I really want to do things that my readers will enjoy.

Lovelovelove

 

Posted with Blogsy

Happy Birthday To Me!

23. Man oh man.

Let me tell you about my epic birthday cake!

One box Devil's Food

One roll cookie dough

One quart ice cream

Fluffy vanilla frosting

Sprinkles

Delicious.

I baked the Devil's food according to the package. You'll need two layers, mine were 9".

While those are cooling, press the package of cookie dough into the cake pan. For mine, I baked it for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Pop that it of the pan onto a cooling rack.

Allow all layers to cool completely. Now, from my error, put the cookie layer on the bottom.... It's the heaviest and when it freezes the hardest to cut. So you have your cookie layer, then do a layer of ice cream. I used chocolate chip cookie dough. Then I did a layer of cake followed by ice cream and the last layer of cake. I covered it in fluffy white frosting and rainbow sprinkles.

It was epic deliciousness. Luckily it's birthday cake, so calories don't count :)

 

On another note, the day before my birthday is kind of sad. My aunt was born on July 12th. Sadly she passed away a few years ago and now her birthday is another one of those sad reminders. I miss her terribly. It was awesome having our birthdays so close. I remember one year She was complaining about getting old, so I went and bought her a huge, and I mean huge, cow balloon that said over the hill. She laughed so hard when I brought it to her. It was one of the greatest reactions ever. I still have the birthday card from that year too. I can remember it so clearly and I am pretty sure it is my last birthday with her.

Sorry this week has been very little posting. It's been a very busy birthday week! This weekend might be a little slow too... I'm going to be camping. Oh, fingers crossed and prayers for Richard on Monday, he goes in for surgery Monday morning.

Until next time.

Lovelovelove

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Pinterest Interest- DIY Tea Soap

 

This week I am looking at some really cute tea soaps that I found here.... They were really simple (and fun) to make. Plus, they turned out really cute. I loved being able to customize the soap by what tea that I put it in. So here, is the way I did it.

Materials:

Soap- I found an awesome kit at Michaels that had the bar soap... But, there is a huge selection at Michaels for all the kinds of soap you want, basically a good melt and mold kind.

Tea- I used Peppermint and also Earl Grey

Apricot seeds- this came in my kit from Michaels, but I believe they have them for individual sale there too. This adds the exfoliating scrubbing that I love in soap.

Soap Mold, bowl, tissue paper, string, and labels if you want them :)

I started by breaking off pieces of the soap and putting them in the bowl. Microwave this in about 20 second intervals until you have a smooth consistency. Add in about 1/2 to 1 tea bag into the soap. Also add in a little of the apricot seeds to your desired scrubbiness level. Dump this into your mold and let it cool completely before moving it!

Once it is cooled pop those suckers out of the mold. Now, I don't have a picture of it, but I wrapped them in tissue paper so that they looked like little tea bags. Then I stapled on the string and added a label that I made quickly so I would know what kind it was. If you want more detailed pictures of how it was wrapped, go to the tutorial that inspired this, she does a much better job than I ever could.

 

There you have it loves, a simple soap that smells wonderful, works amazingly, and is so cheap. Oh and here is a little bit of info on the benefits of green tea soap I you need another reason to make it.

 

Lovelovelove.

 

Posted with Blogsy