It 's been too long!

It's been ridiculously long since I posted! I've been pretty tied up with my sister's wedding, moving, getting married, camp, unpacking boxes, Stamp Camp, plus my full time job. I'm finally starting to get in a groove, so the crafting will be back. I have a pretty amazing new craft room and I can't wait to get some work done in it! My awesome husband (I like calling him that) put together the new furniture he got me from Ikea. It's beautiful!
I've been pouring over the new Stampin' Up catalog preparing for our 2nd Stamp Camp of the summer. There are so many neat new ideas and products! I just want to try them all! If you are interested in hosting a stamp workshop, please let me know!
Also, we temporarily took down our etsy store. We have every intention of putting it back up, we just needed to get through the wedding & moving and other things. We'll revamp and have more products soon!


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What a week!

I apologize for my lack of posting lately.  Many of you may have heard (or been here) through the tornado outbreak a week ago.  We lost power for several days, so its been a bit chaotic.  So, I'm going to take a moment and just reflect on some of the things this past week.
Last Wednesday, the tornado warnings began early- around 6 am.  We had about 3 that morning.  I spent a lot of time in the hallway (and the library) at work.  This is me & Malea hanging out in the library:



We got sent home at 12:30 so I headed to my parents house because they had a basement.  The storm had already been pretty bad pulling up two very large trees in their neighbors yards.  They had lost power already.  It had calmed down and I was hungry, so we took the leftover taco meat put it in a sauce pan and cooked it over their oil lamp.  It actually worked quite nicely.  By mid-afternoon, my dad made it home in time to deal with the next round of tornadic activity. That evening we still had more coming.  If you have ever seen the ABC Family movie "Night of the Twisters", that was pretty much what the whole day was like.  This resulted in what is now over 300 deaths, no power in most of Madison County, and a whole lot of destruction.  We were blessed to have neither my house or the new house touched by this storm.  God was good to protect us from it.
We have dubbed our 5 days without power the "Powerocalypse". At first, it was strange to have no power, but then we adjusted to it.  We grilled out every food we had in our freezer, played games, went bike riding, and just spent some good quality time all together.  We formed some wonderful memories.
I was able to get some boxes unpacked at the new house and get some things organized.  I even started pinning the fabric for my valance!  It's all ready to go once I hook my sewing machine up.  So, be looking for that coming soon!
I haven't touched anything with the wedding in a while.  With everything that happened last week, it seemed to not matter.  All that mattered was being together, and being with friends & family.  That being said, my approach to the wedding has changed.  It's becoming a simple affair, because truly all that matters is that we are there together with our wonderful family and friends.  No more stressing over the little things, because in the light of eternity it doesn't matter anyway.

What a week!!! (Catch up from last week...)

What a wonderful week we had in Minnesota with our teenagers!  God has blessed us with a great group of kids.  We were able to see so many different things while we were in Minnesota.  The Como Zoo, the Sculpture Gardens, the Mall of America, a comedy show, but most of all we got to see the great need that people in our own country have.  The need of Jesus.  We were able to minister to 3 different Salvation Army's, church's, schools, homeless shelters, as well as even minister to each other.  I know James filled everyone in on the goings on of the beginning of the week, so I'll do my best to fill in the gaps.  I will also share what God did for that boy and I shortly after James posted.
Thursday was our "fun" day.  We took the kids to the Basilica of St. Mary, where they got to sing.  I was pretty jealous of their opportunity.  But then after the ensemble sang a few songs, that boy led our entire group in the Doxology.  I was so pumped to get to sing in such an AMAZING place.  After that, we loaded up and headed to the Mall of America.  The first thing that boy, our friends, and I did was face some fears.  Ok, so maybe they were more he & I's fears, but we did it!  We all got harnessed and did some great little (or big) walking acrossed ropes, wires, to get to the end result of walking "the plank".  It was HIGH... and kind of terrifying, but I DID IT!!!  Apparently, I did it at least looking confident because that boy is pretty convinced that I'm not scared of heights.  (Thanks mom for the many years of gymnastics... lol) It was good for both of us to be able to encourage each other across various places.  I was quite pleased to be back on the ground though.  We rode a roller coaster (the only one he can do) then headed to ride the log water ride.  It was so fun!!!  We had a great lunch then separated boys and girls to do our own shopping.  We then got to visit the Aquarium.  We had to separate again when the 3 of them went to the Mirror Maze.  The flashing lights were a concern for me, so I opted to go visit ARCHIVERS.  Oh, how I love that store.  I really wish we had one, but I enjoyed my short trip through there.  :)  We joined back up as a group and headed to Buca di Bepo's where we enjoyed some delicious Italian food and some interesting pictures.  Then we headed to one of the best comedy shows I have seen.  I love improv.
Friday, we packed up all our things and headed toward Windom, where Matt grew up.  I was pretty pumped to get to see the places where he lived and meet the people who had such an influence on his life.  Even better was the fact we were able to share the gospel in a public school.  The kids performed an incredible concert that night bringing tears to my eyes.  I was able to enjoy dinner and the concert with that boy's parents.  After the concert, we loaded up on the buses and headed home.  Our bus broke down, delaying us several hours.  God was good and brought someone along who had connections and ended up getting us out of there a lot sooner than it could have been.  The kids attitudes were fantastic.  They had a great time being stranded.  We finally had to tell them it was lights out time.  haha... We spent a grand total of 26.5 hours on the bus.  It was a lot of bus time.
The kids performed their final concert at our home church that night.  God was glorified through what they did that night.  I had my breaking point when the seniors were brought on stage.  I love that group of kids and sure am going to miss them next year.  I'm excited to see what God is going to do in their lives next.
As promised, here's what God did shortly after the last post was written.  As our students were singing in the concert that night, I recieved a text.  During the concerts, I normally ignore my phone, but this time I checked it.  It was my realtor telling me we had an offer on my house!  She asked me to call her and explained the offer was low, but we could counter.  That boy and I discussed it and opted to counter back full price and offer to pay 1/2 of their requested closing costs.  It was Thursday morning after we sang at the Basilica, that I recieved a text stating that they had accepted my counter offer!!!  It put us at losing the least amount of money possible.  God has been so good to us in our housing situations.  It's been in the PERFECT timing.  All of this, of course, is riding on the home inspection.  This will happen tomorrow evening.  I'm a little nervous, but God's seen us to this point, so He'll see us through this part too.
I hope you will forgive my lack of crafty postings.  My craft room is mostly packed up and the furniture isn't put together in the new room yet.  I'm hoping to get a couple more wedding crafts completed soon.  Quite frankly, packing and wedding planning are trumping the fun crafts right now.
I hope you all have an enjoyable Easter weekend.  Don't forget the real reason we celebrate.  Jesus Christ came, died on the cross, rose again the 3rd day to give us eternal life with Him.  This is something we should always be celebrating!

Minnesota '11

What up peeps?? Des is out right now so this is James (her trusty, awesome, amazing personal assistant). We have been on a trip since Saturday with the youth choir that Matt leads at Whitesburg. We started with a twenty-two hour bus ride overnight and arrived Saturday evening at our hotel. On Sunday, we went to Westwood Community Church where the students sang in three morning services and did an afternoon concert. The students (including me) did fantastic!! That evening, we sang in our fifth performance of the day at the River of Life Church. We got back to the hotel, greeted with well-deserved sleep. On Monday morning, the students sang at the Minnehaha Academy (I didn't though because I have a sinus infection and I almost lost my voice) and played with the children at recess. That night, we went to the Union Gospel Ministry and did a concert for the men there. Apparently, it was the first time that the men there actually wanted to hear a program. On Tuesday, we went to Feed My Starving Children where we packed enough food to feed 55 children for An entire year. After that, we proceeded to the Marie Sandvik Center where we did a block party for the entire neighborhood. It was really cool because I got to use my Spanish skills to talk to a little kid for about twenty minutes in only Spanish. That evening, we went to eat at a mall that had only two fast food restaurants but half of us went to Cheesecake Factory and other restaurants to get carry out. That night, we had debriefing and everyone was ready for sleep (except me because I was on an extreme sugar high). To end the night, Des tucked me into bed (well not really because she didn't feel like going into the room; she just opened the door and said goodnight). Well, now you are caught up to today!! You can follow the rest of our tour at www.wbcswat.blogspot.com. See ya!

-James

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New Item in the Store!!!

After many requests, I have posted a new item to our etsy store.  We've re-priced a few things as well, so take a moment to check it out!

Here's a photo of what's been posted:

I'm making them in several different sizes and colors, so for more information feel free to message me!

Ring Bearer Pillow

I've been on the hunt for a long time looking for the PERFECT ring bearer pillow.  The problem was I just didn't know what I wanted.  I searched all the local craft stores and even the wedding supply stores, but just didn't find anything that really fit.  Until I accidentally ran across this blog.  I fell in love with the pillow, but kinda assumed it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to make.  However, I was determined to at least give it a shot.  I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen?  It didn't work?  Why not give it a try?

My friend Malea over at I Make Stuff was kind enough to make me the initial 8x8 pillow with some scrap fabric and "fluff" she already had.  I covered the pillow in black satin.  After that, I took a strip of turquoise satin, burned the edges with a lighter, and attached it around the pillow using Heat N Bond.

Then I took an 18" (in diameter) circle and a needle and thread and stiched around the edges.  Before I notted it off, I pulled the thread to gather it.  Making it look like this:

I attached it to the pillow using my favorite tool- the hot glue gun. Once it was attached, I added a brooch for the center of it.

The brooch may change, but I tried to use one I already have.  It was much simpler than I thought it would be and it looks so elegant!  I love it!

Not so happy model...

Here is my "not so happy" model.... Isn't she precious? :)

This is my niece Karli modeling her "Baby Chic" headband. Poor kid... You know she's thinking "Why did my aunt buy me a skirt & make me a headband, but give me no shirt???"  Bless her heart.  I promise its on it's way!!!

Introducing Baby Chic...

I began making baby accessories a couple of months ago.  Baby Chic was born after finding out my biological sister was having a little girl.  I'm so excited about the possibilities!  I started  out making headbands and have come up with a few other items that have yet to be completed, but look forward to more in the Baby Chic line.  I haven't had a chance to actually post these items to my blog because I am quite possibly the slowest sister ever and didn't get the gift to her for awhile.  That being said, I didn't want to post it on here until I had given it to her.
Here is the latest headband (this headband is also available for purchase in our store):

And my latest card:

Thankfully, I got it to her before my beautiful new niece was born.  She is going to be my new model, if I ever get around to actually mailing the headbands I've been making. :)

Update...

Unfortunately, I again don't have a crafty post for today.  I hope you will all forgive me as half of my craft stuff is at the new house, a quarter of it is in boxes, and the other quarter is in my house.  None of it all goes together, but hopefully by the end of this week, I will have my new furniture for my craft room at the new house.  Then, I can show you all what it is going to look like.  I'm pretty pumped about it.
I spent the beginning of last week in Tampa, Florida for the IAAP (International Association of Administrative Professionals) Spring Conference.  They focused a lot on teaching us how we can "Bounce Back & Bounce Higher" in an everchanging job-role.  It was awesome to be able to get to know other admins around the country.  The warmer weather wasn't too bad either. :)  I took mom with me.  We had a pretty eventful flight back as our first flight was cancellled and then we were delayed.  By the time we got in, I was pretty happy to not be in the air anymore.  When I felt the cold weather, I looked at my mom & said "Go Back Florida."  When I was 2, we went on a house hunting trip to Florida and when we got back to Indiana, that is what I said.  haha... I prefer warm weather.
This weekend has been spent cleaning and setting up the new house.  I think by the time we finally get the whole thing clean from top to bottom, it'll be time to start over again.  Oh well... I did go to a pre-wedding lunch at Emma's Tea Room w/ mom, my sister & a lady from their church.  She gave me a beautiful pink depression glass cake plate.  I don't think that boy was too amused with the color, but I LOVED it.  Wedding invitations are being addressed.  That is a huge undertaking in and of itself.  I'm glad I'm starting now, cause it's going to take me awhile.
Well, its about time for me to get ready and head back to church.  Sundays are always a little chaotic.  We should be getting at least one new item in the etsy store this week.  I've been meaning to put something up for a while, so be on the look out for that.  I'll probably post on the blog when I finally get it up.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Whoops...

I know I mentioned earlier that things would be crazy, but I seriously never intended on going so long without posting!  I just looked at the date of my last post and couldn't believe it!
I apologize for being MIA lately.  We've been swamped with moving, traveling and I have been pretty sick lately too.  I promise to be back with more posts this weekend.  I've got much to share!

Have a fabulous rest of the week!

It's the little things...

I just had my first Stampin' Up workshop.  A huge thanks to mommy-dearest for hosting said event.  We made a fabulous little birthday card using the cupcake set in the Occasions catalog.  It came out pretty good.  I've got some work to do, but had some requests for kits & stamp camps, so look forward to those coming soon!!!  We've had a TON going on this week.  We had Employee Appreciation Day at work Monday.  Following that, we met up at the house.  Every time I walk in there, I get so excited.  God was so good to us in giving us that house.  It's pretty amazing.  Not even lying.  That boy closed on the condo today and HOPEFULLY we'll close on the new house tomorrow, which means this entire weekend will be spent moving him in.  After June, I don't want to go through the moving process again.  Now, that's not likely to happen, but a girl can dream right??? :) We picked out a new fridge, washer and dryer this week.  I know its super boring to most, but I was REALLY excited about it.  I can't wait till they put them in on Saturday!!!  We have been so busy lately it's not taking much for me to get excited!

Well... I thought I'd just give a brief update... more to come the beginning of next week- after all this moving stuff is over.  I guess I better get to packing up the book case, since that's getting moved this weekend too.  No more procrastinating for me... 

Have a FABULOUS weekend everyone!!!  

Flower pin/barrette

Ok, so I've been super busy the last week or so.  It's not looking like its going to lighten up any in the next couple of weeks, but I was able to fit in making this fabulous flower pin/hair bow.  Can you guess where the fabric came from???  It's scraps from the wedding wreath!  The deal was I found my flower girl this cute inexpensive (compared to most) dress online for the wedding.  It's a white dress with a black satin sash.  Well, she needed some sort of turquoise to tie it in with the other girls.  So, I had the idea to make her a flower pin to put on it.  Originally, I had planned on making one of my flower pins that I sell in our store, but felt like it needed to be something a little different.  This is what I came up with:

Sorry the photo is a little off center.  Isn't it cute though????  I should have taken photos along the way, but trying to take pictures of some things by myself just wasn't working.  I'll give a brief tutorial without them.

You will need the following items:

Sizzix Big Shot

Flower Die

Fabric of choice

Felt

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun

Pin

Hair Barrette

Matches or Lighter (dependent on fabric)

I started out by using my Sizzix Big Shot.  The Big Shot might be my newest favorite tool.  I used one of the flower dies then cut out several of the flowers using the die.  If you don't have a Big Shot, you can make a template on a piece of paper then trace it on your fabric.  I wish I could tell you how many to cut, but it really depends on how big you want your flower.  You will also need to cut out a small circle of felt.  The size of the felt will determine how big your flower will be.  You will then use the same technique that I used when making my heart wreaths.  You kinda just roll the flower till it makes a rosette of sorts.  I trimmed of the bottom of the rosette so it was flat.  I placed hot glue on the bottom of it and placed it around the edge of the pin.  Once I had done the edges of the circle, I filled in the center.  I just added rosettes till it looked the way I wanted it too.  I glued the pin & the hair barrette to the back of it making it versatile, so that my favorite 7 year old can wear it both on the dress & later in her hair.
Now, you might be wondering where the matches come in.  The satin fabric I used frays easily.  As much as I love a good frayed flower pin, my wedding is a bit dressier of an affair, I needed to keep the flower from fraying.  So, I used the matches to burn the edges.  It worked out really well, even leaving a bit of a black rim around it, matching perfectly!!!

I sure hope she likes it as much as I do!!!

Headband Swap!!!

A few weeks ago, my friend Malea sent me the link to Danielle @ Take Heart's blog because she was hosting a headband swap.  We've been REALLY into headbands lately, so I thought it sounded like a fun idea.  I got paired up with Melissa @ Mel V Designs (check out her blog- its AWESOME).  I was so pumped about getting this headband:

Thanks again Melissa!!!!  I love it!!! I've worn it to work & to church already!!! 

Inspired by My Love Story :)

It's February.  The month of LOVE.  What a great month to share a love story... especially my own.  This is a long post... Just warning you... My side of it is very different from that boy's (my memory went back a little further... hehe).

We met back in 2007 or 2008 at the gym at church.  I was there working out with a friend.  I can remember her introducing me to him and her telling him I sing.  He said, "Well, sing."  I was like, "Now?" I mean seriously, we were in the weight room in the gym. He said, "Yes." I said, "No."  And that was the end of that. haha...
Fast forward to 2009.  I had joined the church choir in order to be in their Easter production, but was bound and determined to quit after that.  I didn't want to get too involved in church things yet, so I was trying to slowly work my way in.  Easter week, we were having all of our final rehearsals before production and I suddenly just noticed him.  I mean, seriously noticed that boy sitting at the piano.  I thought to myself, "He sure is cute."  I had my eye on him that week.  Watched how he handled several scenarios and I was impressed.  But then I realized, we don't hang out with any of the same people.  At all.  Monday, I was in the gym and my friend was complimenting him on his musical talents during the production.  Next thing I know, he's talking to ME.  I told him I probably wasn't coming back to choir.  I had just been there to be in "The Healer".  He was like, "Give it one more try.  I promise you'll have fun."  So, I did.  And, I had a blast.  Next thing I knew, I wrote on his facebook wall telling him he was right.  This resulted in him Facebook chatting me a response.  I'm pretty sure we chatted for 2 hours that night.  This continued off and on throughout April & May.  I invited him to a party at my house which he didn't make it to, but he had asked me to join him and a couple of his students to dinner at PF Chang's and to see MacBeth (he was playing for it.)  I was pretty pumped. I dressed up in a black dress and everything.  We all had such a good time.  After the show, we went to get ice cream at Sonic.  I think we all laughed non-stop.  Monday morning, we both headed middle school camp as counselors.  It was really neat to see him work with the students.  I had gotten really stressed one day with my group of girls and in return it made me sick.  That night he prayed over me and I can't explain it, but it was at that moment I knew he was the one.  The odd thing was, we weren't even dating.  As time continued on, he asked me to be a sponsor in SWAT (Student Worship Arts Team).  We began participating in more and more events together.  The beginning of January 2010, he sent me a text and asked if he could take me to dinner for my birthday.  My birthday happened to be on a Wednesday, so we had choir before we could go to dinner.  I was pretty excited all day.  On my way to church that night, he sent me a text asking me if I would come by his office before going to choir.  There he presented me with 49 hot pink roses and a gift card to Little Rosie's.  Then he told me we'd be going to Chili's for dinner.  It was there at Chili's that he basically asked me to be his girlfriend.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! (I'd been jokingly asking for one for my birthday for years...)
As time went by, we grew closer and spent a lot more time together.  By July, we were goofing off looking at houses. (Not uncommon...) We found this amazing house on a beautiful lake. A week or so later, we went back.  We fell in love with it.  We were standing in that house and he says, "Des, I need to ask you a question."  I was like, uh-oh.  haha... He never did ask a question, but began talking about how the best time for us to get married would be the summer of 2011.  I was so not expecting that. haha...

August 15 was planned to be like any other Sunday.  I went to church and sang with the choir.  Matt made faces at me from the piano.  Ate lunch with the fam then headed to home to get my house ready to show.  I was pretty excited about SWAT starting back.  I sure have missed seeing all of those kids on a weekly basis.  It was during SWAT that things took a bit of a change...
I helped register new students then sat in the rehearsal for a little while.  I sang on praise team that evening so I had to leave early for rehearsal, which normally isn't a big deal, but Matt requested me to come back in around 5:50 for sponsor prayer time.  I thought that was odd, but he is always trying new things, so I just let it go.  I made it back in the room right at 5:50 and he asked me to get all the sponsors in the room.  So, we lined up in the front of the room.  Matt asked Jess to pray over the sponsors, but asked the kids not to leave because he had one more announcement.  After the prayer, Matt says, "You kids know I love you right?"  After some loud screams from the kids, Matt goes, "Well there is someone in this place right now who I love more than you guys.  And I need to ask her a question."  The kids were all SCREAMING!  I am stunned.  Matt turned and looked at me and said "Are you surprised?"  The next thing I know, he is down on one knee.  He takes my hand and tells the kids to be quiet.  He says "I have loved you since the day I met you and God knew that we would be together. I am just so thankful that you are in my life.  Will you marry me?"  Then, he asked me if he could kiss me.  So, we had our first kiss in front of everyone.  It was a perfect night.  One I'll remember forever.  We even have video (which I probably shouldn't mention how many times I have watched it).  I am so grateful God brought him into my life.

 

And that Ladies & Gentleman is our love story... I think I'm a pretty lucky girl!

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day to the love of my life!!!  I can't wait for June 18!  I love you so much!

 

Valentine's Frame- Love is a Blessing

I have been working on this Valentine's Day frame for the last couple of weeks.  I ran across a similar one on a blog (I wish I could remember which one it was).  Just the picture alone got the wheels turning in my head. 

I chose to use a hodge podge of items I had laying around my scrapbook room to clean it out & make this as cheaply as possible.

Let's face the facts.  I'm marrying a musician.  My life is now filled with concerts, rehearsals, etc.  I love it.  But now, if it's got music notes I'm drawn to it.  So, I cut down a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper.  I then cut it down to fit inside a frame I found at the Dollar Tree.  I painted the frame with acrylic paint due to the fact that it has been way to cold for spray painting.  I handmade the rosette flowers that went on the outside using lace, sheer & cotton fabrics (and yes, it is music note fabric). 

For the wording, I used my beloved Cricut and chose the Simply Sweet font.  I cut the hearts out with the same font cartridge. 

This frame really was easy to make.  I just had too many projects started at one time.  Being home with an ear infection, let me get a couple things done while resting up.  Total cost was probably $3.  I love inexpensive projects.  :)

We're OPEN!!!

I am very happy to report that as of today, Tuesday, February 1, Desilea Boutique, has officially opened!!!  Malea and I have been working on this for several months.  Actually, I think we've played around with it for a couple of years.  :)  We are both VERY excited to be opening this store.  Stay tuned for giveaways, so make sure you become a follower on my blog or like us on Facebook!

Check out Desilea Boutique on etsy today! 

Valentine Conversation Blocks

I found these awesome conversation blocks while perusing several blogs a couple of weeks ago.  I thought they were SO cute, so I just had to make my own.  The project itself was pretty simple.  I had a really hard time finding then getting the blocks cut.  Thankfully, it was daddy to the rescue.  He cut a 4x4 post for me.  The blocks are each about 2 inches wide.  Due to the cold weather we've had, I wasn't able to spray paint them, so I painted them with acrylic paint then dry-brushed each block with the coordinating colors until they were the design I liked.  I'm so glad I spent so much time in the Schenk's ceramic shop as a kid.  I learned SO much!  I used my cricut (the Cuttin' Up cartridge) to cut out 1 1/4 inch letters on black paper then decoupaged them on with Matte Mod Podge.
The complete directions can be found at Brown Paper Packages blog.  She has a lot of fabulous ideas!

Recipe- A Twist on the Sandwich

I could get rid of cable if they would just give me Food Network & HGTV.  Seriously...  Several months ago, I saw Giada make this amazing steak sandwich.  It looked good, but there were items in it I didn't like.  So, here's my twist on Giada's steak sandwich.

Start out with rectangle of puff pastry. (Do not use Phyllo Dough.  It doesn't work- trust me- I tried.)  I recommend separating it into 3 triangles.  It comes apart easily in the folds.  Bake the puff pastry @ 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.  It will be puffy so you might want to kind of tap the top of each.

While this was baking, I cooked two small pieces of steak (sprinkled with Season All) in a skillet slightly covered in Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  After this had cooked, I sliced it into small strips.  Then in the same skillet, I cooked up some carmelized onion.  Then I sliced up some lettuce & tomato.

I then took one layer of puff pastry and put a layer of mayo on it, then placed a layer of steak & all of the carmelized onion.  I took the next layer of puff pastry put another layer of mayo & the rest of the steak and added the lettuce and tomato.  I then topped it with the final layer of puff pastry and cut it in half.

It's messy, but so, so worth it!  I made it with chicken this weekend and it was good too! 

Enjoy!

VALENTINE'S DECOR!!!

I am a sucker for holidays.  I love them.  I really love decorating for them.  I didn't decorate as much as I wanted to for Christmas, but Valentine's Day is a pretty easy one to decorate for.  I've not always been the biggest fan of Valentine's Day, but things have changed and love is certainly in the air.  I normally would wait till February 1 to put it all out, but since I am pretty sure this will be the last year I will be permitted to have a VERY pink bathroom, I decided to enjoy it a little early. 

The love sign was a recent find at Hobby Lobby.  I thought it was cute (plus it was on sale).

My pink bathroom.  (It has bad lighting the walls aren't really that color)  I like it. 
That boy certainly will not be a big fan. hehe...

Dining room table.  Perfect for dinner for two... :)

Valentine's Crafts will be coming soon, so will a recent craft I did for a baby gift.  I just can't share it till I've mailed it!

Snow Days Project {Picture Clock}

Living in Huntsville, you don't see many snow "days".  Actually, we don't see much snow.  Occasionally, we'll get a 2 hour delay going in to work or get to leave a little early, but never in my over 4 years of employment have I gotten a full day.  This year we got 8 inches of snow dumped on us and are now in icy conditions.  We have had 2 days off of work.  How crazy is that???  It gave me the opportunity to work on this awesome picture clock that I have been dying to do. 

Here is what you need for this project:

16x16 photo (The pic was 16x16 then saved and printed as a 16x20- giving it white edges around it)

16x16 backing (I used plywood- 3/4 inch thick. It's heavy though so you may want to look for something lighter weight)
Drill

Mod Podge (I used the Matte kind)

Sponge Brush
Paint to match or accent the photo
Paint Brush
Clock pieces
Cutter Bee or X-Acto Knife

I chose one of our engagement pictures and asked Katie to put the clock numbers (you can add 3-D type numbers instead of having them put on it) and the name stamp on it for me.  Hopefully, when I get my new computer I can put Photoshop Elements on it, so then I can do that type of stuff myself.  Until then, I'm thankful for friends who can help.  : )  You could also use Picnik, which is a free internet site for the editing of the pictures.  I had it printed at Sam's Club since they had the best price for that size photo ($5.96+tax).

I used a piece of plywood 3/4 inch thick for this clock.  It's a bit heavy to hang though, so I recommend finding something lighter weight.  The clock pieces required it to be 3/4" thick though.  We went ahead and drilled the hole where the clock pieces would need to go. 

After you cut the edges off the photo, you will probably find that it is a little shorter than the board.  I recommend painting the edges either a color to match your photo or one to accent it.  I also would recommend using acrylic paint, but we were stuck in the house (at my parent's) and all my acrylic paint was at my house.  So, we used what we had Behr wall paint.  haha...

Once the edges are good and dry, "paint" a good layer of Mod Podge on the board.  Carefully lay your picture on top of this.  After you have completed this, put an even layer of Mod Podge on top of the picture.  Make sure it even gets on the wooden edges.  This will help seal it down.  Don't be alarmed by the fact that it has a white layer.  This will dry clear.  It takes an hour or so to get good and dry.

Once it was dry, I then took my Cutter Bee knife and carefully punched a hole through the center.  I would also recommend using the Stampin' Up Paper Piercer. (It might go through a little easier.)  Go very slowly as you cut through the picture so as not to tear it.  I purchased my clock pieces at Hobby Lobby (really inexpensive- $5.99 plus you can use a 40% off coupon).  Follow the directions on the back of the clock to put the clock pieces on.  Then just add your battery!  Now you have a functional clock!!!

I can't wait to hang this on the wall after we get married (and figure out where we are living)!!!

Wedding Project!!!!

I was sitting at Wholesale Florist the other day discussing wedding flowers with their designer and my mother.  She was mentioning all kinds of things that we hadn't thought of.  This of course gets my brain going and I then have to attempt to come up with SOME design in my head.  I'm not gonna lie- flowers are my weakness.  I don't know much about them or what looks good together so I'm totally at the mercy of the floral designer.  She mentioned having something to hang on the door.  I thought it was a great idea, but it certainly wasn't a necessity and was something I could do without, but the more I thought about it, the more I kind of wanted to have something pretty hanging on the door.  I hadn't discussed it with anyone, but Malea (she might just be able to read my mind now) had sent me this FABULOUS heart wreath tutorial that she really liked THAT day!  This of course prompted us to spend our lunch break at Hobby Lobby the next day to purchased everything to make these wreaths.  The tutorial says to use felt, but I opted to use the same turquoise satin I'm using for the wedding.

So, here are some step by step pictures (don't worry, I'll post the link to the tutorial at the bottom):

I purchased 1 yard of fabric then I cut it into 3 inch wide strips.

 Erin and Rachel were over for girl's night and assisted in the cutting of 3 in. squares and then cutting them into circles.

I wrapped the heart shaped styrofoam wreath with black ribbon (pinning it as I went).

 The circles are sort of folded together to make these neat little roses.  I then pin them into the wreath.

I painted a styrofoam "S" for the center of the wreath.

The final product!!!

I love it!!!!  I'll be making a 2nd one this weekend. 

This is a time consuming project taking approximately 4 hours with help.  I believe it is WELL worth it (afterall, it is for the wedding!).  The total cost is less than $10 if you can pick some of the items up on sale and use a 40% off coupon.

Here's how to do it yourself: http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/12/diy-project-kristens-ruffly-felt-wreath.html

Gift Card holder

This little project is one I did before Christmas.  I had a gift card for a gift exchange while we were in Texas and really wanted to have a neat little gift card holder to put it in.  So, I thought, "Why not make one myself?"  I called my crafty sidekick- Malea- to see if she had any ideas.  I needed to make it out of paper since my sewing machine was at mom's house.  I fell in love with the one at diaryofacraftaholic's.  Here is my version of it:

Check out the tutorial here:
http://diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com/2009/12/rtw-christmas-gift-card-holders.html

First Craft Project of 2011

My first craft project of 2011 was a fun little thank you card.

Items needed:
1 white card (pack from Michael's or use white cardstock)
1 3/8" circle punch (from Stampin' Up)
1 3/4" scallop punch (from Stampin' Up)
Olive green textured cardstock (I picked colors out of my scraps bucket)
Pumpkin orange textured cardstock
So Many Thanks Stamp (from Stampin' Up)
Olive Green Ink Pad (from Stampin' Up)

I punched out my shapes first.  Then I ran the circles through my Xyron sticker maker.  I attached the circles to the scallops.  I laid the scallops on the left side of the card and attached them with foam stickies to give them a little heighth.  Then I stamped the Thanks stamp to the right of the scallops. 

A cute little Thank You card made in less than 5 min!