This card was made on white cardstock using scrapbook paper, ribbons, stamps, felt, and markers.
Front:
Middle:
Back:
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Valentine's Day: Card for the Hubby
Ok... So this one gets a little personal. This is the Valentine's Day card I made for my husband last year. I likely won't reveal this year's until after he gets it. I don't know... we'll see. Since I decorated both the outside and inside, though, I decided to put pics of both on here. Yes, you'll be able to read the personal message that I wrote inside to him. But I don't reckon it's anything so personal that should be kept private.
This card was made on white cardstock using scrapbook paper, ribbons, stamps, felt, and markers.
This card was made on white cardstock using scrapbook paper, ribbons, stamps, felt, and markers.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Valentine's Day: Decorative Jar
Today's Valentine's Day craft is a simple one that I did last year for my stepson's school Valentine's Day party. One other mom and I were the party planners for all the class parties, so we had a blast coming up with decorations and crafts. We had heart shaped suckers for all the kids. They were going to be used for a craft (that I will post later) toward the end of the party. I thought it would be cute to use them as decorations until they were needed for the craft. I took one of my spaghetti jars from my stash, added some cute Valentine's scrapbook paper, edged it with ribbon, and placed the suckers inside. I wish I would've gotten a better picture that day, but this is the best I have. You get the idea, though.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Valentine's Day: Wreath
For the last full week of January, it's time to move on to some Valentine's Day crafts. I've had my Valentine's decorations up since I took down my Christmas ones. If you don't have them yet, though, now is the time to get going.
My first Valentine craft is a wreath. I did this with a wire heart shaped wreath base. I added the layer of red ribbon first, using flower ties at each loop. Once I got that completed all the way around I did the black layer. Next was the zebra ribbon. I used wire ribbon so it would be easier to shape the way I wanted. Again, I used flower ties all the way around. I bought the "LOVE" as pre-cut unfinished wood at Hobby Lobby. I painted the red and black, but it looked too plain for me. So I added the extra designs to it. The picture in the "O" is one of our engagement pictures from a few years ago. I thought it was pretty fitting. I debated on how to attach the LOVE sign to the wreath, but I finally ended up using black jewelry wire. Finally, I added the ribbon to hang it from above.
My first Valentine craft is a wreath. I did this with a wire heart shaped wreath base. I added the layer of red ribbon first, using flower ties at each loop. Once I got that completed all the way around I did the black layer. Next was the zebra ribbon. I used wire ribbon so it would be easier to shape the way I wanted. Again, I used flower ties all the way around. I bought the "LOVE" as pre-cut unfinished wood at Hobby Lobby. I painted the red and black, but it looked too plain for me. So I added the extra designs to it. The picture in the "O" is one of our engagement pictures from a few years ago. I thought it was pretty fitting. I debated on how to attach the LOVE sign to the wreath, but I finally ended up using black jewelry wire. Finally, I added the ribbon to hang it from above.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Organizing: Kitchen Storage Boxes
This is another project that I did using unfinished craft wood from Hobby Lobby, but if I did it again I would have my husband make the boxes. These were quick and easy creations, but they far beat the cardboard boxes that each of these items are packaged in at the store. I painted them to match my accent colors, added a little ribbon, and cut three layers of letters out of cardstock with my Cricut. Stacking three layers on top of each other gave them a more 3-D look.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Organizing / Home Decor: Hanging Box Shelves
The next project for my husband was a set of shelves that I saw in a book and wanted. I love a contemporary look, but our house is rustic. So we thought these shelves would be a good mix. I failed to take pics of this project along the way like I did with the laundry room cabinets. Lesson learned. But at least you can see the final. I'm still working on getting them decorated.
He used 3/4 inch birch plywood for these shelves. One 4' x 8' sheet did the entire thing. He used 1/4 inch plywood for the backs of each box. He ironed edge banding onto all the edges to give them a more completed look. Then he stained them and applied polyurethane. I wish I had pictures of how he hung them, because he had to really engineer it up. Those suckers are heavy! They are hung in three separate sections.
He used 3/4 inch birch plywood for these shelves. One 4' x 8' sheet did the entire thing. He used 1/4 inch plywood for the backs of each box. He ironed edge banding onto all the edges to give them a more completed look. Then he stained them and applied polyurethane. I wish I had pictures of how he hung them, because he had to really engineer it up. Those suckers are heavy! They are hung in three separate sections.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Pizza Rice
I'm always looking for meals my stepson will eat. He is going through an unhealthy eating stage, so I have to sneak vegetables and healthy foods into his meals. The slow-cooker recipe magazine Fix-It and Forget-It had one labeled "kid-friendly" called Pizza Rice. I decided to give it a shot. This one is not all natural, so I decided to not put it under the natural recipes tab. You can make some substitutions as I did, though, to make it mostly natural.
The recipe in the magazine called for rice, and I chose brown rice. I used fresh mozzarella that I bought from a farmer, and I shredded it myself. I used fresh mushrooms, too. The only store-bought items I put in my pizza rice were pizza sauce, pepperoni, and black olives (I added the black olives to the recipe). I'm going to look into whether or not any nearby farmers sell pepperoni cuts. If I can find that, I will change it next time, as well. And if anybody has a good natural pizza sauce recipe, I'd love to know it!
This was possibly the easiest recipe I have ever fixed, and it turned out good, too. I will definitely be fixing it again!
Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked rice
3 cups pizza sauce
2 1/2 cups water
4.5 oz. mushrooms, undrained if using canned ones
4.5 oz. pepperoni
4 oz. black olives, sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Combine rice, pizza sauce, water, mushrooms, pepperoni, and black olives in slow cooker. Stir, set to low, and cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Add cheese just before serving. (I let it sit in the slow-cooker on warm for about 10 minutes to melt the cheese before serving.)
The recipe in the magazine called for rice, and I chose brown rice. I used fresh mozzarella that I bought from a farmer, and I shredded it myself. I used fresh mushrooms, too. The only store-bought items I put in my pizza rice were pizza sauce, pepperoni, and black olives (I added the black olives to the recipe). I'm going to look into whether or not any nearby farmers sell pepperoni cuts. If I can find that, I will change it next time, as well. And if anybody has a good natural pizza sauce recipe, I'd love to know it!
This was possibly the easiest recipe I have ever fixed, and it turned out good, too. I will definitely be fixing it again!
Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked rice
3 cups pizza sauce
2 1/2 cups water
4.5 oz. mushrooms, undrained if using canned ones
4.5 oz. pepperoni
4 oz. black olives, sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Combine rice, pizza sauce, water, mushrooms, pepperoni, and black olives in slow cooker. Stir, set to low, and cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Add cheese just before serving. (I let it sit in the slow-cooker on warm for about 10 minutes to melt the cheese before serving.)
Organizing: Laundry Room Cabinets
One of the problems with our house is lack of storage. We are planning to put our house on the market in the spring, so we are trying to create some good storage areas to add to the appeal. Plus, I tend to be a little ocd. Messes stress me out. My husband got some new tools for Christmas, and he couldn't wait to use them. It took several days because the doctors are trying to teach him to pace himself better so he doesn't knock himself down for several days in a row. Otherwise this could probably be done in a day. But I couldn't be more proud of him for how they turned out.
Here was the "Before." I wanted to scream every time I walked in here.
He started with base:
Then he added bracing for support around the middle:
Awww.... Isn't my hubby handsome????
Here is me pretending to do something while wearing my new pink toolbelt that I LOVE!!!
After getting the middle braces, he added the shelves and the top support:
Next came the face frame:
Here it is from a straight-forward angle:
Next he painted the frame:
And finally he added the doors that he built and painted in the garage. (I didn't realize that bottom drawer to the dryer was open when I took this):
The final close-up:
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Organizing: Coffee Container Boxes
My craft post yesterday showed the containers I made to store my coffee. Today I'm showing the boxes I made to house my coffee jars. I bought these boxes in the unfinished craft wood section at Hobby Lobby during a week they were on sale, but if I made them again I would just have my husband build them. I painted the inside and trim with the colors I use as my main accent colors in our great room. Then I decoupaged scrapbook paper onto the outside. I'm still working to perfect my decoupage technique as it is an artform, and I do not have enough experience with it. But I did the best I could. Then I took a sponge applicator and dabbed brown paint onto the edges in an attempt to make each side fade into it's edge. I hung them on the wall and placed my coffee jars in them. Bonus... the top one hides our thermostat.
From the side you hardly even notice the thermostat. It used to stick out on that wall like a sore thumb.
Notice on the decaf jars I flip-flopped the colors. That way we don't mistakingly grab the wrong one and end up staying awake all night. I recently got a new Cricut cartridge that has coffee on it, so I will add a coffee dye cut under the words "decaf coffee" to complete the look.
Here is a close-up of the sides and edges:
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
New Mexico Roadtrip ~ New Year's 2010
In November 2009 my husband was transferred to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. We were engaged at the time, and I still owned a business. Therefore, I was stuck in Arkansas while he was stuck in Oklahoma. We wanted to spend some more time together before we got married, so we decided to take full advantage of his leave over Christmas. Since we had a big trip to Tahiti coming up, we decided to get away by loading up the truck and driving. We took our sweet little beagle/dachshund mix, Bentley, loaded up some clothes, a cooler full of food and drinks, an air mattress, a space heater, and a generator, and we started driving. As we got on the road my husband asked me which way I wanted to go. I thought for a second and said, "How 'bout west?" And so we did. We drove from Arkansas into Oklahoma. The sunset was beautiful as we drove through the plains part of Oklahoma, and we loved seeing the many windmills along the highway.
We drove through the panhandle of Texas and into New Mexico. We decided to stop there. We found a truck stop in a safe area, parked in the parking lot, set up a generator outside the vehicle, blew up an air mattress in the bed of the truck with a camper shell over it, and plugged up a space heater. We taped black trash bags over the windows for privacy.
Because it was New Year's Eve, we broke open a bottle of champagne with some styrofoam cups, and we rang in the new year in the back of our pick-up truck. It may sound redneck, but I must say it was the best New Year's ever!
The next day we hit the road again. We picked a spot on the map and decided to head to it. We were so excited when we finally hit snow, though, so we had to stop for a picture.
Then we headed on to our chosen spot on the map of Taos, New Mexico.
Unfortunately we were not as excited about Taos as we thought we would be, so we continued on. We came upon Red River, and we fell in love with it immediately. We decided to set up shop there for the rest of the day and night.
We decided to get a room in a motel so we could curl up by the fire and get plenty of rest for the drive the next day. We splurged on eating in a restaurant in that quaint little mountain town, too.
We got up the next morning and walked the shops in town a little more. We let Bentley play in the snow before climbing back into the truck for the road trip home.
The drive was just as incredible as the destination. We saw some beautiful sights along the way, and we frequently pulled over to take in the views. Hey... we were on no schedule, right? There was no reason to rush down the road.
Although apparently we really did decide to "rush" down the road without realizing it. We got the wonderful opportunity to meet one of New Mexico's finest on the side of the road. Tim was 40 years old at the time, this was the first time he had ever been pulled over, and it was his first and only ticket ever.
We continued on, stopping at each state to take a picture, and all the while enjoying the views.
So... an incredibly awesome trip, and it only cost us diesel for the drive, one night's stay in a motel, and dinner in one restaurant (which was very moderately priced).... well.... and one speeding ticket. But all in all, it was a trip worth way more than what we spent.
We drove through the panhandle of Texas and into New Mexico. We decided to stop there. We found a truck stop in a safe area, parked in the parking lot, set up a generator outside the vehicle, blew up an air mattress in the bed of the truck with a camper shell over it, and plugged up a space heater. We taped black trash bags over the windows for privacy.
Because it was New Year's Eve, we broke open a bottle of champagne with some styrofoam cups, and we rang in the new year in the back of our pick-up truck. It may sound redneck, but I must say it was the best New Year's ever!
The next day we hit the road again. We picked a spot on the map and decided to head to it. We were so excited when we finally hit snow, though, so we had to stop for a picture.
Then we headed on to our chosen spot on the map of Taos, New Mexico.
Unfortunately we were not as excited about Taos as we thought we would be, so we continued on. We came upon Red River, and we fell in love with it immediately. We decided to set up shop there for the rest of the day and night.
We decided to get a room in a motel so we could curl up by the fire and get plenty of rest for the drive the next day. We splurged on eating in a restaurant in that quaint little mountain town, too.
We got up the next morning and walked the shops in town a little more. We let Bentley play in the snow before climbing back into the truck for the road trip home.
The drive was just as incredible as the destination. We saw some beautiful sights along the way, and we frequently pulled over to take in the views. Hey... we were on no schedule, right? There was no reason to rush down the road.
Although apparently we really did decide to "rush" down the road without realizing it. We got the wonderful opportunity to meet one of New Mexico's finest on the side of the road. Tim was 40 years old at the time, this was the first time he had ever been pulled over, and it was his first and only ticket ever.
We continued on, stopping at each state to take a picture, and all the while enjoying the views.
So... an incredibly awesome trip, and it only cost us diesel for the drive, one night's stay in a motel, and dinner in one restaurant (which was very moderately priced).... well.... and one speeding ticket. But all in all, it was a trip worth way more than what we spent.
Organizing: Coffee Containers
Hi, my name is Whitney, and I am a coffee addict.
Yes, it's true. My education is in exercise science and kinesiology, and I have an addiction to coffee. Not just coffee... coffee with cream and sugar. For the most part, we use organic coffee beans that we grind ourselves (although I do like Dunkin Donuts coffee from time to time). I sweeten my coffee with organic evaporated cane juice, and I cream it up with a bit of organic 2% milk from grass fed and finished cows. Better? This particular post is for my craft section of the site, though, so that's enough talk about the nutrition side.
I get tired of the ugly bags of coffee sitting around. If there's one thing I don't like in the kitchen, it's some of the ugly packaging that food comes in (or in the case of organic coffee, the brown bag you put it in when you buy it in bulk at Whole Foods, Fresh Market, or straight from a farmer). There's no point in throwing away (or taking to the recycle bin) jars you got from store bought items. You can always use them for something, and I ALWAYS do. I never, ever get rid of them! These coffee containers came from spaghetti jars. I used scrapbook paper, ribbon, and letter stickers to give my coffee some cute containers worthy of setting out for all to see. Bonus... it keeps your coffee fresh for much longer!
Yes, it's true. My education is in exercise science and kinesiology, and I have an addiction to coffee. Not just coffee... coffee with cream and sugar. For the most part, we use organic coffee beans that we grind ourselves (although I do like Dunkin Donuts coffee from time to time). I sweeten my coffee with organic evaporated cane juice, and I cream it up with a bit of organic 2% milk from grass fed and finished cows. Better? This particular post is for my craft section of the site, though, so that's enough talk about the nutrition side.
I get tired of the ugly bags of coffee sitting around. If there's one thing I don't like in the kitchen, it's some of the ugly packaging that food comes in (or in the case of organic coffee, the brown bag you put it in when you buy it in bulk at Whole Foods, Fresh Market, or straight from a farmer). There's no point in throwing away (or taking to the recycle bin) jars you got from store bought items. You can always use them for something, and I ALWAYS do. I never, ever get rid of them! These coffee containers came from spaghetti jars. I used scrapbook paper, ribbon, and letter stickers to give my coffee some cute containers worthy of setting out for all to see. Bonus... it keeps your coffee fresh for much longer!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Monkey Baby Shower
Here are the final pictures of the monkey themed baby shower.
Rubber Ducky Punch:
Food Table:
Cupcakes, Gift Bag, and Monkey Decor:
We used paper lanterns sitting on the buffet for decorations, and we scattered some of the extra rubber duckies around:
And no party is complete without a chocolate fountain with all the fixins:
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