Happy Birthday

I am so thankful for my husband.  God has blessed me so much by giving me such an amazing man.  It's not perfect.  It's not always easy.  But I am so grateful for a man who loves the Lord and loves me. I am so glad that God matched us up.

You constantly challenge me and encourage me.  Thanks for being such an amazing part of my life.

Thanks for being there for me=)

Setting up the Tree

Did anyone else set up their tree on Thanksgiving night??  I was giddy about it. As soon as we got home, we pulled out our tree from the attic, got out our Christmas box, turned on the Christmas music, made some hot chai tea and went to work.  My sisters came over to help, which made it lots of fun=) 

I was looking at some fun Christmas decor the other day and found these really neat ideas.  I love this first one!  I have some antlers that my father in law just gave me. I'm so excited to hang them up.  I want to hand ornaments from them like this...

here

here

here

Hope you all have a great Tuesday!

Baby Clothing: My current project

I hope you all had a great weekend.  We had a really good time with lots of family.  We are so blessed. I never got around to making our own Thanksgiving meal.  I guess I can always make another night special though.  There was just too much food already!

I'm so excited to be a part of a friend's new shop.  I can't wait to share details with you soon...as soon as she has everything in place. I have been making lots of fun projects for it. I love making children's clothing, and that's what I've been working on over the past few weeks.

Here is my mess of a sewing room and some color combo's I've chosen so far for some outfits.  I'm excited to share more soon.

Pumpkin Desserts: Post Three

I forget how much I like pumpkin until thanksgiving rolls around.  Why do we only make things with pumpkin then?  I decided that I want to make pumpkin muffins year round. I just made this recipe last night and they are soooo yummy! They are called Pumkin Cream Cheese Streussel Muffins.  The name says it all!

They are really fun to make and don't take too long.  There are a few ingredients, but oh so worth it. I kinda like when recipes have lots of ingredients...it makes me feel like a good cook=) 

I want to make a pumpkin pie for tomorrow too.  This one looks tasty.

I'm so excited to spend time with family.  We are so blessed and so thankful.  I'm thankful for amazing parents, my siblings, my in-laws, my sisters and brother-in-law.  My husband, who supports me and encourages me. Our home. Food on the table every day. Clean running water. My job. Being able to do what I love.

Most of all, I'm thankful for the freedom we have in Christ. I'm thankful that God sent his son to die for our sins.  He is the reason we live.  He is life.  He is love. 

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving this year. See you on Monday.

Thanksgiving for Two: Post Two

We are so blessed to have our families live so close to us.  So many people have to travel/choose who they get to see on holidays.  We get to see both sides.  I'm so thankful for that. I haven't yet cooked our own Thanksgiving meal since we've been married.  We are still going to eat meals with our families, but I thought this year it was time to make one of our own too... YES...we will be eating lots.

Thanksgiving Week: Post 1

Thanksgiving is coming so soon!  I can't believe it. I thought this week I would look for some inspirations for decor, food and fun.  Here are some really cute Fall/Thanksgiving decor I liked.

This week

This week has been pretty cold. I'm not a fan of really cold weather...but I do love the things that go along with it. I love snuggling by the fire.  Drinking hot drinks. Watching movies. Playing games. Baking. Thanksgiving and Christmas!  I can't believe Thanksgiving is in less than a week and Christmas in a month! 

This week we set up one of our christmas trees.  We got a little white one for our dining room or bedroom (haven't decided yet). We set it up a few days ago but we're not decorating it until after Thanksgiving.  I got so excited when we put it up!  I love the lights. We've been burning the fire lots too.  It's so cozy. We are so thankful to have one this year!  We sat and drank hot Chai a few nights ago and watched a movie.  It was so much fun. 

What do you like doing this time of year?

Hope you all have a great weekend. Be thankful!  There's always something we have to be thankful for.  God is so good.

Home Made Coasters

Wanted to share this fun and simple craft with you...decoupage coasters! 

Here's what you'll need:

1. Tiles ( you can get these at home depot for 16 cents a tile!)
2. Modge Podge
3. A paint brush
4. Magazines for cut-outs
5. A can of clear sealing spray paint. (  I found one at Wal-Mart.  It says for decoupage on the back)
6. Friends to make them with!

First, decide what you want on your coaster. Then spread a layer of modge podge over the coaster with your paint brush and place your image on top.  Then, spread another layer of modge podge over your image to seal it in.  Let it dry.  When they are all dry, spray a layer of clear sealing spray on top...and wala!

Here's how mine turned out. I wish I would have taken a picture of everybody's because they were all so neat.

Gift Wrapping: Sparkle and Fluff

This month is full of birthdays in our family.  My mom's is the 1st, sister's is the 2nd, baby sis's the 14th and Justin's is coming up on the 30th! One packed month!  I love it though because it gets us all together and we get to enjoy a delish meal made by my momma.  She is such a great cook!  Baby sis just turned 13 and requested bbq chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, irish soda bread and ice cream sundaes for dessert!  Mmmm so good. 

Since it is birthday month, I thought I share some wrapping ideas with you.

Wall Art: Vintage painting with Text

Here's the finished product!  I had so much fun making these two pieces of art. I've had the matching floral paintings for a long time, but never really liked them the way they were. I loved the frames though!  So, I decided to give them a makeover.  I haven't painted in a long time. I didn't know how much I missed it! It was so relaxing.

This past weekend, Justin went hunting and I got really motivated to hang up a bunch of things at our house.  I always think he should do it (because I usually put way too many holes in the wall)...but I think I did ok this time.  I just went for it. Now we FINALLY have stuff hung up. I just had to get over my intimidation of more wall space, and just decide already!

I put these two on either side of our dining room window. Trying to figure out if I should paint the frames a fun color?  I like the antique look they have, but a fun bold color would be fun too.

To make one yourself...

*First, simply stencil or free hand your text on an old painting with a pencil
*Next, pick a color of paint and start painting around the outline of your text, to leave only the text  showing!
*Lastly...hang and enjoy!

Its Monday...

Some Mondays are hard for me.  I just have to wrap my mind around the weekend being over.  Anyone else have this problem?  I'd love for the weekends to be five days long and the week to be two.  But that's not life =)  I have to remember that I have lots to be thankful for though. 

I got lots done this weekend and had so much fun hanging out with people I love. We had a girl craft night at our house Saturday that was so much fun. The entire living room floor was covered in magazine cut-outs.  We made decoupage coasters.  You can get the tiles at Home Depot for 16 cents a tile.  A really cheap craft!

Here's the crazy mess we made. I'll share pics of the tiles soon.

Hope you have a good Monday...even though it's Monday=)

Thankful for our Freedom

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 an armistice between Germany and the Allied nations came into effect. On November 11, 1919, Armistice Day was commemorated for the first time. In 1919, President Wilson proclaimed the day should be "filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory". There were plans for parades, public meetings and a brief suspension of business activities at 11am.

A Gorgeous Outdoor Wedding

Here are those pictures I said I'd share from the amazing outdoor wedding we went to a few weekends ago.  These are some very special people and I am so happy for them!

Flower Painting in Progress

I started on the vintage flower painting makeover. I'm excited to see how it will turn out. I probably should have gone out and bought stencil letters, but I am cheap and just wanted to draw them myself.  They are not perfect, but we'll see how they turn out. 

My plan is to just free hand painting around each letter so the letters themselves will show the old painting through them. It might end up taking forever...I usually do things like that.  I think it'll be a fun, quick project and then 5 hours later...

Anyway, here's what the paintings looked like...

New Art From Old

I saw this piece of art from Sarah's blog and loved the idea.

She just tok and old piece of art from a thrift store and painted on top of it. There are so many neat things you could do with this!  I saw this pic and thought it was really neat too.  I think I'm gonna do one with text too though...I've had these two old canvases for a long time that kinda go together, but are really ugly paintings. I love the colors in them though, so it should be fun!

IMAGE

Hope you have a great Tuesday!

Kendra

TV Stand Plans

I have still been keeping my eye out for a TV stand, and haven't found any that fit the bill. SO...I think we are gonna try and make one.  When I say we, I mean that I have asked my brother if he'd be willing to help...while I stand by and encourage.  I would like to say I will contribute...but I don't know how much of a help I would be. I will try though. I like that sort of thing, just don't know much about it, other than the one semester of shop class I had in high school.

Anyway, it's so nice of Derek to be willing to help. Him and Justin built Justin's office desk and it turned out really neat.  Derek has built lots of really amazing things for his family too. He is quite talented. Becky designed a similar stand for their TV.  I told her I liked it so much I wanted to copy.

Here's the initial sketch I have of the stand.  I'd like for there to be doors on part of it to hide cords, games, movies, etc. The rest would be neat for books and organizational baskets.   

I guess we'll see if the final project turns out like this or if I change my mind a million times. I'm good at that. But I suppose I can't really do that when the project involves cutting, gluing and nailing.

Hope you all have a great start to your week today.  Remember to be thankful today.

A Few Sewing Projects

I hope you have all had a good week. It's crazy how cold it's getting already!  I don't want fall to go away yet. I do love the Christmas season though. I look forward to that.  I thought I'd share a few projects I was able to play a very small part in. Sharon is such a talented interior designer.  She designed these spaces a while ago and I haven't shared them yet.  I was able to make some curtains and pillows for some of these spaces.  I love how she puts everything together.  I've learned lots from her!

Pizza Pizza

Mmmmm....this pizza recipe is so yummy! We made it last night for dinner and it only takes about 20-30 minutes. The crust is super simple and then you can add anything you like for toppings.  You can load it up, or keep it simple.

We put tomato sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, some spices, (and I put some fresh cilantro on my half).

Here's the crust recipe:

2 cups hot water
2 TBS yeast (dissolve in the hot water)

1 TBS gluten ( you don't have to put this in...it tastes fine without it.)
1 TBS oil
1 tsp salt
honey  (1-2 TBS)
flour (add until dough isn't too sticky)

Then just roll out the dough on a pizza sheet or stone and bake for about 5-7 min. (It helps to bake the crust a little before you add the toppings. That way you know the center gets done too. )
* ours got a huge air bubble in it after it baked.  You may poke some holes in it before you put it in the oven!

Once you add the toppings, bake until cheese is golden brown.

Here's what the crust looks like before you bake it for the second time.  The first bake just makes it slightly golden.

Here's the finished pizza.  Mmmmm...it was so good!

Hope you get to make one soon!  It's worth it.

Dress #4: Vintage Memories

I got this fabric at cute little thrift store in my grandma's town.  It's one of the only thrift stores there and I love visiting it when I'm in town.  There's always something special there.  This is the last dress as of now of the bubble sleeve dresses. I really like the pattern and versatility for these though, so I may be making more in the future.