School Picture Time!

Picture morning came and Lola told me {with crossed arms}, "I'm NOT doing THAT!", while Kyan practiced his smile and wondered if he should or shouldn't show teeth {and his tongue popping through where there are a lack of teeth}!?  I shipped them off to school, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best!  

Yep, they are cute and boy, do I love them BIG!  

It's Done!

What a week it has been...and it is only Tuesday!

One word.

BUSY.

What most of you don't know is that I am shooting my cousin's wedding this weekend up in Payson {so excited} and then turning around hours later to host the reception in my backyard!  I feel honored.  When she asked me to be the photographer I was over the moon excited, when she asked to use the backyard to hold the reception, ecstatic!  My wheels immediately started turning though.  How is this going to work?  I won't be home to clean, make sure everything is ready?!  What will it look like?  

Enter my incredible sister-in-law, Rae Lynn and mother-in-law, Donna.  Quick to volunteer to help with any and everything wedding related, and let me tell you there are good.  Rae has done a dynamite job on decor {keeping it simple with supplies we have had on hand, aka, my craft room, it pays to be a hoarder}!  Think pennant doilies, mason jars, monogrammed letters...girlfriend has ideas in her head like it is nobody's business and has made so many of them herself, while I am at work!  Last night we played with lighting, as in my backyard has none and how do we create it while keeping it romantic?!  At 9:30 we called it a night, brains overloaded and unable to think anymore!  That being said, it is so much fun and it is all I want to do!

However, I have a real job and that real job requires a lot of my attention.  Morning duty, big observations, meetings, curriculum night {tomorrow}, first quarter grades due all this week!  AHHHHHHHHHH!  Yep, feel like screaming a little and living a bit off of adrenaline {and Mickey D's unsweetened ice tea of course}! 

So when my aunt and cousin {bride to be} came over tonight to deliver some more wedding items for Saturday and had my finished wedding album for me, I was over the moon excited!  It is a crazy week, so when a surprise like this comes along, definite game changer!

You know, it only took over 7 years of marriage to have our day scrapbooked into something worth displaying! 

 It is stunning!

Now, in my defense, I did try to put our pictures into a Shutterfly album and the picture quality was horrific.  Every picture I uploaded, the resolution was so distorted.  I was bummed and left the pictures in a chewed up album, courtesy of our late dog Delilah!  After I was done feeling sorry for myself, I begged my aunt, who is an amazing scrapbooker {something I just do not have the patience or knack for, although I am crafty}, to please do something, anything, with my pictures!  I told her I didn't care if I got them back in a year, two, three!  Heck, it is not like I was going to do anything with them anyway.  With her daughter's wedding quickly approaching, my wedding album is complete!  Just in time to start working on Hannah's!

Just look at those pages!  Full of incredible memories that I have been instructed to journal and write in!  I promise I will..someday, just not this week!  I can't pick out a favorite page, but there were a few pictures that stood out to me.  Not of the hubs and I together, but of us, with our dads.  The one of my dad and I in the middle I love!  And each of the pictures that includes Brion, I felt like I stopped breathing for just a second with each picture that I came across.  What a beautiful memory to see him.

THANK YOU AUNTIE HEIDI!

 Looking forward to spending the weekend with you!

 

 PS-If you don't see me 'round these parts for a little bit, go back to that one word.  BUSY!  I do have a few projects that need posting and a fall supper club post to tell about, as we came full circle this year together!  But all of those may just have to be put on the back burner for awhile!  We'll see how much I can squeeze in without losing my mind completely! 

Halloween Wreath

Ok, so this is technically the wreath that I made for my door for Halloween last year.  But, by the time I finally finished it {those rosettes took forever and a day} I only got to enjoy it for two weeks before I had to take it down, so I figured it was only fair that I get to re-post it and show off how I made it!  Plus, it should be in plenty of time for you to get one done too, just in time for Halloween! 

Ok, like I said...super easy to make, yet so time consuming!

My first attempt with the flowers was with felt, but I hated it! So off I went to buy fabric and what a difference it made!

HOW TO:

1. Cut your fabric into about inch and a half strips. Make them as long or short as you want, but I recommend making different sizes.

2. Hot glue the strip together, so you have the fabric displayed on both sides, better for rolling.

3. Roll the strip about 1/4 of the way down and then start twisting and turning the fabric around each other, gluing when needed to hold your flower together, until the flower is finished!

4. Repeat as needed (think I made close to 50-60?)!

5. Hot glue flowers onto wreath (I used a grapevine).  I did no sort of pattern, just kept gluing!

6. Add in tarantula looking feathers as needed (I found mine at JoAnn Fabric Store).

I wasn't sure where to put the letter R and originally wanted to include it somehow with the flowers, but decided at the last minute to put it in the middle of the wreath, where I think it fit rather nicely. To make this part, I did something very similar in this post. The difference was that I used craft paint instead of spray paint to do the black around the R and I used paper instead of fabric (which I think is easier).

Ready for the Trick-or-Treaters!

My wreath has been up for about two weeks already!  The rest of the Halloween decor went up last weekend.  Early?  Yes.  But I don't care.  Halloween is my favorite holiday to decorate for!  Maybe is has to do with the fact that I love me some candy corn?!  

Kinda funny, but I had to go last year's post about getting the house ready for Halloween to check to see where I put everything!  It sure came in handy!  If you are curious to see what the inside of the house looks like, take a peek here.

Linking up here with my favorite party peeps!  And also some spooktacular ones below!

Bestt Babbysitters Ever <3

Jenni, we love you and just decided to hack your profile!! Taylor, Bianca, and Alyssa:]

We love you ReallyBIG<3

No More Bookmarks...

...you can now find me pinning each project I love and feel inspired by!  Time to pin those projects I have had bookmarked forever and completely forgot about to be perfectly honest.

That is right, I am about 20 minutes late to the Pinterest party, but I can say that I have finally made it!

Tonight I spent the entire evening pinning things off of my blog that I have posted.  Why?  I am hoping to rearrange the old blog here soon someday and want to put a section on here for everything I have made {craft or food wise}, so I thought that it would be a good idea to go through and pin, that way I know what to go back and look for when I actually redo the blog.  I can't wait to start pinning things for real that I want to do, feel inspired by, you know, things that aren't just what I do!

Do you pin?

Do You See a Treasure?!

A few of my favorite places to shop are garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, and craiglist!  You really never know what you are going to find!   A few years ago I would have never said that, but I can't imagine buying something brand spanking new again!  I like to find things and make them into how I want or just leaving them alone, old and chippy looking!  

Yes, I think I have turned into my mother.  Many moons ago, she used to drag me through antique stores for too many hours on a Saturday afternoon.  I thought I was going to die!  Little did I know, I would love it so much when I was older!  However, I try not to drag my kids to these places when I go look.  One, I don't want to torture them, and two, I don't want to have to pay for something expensive that they happened to accidentally break while walking by {and if I am being honest, the latter of the two reasons is probably the real reason}!

Recently I found these magical pictures on craiglist and I just about died.  I started to drool a little bit, then sweat, then pant.  Do you see those frames?!  The book rack?!  I can't even imagine what else is going to be there!!!  I immediately called the seller and made an appointment to go to and look through everything.  Tomorrow's school day won't go fast enough.  Seriously.  I can't wait.  Leaving straight from school, picking up the in-laws and heading over! 

And speaking of sales, grandma's HUGE estate sale in the east valley in coming up very soon.  In fact, they have to have a presale in October {before their big November sale} because they have so much this year, along with community garage sale at the same time!  Email me if you want to know more! 

DIY Crayon Roll

So here is my second {and my favorite} project from last Friday's "Fabulous Friday" spent with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, the crayon roll!  I was so excited when I saw it on the list, as I was have been dying to make these!  In fact, if my friends/family with kids are reading, this is a sneak peek at your kiddos Christmas/birthday presents this year!  I made the canvas fabric flower for Lola's room, so I went with more boy colors for this crayon roll, so I would have something to bring home to Kyan!  Without further adieu...

Supplies Needed:

Two pieces of fabric measuring 5 x 16 and 1/2 inches (they can match or not, your call)

One piece of fabric measuring 6 x 16 and 1/2 inches

One piece of flannel fabric or lightweight fusible interfacing measuring 5 x 16 and 1/2 inches

Ribbon (approximately 36ish inches?!)

Sewing Machine and coordinating thread

Crayons

How To:

Step One

Place one of your 5 x 16 and 1/2 inches of fabric across the flannel fabric.  Take the larger piece of fabric (6 x 16 and 1/2 inches) and fold it in half.  Pin it to the  fabric/flannel, with the two ends towards the bottom.

Step Two

Measure and mark at 8 and 1/4 inches.  From there, measure an inch to the left and to the right and mark.  Continue to do so until you get to the end of the strip.

Step Three

 Once you have marked and measured each inch, sew a straight stitch from the bottom of the fabric (that has the added folded fabric) until you get to the top of the folded fabric, back stitch to make sure it holds.  Clip off extra thread.

Step Four

Take your ribbon, fold in half.  If it has a design, like mine did, put like sides together.  Sew a straight stitch over the ribbon.  I went back and forth to make sure it would hold!

Step Five

 Place your other piece of fabric that measures 5 x 16 and 1/2 inches on top, like sides together.  Sew around the edge using a straight stitch, leaving {about} a two inch gap where the ribbon is.  It will make it easy to do the next step.

Step Six

 Cut the corners off pretty close to the stitch.  This helps when you turn your fabric and doesn't make the corners bulky.

Step Seven

Turn your piece inside out {which will reveal the correct side}!

Step Eight

Once you have your correct side all out, sew along the edges using a straight stitch one last time {I ironed the piece out before I did so}.  When you sew along the edge, you will close up the 2 inch gap/hole that was previously there!

Step Nine

Add crayons!

Step Ten

Roll it up when you are finished.  Stick it in your purse, diaper bag, drawer of your cabinet...wherever!

If you can sew a straight stitch {or can get close to it} you can do this project!  It is so easy and it literally cost me next to nothing, as I had the fabrics and the ribbon!  

These will make such a fun gift to give and can be customized for any boy or girl!  I plan on adding a coloring book or two to go with it!

Fabulous Friday w/ Family

This Friday I got to hang with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, for an evening filled with girl time, food, and crafting!  You know me and my camera, I needed pictures and wanted to make sure that I got one of the three of us {which ended up four, as Lola wanted in there too} and now I know where the hubs gets his feistiness from about taking pictures {look very close at the picture, I couldn't not put it on her, I thought it was hilarious and spoke volumes about Rae Lynn Friday night}!

So here it is close up, without the bird, sort of!

Once in a while, Donna's {MIL} church organizes these evenings and we were finally able to go to one together!  It was a blast!

 And, I got to hang out with Alyssa for an hour or so and that pretty much made my night!  I miss seeing her beautiful face each morning in homeroom!  If I haven't mentioned her already, she was the glue that held me together at times!  She was my key finder, organizer, story teller...you name it, she rocked it!  Love every chance I get to spend with her!  The first picture pretty much sums up our relationship and I think is my favorite from the night!

 Basically how the evening works is this; a list of crafts is presented to the women of the church and they have the option to sign up for any or all of the crafts.  You pay for the materials, but have options to pay a little bit less if you bring your own fabric {for some of the crafts}.  I signed up to make two of them, but am kicking myself that I didn't make one more {the boys watch}!

So tonight, I will show you the first of two of the projects that I made:  The flower canvas.

I opted to bring my own fabric, since I have way too much of it in my closet and because I have been itching to do a project with the fabric I found at grandma's estate sale last year, I just was waiting for the right one!

What you need:

21"x21" {give or take} piece of fabric for the back of the canvas

1 yard of coordinating fabric {I choose to have them be the same, but lots of women did not}
18"x18" canvas

Staple gun

Glue Gun

Scissors

How to make your own:

 Take the 21"x21" piece of fabric and staple all four sides to the the 18'x18' canvas

Next, take the yard of coordinating fabric and cut {or tear, like Rae Lynn did...I just couldn't with the fabric that I used} into strips.  I did mine about 3", Rae's seemed closer to 2-2 and 1/2"...just saying.  The thicker they are, the fluffier the flower is {I think}.

 Next, sew the strips using a straight stitch, getting it ready to gather {or ruffle, as I would rather call it}.

Then beg your mother-in-law to help you ruffle the fabric so that you can go work on the next project!  She did this by pulling on one end of the string so that it bunched up or gathered.

Then, glue the pieces of fabric down onto the canvas.  Start on the outside and work your way in.

Time ran out at this point, so we packed it up and dropped Donna off at home and then headed back to my house to finish working on our projects!

Here is mine, all finished.  I plan on hanging it in Lola's room.

And here is Rae Lynn's, she plans on hanging hers in her bedroom or bathroom or her new house when it is finished!

Same project, two totally different looks!  I love them both, even if it was after midnight when we finished them!