Keeping Our Eyes On What Is Important

We have a ton of transition heading our way whether we're ready for it or not, a change of jobs (for both of us) and a new house in a new state are only 3 months away.  So in the spirit of keeping our eyes focused on what is really important (and so we have something to fill up the walls of a house) Ben and I made this today thanks to some instruction from a friend over at Osito (you should really check her stuff out).

First we spray painted a canvas

Drew some guide lines 

Stuck on the stickers

Painted over them

Waited for it to dry and peeled off the stickers.

Hopefully this will be a good reminder for us as we move forward of what is most important.

Spring Baseball Hat

With the coming of Spring I decided to make a hat for all the baseball fans out there.  I am not a huge baseball fan, but I LOVE this hat.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

I got a Belgian waffle maker on a black Friday sale when my sister-in-law and I decided to be brave and battle the crowds. I hadn't used it until I saw this idea on Pinterest to make chocolate cake in a waffle maker and sandwich vanilla ice cream between the "waffles." My husband and I decided to give it a try this evening with the Belgian waffle maker. Wow! They were delicious! We put the extras in ziplock baggies in the freezer so that we can enjoy them later.

first we made the "waffles"

loaded them up with ice cream

sandwiched them together and stuck them in the freezer

You have got to try these!

New Nursery Rooms

Well I haven't blogged for quite a while now because instead of being crafty at my own house, I've been being crafty at work.  This month with the help of some incredible volunteers we redecorated our toddler and preschool rooms at church.  We still  have a little bit of work left to do on these rooms and the infant room to makeover but seeing the look on the kid's faces (and the adults) made the long hours totally worthwhile!  Many thanks to Pinterest for all the wonderful ideas.  If you want to find links to some of the projects and see what inspired these rooms check out my board .  The animals on the wall were cut out of quarter inch plywood and then painted and sealed by a volunteer.  Don't you just love them?

No More Seminary and Heart Shaped Cupcakes

My husband is officially done with seminary, no more class, no more papers, no more meeting with advisors...everything and I mean everything is done.  He also has ALL of his paperwork in for ordination yeah, I'm a little excited.  He stayed up late Thursday finishing his last paper, when he came to bed sometime after 1:00 I rolled over and said, "Is it over?" he said, "yep, it's done" then we both fell asleep (we really know how to party).  The next afternoon we were both home at the same time something that hardly happened in January so we decided to make some red velvet cupcakes to celebrate (I told you we know how to party).  I had seen somewhere (tried to find it to give you the link but I forgot to pin it) if you put a marble in the cupcake pan before you put the paper liner in it makes them shaped like a heart so we tried it out on about half of them.  Some came out looking cute like this one.

While some just looked like mutated cupcakes... 

We are going to do a little more celebrating today, headed to a movie and then dinner out for some Indian food.  Delicious!

Mini Apple Pies

Tomorrow we have a dessert and game night (does it get any better than that!?) I couldn't decide what I wanted to take so I hit up Pinterest (so addicted) and found these mini apple pies from Little Bit Funky.  With some help from Buddy (he kept the floor nice and clean) I made my first pie(s) ever.

Let me tell you what they were delicious!


At the little local grocery store where I went to buy my pie crust and apples the elderly lady at the cash register asked if I was making pie, I told her today I was making pie for the first time ever and that I was going to make mini pies she seemed to think that was kind of funny.  If you know my sister-in-law Britt, then you know that she has this incredible gift to connect with people and really get to know them...no joke, the salesman she bought her new truck from texted her a picture of his new baby the other day (who does that?).  I really admire that trait in Britt so I decided to channel my inner Britt and take the cashier a few of the little pies (after I tested them to make sure they weren't disgusting).  She was just getting off work when I got there and I was greeted with a huge smile as I thanked her for selling me my first pie crust and handed her a baggie with some pies in it.  I hope I brightened her day as much as she brightens the day of those she comes into contact with at the grocery store.

Baby Crochet Hat with Flower

I used this pattern  I found on Pinterest to make Christmas gifts for my sister-in-law and for my brother's girlfriend.  I loved the pattern so I decided to play around with it to make a new hat for a friend's baby.  I started the hat the same as the adult pattern, but after the first three rounds I stopped increasing.  I decided the hat needed a flower so after some browsing I found this one.  The tutorial for the flower was really well written and had helpful pictures.  I loved how the hat turned out, I'll definitely be making more of these in the future!