Rosette Frames

I am so excited to be participating in UCreate's Create with Me for the month of Jan. I was able to do it in such a special way, too! Every Monday I meet with a group of exceptional young ladies for a small group at my church's youth group. I thought it would be fun to mix it up a little bit and get crafty. I found these adorable printables at Simply Awesome Printables and had them printed out at Costco. (Although, my prints turned out kind of orangy not really pink, but they ended up being cute anyways!)

I picked up frames at Michael's to spray paint. I was going for a shabby chic look so I did a rough coat of sea breeze blue and then a rough coat of ivory over the top.

I got a whole bunch of fabric scraps from my mom and a crafty friend from work. I taught the girls how to make the rosettes and they crafted away! Here are a couple of the finished products (not everyone finished so we'll pick back up next Monday)....

Books for kiddos: Truckery Rhymes

This is the cutest nursery rhyme book that is so fabulous for boys! Seriously, if you have a little guy who loves trucks you HAVE to get Truckery Rhymes!! Ash is crazy about it! (His Daddy is, too.)

What I'm reading now...The Hole in the Gospel

I finished Loving Frank and it IS disturbing on so many levels. You really should read it, but with a friend so you can discuss it because you will need someone to talk to. After reading that I moved on to The Hole in the Gospel by Richard Stearns. My husband and I are reading it with our community group. I'm only on chapter 3 but it's a thinker. So far it's really good. I'll keep you posted!

*I have to admit that I also slipped in a little dessert reading...Something Borrowed by Emily Griffin. It made me really thankful for my friends. These girls....yikes!

Glitter Tie & Bow Tie T-shirts

Say Yes to Hoboken! had me at glitter and didn't disappoint with these adorable glitter tie & bow tie t-shirts! I think these would be super cute for mamas and I want to make a bow tie t for Ash, too. Well, minus the glitter...I do love glitter but I have to draw the line somewhere.

DIY Wall Hooks

These wall hooks are so cute! What a fun DIY project to do with bigger kiddos. Check out the tutorial at Giddy Giddy to make some of your own. I think I'll do this project with Gray soon!

Valentine's Day Ideas...

My Valentine Tree was picked up by Andrea at Keepin it Thirfty she also grabbed a few other super cute Valentine's Day ideas from a few other ladies out there. You should check them out *here* ! The wreath is one of the super things!!! Love this!

Candied Nuts

Recently, my Real Housewife mamas and I got together (we are all get together a couple times a month to watch whatever season is playing and discuss those crazy characters as though we know them. All of our husbands make fun of us, but we love it and it's such a great excuse to get together regularly!) and I brought these yummy candied pecans and walnuts. All the ladies loved them! These are great in salads or for munching on straight up. You can make your own....
1/3 cup dark-brown sugar (I didn't have any and used light brown and it worked just fine!)
2/3 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 lb. nuts (I like walnuts & pecans...almonds get too hard & crunchy for my taste.)
1 egg white, room temperature
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven: 300 degrees
Mix sugars, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Make sure there are no lumps & set aside.
Beat egg white and water until frothy.
Add nuts to egg white mixture to coating evenly.
Add sugar mixture to nuts and toss until coated.
Spread nuts on cookie sheet. *Parchment paper is a good idea if you have some on hand.
Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from oven and cool.
*These make a nice little gift, too!

Super Sized Valentine Subway Art

When I saw the Super Sized Valentine Subway Art at Tatertots and Jello I fell in love! It's so big, so fabulous, and so fun! I want to make one of my own! Jen did say that she wanted to make one that she could keep out all year. Hmmm...now that sounds like a project that I must do! Can't wait to see what she has in store!

5 Fs

Some good friends of ours do this thing every January called the 5 Fs. It's their way of organizing their goal setting for the year. The 5 Fs are: Faith, Family, Fun, Fitness, and Finance. I've never been into New Year's Resolutions...it seems like they never stick so what is the point!?! However, the 5 Fs sound like something good so I thought I would give it a whirl this year. Here are my 5 Fs...
Faith: I've started a devotional (I actually started on Jan. 1st) to read through the Bible in 1 yr. So far I'm loving it!!! Since I've been talking so much about what I've been learning I think the Mr. might even join me in this!
Family: Our family focus for the year is experience. Ex. Gray's main Christmas gift was snowboarding lessons. We're hoping he falls in love with boarding and it will stay with him for life. I think we tend to get so busy with "life" that we forgot to experience it. I want my boys to grow up with wonderful memories of our family experiences.
Fun: Continue making time to spend with my girlfriends. It's good for everyone at my house if I take a night or two out of the month to meet with my girlfriends and recharge. I have a group of ex (& current) co workers that I meet with about once a month for dinner. We rotate hosting at our homes. It's so much fun seeing what projects everyone has completed at their place and it's nice not to be worried about taking up too much time at a table or laughing too loud. I also have a group of wonderful mamas that I spend time with, too. We usually rotate hosting to share desserts, wine, trash TV, and lots of great conversation. It feels so good to have such wonderful ladies to take some time with.
Fitness: I signed up for a Couch to 5k class and I'm SO excited! I did a 1/2 marathon a couple of years ago, but I did a walk/jog combo. However, I've never been able to run much more than a mile at a time (even in my thinner days) and I want to push myself to do more. So my fitness goal is to finish the class, complete at least 2 formal 5ks and even more in my neighborhood with the Mr.
Finance: This is one that Micah and I share. Micah was blessed with a new job this year, however, it is a 1 yr contract only. (We're praying for him to be brought on full-time after the year. Would love your prayers, too!) Since he's making more this year we've committed to a savings goal for the year. We want at the end of the year (even if he goes back to his old job...thankfully that is an option) to know that we have something to show for it after all it's so easy to go crazy with a extra cash in your account!
So there are my 5 Fs...I can't wait to check back in next year and see how I've done!

Awesome Children's Book: Pete the Cat

My mom got this book for Ash this Christmas and it's our new favorite. We're big Pete the Cat fans now and you've got to check out the author's read/sing along on You Tube it's amazing! It helps you get into the groove when reading it to your little ones.

Easiest Valentine Tree Ever!

On Sunday afternoon my mom and I went to Michael's to catch some good deals (they were having a big sale). While shopping I found these cool hot pink, glittered, sequined branch thingies in the Christmas clearance section. I grabbed one to check it out and saw the original price tag of over 2 bucks....wow! (I got mine for .59!) I thought if I got a couple of them they could look like a fun Valentines tree.

I picked up 4 of these and two packs of these super cute heart ornaments. (I think the ornaments were like a buck a pack.)

At home I pulled out a glass vase and some polished rocks. I filled the bottom of the vase with rocks and poked in the branches. Once I had them arranged they way I wanted them I hung the ornaments on my tree. I think it turned out super fun and cute! All my boys (even the Mr.) love it. Not bad for a super girly decoration!

Valentine's Subway Art Printable

I love subway art! Eighteen 25 came up with a super cute & easy (print it out & frame it...done!) Valentine Subway Art Printable.

January's Create with Me: Rosette Frames from Ucreate

I saw Kari's latest post on Ucreate announcing January's Create with Me: Rosette Frames this evening and decided that I had to do it! How cute is this frame!?! I am not sure what I'm going to put inside my frame yet but I've got a little time to figure that out. (Jan. 30th is the deadline to share with Kari.) I'm gathering up some mommy friends to have a little craft night to make these bad boys. You should do it, too! Kari has all the info on her blog so you can join in the Create with Me fun!

*Here's a closer look at the rosettes.

Cotton Rounds Snowman

Tonight was a low-key evening with my boys. (Well except for the fact that my Silhouette arrived!!! I can't wait to get started on all of the projects I've been drooling over!) Sadly all of our snow is now gone and I thought it would be fun to make some hot cocoa and cotton rounds snowmen.

What you'll need:
3 cotton rounds (the kind you use to take off make-up or nail polish)
piece of royal blue card stock
1 or 2 cotton balls
glue stick
white glue

To start put white glue on the back of the rounds. (I squeezed the glue for Ash but Gray did his own.)

Stack the rounds to make the snowman. (Isn't Ash's sweet!?!)

Gently pull to stretch out the cotton balls.

Smear some glue stick on the bottom of the card stock and put the cotton on the top of the glue for snow.

Now for the fun! We grabbed some pretty beads and crayons to decorate our snowmen. We had so much fun sipping on our cocoa decorating our snowmen. Gray was really into the details of his work and Ash just loved sorting through the beads. Here's our finished work....*I think it's time to read Snowmen at Night, a super cute book if you haven't read it yet check it out!!

Latest blog love....Serving Pink Lemonade

This mama has so many great ideas! You really need to check out Serving Pink Lemonade.

What I'm reading now...

I am a reader...big time. I always have at least two books going and I can't go to sleep unless I've read a little. A couple of months ago me and some mommy friends decided that we were going to start a book club so far we've only read 1 book (I guess it was more than just a couple of months ago) Mia King's Good Things. It was a light, fun read. It got a little too graphic on the more umm...personal scenes for my taste but other than that I enjoyed it.
We spent New Years with my in-laws ( we dined almond champagne and yummy blue cheese pizza from Whole Foods) and silly me forgot my book! Even though I was super tired at the end of the evening I couldn't go to sleep. Thankfully, my MIL has a little shelf stocked with books in her guest room for a crazy people like me! I grabbed a book called Loving Frank by Nancy Horan and started to read. So far so good, but every time I say to someone that I've started reading it they say it's disturbing and it's not the part about two characters having an affair. Yikes!
So I've decided to take my mommy friends on a little disturbing ride and yes we are all reading Loving Frank. I still have no idea what the disturbing part is, but I guess I'll soon find out. Should make for an interesting brunch! I may no longer be allowed to pick our reads.

*A book I have read and would HIGHLY recommend is Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. A friend of mine is reading another book by her called Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and says it's good one, too!

Melted Crayon Drawings

How fun does this look!?! U Create with Kids featured this fabulous tutorial on how to make these colorful pieces of art!