Envelope Bookmarks

Last night Jen hosted a craft night at her house and we made these super cute bookmarks that she found on Pinterest. Most of our group is anti-craft so this was the perfect craft for everyone to enjoy! Here was our inspiration:

*You can find the original here!

Here is the one I made:

Here is how we made ours:
Jen took natural brown envelopes sealed them and chopped them into three parts. Two were longer and those included the ends of the envelope (this was the bookmark part that the page your marking tucks into) and then there was a smaller middle section that was scrap. So each envelope made two bookmarks. Then she whipped up the words, "Every Book IS AN Adventure" on her Silhouette.
She had an array of ribbon, papers, and other embellishments to decorate with out on the table ready to go so we basically sat down, decorated, sipped wine, chatted, laughed, laughed some more, and tada we had bookmarks! I can't wait for our next crafty night together!

*Not my best pic. but it shows all of us with our bookmarks.

Freezer Cooking with Slow Cooker Recipes

*Photo from Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby

I was roaming around Pinterest during nap time and I came across this brilliant idea from Healthy Mama, Healthy Baby. Freezer Cooking with Slow Cooker Recipes is seriously the best idea I've heard in a long time. I've been known to profess my love of my slow cooker. For this working mama it's like having my own wife. I walk through the door, the house smells yummy, and dinner is waiting. Ahhh....
This will seriously take the edge off of those first few weeks of school. I know it's a tough time for everyone getting back into the swing of things, but for a teacher with kids it double sucks. I'm going to start searching for recipes now!
Please share if you have yummy recipes!

Project List: Coffee & Side Tables for Living Room

This is the coffee table that I want for our living room. Micah can make it for a fraction of the price of this one from Ballard. I want him to whip up the matching side tables to flank the counch, too. What do you think?

befores & not quite afters: kitchen

The kitchen was yucko from top to bottom.
before:

The cabinets were basically wood grain wall paper over the top of particle board and the counter tops were formica in a faux butcher block finish. While I wasn't in love with all the finishes, I have to say that I was thrilled to have some counter space. The first place we lived in had the world's tiniest counter and I had to use our kitchen table to prep things.

not quite after:

We added a ton of lighting to the kitchen. Micah is obsessed with lighting. We have 4 pots, 2 pendents, & 2 under cabinet lights which I have to admit while we were shopping for lighting I thought it was overkill. Our kitchen is not large by any means so I didn't understand why we needed so much, but now that it's all in I love all the lighting. All the overheads are on a dimmer & the pendents are on a dimmer with our chandelier which is nice to control the mood. (Or just "hide" the fact that I haven't wiped down the counters & there is a jelly blob waiting to be taken care of.)

When we first started the kitchen we just took the door off of the cabinet over the peninsula and used it as open shelving, but honestly it was a pain to get anything out of the cabinet. I had to climb on top of the counter to get anything off the top shelf. Then we had a pendent light broken by a family member trying to get a bowl off the shelf and that pretty much made up our minds that we were going to just lose the cabinet. Micah made a metal bulletin board for me out of stainless & while he hates how messy it always looks I love it. Whenever we have people over they always spend time looking at the board. I even have a girlfriend who gives me pictures specifically to put up there. (She actually did a little cheer when they "made the board" it was so funny!)

Our counters are my fav thing in the kitchen! They are concrete and Micah made them. I love the color & texture of the concrete. We originally were going to go with marble because a friend of Micah's had this amazing piece of marble that he was just going to give us! Unfortunately, with that marble there was going to be a huge seam right above where our dishwasher is. Free is fabulous, but I knew I'd hate the seam so his friend generously took us to this amazing granite/marble warehouse to let us choose a slab (at cost...again amazing!). I found that I have extremely expensive taste. The marbles & granites that I like have a lot of texture & movement which translates to $$$$$! It didn't make sense for this place for resale plus we couldn't afford it anyway. So Micah came up with doing a concrete counter top. He made the whole thing on our back porch (huge mess, but SO worth it!) and a couple of friends helped him install it. Love it!!

I wanted a tile back splash and Micah was able to score a bunch of white subway tile (for free!) so that made that decision.We decided to take it from the edge of the counter all the way around to the refrigerator. I'm really glad we did, it looks so clean and fresh.

Our cabinets are from IKEA. We shopped around a lot for cabinets and I really liked the look of the IKEA ones but the bottom cabinets were on legs. Ummm...can you say cleaning nightmare!?! I was picturing the dust dinosaurs that would reside under the cabinets and that's just gross! So Micah build boxes for the bottom cabinets to sit on so they look just like regular cabinets. I got the handles from a markdown bin at Home Depot. On the back side of the peninsula there was a cabinet so we picked up two extra cabinet doors to install as dummies so they didn't stick out. I'm really happy with our cabinets and I would highly recommend them. They have the no-slam (not really sure what it's called) things on the doors & the drawers. They wipe down super easy and they are very budget friendly. We'll probably use these same cabinets again.

Ahhh...the floors. I think these are our best freebie ever! We scored these from a 1930's farmhouse in a nearby town. The wood is a type of fur that you can't find anymore. Micah installed them & sanded them down. We had planned on staining them dark & distressing them. Everyone who saw the floors all sanded and ready to go thought we were nuts to distress these amazing floors. However, we were totally right to distress them. Yes, the floors would be have been beautiful but the first ding or dent would have completely ruined them. Let's face it a family lives here and there are going to be lots of dings and dents. Distressing the floors made it so all of our "oops" added more character. I for one have added a lot of character to the floor and am thankful every time I drop something that I don't need to stress out.

On the to do... white wooden blinds for the window (to match the living & bedrooms) and some sort of rug or mat to stand on while prepping at the counter. Super close to finished!!!

Lobster Prints

I saw this idea on Pinterest and I cracked up. I have been waiting for Ash to be in the right paint mood so we could make this little guy. He's not really crazy about getting paint all over his hands let along his foot. I'm feeling wiped out today but Ash was in the right mood for paint so I pulled him into the bathroom and whipped this guy out.
What you'll need:
Red Paint 
Paper Plate to put the paint on for easy prints
Paint Brush
Paper *I used white 12x12 cardstock
2 google eyes
White Glue

First, I sat him on the toilet (classy I know) and pressed the paper plate with paint spread all over it. I picked him up and stood him on the cardstock. I rubbed the top of his foot gently pressed down to ensure a good print. Then I scooped him up and put him in the tub to wash his foot. Once his feet were dry I moved on to the next step.

Second, I painted his right hand and pressed that down on the paper.

I had him hold his arm out & told him not to touch anything while I pressed his left hand in the paint then did his left print. Neither hand turned out perfect the right had a little smudgie & the left was totally smudgie but his prints are precious and honestly wouldn't be him with out the smudgies.

After we washed his hands, sang the ABC song, and patted them dry he picked out the size of google eyes he wanted while I painted the details.

Lastly, I glued the eyes on. I think Ash's little lobster is adorably funny and it a total keeper! I am a sucker for handprint art!!

befores & not quite afters: living room

Our house is a basic 3 bedroom, 2 bath rambler. I was excited about the size (Micah was not, he grew up in a house similar in size & always wanted bigger. I grew up in a family of 6 so our house was always bigger and I thought smaller sounded nice. Always want what you didn't have!) but not so much the location. (I wanted neighborhood close enough to town that I could walk to the store, library, etc. & Micah wanted to live on land.) A woodsy neighborhood further from town with a decent sized backyard was our compromise. It works for now but we both agree it's not our true home....we're still working out where that will be & what that will look like.
We bought our house as a fixer upper and for the past six years (Yikes! Where did the time go!?!) we've been making it our home. While we're not at the "after" portion quite yet I thought I'd share our befores & not quite afters. So we'll start with the living room...
To start off let me set the mood of this room...dog pee & stale cigarette smoke. Yes, that's nice isn't it!?! The whole house reeked of it. The idea of having to touch the carpet with anything other than the bottoms of my shoes sicked me out. (I can never thank Micah enough for removing the nasty carpet all on his own saving me from hours of gagging.) Okay now that I have your senses going let's check it out!
before:

 The large interior window with huge spindles gave a sort of jail chic to the living room don't you think!?!

Sorry, this one is blurry. Our real estate agent (who is also a friend) was talking about what great before shots I was going to get and it made me laugh.

We just replaced the interior doors last week. We didn't have the funds to do everything & while they were ugly they were low on the list. When we sprayed the ceiling we sprayed all the doors to make do until we could afford new ones. I can't tell you how much I love our new doors!



not quite afters:

 We added the pellet stove which has been a huge blessing! It's very expensive heating a house with forced air!

The theatre chairs were our first project as a couple. We found those while we were in college & refinished them together. They were in Micah's apt. I love those chairs!

 The coffee table was my first project all by myself. It's not right in here. I have my dream table picked out and Micah can make it for me along with the side tables just as soon as he has a moment. *I may be waiting a while.

 We replaced the window because if you sat by the old one your hair would actually sway in the draft. Not good for chilly days! I found the side table on the right on the side of the road. It's covered with "stuff" right now. I need to clear it off again. The big orangey-red bowl is where I put my keys & other things I need to remember when I head out the door.

 I adore my orange door! It makes me SO happy!! Best thing I ever talked Micah in to!

Oh how I love our new doors!!!

I'm working on how adding more photos to this wall. The scooter is vintage & so cool. The guitar isn't really a guitar. Micah made it out of metal. It was a project he always wanted to do. It turned out really good if I do say so myself!

Hope you like the updates & if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them!





My Beasty Boys

*Photo by Michelle Enebo

(she is in a word...AMAZING! If you are in the Seattle area you must check her out!)

I love my boys. I really, really, really, l-o-v-e, love my boys. This is the mantra that is being repeated over & over in my head as I'm listening to...."Get out!" "Moooooom!!!" "No you can't!" "I can to!" You see the big one leaves his bedroom door wide open and plays loudly. (I mean loudly as in I can hear him at the other end of the house. Granted our house isn't huge, but still.) Of course, hearing all the fun the little one wants to join in and often times he's allowed in, but not lately. I think there must be something hormonal going on with both of them. They are poking at each other, bickering, etc at every turn. It's driving this mama crazy! Even though it's only 9:40 am I think I'm going to make everyone take a nap...including me! Hee, hee...

Owl & Bird Mobile

Even though I'm on summer break my mind can't totally shut off from the upcoming school year. I'm SUPER excited about my new themes for my AM & PM classes. My AM kiddos will be my Early Birds and my PM kiddos will be my Night Owls. (Seriously, how stinkin cute is that!?!) I stumbled upon this adorable owl mobile & bird mobile how-to by Made By Joel. I can't wait to make one for my classroom!!
*The bird mobile is an How-Tuesday on ETSY. Here's a picture of what they look like hanging for the video.

My Amazon Order

I have an Amazon order coming on Wednesday and I'm SO excited!! Here is what will be arriving....

I'm doing bootcamp right now (5:30am - 6:30am 3 days a week) and it's been a great jump start. A girlfriends recently recommended this for after my bootcamp to keep me going.

A cover with built-in light for my Kindle. The funny (or troubling however you want to look at it) thing was that I had thought I had already ordered it. Turns out I just put it in my cart & never clicked to checkout. Weirdo! I can't wait to use the light to read in bed. I think my husband will actually love this more than I will!

This is a Toddy cold coffee brewing system. One of my girlfriend's has one of these and I am crazy about the iced lattes she makes! On 4th of July she made the Mr. & I iced lattes before heading off the the bouncy houses with the kiddos and the Mr. insisted that I order one, too. The coffee is less acidic and doesn't get bitter like regular coffee does when chilled in the refrigerator. Yum!

I can't wait for Wednesday!!!

Summer Drawing Challenge

I've seen a ton of "challenges" all over Pinterest for various things and I thought Gray would love to do a drawing challenge. The only problem was that the ones I found weren't really appropriate for him. I didn't want him drawing a picture of a couple. I couldn't imagine what he would draw as the turning point in his life, so I came up with a kid friendly one for him.

Enjoy!

Food Inspirations

I found the most amazing site today called, foodgawker. It's delicious inspiration! You must check it out!!

Hello s'mores pancakes!?!

Summer Quinoa Salad...I l-o-v-e, love quinoa!

I found these frozen banana bites and I knew I needed to whip up a batch. I have never had a frozen banana before and I had bought some green bananas at Costco that went straight from green to totally ripe never turning yellow. Weird. My frozen banana bites from (never home) maker are now freezing and I can't wait to give them a try! (Mine are not Vegan. I made them with regular choc. & natural PB.)

What I'm reading now...sTORI Telling

I always put books titles that I've enjoyed into Amazon to see what other recommendations they suggest before heading to the library and sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling popped up as a suggested reading. So when I took the boys to the library on Wednesday I saw that it was in & picked it up. Honestly, I wasn't really sure that I would enjoy it, even though I loved watching Tori & Dean on VH1 while doing laundry & other household chores, but I have to say so far it's really interesting. A little peep hole into a totally different world. Thoughts so far...fun, funny, beach read just what the summer ordered!