Mother's Day Wreaths

Since we're taking a blast to the past, here are the Mother's Day gifts that Dustin and I made for each of our moms and our grandma.

(And yes I DID say that DUSTIN helped make this...I actually just sat next to him sipping lemonade while acting a slave-driver.  I've trained him well ;)

Yes we used foam and duct tape to create our wreaths . 

Before you think this is a super good idea,  keep reading. 

Material for Wreath #1

 Material for Wreath #2

Material for Wreath #3

No picture, sorry. haha. But it's coming up :)

How we made them:

Sorry we don't have any "tutorial"-type photos. This was all pre-blogging time.

We basically wrapped the material around the wreath, hot glued,

then followed this tutorial to make and glue felt roses in a cute cluster.

Little banners made of ribbon and material (burlap on 2 of them) were then strung across the middle.

Sorry again for the extreme lack of detail. If you want to make this it's not too hard to figure out. :)

Wreath #1

And again,

  

Wreath #2

 

 And again,

Wreath #3

And again,

All 3 Wreaths:

Now, as you saw, we used foam and duct tape to make the wreaths.
Pause.
Sometimes you come across ideas that APPEAR to be simple and money-saving ... like this:

Foam and Duct Tape: Cheap idea for a wreath right??

That's what I thought too.

But unfortunately as time went on, after we had given these gifts to our moms, we went back to visit and found them hanging on their door sorta shrively.  SO, even if you duct-tape the wreath to death, (which we did) it STILL will never look quite round and will end up bending all over the place eventually. :(  Sad I know. 

So, I've learned that sometimes you gotta just spend the little bit of extra money if you want it to turn out right the first time. :) 

(That way you can avoid looking back and going "and WHY didn't I spend those extra 3 bucks again to get a pre-made wreath?!?" hahaha :) 

We learn :) 


Linking to:
Weekend Wrap Up Party-Tatertots and Jello
Pity Party @ 30 Days
Weekend Wander @ While He's Napping
TGIF @ Craft Goodies
Favorite Thing Fridays

Feature Yourself Friday-Fingerprints on the Fridge

My Repurposed Life
Friday Flair-WhipperBerry

Simple Creations Friday-Simple Home Life

Tickled Pink@ 504 Main

Once Upon a Weekend-Family Ever After

Looking Back: 4th of July Banner

 

I don't have time to go "all out" for each holiday but I do like making a little something to show that we ARE festive around here ;)

For the 4th of July, I pinned  a whole bunch of ideas.  Can I just say that I LOVE Pinterest? Link to my Pinterest here.  For awhile I was super obsessed and found myself pinning more things to do and make than I was actually doing and making them.  But the tides have turned!  

I'm setting sail! 

  I've been referring back to my "pins" to look at recipes, make projects, AND to decorate for the holidays. so far, I'm doing pretty good if I do say so myself...which I do :)

For July, I saw THIS banner on Martha Stewart's website, pinned it of course hoping maybe I could make it, and THEN saw these cute looking ALREADY-MADE striped and polkadot banners in the $1 section at Walmart :)

I bought paper doilies at the $1 store, 

cut them in half, 

then glued them to some jute twine.

And voila!

My $5 Fourth of July Banner

PS. You got a *sneak peak* at the living room that we just finished re-doing.  Do you see the "PPPerfect sign" that I posted about, here in the background? :)  Living room post to come...

HAPPY 2 2 2 2 DAY!

 2 2 2 2 day!? You're probably thinking, "What the random?"  Well, ahem, I'll explain :)

I love surprises.

 Good, happy surprises that is.

Lucky for me, Dustin knows this:

*One time Dustin 
brought me flowers,
just because. 


*Sometimes he cleans the kitchen when I'm gone. I come home to total shiny happiness :)

And of course I surprise him too:

*I write him notes and cooking dinner has to count for something! :)

*For our "4 month anniversary" I made up a song and sang it to him.

*For our "1 year anniversary" I surprised him with a fancy candlelight dinner in our living room: 

Meatloaf, pasta salad, and mashed potatoes, & Pepsi

*About a year ago when he came home from being gone hunting for 3 days (all 3 days of which I cried my eyes out, haha), I surprised him with not only my first homemade banner ever, but with ALL of his favorite things:  mints, chocolate doughnuts, tomatos con tajin (Mexican spice on tomatoes--soo good!  You can buy Tajin at Walmart actually. The day I found that out I was crazy excited!), Pepsi, deviled eggs, cute music.......he loved it.  :)

 So this month was a very special month for me and Dustin.   

Well, I decided it was gonna be. 

Introducing: 2 2 2 2 DAY! 

Or in other words: 2 Years, 2 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days of us being married :)

Dustin received little gifts, in pairs.  Just a little creative something to show him what a special guy he is.
Happy 2 2 2 2 day My Love :)

Plain Cabinet Door TO Pretty Lettered Sign

There's a place in Mesa called Stardust Building Supplies where you can find used house appliances, chandeliers, cabinets, cabinet doors, windows, doors....all sorts of fun stuff. 

When Dustin and I have gone, I usually spend forever looking around and come out with a few great finds. This last time I got some cabinet doors for like $1.50 each. 

I spray painted one aqua blue and then used my fancy schmancy Silhouette machine that I got for my birthday to cut the first letter of our last name (Parris) out of contact paper. 

I know, I know, Vinyl would have been ideal, but I'm tellin ya, this sign has been around for a few months and the contact paper hasn't budged so... here's to saving money :) 

 Here's how it turned out:  

I put it here by our front door on some cute baskets (Goodwill find!) 

 You're gonna laugh, but I propped this baby up using wooden paint sticks.  

Yep, the FREE kind :) 

 They fit snuggly into the basket's grooves giving perfect support.  So brilliant I know ;)

PS. The tin bucket (once a yucky red color) was also found at Goodwill and was painted white.

 

P = The most PPPerfect letter of the alphabet in my opinion ;)

Pretzels with M&M's... mmmmm

Awhile back I saw this cute treat idea over on the blog  G*rated.  

SO cute!  

She has GREAT pictures and simple directions 

so I thought I'd try it out.

 Note to self:  You were not born to cook. haha.  

Yes, it is true: I can find a way to make any recipe a little "off" no matter HOW simple it is. My husband can testify to that ;)

Luckily I had my mom and sister to help. 

What we did: Topped off pretzels with cookies and cream Hershey's kisses, baked them at 200 degrees for a few minutes, pulled them out of the oven and put the M&M on top.  Voila! :)

**If I could do this over, I would buy the square pretzels like Marie over at G*rated suggests, AND I would NOT buy the cookies and cream Hershey's kisses cuz they have those cookie and cream chunks that go all weird when they melt. I'd buy the regular smooth ones.

We had fun though AND they of course tasted great regardless :)

Nearer My God to Thee {A Song for Sunday}

Happy Sunday everyone!  

I decided each Sunday I'm going to post a song that I love. 

Music is the song of the heart :)  

So here we are:
A Song for Sunday. :)

Nearer My God to Thee.

Chevron Tray {Before & After}

When I saw this tray at Hobby Lobby I knew I could do something fun with it. BEFORE:

 I painted the whole thing with white paint.

I took some blue painters tape and zig-zagged it across the bottom (sorry no pictures)

I covered up everything I didn't want yellow and then spraypainted it.

I sanded it to make it look a little worn.

And voila! :)  AFTER:

Close up:

 

For awhile it sat on our dresser and was our "catch-everything" tray.  Yuck.

But not anymore:

Here it sits: :)

Added a moss ball I made using a foam ball and moss. 

Holy messy project there, but all the moss balls I made turned out so cute.

...it almost looks like it was just meant to be there doesn't it?

  Insert Hallelujah chorus ;)

Linking to:
Weekend Wrap Up Party-Tatertots and Jello
Pity Party @ 30 Days
Weekend Wander @ While He's Napping
TGIF @ Craft Goodies
Favorite Thing Fridays

Feature Yourself Friday-Fingerprints on the Fridge

Look At Me-It’s Fun to Craft

Catch as Catch Can @My Repurposed Life
Friday Flair-WhipperBerry

Simple Creations Friday-Simple Home Life

Tickled Pink@ 504 Main

Once Upon a Weekend-Family Ever After

I'm Learning

I think I’m learning. Learning that I don’t have time for everything and will have to pick and choose.  Learning that I need to lessen my “to-do” lists and live life a little bit more. More laughing. More just going out and having fun. And do the things that really matter like spending time with Dustin, and studying the gospel, and serving others around me.  It’s been a big challenge for me. I feel like I’m talented in a lot of areas and sometimes I just want to do everything all at once.  This usually results in me feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Dustin knows that and always encourages me to focus on one thing at a time. It’s hard for me. Crafting/Blogging has become a new interest of mine....more like an addiction ;)  It’s been super fun to do projects, test out some new DIY's I've seen on Pinterest, and make our house look great.  But I feel that unless I’m using these talents for good to help/bless others, my family included….it almost doesn’t count for anything.  I’m trying to keep a perspective on things. Trying.  I’ve been pinning recipes to hopefully become a better cook. I’ve been pinning “perfect little gift ideas” I can make to take to my visiting teachers. I’ve been pinning FHE and Primary and emergency preparedness ideas to use for our family and church.    Again, it’s hard and I get sidetracked because I have so many things I want to do.  

Sometimes I think “If ONLY I had a week or a MONTH off work,  I would be able to everything I want to do like….
Learn how to TAKE great pictures. And save and organize them.
And make some Shutterfly books.
And clean out that back craft room.
And get all those little projects done in my house.
And set up an Etsy shop.
And record those piano songs I’ve written.
And finish the songs I’ve had in my head forever.
And try some new sewing projects and other DIY projects I have on my Pinterest boards.
And clip coupons and learn to cook!
And read the Ensign and my scriptures.
And.....
….But I've got to get that “if only” phrase out of my head.  I've got remember that things will work out and if I manage my time wisely, I can do the things that matter most. I will keep praying for perspective because in the end, it’s the people that matter most, and how I spent my time with them.  I want to always remember that.  I’m learning.