Saturday, April 30, 2011

Sewing! Keychains! Pinterest! Oh my!

Yes- it's THAT exciting.

This past week was my Spring Break, and Nate & I traveled to good ol' Dallas to visit my family. During our stay, we visited my grandparents. My grandma taught me how to sew when I was about 7 or 8. I spent allllllllllll summer that year sewing clothes for myself, my dolls, and making accessories too! It was so fun!

Fast forward 16 years (gross! that makes me sound so old!) and I want to sew.... but my machine that I currently inherited from my grandma went wonky. As in, I didn't know how to get it started... so I blamed it on the machine :) It all had to do with that bobbin. Hmph. BUT cue Spring Break 2011 and our visit to my grandparents' and all is right with said machine, my sewing hands, and now Nate's sewing hands (yes-he got a lesson too!)

Thanks to Pinterest, yet again (I'm telling you- get it!), and The Idea Room, I found this lovely gem that I wanted to try. My friend, Sam, and I have been meaning to make these, but neither of us had access to a sewing machine... until now. Keep in mind that this was my first sewing attempt in 16 years. Also, I scrounged around my house to find materials, so I didn't follow TIR's steps exactly... but, you pretty much get the gist. Enjoy!


I have this fabric because I made Chloe a bandana out of it about a year ago. On TIR's link, she uses two fabrics (which I totally would have done if I had two fabrics that matched). I just stuck with one.


It also says to burn the ends so the fabric on your ribbon doesn't fray... didn't do that either, simply because I'm lazy... but I kind of like the frayed look. We will see if I like it in a month or so. I went through my tote bag collection and found the clip...clasp... thangy :)


You can obviously see my beginner stitching, but... again, there's a first for everything :)


Go to The Idea Room and check out how you can make your own version!

Happy Easter Hostess Gift

Happy Easter!- yes, I know it's a week late :) I would've shared this project earlier, but then a)it wouldn't have been a surprise, and b)I've been on SPRING BREAK all week and I have enjoyed my time off.

Back to the blog, though!

Thanks to lovely Pinterest and Tip Junkie,  I found the CUTEST hostess gift for Easter: a jar of lovely ingredients to make Bunny Brownies!


I made two: one for our lovely Easter lunch hostess (church members who have taken us "in" as their own children since both Nate parents' and my parents' live four hours away), and one for my mom (since we were visiting my parents Easter night-Friday for my Spring Break).


It's so easy! You are really supposed to use the "Peep" Easter themed marshmallows (see links above), but our town sold out of them... at every store... Yep, I pretty much made the rounds... So, I used mini-marshmallows instead and called them "Bunny Tails" :)


Layer your ingredients (chocolate candies-preferably in themed colors, marshmallows, and crushed graham crackers). I attached the steps to make the brownies onto a card, and added a cute holiday-esque closing from me and Nate :)


On Tip Junkie, they even give you the printables for the labels. Thank you!


It is obviously too late for this year's Easter... but next year- do it! :)

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Sarah

You may notice a new button on my sidebar. This is a link for Sarah Mehringer. I worked with this girl for four summers at a church summer daycamp. She is an absolute sweetheart and I enjoyed the time we worked together at the church :) She has recently been diagnosed with AML Leukemia and is in need of a bone marrow transplant. She is also undergoing chemotherapy.

Join with those of us who are praying for Sarah and her family. Let's do this, prayer warriors! We serve an awesome God and He listens to the prayers of his children. Pray for strength, peace, and healing.

Follow her cousin, Melissa, and her blog to keep track of Sarah and her progress. Here is the link for how you can help Sarah: spiritually, physically, and financially.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Sunday

Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
But fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely You've bled for us

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bowed to none but heaven's will
No scheme of hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold You down
In strength You reign
Forever let Your church proclaim

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead
He's alive! He's alive!

"Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher



Let us remember the TRUE reason of Easter today. It is not about a bunny, plastic eggs, or candy. It is about a Savior who died for MY sins and for YOUR sins when He did nothing wrong. Is that the end of the story? Nope! He rose from the dead on the third day, to prove that death cannot conquer Him. Because of our faith in Him, in truly knowing that He died on the cross and rose again for you and for me, we can be assured of eternal life in Heaven. It is not of works, but of faith in Him. 



John 3:16 
For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life

John 11:25-26 
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Romans 1:4-5
And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

This scripture comes from the Old Testament, hundreds and hundreds of years before Christ was born and crucified: Isaiah 53:4-12

 4 Surely he took up our pain
   and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
   stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
   and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
   each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.
 7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
   yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
   and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
   so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
   Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
   for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
   and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
   nor was any deceit in his mouth.
 10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
   and though the LORD makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
   he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
   and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
   and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
   and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.


Happy Easter

Friday, April 22, 2011

Silhouette Art

If you haven't invested in a Silhouette, please please do. It is a fancy shmancy paper/vinyl cutter that you can use for cut-out letters, or as a stencil for painting.

 Here's what I created.

Supplies:
1 canvas
brown paint
white paint
blue paint
brush
Silhouette machine
cardstock (used as my stencil)

I typed out my desired wording through the Silhouette software and printed it out. Next was the task of popping all the letters out. Now, I am oober-lazy, so I didn't save the middles of the letters (i.e. "o", "a", "e", "d", "b", etc), but I think it gives the art a more vintage feel. If I show you more projects, I'm sure you will notice more middles missing :)

Next was the task of placing it where I wanted it on my canvas. I painted the white canvas with my brown paint, it almost looks like wood. Score.


Turned out SO good. This is a sign for Nate's office at the church. When he's getting stressed or bogged down, just look at this as a reminder of God looking out for you :)



Sorry for the lame picture quality. I'm hoping to get better with using the "good" camera and editing during the summer when I haven't been with five and six-year olds all day :)

Linking up at Tatertots and Jello!

Easy (and most likely unhealthy) Pizzas!

That title sure gets you going, huh?

Everyone may already know this "recipe", but this is an easy go-to meal for Nate and I when we are tired from a long day: crescent bread pizzas!

It's so simple: one can of 8 count crescent rolls, pizza sauce, and your fav pizza toppings. Follow the directions for the crescents (on the can) and you're done.


Mmm. We have our own special pizzas too:
Mine: cheese, cheese, and cheese (told ya I'm picky)


Nate: cheese, pepperoni, and olives (green, black, doesn't matter to him!)


Our idea of a "candlelit" dinner during the busy week: using the coffee table as our dining table, one large room candle, paper towels as napkins, and Glee in the background. :)

Friday Favorites

What I have been enjoying this week!

1. Five Ingredient Fix
Claire Robinson hosts "5 Ingredient Fix" on Food Network and it is RIGHT up my alley. If you know me but at ALL, I am an extremely picky eater. Therefore, I don't cook that often. Nate is more of the chef in our house- I prepare the "sides". This show is super interesting, and it's awesome to see what dishes she comes up with using only FIVE ingredients! My kind of cooking. Simple and delicious.

source


2. Dog Groomers
As you know, we have two dogs. Chloe, a short hair Jack-Russell Terrier (and low-maintenance on the grooming front). In December, we received Oliver, a shih tzu (who is extremely HIGH maintenance with grooming). He is supposed to be a lap dog, but he thinks he can do the same things as Chloe. Therefore, he's been playing and romping in the yard and getting all sorts of burr's and other outdoor-ness stuck in his fur. It got really matted, so it was time to get him groomed. They cut him superrr short, but we really like it and we think he will look like this from now on!

Before...

After!


3. Emily Giffin and her book, "The Heart of the Matter"
Just purchased this book from Emily Giffin, my 5th purchase of her books. They aren't a series (well, the first two are, but then the rest of the books are their own stories- some of the characters may pop up in other stories though). Her books all look the exact same on the cover, just different colors (same font, style, etc). They are so good! Her first book, "Something Borrowed" is becoming a movie. Can't wait!
source
4. Handy Husbands
We FINALLY purchased a TV for our bedroom. Hooray! No more yelling at Nate to come to bed: he can finally watch TV in our room while I fall asleep! Yes, you may call me lame, but I like going to sleep with Nate by my side. He keeps my feet warm! :) Now, he has no excuse to not come to bed when I do. It is a flat screen so he actually hooked up the wall mount to the wall and the TV to the wall mount ALL by himself. Both those suckers are pretty heavy, but he did it! So proud of my handyman!



5. Spring Break!
'nuf said :) No work until May 2nd!!!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Oops- Why Can't I Keep Up?

My bad, I have completely neglected Candle of the Month! Let me play catch up :)

March: Once again, I hit up Hobby Lobby for this  candle. According to the website, it is a terrible candle because it didn't fill the room with scent... but it works in our house, so I'm not quite sure what that person is talking about. The scent is pineapple and grapefruit, by Darsee & David, of course in a jar. Yummy.

April: This candle is already burned out-because we have used it constantly in the month of April! It is by the lovely people at WoodWick. Have you heard of these candles? The wick is wood (clever), and it flutters/crackles like a campfire! So awesome and pretty. At the beginning of the month, my lovely friend Sam came in town and we went to a cute little shop in the town next to us. We each purchased one of these candles. My choice: Fresh Persimmon, hers: Aegean Sea (I think? It was in a pretty blue tin and smelled DIVINE). I highly HIGHLY recommend these!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Pinterest

Have you heard?

The latest and greatest inspiration addiction next to blogging... PINTEREST!

This website allows you to virtually "pin" photos that are inspiration to you... Maybe you're looking for home ideas? Crafts? Things for your classroom? It could be projects, layouts, design inspiration... Anything! Even favorite vacation spots. You can create various boards and write yourself little memos about each photo and why you like it/what you plan to do with it/when/etc.

Here's my account: http://pinterest.com/chrissyjohnson/

Let me know if you like what I "pin"! Happy week, everyone! P.S. Spring Break starts Thursday afternoon at 3:30... BRING. IT. ON! So excited!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

That's What I Like About Texas

It's that time of year when all Texas schools do a Texas unit! Hooray- one of my most favorite units of the whole year! I think it's so important for students, even at a young age, to learn about their state. Here are the fun projects we did! Excuse the quality of the pictures, when they are enlarged, it makes them all crazified.

We learned about our state symbols: we put all of these pages together to make a mini-book.

State Flower: bluebonnet


State Bird: mockingbird


State Flag: Lone Star Flag


State Tree: pecan


State Seal (which goes on important papers from the state)


We also talked about the various Texas animals. Did you know that our state large mammal is the longhorn, and our state small mammal is the armadillo? We made armadillos :)


We also talked about how EVERYTHING is BIG in Texas (according to the rest of the country too), so we illustrated various things that are big in Texas! It was so cute!


We made Texas flags, of course.


We also sampled Texas food: chili (the state food of Texas) and chips with salsa (the state snack of Texas). Afterwards, we created a graph to see which was liked the most!


I could have gone on and on and ON with this unit, but we only have so much time :) It was a great time!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Decor, Decor

I'm always a fan of sprucing up some spaces with new accessories. And now we're all about adding color!

The guest bathroom... This bathroom still has a longgg way to go. Paint, fixing up the closet, but check out this little diddy:

Isn't that wrought iron table adorable? Only $18 at HobLob. Add a vintage jar with faux greenery (I kill plants... it's sad), a little starfish and glass jar. Candle. Mmm.

The dining room table. This table is still in need of sanding and darkkkk espresso stain, but for now it needs to be decor-ified. Here's what I did.



Greens, oranges,  and yellows are the theme I'm going for in the kitch/dining room areas. "Lemons". Yes. "Orange flowers". Yes (are we noticing a trend). Purdy yellow vase from HobLob. Always. The white "runner" is actually one of my scarves. Use what you have!

UPDATES!

I know, you're on the edge of your seat ;)

Look at the dining room.

Before...



After!




New rug. So purdy. Adds a LOT of dimension to the room and fills up the mass of tile in there. I went the cheap inexpensive route and used two rugs instead of one. It turned out to be about $130 cheaper. Um, yes please. I mean, it looks pretty obvious, but it doesn't look BAD, so there. Hmph. I like it. It's also an indoor/outdoor rug, which = durability and crumb-hideage in there when we eat. Yes please.