Ho Ho Ho Wreath

I know it has been a crazy long time since my last blog, but the summer was busy with a new house. The fall came and I started teaching so now that the holidays are here, my crafting is in full force!! I am starting my tutorials today with the "Ho Ho Ho Wreath."

 

 

Many of us have seen this on Pinterest, but there are no instructions to tell you how to make this crafty wreath. So here goes on my take of it!!

 

I started with a wire wreath ring from hobby lobby that measures about 1.5 feet wide.

Next you need about 2.5 yards of red burlap. I didn't need all of this but I only had about 1/4 of a yard left over, so I always like to have a little extra. This way if you make your ties tighter or miss cut some pieces you don't have to worry about it. I also got this at Hobby Lobby, but I am sure most fabric stores will have it.

  

 

I cut the burlap into 1.5-2 inch strips. Then I cut that strip in half. So each long should give you 4 small 9-10 inch strips that you will use to tie. (I don't have a picture of these, but you can't mess that part up). If your strips are too long, just trim them.

 

Now its time to start tying the small strips around the wreath. I wanted to make the wreath full, so I chose to tie my first tie around the inner 2 rings. Next tie was around the outer 2 rings. The last tie was around the center 2 rings. (See below picture). I continued this process all around the wreath. Pushing the strips as tight together as I could get them.

 

Note 3 ties above

 After you completed the whole wreath then you are ready to attach your letters. I purchased my wooden letters at Hobby Lobby for $1.49 each. I painted them to with a white acrylic paint. I attached them with a hot glue gun. Make sure you adjust your burlap so there is something your letters can stick too.

 

I started in the center of the wreath and then attached other "ho"s on the sides.

 

On to the belt. I wonderful husband, cut the buckle out of from left over cardboard and made 2 slits on each side so I could slide the ribbon through. Then we painted it silver and added glitter! Once dry, I slide the black ribbon through the 2 slits to make it look like Santa's belt.

 

 

Now all you have to do is attach the belt to the wreath. I wanted the belt as tight as I could get it so it didn't swag in the center of the wreath. This was a little difficult to keep the wreath looking pretty and get the belt tight enough. (I think the one on Pinterest used black burlap, so it's up to you on the material for the belt.) I hot glued the ribbon to the back of the wreath structure. Make sure not got to glue it to your burlap strips because it won't stay tight enough.

 

 

 

 Now you are FINISHED!! You should now have a festive "Ho Ho Ho Wreath" of your own!!

 

 

 

Happy Christmas Crafting!!

 

Canvas On Demand

I have found the best internet company!! I recently received a disc of my wedding pictures from my photograph and I have been waiting to order some large prints for our bedroom. We have quite a large bedroom with a 19' wall that has been empty since we moved into our house. I had the idea to put some of our wedding pictures on canvas for the bedroom. After finding this inspiration, all I had left to do was find a company that would print my pictures on canvas and not charge me an arm and an leg.

A friend mentioned to me, Canvas On Demand, and told me her sister had used them before. So I started researching. There are several different websites that will print your photos on canvas. Some offer editing and some don't. Canvas On Demand had the best recommendations from all the reviews I read. They also have three different levels of editing in case your pictures need a little touch up. Luckily my pictures were already great thanks to my photographer, so I chose not to pay for the extra editing. Needless to say the canvas' turned out PERFECT!!  

It just so happened that the day we returned from our cruise, at the beginning of May, Groupon was featuring Canvas On Demand! I was able to get the largest size they offered (24"x36") on the Groupon for $75!! Such a steal!! On the website that size is $188. I was sooo excited! Another great feature about Canvas On Demand is that you can customize the dimensions of canvas you want. This way I was able to get the two side canvas' in the just the right size. I wanted the height to be the same, but vertical pictures instead of horizontal. After much debate and cardboard cut-outs, I decided on (24" x14") canvas'. The canvas came in LESS than 2 weeks. I was amazed! Especially being a groupon offer, since normally companies get slammed after those are sold.

Tonight I had my husband help me hang them above our bed!

Above our bed

Up Close

 I couldn't be more happy!!

P.S. If you decided to use Canvas On Demand. RetailMeNot.com normally has a promo code.

Anniversary Cruise

Steve and I wanted to make our anniversary memorable, (plus I really love to go on vacation)...so we decided to cruise to the Western Caribbean. Our trip included Labedee, Haiti; Falmouth, Jamaica; Grand Caymans; and Cozumel, Mexico. We have cruised one other time before and just loved it! Cruising is so nice, because you don't have to plan entertainment, meals, transportation, or shopping. We cruised on Freedom of the Seas with Royal Caribbean. They had a buffet restaurant, 2 main dining rooms, a pizzeria, coffee shop with pastries and sandwiches, a pub, and a soft serve ice cream stand that was all included in our trip. There were also a couple speciality restaurants and dessert places if you wanted. The boat had several shops including liquor store, general store, swim shop, jewelry store, perfume and makeup store, and a Britto Art store. There was a musical entertainment 4 nights, a magic show, a comedy, and several bars with live music every night. It was virtually impossible to be bored on this ship. There was a night club, a casino, and 4 pools with hot tubs. I really could go on and on about all the stuff to do on a cruise but I will stop here.

Freedom of the Seas

Anniversary Night

On Monday night, celebrated our anniversary with a speciality dinner at the Chops Grill on the ship. The restaurant wasn't crowded and loud like the dining room. It was nice to have some "us" in the middle of 4,000 people on the ship.

Haiti

Jamaica

At the top of the rock wall on the ship

We picked out two different excursion we wanted to do off the boat. In Grand Cayman we jet skied to Sting Ray City and snorkeled in the prettiest water in the world. Unfortunately, I don't have great pictures from this because we tried to used an underwater camera and the quality was pretty terrible. However, it was unforgettable experience to hold and kiss the sting rays (apparently its good luck to kiss sting rays). I also highly recommend jet skiing in the ocean. If you like water and haven't tried this, you should!

In Cozumel, we drove a Dun Buggy through the jungle. On the way into the jungle, the guide took us through some smooth path, some very rocky paths, and some paths covered in trees. On the way back we got to drive down the beach. It was so peaceful! The beach is rarely used, so it was just Steve and I and the guide. We felt like we were  in a live video game, as were dodging tree limbs, plants, and bugs.

Our Dun Buggy

One of the Paths

Driving down the beach

Huge, beautiful waves

It was so nice to spend the week just enjoy each other. Before we left, we cut our wedding cake topper and used all of our wedding  accessories. It was so sweet, just the two of us, at home, not dressed. I wish all the days could be so easy and relax like the last week has been.

1st Year

Everyone who tells you the first year of marriage is hard, but you will get through it, was totally right! Steve and I are approaching our 1st wedding anniversary next week. I feel like the last year has flown by! This last year has been busy, crazy, exciting, and I have loved almost every moment of it. We started off improving my first house, selling our house, moving in with my sister, building a new house, moving to a new house, hosting Superbowl and Easter, and now we are finally ready to celebrate our year with a vacation.

April 30th, 2011

When Steve and I got married, I thought we knew quite bit about each other. We had had a lot of pretty deep conversations, read a couple of pre-marriage books, took a couple classes, and experience each other on a every day basis for quite a while. However, about 2 months into our marriage, I learned, there was a lot we DIDN'T know about each other. We had learned "the facts" about each other, but not "the emotions" behind all those facts. Even though we had had our fair share of "tiffs" over the last year, we have grown stronger every time. Steve and I can't stay mad at each other very long (which I think is a good thing) so we tend to just talk it out until we are both satisfied. I stick to the fact that couples who fight are healthy couples :)

I found an article about Shocking Secret of the First Year of Marriage that proved to be very true in our first year. I especially like #9 THE SHOCK: Being a wife won't mean you'll instantly have skills worthy of an Iron Chef. I have defeinitely not made anything worth of Iron Chef yet, but I will keep trying!

I feel so blessed to have Steve as my husband! He has proven to be a very supportive and caring man who I know will provide for and protect our family. We can't wait to get away for a week to celebrate our 1 year accomplishment! We will be going on a cruise to the Western Caribbean. More details to come when we get back!

Surprises and Blessing

I LOVE SURPRISES!! But only when I don't know about them lol. If I know there is something going on, but no one will tell me, then I get nosey, but when it comes out of no where and you get all those butterflies in your stomach when the surprise is finally revealed, it's one of the best feeling in the world! It is such a great feeling to know that someone or multiple someones put thought and effort into making your day. To show you, just how much they really care about you. Just for a second to make you feel like the most special person in the world! Like I said I love surprises.

Valentine's Day 2012-Steve surprised me with a night out at Jean Farris Winery!
Somewhere I had been to really wanting to try!

Our heart shaped V-Day Cake, I surprised to Steve.

More than I love surprises, I love making surprises happen. It is soo important to make the people in your life know how much they mean to you! It doesn't have to be anything extreme, just little things to let people know you care. Recently, I have been thinking a lot about doing the extra little things for people, even people I  am not that close too. Right now in my life, I feel so blessed to have the things I need, the things I want, and people around me who love and support me. Not that my life is perfect, but I don't have much to complain about. Many times I think people have it all together when really their life in falling apart inside. The more I realize how "good" I have it right now, makes me realize how much more I could do for others. Just being an ear to listen, an extra prayer being said, or more if they need it. I don't want to take for granted the "blessings" God has giving me, instead I want to share them! I don't want to look back and regret not helping someone or not doing more for someone when I could have. I love the song  "The Motions" by Matthew West. Its one of those songs you listen to when you need a little pick up or a smile or a recharge of the batteries. Its a perfect description of what I want to live up to in my life. Too many times in life I lose sight of what's most important and I need to be brought back to how I should be living.

This blog veered in a direction I wasn't expecting than when I started it. I was going to talk about different surprises that I have enjoyed in life. Instead, I am becoming more inspired to make more surprises happen for other people. People who deserve it! People who need it! Its amazing how God lays things on your heart and they just come out! I love how even who you are thinking about yourself, He will stop you mid-sentence and having you focusing on others. I am not sure exactly what He wants me to do yet to make a "surprise" happen, but I am positive He will reveal it to me in time.

I hope that this post will inspire you to get back to what's most important your life. Maybe its time for you to "Surprise" someone who may need some of the blessing you have going on in your life right now. If you need more inspiration...listen to that Matthew West song above, its amazing!!

Easter Sunday

I was so excited for Easter Sunday this year. I have had to work the past 2 years on Easter, so this year I wanted to make the most of it. I love holidays with my family! We hang out all day, eat great food, play games, laugh at the kids, its just so much fun. Plus this was the first holiday, Steve and I got to host in our new house. We started the day with going to church. Steve's parents were able to come with us, which I was sooo excited about it. They hadn't been to our church before, and I wanted them to know why we loved it so much! Our church is a little bit modern, so you never know how its going to go when you take new people. But they liked it!! Having them there at church with us meant so much to Steve and me. After church everyone gathered back at our house to eat!

I love hosting and planning parties. I wish I could have been a party planner in my second life. I made several table decorations, easter baskets for my neice and nephew, plus I turned the silverware into carrots.

Dining Room Table- Egg Tree turned out so cute

Kitchen Table-These little eggs on a stick came from the Dollar store

Easter Baskets and outfits

Carrot Silverware

After eating the boys decided to take advanage of the nice weather and go play a round at the golf course. We didn't plan on having an Easter Egg Hunt, but Nash wasn't able to go to one eariler in the weekend, due to allergies, so Sheila and I sent out to hide the eggs in my yard.

And I can't forget about my Bunny Cupcakes. These things turned out so cute. You make white cupcakes and frost with white icing. Immediately after icing a cupcake dip it in a bowl with coconut. These makes the bunny fur. The recipe called for colored cocnut, however I can't find liquid food color anywhere in my city. So my bunnies had white fur. To make the ears I used gum sticks and rounded the edges. The inside of the ears is a gum stick cut in half and rounded. Attach with a little bit of icing. The eyes and nose are made with icing tubes. Lastly cut colored mini marshmellows in half and attach with icing to make the feet. These were really easy and so cute.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday!!

 

Pinterest

I LOVE PINTEREST!!

Since discovering pinterest, I have become slightly obsessed! And Yes, I downloaded the iPhone app so that I can have pinterest all the time. I know its a problem! However, I have created such awesome projects from ideas off pinterest.

My first creations were sheet music Christmas trees. I love these things. I inherited my grandparent's piano when they moved, so I knew these would look so cute on there during the holidays. It was a pretty easy project to start with. You start with a Styrofoam cone. Cut sheet music in 1.5" strips. (I used scrap book paper that looked like sheet music). Then cut 1" fringes, curl, and glue the strip to the cone. Start at the bottom and continue up until the cone is complete.

Sheet Music Tree

My next project were Diaper Motorcycles - Sweetaprils Blog. This idea started because so many of my co-workers were pregnant with their second baby. Therefore, they didn't need the typical stuff they needed practical things. What better way to give practical than turning all the goodies into little motorcycles.

You need: 36 size 1 diapers, 2 receiving blankets, 1 stuffed animal, 1 connect ring or teething ring, 1 bottle or aspirator, 1 pair of socks, a wash cloth, a matching ribbon, and stick pins. Its a little detailed after that, so here is the link is above what what to do from here. After making 2 of these, I had a friend having twins. I wanted to be more creative than just making two motorcycles, so I made one with a side-car. This one was a little tricky, but turned out really cute!

Motorcycle with Sidecar
I don't have a link for this one because I made it up, so if you want directions just message me.

I definitely recreated this outfit for thanksgiving last year! I already had a navy sweater dress and boots, so all I needed were the tights. I don't have any pics, but it turned out soo cute.

http://pinterest.com/pin/269934571385128954/

My most recent projects have all been for my Easter dinner. (I will share those in the Easter post).

But here is a peak.

Egg Tree

There are so many projects that I am still waiting to do! Whoever invited this website, has tripled the sales at all craft stores and grocery stores. This trend isn't going anywhere, so embrace the Pinterest and ENJOY!



Gun Range

I am the first to say that gun shooting to me is a little scary. Besides my dad's hunting guns hanging on the basement walls when I was a kid, I have very little experience in guns. I was beyond naive about how they worked, how to load, and especial how to shoot. My sister and I bought our husband a Living Social coupon for a day at the gun range. It included, a lane, one gun rental, 50 rounds, glasses, and ear muffs for two. Neither Ryan or I had ever shot a gun, so we were a little nervous when the day came to face our fear.

Our adventure started with the boys trying to help us pick out a gun to shoot. Steve decided we should shoot 9mm because it has the least kick. Unfortantely it also has little aim lol (I will get to that). Once we had guns, the boys also had to teach us how to load them. Then it was time for shooting. I was so nervous to take my first shot. What if it hurts, what if hit something I'm not suppose to, what if I heate it. But, it wasn't that bad. Once I shot a couple, it got easier to relax and try and aim. Lets just say, I am going to need some more practice if I plan on being good at this at all. However, I did have some good shots.

Learning

First shot

Steve and I's target

After the regular target shooting, Ryan and David rented a metal shooting lane. This was a lot more fun. These lanes had a game where the targets popped up randomly and you had to shot them down. Plus there were only 3 lanes in this room, so it was much quieter than the big open range. Overall I say it was good family bonding experience. Who knows if I will do it again, but at least I am not scare of them anymore and I faced my  fear!

Successful Day