a new favorite blog

I must admit I have been quite out of the blogging world of the past few months, due to traveling & the holidays. There is one blog that I absolutely love & check out all the time. Jenny showed me this one. It has SO MANY great ideas most come with a tutorial. So, while I was checking out that blog I found THIS blog & fell in love!!! There are so many little projects I am dying to do! Check it out.

Go forth & be inspired!

Frame Re-do

 I have these two picture frames in my hallway, they are kind of boring and I am sick of them! However, I didn't want spend money on new ones, so I decided to re-do them.  Here is the before picture. (Blaah)

I took some paper that I love the design of and turned the mat & paper upside down to trace the "windows" out, and then I cut them out to fit the mat. I tried to line up the edges the best I could to make them "flow" together.

I was going to mod podge the paper on the frame, but at the last minute I decided to just use photo sticky tabs (whatever they are called) much less messy, and that way I can change it in the future if I need too.

I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but I love the result. It is just what the hallway needed. 

Jenny

Valentines Wreath

I hate paying a fortune for a wreath that will adorn my door for only about a month. So, this year I decided to create my own. I saw one similar to this that gave me the idea, I just can't remember where I saw it! (or I would credit them, sorry to whomever you are.)
I started with what you see above, I got it all from my favorite store in the world Hobby Lobby.
The first thing I did was mod podge all the hearts with valentine paper. Then covered the tops with mod podge for weathering purposes. I then painted some of the letters of "Love" black and put paper on a few for a contrast. I also outlined everything with a silver paint, just to tie it all together.
I choose this wreath because it was only 3.99 cheap! But it was messy, so I hot glued ribbon all around it. I then sprayed everything with glitter spray, let dry and hot glued this baby together.
I added some ribbon and this is the final product. The total price for this wreath..... about $14 (I already had mod podge and glitter spray) My door is quite large, if you have a smaller door it would be cheaper to make a slightly smaller one, probably even cuter.

Jenny

Yummy Gummy Candy

The kids and I wanted to do something fun today, that's when I found this recipe for gummy candy. Everything you need is pictured above, except water.

1-3 oz pkg. of jello (I know mine is a 6oz, I only used half)
2 - 1/4 oz pkg of unflavored gelatin
1/3 c. water
Sprinkle the Jello and gelatin over the water, let rest about 8 min. Then place sauce pan over medium heat, stir until gelatin is dissolved (about 2-5 min.). Remove from heat, let cool for a minute. Pour into a spouted measuring cup and pour into molds. Let set for about 20 minutes.
Peel from the molds and lightly dust with cornstarch if desired.
Ta da! The final product. Half of my family are gummy candy lovers so they were in heaven.

Jenny

more favors!

It seems I am asked to do the party favors for a lot of the baby showers around here. And I don't mind at all, because I get to do something different each time. It's usually the same big group of women that get together for these, so I don't want to do the same thing each time, how boring would that be?

Another one of my good friends is having a baby, so last night we had another shower!

Here's what I came up with.
It was so easy (that makes me happy). I dipped some Oreo's, some all the way in chocolate & others only half (when I thought I was running out of it.) I was going to drizzle white & green (a boy), but sometimes I just like to keep it easy.

Then I needed something to add that had a contrasting color.
So I made a batch of snicker-doodles
(it's nice because one batch makes like 70 cookies).

At first I was going to put them in little cake boxes, like I did here.
But, if you don't have a coupon, they can get pretty pricey.
So instead, I just decided to do this.

It turned out cute & super easy.
The best part was my amazing hubs cleaned the kitchen after my huge mess.
And then he said, "next time you should come up with something that isn't so messy."
Yeah right.

*2010* & a welcome to.....

I am finally back! After two months of traveling all over the West & Hawaii, I am finally back to the freezing Northeast.

As I reflect on 2009, I did a lot. Maybe too many things. I intended to post much more often to this blog, but several unplanned things came up & family & school take priority. Now 2010 is FINALLY here! You see, we've been dreaming of this year since 2007. This May the hubs GRADUATES from Medical School!!!! Wahooooo! That said, I have a feeling this year is going to be even busier than the last.

I spent most of the last two months in Utah visiting family. I really missed my paints, my fabric, my sewing machine....etc. But I have the most talented sisters & they created a lot of great projects while I was there, to inspire me & kind of fill my "crafty needs." So, I have decided that instead of getting rid of this little blog, I am going to expand it & invite my amazing sister's to add all of their great projects too! I am really excited, because I know they have A TON to offer. We'll see how this goes, but it should be great!

Welcome 2010! We've been waiting for you!