2015's Handmade Ornament

One of my favorite crafts for Christmas has been making new ornaments.   Last year, I made this ornament from sand from our honeymoon. 

This year, I used our moving announcements to make an ornament for our new home. The little metal tag with our new address is on the way from the same shop that did the one last year. :) 

Here's what you need: 

A cute announcement (babies, moving, save the date)

Scissors

a clear ornament

optional: paint

Cut your announcement into strips

Wrap the strips around your pinky finger

I uncurled mine so I didn't have to have as many to fill the globe, but you can leave them in tight curls if you wish. :) 

Put the curlies in the ornament

Paint your saying on the outside

reattach the top and hang! :) 

10 minutes + $10 = Ugly Sweater

We had an ugly sweater Christmas party for our church class Sunday.  I hate ugly sweater parties. Mostly because I hate buying sweaters and figuring out what is "ugly" and what's not.  Also, side note, Walmart has made a killing on the concept of the ugly sweater. Jackson bought one that had an ugly cat and said "Meowy Christmas" on it.... for $20! I refused to pay that much for mine, so I went the creative route.

  Here's how you can make yours: Supplies Plain sweatshirt Brown paint  (I used two different shades) White paint Black paint (I used gold  for the string of lights but you could use black) Thin paintbrush Jewels Hot glue gun One foot and two hands (you may need an extra hand while both of your hands are covered in paint) Here's How Plug in your hot glue gun to get it nice and hot. First, dip your foot in paint. I used the darker shade of brown. Stamp it toe-side-up on the middle of the sweatshirt.  Wash your foot so you dont track paint through the house. I skipped that step. Oops. Next, dip your hands in brown - I used the lighter of the two. Stamp those as the antlers. Let it dry for just a second.  Use the gold (or black) to paint a string for your lights.  I was artsy and looped it around the finger-antlers. You don't have to get that fancy, but have at it! I started by hot glue-ing a red jewel for the nose because Rudolph... duh... Next, I went from one end of the string to the other gluing "lights". By the time you're done, your foot should be completely dry. Use your thumb in white paint to make the eyeball. I used the tip of my pointer finger to make the black part.  Viola! You have a quick, cheap, easy tacky sweater!! Plus it's kinda cute. ;)

20 Things to do When You're Iced in for Days

I'm sure those of you who live in the south-ish have felt the woes of Icemageddon that hit early
 Monday morning.  I was already out for Presidents' Day, but was stuck home on Tuesday. Jackson was stuck home on Monday (without pay! Yay!) and Tuesday.  How in the world did we pass time in 631 square feet for days?!   Here, let me tell you. Watched Horns on Netflix (totally weird, but great movie) Pretended we're figure skaters on the ice outside Did all of our laundry Painted my fingernails and toenails. Twice. Scraped all the ice off of both of our cars.

Went through clothes and gave away what I didn't wear Did a lot of online shopping Painted with my Valentines watercolors Organized every drawer in our home Uploaded the rest of all of my pictures to Shutterfly Cleaned out the pantry Fed the birds bread from our balcony

Took pictures of all of the ice around our complex Caught up on all of our shows like How to get Away With Murder and Better Call Saul Cooked dinner together Searched for haircuts on Pinterest and decided on one Ordered the cutest ankle boots ... and a really cute dress Cleaned every appliance in the kitchen Made a list of things to put in a care box for my best friend.  All in all, I realized being stuck is what you make it.  How have you all fared this winter weather?! 

Meet Our Tree

I had been looking forward to the day after Thanksgiving for months. I got our little 6-foot cashmere tree on sale for $12 after Christmas at Walgreens last year. Our little tree had been stored in my room at my parents' house for almost a whole year before we brought him to our little abode.  We have such little space and so many pieces of furniture, we had no idea where we'd put him.  After shuffling furniture, we found the perfect spot for him.   We couldn't decide on a theme for our ornaments, so I had to make an executive decision one day while "killing time" in Hobby Lobby.  Black and Gold for Vandy, it was! In between the black and gold, there are sentimental ornaments.  Dad and I cleared out all of the family Christmas ornaments last year, and my sister and I went through to pick ones we wanted to keep.  I picked my first Christmas ornament, and some odds and ends that were my favorites to put on the tree every year.     I also added the ornament that Jackson and I acquired in Savannah on our Honeymoon   (Forgive the awful-ness that is the webcam photo quality)   We added the Alumni ornament his mama bought him last year
(The back of this one is signed by Phil Ponder!) 

 

There is another ornament from his mama last year to the both of us   And then there's this guy... our newest addition:

  I posted this picture on Instagram on Thursday night and got a ton of questions about it.  It was so so simple, and totally Pinspired.    All you need is sand, a clear glass ornament, some shells, and a piece of paper for a funnel (I guess you could use an actual funnel...).  I bought a metal, hand-stamped tag (etsy) to use as the explanation (you know, so when I'm 90, I'll remember why there's sand on our tree). I used hot glue to plug the metal hanger so no sand falls out while it's in storage.    Note to self: get a bigger tree. There are too many ornament ideas out there for our little baby tree to hold!!

Growing Pains

It's crazy to believe that as of this Saturday, Jackson and I have been married for nine whole months!! That's 3/4 of a whole year!   Lately, we have been experiencing some little growing pains.  We are learning and growing and finally getting into the swing of things.  Our biggest issue, thus far, has been housework. No one likes it (unless you're me), and even if they like it, they don't want to do all of it all the time.    While I was gone over the last two weeks, things got a little out of hand.  It really made me realize that I do everything around our home.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing my husband at all.  If anything, it's my "just let me do it" personality that has gotten us here.  After an overloaded washing machine (my bad) and some tears of frustration, I realized that it's not that Jackson doesn't want to help... it's that he doesn't know how.  He kept saying "I don't know what to do around here to help."  Never had it occured to me that he just doesn't know what to look for.   We realized the root of our issue was that we were raised 100% differently.  I've been doing my own laundry and cleaning since I was ten or so; Jackson's sweet mama did a lot of the house work.  Does that make either of us wrong? No. Does that mean there needs to be a happy medium? Yes.   Insert a daily cleaning checklist here. 

(via)

 I realized that if I break down the things that need to be done over the five weekdays, the chores don't require a day of Tasmanian Devil type cleaning. For example, we have a four-section laundry sorter which usually results in five loads of laundry (the first bag has all of my work clothes and our t-shirts and sleep clothes and all, too. This usually makes two loads of laundry... or one... see above reference to overloaded washer).  There's no need to do all of the laundry in one day when, essentially, there is a load of laundry per day! It makes it so much easier! Here's my breakdown. I made it more simple on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, because we are usually busier on those days.   How did you conquer this mountain?!

Me Time

Earlier this week, Kayla posted about taking time for yourself.  I took her advice, went home yesterday afternoon, and pulled my unfinished quilt out of the stack of blankets in our living room.  I pulled my sewing machine out of the linen closet and went to town.    It's finally done... I started this quilt when I was sixteen, and six years later, I am finally finished with it.    

It's 100% imperfect, it's raggedy, it doesn't match one bit.

It's mine.  In this quilt, I see my desire to attend Auburn, I see the sailboat squares that got me through the death of my uncle.  I see the pictures of friends who got me through high school.  I see the purples for my Nana because it's her favorite color.  I see the blues for my daddy because it's his favorite color.  I see the sunflowers that are my favorite flower! I see 36 patches from 36 flannel shirts I hoarded in high school.  I see the Winnie the Pooh block that reminds me of my sister.   I see the sewing machine that my dad bought me for Christmas six years ago because he believed in me enough to invest in it.  I see the nights of tears because I was just so frustrated.  Most of all, I see this block and it reminds me of the people who were there when it all started:

  Thanks, Kayla, for reminding me how important it is to just stop and take time for what is important to me... not something that will result in something for someone else... but something that is 100% mine.  I had to force myself to make the time, but it was so worth it.    Not to self: don't get so bogged down in life and serving others that I am not helping fill my own cup.  

Friday!!

I am so thankful today is Friday!! I hope you have all had a wonderful week, and an even better weekend ahead!!   1. My brother in law and his wife finally announced that they eloped this week! Remember the secret I had back in July?! Whoop! There it is! They eloped back in July and have been waiting on rings to take pictures to announce it. haha.  We are excited to welcome her to our family, and even more excited to have them home for Christmas!

  2. We have had a rainy week in Nashville, but that's okay because with rain comes rainbows! This one ended on the runway at the airport, and I saw a plane go right through it.  Craziest, weirdest, coolest thing I've ever seen!

  3. I get to spend time with my daddy tomorrow!! Jackson is going to the duck blind to do some work, so I'm taking the free time to go hang with my dad!    4. I made the cutest leaves for garland for Friendsgiving! I made them with a clear vinyl pocket so we can put our "What I'm Thankful For"s in the inside!!  

  5. Yesterday, I went out to start my car and it just would not start.  Come to find out, I had a dead battery.  Probably because I've had the same battery since I bought the car.... $200 and lots of crocodile tears later, I got to spend some quality time with my sweet husband.

 

Linking up with Karli and Amy and Lauren and 5 on Friday

Friday!

Happy Friday! Did you have a good week? I sure hope so! Mine was one that was so busy that I hardly had time to blink before it was gone.  Thank goodness we have zero plans this weekend because I am reeeealllly looking forward to snuggling on the sofa all Saturday.    1.  T-mobile announced that streaming music would not impact your data usage in any way. Meaning iHeart, Pandora and Spotify were my new best friends. Can I just talk about how wonderful the Backstreet Boys radio is for like 2 seconds?!

  2. I got to spend some time with two of my three main men on Monday.  I went to Dad's and got to snuggle with this pup who faked sick the whole day so we would wait on him hand and foot.  I swear, he's too smart for his own good.

  3.  We had our ladies painting class at church on Tuesday. I had never played with the watercolors, but it was so much fun.  My creation is nothing special compared to my ridiculously talented sister (who painted these deer above our bed), but it was a lot of fun.

  4.  I went for a pedicure on Thursday.  It was so relaxing, but took forever.  I hadn't been in over a month, so you can imagine.  She took that potato peeler to my foot and kept recommending some soft foot oil. I felt so awful. So so awful. hahaha. Since I'm holding onto that last bit of summer, I went for Cajun shrimp toesies rather than the white tips.  5. I made these chicken fajitas on Tuesday (Sorry for not having a picture! Jackson had gotten into them before I got a chance) and they were SO good. I highly recommend this recipe.  If you put them on high in the crockpot, they cook in 2.5 hours. So it's one of the quicker slow cooker meals!     I hope you all had a great week as well! What do you have planned for the weekend?!  

Linking up with Karli and Amy, Lauren

What a Weekend!

Since Mondays are somewhat rolled into my weekend, it is close to impossible to make a "Weekend Recap" post happen on Mondays.   So. Over the weekend here's what happened:   Friday afternoon and Saturday, I spent time with my dad! I missed that geezer more than anything.  Jackson worked more on my car all Saturday and we ran into a snag - one of my really important parts, my valve cover, was warped.  So that put us at a stand still.   So instead of him working into the wee hours of the evening, we enjoyed dinner with his parents, snuggles with Penny, and a video chat with his brother who is stationed with the Navy in Hawaii. 

 

Sunday, after church, we went to Pull-A-Part.  It's literally a junk yard full of cars, and you go in, pull the pieces you need, and pay per piece.  We got the piece for whichwe were going to pay $375 for a whopping $15! score. Jackson worked on my car for a bit, and then we headed to Taco Bell and the grocery store.  Am I the only one loving those Quesaritos?!

 

Monday, I had a lengthy list of to-dos.  I did all of our laundry, cleaned a lot, monogrammed blanket for an upcoming baby shower, watched Harry Potter, and enjoyed quiet time.  I was really proud at how well the blanket turned out! I had never tried applique before! Yes, those are old Thirty-One consultant swatches! ;)

  I hope your weekends were much more eventful than mine, and I look foward to reading about them!   Last thing, check out my eBay Guide I wrote about how to sell things that are cluttering your life! Disclosure: I am participating in a brand badge to win a prize

Friday!

1. Sunday, we went grocery shopping and this was the result... This is my favorite thing we do as a married couple. :)

  2.  We had one of Jackson's old friends over for a waffle dinner on Thursday night.  It was so much fun!! Tonight, we're going to dinner with one of our other best friends from High School!! I love having friendships that last!   3. Tuesday, we had a painting class at church. We do them every so often and it's just a bunch of the church ladies that get together and paint. :) It's a lot of fun.  This week, we had the idea to take our old song books that the church is throwing out, modpodge songs to canvases, and paint on them! This is how mine turned out:

  4. After scoring some awesome deals at Kohls again this week ($45 for two pairs of dress pants, one pair of boyfriend jeans, three polos, and a new cami), we spent an hour on Thursday night cleaning out our closet.  Yay for the eBay selling that will take place this afternoon when I get home!   5.  Wednesday, My brother-in-law's girlfriend moved to Hawaii this week and she posted a picture that had a caption about a teacher she had ten years ago in high school. I had the same teacher during my senior year for Anatomy. I commented to say so, and didn't realize I tagged the teacher in the post. She came back with this precious reply: