Scarf Hanger

As you can see, my scarves were a mess.  I just had them hanging on nails.  I could never get them to stay up and most of them ended up falling to the floor.  So, after making my DIY earring holder, I decided to figure out a solution for my scarves.

I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a piece of unfinished wood.  I painted it black. After letting it dry, I painted over it with white.

Next, I used sandpaper to give it a distressed/antique look.

Then, it was time to add the knobs and hooks and hang it on the wall.

Finally, I have a place to hang my scarves.  It will be so nice not having scarves on the floor anymore. I love using fun, creative ways to help stay organized.

DIY Earring Holder

This is what my earrings looked like.  All bunched up in a pile on my dresser.  It was driving me crazy so I started looking around on pinterest (I know you are probably getting tired of hearing the word pinterest everywhere you turn, but you really can find some great ideas on there) for a solution.  Here is what I ended up with.

I got a frame from Hobby Lobby.  I LOVE Hobby Lobby!!! Especially when I get things 50% off! I took out the glass and the back.  I added lace using glue.


I hung it on the wall and added the earrings. It was so fast and simple and a great way to organize my earrings.  I love it because the earrings add color to it.  It's like an art piece that's also functional.

The Greatness of Our God

I love nature! Not in a weird we have to save the planet kind of way, but in a constant awe of God kinda way.  I was going through pictures of places I've been for my world map/travel wall (pictures coming soon) and when I started looking at the nature ones I was reminded of how in awe of God I was when I was there.  I don't know if everyone is like this, but I really feel His presence when I'm outside looking at His creation. I remember the first time I went to the Grand Canyon. We got there at sunset and I was having to fight back the tears! There's something about the beauty and majesty of creation that puts things in perspective and reminds me how awesome God really is! I love getting the window seat when we fly! I just sit there and stare at the clouds. God always speaks to me as I enjoy the beauty of creation.  And there's nothing like an early morning flight and getting to watch the sunrise from up in the clouds!!! I must drive Jon crazy getting him to look every five minutes while he's trying to read.  Here are pictures of a few of the places we have been where I felt an overwhelming sense of His presence.

A Homemade Christmas

This year for Christmas we decided to do homemade gifts. I had so much fun thinking of things to do and getting some inspiration from places like Pinterest.  It all sounded like such a great idea.  It wasn't until I was well into the projects when I realized how much time and work were actually involved! I love being creative, but it was really hard when there was a deadline.  Thankfully I started right after Thanksgiving so I had plenty of time to finish.  The end result and being able to give each gift made it worth it!!!

For these frames, I started with printing out the background with words to describe the person beginning with the letter of their name.  Then I took 1/4 inch paper strips and began to make the shape of each letter and glued it on its end using Mod Podge.

I got these paper mache letters from JoAnn's.  I covered it with family pictures using Mod Podge and added a ribbon to hang it.

I made both of these from canvas. I painted the canvas and stretched ribbon across the front.  Painted the names of each person on the clothespins and added a button for decoration.  I really like this one because it's a fun way to display pictures and makes it easy to change out the pictures for updated ones.
The other canvas I painted black and used a stencil to sponge on the design.  I glued on the buttons and added a ribbon to hang it.

For the coasters, I bought some tile from Lowes.  I printed out the pictures and cut them to fit the tile.  I glued them on using Mod Podge.  After they were dry, I covered them with polyurethane so they would be waterproof.  I added felt to the bottom of each coaster and tied a ribbon around them.

The last thing we made was yummy! We made candy cane cocoa. We wrapped them individually in a small bakers bag and closed it with a mini clothespin. We melted chocolate chips and dipped marshmallows in it and the dipped it in crushed candy canes to be used as a stir for the cocoa. We used coffee stirs for the marshmallow sticks.  We wrapped them up and tied them to the hot cocoa packs using twine. Then we made homemade thin mints. Yes, you heard me, THIN MINTS!!!! They were so yummy!!!! We got the recipe here. We covered some of them with white chocolate (which ended up being my favorite) to give it more of a holiday look.

It was so much fun working together on these projects and to be able to give people things we made!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!! So excited about a brand new year! I believe this year is going to be amazing!!!

On New Year's Eve our church decided to have a party! It was so much fun!!!! We danced, played a fun 2011 trivia game and had a yummy m&m bar!!!

We also had a photo booth.  It was a blast!!! What a wonderful way to bring in the new year!