14605-Home Sweet Home

Project Life

2012-02-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

Like the rest of the scrappy community, lol, I've jumped on the Project Life (aka PL) bandwagon.
And I'm totally glad I did. Even though I am behind by a couple of weeks (gasp!) it has def. made me more of aware of the lil things in life and to make sure that I document them as well.

I'm still trying to find my groove and each week does take me a lil bit longer than I would like, but I'm enjoying it so it's not a chore.

Here's what I have so far (note: while I love, love, love, my craftroom, it's not the brightest room in the house so these pictures, taken at night, are dark, dark, dark).

Cover Sheet

Week 1 (Left Side):

Week 1 Right Side:

Week One Insert

Week 2 Left Side

Week 2 Right Side

Week 2 Inserts:

Week 3 Left Side:

So there ya have it. What I've done so far. I think I musta forgotten to take a pic of the rest of week 3 so I'll hafta do that. I'm hoping to have it all caught up this weekend because I know me. If I get too far behind, I'll quit...lmao.

And....I'm going to have to start taking pics of em in better light :)

First "Sunday Family Dinner" & Football

2012-02-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

About a month or so ago, we went to some of our very dear friend's Bob & Eddray's house for dinner and during dinner we got to talking about how you really don't hear people saying that they are having a "Sunday Family Dinner".

And why not?

Are we all sooooo busy that we can't make time for each other and for some good food for a couple of hours once a week?

So it got us thinking....let's bring it back. We decided that every Sunday we would have a "Sunday Family Dinner" at each other's house and rotate every other weekend as to who's house it would take place at. We also came up with some rules:

NO! NO! NO! Electronics!!! That means no TV on in the background, cellphones are to be dropped in a basket by the front door, not laptops on, no gameboys, NO NOTHING!
Formal dining only. Set out that china that we save for a special occasion. No plastic/styrofoam.
Kids eat at the kitchen table, adults eat at the dining room table. This rule was not created to make the kids feel excluded by any means. This rule was created so we all (both adults and children) could enjoy the dinner. No one is going to have fun if the adults are trying to have adult talk, the kids being kids and being yelled at by the adults.
No pizza, fast food, take out, etc. We are bringing back the 50's folks. Home cooking all the way.
Dress nice. We aren't talking tuxes and evening gowns, but we are talking no pjs, no lounge wear, no sweats...you get the idea.
Dessert & coffee after the meal....to me those kinda things tie it all together.
Once the meal is finished and the table cleaned off, the kids can go play and the adults can play a game of monopoly, etc. Still keeping with the no electronics rule!

We are so very excited about this and hope that it brings us all to a sense of calm and enjoyment. Ya know, that feeling you sometimes don't get during the week with all the commotion going on.

Well this past Sunday was the first "Sunday Family Dinner" and it was at our house and it was also the Superbowl. And while I think that the Packers (and my boyfriend Aaron Rodgers) should have been playing, it still ended up being a good game at the end.

We didn't really follow the rules for the this particular night because of the game and we knew that we would be sitting in the living room eating. And of course because it was a football game, I very well wasn't going to serve a fancy meal...which I guess I could have....but I stuck with more game time type of snacks.

We had:

Shredded Chicken Tacos-Chicken breasts thrown in the crockpot with some salsa, taco seasoning and a bottle of mexican beer.
Jalapeno Popper Dip a staple at ever party...believe me, there will not be any of this left over.
Tortilla chips/pretzels
Carrots/Celery/Ranch Dressing
Mexican Corn Bread Muffins stuffed with lil sausages
Peanuts
Black Beans
Fixins' for Tacos

And one of my favorite and easiest things to make for the football season is football cookies. I've made these a couple of times this past football season for Mikey's team and they were a hit.

I got this brilliant recipe over at Our Best Bites but modified it a lil bit.

The original recipe calls for shortening. Now I have made them in the past with shortening but I kinda cringe a lil when I'm scooping it into the measuring cup and into the batter. Shortening kinda gives me the icks. So I went with vegetable oil instead with perfect results.

I scoop the dough out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet with my cookie dough scoop (I'm absolutely in love with that thing and don't know what I would do without it!). I then smushed (technical term of course ;) the dough down a lil bit and then shaped the ball of dough to look more like a football.

Cookies were then baked in a 350 degree oven and boy did they spread. I was okay with that. Just meant bigger footballs :)

Once the cookies were cooled, I melted some white candy coating in the microwave, scooped the melted candy in a zip lock bag, snipped the corner, and piped out the laces. I have made the laces before with icing and it takes SOOOO much longer to dry than the candy coating.

There ya have it. The perfect treat for the game. I think these were gobbled up before the rest of the food was.

This Sunday we are having dinner at the our friend's house and we will be holding to those rules. I just hope that I'm able to at least grab my phone to take a picture :)

furniture we made

2012-02-02T13:47:00.000-08:00

About two years back, long before I became a pinterest addict, I stumbled across a site where this guy had made these great tables using thrifted books. Being a book junkie, I knew I had to do this.

So with the hubby's help, we made this

This lil table resides in the hallway between the master bedroom (to the left of this picture) & my craft room (to the right) and I absolutely love it.

The books are encyclopedias that I thrifted for about $6 ($3 for each set). The wood "table top", well that's even more special. It is wood from a playground set that my mom had in her backyard for my kiddos. The playground thingie had to come down so I grabbed the wood.

There is even one of Mikey's hand prints in paint on one of the boards....love.

So even though it's not a designer piece of furniture it's worth it's weight in gold to me. Hopefully this is a piece that Mikey would love to inherit for his own place one day.

well i'm back....AGAIN!!

2012-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

It's been so long since I have last blogged. I guess with trying to keep up with other online sites (i.e. facebook), I haven't really felt it necessary.

But then I remembered why I started blogging in the first place, so now I'm back!

So what have I been up to for the month of January??

Trying to stay true to my words for 2012.

Getting hooked on Downton Abbey

Lotsa cleaning & hanging out in here.

Hanging out with visiting family

Starting my first Project Life

Joining Weight Watchers and being proud of my success so far....Now I'm down 8 lbs.!!

Finally getting eggs from our chickens. We are averaging about two a day from the three that we have. We are waiting for another 10 to grow up and give us some too!

Dealing with a houseful of germs

Reopening the "Manna Family Store" (our chore incentive)

Hanging out and being silly

Watching artists bloom

Starting to crochet my first blanket. It helps when you use your grandmother's crochet hook and think of her lovingly when you use it.

Dates with the Hubby. Of which we decided will take place once a month. Even if it's to just get in the car and drive around just the two of us.

Lotsa homemade ice cream sundaes!

Michael & I taking the poochies for walks.

Wearing more thrifted & vintage pieces.

And of course working...blech!

I'm really hoping to be able to keep up with blogging more. I hate that I broke the habit.

dare 180

2011-07-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

i haven't scrapped los much lately due to working on other crafty yet some how scrap related projects for the house, etc.

so i've been scouring the net for inspiration and while i keep finding tons of it out there, i keep stalking the effers.

so yet again, i did their recent dare...."the best $___ ever spent!!"

here's my take on it:

i love the way it turned out and i plan on making a mini using this whole concept for some of my thrifty money saving deals i've scored.

this was also the first project i got to use the mister huey's on.

oh where did i get the mister huey's you ask?

why i won dare 178!!!

i won the whole and i mean whole studio calico countryside collection.

it's more fabulous in person! about to play with it now :)

dare 179

2011-07-06T07:48:00.000-07:00

these are for the recent dare: dare 179.

post a picture of something you love.

i LOVE taking pictures with film and developing them myself. i'm very fortunate to have access to a dark room and the equipment so this past christmas michael bought me everything i needed. so from putting the film in my camera to taking the pictures outta the chemicals and hanging them to dry, i do everything in between.

and.absolutely.love.it.

due to our summer schedule being outta wack, i haven't had a chance hang out in the dark room so that is why right now these photos are near and dear.

i miss it tremendously.
yes. even the smelly chemicals.

**the 4th of july pics later this weeek :)

because of books.....

2011-06-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

sometimes you just need to search around the net for some creative inspiration.

this is a project i did for the recent effer dare.

(click the pic to make it bigger)

when i first started thinking of what i could for the dare "because of..." i instantly thought of books. then i thought how cool would it be if i did a lo in a book.

so i mod podged the pages together so the book would stay open and did my lo on the opened pages. i put two holes in the back of the book b/c i plan running some twine through the holes so i can hang it up on the wall.

i hafta admit....i love the way it turned out :)

thanks effers for the inspo.

manna print

2011-06-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

i was totally inspired by this print on etsy to make one of my own.

so with my lil bit of photoshop skills (okay. skills is really a strong word...lol) i made my own and put "manna" in the "M".

i plan on spray painting a frame red to hang it in and placing it on my "M" wall :)

cute lil bracelet

2011-06-22T13:25:00.001-07:00

oh pinterest!
how you inspire me.
inspire me to run home and whip this up really quick.

yes.
it's a tape measure bracelet and i'm completely smitten with it. i'm not crazy about the findings i used, but i used what i had on hand.

daddy day

2011-06-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

i had a couple of surprises up my sleeve for michael for father's day. he wasn't expecting anything since he had gotten vibrams for his birthday.

i made him a lil goody basket with some of his favorite snacks in it and some gift cards for itunes (jealous since mine are about all gone...lmao!)

jar labels found here and lil tie printable found here. i also used the ties as cupcake toppers for the cupcakes i brought to mom's. i forgot to take a pic :(

and i was totally inspired by this to make a photo of the kiddos. i have a HUGE chalkboard hanging in my kitchen and thought it would make for a cute photo.

then i framed em for michael to put on his desk.

a cereal-ously good time.

2011-06-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

i have been wanting to have a CEREAL party for a long time and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to have one.

michael's birthday was approaching + he LOVES cereal = perfect time to have it!

unfortunately, i decided to have it the week we got back from disney and didn't do any prep before hand, so in a 24 hour time period (the night before actually) i put together his party.

the food table. complete with a ton of cereal, fruit, oatmeal cookies, eggs, rice krispie treats, trix treats, party favors, and personalized spoons.

i found lil images of retro cereal boxes online, printed them out and adhered them to tags to use as a "banner" around the table.

the spoons. i found this idea online.

the party favors. mini boxes of cereal with a spoon attached.

the cake. i baked a white cake mix in a clear pyrex bowl, covered it with white icing, topped with michael's fave...captain crunch, and a big ol serving spoon placed in it to look like a big bowl of cereal. lol unfortunately everyone was cereal'd out by the time it came time for cake and we didn't even cut into it. i still loved the way it turned out. (nevermind the plastic wrap on top, this was the only pic i got of it...lmao)

last fall i started decorating my mantle in a different way for each month/holiday/event. his birthday was no exception.

cereal box art, a banner made from mini bags of cereal, a pitcher of "milk", bowls/spoons, framed retro cereal box art, a container filled with oatmeal, and lucky charm scrapbooking paper covered glass votives! seriously, i've had that sb paper for about 10-12 years. finally came in handy.

the "milk" is actually water with some white paint added to it.

the votive candles.

the manna's in their pj's. mikey even put gel in his hair to give him that "i just woke up" look...lmao.

and the gift that made michael's 41st bday a good one!!

well i'm back....

2011-06-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

well hello new blog.
it's been awhile.
but i'm back.
and in a new place which i'm really excited about.

i plan on this being a place where i can share my inspiration, my creative endeavors, and all the things that make me happy!

14605 you wonder?
well, it means HOME to me. my home is my comfort and happiness. not with just the people in it, but the things as well. almost every single item in my home has a story and a history. that makes me unbelievably happy. i want to continue to add to it and make not only myself, but the ones i love feel like when they enter my home they are getting a nice big hug.

afterall, home is where the heart is.

so let's get to it..... :)