Hanging Wooden Spool Decoration

The Visiting Teaching message in February is the Divine Roles of Women and I really wanted to create something crafty and cute with some wooden spools:

I designed a message to 'tie' into using wooden spools:

It says 'Women wind their attributes of charity, love, compassion & kindness around others'.

Here is what the whole thing looks like:

I added 4 spools to represent the 4 different attributes.

Hummingbird Video

Sweetie, remember all the days when you've asked what I did that day and my response was 'nothing really, it was pretty uneventful'?  

So, basically I am a bird watcher for a lot of the day instead of maybe cleaning, organizing or running all the errands I should . . . I try and get as close as I can to the birds (not just hummingbirds) and honestly, it's time consuming!  LoL  I admit, I have an addiction =)  Do I have to choose to 'recover' from it though?  ;)

Free $50 Gift Card

After finding my blog about my disappointment in the Bellevue Home Show, RSVP Publications sent me a new packet of coupons that were not expired:

AND $50 to Duke's Chowder House:

That was super generous of them - they searched and found negative feedback on the web and took care of the issue.  But I didn't even have to call them up about it - I just posted my opinion and I was rewarded =)

Beaded Serving Utensils

Stephanie, my really great friend, has a birthday today, so I beaded 3 serving utensils as a gift for her:

Stephanie's favorite color is purple - here's an up close picture:

I watched (listened) to 2 movies while I beaded - I didn't realize how much time it takes, so next time you see one of these for sale, don't baulk at the price ;)  So, it took me about an hour to do 1 - I guess if you use bigger beads, have expert beading skills or don't bead the entire handle, it'd go faster =)  I've seen some with fancy wire spirals too - but I'm not that advanced!  hehe  Make sure to use corrosion resistant wire and always hand wash these babies.  Here is where I got my idea with instructions.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

I altered a Chicken Pot Pie recipe (filling and biscuits) and call it my own now ;) Super yum:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 onion

2/3 cup chopped celery

2/3 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup flour

2 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

1 cup evaporated milk (you can use skim milk)

2 cups water +

2 tsp chicken bouillon paste

OR 1 1/2 cans of chicken broth

2 cups cubed potatoes or frozen hash browns

2 cups cooked, diced chicken

Melt butter in a deep saucepan and add onions, celery and carrots. Simmer on medium heat, stirring together for 5 minutes. Combine flour, celery salt and white pepper together in a small bowl and then stir into butter mixture. Increase heat to med-high and add milk, water and bouillon into saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat back down to medium. Add meat and potatoes and simmer together for 5 minutes. Pour into ungreased 9x13 pan and add drop biscuits:

Drop Biscuits:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup shortening or butter

3/4-1 cup buttermilk

Sift flours together, add baking powder and salt and mix well. Cut shortening or butter into flour mixture with a fork – don’t over mix. Make a well in the mixture and add buttermilk. Stir together, if seems dry, add a little more buttermilk and then drop small pieces over pot pie.

Bake 350˚ for 25-30 minutes – watch biscuits, once they’re browned, it’s done.

You could add, delete or substitute the veggies or meat for less or more of something too. I have also baked the pillsbury biscuits on top and it just needs to be covered with foil for remaining time after biscuit time has been reached.

Beware of what could scratch your wood furniture

This is 1 seat of the chair that belongs to the dining table:

These are the other 5 seats of the chairs that belongs to the dining table:

Too bad it took me until 5 chairs were scratched to make the time to figure out the cause:

Rivets on Keaton's jeans!

The scratches on the chairs are DEEP - who knew you needed to check the back pockets for exposed rivets before purchasing them?  Keaton is only allowed to wear his boxers to the table now ;)  At least until he starts dating in a year - haha  I guess that's what chair pillow covers are good for.  

I had a Play Date

Could a 5 year old be any cuter??  =)  Claire wanted the picture that I took for her mommy's computer - I told her 'no way, I'm blogging your cuteness' but Claire was very biased (boo-hoo) and insisted, so I gave in and agreed to send it to her mother - but first I used it ;)

Claire visited me today because her mom is sick, she calls coming to my house a 'play date' - who knew I wasn't too old for that?  ;)  My own mother was over and asked Claire if she was the oldest in her family, she said 'yes, I have a little brother Oscar'.  My mom says to her 'is he a grouch'?  I was shocked!!  I would have never said something like that to a kid I didn't know - but Claire not missing a beat says 'Oh, you're thinking of Sesame Street'.  So we all laughed - Claire is super quick like that.  Claire then states 'but Oscar {my brother} doesn't live in a {garbage} can'.  LoL

We always play I spy in the car when we're together, she's actually VERY good at it.  She's very descriptive and knows how to choose the really hard items!  So, I chose a red triangle and Claire guesses 'is it the hazard lights' - yup, the triangle was indeed the button for the hazard lights - Claire said her mom taught her that.  So, Claire chooses something and says 'it's green and sometimes yellow, in my case it's green' - what does that even mean?  LoL  Jonathan asks 'is it the cigarette lighter' (there was a round yellow light illuminating it) and Claire asks 'what's a cigarette lighter' - great, now she's going to repeat that new piece of information she just learned!  LoL  It ended up being the heater light.  I guess in her parents car, it's green and in our car it's yellow.  Too much info makes you think too hard because it took us a little while before we started guessing each individual light in the car ;) 

Claire, super proud of herself, told me that she cooks for herself when her mom is feeling sick.  I asked her what she cooked and she said 'chicken nuggets or Cheerios' - I am totally laughing and thank goodness she is laughing right along with me!  She has no idea how adorable she is.  I ask Claire how she cooks chicken nuggets and she says 'I get them out of the freezer, I get a plate, I put the nuggets on the plate, I get a chair and I stand on the chair to reach the microwave, then I push 1 minute and when the timer rings, they're done.  **2 second pause** Do you want to hear how I cook Cheerios?'  I am laughing out tears now and she is only laughing too because I am laughing. . . she knows something is funny - but probably not quite sure exactly what!  

Last 8 card designs

Not only did I crank out 8 card designs yesterday, but I shampooed the carpet too =)

Too bad for my family I didn't have time to do dinner - LoL  For sure tonight, I'll make dinner ;)

I've seen lots of cute paper cupcakes - but they all have a cherry on top - when have you EVER eaten a cupcake with a cherry on top?  ;)  Maybe subconsciously they thought the frosting part looked like ice cream - so whoever started it has everyone copying it with no one even thinking about it. . . 

What am I creating?

So, here I go on this crazy time-consuming (or basically a day waster) project ;)  Each of these card designs are 3x3 and I have 12 done and 8 to go . . . then I have to duplicate each one 4 more times:

It took me all day to do 6 on Monday and 6 on Tuesday, I'm hoping I can crank out 8 today.  I really think that coming up with different designs is the most time consuming thing - we'll see when I start mass producing duplicates tomorrow ;)  My remaining 8 blank canvases:

You'll have to check back to see the finished project . . . hopefully by Saturday for Valentine's Day!  Do you have a favorite Valentine word =)  I am running out - I've used delish, adorable, cuteness, I love you, dreamy, together forever, be my Valentine, kisses, yummy . . . 

Something for YOU?

This idea came from Emilee's blog =)

okay so the first 5 people to respond to this

post will receive something made by me to you.

my choice. 

made especially for you.

of course there are some restrictions and limitations:

1 i make no guarantees that you will like what i make!

2 what i create will be just for you.

3 it will be done sometime this year.

4 you have no clue what it will be... it may be a story. it may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. i may draw or paint something. i may bake something and mail it to you. who knows? not you, thats for sure.

5 i reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

the catch? oh the catch is that you must repost this on your blog

and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog.

the first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a

FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!! 

oh and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!

Paper Hearts

Super easy, fast and cute!  What more could you want when decorating at the last minute ;)  Doubled sided strips of paper two - 12 x 1 1/2 & two - 8 x 1 1/2.  Fold & staple:

I made 5, the middle one is the only one that has different paper:

Window shop for love . . . because it doesn't cost a thing here ;)

Don't Forget Your Church Shoes

We went to my sisters in Oak Harbor last weekend - the boys had a basketball game at South Whidbey (where my mom worked and Craig, Stacy & Sarah graduated from about 12 years ago) on Saturday and Cayden & Koby were ordained by Jonathan on Sunday.

We dropped the boys off at South Whidbey High School Saturday evening and Jonathan & I had about 2 hours to spend in Langley while we waited for the game to start.

At the end of our touring the town of Langley, Jonathan mentioned he forgot to bring his church shoes.  There were no shoe stores in this town . . . so we checked out the thrift store around the corner.  Not only did we find a pair of dress shoes in his size, barely worn, Kenneth Cole, leather interior, BUT the best part is they were $2.  

Yes, it is 'good cheer' for a $2 pair of nice shoes:

If only Keaton would have mentioned he forgot his church shoes before Sunday morning too because he had to wear what he brought:

But those weren't as bad as what Brady had to wear with his church attire:

I guess I'm still not off the hook YET for reminding the other individuals in my family to bring certain items when we go out of town ;)  Ironic thing is 2 weeks ago, I slipped on my flip flops after putting on my nylons and didn't notice I forgot to change my shoes until we got to church:  

I really hope no one thought I was trying to start a new trend - LoL  It wasn't a good look!!

Valentine's from Emma

Emma came over and hung out with us last Saturday and then yesterday.  She and I took an image and colored it on the computer, printed it out and then we put together Valentine's for her school classmates and other friends & family:

Emma thought the little guy behind the heart envelope in the image looked like 'Snoopy's friend' - so we added XoXo Woodstock Hugs XoXo on the card:

Techniques we used: rubber stamping, dabbing, flecking, punch, computer colorization.  We added small labels with their names on it and 'heart Emma'.  Turned out super cuteness =)

25 Random Things About Cheri

A few people tagged me on Facebook, but I'm going to respond on my blog!

1. I buy the Costco pack of baby wipes to use for multiple tasks which none are to wipe a baby’s bum!
2. I have an obsession for bird watching, does that make me a stalker of sorts?
3. I honestly do not call it ‘lying’ if a mistruth is for a surprise or the person will find out later the facts as long as it doesn’t hurt that person’s feelings . . . or if you’re in dart wars and you’re trying to gather information when my kids will be coming home and I tell you 2 hours later from the real time ;)
4. My teenage boys still snuggle next to me on the couch while watching a movie!
5. I bring coloring crayons and books and snacks to church with me in case a small child sits with us during Sacrament Meeting or for emergencies =)
6. I am a water snob – I never drink water from the tap and most is from Water-to-go.
7. I always like to look down the Chap-stick and Band-aid aisles in the store. 
8. I always have gum in my purse (and chap-stick).
9. I buy cute items, (ie. ribbon, paper, etc.) but have a tough time using them, I just like knowing I have it!
10. I love jingle bells.
11. I love to play board and card games.
12. I have been called ‘Mary Poppins’ because of what I carry around with me!
13. I hate rides at the fair, I do not do heights and have no desire to visit the moon one day!
14. I love camping and want to buy a motorhome or trailer of some kind one day.
15. My favorite animals are otters, hummingbirds and seahorses.
16. I had a calling to be the music leader in Primary although I do not sing, nor read music or know how to lead!
17. If I went back to school, I would study interior design.
18. I love ziplock bags!
19. I love party and event planning =)
20. I love to learn creative new skills, but really dread the thought of going back to school – teach me and I can usually pick it up.
21. I hate moths . . . and spiders.  The buzzing of bees gives me chills every time!
22. I have never been to Las Vegas . . . or Hawaii.
23. I do not like the idea of the ‘middle of the ocean’ and claustrophobia keeps me from scuba diving . . . well, that and sharks!
24. Movies I watch over and over are El Dorado, 6 Days/7 Nights and Rescuers Down Under.
25. I floss (and brush) twice a day!  

What are 25 Random things about you Baby?  =)

Matching Valentine's Card

Here's the Valentine's card that matches the box I made yesterday:

I'm going to deliver it to Jonathan's work today so he can look at our blog again ;)  I asked him not to look so I could post the fun and he could still be surprised!

Valentine's Explosion Box

Jonathan mentioned he wanted a Pistachio colored tie . . . so now he's getting one for Valentine's Day!  I bought brown paper that had XoXoXo embossed on it and found a template for an explosion box - it fits a tie perfectly:

I put eyelets near the top of the box to hold the sides together and a brad to hold the ribbon near the bottom of the box.  I then used the technique of a ribbon blossom on the lid:

I made up a little word art message 'You've 'tied' a love knot in my heart' and adhered it on the inside of the lid: 

 . . . hence the ribbon knots on the top of the box and the tie as a gift!

And I found the right color tie!  =)

Purrfect Sweetheart

My friend Stephanie's daughter, Samantha gave a presentation on cats and also brought in their cat, Shadow, to the school classroom.  Stephanie bought Sweethearts to give out to the kids and we thought up this clever label:

They're 5th graders, so they should be able to catch the idioms!

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Looks like tomato sauce . . .  but it's really pureed strawberries - I put in in my blender before cooking it.  I don't like chunks in my jam . . . so is it jelly then?  Oh, I learned something, I looked online and maybe what I made is preserves?  LoL  Anyway, we'll use it like jam!

I am the type of person that even if it costs more to have the 'cute' lids and rings, then I am your sucker!  I am definitely a visual person, but it does make me happier to have cute homemade jam containers.  Silly, I know!  I found a helpful site and I did have extra pectin on hand, which it needed - so that is a great tip!  I made 7 1/2 jars of jam:

And they all sealed - really, that's the best part!  =)  

Can we say YUMMY . . . or sugary - they both apply ;)  Thanks Christina for lending me your canner =)  I really need to buy one.

Object Lesson

I subbed for the Primary at the last minute for Emilee and the lesson was Joseph Smith receives the plates.  The message was if you're obedient, you are blessed, but I got my idea from when Angel Moroni showed Joseph the plates, but then he had to wait 4 years to take the plates from Hill Cumorah - so I let the girls each open the lid to their own treasure (chocolates) but didn't let them take them home with them.  They had to give the chocolates back to me.  Based on their reaction, I'd say it was effective ;)

I made 6 chocolates for each of them and labeled them appropriately to what Joseph Smith saw in the buried box on Hill Cumorah:

see here for lesson helps and PDF slideshow
www.jackshandsjillsheart.com