Wooden Conversation Hearts

I hope this finds everyone staying warm this winter. While the weather is far from warm here it gives us time to work on ‘projects’. With Valentines arriving I thought it would be fun to make chunky hearts similar to the chunky pumpkins I did for fall. I had a leftover 2X4 and a hubby willing to go out in the cold to cut them for me. Now I have at least a little bit of Valentine decor in my home.

A new use for left over candy canes…

I don’t know about all of you, but I am obsessed with mint!  I especially love it when mint is paired with dark chocolate.  My wonderful husband knows that to get me on his good side a big box of junior mints will always do the trick.  So, while blog hopping, after finally getting hooked back up with internet after moving in, I came across this wonderful idea… 

Isn’t it great!  Turning your leftover Christmas candy, or if you are like me, the candy you purchased after Christmas, into an incredibly cute and yummy Valentine treat!  We just followed the instructions here…

Then we wrapped them up, and finished them off with some pink and red curly ribbon, and my three year old told everyone that they had to wait until the “Holidays” to eat them.  Gotta love the three year old mind :)

New Year New Projects? and Ribbon Flower Pillow Part 1

A couple of weeks before Christmas Mom IM'd me and asked me how many projects I was currently working on.  I started to list off everything that I could think of, then remembered a few more later that day.  I have quite a few that have either been started, or had materials purchased for, but were never finished for one reason or another.

So, my New Year's resolution is to finish ALL my current projects before starting any new ones (well, minus birthday presents, I still need to do those).  For some (well, most) of these projects I won't have pictures throughout the entire project, but I will post what I can.  I figured this way, I will have a little more motivation to get them all done :)

To start, here is my first project.  This one started out with an idea and then we found the cutest ribbon (I'm starting to really like ribbon, there are so many fun styles out there) and it was all decided.  It isn't quite finished, but I plan to finish it this weekend.  But to start, here it is:

Ribbon Flower Pillow:

This is what it currently looks like.  If you haven't guessed by now, I love flowers, pretty much any kind of flower.  Though orchids are my absolute favorites and always will be.  But they are a little more difficult to figure out how to mimic with ribbon, if anyone has an idea, I'd love to hear it.  Okay, so now that I have digressed from the project, maybe that's why I have so many half finished ones :), let's get back to the instructions.

Painted Pillow Top

January becomes a ‘work on house’ month because of the cold. Who wants to go outside, the holidays are over so I have time to make things for the house. To be honest I usually paint a room or two but I have a couple weeks before I can do that. And I’ve looked at these pillows on many websites but the price is a lot higher than I’m willing to pay so I figured I’d just make my own. I live in a small rural town at the foot of the mountains but my heart is always on the beach. I decided many years ago it doesn’t matter where you live make your house the one you want to go home to. So mine is a beach house.

Build & Grow Clinic

I find myself trying to come up with things to do with my daughter (who is 3), especially in the winter when it is so cold outside.  This past summer we were at Lowe’s a lot (put up a fence around our whole backyard) and it always seemed to be on Saturday mornings.  Lowe’s offers Build & Grow Clinics for kids on Saturday mornings at 10 am.  During the summer it seems like they are every weekend but during the winter they aren’t so check and see when they are offered.  This was a great activity.  First off, it is FREE!  It teaches your kids how to follow instructions, use tools, and they get to take home what they create.  I love that Lowe’s offers this for kids (and parents).  Nothing better then free activities for kids.  Check out what clinics are available at http://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com/.  After a few clinics, your kids will feel confident in helping with the big projects…Like replacing a fence!

Painting Snow

I’m sure everyone has heard of using spray bottles filled with colored water to paint pictures in the snow. We have done that but found it was hard for the toddlers to squeeze the trigger and make it spray, especially with gloves on. This year we tried a different and easier way for them.

A Man's blanket

It's me again!  And no, I'm not done with the closet redo, I'm not that good.  But it is still at the top of the priority list this week (with a couple other things).  One of those other things being, a blanket for my husband.  I have recently decided to join in the contest at the Modern Quilt Guild, go here to check it out.  BUT, my husband has been asking for a blanket for a while, 5 years maybe, and it keeps not getting done.  So I finally bought him the fabric for Christmas and figured I best get his blanket done first.  If I start on another one before it's done, he might leave me!  Ok, not really, but I'm sure some of you understand.

Closet Redo

Well, I was scheduled to post this week.  I had my project all thought up and planned out, it was going to be awesome.  Then I went to pick up the couple items I needed AND nothing.  They didn't have them, I'm hoping they were just out and I can still do my project later and post it, so I don't want to say too much yet till I check around a little more.

No problem.  I had a back up plan, it was also going to be awesome.  It wasn't a huge project but something I thought up and figured would change the world.  WELL, it semi-failed, enough that I'm not posting it at all.

So instead of a completed project, you get to join me in my New Year's Resolution, make serious progress on this house, mostly in terms of organization.  First up, the office.

Egg Nog Cream Pie

I am finally coming out of hibernation and contributing to the blog again.  We are still trying to get unpacked, which has become quite a chore with two little ones "helping" but are now feeling more at home in our new home. 

A couple of weeks before Christmas we were preparing to attend our church Christmas Party.  In church they asked that those who could, please bring a salad or dessert.   We were running errands all day and ended up back at home about 30 minutes before the party started...  I was frantic to come up with something to take.  After checking out a couple of cookbooks, I was more frustrated than ever.  Then the thought came to me, How about an Egg Nog pie!?!  So, I started pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator and cupboard, and threw it together.  It turned out to be pretty fantastic!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year from our family to yours. May this be the best year ever!
Remember we are having a drawing for a gift certificate at Hobby Lobby when we reach 100 followers. 
We have had a terrific time with our blog and hope to share lots more with everyone this coming year. We have some great ideas and plans in the works so check back as the year continues. We love sharing our ideas with you.