Easily Changeable Burlap Wreath

I finally made a wreath for our front door.  My first one ever.  I spent a lot of time last year, especially during the holiday season, talking about going out and buying a wreath for the door.  Then when push came to shove, I'd show up at the store, with my coupon, and declare them too expensive or too not my style.  

Well, this year I finally mustered the courage and jumped on the wreath train.  That's a thing, right?

I started the activity with this freshly lit candle and it really set the mood to bring on the Fall season (something I usually never wish for-- I love Summer.)

Plus, I already had some burlap material on hand, so I was halfway there.

Here's how I did it.

STEP ONE: I bought this wire wreath for $3 and three fall colored, flower arrangement leafy things for $2 each. Then I rounded up my burlap material, hot glue gun, and scissors.

STEP TWO: Cut the burlap into three inch wide stripes.

STEP THREE:  Hot glue the burlap to itself around one wire.  Then weave the burlap over and under the wires to the top.  Then pull the burlap up and twist and puff as you go.

STEP FOUR:  I folded the burlap like so (left picture) into wide stripes so I could pull it in and out of the wire.  As I fed it through I tugged and pulled and twisted the burlap as I went. 

 Just play with it until it look good to you.  I went up and down, in and out of each section about four times, before moving to the next section.

Since I made my own burlap ribbon all the ends frayed, which I really like the look of.  If you buy burlap ribbon you won't get this effect.

All done!  Easy.  This is easily a 30 minute or less project.

STEP FIVE:  The last thing to do is add your decorations to the side.  I am planning on changing up my decorations to match the season, so I didn't permanently put anything in place.  I just poked the leafy things through and wired them to the back.  The flower came with a alligator clip, which was very handy!

Lovely, I love how simple this was and how charming it looks.

Thanks to my cute door holder so I could see it properly.  It will be resting between our front door and glass/screen door.

I'm already dreaming up my Christmas plans for this wreath.

How to easily alter your Jeans into Shorts

Do you ever buy clothing without trying them on?  Often, says I.  Mostly, I know my size, so we're good.  But every once in a while my laziness causes problems-- like when I buy $12 Gap jeans that are equal parts too short and waaaay too tight on the calves.  Sometimes when stores say "skinny jeans"  they mean stick jeans.

But all was not lost, I'm always in the need for shorts.  I like them long, to my knees, and purchasing long jeans is near impossible.  So turning jeans into shorts is really my best option, anyways.

It really is quite easy.  I did this yesterday after while the babes were napping.

STEP ONE:  Determine desired length of shorts.  Add 2 " and cut off bottom of jeans.

STEP TWO:  Turn shorts inside out and fold up jeans 1".  Iron in place.  Repeat, again, by folding 1" more and iron.  Pin in place, if desired.

STEP THREE:  Grab coordinating thread and for greatest success a denim/jean needle.

I used yellow thread, which I had on hand from IKEA.  While sewing around, it probably broke about 17 times-- so that was not thrilling.  For best results by strong thread!

 

STEP FOUR:  Sew using a triple straight stitch for added security.

STEP FIVE:  Sew around the top of the fold.  You can stop here with just one row.  But I always like to go twice, for a double needle look.  Just line up the first set of stitches in the middle of the left point of the sewing foot.

STEP SIX:  Press everything really well!

STEP SEVEN:  Using sand paper go around the bottom edges of the shorts and rough them up.  I used the sandpaper sizes 150 and 340.

All done!  Now enjoy those new professional looking shorts! 

Apple Blueberry Crisp (gf + df)

 

A couple weeks ago I went blueberry picking early in the morning with some friends.  I had never seen such gorgeous, juicy, huge blueberries.  They were a sight, for sure.

I picked a large bucket and happily returned home. Almost every day for the next week we found blueberries sneaking into every dish I was making.

I wanted to make a yummy gluten and dairy free treat and modified THIS recipe, by adding blueberries and doubling the toppings.

We brought it to a party with friends and it was well received by all.

I didn't serve it with ice cream, (though that would have been delicious)-- trying to keep it dairy free.  But, it was so tasty, it wasn't missed.

YUM!

10 BEAUTIFUL Master Bedroom IDEAS

About three month ago we moved into our first home.  It is such a blessing.  We absolutely adore the house and have enjoyed working in it each day to make it our own.

Last week we worked the entire day and removed some really outdated boarders that were in the dining room, kitchen, living room, and bathroom.  Yikes it was no small task.  But what a difference it has made!

Before:

After:

Well, now we're on to paint.  The first thing, for sure, that we need to paint is our master bedroom.  It is ceiling to floor PINK!  It's gotta go and SOON.  So, I've been rounding up some ideas for paint and design that have caught my eye.

 

1. This room is beautiful with it's soft blues an bright whites!

2. This room with the black and white with the grayish-turquoise is divine.

3. This room has lovely cheery orange accents which I enjoy.

4. Another room, a little less subtle with orange accents.

5. This one is very soothing with browns and neutral colors.

6. Oh, this one appeals to me.  I love the colorful accents.

7. I love the blues and yellows together, shown here.

8. This room is lovely.

9. This room is cute with those darling curtains.

10. The grays and blues of this room are simple and cute.

Aren't these gorgeous?  Which one is your favorite?  I can't decide.

Standards Night Jeopardy!

I work with young women in my church and we have activities every Wednesday night.  A couple weeks ago we planned out a Standards nights where we would play a game, discussing the For the Strength of Youth handbook and those standards. 

I searched around the web and found this really useful jeopardy game, made up from the For the Strength of the Youth handbook from YW Ideas from 2 Sisters.  She talks about the printable handout at the bottom, but I couldn't find the jeopardy question handout.  

So, using her questions listed in her post, I made THIS PRINTABLE

It worked out for the game perfectly.  I put it all together in about 1 hour.

Here's how:

STEP ONE:  Grab a poster board, some scrapbook paper, and print off the jeopardy questions (link above).

STEP TWO:  Cut out the printable question squares and the scrapbook squares (about 4" x 3").  Glue questions onto the back of scrapbook paper.

STEP THREE:  Placing it all on the board.  Glue the topic on the right side of the scrapbook paper and glue that in place on the board.  Write the amount number on the right side of each question's scrapbook paper.  Tape in place.  I did all my 100s-500s on the front of the board and 200s-1,000s on the back.

PLAY THE GAME!-- here's how--

-Divide the girls into two teams.

-Each team gets 5 minutes to study the For the Strength of the Youth handbook.  Encourage them to read different sections.

-Write team names on the board and write "Book" twice under each team's section.  They get two helps, in which they can consult the book to find the correct answer.  Once they use their help, cross out "book" on the board.

-Round one is the 100s side, round two is the 200s side.  Once round two begins, give the girls their two helps again.

-If a team does not know the answer (after one minute) the other team gets the chance to steal, by knowing the answer or using one of their book helps.

-Team with the highest points Wins!

There were large candies purchased for the winning team and weird gross things (spam, pork rinds, etc..) for each team to choose from.

This was a really fun night and the girl's had a blast!  It was also an excellent way to study the For the Strength of the Youth handbook.  What a beautiful resource for them to understand.

How to add Hidden Pockets to your Shorts (FREE Tutorial + Pattern)

 I'm sure by now you've all heard of the Sunny Day Shorts pattern by Oliver + S.  

They are so fabulous.  So far this summer I have made 5.  Kinda addicted, eh?

Well, I decided to try these shorts out with some hidden pockets that you add into the seam.  

They work really great.  So great, in fact, that the last 4 pairs I've made I've included the pockets in them.

Here's some cute little cheesers for you this afternoon.  

These are all their summer PJs-- hence the rather crazy fabric.

The boys are also wearing their BYU shirts which I talked about Here and Here.

 Click HERE for the full Free Tutorial + Pattern

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

I kinda wanted to give this post the subject, "Something Old and Something New... a taste experiment with recipes" ...Or something  that made since better express my thoughts on this fun treat.

Last fall I traveled across the country with my baby to spend a week seeing my family.  While staying with my mother one night I asked if I could go through her large recipe box (almost all hand-written recipes on index cards).

I went through and grabbed tons that I had remembered, felt nostalgic about, looked easy, or seemed tastey and typed them up for my own collection.

Among them, I grabbed this recipe for Banana Cake.

This one I grabbed because it looked so easy, plus it looked so cute and old fashion and I totally remember my Mother making it.

BANANA CAKE

1/2 c. Crisco

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 c. mashed bananas

4 TBS. milk

1 tsp. baking soda in 1/2 c. warm water

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

350* for 30 minutes.  Mix first 5 items well.  Alternate warm soda water and flour.  Last 1 tsp. baking powder, mix well.

Isn't that a cute old fashioned recipe?  Where's the butter?  Where's the spices? But the thing that really appealed to me-- simple, mix it all in one bowl.  It seems like all the new recipes I try out all ask me to dirty 3 bowls in the process?  Not my favorite.

So, I had this recipe from my Mom, but I didn't seem to have any frosting that I had written down to go with it.  I'm sure she had some go-to that she used.

So a quick search around, landed me at this one from Our Best Bites.  This one seemed so modern.  Definitely my Something new.

The cream cheese to powdered sugar ratio was intriguing so I just had to try it.  Result? It was really delicious, but definitely tasted like cheese cake.  It was thick and impressive.

Pair this old recipe with this new one?  Wow, it was so fantastic.  The cake was a little plain, the frosting was a little intense-- that combo was perfect.  

Add the fresh fruit on top?  And you're just talking Crazy town Delicious!