Cute as a Button?

Once again I found a project I wanted to do and completed it before finishing any of my previous projects. Oh well...I had fun! And I must say my other projects are a little intense! This project took me 2 dvrd' episodes of NCIS to finish. (I love me some NCIS) I got the idea from a feature email I get almost every day. It is all crafty or small business items from what I can tell. (If you are interested check out Very Jane) Now for what I made. Are you ready? Button earrings!!!

They are little small for what I normally wear but I fell in love when I saw them. The buttons are from Joann Fabrics. They cost me $2.99 for a pack of 75. There were different color combinations but these screamed summer to me. The buttons are 6mm but that is not clearly labeled on the package I had seen them online so I knew what I was looking for. I got the earring findings at Michael's. The studs came in a pack of 60 and the backs came separately. All together I paid about $6.00 for everything and made 60 earrings. I am going to use them for myself and as gifts. Fun, simple, and cute!

Coookiieeeesss!!!!

Yes, to get the full affect you must draw out the word! I believe it was Tuesday this week that I got a craving for Chocolate Chip Cookies. It took until Saturday for me to get them made though. I didn't want to make just a regular recipe though. I love google you can find everything through google. :) I wanted a cookie with some spice in it. Nutmeg sounded good and I found a recipe here. Next time I think I want a recipe with even more spice though. I will have to be even more adventurous. I followed the recipe exactly until adding the chocolate chips. I used semi-sweet chips and then for the last pan mixed in butterscotch chips as well. They were delicious and almost all gone. (We like cookieeeees in this house!) 

Proud to be an American

I am so blessed and proud of the Red, White, and Blue. I am proud to be an American. I am proud, honored, and moved to tears by the thought of those defending my freedom at home and overseas. America may have her faults, we may have our hard times, stupidity, and debt but I know that I live in the greatest country ever was. Be proud of your nation and those fighting for it even if you may not completely agree. They fight so you have that right! Toby Keith's lyrics to Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue say a lot for me today.....

Now this nation that I love

Has fallen under attack
A mighty sucker punch came flyin' in

From somewhere in the back

Soon as we could see clearly

Through our big black eye

Man, we lit up your world

Like the 4th of July

Hey Uncle Sam
Put your name at the top of his list

And the Statue of Liberty
Started shakin' her fist

And the eagle will fly

Man, it's gonna be hell

When you hear Mother Freedom

Start ringin' her bell

And it feels like the whole wide world is raining down on you

Brought to you Courtesy of the Red White and Blue

Justice will be served

And the battle will rage

This big dog will fight

When you rattle his cage

And you'll be sorry that you messed with

The U.S. of A.

'Cause we'll put a boot in your ass

It's the American way

 



Yep, it was my Birthday!

I turned 23 this past Saturday. It was my golden birthday. (I turned 23 on the 23rd) I didn't do anything over the top but it was still a great weekend. My family took me out for Chinese and I saw Water for Elephants with a friend. (Horseback riding will come later when it's warm and NOT raining every day) My sister also made me this fabulous cake. The recipe is from the Betty Crocker Baking cookbook and it is called Strawberries and Cream Cake. It is amazing! I have eaten way too much of it to explain to any diet plans but I can't let it go to waste!! Here are just a few pictures from the weekend and a course from the cake!

Halfway put together. That is homemade whipped cream.

Don't worry I didn't let ANY of the leftover whipped cream go to waste! 

You must agree it looks amazing.  

Making a wish!!! 

April is a fabulous month! Easter was great as well! I love my church! We had such a great music service and I know the drama and sermon were great as well. (I had kid duty during those) It's amazing the feeling you get when you have a group of believers praising God. How can you not know He is risen after experiencing that? How can you not feel it?

My not even started decorating headache!

My first step in redecorating my room I decided should be with my bed, specifically my comforter. I love color but want to be able to change the accents in my room as I want or just have the ability for a wide color pallet. With that in mind I started looking for a solid color bedspread with some character. Of course the ones I found that I fell in love with were over $150. That is NOT in my budget. I did some more searching and found tutorials on how to make the 2 different duvets I liked the best.

I chose the first one. I think it has more character and I just LOVE it. I found the tutorial HERE. I like the white but I sit on my bed a lot. (I'm sitting in my recliner right now but it's only the 4th time in 2 years) I know it would annoy me to no end if I got it dirty AT ALL which with white and my clumsiness it would. Anyways, I decided I wanted it in dark grey. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find dark grey sheets?! Very hard. Well, it would have been a lot easier if I had gone to Ikea like my sister suggested the first day and if I had remembered that my current comforter was in a queen size not a full when I actually went to Ikea to get the sheets. Ikea is cool but I hate walking through ALL the showrooms to try to get to the marketplace for the ONE thing I need. (I was in heels when I went, I'm bitter) I will be getting the right size sheets Saturday. They are a good price ($14 for 1 flat sheet) and decent thread count (310).

Once I finally get the correct size of sheets I will start making the duvet. I'm going to try a pillow case first to get the hang of it and get back into the feel of sewing. I have very basic sewing skills and I haven't used them in years. Well, that's what I said I would tell you and I will let you know how the headache is going as soon as it really gets going that is....


The link to the tutorial for the second comforter can be found HERE.

I like this month!

I know I'm slacking on posts! I'm such a horrible blogger! I do have excuses though. Wanna hear them? It's been a busy month. I've been going through things in my room, getting out more, practicing on Saturdays with the praise band, spending time with family, and planning. So I do have reasons but I will admit they aren't the greatest. I've been meaning to share my newest project but obviously have yet to do so. I will before the week is out though! Promise!

I really do like this month though. Besides the fact that my birthday is this month it's just been good. I feel good, I'm happy and things are happening. Not to toot my own horn but I am really proud of myself. I think I have kicked butt when I could have just laid around and done nothing feeling blah. It's a nice feeling let me tell you. I'm also excited about this month because I get to go horse back riding for my birthday. (hence the horse picture) I haven't been on a horse in oh....6 years but I'm still excited. I took lessons in junior high and always tried to get on trail rides after the lessons stopped. April is a nice month all around. Don't you agree?

Let's be inspired!

I haven't updated my list of goals and plans for 2011 on here in awhile. I am going to post my list and put under them what I have done to accomplish them, if at all. I am working at getting inspiration to get these things done and make some of them habits. I must admit I haven't been doing well so far. Feel free to help inspire me with any of these!

Be healthier
  -I am trying to cut out pop and eat more veggies. 
Lose weight
  -I haven't been consistent. I need to find a better time to work out. 
Be more positive
  -I have my good days and my bad days. I don't think I'm doing as well as I could considering events that have happened. I will overcome though! 
Read more non-fiction.
  -Nada, nothing, nope, not yet, fail. I have too much fiction around!
Expand lotion making
  -I have been looking up ingredients and recipes to see what would be best. I hope to order things this month.
Brush up math skills.
  -Not yet. 
Write a short story.
  -I'm not sure how to go about this yet. I might try to do this with someone. 
Expand cooking skills.
  -I have been helping cook more and asking more questions.  I definitely do well at the looking up recipe part! 
Take a mini road trip.
  -I was in the car when we drove to Texas, does that count? I have some plans with friends in the works.
Redecorate my room.
  -This went from decorate to redecorate. I want to go a completely new direction. Where do I start! 
Save money.
  -I'm doing better. 
Establish a more stable and better relationship with God.
  -It's pretty self explanatory and it's very personal. I don't know what to share here yet.
Be more crafty.
  -I want to make a lot of my decorations and I am making cards and whatever else I can think of. It's fun! 




That's the list as of right now, in no particular order.