Freezer paper stenciling

So I found this on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it out!! You'll need Freezer paper, x-acto knife, fabric paint and an iron.

First you figure out what you'd like to stencil onto your shirt. I found a nice silhouette of the great state of Iowa and traced it on the non-shiny side of the freezer paper (I held it up to the window and that worked great!)

Then you use a hot iron to adhere the freezer paper to the shirt; I also put more freezer paper inside to make sure the paint wouldn't bleed through. I ironed both sheets of freezer paper at at the same time. Then you paint! I dabbed it on with a cotton ball... nothing fancy. I was reading that to make sure the paint will stay through washing you'll need to use a fabric medium... so I guess I'll have to try that next time...

But for now this is how it turned out. The freezer paper peeled off really easily.

Cute huh?! Bubba was modeling it for me :)

Now I have to think of more things to stencil?! It was so easy and fun!

Why Me?!

Have you ever uttered these words? I know I have.... pretty much on a daily basis... or some form of the words at least... Why me?.... Why am I sick yet again? What did I do to deserve this? Why can't I just go to the bathroom w/o a child interrupting me?! Why can't these kids just get along!? etc......

I've been trying to think of it in a different way lately... When I think "why me?" in a negative connotation... I'm trying to switch it around to... "why me.... why am I so blessed?" B/c honestly, I am. I have a wonderful husband who is employed and works hard. I have 2 beautiful boys at home that I have the privilege of raising myself. I have wonderful family in town, to not only spend time with, but also helps out when this momma needs a break.

Ya know bad stuff happens.... I don't really know why... but it does. It's just life I guess...


forrest gump.... it happens.......

When something bad is happening... small or large; Its often because I am distracted or I've lost focus on what's really important. It's so easy for this to happen to me. Whether its the boys fighting b/c I'm too involved in something else and not giving them attention; (like posting my blogs, or playing words with friends... its addicting!?") Or I'm just in a rut.... I need to snap out of it!



For all the wonderful things in our lives......... "why me?... why do I deserve these treasures and blessings?"

I saw this on Pinterest and instantly thought...... (I'd be screwed...) Sometimes in life its hard to stay positive and think of the good things. Don't let the every-day crap get you down! Remember to be thankful, and Who to thank when it comes time. Because there is a reason you are blessed.... and there's possibly a reason you're not remembering you're blessed (distractions....)

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Ephesians 2:4-6 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by grace you have been saved. 

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Next time I'm complaining and you remind me of my blessings... I will try not to want to punch you in the face... cause I'm realizing its a good thing to look on the bright side. :)

Leftovers Change Up

I am not a huge fan of leftovers.... but then again they do come in handy when you don't really feel like making the effort to prepare yet another meal... I think one of my most hated phrases I hear throughout the week is "what's for dinner?!" Sometimes I really look forward to leftovers! Like my lasagna for example... mmmm making a lasagna can be kind of a daunting task. That's usually why I make 2... one for dinner that night and then I freeze the other one for later use. But I never get sick of leftover lasagna :) I also enjoy my chicken enchiladas leftover. Its almost like they taste even better the next day!

One of my favorite leftovers is chili :) I like to make a big pot of chili for dinner; which is what I did last night! It's perfect when its cold outside too. Even Ceej was eating it up (Bubba on the other hand is just about the pickiest child in the world... he wouldn't have anything to do with it). Then this afternoon for lunch we had chili dogs!!!!

It's pretty much become a staple now... whenever I make chili.. .we have chili dogs the next day :) Fine by me!!! I love a good chili dog! Then you don't get as bored with just another bowl of chili. (and what child doesn't eat a hot-dog?!)

Another leftover that you can do a little differently is meatloaf. Whenever I make a meatloaf there is always a huge chunk left. And while its good the first time around... I usually don't have mashed potatoes to eat with it the next time. Its just the hunk of meat. Now if you're anything like JDub (a man) he would just eat the whole hunk of meat and be done. But I like to change it up a little bit. I like some variety. So I have a meatloaf sandwich!

I think I googled leftover meatloaf one time and came across this... and boy is it worth it!! You just take a nice slice of meatloaf, top it with a slice of cheese and nuke it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. (I like just the average slice of american cheese myself) You don't want it piping hot, just enough to melt the cheese a little bit. Then slap it between 2 slices of bread and you are good to go! I know it might sound a little strange... but really... ITS GOOD!!

So I'm wondering... do you have any leftover change ups you always use?! I can always use new ideas for cooking :)

Kosama - a new me

Ok... so its not really a "new" me per se... more like the same ol' me... just hopefully in shape and feeling good! I was in a bit of a rut before I started working out again... very irritable... crabby... just wanting to sleep and lounge around all the time! Then some friends of mine told me about KOSAMA . It's like a group workout... instead of having a personal trainer there to tell you what moves to do and at what pace and repetition... you go to a big group class and do it all together! It's an hour class 6 days a week, for 8 weeks at a time. And the music is blaring, you get pumped up. I am really enjoying it.

Initially my friends were talking about it and I was like... yea... that could be fun... thinking no way I would do it. But then they were having a "friends and family" week where you could invite people all week long to see what it was like for FREE. I got sucked in..... and signed up. I'm glad though. I really do feel alot better these days. And as we speak (or as you are reading this) both Ceej and Bubba have icky coughs, and JDub is sick... but I'M NOT!! I know, I know... I probably just jinxed myself. But whatever, I'm feeling good! I'm hoping by the end of this 8 week course I'll look like this........

Haha... I know... its not realistic... first off b/c I am pastier than a vampire.... but hey I want to resemble this somewhat... My body hasn't been the same since I had kids... but I'm hoping to have some abs... instead of just flab!

I've been doing my best at eating better too. I rarely ate breakfast before I started this workout, but burning so many calories so early in the day; I'm starving when I get home! Here's my breakfast from Monday and today :)



ham and cheese omelet, grapes, coffee



peanut butter toast, grapes, sausage (I snuck another sausage link after this photo...), coffee

Now I need to work on drinking more water! I was sooo sore the first week of workouts... I kid you not, after the 2nd day I came home at 6:00 am to take my shower and asked if JDub could help me take my shirt off... that's how out of shape I was! Getting up at 4:30 am has been a little rough, but totally worth it so far :) It kind of brings me back to those days of detassling... getting up before the sun is even up.

 I LOVED detasseling (the money was great! :) ) Although I'm not getting paid to workout... I'm paying them... I'm lovin' it!

"Grandkids" shelf/display

So I came up with this project after viewing this photo on Pinterest....

Initially I went to Stuff Etc (a local consignment store) to find a wooden plaque to paint.... well no luck finding a plaque... but I did find this blue shelf!

It had some remnants of a sticker on there so that wet area is actually goof off doing its job!

I forgot to take pics of this part but it's pretty simple... I just painted the shelf black (thanks for the extra paint Mom!) I probably did 3 coats....

Once the paint was dry I measured and printed off the word "Grandkids"...... kept it in place with a sticky note and traced over the letters with a ballpoint pen! (I learned that little trick from Pinterest as well... )

Once you've traced over all the letters, remove the paper, and paint inside the grooves! I wish I would have pressed down a little harder..... They said the indentions should act as a dam to keep the paint in... but it still took a lot of patience! Its not perfect... but it is homemade :)

Then I had JDub use some flexible wire and a staple gun to make a line to hang my cute little clothespins!

No these aren't pictures of grandkids... the one on the left is Mango after a bath! And the one on the right was Jessie, my kitty growing up (she's no longer alive :( ) I figured you'd want to see how it looks with some photos.

Anywho, this was a present for my in-laws. I figured they could put it on their wall and display photos of their grandsons along the bottom and have the shelf to display any framed photos they might have as well!

I want to monogram other wooden things now?!

Sock Bun

Surprise, surprise... I found this on Pinterest! :) Ever since I saw it I've been wanting to grow my hair out! Well I tried it awhile back and was not very successful... but then I figured out the secret! (If you have thin, fine hair like I do anyway....)

So here's the deal... you take a sock... I happened to use thin, spandex-like one that I rarely wear anymore... ya know the kind of fancy socks you wear with suits? I figured it would work best cause it's not really shaped like a sock... but just straight. And it kind of resembles my hair color too.....

Then I clipped off the toe part with some scissors. No need to be a perfectionist...

Now I've seen other videos where people just take it from this step and roll it up to look like this...

Well I tried that on my hair and it would NOT stay... it was too loose and looked weird. So then I got the idea to make into a smaller donut... b/c well I don't have a ton of hair, and its thin as well.

Here's what I did... take the sock, turn it inside out and take it to the sewing machine

Do a straight stitch all the way from the "top" of the sock to the bottom". (you can see the white thread below)

Then take your scissors and cut along the edge to remove the excess fabric.

I've learned throughout my sewing that it's a good idea to kind of "reinforce" where you have sewn. So now instead of just leaving the seams, I've been taking it back to the sewing machine and using a zig-zag stitch to kind of "lock it in". I set my machine to #2 and did it along the edge right beside where I had sewn the straight stitch.

Then you roll it up tight like a little donut!

Here's the end result...

Now you could make it even smaller if you wanted to... but this size seems to work nicely for me :)

Here's what it looks like once you get it wrapped around your hair! You slip in on like a scrunchie and kind of make the ends of your hair wrap around it and tuck underneath. You'll keep the donut at the end of your locks. Then you keep pulling the donut up and rolling it down... its kind of hard to explain... There's great video link here...sock bun video link and it really does help if your hair is a little damp.

Here's my sock bun!!

I kinda feel like a mix between a librarian... and a ballet dancer! And yea I know my kitchen is a disaster... don't remind me... I think the higher the bun the cuter it is... but my hair isn't quite long enough for that yet.

And here's the best part yet... if you wear your hair around like that all day and night... (which I did) then the next day your hair will look like this when you take it out!

My hair never holds curls... NEVER. I still think they would look alot better if I had longer hair... but it adds some nice body to it either way!

It definately takes some practice to get the bun looking just right... but then it works great!

All Dressed Up

Well JDub's Christmas party came and went!!! :) Thanks to everyone who took my poll and helped me decide not only what to wear for his party ... but also for New Year's Eve!! I might have to do that anytime I need to dress up for something... it was so nice to just be like kep... here's what I'm wearing tonight! I'm pretty sure it saved me at least a half an hour getting ready.

JDub even got all dressed up (men always look good in suits :) ) I tried asking him if I could post his pic on my blog today.... but he must be busy at work cause he's not answering me! So instead of waiting I did my own little "photo shop" just so you could see his outfit too!

Overall I'd say we were the best dressed  :)



However after looking at these photos I'm realizing how much I resemble the hunch-back of notre dame!

I need to remember to get my "boobs to the balcony" like back in my show choir days! It really does make a difference having good posture... sitting at home in sweat pants all day long.... its hard to remember that!

I attempted to paint my nails... and they looked good for oh.. maybe 2 hrs. Then they were already ruined!! Here's a couple snap-shots. I did my french manicure and added some rhinestones to my ring and middle fingers... of course I did that BEFORE I showered which was a mistake... I tried to go to Wal-greens and look for more stones but they don't sell them anymore! That's really bumming me out. I know they have a lot more fun designs and prints now for your nails.. .but I miss the old-school rhinestones :(

It was good to get out and be around adults! And the food was really good too. Especially the dessert... I really wish I would have taken a picture of that!! Oh man... chocolate chocolate chocolate something or other... very yummy. Oh wait! The joys of the internet... I found a pic online and it was pretty much like this cake!!

Chocolate? YES, PLEASE!

Play dough Recipe

Play dough recipe
3 Cups flour
1 1/2 Cups salt
3 Cups water
3 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 Cups vegetable oil
food coloring

So I've seen this recipe for play dough for a while... and I finally tried it while JDub was on vacation!!! It is super easy. And my boys have been loving it :)

I won't claim to have come up with this recipe myself....... But you can google play dough recipe and find some different ones :) (or search on Pinterest as well! That's what I did) This one actually makes quite a large batch... so if you're looking for something smaller you might want to try another.... or if you're good at converting... make it smaller! Or keep it as is, and give some away as gifts or for grandparents to keep at their place!

Play dough recipe
3 Cups flour
1 1/2 Cups salt
3 Cups water
3 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 Cups vegetable oil
food coloring

1. Combine all ingredients (EXCEPT the food coloring) in a medium saucepan (or large saucepan if you're messy like me!) A whisk works pretty well for this part. Once its smooth, add your food coloring! I had NEON colors and went with Neon Blue.

2. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, as it thickens.

My arms were killing me after stirring for so long... JDub had to take over and then he was tired too! (We are really out of shape so for most people I'm sure it would be nothing....)

3. When the consistency is to your liking..... get your counter good and covered in flour, and knead the dough! Add roughly 1/2 cup to 1 cup flour to get rid of the stickiness.

4. Whaa laa, you have homemade play dough! Be sure to store it in an airtight baggie or container.

 I've been using disposable Ziploc and Gerber baby food containers. They work really well.

My boys like using cookie cutters to make and mold shapes!

State String Art

I saw this picture on Pinterest and thought it was super cool!!

You can find the gal's tutorial here------- string art

All you need is a piece of wood, nails, a printer, and some thread! I printed off a picture of Tennessee..... taped it to the wood and measured where each nail would go. This was a present for my dad, and since he's from east Tennessee that's why I placed the little heart there :) You can still see part of the paper I ripped off under the heart here...

I used some white fingernail polish... and then orange on top to paint the heart. Go Vols!!!

At first I had some crocheting thread but that was just too thick... so I changed to some white thread I had already.

I tried some different patterns and decided with this sunburst one... It was kind of hard to keep the thread taught but it worked! At the end of it I just had to tie it in a knot on one of the nails.

I kind of want to make an Iowa one now?!