New Signs

I have a little box of goodies that is headed over to The Front Room today and I wanted you all to be the first to get a sneak peek!

My inventory of signs over there was lookin' kinda sad so I sat down over the last 4 days and whipped up a couple to help fill my space.

Here is a peek at some of the fun stuff you will be able to get your hands on! ...

This was my first time painting/stenciling on something other than wood for a sign.

And I think it turned out just adorable if I do say so myself!

I love this pillow and could hardly part with her so I hope she finds a good home. :)

Some other fun signs...

This is to sit out letting people know, well...





And speaking of custom signs, here is the latest one I worked on...

These Mr. & Mrs. signs are too cute!

We are getting a huge response for them at weddings to set out on a gift or sign in table... heck they would even make a great wedding gift for the new couple.

Besides the signs and such we are scurrying to get another load of stuff for our Louise's Basement delivery... which is right around the corner! Yikes!

Some days I like this business, other days, I feel like I am drowning... in paint that is!

Hope you all are having a great week!

Chat later,

Jen

Things That Make Me Happy...

... making my husband happy!

This past weekend me and Loren took the babes (or should I say the babes and I took Loren) down to the State Fair grounds for
Car Craft!!!

A big car show full of hot rods and muscle cars!

And let me tell you... this whole event was right up Loren's ally!

There is something to be said if you know Loren at all... and that is his love for God, his love for family... and his love for old cars!

He's like a little boy with a need for speed screaming "faster, faster, I want to go faster!"

And on Sunday he got the whole day to hang out and roam the streets gawking at cars!

Not only was Loren having fun... but so was his mini me!

Daddy and Tuck were loving every second of their time together and sharing their passion for cars... and for Tuck it was specifically Monster Trucks!!!

The boys loved the roar and rev of every engine they heard!

And little G... well she got into it to!

She just liked being outside and looking at all the pretty cars and colors!

Our lunch break at the car show wasn't bad either!

Tuck was in heaven! lol

Pronto Pups for everyone!

All in all it was a great day!

Gorgeous weather and good family time.

But me, I just went for the Sweet Martha's Cookies...

... and to see my hubby this happy!

Hope ya'll had a great weekend as well!

Can you believe there is just about 1 month left of summer?!

Uh, how sad!

Chat later,

Jen

Things I Know For Sure...

Oprah has always done a column in her magazine called

"Things I know For Sure."

It is a question, or statement really, that she asks herself each month and lays out her answers.

I thought it was a fantastic idea!

Life is such a crazy, beautiful journey with a million things to learn and discover along the way.

I wanted to make sure I asked myself... "what are the things I know for sure?!"

So, here is a small list of some of things I know for sure.

I know...

1. Life is too short.

2. Marrying your best friend will ensure a successful and happy marriage.

3. Being apart of a church and attending every Sunday is like giving your soul a drink of water.

It's that refreshing.

4. When Greta sings I stop to listen every time.

5. Past hurts can affect you, but they should never determine who you become.

6. Raising healthy, happy, and emotionally stable children is the hardest thing I have ever done.

7. Love God, love others. - the two go hand in hand.

8. My son, Tuck, holds a very special piece of my heart.

9. Big families are just plain ole' fun to be apart of.

10. One day... I will have another baby. - whether it happens to be twins? well, that's just up to God.

What are some of the things YOU know for sure?

You may not have a blog to jot down your answers but you can start a journal or even a box of letters, lists, and memories!

That has been my goal with this blog from the get go.

So if you don't have a blog or a journal or a place to hold your thoughts.... get one!

One day your children will read it, enjoy it, and learn who you were as a person.

One day... they will thank you and hopefully do it for their children.

Hope you're havin' a great week.

The weekend's almost here!

Chat later,

Jen

Wanna know what Oprah said?
Here is The Top 20 Things Oprah Knows For Sure.
I found it quite inspiring.

Summer Treat - Rice Krispie Pops!

Here is a fun little recipe I made with the babes over the weekend!

It was a fun idea and a recipe that they could be very hands on with! ... which they love!

Here is the recipe for Rice Krispie Pops...

First start off by making a batch of Rice Krispie Bars...

1/4 C. of butter

1 bag of Marshmallow's

6 C. of Rice Krispie Cereal

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.

Remove from heat.

 Add rice krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

Once your batch of rice krispie bars is done... you are not actually going to put them in a pan to make bars.

Instead, take popsicle sticks and a chunk of your rice krispy mixture and start forming it around the stick to resemble a popsicle of sorts!

Like so...

Once your pops are formed and cooled, melt some chocolate/white chocolate almond bark for dipping!

NOTE: You may want to lay out some wax paper for this step!

Then get to dippin'!

My babes of course wanted to add some colorful sprinkles and stars...

After all your pops are dipped and decorated... let the chocolate set and you're done!

A fun take on an original treat!

 

So if you were lookin' for dessert for tonight or something fun to make while you are home with your babes... give this recipe a try!

 

They were super easy and fun to make...

and you can't argue with how adorable they look!

 

Happy Middle of the Week!

 

Chat later,

 

Jen

Silhouette Craft Project!

I haven't posted something crafty that you all could do for a long, long time!

When I saw this idea I just knew I wanted to make a set of these gorgeous silhouette frames for myself!

Look at how adorable they turned out!

Wanna make one or two or four of your family?

Here's a quick step by step of how to do that!

First, find some old frames layin' around your house or take a quick trip to the Goodwill.

I had these 2 lovely pieces of art tucked away in my stash for future projects! lol

I liked the fact that they were oval....

Take the back off...
(not a bad price huh?!)

Then grab a can of black spray paint... or whatever color you'd like... and spray your frames!

Walk away from your frames so they can dry.

While you are waiting, lets get started on the actual silhouette.

Start off my finding (or taking if you have to) a nice side shot of your child's profile.

Upload it to your computer and print it off.

Once you have printed it trace around their silhouette, adding or touching up little spots of hair, etc. and then cut it out...

I found that for a little girl a picture of her in a ponytail worked best for tracing and making sure you could tell it was a girl....

Once you have your picture cut out, lay it on a piece of black construction paper, trace it, and cut it out as well...
(NOTE: I knew I wanted my children's silhouette's facing different directions but their original pictures were facing the same way. So all I did was merely flip Greta's around before I traced it.)

Here they are!

All cut out in true silhouette form...

Once they are cut out and your silhouette is ready decide what kind of matting or background you want for your piece of art.
I didn't have any scrapbook paper that was really grabbin' me, so I opted for tearing a couple pages out of an old book.
So, glue your matting down to the original piece of lovely art work that was already in your frame.
Then add a dab of glue and glue your silhouette right on top of it!
I added a little piece of paper with each child's name and birth date...

I just wrote mine on plain computer paper then added some black lines and dots to make it look more like a tag...

Once everything is glued down just put your frame and glass back together and your done!

Then just stand back and look at how stunning your little project turned out!
Yey!

I am so in love with these little frames!

They look so adorable and high end like I paid someone to do them! Ha!

Loren and I have been tossing around the idea of a possible Master Bedroom Redo.... you know, paint, color change, the whole sha-bang... and I think that may be a project we tackle soon!

With that being said... these adorable silhouettes will soon find their permanent home on my bedroom wall.

And now that I have them done... it actually lit a little fire for the room redo!

We shall see!

But for now I am loving these silhouettes!

I love that it is a very nostalgic way to capture a moment and freeze their little faces in time.

Now, what do you girls think?!

Is this something you think you could tackle?

(it wasn't that hard and didn't take too long either!)

IF you do... please share!

I'd love to see some of your finished projects!

Hope you all had a nice and relaxing weekend!

I know I did.

Happy Monday,

Jen

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait!

Remember a post I made a week or so ago where I was drooling over these....

... and almost bought them?!

Well, good thing I didn't because I just so happened to find two of these at the Goodwill the other day!

I was bummed that there was only two... but that's alright they will be cute for the two babes! 

And I will of course always keep my eyes open now that I know there are pure treasures to be found at the Goodwill! lol

And check out this price tag...

Pure, giddy, excitement ran through my body when I saw that tag!

.49 cents... what a steal!

I think they will be a cute and unique way to serve the babes a little milk with their snacks!

Love!

Well, TGIF everyone!

We are doing a family movie night!

We rented Rango for the babes and Hall Pass for Mom & Dad!

Along with some homemade pizza, popcorn, and sour patch kids...

it's gonna be a gooood night! :)

Chat later,

Jen

Things That Make Me Happy...

...eating corn with these...

In honor of and all because we have one of these...

Gotta love wienie dogs!

As you can tell from above... Walter is an important and very loved member of our family!
(he just wasn't into having his picture taken last night! lol)

And a quick shout out to my sister in law, Tracy!
Thanks for the great Christmas gift!
I love them!

Happy Thursday!

Jen