Sunday Blues

It's Sunday January 8th, 2012....that means it is the night before I go back to work :(.  I am sooooooo not ready to go back. I have enjoyed being home with my boys for the past three weeks and one of those weeks my husband was home too!  I do enjoy teaching, but it doesn't even compete with how much I love being home playing with my kids.  Earlier I posted my new year resolutions so you might be wondering if I am keeping up with my goals...week 1 SUCCESS!  I ran 11 miles I drank over 72oz each day and I am organizing my mail station (more on that later).  So far so good. Let's see how week two goes. What I am least looking forward to is that since tomorrow vacation ends, I need to step on the scale and see what damage the holidays did, YIKES!  I may have to add some weight loss goals (let's hope not).

I do have a crafty project to share with you. I first saw this idea on Pinterest, but I unfortunately cannot find the original pin.  So as a disclosure, this is not my original idea, I just wanted to share with you my project and end product.

I purchase a lot of wood plaques of varying sizes from hobby lobby. They ranged from $1.99 to $2.99. They were on sale for 40% off.  My first step was to paint the plaque and then sand the edges to give it a bit of and aged look.

Then I took Mod Podge and painted a layer on and laid my photo on the wet Mod Podge. I let the everything dry for about 15 minutes then I did a layer of Mod Podge over the photo and let that coat dry for 30 minutes then I did a final layer of Mod Podge making sure to change my brush strokes to the opposite direction to create a linen effect.

After everything dried I sanded the back of each plaque to get the excess paper and Mod Podge off.  I used Command picture hanging strips to hang my finished product.  Right now I have 4 photos completed but my goal is to complete 10-12.  This project was a bit time consuming due to drying time, but I think it was totally worth the time. 

I hope this encourages you all to venture into the world of Mod Podge! I am off to enjoy one last bowl of ice cream! 

Christmas Card Storage

Until a few years ago my least favorite part of the holidays was figuring out what to do with all of the photo cards we received. I always hated throwing them away but at the same time I couldn't imagine all of these loose cards piling up in a box.  So I usually ended up allowing myself to keep a couple of them and then I had to toss the rest.  A few years ago my little sister had a Christmas party and she had a few years worth of cards out on display. She had hole punched the corner of her cards and placed them on a binder ring.  So I went home and I punched mine, but I didn't have a binder ring...my solution ribbon of course.

Well this year I was pulling my cards off my card display and my Yourstory by Provocraft caught my eye.  I looked through my stash and found that I had an 8x8 book..perfect!  So I cut plain white cardstock to 8x8 and then scored one side at 5/8 of an inch using my simply scored by Stampin' Up.  On each page I put one photo and I added a few extra blank pages in the back in the event of straggler.  Next I heated up my YourStory and in went my book.  After a few minutes of cooling my card storage was done!

 

This was the front and back of our family card. We tried to go for funny this year using a "business" theme. :)

This was a simple and fast project and now I have a photo book to look back on our family and friends.  I hope this helps you with your Christmas photo storage.

This is my last week of vacation so I am trying to get as much time as I can in my craft room.  I hope you all find time this week to do what you love, be it paper crafting, knitting, reading, enjoying your family, etc! Crafting while I can ~Breanne

Reso-what?!?

Happy New Year!!!  I hope you all had a wonderful time seeing 2011 out and welcoming 2012 in.  My night I would not of had any other way.  We took the boys out to dinner, came home and put them to bed. After picking up the house we curled up on the couch and watched Crazy Stupid Love (great movie).  When that was over it was time to feed the baby again and then there was just 7 minutes until the new year.  We toasted in the new year with a drink of water and of course a kiss and then off to bed we went.  Even though we stayed up late that does not mean our kiddos were going to sleep in. Sure enough we had a 6am wake up call from Tyson.  While at dinner Dallen and I started talking about new years resolutions and what ours are going to be individually, as a couple and as a family. There are so many things to consider.  I have so much that I was to accomplish and become better at in 2012, so I thought I would share my goals with all of you that way I am accountable. 

Similar to most people I want to be healthier in 2012, I want to lose weight (my last 3lbs of baby weight) and I want to exercise more.  But for me just saying that does nothing for me.  Let's be honest unless I have a plan I will continue as I am.  So I have two big goals I am going to complete in 2012 they are to do 1 tri-athalon (looking for July-ish) and I am going to run 1 half marathon (October-ish).  In a few months I will begin training for the triathalon until then to keep me active I have decided to make monthly goals.  For the month of January my goal is going to run 10 miles a week. This can be on the road or in the gym. I just need to put in the miles.  As of this post (January 1st) I have put in 3.5 miles for this week and I still have 6 days to complete my task.  I am excited for this running adventure this month.

In keeping with wanting to be healthier I am going to make it my goal to drink at least 72oz of water a day.  I hope to drink more, but I am starting with an amount I think I can obtain. I drink water, just not enough. With my new water bottles I know I will be able to maintain this goal.


Now onto some of my other goals.  I would say that I am someone who is always trying to organize different areas of our home. However, I never fully complete the task.  So I am going to pick one area of our home and dedicate a month to completely organizing this area of our home.  My goal is to complete the organization and live with it for a week and then make any adjustments to that area to make it work more efficiently for our family.  I will take before and afters of my organization area and let you all know how it is working.  My first area to work on is a mail center.  Right now the mail piles up, the filing piles up and it just clutters my office.  I am excited for this organizing adventure.


Now for my last resolution. This one is sort of random, but I think it is a good one. I have decided that I am not going to purchase ANY wrapping paper, gift bags, clothing boxes or tissue paper in 2012.  After cleaning up from Christmas I realized we have an abundance of all of the above.  Now I must apologize ahead of time, I have two boys, no girls, so if you are a friend or loved one who has a daughter she may be getting her birthday gift in a Cars, Monster Truck, or Alien bag.  I figure the kiddos want what is on the inside more than what is on the outside anyway.

Now for my blog, I am going to commit to blogging twice a month. In fact I have already planned out my blogs for January.  You may just get more than one! :)  

There you have it, my goals for January and 2012!  Enjoy and have an amazing 2012. I am off to get ready to have our Japanese New Year Lunch/Dinner at my Uncles house.  I may just add a few more pounds after all the delicious eating I am about to do!  Happy New Year Everyone!

Gift Tags

Although I have not posted any paper crafts, I would classify myself as a paper crafter.  I make cards, dabble in scrapbooking and try to create fun projects with paper.  So when it comes to gift tags that is right up my ally.  But, this year I wanted to be different, I didn't want to spend 10 minutes on one gift tag.  I wanted something that I could complete in one nap time.  My neighbor Nikki (who has been crafting obessed herself these past few weeks) inspired my tag idea by making gift tags with leftover scrabble pieces.  Now I didn't have scrabble pieces and I wasn't going to buy the game just to make tags, but I did have a bag of little letter beads that I accidentally purchased a few months back thinking there would be numbers in it.














I also had straight pins and some other beads, so I started spelling out the names I needed and I happen to have enough letters for everyone.  For names that were too long for straight pins I used memory wire that I happened to have on hand as well.

The best part of all making these tags was when Tyson (my three year old) was surveying all the gifts and he said with excitement "This one is for me see T-Y-S-O-N, that spells Tyson!"

I would love to see your tags too! So Tag your it! Happy Crafting ~Breanne

Finally a New Post!

Hello everyone! So I created this blog thinking that I would be able to post all of the crafty things I create. This was was before I had two kids.  I thought I would be able to balance my children, husband, work, household, crafting and blogging.  Boy was I wrong.  I had forgotten how difficult the first few months are with a baby, the sleepless nights and early mornings.  Not to mention that we also have activities to go to with our 3 year old.  I decided I had to put things aside so that I could spend the most time possible with my boys, so out went the hopes of blogging, crafting only happened on a need to basis and in came the housekeeper because no matter how hard I tried I never seemed to get the bathrooms cleaned.  But, times are changing, Reece is now 6 months old and FINALLY is sleeping through the night and I have both boys taking their afternoon naps at the same time!  Does this mean I could finally get to cleaning the bathrooms?!?  Yes it does, but let's be honest I would much rather craft so the housekeeper is staying for the time being. :)

Now onto my crafting project!

Since this was Tyson's first year in preschool it was also my first year making Christmas gifts for the teachers. I was unsure as to what I should do so of course I scoured Pinterest (more on my obsession with this site later). Ideas began to spin in my head and then I was watching a video on youtube by Kandee Johnson (Mustache Mug by Kandee Johnson ) and she made a mustache mug...well the wheels were spinning and I decided that Ty would draw pictures on mugs and sign his name and I would write the teacher's name on them.  We used Pebeo pen's that we purchased for about $2.00 a pen from Michael's and mugs from the dollar store. The mugs dried overnight and we baked them the  next day. 


























We of course needed to fill them with treats so we used chocolate covered raisins in a cellophane bag with a cute topper. 

Here is Ty helping me out

We wrapped them up in a clear bag so there was no need for a name tag and we were all done!  We made 10 mugs for less than $4 a teacher.

I know your little one's might be on break already, but this is an idea to keep in mind for future teacher gifts.  I will be back later this week with more Christmas Crafts!  Until then, Merry Christmas!

Look Who is Two Months Old!!

I can’t believe that it has been two months already and what an amazing two months it has been. In the last month so much has changed. Reece has gone from a sleepy newborn to a smiling chatty baby. He is nursing 8-9 times a day, which means that he is not sleeping through the night, but is able to go a bit longer between feedings at night (thankfully). He is smiling, cooing and making funny faces. Reece cries when he is tired, which happens to be quite often. Although he may be sleepy he fights falling asleep by making gurgling noises, kicking his legs and punching. To help him sleep we still swaddle him and when we need too we also use white noise (works like a charm). We have found that his tummy does not like some of the foods I eat, so my diet is ever changing. The one item I miss is ice cream, as I have had to eliminate dairy, can you image a summer without ice cream? Reece is beginning to like tummy time and playing on his back on his play mat, he is especially happy when his big brother comes and plays with him. We just got home from the Doctor and here are his latest stats...24 inches long, 13lbs 11oz and his head is measuring 39.5cm. In comparison Tyson at this age was 23inches and 11lbs 5 oz... looks like Reece may be our big boy and Ty will be our little guy (never thought I would say that).  Everyday Reece changes and I am grateful to be able to be home with him each day.

Since this is a crafting blog (even though you will see plenty of blogs on my family) I suppose I should share a craft with you today.  I began last month making oneies to take Reece's photo in on the first of every month.  Below is a description of how to do this super simple project

First here is what you need; a onesie, fabric, scissors, and iron and wonder-under transfer web or similar product.  Iron the transfer web rough side to the wrong side of the fabric, then cut out your desired image. 














I used my Cricut Expression to cut out the number two using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. My number is cut at 6 inches and is in the Roly Poly font.  I then traced the two backward onto my transfer web.  I am fairly sure I could have directly cut my fabric with my Cricut, but that experimenting will be for another day. 

 All you have to do next is cut out the image and pull off the thin backing and iron it onto your onesie.  You then have a custom ready to wear onesie!

 Here are my two boys together! I just love them to pieces!!!

 Happy crafting....I am off to play with the boys!