Shutters

Now that it's warming up here in Spring Hill, we are starting to tackle some of our outside house projects we didn't finish last year. One of those projects is too paint our shutters, but I haven't decided yet on which color. Here is our house and our faded not so pretty shutters right now:

They definitely have seen better days and need a little face lift. I have narrowed my choices down to the following colors:

A very dark navy blue:

Bright Red. (I really like the red, but I am am not sure how it will look with our brick color)

Or... white:


Or is there anyway my house could look like this because I am in love with this color combo:

That might take more than a little spray paint :(.

So that's my dilemma. If you have any input let me know. I'll post some pics when I finally decide and it's all finished.

Sick day=Art day.

I recently saw this tutorial on tip junkie, and I had to give it a try as well. I thought it would be a perfect addition to our picture wall. It was super easy.... and really cheap! At West Elm, this piece of art would cost you a pretty penny. All I had to buy was the canvas, which I found on sale for like $3! I have been sick all day, and so instead of infecting middle Tennessee with my germs, I stayed home... ALL day. That is difficult for me, but at least I had time to craft. I did this whole craft on my couch. Well... not really. I spray painted it gray yesterday (outside of course). The rest was done on my couch. The mod podge could have caused some damage, but I was really careful. Here are pics of the process, and the end result.


I added the word "LIVE" to the bottom. Our picture wall captures some our favorite moments we have had while we "live" on this earth. I also feel like it's an encouragement to keep on living the life God has given us to the fullest (John 10:10).


I like what it added to our picture wall. You might have noticed the blank white canvas on the wall. I have a plan for that and I will blog about it when I finish it. Hopefully it won't taking getting sick again to get it done :).

Hannahs Hope Orphanage - Ethiopia

Lord deliver me.

This past weekend, I was so blessed to be able to go on a retreat with the female students/leaders from our church. We studied women in the Bible and how God used them, provided for them, prepared the way for them, guided them and so much more. It was great.

At the retreat, I finally met Sara Beth Geoghegan. Brian has been friends with her since college, and I have heard so much about her.... and I was finally able to meet her in person. She is a beautiful woman with an obvious desire to glorify the Lord through her life and music. She led our worship time, and it was amazing, but I was especially blessed by the following song she sang. Here are the lyrics:

Lord deliver me from the desire to be noticed, loved, exalted

Lord deliver me from the desire to be favored, popular chosen or acknowledged

Lord deliver me from the fear of being wrong, forgotten or ignored

Lord deliver me from the fear of being humiliated or left behind

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You

Grant that I may seek to comfort rather than be comforted by others

Grant that I may understand and love more than be understood and loved well

Lord deliver me from the desire to be noticed and encouraged

Lord deliver me from the desire to be appreciated and included

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You.

So beautiful, right? Every since I heard it, these words have been on my heart. This song put into words many of the fears and desires that women struggle with. I was deeply encouraged/convicted as I sang it. Thank you Sara Beth for a great song. I know the Lord is using it to encourage many more.

A beautiful family

I saw this special on the Today show today about this family who has adopted children from Africa diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. I read an article on the family as well which talked about their faith in Christ and their willingness to give up some of the pleasures of this world such as vacations and new things to give a home to children that are orphaned and rejected by most of the world. What a God-glorifying and selfless family. Here is the video.

Fabric letters

When Brian was out of town 2 weeks ago, I had a couple of friends over to have a girls night. We watched a girly movie, ate chocolate chip cookies, and made crafts. My kind of night for sure. My friend Lele recently shared a tutorial on her blog on how to make anthropologie letters, and I knew I wanted to make one for my home in the near future, so that's what I worked on. You can see Lele's tutorial here. I found some fun fabric at Hobby Lobby that would match my kitchen and went to town. Here is what I ended up with:




Thanks for the great tutorial Lele!

Birthday banner

My little friend Harper Blanton turned 3 years old today! Yesterday was her pink birthday party, and I decided to make a fun birthday banner for her party! I have seen banners at lots of birthday parties and wedding and baby showers, but I haven't tried to make one on my own yet. I looked around at some different tutorials and did a little banner search on etsy until I decided how I was going to make Harper's birthday banner. I really enjoyed making it! It was super easy and you could totally do it too! I don't think I'll ever have another party without a banner again :).

What you need:
Scrapbook paper
hole punch
ribbon
glue
letters or stencils (I bought my letters at Hobby Lobby)

First I traced circles onto the scrapbook paper and cut them out. I used bowls for my circle stencils :). You can buy circle cutters at all the crafty stores, which I think I will invest in in the future. For this project, my bowls worked just fine :). Then I cut out smaller circles and glued them inside the big circle. Next I glued my letters inside the smaller letters, punched a hole in each side of the circle and pulled my ribbon through to make a banner. So simple yet so cute :). A fun banner is definitely a nice addition to any party. I can't wait to make my next one!

Happy Birthday Harper!

GO PACK GO!

I love the Packers. I have since I was left my mama's womb :). I was surprised when I left Wisconsin to find that people all over the country even the world also love my Packers. From my experience in other states, people do not feel the need to be as loyal to their football team as a Wisconsinite does to the Packers. It's part of our heritage. It's part of who we are. I am so happy for the Green Bay Packers, for all the fans all over the world, and for Wisconsin :).


I really wish I could have been home with my family to watch the game. My mom told me she expected me to come for it. I wish it was that easy. Since I wasn't able to watch it in Wisconsin, I made the most of it by bring a little Wisconsin to Tennessee. We were able to watch the game with a bunch of friends, and thankfully they were all cheering for the green and gold. I don't know if they were quite as excited about the outcome as I was (let's just say I'm the only one who shed tears), but it was really fun and it made not being with my family for the game not so bad:).

Here's what I brought to the game: Cheese curds, cupcakes with green frosting, and brats and sauerkraut. YUMMMMMM.















What are cheese curds you ask?? Cheese curds - "fresh Cheddar cheese in its natural, random shape and form before being processed into blocks and aged. Curds have a mild taste with a slightly rubbery texture and should squeak when eaten". Eatcurds.com can you give you more info about the this wonderful food :). I was so surprised to find them in Spring Hill! And they still squeaked when you ate them, which is a sign that they are still fresh :). There is also a definition on this website for a curdaholic :). Curdaholic - "individuals so crazy about Wisconsin Cheese Curds that they will do anything to get their hands on them. Often prone to curd withdrawals." Hilarious... and true :).
Brats are another loved Wisconsin food. While I was cooking them Sunday afternoon, my house smelled like Wisconsin :). It was wonderful. I found Wisconsin beer brats at Publix, and even though they weren't as good as the ones you find in my homeland, they were pretty good. Disclaimer - I don't actually like brats... but I did try one and I wanted everyone else to experience a little bit of Wisconsin. I made them in the crock pot. Here is the recipe if you are interested in making brats as well.

1 package of brats
1 can of beer
1 can of sauerkraut
Some garlic and salt

Put it all in the crockpot and cook on high for 2-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. I drained the liquid before serving. Put brat in a bun (I used steak rolls since they are bigger and they don't sell brat buns here). Top with sauerkraut. They are also good with a little bit of spicy mustard. Then bite into some Wisconsin goodness. I wish I took pics of our party and more of the brats, but I forgot :(. Sorry!

Go pack go.

Can you ever have too much burlap???

I have totally embraced the burlap trend in our home. I love it! I'm always looking for new places to add a little burlap :). I was at a wedding last weekend, and there was burlap everywhere! I was part of the clean-up crew, so of course I asked what they were going to do with all the burlap and they were going to throw it away!!! So.... I came home with A LOT of burlap. I'm glad I packed light on my way to the wedding so I had lots of room in my suitcase for some additional burlap :). Here are some of the places I've incorporated a little bit (or a lot) of burlap:

Burlap table runner in the dining roomBurlap wrapped around vases.

A little burlap on the coffee table...

And... burlap behind the clock.

Have you made anything with burlap lately?

Crafts can be dangerous.

As many of you know, 2 weeks ago, I stapled my finger. Yep, I'm that awesome. I have been asked "how in the world did you do that?" a million times. So here is the story, and the craft I was making that cost me a hospital stay and surgery.

I had just worked out for the first time in centuries and I came home from this super motivated. I decided to try to work on one of the projects I had been thinking about doing for a while now. I bought this old frame from the antique store in Spring Hill for $12, and I wanted to staple some burlap to the back of it. So I was thinking that it would only take a few minutes and then I would jump in the shower and get ready for the day..... that's not how it went. I took the power stapler and placed it on the wood and I put my left hand under part of it, and then I pressed down really hard on the stapler (to make sure it went into the wood). Well, I accidentally (obviously) had the stapler turned around, and so when I pressed down on the stapler with all my strength it went into my hand that was underneath it instead of the wood.... into my left ring finger to be exact. I didn't feel it at first. I looked at the wood and saw that there was not a staple in it. I felt a weird sensation in my finger and I was afraid to look, but I had to. Sure enough, there was the staple, stuck in my finger. I tried to move it. It wouldn't move. Brian wasn't home. I called him. He said he would be home in 10 minutes and he would pull it out when he got home. I couldn't wait that long! By this point it was starting to hurt... A LOT. I walked to the neighbors house, and thank the Lord they were home! I have met them a couple of times, but I am not sure they knew who I was at first. I introduced myself and then showed them my finger :/. The husband told me to get in his car, and he drove me to some clinic in Spring Hill. Brian met me there. They sent me directly to the ER. So Brian drove me to the ER, where we waited for almost 2 hours with a staple in my finger. It was not fun, and the pain was increasing and my finger was turning weird colors (sorry if this is grossing you out). I had xrays taken of my finger, and then the Orthopedic surgeon came in my room.... I knew that meant nothing good. He informed me that I was going to have to have surgery that night AND spend the night in the hospital to get IV antibiotics! What in the world..... who knew a staple injury could be so complicated?? The surgeon said that I stapled my finger in the most perfect way. I put the staple right smack dab in the middle of the joint. Good to know I have so much skill with a staple gun. I'm fine now, the stitches are out, and I'm working on getting movement back in my finger. I would like to say I'm thankful it wasn't worse than it was, but I'm not quite sure if it could have been any worse at this point :).























At least it's a good story and I'm sure I'll be telling it for years to come. Thanks for all the prayers and support during this whole ordeal. Thankful for all of you, and yes I will continue doing crafts. Here is the project I was working on when the injury occurred and the finished project. I had to conquer my fear, so I finished the project with the staple gun, and this time the staples went into the correct place.

Here is the infamous craft:


I needed a clock in our living room, but I am not crazy about the look of really large clocks, so I bought this small one and framed it so it didn't get lost on the wall. I'm happy with how it turned out, I just wish the process could have been a little less painful :).