Crafty Kitchen Ideas...

Well, the need to be crafty has struck once again! At my church, we have this group of women get together and take part in an activity called "Secret Pals". It's exactly as it sounds. Basically, we all fill out information sheets, then put them in a bowl, and everyone draws one out. Whoever you draw, this is your "secret pal" that you buy for all year long. Last year, I had the tough job of having drawn out my best friend, Donna. Don't get me wrong...I was absolutely GIDDY about having her! However...I am horrible at keeping ANYTHING from her. Anyhow, long story short, she knew I had her. Haha...But, that's not the moral of this blog. No, in fact, this has to do with the last gift I got her...AKA The "Revealing" Gift. Since she recently moved, she has completely redone the colors in her home. Now, keep in mind that recently, she went to my mother's house, and saw the cookie sheet magnet board I made for her...and LOVED it. She went on and on about how she wanted me to help her make one for herself. Needless to say, I ran with it. For the reveal gift, I made one for her! I started with the cookie sheet, and the SAME scrapbook paper that she had used to line the back of some cabinets in her kitchen. This was another plus to having my best friend as my secret pal. I knew EXACTLY the paper she bought, so I went back and bought the same kind. Then, since she's ALL about glitter and sparkle...I found some CRAZY sparkle ribbon that was charcoal gray (the same color as her cupboards), and some fun "blingy" things to attach. Once I got home, I went to work. However, I hit a snag. I had bought these beautiful rhinestone brads that I knew would work PERFECT for little magnets. Unfortunately, I forgot the magnets. By the time I remembered, the craft stores were closed. This left Wal-Mart as my only option. So, I went, and they did have magnets. HOWEVER...they were twice the size as the rhinestone brads. So, I did what anyone would do. I panicked. Haha...then, I found some funky, antique silver buttons that I hoped would work. This is how the finished product turned out:



Yayy! I was super excited with how it turned out! It just SCREAMED Donna Gurley to me. The next thing I decided to make for her was a Menu board that we had seen on (none other than...) PINTEREST!!! I know, I know...you're shocked. Haha...anyhow. I was going to use the same scrapbook paper for it, but Donna had bought 4 million sheets...so all that was left was the 3 sheets I bought for the magnet board. So, I improvised, and bought some pretty gray damask paper. I then bought some fun lettering, and a BIG (11X14) frame. This project was SUPER fun. Here is how it turned out:

I also bought her some dry-erase markers so that she could write on it. Here's how it works - I attached the scrapbook paper in the frame, and hot glued my letters on. I spelled the MENU at the top with chipboard letters. Then, I used glittery scrapbook lettering for the "SMTWTFS" down the side. Each of those letters represented a day of the week. Then, I embellished with some fun flowers, bling, and scrapbook quotes I had. After the frame is all put back together, you write on the glass with the dry-erase markers what your menu for the week will be! SUPER fun! Anyhow...Donna loved it all. And...I've now seen both objects in her kitchen. They look AWESOME!!! Well, thanks for listening once again to the ramblings of a craft-crazed woman. Until next time!

A Very Creative Christmas...

Well, let me start by saying that I hope everyone's Christmas was AMAZING. I, personally, had a wonderful Holiday season. Of course, it's not hard to enjoy life at any time of the year when you have the family and friends I do. I have to admit something though...going into the Christmas season, I was starting to get a little panicked.Turns out, being an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be sometimes. My cash was a little sparse this winter...and presents for my loved ones were looking more and more obsolete. So, I did what I could to help my financial situation a bit. I started shopping a little earlier than usual...I shopped a lot of sales, and price-matched everything...and, of course...I turned to Pinterest. I know. You're shocked. I had seen some things on Pinterest that not only reminded me of some loved ones...but that also made me feel like even I could create them. Crafts. The word alone made me shudder. I was the LEAST creative person I knew. But, I did what any terrified, uncreative girl would do. I dove head-first into the world of arts and crafts. I knew this way, I would be able to save a little money. Plus, my loved ones would end up with gifts that were not half-bad. The first project I knew I wanted to tackle was a gift for my mom. I had seen on Pinterest where someone had taken a cookie sheet, covered it in fabric, and transformed it into a magnet board. Inspiration hit. Like a ton of bricks. I went and bought a $4 cookie sheet from Wal-Mart, 2 single sheets of scrapbook paper (.18 cents), some tiny cupcake-shaped buttons ($1.50 for 12), and some tiny round magnets ($1.50 for 12). Once home, I measured out the paper on the cookie sheet and used spray adhesive to attach it. I also added some paper to the handles of the cookie sheet for a little something extra. I then added some thin ribbon by hot gluing it all around the cookie sheet, and down the middle where the 2 scrapbook sheets overlapped. I also hot glued on some cute scrapbook words and flowers from my own scrapbook collection. Once the cookie sheet was done, I removed the backs off of the buttons, and glued on the tiny magnets. I created adorable cupcake magnets for my sweet little mother who loves to bake. I then used the eisel off of a picture I had hanging (therefore didn't need the eisel), and propped the cookie sheet on it. Voila! A recipe holder for Mom! Here is how it turned out:

There it is! The finished product! Having been my FIRST crafty project...I was extremely proud of myself! So, the motivation was at an all time high. I couldn't wait to start my next project: Frames for my best friend, Donna. Again, I had what I have come to refer to as "Pinsperation". I had seen where a woman took Scrabble tiles, and spelled out her and her husband's name ontop of a solid-colored piece of paper, and framed it. Now, in order to understand the importance of the gift I was making...you have to know a little backstory:
Donna and her husband, Tobe, have been married for 6 years. When they were dating, and even after they first got married, they didn't have very much money. So, they spent a lot of their time playing board games. Scrabble, however, was their absolute FAVORITE. They played it ALL THE TIME. We often tease them that Scrabble is their "Game of Love". Anyhow, when I saw what the lady on Pinterest did...I HAD to do the same for Donna. HOWEVER...I didn't want it to be just Scrabble tiles. Since Donna LOVES pictures like I do...I knew I needed to add a few pictures just to make it more personal. I also decided to make two of these Scrabble frames, and do one that was just she and Tobe...and one that was all three Gurleys (including Tobe's brother, Clyde, who has lived with them for a year). I went and bought 3 pieces of the most GLITTERY scrapbook paper I could find, 2 black frames, and the game of Scrabble. Once home, I cut the paper down to fit the frames. I then found the lettering for "Donna" and "Tobe", as well as "The" and "Gurleys". For both frames, I found 4 pictures. For Donna and Tobe's, I decided to do two older pictures from their early days of together-ness, and two recent photos. For the Family one, I picked two pictures of all 3 Gurleys, one picture of Donna and Clyde, and one picture of Tobe and Clyde. This was going to pay homeage to the time Clyde has been here so far. On Donna and Tobe's frame, I centered the lettering, and laid everything out to make sure everything would fit OK. After hot-gluing the letters in place, I attached the pictures. I then took some "Bling on a Roll" from my scrapbooking stuff, and lined 2 sides of each picture with it. I also attached random rhinestone stickers and a few red glittery heard stickers from my scrapbooking stuff. At the top of the frame, between the top 2 pictures, I spelled out "Love" in some fun, red glittery letters I had (they matched the heart stickers). At the bottom, between the 2 lower pictures, I spelled out "est. 2006" (since 2006 is when they got married). Here is how their frame turned out:



I was SOO excited with how it looked!!! After it was done...I was on to the next. For the family frame, I did the same. I laid everything out, hot glued the Scrabble tiles, and attached the pictures. I didn't want to use Bling on a Role for around the family pictures...so instead, I lined the pictures with some thin, pretty silver ribbon. I then added some fun, red, glittery stickers, along with matching lettering that spelled out "family". Here is how that frame turned out:

Again, I was EXTREMELY pleased with how everything turned out. On Christmas morning, I gave Mom her cookie sheet creation...and SHE LOVED IT!!! She even had it proudly displayed in her kitchen now! The Gurley family was out of town during Christmas, so Donna had to wait on her gift. But, when she got back...I gave them to her. She LOVED them!!! I was so excited for her to have them! I knew she'd appreciate the fact that homeage was paid to the "Game of Love". Haha...Now, I spend time racking my brain trying to come up with reasons to make crafts for people. I am OBSESSED!!! In fact, I am currently in the process of turning my spare bedroom into a Craft Room! I will keep everyone updated on the progress of THAT!!! Until then...thanks for taking the time to check out my creations! I hope all of you have a very CRAFTY 2012 like I plan to!

Breaking Down for Breaking Dawn...

Look carefully at the above picture...and answer me this: Do you know what wonderful thing happens in ONE WEEK??? Give up? BREAKING DAWN, PART 1!!! Now, let me start off by saying that my excitement and slight obsession with all things Twilight Saga are not dangerous, or borderline crazy. You will not find me locked in my parents basement, with vampire bite marks permanently tattooed on my neck, rolling myself in glitter. In fact, I just have a deep appreciation for a good, CLEAN romance. I still remember the first time I read the Twilight books. Here is how I finally caved into the Twilight phenomenon:
I am incredibly active in working with my church's youth group, and try to pay attention to what they are watching and listening to. I am not one of those people who tries to like everything teenagers like to be "cool"...but I do like to know what I am spiritually up against. Let's be honest...there are certain things in pop culture today that have complete "dumbed down" our teenagers. An excellent example of this is the RIDICULOUS show, Jersey Shore. Basically, it's an hour-long reality disaster that follows around this group of young adults from the Jersey Shore who stumble around drunk, making out with each other, sleeping around randomly, and saying things that would make our ancestors roll over in their graves. It's terrible. And our teenagers today eat it up! They laugh at it...they talk about it...they even mimic it. It's absolutely embarrassing. So, this is something that I keep in mind when talking to them and encouraging them to be good, Godly young men and women. I try to present the OPPOSITE example of what things like Jersey Shore offer. Well, around the Summer of 2008, I had started to hear my youth kids talking about this vampire love story. They were all caught up in some story where a normal, human girl falls in love with a vampire...and how he struggles with not killing her because he loves her...and how her best friend, a werewolf, tries to keep her from the vampire because they are mortal enemies. I was THOROUGHLY confused. And...a little disturbed. I couldn't figure out why my youth girls were so in love with a VAMPIRE STORY!!! It just did NOT make any sense to me. So, one day...I borrowed the 1st of the four books from one of the youth girls. I decided to just flip through it and make sure it was clean. Keep in mind, I was INCREDIBLY skeptical at this point. I will never forget it...I sat in my brother's recliner, all curled up under a blanket, with just the lamp on, and some Gavin DeGraw playing softly in the background. It was almost midnight, and I was about to head to bed. I was simply going to skim through it...or so I thought. It wasn't until I was about 3 pages in that I realized I wasn't going to be able to flip through it. By the end of the first chapter, I was hooked. That's right...it took ONE CHAPTER. That's all. About 3 hours later, I was half-way through reading the book. I finally had to MAKE myself put it down...and it was ONLY because I knew I had to work the next morning. Anytime I had a spare moment, I continued my reading...and it literally took me just under 2 weeks to read all four books. As previously discussed in my last post, it doesn't take much for me to get addicted to something. Not long after reading the books, the first movie came out. I watched it 11 times. That's right...ELEVEN TIMES. Thankfully, I calmed down after the movie. I saw the second and third movies only twice each. Haha...
So, there it is. The story of how I began my love-affair with Edward Cullen. This next movie will be packed with all of the things I've been waiting for: Wedding, Honeymoon, Baby. THIS is why I am so excited. Seriously, my absolute favorite thing about the Twilight Saga is how innocent it is. Yes...there are vampires and werewolves. But, the love between Edward and Bella is so pure. The innocent romance between them is, sadly, something we don't see anymore. I cannot tell you the last time I watched a movie where the main couple made it a point to practice ABSTINENCE. That alone is something I truly love my youth kids seeing. I love how this book series made it OK to stay a virgin until marriage. The way they take things slowly, and just have a sweet romance has my youth girls wanting nothing less for themselves. Even though there is the OBVIOUS unrealistic aspect of it (with the mythical creatures)...I try to use it as an example. I try to point out how sweet Edward is, and how waiting until marriage for consummating the relationship just makes their story that much more amazing. To me, more love stories should take a cue from these stories.
So, when does all this excitement take place? ONE WEEK!!! That's right...November 18. This is when it all happens...when FOREVER is just the beginning...

Pinter-vention...please?

So I've been trying to decide what I want my first blog post to be about. I finally decided to write about my latest obsession - PINTEREST. Now, I will be the first to say that it does not take much for me to get horribly addicted to something. Not like cocaine, or anything like that...but like...mind-numbing, time-wasting things. Remember when Myspace was cool? I was hooked. I thought it was the most amazing thing in the world! Then, one sunny afternoon...my old college friend, Kacee, introduced me to a little thing I'd like to call Facebook. Needless to say, the minute I filled out the registration information on that slate blue web-site...I was addicted. Having an avenue to keep in touch with old friends I hadn't seen since my glorious days at good ole' Spiro High, along with all the ones I've made along the way...it was WONDERFUL!!! My favorite thing about the old Facebook was getting to update my status with whatever random-ness I could think of. So, a few months ago, Facebook changed their formatting...AGAIN. It's new home page now has a creepy feed that gives you constant updates of all of your friends. Through this, I kept seeing people talk something called Pinterest. I was intrigued. I found out that it had fun recipes, and craft ideas. As you can imagine...I NEEDED to find out more...ASAP!!! I soon figured out that it was a popular iPhone app, which broke my heart. I searched far and wide to see if there could have been an Android app, since this is the phone I have. Sadly, no such thing existed. One day, I saw a picture on a Facebook friend's feed of some yummy dessert they had made from a recipe they found on Pinterest. I decided to investigate when a possible Android app would become available. It was then that I stumbled upon the actual Pinterest web-site ((Sound the Hallelujah chorus)). Now, I can honestly say my life is that much more technologically complete. My dear friends and co-workers (KaCee and Donna) and myself have attempted several of the recipes already. Let me just be honest and say some of them were DELIGHTFUL. HOWEVER...there were a select few that were EPIC FAILS. One recipe in particular was for these little ditties called Resurrection Rolls. Basically, it was marshmallows dipped in butter, rolled in cinnamon and sugar, and wrapped in a crescent roll. Now, keep in mind that when I finally printed the recipe for them, it came complete with a Bible story of the resurrection of Jesus. Now, please do not get me wrong when I say what I am about to say...but...REALLY??? As we made these bite-size desserts, we laughed, and laughed...and laughed some more. It was just comical. I love Jesus. I really do. But comparing Jesus to marshmallows?? That was just a bit much. So, we followed the direction to a T. We ended up with 32 of those bad boys. How did they turn out? AWFUL. Here is what they were SUPPOSED to look like:

Cute, right??? WRONG!!! This picture looks like they are tiny and precious. Lies. COMPLETE lies. This is how they ACTUALLY turned out:

They were MASSIVE!!! And awful. They burned on the bottom because all of the buttery-sugary goodness rolled OFF of the marshmallow, and stuck to the bottom. PLUS...the crescent rolls didn't catch ANY of the taste. They were SUPER bland. And hard. It was TERRIBLE. After we picked the marshmallow out a few of them...we realized we couldn't make ourselves like them...and tossed them.


Like I said earlier...not ALL recipes turned out like those sweet Resurrection Rolls. I got this recipe for this amazing iced drink called Frozen Hot Chocolate. For me to find the perfect words to describe it would be nearly impossible. Let's just say it was like a tiny, chocolaty miracle in a mug. Here is how it turned out for us:

Looks amazing doesn't it? It tasted even BETTER than it looks!!! Anyhow...there it is. I find myself scouring Pinterest high and low for more and more recipes to try. And on top of that, I find myself looking for fun projects to do. I have never had a NEED to be so creative in my life...until Pinterest.


For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of being introduced to all that is Pinterest...I suggest you stop what you are doing RIGHT NOW...and join this ever-addicting bandwagon. Trust me...you'll waste so much time...and LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!

http://pinterest.com/