time? whats that?

How come when it's spring break and there is no school life gets crazier and I'm more busy than when its not spring break? Maybe I'm confused on the definition of break.

Awww

When I got to Jake's house last night he looked at me and said "I'm glad I have a princess to come home to every night, or my life would suck!" seriously?!? officially melted.

Invisible Children

The name Invisible Children wasn't just a list of names in hat followed by "publicity for our company so we can get famous" and "give me your money so I can buy myself a yacht" Think about it..Invisible Children. Thousands of people had heard about these children because of the Invisible Children movement. However, the latest and most controversial documentary, Kony 2012, has gone viral. So isn't that a good thing? Invisible Children want to make these kiddos visible, so people can see what is going on. That was their goal and they achieved that didn't they? Whether you think its an annoying hipster movement or whether you are upset because "we have too many problems of our own" the goal is publicity and making Kony famous and Invisible Children have accomplished that. It's more than the rest of us have done, it's not my place to judge. I am here to have faith in God and what he is doing. Thank God that these kiddos are being seen and understood, even through a documentary from Facebook.

Valentines accordian box

I love making and giving people cards! There is just something about cards that can't be said anywhere else. However, Jake has so many cards from me because from the time I met him I have been giving him cards. So this valentines day I decided to get a little crafty and made an accordion box. It is super easy and looks so great!

I remember making one of these for some church thing when I was little, I found it and seriously stared at it for forever trying to remember how i did it, then i found an awesome tutorial online.

I used a jewelry box and simply covered it with paper. I got the "I Heart You" decals from the wonderful Hobby Lobby

 The box closes perfectly and upon seeing it Jake had no idea what was inside! I had to warn him to open it slowly because I didn't want him ripping it open and tearing the paper.

This gem was inside!
Its a book full of hilarious pick up lines I found online like;
 

I know

I’m not a grocery item

 but I can tell

when your checking me out

 

Your daddy must be a terrorist,

 because baby

you da-bomb

 

My love for you is like diarrhea,

 I just can’t hold it in..

Your lips look so lonely…

Would they like to meet mine?

He loved it and definitely got a giggle. I feel like my cards are always so sentimental and cheesy that I wanted to do something new. It was super fun and I had a total blast looking up all the ridiculous pick up lines. Like really, do people use these?!

 

it's hilarious not to mention it just looks so fun:)

Want to learn?

Head on over to http://sarahnielsen.com/2011/09/tutorial-snake-book/ and get crafty.

There are SO many options for this awesome book. You can create a little pocket book or a bigger book with pictures.

It can be a holiday book like my valentines one, or even a birthday card! Really the possibilities are endless here and not very many people have seen anything like it. Anyone you give it to will love it I'm sure, and if they don't....well just take it back and enjoy it yourself!

You can create reasons you are thankful, cards, picture books, anything!

Plus you don't have to use a jewerly box or any box for that matter. When it is all folded up you can decorate the front and back to look like covers. Or you can add card board and make it an actual book.

Another awesome idea for creating a cover would be to put ties on under the cardboard cover so they are held in place and you are able to tie the book closed.

Leap year

Leap year only comes every 4 years, how could we not celebrate?! The only think I could think of was something that had to do with frogs, get it, leap? Unfortunately it's too cold outside so leap frog wasn't an option. I began to look online about leap year activities and much to my surprise I actually found other people who embrace the holiday! I found this blog http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/what-is-leap-year/ and decided a time capsule is the perfect leap year tradition!

Sorry for the lack of pictures, if I put pictures of all the items we put inside it wouldn't be exciting to open it!

Jake and I went to home depot and got a clearance piece of wood for 56 cents (who knew I'm a money saver too!) and had a nice man cut it into 6 equal pieces. When we got home we realized that we didn't do our math and had to cut the pieces down a little more. My advice if you are going to make a wood box, think out how the pieces will fit together.

 

Then we screwed it together so there would be no peeking for 4 whole years!

 

and wala! Not half bad for creating a box last minute. It was super easy and fun to make. Plus it gives it more of a time capsule feel because I really can't open it unless I have a screwdriver handy. Let's be honest, I'm not going to take the time to go round up a screw driver to open this bad boy, but if it were just a shoe box, I'd totally peek.  

Then we took a dremel and carved leap year in the side to make it more official.

The best part a about this leap year time capsule is what we put inside! Jake and I wrote letters to each other that we cannot read until we open it leap year 2016. I have absolutely no idea what he wrote and the anticipation is killing me. The goal is I'll forget about it and it'll be a pleasant surprise in 2016.

 We also jotted down a few things about ourselves like age, weight height etc. As well as things we enjoy, favorite TV show, how much money we currently make, as well as goals that we hope to achieve or be in the process of achieving by the next leap year. This part was super fun to think about what you'll be doing in 4 years and where you hope to be. Many of our goals include being happily married, more connected with our church community, and buying a house. We also included a list of popular technology items because I can only imagine how that will change within the next 4 years. As well as prices for a gallon of milk, a 1 bedroom apartment and gas. 

Of course we took a picture of our little family (Jake, myself and Danger our bearded dragon) to put inside. We also invited Kaycie, Jake's niece, to draw pictures to put inside. She absolutely loved this idea and probably drew us at least 6 pictures. This is a great activity for families, kiddos love it and you will too when you see how much they have changed!

This was such a fun leap year and we will definitely keep this tradition going. Imagine how awesome it will be to open it when we're 60 and see what gas prices were as well as letters we wrote to each other when we were still "smitten" with one another.

what would you put in a time capsule?

Sister Shenanigans

Sister Shenanigans is a new thing my sister and I started to give us an excuse to hang out more. We love baking and making things trying to be the domestic creative people we are inspired by on pinterest. Corrine is a special ed teacher and gets super awesome things from her kiddos mommies. One mom told her about this awesome place in Salt Lake City called Wood Connection. So we decided hey lets go! There are so many things that we want to make that it was overwhelming trying to pick one project to start, but don't worry, we'll be back for more shenanigans!! I decided to make my (soon to be) last name for decor for my new house! I figured it is something that would be cute to put on a mantle.

I got plain wood blocks that we fairly cheap.

 

Then simply pained them black. I didn't paint the front because it will be covered with paper later on.

 Finally I used Modge Podge to attach the scrapbook paper. The great thing about wood connection is they have all the supplies right there in the store so you don't need to make any extra trips to a craft store for paint or paper.

 One little tip when applying the scrapbook paper; make sure that when you trace your object, in my case the letters, that you are tracing it the right side up. I put the letter down and ended up having to retrace all my letters because they were backwards. Good thing I hadn't started cutting the paper yet.

It didn't take long at all and was super easy! I thought it turned out pretty cute! You do not need to put anything over the scrapbook paper. The possibilities are endless with this technique and it looks super cute and professional. 

My sister made the most darling st. patty's day door hanger

her finished project can be seen here https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3227183959008&set=a.3227177118837.2156036.1248832989&type=3&theater