Catch up

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.  Things have been quite busy for us since Thanksgiving, so I apologize for not getting anything new posted.  My goal the rest of this week is to get caught up.  I have a good sized list of posts for this blog as well as lots of recipes to go up on the food blog.  I was sick the whole week before Christmas and still feeling pretty out of it, so I am off to take a nap before I get started. 

Crazyness

Just a short note to say I won't be able to post some blogs for a few days.  Maybe Thursday, but might not be till next week.  Had a lot of stuff come up.  We also just got home yesterday and Chad and I are leaving again friday for four days, to celebrate our 1 year anniversary!!!

When I do return:

I will have Frames Part 2 ready... our picture arrived today and I am going to try and finish the magnetic frame this wednesday.
I will have our advent calendar done, going to work on it tonight while I wait for Chad to get home from work.
I also hope to have the Thanks board done, a little late, but at least it will be ready for next Thanksgiving.
Also, we received our first Christmas card (the ones we are sending out also arrived today) so I am going to get the wreath done too.
I also want to share about our Thanksgiving in Branson- wonderful time with family, some shopping, and 2 fun days at Silver Dollar City!
And in honor of our 1 year anniversary, I want to write about our wedding, lots of wonderful DIY ideas included!
Also, still need to write the posts from my devotional book.


Ahh, so much crazyness... I love this time of year... but I still can't believe I was crazy enough to have my wedding in the middle of holiday crazyness!

Wow

So in the last 24 hours, my pageview number has jumped from 415 to 530.  Wow.  I had actually a giveaway planned for when it hit 500 and was going to post the entry about it as soon as I got back into town on sunday (thinking it would take that long to get to 500) and now its come and gone!  I am honored!  I didn't start this blog wanting to hit a certain number or anything, it was mainly a place for my musings.  I subscribed to over 30 other blogs (and more are added everyday as I find them) and I get a lot of great ideas from these blogs.  Craft projects I never thought to do (which is all of them, since I never think of doing craft projects), recipes to try (although those get dumped on the food blog), organization ideas (small space=little room for stuff) and so much more.  Without these blogs, I wouldn't get these ideas.  If I can help some else have that "I should of thought of that, it will benefit me so much" moment all the better. And everything I post about I am usually pretty excited about (whether it's because I finally did a craft project without giving up or finally found a space for that item or whatever).  While most of these posts are still my musings (it's is my blog after all) I have tried to include more posts that other people might find enjoyable and interesting (not that my normal life isn't enjoyable and interesting... it is... at least to me.... wait you mean it's not to you?  oh, oh well ;-)).  And as always I hope everyone finds something here for them.  Again, I am honored by the pageviews!  Without you, it would just be me talking to myself (and I do that more than enough).

I do have some giveaways planned (my first!)... more info coming after the holiday. (Happy Thanksgiving everyone).
I also have my first reviews coming up too (more firsts).
The food blog will get updated (it's been awhile!)
Also, part 2 of the Frames Project will be posted (sorry, won't get to it before we leave!)/
Along with 3 other projects I am almost done with.
I have also finished more of my devotional notes that I would love to share with you.
Plus so much more.

I hope you all will continue to follow what I got going on.  I welcome any comments, inputs, or ideas you have. 

Again, HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL.... see you next week!

Emergency Preparedness Kits

Just a quick post for you today.....got a lot on my to do list before we head out of town on Wednesday.   Going to try and get the frames done and update the food blog before I leave... can't guarantee much else.

Here are just a few tips for you if you are wanting to start an emergency preparedness kit... (and it is a good thing for everyone to have!)

This week/weekend as you do laundry (and every week after that till you have enough).... instead of throwing away the lint from the lint trap... store it in a qallon sized ziplock bag.  Once your bag is full its ready to be added to your kit.  Have one bag for each kit (which you should have one kit for each family member).  Why?  Easy, Free Fire Starter Help!  Thanks to my dad for this tip (I think he got it from one of his safety magazines at work, but he didn't pass on the copyright info to me).

Also, I saw Hand Warmers in Target's dollar bins last week.  You know those things that you just squeeze, they pop and ta da Instant Heat...

Even better I saw a bigger package of the same Hand Warmers at Home Depot for like $1.50.  Pick some up while you are out doing some shopping and set them aside (maybe in one of those big shipping boxes the UPS brings some of your christmas presents in...) till you are ready to make your kits.

As soon as you can, sit down and write a list of everything you need for the kits (sometime soon I will be providing such a list) and keep it in your wallet... this way when you are out shopping you can check the sales racks and pick up some stuff on the list (You can find a lot of what you need at dollar stores too!).  As you get items, just keep adding them to your box.  Once your list is done (or at least done enough that you can go shopping and get the rest of it one day) set aside a day to actually pack the kits. 

Stay tuned for more Emergency Preparedness Tips!

Frames Part 1

Here is another DIY project.  I only have part of it done, but thought I would share with you what I have....

Part 1: Dry Erase Frames
Part 2: Magnetic Frame and Frame Display (coming soon in Frames Part 2!!)

First gather your supplies: Frames with Glass (we got ours from Michaels).  We picked out 12x12 frames, but you can get anything you like.  Paper to match the size of your frame.  My sister had 1 sheet in each frame.  I bought an All Seasons pack, because I wanted to change mine each season.  You will also need either Alpha stickers or you card stock if you plan to use a Cricuit or other way of getting cardstock letters. (sorry for the bad photo... i forgot my camera and had to use my phone).

Our supervisor for the project (phone pic)

This project is fairly easy... First, just pick out your paper.  This frame has 12 pieces in it, 1 for each month.  This frame is actually done... Since it has the months written on each page, I didn't add stickers.  This is my Monthly Events Frame.  I will write any important dates we need to know for the month (birthdays, holidays, etc.) (phone pic)

My sister bought stickers and put them on her pages before sticking them in the frames. (phone pic)

Here is one of her finished frames! The other frame is going to be a Notes board.  She used stickers to put her and her husbands name at the top and the boys names at the bottom.  It is a red wine color paper.  She has them side by side near her kitchen phone.

Here is the finished Menu board... I chose not to put the days of the week on mine.

I also did a Countdown board!

And a To Do Board

Use some Dry Erase Markers and write right on the glass.  Easily wipes up with a towel!

Here you can see the countdown board has been temporarily changed to a special Christmas countdown.  This was a page in my All Seasons pack and I thought it was cute.  Next year during November the countdown board will be changed to a I am Thankful for... page.  That is the great thing about these frames... you can change them out.  The possibilities are endless.

These two boards will go in the middle of the other four.  The top one will be a picture of Chad and I.  I just ordered a picture from our wedding for it... although it won't stay that for long.  Each year on our anniversary we are going to take a picture with us holding the picture from the year before.  That picture will be in that frame.  The bottom frame will become a magnetic board (coming soon).

Here is how they will be set up.  I am waiting till all 6 are done before I put them on the wall.

 Stay tuned for Part 2 of the project.  The estimated delivery date for the picture is 12/1 (Just in time for our anniversary picture on 12/4!).  But I want to get the magnetic board done before we leave out of town Wednesday afternoon and the frames on the wall... so we will see.

I still have 3 projects to finish in the next few week... I am waiting for pieces for all 3 still.  One is the Give Thanks board, I am waiting for the envelopes I ordered to arrive (supposed to be by Tuesday).  The second is my Christmas card wreath.  I am waiting for the clothespins to arrive (supposed to be by Wednesday).  The last one is my advent calendar... the box apparently shipped but the tracking feature isn't working...  Hopefully it comes tomorrow.

I would like to get 1 or 2 of these done before we leave Wednesday... but I have an expressive test in ASL 1 Tuesday night... so most of Tuesday will be spent practicing for that.  Monday I am watching Dvan.  Plus, I still need to finish the laundry and cleaning that didn't get done today because I was wrapped up in my craft projects.  Also got to pack, not only everything I need for our trip (we are going to Branson with my father in laws family for Thanksgiving and won't be back till Sunday) but also the food we need... If it sounds like I have a busy few days this week... I do... which was why i wanted to get these projects done and posted today!

Hope you have enjoyed them... if you attempt them I would love to see your pictures!  I don't think I will be attempting any more craft projects this year, but would love your ideas for some simple (still learning) DIY projects for the new year.  I still have to finish getting all my new systems ready for the New Year... can't believe 2011 is almost over!

I have been getting a lot of pageviews for my craft projects... I would love some comments from you all... Even if you just say "hi!"