Table Box Centerpiece

I have been really wanting some kind of centerpiece for my table that wouldn't be too tall, but would fill a big space and that I could change out for different holidays or seasons.  I have seen these beautiful wooden boxes on the internet and decided that would be so perfect!

 

So my amazing husband made this for me - to my exact specifications.  haha :)

The measurements are:  3 ft. long, 7 in. wide, and 5.5 in. tall.

Here is the end a little closer up.

 

I painted the sides and edges dark brown, then I smeared petroleum jelly randomly in spots (on the edges, corners and some on the sides). 

 

Then my sweet husband spray painted it for me in an antique white. 

 

After it was all dry, I took some sandpaper and rubbed the paint off where the petroleum jelly was so it looks a little weathered.  Sorry, I don't have pictures of that by itself.  Hopefully you can tell what I did in the next pictures.

 

Here it is all decorated for fall:

 

 

 

Next year I will use real pumpkins and gourds, not those plastic-y things.  I have also realized I'm not very good at arranging these things.  My husband actually made this for me last spring, and I could never figure out what to put in it, so it sat in a closet until I got it out in September.  *sigh*

 

For Halloween, I replaced some of the pumpkins with little tombstones and added in some cute miniature skeletons.  I don't have a picture of that either - don't know why....

 

Hopefully I can come up with something halfway decent for Christmas.  I know what I want it to look like, I just have a hard time putting all together so it looks full and beautiful, you know?  Any suggestions??  :)

Christmas Advent Craft

Guess what I got the other day?!  A fun new Christmas craft!  I actually got two of them because my little sister is going to do one with me! :)

 

 

I found them at Porter's Crafts - I think it's a local craft store, so I'm not sure where you can get these.  They measure about 16.5"x 16" and the little doors are only 1.5" wide. 

 

You can pretty much do anything you want with these, but the craft store had two different ideas on display.

 

The first is a Nativity advent - very pretty!

 

The second is a cute little Santa one using different craft paper and embellishments...

 

This is the one I'm going to make, because I already have a more religious advent with Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem.  Plus, I want to use up some of my cute Christmas paper!! haha :)

 

I also bought the vinyl they had there, because I didn't want to try to make my own.  I will be cutting out my own numbers, though.

 

We are going to make these in a couple weeks when I go to visit my sister, so I will have to update and show you what we ended up with.  I'm so excited!! :)

 

UPDATE:

Here is the one I made - I LOVE how it turned out!  So cute! :)

We bought the vinyl city scene at the craft store, because I was NOT about to try to do my own! haha  I did make my own numbers on my Silhouette though.  So many fun fonts!

I had so many cute paper scraps, it was so fun to use them.  They look so much prettier in person.  (Some of the paper has glitter on it.)  We stuck it all on with Mod Podge, so it's sealed really well.

My favorite part is the roof!  We painted it gray to match the brick paper we used for the chimney.  Then we hung some little Christmas lights along the edge.  Aren't they ADORABLE??!!  :)

 

 

Anyway, it was a lot of fun to make, and now I get to fill it with cute things! 

30 Day Squat Challenge!

Okay, I know I have been slacking over here lately.  I have been spending all my time running challenge groups on facebook, working out, and making healthy recipes - I have no time for crafts!!  Soooo sad! :(  I will have some new fun stuff up soon though.  Yay!

Meanwhile - you all should join me for a really fun 30 day squat challenge starting next week!  What is it you say?  It's exactly like it sounds...30 days of squats baby! We have a group on facebook, and every day you do the required number of squats and let us know that you did them.  Easy peasy, right?  You could do your squats while you are doing your hair in the morning, or fixing dinner - even while you're on the phone.  Some people have done them in the shower, but I don't know if I would recommend that.  Yikes!  haha :)

 

It's totally free, no obligation - just fun and hopefully effective!!  Grab a buddy for more accountability & let's ROCK those jeans this fall!!

 

Here is the squat calendar for you to use if you want:

 

 

 

Here is the facebook group link:  https://www.facebook.com/beth.m.clark.7?ref=name#!/groups/529048437167474/

Hope to see you there!! :)

Girls Camp Stuff

Well, girls camp is coming up next week, and my house looks like a craft store blew up! Haha 

I have 25 t-shirts drying on my deck that the girls and leaders bleached the other night.  I have canvases, paints, brushes, vinyl lettering, bracelet stuff, nail polishes, glitter - you name it - all stacked in a bin ready to go!! Whew!

 

This is the craft we decided to make:

 

Don't mind the colors - it's just kind of a sample to see if they would work.  I'm sure the girls will make them WAY cuter! :)

 

I bought little 6x8 canvases at Michael's, they came in a pack of 5.  Then the girls will put the lettering and temple wherever and however they want.  Make sure to seal the letters first by painting over everything with white.  (It makes the letters look really clean when you pull them off.)

 

Then the girls can paint however they want. I bought a bunch of fun, bright colors.  After everything dries, peel the vinyl off and embellish!  Super easy!

 

We are also making some cute bracelets with colored braiding cord/twine and beads.  I will update with pictures after camp. 

 

UPDATE 6/26/13:  Here are some of the canvases that the girls made...

 

 

And a couple more...

 

 

I love how they are all individual.  They had fun and did a really good job!!

 

 



I am also in charge of the camp awards.  I found a cute list online and made up some cards to go with them that we can fill in at camp. 

 

 

My absolute favorite is the Big Red award - for the girl with the brightest sunburn!! Haha (That's bad, huh?)

 

If you would like to print these out to use, here is the download PDF file.

 

I made them kind of small, because I was using the regular-sized candy bars and didn't want them to overpower the candy.  Hopefully you can make them bigger.  If not, just leave me a comment and I will upload some bigger ones. :)

 

Oh and I purposely made 2 of the Mentos awards, because I am giving those to the youth leaders.  They get to decide who gets each award and I didn't want them to have to do their own.  Make sense?

 

Happy camping to me!! Haha :)

20 Pounds Down!

These are my results so far - I still have another week of my 90 day challenge, but it's fun to see how far I've come!  It took me almost 2 yrs to lose the first 10 lbs, and only 3 months to lose the next 10 lbs!  I credit it all to my challenge group.  I was able to stay accountable and not give up.  I am going to be doing another challenge group soon - you can check out my fitness blog HERE for more information and to read more about my journey so far.

30 Day Summer Slimdown

 

On June 3rd I will be kicking off a 30 Day Shakeology and Clean Eating Challenge group. This group will run for just that - 30 days! It is a closed online support group where I will help you develop reachable health and fitness goals for yourself. We will start out with a week of planning and preparation. We will discuss using food as fuel, pairing lean proteins with complex carbs to give you energy all day long and you will learn how to make healthy eating a lifestyle and not a crash diet!

The point of this program is to teach you how to tighten up your diet so that you can break a weight loss plateau, trim any excess fat and look your best in 30 days.

These challenge groups are really fun!  I am almost finished with my 90 day challenge group and I probably would not still be working out and eating healthy if I didn't have the group for support and motivation!

 

You can learn more about it HERE! 

S'mores On A Stick

These are the treats I made for our Young Women's Camp Kickoff. They turned out really cute, and apparently they were delicious, too.  :)

 

 

Here is what you need:

 

pretzel rods

jumbo marshmallows

1 pkg chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

vegetable shortening

graham crackers

 

Carefully push the pretzel rods into the center of the marshmallows until they almost poke through, then lift up slightly so they are secure.

 

Put some graham crackers in a ziploc bag and crush with rolling pin until crumbs are fine.  Pour into small bowl.

 

Melt 1/2 the bag of chocolate chips with a couple tablespoons of shortening in the microwave.  Stir until smooth.

 

Dip the marshmallows into the melted chocolate, and roll in graham crackers.  If you are making more, you can repeat with the other half of the chocolate chips.  (I made about 24, and I used all the chocolate!)

 

I set them in a cup and put it in the fridge until the chocolate was set. 

 

You can serve them just like that if you want - I put them in individual plastic bags...

 

and then I displayed them in these cute buckets!  Fun, huh?  (They looked much better in person.)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Girls Camp "Blow Dryer"

I am helping with our church's girls camp this year!  I am so excited!  I have never even been to girls camp before, so this will be a new experience for me. :)

 

As I was looking around the internet for cute ideas, I came across these camp "blow dryers".  Someone was selling them on etsy, and I couldn't believe it because they would be sooo easy to make!

 

So I made my own.....

I don't know if you can read it or not, but it says:

 

Camp Blow Dryer

No electricity required!

Fully Automatic!

 

Instructions:

1.  Blow full of hot air.

2.  Aim at hair and release!

 

Okay, so I thought this was hilarious!  We are having camp at a campground somewhere instead of the usual place and there are no showers!  No electricity! No cabins - nothing!  Some have already complained about not being able to do their hair, so I thought this would be so perfect.  I'm mean, huh?

Here is what you need:

Small treat bags with zip tops

1 bag of large balloons

Blow Dryer instructions - download PDF

 

That's it!  Just print the instructions on cardstock and cut them out. 

 

Place a balloon inside of each bag and staple the intructions to the top. 

 

(I know, you didn't need the explanation - it's soooo easy - but just in case...) haha

 

I will probably put these in the girls' goody bags, or even in their packets on the first day of camp.  They would be cute as a pillow-treat/gift as well. (I obviously have no idea how this goes down.)

 

Have fun and Happy Camping! :) 

My Weight Loss Journey

 

I am about 6 weeks into a 90-day challenge group to get in shape and lose weight.  It's been really great for me because I have to post my workouts and what I eat EVERY DAY in the group, so it keeps me ACCOUNTABLE! 

 

I am also making lots of new friends who are going through the same struggles that I am, but who also want to make a change for a healthier lifestyle.  

 

I started a new blog to devote entirely to fitness and eating clean, so that is where I have been recently.  If you would like to read about my transformation journey, get healthy recipes, or even join in a challenge group like mine - HERE is the link to my blog.   

 

I would love to have you stop by and share in my journey.  I will be posting my before and after pictures (Yikes!) when I am finished.  And since this has all gone public - it will be extra motivation for me to stick with it and make some serious changes!!

Happy Easter!

I am so grateful for the Savior, and for His atonement.

May you all have a wonderful Easter!

Built-In Bookshelves

As you all know by now, we have been working on the fireplace wall in our family room.  For a looong time (way too long) we have had our tv in the corner.  You couldn't even see it unless you were in the coveted seat right in front of it.  Sadly, I don't have a picture of how it was.  However, I do have a picture of the basic setup.

This was after we got our new tv - before the bookshelves.  Our old chunky tv sat on the top shelf, over in the corner.  (Yes, we are watching Bubble Guppies.) haha :)  The other side was just empty - so it looked off balance and was kind of a waste of space.

 

We wanted to do some built-ins, but our main problem was the shelves had to be deep enough for our dvd player, dvr, etc.  Here is a picture of how the left side turned out.

This side was the trickiest because the edge of the bay window is really narrow.  Luckily, that was almost exactly the depth we needed.  I wish they could have been set back further from the fireplace, but oh-well, what can ya do?

 

Here they are finished.

 

I think they turned out pretty great!  (My husband doesn't agree, and wants to rip them out and have a professional build some.) 

 

Obvioulsy, they are still very much un-decorated.  I need to find some more things to go on them - they look so bare.  We also need to find a better place for the all the speakers.  Ugh! 

 

Anyway, there it is!  I have soooo much extra space now to put things.  Love it!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Quiet Book - Girls

Here is the quiet book I made for my daughter.  Luckily, I found the pictures I had taken before I gave it to her.  Let's just say she has loved this book! haha

In case you missed it, here is my Boy Quiet Book.

This is obviously the title page.  I wanted to make a cute little mirror to go opposite, but couldn't find those plastic-y fake ones anywhere! Oh-well.

I LOVE this ladybug page!  This was so hard for me - it was the first time I had ever sewn a zipper!!  I am so proud of myself for that!  It turned out okay, don't you think? :)

Here is another picture after it was in her book.

I had so much fun with this one!  I think my next project will be a whole set of felt food.  (I might have to learn to sew first. *sigh*)

I never took a picture of just the food, and when I got them out of my daughter's book, the corn had faded.  I couldn't remember how it looked - so I guessed.  Yeah, not so good huh? The first one was better.

I love these ballet slippers for the 'tie page'.  This page was my nemesis, I swear.  Grrrr!

Here is the original sketch - it's reversed though because of the Wonder Under. :)

Here is the dress-up page.  My sister drew the doll body from a mix of a couple different shapes we found online.  The dresser is a little pocket to stuff put all the clothes in.

These clothes are so stylish, don't you think? haha

Here is her complete wardrobe.  I wanted to make soooo many more - like pajamas and a swimsuit!  But I didn't want the book to be any thicker than it already was.  I think doing just dolls would be fun, too! :)

Button-up flowers - so sweet. The buttons are the biggest I could find, and they are wooden, so I painted them and scruffed them up a bit.

This is the same clock I made for the boy book.  I made this one first though, and thought it looked a little too Mickey Mouse for my taste, so I changed it to burgandy and grey.  (It totally looks like Mickey Mouse, huh?) haha

This is probably my least favorite page.  I don't know why - my daughter loves it, but to me it's just...eh.

The last page is a tree with snap-on apples.  I sewed every.one.by.hand.  Ugh!  Since then, I realized that my Crop-A-Dile does snaps - what!?  I guess that's what I get for not paying attention to the instructions.  The little tire swing actually dangles from the tree branch.  (Very securely, I might add.)

Here are a few of the templates if you want them:

Ballet Shoes PDF

Clothes PDF

Girl PDF

Dresser PDF

Food PDF

Clock PDF

Well, that's it!  I had sooo many cute ideas for things to make with felt.  From puppets, playmats, and a nativity scene, to seasons and alphabet quiet books.  It was the whole reason I named my blog "All The Quiet Things". Ahhh well...now maybe I can go finish some other projects. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!