Hello friends.  Sara here.  

The beautiful family that Lisa married into suffered a tragic loss this past week.  Lisa's brother in law, Greg, passed away leaving behind his beautiful wife, Amy, and their TEN amazing kids. Amy is in a very fragile state right now and the families

 are pulling together to do what we can to support them spiritually, mentally and financially. 

Lisa and her husband have expressed that for those who are interested, the most immediate need is money for funeral expenses. A memorial fund has been set-up as a PayPal account in case you can donate. Anything, even $5 will help: Paypal.com: GregDomgaardMemorial@gmail.com

Also, a memorial fund has been set-up for the family and kids:

America First Credit Union
Greg Domgaard Memorial Fund
Acct.: 9055609

100% of the funds will be used for funeral expenses and care for the ten children. I know now is a time everyone is touched by financial strain in one way or another. But maybe skip eating lunch out one day this week and donate, instead, to help this family. 

The Lighten, Domgaard and Platt families thank you for your support and prayers. 

Sara Jane

Shauna: Halloween Costumes

 Fall is here! Can you believe it?  I love this time of year, so much anticipation for the upcoming holidays and so many exciting activities to do with the kids! Last weekend my husband took me and the kids up to Frisco, Colorado, it was the perfect first day of fall.  We rented bikes and rode through the Vail pass.  Let me tell you, it was GORGEOUS!!  The town also just happened to put on a firework show that night, and we had a blast! Now I am completely in the Fall state of mind! 

 

As we enter the holiday season my boys are getting more and more excited about Halloween.  Clark has been has been changing his mind about what he is going to dress up as, and I've been trying to gear his mind away from anything too nerdy, however they would make adorable Hobbits... I love the idea of sewing original costumes and last year Clark was Peter Pan while Wes was a French man.  This year Clark finially decided he wants to be a knight(pretty nerdy), and he insists that Wesley is going to be his dragon(even nerdier...).  

I've been searching Pinterest for ideas of knight costumes, and will probably watch Knights Tale to shed some further light on the situation.  For Wesley, I've decided to make something like this dinosaur costume from Pottery Barn Kids and modify it. Speaking of Pottery Barn Kids, have you seen their costumes this year? Ridiculously adorable and horribly overpriced.  They make for some great inspiration.

Also look at this adorable superhero costume!! I am in love.  This would be so easy to duplicate, and I'm sure you could find someone with a embroidery sewing machine. 

 

Well once I finish the boys costumes, I'll post them on here and hopefully they'll stay together long enough to go trick or treating!

Sara Jane: DIY Gifts

I am one of those annoying people who has 99% of their Christmassing (yes, that is a word in my home) done December 1st EVERY year.  I do if for two reasons: (1)  I LOVE the entire process of buying/making gifts and then giving them to others and (2) So I can really enjoy the entire month of December and focus on the family traditions that we have created within our own little family.

During the year, when I am out shopping, I am constantly thinking of who would like what.  Two years ago, I had my children's entire Christmas done in January (there was a fantastic sale I could not pass up).  This year, however, I have been slacking soooooo, I thought I would share with you some of the projects I have recently started working on for Christmas.  I love doing homemade gifts, especially for my children, so I can personalize the gift for the person who will be receiving.  Here are a few that I've started....

1.  Car Caddy
2.  Doll with carrying case
3.  Mini Coloring Tote
4.  Magnetic Scrabble Board
5.  Little man ties
6. Sticky Grams (such a cute idea for grandparents!)

I just finished one super simple gift this weekend and wanted to share it with you.

I went to our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore this weekend looking for materials that would inspire me to do something crafty.  This store is one of my favorites!  Not only do they serve a pretty incredible purpose but they have random parts and pieces that you can't find anywhere else.  We got our beautiful claw foot bathtub at our ReStore for a steal!

Anyway....while there, I discovered their tile section.  After holding a tile for probably 3 or 4 minutes, I remembered seeing a coaster somewhere that a person had made from a tile and some modge podge.  Perfect!  I grabbed a few tiles (only $0.10 each!) and headed home.

For this coaster project, you will need, tiles (however many you want to make), mod podge (mine is homemade - Just a 50/50 mixture of Elmer's glue and water), decorative paper, felt, a clear high-gloss spray paint (not pictured), and a hot glue gun.

First, cut your paper so that the paper squares are just slightly smaller than your tile.  Next, paint your tile with a thin layer of mod podge.  Place your decorative paper on top of the tile/mod podge.  Paint another layer of mod podge over the decorative paper.  Allow to completely dry (I had them dry over night) .  Finally, spray a coat of clear high-gloss spray paint on top.  To finish off the coaster, cut out felt squares to line the entire bottom of the tile (I simply traced the tile onto the felt) and glue them on with the hot glue gun.  So simple and they turned out really cute.

There are so many ways that you could personalize these coasters.  I will be making some for a certain family member that will have pictures on top of the decorative paper.  Another fun thing you could do is to first paint the tile and then add paper/pictures.  Or, how about adding stickers to say something fun.  The possibilities really are endless.

Until next week...

Sara Jane

Allison: Crocheting Dreams

Hello, everyone!  I hope you're all enjoying the beginning of my favorite season... Fall!  I, on the other hand, am stuck in almost 100 degree weather, with only dreams of Fall.  In a few months, when the leaves have all fallen, and everyone is sick of gray, ugly days, then I'm sure I'll start my bragging about 65 degree weather in January.  But for now, I'm sad and homesick for the NW.

I was just sitting here at my computer and realized that it's my day to post.  Oops!  This two-kid business is still throwing me for a bit of a loop.  I just ventured to Wal Mart, and was enjoying a few minutes of relaxation before my newborn wakes up and realizes she's still in her carseat and not nursing.

I'm getting distracted... okay... today's post...

On our way home from the store, I stopped to get the mail, and found a package from my good, amazing friend, Chiara.  She had sent Norah this incredible little hat!  What?!  When I moved from Washington she was barely learned to crochet and had only made a couple of blankets.  Now, she could start a business!  It is truly amazing that we can go from not knowing a skill, to being practically an expert in all things related to that skill.  Chiara... I'm proud of you!  And I LOVE the hat!!

If Norah had been awake, I would have used her for the model... not a cup.  :)

A few posts ago, I posted a picture of the beautiful blankets that both my sister, Lisa, and good friend, Jen crocheted for Norah.  I have wanted to learn to crochet for awhile now, and have even ventured to my favorite teacher to learn... You Tube.  But, all it got me was a scarf that didn't quite look right, and another skill to add to my "Someday I'll Learn" list.  But for now, I'll leave it to creative people like Chiara, Lisa and Jen to make my kids cute things.  :)  What do you wish you could learn, but just haven't quite dedicated yourself  enough yet to learn it?

Hope you all have a great week!  Someone go jump in a pile of leaves for me.  :)


Allison

Lisa: Being a Scout Mom

Hello again!  Sorry, everyone, about last week.  I'm not fired, am I?!  I'll pretend I'm not. :)

So this week I thought I'd give you some of my ideas on being a Scouting Mom.  I have two boys, as you may know, and both are involved in Scouts.  My eldest got his Eagle rank last year and my youngest is still in Cubs.  With all that scouting, I have found a few things that really work for me in keeping organized and helping my boys!  Hopefully they are a help to you, too!

The first is clear nylon thread. 



Now, as you may also know, I am not the best seamstress. I try but don't really sew straight! This thread is the perfect solution for me.

See?  You can't really notice it.  Well, if you look closely you can but not from a distance!

 

It is available at most stores in their thread section.

Another useful thing is tot use baseball card holders to keep the blue cards they give with the scout awards.



 When the boys go for their Eagle, they have to prove they earned their awards and know the dates they were awarded their different ranks and badges.  This is perfect to keep the blue cards organized and have all that information when they need it.  Plus it is nice for them to look at and see what they need to earn still.

 

Here's some of my oldest boy's cards in the holders.  I just kept it all in a three ringer binder along with the merit badges he was working on and camp info. and projects, etc.  It is a little easier now that everything has gone digital but it is still nice to keep a hard copy in case a badge goes missing or isn't awarded.  I found these at Hobby Lobby.

 

The last thing I'd like to show you is a mother's ribbons that I got from our local scout shop.

 

 

It has one side for all the Cub Scout Mother's Pins and another side for the Boy Scout Mother's Pins (These are someone else's ribbon, by the way. I don't have a picture of mine!).  Like I said, I bought mine but these could be very easy to make and it is a lot easier for the boys to pin onto rather than their mom's shirt!

 

There you are.  A few ideas for how to help as the mom of a Boy Scout!  See you next week!

 

Lisa

Sara Jane: Spray Paint

A few years back, I discovered spray paint and all the fun, amazing, creative ways that you can use it.  My last spray paint project was our TV stand.  It is BRIGHT yellow and so very pleasant in our family room.  I haven't used spray paint in quite a while though so I decided today would be a good day to get reacquainted with my old friend.

For this project, I went to our local Goodwill store and found these three great pieces:  two tins (each $0.99) and one ceramic rooster ($1.99).  Then I headed to Joann's (which happens to be next door) and picked out a few colors that I liked.  If you don't want to spend oodles of money on spray paint, Walmart has cans for only $0.99!  Its not the most quality spray but it works fine.

Anyway, here are the three pieces I bought today:

First up was the rooster.  I have a special place in my heart for roosters.  Last year, we bought four chickens.  My chicken's name was Mrs. Pettitoes.  She was absolutely beautiful but one Sunday, when we came home from church, she was crowing at our back door and we realized that Mrs. Pettitoes was actually a MR. Pettitoes.  I was sad....

Anyway, I love roosters.

For my rooster, I wanted him to be a deep red.  To start, I sprayed my first coat and let it dry for about 15 minutes.  Then I sprayed another one.  Remember to use short, even sprays for the most even color.  After that coat, I only had to do a few touch up sprays in little cracks and here is how he turned out...

We don't have a permanent home for him yet but I am hopeful that he will have a nice place in my kitchen one day soon.

Next up were my tins.  I have seen spray painted tins all over Pinterest lately so I thought I would give it a try.  Well, the first tin (the one with the handle in the picture above) didn't turn out so well.  Since it is rather hideous (very gloppy and runny), it is now a small trash pail in the backyard for the kids.  The second time, I remembered to slow down and take my time (something I am constantly reminding myself of).  This one turned out perfectly!  For this tin, I sprayed very small areas to start. It took me about three coats and about 30 minutes to get it just right.  It turned out the perfect color and really transformed the tin.

I will definitely be spraying more tins around the holidays to use as the wrapping for gifts.  I love how they look!

Since I had this beautiful tin, I decided that today was a good day to do the cookie of the month for my father-in-law.  I tried out something new and loved how it turned out.

Using my favorite pie crust recipe, I made little cookies (simply make the dough and shape it how you like, sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the top then bake them at 450* for about 7 minutes or until lightly browned).

While I could eat pie crust all day long, I know not everyone likes it so I put a small jar of some pear jam my husband just made in the middle.  We had to test everything out before we gave them away and let me tell you, they were scrumptious!  It tastes exactly like you are eating a bite of pear pie.

I have decided that I will one day soon make an entire platter of these pie crust cookies and then put out all my favorite jams - blackberry, strawberry, pear, peach- and just eat pie all day.  Yummmm!

Happy crafting, my friends!

Sara Jane

Allison: Banana Bread Alternative

Hello, hello!  I'm actually going to try to post a "normal" post this week!  My newborn is napping, and my 2 year old is momentarily "happy" (aka not being crazy), so I thought I'd hurry and post.

I've had some bananas getting overly ripe on my counter for the past few days now, but the thought of making banana bread AGAIN, didn't sound very appealing.  For some reason, I keep buying bananas, and they keep going bad.  That equals A LOT of banana bread.  This usually isn't a bad thing, but I wanted another option.

Then this morning, I saw a recipe from one of my favorite bakers over at Cookies and Cups.  This is such a fun blog, where Shelly posts so many amazingly-devilish recipes.  When I saw her recipe for Banana Bread Cookies, I knew I had to try them.  So... I did!  :)  You can find the recipe here.

These cookies aren't exactly what I had imagined, but I really like them!  In Shelly's recipe, she used chocolate chips (which I wish I'd tried).  I used raisins in my version, and thought they came out tasting like a cross between oatmeal cookies and banana bread; two of my favorite treats!  Shelly also posted a recipe for Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (Mmm...), but I didn't have enough cream cheese to attempt it.  You better believe I will next time!

They were so good, Isla kept trying to sneak one.  :)

Regardless of whether you try this recipe or not, you should definitely go check out Shelly's blog.  Everyone have a great week!


Allison