Arm-Knitted Scarves

While on Spring Break, I learned the VERY easy and VERY quick way to make a beautiful, warm, big, cozy and snuggly scarf! It is called Arm-Knitting! Before this, I have never knitted before or even attempted it...I've heard a few too many horror stories from people about it all just unraveling and falling apart when they try to take their project off their needles so I've stuck to crocheting for now. But! With arm-knitting, it made for a really simple project and by using really thick/chunky yarn, the scarf (or whatever you're making!) builds up fast so it makes for a super quick project that can be finished in under an hour! I watched this video, How to Arm Knit from Simply Maggie Blog and that's all I needed. She goes through each step very clearly and slowly then does it several times so you can get the hang of it....and of course, you can watch it as many times as you need to (I watched it quite a few times for a few clarifications here and there!) and she has more tips/hints on her blog. Also, there are several other fun projects as well on her blog!

Here are the two infinity arm-knitted scarves that I made while on Spring Break: The yarn I used was Loops & Threads Cozy Wool. It is SO soft and SO thick! When making these scarves, you can use super chunky yarn like I did for a perfect winter scarf OR a thinner yarn for a scarf that would be perfect for the spring when it's still a little chilly but not cold enough for a scarf this big and chunky! Happy crafting! :)

solid purple

grey and teal

SNOW DAY!

It is snowing, blowing and pretty nasty outside today and that means one thing....SNOW DAY!!! I despise of snow and really don't enjoy it one bit, but if it means that I get to spend the day at home relaxing and doing nothing with Jordan, then I will gladly take a snow day! Well, I already had the day off anyway BUT I just got an email from my professor that my night class is cancelled for tonight due to the terrible weather and driving conditions! And Jordan got the day off too...yipee! So that means we spent the day in our pj's all snuggled up with a movie marathon on and napping throughout the day and I crocheted some boot cuffs! I love me a lazy day with the hubs and pup on the couch! Today has been such a great and exciting day around the Easton home! 

faux (and cheap!) "Canvas" Prints!

After doing a lot of Pinteresting and blog surfing, I have came across several tutorials on how to make your own canvas print. I love the look of the canvas prints but I really hate the price! I am too cheap and too crafty to pay a price like that for one print! So I have been determined lately to make my own "faux canvas prints" and combined a few tips and tricks from various tutorials I read and came up with a system that worked out great for me and the results are awesome!!! Even Jordan stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he walked in the door today from school and was awe struck. His response was, "wow! Those are really awesome!!! When did you get those?!" To which I was happy to respond with, "I MADE THEM!" It's days like today when I am extremely grateful to have my mom's crafty and creative genes!

Here's what you will need:
-foam board (I got mine from Lowe's and they will cut it down to the size that you need so they cut a whole board into 16x20 pieces so one board gave me 15 totals pieces!)
-spray adhesive (I used Loctite spray for general performance/ lightweight bonding)
-engineering prints from Staples and the sizes I ordered were 24x36 so I had enough overlap to fold and cover the sides of the foam
-packing tape

1. spray the foam with the adhesive and then wait 5-10 seconds for it to get a bit tacky **otherwise it makes the ink smear when you wipe across it to smooth it/get the air bubbles out** Also! Make sure to not over-do-it with the adhesive because otherwise it can soak through the prints since they are so thin and that's when it will smear...so definitely wait the 5-10 seconds!
2. flip it over and fold up the sides making sure you have sharp corners like wrapping a present and tape the folded edges across the back with packing tape!
3. And that's it! I used some Command strips to hang them since they are so lightweight and definitely do not need to be hung by nails!

the final products!!!
I got the quote canvas from Janelle for Christmas
And two of our favorite wedding pictures perfectly compliment it!

Definitely loving our new wall decor and happy to finally have some awesome wedding pictures up! We have a digital picture frame that we got as a wedding gift and have it loaded with wedding pictures as well which I love seeing them change but these big 16x20 prints look awesome and for the price, that makes them even better! 

Glitter Wine Bottles...and a very lazy Sunday

What quickly went from being a very productive day between crafting, decorating and grading papers, has now turned into a very lazy Sunday. I'm not sure what just hit me but damn, it does not feel good. There's been a stomach flu bug going around work and in the office and I think it finally caught me. Woof. I'm glad I got one craft in and finished earlier though so now I can be posted up on the couch in the fetal position the rest of the night between trips to the bathroom. Here's what I made for my first Christmas craft of the year! I have been saving wine bottles each time I finish one and waiting to use them for various crafts so I finally decided it was time to put some to use! This was a very easy, quick and cheap project that turned out really cute!

Glitter Wine Bottles!

so festive for our mantle!

Here is what you will need:

-wine bottles of any shape and size

-mod podge

-loose glitter of any color

-sponge brush

cost: about $4.00! I already had the wine bottles and brush along with the mod podge but it is usually $4.99 at any craft/hobby store (and always make sure to use a 40% off coupon!)

Directions:

1. soak the bottles in hot soapy water for about 30 minutes to remove the labels. This took the labels off entirely for the most part then I wiped them off with a sponge where it didn't come off. Dry bottles entirely.

2. mix mod podge with loose glitter. Make sure there is plenty of glitter in the mod podge (pour in so much that you'll almost think "wow that's way too much glitter!") You want to make sure it is heavily concentrated otherwise you'll end up doing ten layers!

3. paint on one layer and make sure it's even other wise it will dry and cause bumps and clumps of glitter

4. I rotated bottles so I painted one layer of gold, then moved onto red, and then green...and just rotated them around. I ended up doing two full layers and then touch ups where necessary!

I can't wait to try out some more Christmas crafts and projects that I have seen online and obviously on Pinterest! Maybe this year everyone will be getting homemade projects for presents...made with lots of love of course!

DIY flannel infinity scarf

I've spent the day lounging and fighting off what I hope is not about to be strep throat and/or double ear infections. Sucky. My immune system chooses to fail at the most inopportune times but what can ya do. Between naps, studying, reading and hacking up some nasty stuff from my lungs, I couldn't stand just laying around anymore. Which led me to Pinterest of course and I saw some pictures of flannel infinity scarves made from old flannel pajama pants! Every year on Christmas Eve, Jordan's family has a cool tradition of giving new pj's to sleep in and then everyone spends Christmas morning kicked back in the new pj's while opening presents. So I figured Jordan would have a few pairs of flannel pants that he doesn't wear anymore or that have shrunk so I started rummaging through his closet...and low and behold, I found two pairs he was willing to let me refashion into an infinity scarf! Good thing Christmas is less than two months away so he can get a new pair of flannel pants (and hopefully I don't shrink them...whoops, my bad. I dry things just like my Dad...) Anyway, this project took me only 30 minutes to do and the result is a fun, flannel infinity scarf that will keep me nice and cozy! And even better, I can wear it on game days because it is black and gold! I combined a few different tutorials that I read through and came up with one that worked the best for me so here's the directions!

frumpy flannel pants before...
fun game day infinity scarf after!

start by cutting the inseam of the pants to the top.
do for both legs.
this works great if you have a puppy staring at you who wants
your attention instead of a another craft....

cut off across the top where the inseam ends.

next, open up the two pant legs and lay them on top of each other
wrong-side out (so the outer seams from the original pants should be facing out)

pin the bottom end together and then sew.

after sewing the ends together, that doubles the length of your fabric!
now, fold the fabric long ways (hot dog style) with seams still wrong side out.
basically, you should have a tube formed
then pin the sides and sew up the long side.

once the long side is sewn, turn the tube right-side out.
then take the two ends (cut off one of the hems because this makes the fabric really bulky and hard to sew through)
and feed one side into the other just like a half inch or so.
Then pin and sew the ends.
Since it has the original hem on it still, this makes for a clean seam!

And that's it! A very easy peasy project! And probably free for most people because who doesn't have a pair of flannel pants stored away somewhere that you can't quite part with yet?! Well, now you have reason to and give them a fashion upgrade! I love the new combination of two of my favorite things for the winter: flannel and scarves! 

first (of many!) refashion project: frumpy sweater into fun cardigan

What is a "refashion project" you might ask? Well, it is taking something old, used, recycled, worn out, too big or too small for you clothing or whatever it might be....and refashioning it into something fun, fabulous, new and totally usable again! It reminds me of the concept of an old book that my mom used to have that I was obsessed with and it was called "From Trash To Treasure". I loved looking at all of the projects and pictures wondering how they took something as simple as empty pop cans and turned them into a Halloween wreath! And after all of the pinning and Pinteresting I've been doing, I needed to take my turn at refashioning and I think I found a new favorite hobby!

What sparked this project was a trip to the consignment store that Kat and I made over the weekend when they were here. Which by the way, the weekend was an absolute blast. The Hawks won and we had a great time with Scott, Kat, the kids and our friends! Lots of laughs, good chats and talks with one another and an overall, fun time! So like I was saying, Kat and I made a trip to Stuff and we hit the jackpot! We each got a ton of awesome items, some still with tags, and some looked barely used! And as always, we got it all for one hell of a price! Several things we bought were only a quarter...yes, only $0.25!!!! And the rest of it was pretty much all $2.00 and under with a few exceptions! Kat had originally pulled this sweater off the rack but then saw the size and said it'd be way too big or could be paired with leggings, boots and a chunky sweater. But then I had a lightbulb go off in my head.....my first refashion project! I snagged it up and said, "I'm going to attempt to make this into a cardigan..." And that is exactly what I did!

I successfully turned this size XL sweater from H&M, which was originally priced at $38.00 and I got for $1.75, to a size M cute and cozy cardigan! The project only took me about an hour total! And that's because I added 8 buttons and button holes....some of the holes aren't 100% perfect by any means, but since it will be buttoned up anyway, I wasn't too worried! And I had thread that perfectly matched the sweater so it helps to disguise some of the crooked stitches around the button holes! I can't wait to find the next sweater at Stuff or Goodwill that is waiting to be refashioned!

I've got spirit...And a post wedding chop!

SURPRISE! My post wedding chop has officially happened!!! And I love it! It feels 100 times better, lighter and healthier. And now that I cut off all the length, it made it look even more blonde which means I can put off highlights for a little while longer...I definitely like the length/cut on me the best because I think it suits my face well and makes me look more my age or least "older" without aging me toooo much! haha if that even makes sense?!

AND it looks like the crafting bug is here to stay! And with football season around the corner, I sewed myself a new Hawkeye dress just in time for tailgating season...who says football and cute dresses can't be paired together?! I got the inspiration from some pins on Pinterest of course and decided I needed to make myself one! Why spend $50-60 on one from Scheels or on-line when I can craft one myself exactly how I want it?! Yay for having the crafty gene, thanks Mom! To make it, I used a shirt of Jordan's that he never wears anymore then bought the black and white polka dot fabric for $4.00....I already had the elastic and black thread so the total project cost was $4.00, whoop whoop! Another successful DIY sewing project in the books!

Updated TOMS

I love my TOMS and everything they stand for. It's an amazing company and the guy who created it well, job well done sir. The shoes are super comfy, fashionable and affordable. AND every time you buy a pair, a pair is donated to kids who don't have shoes. Awesome. I'm all for it. However, because I am so obsessed with them, I wear them very frequently....maybe a little too frequently. So much so that I wore a hole right through them on each shoe where my big toe hits! I didn't want to part with them and since I had some extra fabric left over from another dress project, I made two patches that fit the front portion of the shoe! I used some fabric glue to attach it then pressed in along the seams and put a few stitches around the corners to secure it. Now I have my own personalized, refashioned and still comfy TOMS! I love easy DIY projects!

my own bride dress!

I've realized throughout the wedding planning process, that I'm a sucker for cute, fun, jaw-dropping, awesome photo props. Whether it's a hair piece, photobooth items, signs, monograms or clothing, if it gets my attention and I keep coming back to the picture to look at it, odds are that I've duplicated it somehow. Which is what led to me to make my latest wedding creation....

The Bride Dress on Etsy

So, I saw this darling dress on Etsy and knew two things right away: 1. I'm not ever paying $45.00 for a dress like that and 2. My mom could make that or I could make it. Obviously, I chose the latter. So, recently I had been searching different stores for a dress similar to this style, either strapless or a "tank dress". I had also been looking at fabric for something that wasn't 100% cotton and trying to find a tank top to go with it to sew the two together and literally, make a dress from scratch. Turns out trying to find fabric that isn't 100% cotton is next to impossible so I resorted to finding a dress under $10.00 that I could customize. Since I know I can and will only wear this twice, I refused to spend more than $10.00. I have to set a limit somewhere! So with that in mind, I happened to make a pit stop on a whim to my favorite consignment store Stuff one day on my way home from work. I was merely browsing because "you just never know what could be there!" when my eyes came across this hanging on the rack....

Perfect!
white dress with no stains, working zipper
and smooth front to sewn onto!

And it's from The Gap!
I'm convinced that whoever had this just cut
the tags off and never even wore it! 

First thing I did, was measure the width and height of the chest part on the dress.
Then I printed off "Bride" in this cute cursive font.

I traced it onto dark purple felt and then cut that out next.
I also have a big bag of old pins and brooches that I dug out...
this blue one is the perfect size and shape!
My very own something blue now! 

To get the dress flat and stretched out the best I could,
I put this box in it then zipped it up.
This helped keep it flat while I glued on the word
and I knew there wouldn't be big gaps.

After the glue dried, I stitched through the lettering
to make sure it's nice and secure!
And plus, now you can see that beautiful blue brooch!

Happy happy bride to be!!!!

I'm ready to party in this with my girls
at the bachelorette party!
And also can't wait for the cute photo ops
wearing this while getting ready the day of the wedding!

Here's the breakdown of the project as for what you'll need and what it cost me in money and time:
What you will need:
-a dress!
-fabric or felt to use for the word
-fabric glue
-needle and thread
-brooch or pin optional

Total cost: FREE!!!! Yes, 100% free! Once again, I had a balance on my account at the consignment store so I got the dress for free! I also already had the brooch, fabric glue, felt and needle and thread.
Total time: 4 hours....two of this was due to waiting for the fabric glue to dry. I didn't want to take any chances so in the meantime, I facebooked, pinterested, and blogged! 

So, there it is! My very own customized "Bride Dress" that I will totally rock and can't wait to show off! Now hopefully nothing tooooo crazy happens to it at the bachelorette party that calls for some serious stain removal or repair before the day of the wedding! Overall, this was a pretty simple project and will make for some fun cute photos! I'm slowly turning into one of those brides who are embracing everything white! And as I should, because you can only wear white so often and for so few events so I'm going to live it up and love it while I can! Less than 80 days to go until the wedding!!!

Bridesmaids bags, bags, bags.....

Time to cross another big to-do off my wedding list and mark it to-done! Over the weekend, I painted the rest of the bags for all of my girls in the wedding. While in Milwaukee, Janelle had painted the bottom 3/4 of the stencil onto 7 of the bags then when I got home, I finished painting the top design onto each of the bags along with the last three bags. They turned out way cuter and awesome than I had even planned on! I love when that happens! My mom also helped with the project by finding the monograms for each of the bags and she gave me the carbon paper to trace them on. Yay for teamwork and having an awesome crafty Mom and sister! This is my breakdown for these fun and easy DIY bags!

Here's what you'll need for the bags:
-plain canvas bag
-stencil of your choice
-paint
-paintbrush
-tape

Total cost of the project: $40.94. I made 9 bags and one mini bag for my niece, Teagan. I used a 40% off coupon for everything that I purchased (Jordan and I made several trips to Hobby Lobby....) and that saved me an extra $25!

Total time: 6-7 hours. It was time consuming because I had to be careful with the stencil as some of the dots on it were really small and close. Also, tracing and painting on the monograms took about 30-40 minutes a piece. Slow and steady does it for this project!

1. Start with a plain canvas bag of any size you'd prefer!

2. Align the stencil between the handles to get it centered on the bag.
Tape it down so it doesn't move while painting.

3. Use a short and stiff bristle brush and minimal paint!
Also, I worked my way around each pattern by pressing down on the stencil and
only dabbed at it to ensure it only filled the stencil and so no paint got underneath
(otherwise, it just makes the whole pattern run together and that doesn't look good!)

4. Once the paint dries, use carbon paper to copy on the monogram.
I used a fine point pen to make sure it would press hard enough and copy onto the bag.

5. This is how the bag should look with the stencil finished
and monogram copied on.

6. The end result!

7. All of the bags finished! I hope my girls love them as much as I do!
And they can use them after the wedding too which is fun...yay for multipurpose wedding stuff!
(that doesn't scream it came from a wedding!!!)

Close up of my niece's  flower girl "mini tote"
She's only 4 so I thought the curly-cue letter was perfect for her!
I'm sure she'll fill this with her barbies, hair clips, and shoes!

I can't wait to give these out to all of my girls...but first, I got to keep gathering the "stuff" that's going to be inside the bags as part of their wedding gifts from me. But that I'll have to keep a secret so I don't ruin all the fun for the girls! These are so much more personal than ordering a bag and having it embroidered or something...and it was so much more cost effective as well! Just another successful DIY fun and affordable wedding craft for the books! I wonder what my crafting instincts will lead me to next!

monogram twine wreath

Crafting is well under way that's for sure!! I have completed my E monogram wreath but didn't take pictures while making it, just of the final product....I was halfway done and realized this, oops! So for the next project, I'll try to get some pictures along the way! I looked at several pictures and blogs to decide how I wanted to make the wreath and then I looked at more tutorials on how to make the felt roses. For the wreath, I found this great jute wreath monogram tutorial and pretty much followed exactly what this lady did. I started by wrapping the E vertically because I wanted the final product to have the stripes going horizontal. Finally, for the roses, I found this handy felt rosettes tutorial and turns out these little babies were way easier to make than I had thought they would be! Super fast and easy, now that's my kind of craft (and accessory that could be glued onto pins for a sweater or bobby pins for my hair!) So, what I found worked best for these was to round the corners of a square piece that was as big as my hand to make the biggest flower and for the next two, I just cut a smaller square. The first few I tried, I cut straight lines around in a circle, exactly like the link above but I thought the flowers seemed too "flat" and too perfectly round...not very flower like! So, the final ones I made and used, I cut the circle using a wavy line instead. Which gave it the petal look and added depth. Then I added some pins I have for the boutonniere's and they have a small pearl on the ends. They gave the finishing touches to the flowers and wreath overall! Perfecto!

Here is what you'll need to make the wreath:

-paper mache letter (Joann's Fabric has these for only $2.99!)
-2 rolls of thick jute/twine
-hot glue gun and glue sticks
-ribbon
-scissors

Felt rosettes:

-felt

-pins with pearl end
-hot glue gun

-scissors

Total cost: less than $8.00!!! I used a 40% off coupon for everything!

Total time for the project: 3-4 hours....and that including stopping for dinner and an episode of Modern Family :)

E Wreath For The Head Table
Between Me & Jordan!

Close Up Of The Flowers.
See what I mean about the wavy edge and pearl pin?!
I love the changes I did to make them my own!

I can't wait to hang this up in our home after the wedding. I'm slowly becoming obsessed with monograms! It will look so cute hanging in an entry way...or maybe our bedroom...or outside on the front door...or maybe in a future baby girl's room if her name starts with E...hmm, the possibilities are endless! Anyway, here's the final craft I have done for now. It's all of the table number holders. These were all very easy to make!

What you'll need for table number holders:

-block of wood

-skinny metal rod

-alligator clips

-hot glue gun

-tulle

-ribbon (I used 4 rolls)

Total cost: less than $10.00...my mom bought some of the materials so I'm estimating but I know she also used a 40% off coupon for what she bought! :)

Total time: 1 1/2 hours and I made 30 of them.

This one is pretty basic so here's how I did it:
1. My mom had pre-drilled holes into the wood and cut the skinny metal rods so that was a big help. I would suggest doing that!

2. Put a dab of glue over the hole and press rod into the hole

3. Put a dab of glue on the alligator clip and attach to the open end of metal. Then, use pliers to secure the alligator clips around the rod.

4. Cut squares of tulle large enough to gather up around the wood block. Mine were approximately 10 inches so I had some extra that could be fluffed up.

5. Cut ribbon long enough to tie around the tulle. I found that 10 inches is long enough to tie a small bow so I did that for the ribbon used around the tulle and alligator clip.

6. Tie ribbon around the top to cover back of clip and any excess glue. 

7. Insert table number in clip! (Which I'll do....as soon as I finish those which are next on my list!)

Table Number Holders
to coordinate with the rest of our theme!

That's all I have for now! I hope you enjoyed the pictures and tutorials. Maybe it'll spark some inspiration in some of you to try a new craft or to work on something you've been wanting to do! Today officially mark the start of Spring Break so tomorrow I'm leaving for Milwaukee until Tuesday to spend the next 4 days with Janelle. I can't wait!! I love having a long weekend hanging out with just my sister. We plan on doing lots of lounging, laughing, gossiping, bitching, more lounging, drinking, and more laughing. I can't wait to see what kind of adventures we find while together. I might even take some wedding stuff with me because Janelle is obviously just as crafty as me and my mom. So we'll see if we get anything done but if not, I won't complain because just lounging and chilling with my sister for 4 days is going to be good enough for me! Happy Spring Break/Weekend Everyone!

Mac Attack

After numerous heart attacks caused from my old and not so trusty Mac anymore, I'm typing this post from my very own brand new laptop folks. Ahhhh!!! This has been a long loooooooong time coming for me and I'm so happy that this day is finally here. I have been saving and saving and saving then used half of my tax return so that I could pay for this bad boy. Not only pay for it with cash, but pay for it comfortably to not feel like I entirely broke my bank. Seriously?! What's happening to me that I'm becoming so fiscally responsible?! Whatever it is, I love it. No more stress and worries that keep me up at night about money and no more waking up in the morning and thinking how am I going to get gas, groceries and pay bills all in this same week? I'm also happy to announce that because of all of this and my entire 180 I've pulled on my views about spending and saving that Jordan has also jumped on board with it! This makes us both more conscious about what we're spending and where it's going....can't have babies or that dream house without a good financial foundation! Anyway, that's not the point of this.


I traded in my old iBook...yes, I was still rocking an iBook which they don't even make anymore. And I upgraded to an HP. I figured, I'm not making movies or doing anything fancy with pictures that I can't do a pc so I might as well get something that's worth the cost of what I'm going to be using it for. This new computer has everything I'll need to get me through grad school, wedding planning, and beyond. I love all of the special features about it. A fingerprint swipe for passwords and a built in webcam for skype? Um yes please and thank you. I'm feeling like I'm finally part of the cool kids club and I can now sit for 7 hours on the couch without being plugged into anything. Well, that's what the computer claims the battery can do.....and I just might have to test that out some day to prove them right or wrong. Whenever I can find 7 free hours to just lounge that is....


Well I've already crossed one thing off my craft to do list. Last weekend I tackled the tying of ribbons onto the bubbles and I'm so happy to say that's done. Now I'm working on the monogram E for the headtable and it's turning out cuter by the second. I will have a picture for sure when it's done. For now, I'm going to keep playing with my new toy and see what other cool features I can find :)

Happy National Craft Month!

March is National Craft Month!!!!!

Yay Happy March everyone! I'm so excited that March is finally here because that means that we're that much closer to it officially being Spring so hopefully the wonderful Spring weather will follow closely behind. Of course, I already have my doubts considering we're supposed to get 2-4 inches of snow this weekend, ugh! Why is that it can be nice and sunny, mid 40s-50s allllllll Winter, and then as soon as March nears and the first day of Spring is in sight on the calendar, we get snow?!! Figure it out already Mother Nature! I wanna see the green grass, fresh blooms and hear the birds chirping already!

Well for March, I'm going to be taking full advantage of it being National Craft Month. Hobby Lobby, Joann's Fabric and Michael's are all having awesome sales and promotions that are going to be happening all month long. Awesome! Last weekend I got a head start and I made all of our wedding table number holders and they turned out way cuter than I had pictured....as soon as I find my camera cord, I'll get a picture posted. Also, each of these stores always has a 40% off coupon available on their website so even if an item isn't included in their sales, I know this helps me to cut costs too. Jordan has also been very helpful to come along with me to all of these stores to help buy stuff with a second 40% off coupon since I can only use one per visit. What a great guy....not like he really had a choice in coming with me or not, but what a great guy nonetheless!

Here's what I have lined up to complete throughout the month of March:

-Our table number signs: We're using pictures of us at each age that corresponds to the table number so I'm excited to see the fun pictures of each of us growing up

-Monogram E wreath for the head table

-Mailbox decal for card box

-Ribbon on the bubbles (not much of a craft but just something that needs to be done)

-Collecting paint chips for the place cards

Whewww!! Looks like I've got quite the to-do list ahead of me but thankfully, I'm already stocked up on supplies for almost all of those projects! I love DIY's and I'm so happy that my wedding is full of them. There's nothing more special and unique than knowing that everything at the wedding was done by either myself, my mom or someone close in my life. Here's to making March one hell of a crafty month and the wedding kick ass one DIY project at a time! 

down time

Happy New Year's from (in 214 days!)
The future Mr. & Mrs. Easton :)

Well our New Year's Party was a complete and 100% success.....minus one minor accident. Apparently, I was "standing like a ballerina" and so Jordan tried to mimic how my feet were, leaned towards me for balance which then made me step backwards and I stepped into the corner trim around our floor/wall in the kitchen. And it instantly sliced my heel open. Just split right open. Yep, nasty. Ouch. F bombs were dropped, as well as my drink, and blood pooled on my heel. However, we got it cleaned up and bandaged though and the party went on. As annoyed as I was during the day while I was baking/cooking/cleaning (and watching Jordan play xbox and test out our new surround sound system AKA not helping me at all) I loved having all of our friends there and "hosting" the party. Makes me feel like a real grown up and all like a housewife. Even Paisley loved all of our friends there because she got belly rubs and treat all night like it was her job.


Now that New Year's has come and gone, Jordan is already back at it for school for his J-Term class. Boooo. While I'm still on break until the 17th, yikes. At least I start back at work this week, finally. Jordan and I have spent the past few days on the couch snuggled up with Paisley and alternating between watching the college football bowl games or some new movies that we each got for Christmas. I love our families and our friends but damn, I also love the peace and quiet of it being just the two of us and now that the holidays are over, it's nice to have this time together. I mean, just because we live together, doesn't mean we really get that much down time or "us time" together! And for how stressful and down right upsetting/frustrating/annoying the first few weeks of our engagement were, I'm so happy that we're both back to who WE are as individuals and as a couple. 


I have a lot on my to-do list to accomplish over the next few weeks....it includes finishing our photo guest book, making the table numbers, and finalizing the design for our mailbox-cardbox. As of today, there's 214 days until the wedding and tomorrow will be exactly 7 months! Ahh!!! So happy to have lots of things knocked off the to-do list and I'm ready to tackle this next bunch of crafty DIY's!! Today I also kicked off my own "Bridal Bootcamp" and did my first kettlebell workout. HOLY SHIT!!! People who swear by these babies really weren't lying....my heart was pumping and I was sweating like whoa. I didn't get bored with the workout at all, which is usually my problem so hopefully these DVD's keep me entertained and sweating! I'm constantly paranoid about my dress fitting and have already had a few nightmares about it not zipping up....Jordan laughs about this. And I don't find it funny. one. bit. Hence why I made the resolutions I did: more sweating, less sweet eating.  


Well I hope everyone's New Year's celebrations were wonderful and that 2012 was welcomed with open arms! Hopefully all of those resolutions haven't been given up on already! As for me, guess I better get back to my to-do list for now!