Just call me Martha

I've been off all week and I have really been into crafting. First the headboard and yesterday I made some decorative candles.

I was at hobby lobby and found a candle that I loved, but I felt it was way too expensive to buy and I wanted two. So I got inspired to make my own for far cheaper.

I bought two candles originally $14.00, but they were half off. Two crosses for $20.00 and some ribbon that was half off as well for $1.50. Total comes to $35.50 which was the cost of the original candle!




I actually decided to keep the wrapper on because I liked the pattern and just used the ribbon to cover the middle part and the words. I used hot glue to put it all together. It only took me about 5 minutes to complete this project.



Love them!




Today I'm working on painting an old ugly mirror for one of the guest rooms.

Loves!

Headboard

I've been wanting to make a headboard for quite a while. I picked out fabric forever ago, but could never find a comforter I liked to go with it. While out yesterday exchanging some gifts I decided I would go into Homegoods just to see what they had. They had some amazing deals going on and I found a comforter that I loved, but it didn't match the fabric I previously bought. I went ahead and decided to get the comforter and get new fabric, well while on our way out I saw a really pretty white quilt and I thought it would look so pretty on the end on the bed with the new comforter. I then decided I would just use the quilt to make the headboard and I love the way it turned out.

I thought I would share how I made it because it was pretty easy and far less expensive than buying a real headboard.

Materials:

1. Particle board cut at Lowe's - $6.00
2. 2 rolls foam batting - $9.00
3. 2 sets of Button makers - $6.00
4. Quilt - $17.00

TOTAL: $38.00

Extras (things I already had not counted in my total):

1. Staple gun & staples
2. Extra fabric to cover my buttons (I used one of Jeremy's old white t-shirts)
3. Upholstery needle and thread
4. Drill

First, lay out all materials to make sure you have enough fabric & foam.




Drill your pre-measured holes for your buttons. Drill one large hole and a small hole next to it.




Then staple the foam batting and fabric down. It's easier to do the fabric with the board standing so you can make sure it's even.







This is what it looks like when it's done.




Then add your buttons. Go through the small hole first so when you are coming back through the larger hole will be easier to find.




Thread your button.




Pull it tight and tie in thread in a knot.




Voila!







Loves!

Born in Bethlehem

By Third Day

Baby Jesus, born in a stable, humble Savior's birth.
You left your throne in Heaven above, to live here on the Earth.

Baby Jesus, lying in a manger, crying for the world.
The Angels told the Shepherds of the Good News for us all.

Halleluiah, the King is here, given for all men.
For today the Holy Son of God, is born in Bethlehem.

Come now Sinners and you Saints, all peasants and all Kings.
And bow before the Earth's Redeemer, let all voices sing.

Halleluiah, the King is here, given for all men.
For today the Holy Son of God, is born in bethlehem.

Halleluiah, the King is here, given for all men.
For today the Holy Son of God, is born in Bethlehem.

Baby Jesus, do you know you'll die for all our sins?
Don't be afraid, for in 3 days, you will rise again. Cause you will rise again.

Halleluiah, the King is here, given for all men.
For today the Holy Son of God, is born in Bethlehem.

Halleluiah, the King is here, given for all men.
For today the Holy Son of God, is born in Bethlehem.

For today the Holy Son of God, is born in Bethlehem.

Hope you have a joyous & blessed Christmas!

Loves!

Christmas Card Display

Thanks to Lindsey at The Bargain Blonde I have this adorable card display in my kitchen!







I didn't have time to pick up any cute clothes pins so I just used double sided tape to hang them on the ribbon. I think I'm going to use two ribbons next year too, I think this one has too much going on.

Thanks Lindsey!

Loves!

Kendall

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Merry Christmas to me!

Posting from my new IPAD!!!! Thanks hubby! Best christmas present ever!!!

Loves!

Blessings!

My heart is filled with joy this week because of these two blessings!

Our close friends Tiffany & Chris had their baby girl, Tinley Kay Ann! How beautiful is she?!?! I love all that hair and her big bow!

Also, Summer from B is for Brown announced yesterday that she is 7 weeks pregnant! She has gone through some really tough stuff over the past year including several failed IVF attempts and the passing of her sweet Daddy. This is just an amazing gift from God!

So happy for both of them!

Loves!

Some good advice.

So this weekend my parents came over for Beckett & Buckley to have a play date. We decided to make dinner and dessert while they were there too. My parents brought some yummy ham and we decided to make Jalapeno Bacon Macaroni & Cheese to go with it. I've had this before at Del Frisco's and it is DELISH! I found a recipe HERE. I totally recommend you try it. I'm even going to make it again for a side on Christmas eve it's that good.

But.... One little tid bit of advice before you do... Wear gloves or some over protective coverings when cleaning & cutting the jalapenos. I did not do that and I was miserable for about an hour.

I washed my hands really good after cutting them, but apparently the oil stays on your hands for quite awhile even after several washings... Well I guess I rubbed my nose. Not a good idea. The inside of my nostrils started burning soooo bad! I was complaining about it, but it wasn't something I couldn't handle. But... my mom still suggested I flush my face with water.

WORST IDEA EVER!!!!

My entire face was on FIRE! My eyes, my cheeks, nose, lips, and every other crevice on my faced burned like a son of a gun! I continued to wash with every soap in the house. It just seemed to get worse. Jeremy freaking out seeing how red my face was and the fact that I was in tears at this point, googled how to make jalapeno burn go away and I ended up like this....

With tomorrow mornings breakfast (aka greek yogurt) smeared all over my face!

I look absolutely insane, but it actually helped and I felt much better!

Thank God for Google and greek yogurt!

Loves!

Confession...

Remember this post? The one where I said I was going to do this and stay on track? Well... I have been suckin it up! I just finished week 2 last night! I should have been on week 5 by now! How lame is that?

I'm pretty bummed that I haven't been keeping up with it so I figured if I started regularly posting my progress it might help me stay on track.

I'm going to try to finish week 3 this week as well. It's definitely a lot more running than the past two weeks so I'm a little scured... I downloaded some fun Christmas music and I plan to listen to it while I run in our neighborhood and look at lights! That should hopefully distract me from the inevitable panting and wanting to die moments!

That is all....

Loves!

Update: Precious Boy!

Well my parents finally found a pup! He had a pretty rough life and his previous owners hurt him pretty badly, so I am so happy that this little guy found a forever home with extremely doting parents.

His new name is Buckley! Since I like to think he is Beckett's uncle, I thought it was pretty hilarious that we could call him Uncle Buck!

His first photo shoot with my Dad.

Cuddling with his new Momma!

Buckley & Beckett's first Christmas picture!

How adorable are they!?!?!

A BIG BIG BIG thank you to Legacy Boxer Rescue! You guys are awesome and you will never know how much you mean to our family!

Loves!

Light of my Life!

That of course would be my sweet hubs! He is my world and I don't know what I would do without him. He makes me a better person and I learn so much from him. He holds me up and reminds me of what is important in life.

Love you tootie!

(Tootie is a term of endearment in our house btw! If I love you, you will pretty much get called that all the time! HA!)

My light also lit up our house (or at least paid someone to do it)! Made me so happy! I love coming home at the end of the day and seeing it all lit up! Now if the weather would just participate in the Christmas spirit it would be perfect!

Loves!

Very Merry Christmas!

I finally sent my Christmas cards out last week so everyone should have them by now and I couldn't resist posting them! Our photographer made them and I absolutely love how they turned out! I love that they have a religious element and that they don't look like typical Christmas cards.

Front

Back 

Hope everyone has an amazing Christmas!

Loves!

Christmas Questions

Found this fun questionnaire at The Glamorous Life of a Housewife, and decided to join in!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper definitely! I love to wrap presents and make pretty bows! I always feel so accomplished when they are all perfectly decorated under the tree!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial, I’ve heard too many horror stories of dogs marking a real tree. Although our friends great dane marked their fake tree! Can you imagine that puddle?!?!

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually The day after Thanksgiving!

4. When do you take the tree down? January 2nd. I like to keep the lights up for New Years.

5. Do you like eggnog? Nope. The hubs loves loves loves it though. As soon as it’s in stores we have to look through all the brands and find the one without nutmeg…

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I can’t really remember an absolute favorite. I loved baby dolls though and I always got so excited to get a new one. I don’t remember the name of them, but I was really into the babies that were a surprise. You couldn’t see what gender it was and it came with a card that you put in water and the babies name would magically appear & tell you had a boy or a girl, I always prayed it was a little girl. And I always got a little girl, now that I think back I bet that’s all they had.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad

8. Easiest person to buy for? My mom and mother-in-law

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Definitely Snail Mail. I get so excited when I get one!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I always get underwear and socks in my stocking, when I was a teenager I thought it was absolutely horrible and embarrassing, but now I love it and can’t wait to get new socks and undies!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf! It just makes me smile!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November, I was very proactive this year. I’m completely done except for stockings.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes. :-/

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? French Silk Pie! So Yum!

16. Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? Clear. Jer thinks colored lights are tacky. I think they’re festive so I’m working on him and trying to convince that they can look pretty!

17. Favorite Christmas song? I love them all. I can’t wait until after thanksgiving to bust out all my CD’s.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We don’t go anywhere far away, but we travel all over DFW visiting our three different sets of parents.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? No, sadly.

20. Angel, star or ribbon on top of tree? We just got a new tree and our previous topper (a star) is too small so don’t have anything right now. Maybe next year…

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? My family’s tradition was to open family presents on Christmas Eve and then a big “Santa” gift and stockings on Christmas morning. Being married and wanting to be with both families has changed up the plans a bit so we are still trying to figure out our traditions!

22. Favorite children's Christmas song? Definitely “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas”, makes me want to dance and march around the room while singing it at the top of my lungs! HA!

23. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Trying to make it to everything and getting stressed out about it…

24. Favorite ornament theme or color? Gold snowflakes! I love how they sparkle on the tree!

25. Turkey or ham on Christmas day? Ham

26. What do you want for Christmas this year? I really want a digital reader, like the Nook. I’ve started to really get into reading and I’m spending a ton on books!

27. Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa? No.

28. Age you discovered who Santa was? I don't know how old I was. I still like to pretend and believe. I do my parents stockings! So I’m Santa now!

29. Eggnog, hot chocolate, or apple cider? Hot Apple Cider! Yummy!

30. Traditional colors (red and green) or other colors? Love the reds, greens and golds!

31. Do you have any Christmas decorations on your roof? We have lights on the house. So... yes!

32. How does Santa get into your house? Chimney or magic key? Chimney

33. Do you prefer gifts or gift cards? Gifts, I like picking things out and seeing what people pick out for me! Much more fun!

34. Favorite children's Christmas Cartoon? How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

YOUR TURN!!

Loves!

 

This Week....

I'm in Atlanta for work...

It's absolutely FREEZING here! Tomorrow morning the high is... 5! FIVE!?!?!!? A single digit number shouldn't ever be the tempurature! I might not survive! It's supposed to rain and sleet on Wednesday too. Hope I can make it home... really don't want to get stuck at the airport...

Oh and an update on Beckett and his foster playdates:

IT WENT GREAT!!! YEAH!!!!

So proud of my boy! He was supposed to meet two boxers, but one got adopted. So he only met Castle. It went off without a hitch!! They played in the backyard without even a growl! So thankful for Beckett's foster momma (she's the best) and Castle's too. I love that there are so many people that love my boy and care for him so much! Makes my heart happy! Castle is scheduled to meet my parents on Tuesday evening and I know they are just going to fall in love.

We all know that Beckett loves the camera, but look at Castle! I think he's going to be a lil poser just like my Beck's!

Loves!

Nashville

I got to spend the weekend with this cutiepatootie!

She might be one of the prettiest babies I have a ever seen. I might be biased but I think she is one of the smartest too! Her Mommy, Teddy is my best friend from college. They live in Nashville and we don’t get to see each other nearly enough. I keep trying to convince them they need to move to Texas! I still have hope it will happen one day! Ha!

We had a pretty low key weekend, went out to eat, did a little shopping, but for the most part just hung out and caught up. It was sooooo strange seeing Teddy as a mom! I always thought I would be first! Ha! How the tables have turned! It actually hit me that she was really a mom when we were working on Riley’s birthday decorations around 1:00 am on Sunday when Riley started to cry. Teddy went in to her room to check on her, about five minutes later I peeped in a saw Teddy rocking her back to sleep. It was so sweet, but also made me realize it was real! Strange I know, you would think I would have grasped that concept already…

It feels really strange to know that we are growing up. I still feel like a teenager sometimes. Even though I’m married and we own our own home I still don’t always feel like an “adult”… Teddy seems like an adult now, maybe someday far away when we are ready to have a baby I’ll feel like a grown up too!?!?!? Who knows…

It was an awesome weekend and so glad I got to see Riley and spend time with my bestie! I feel very lucky to have someone like her in my life! Also very lucky that Jeremy's mom (Beckett's Mimi) stays with him when we are out of town. Love you both!

Loves!

Beckett & Homer

Well as I mentioned in my previous post the meeting didn’t go so well…. We were all so excited all weekend to meet him and introduce Beckett to his new partner in crime. My mom told us that Homer was a really calm good dog so we were thinking they would get along. Beckett has some serious issues with dogs… He is VERY specific about dog friends.

So Homer comes over and we introduce them in the backyard. There was about a minute of sniffing and then all HELL broke loose. Homer tried to put his paw on Beckett’s head, and well Beckett was not havin it… There was a lot of biting and nashing of teeth… We took Beckett inside and about 30 minutes later tried again. It went the same if not worse.

We decided to take Beckett to Petsmart and let Homer calm down. Well while we were gone my parents decided that Homer just wasn’t going to work out. He was way more hyper & aggresive than they initially thought and my dad was worried about how he would act if they were on a walk and another dog walked by. Not to mention that he was already as big as Beckett and is only 8 months old.

I feel so bad for Homer, but I know he will find a forever home that is perfect for him. I was almost in tears when we got back to my parents and kept telling them how sorry I was that this happened. My dad hugged me and told me that Beckett is part of our family so we will find a dog that works for him and that everything was ok. That made me feel so much better about the situation and so happy that Beckett is so loved by my family.

Amy, Beckett’s foster mom was called and she is now my parent’s adoption counselor. She is going to help us find them a dog that will get along with Beckett and I am so thankful for that. He has a play date this weekend with two potential dogs.

Keep us in your thoughts this weekend that we will find that special boy for my parents!


Loves!

Updates & Recaps...

I was lucky enough to have the afternoon off last Wednesday before Thanksgiving. So I strolled out of the office at 12:00 and went to have a yummy lunch at Whole Foods with Jeremy before I headed home to pack for me, Jeremy, and Beckett to go to my parents house for a couple days.

And since I had to pack for Jeremy I decided to play a lil prank and only pack him hot pink and lime green socks! HA! He was soooo excited about that! Hehehe!

They are only an hour away, but when we go we tend to stay a while. It’s just so nice to have someone take care of you. They cook, clean, take care of Beckett, and let us sleep in! It’s FANTASTIC!

Thanksgiving was amazing as usual. It was my parents, brother, Jeremy’s Mom (Kay), and his sister (Michelle) and her fiancé (Rod). I feel so blessed that we are able to spend thanksgiving with both of our parents (minus Jeremy’s Dad (Glenn) & Stepmom (Kim), maybe they will be able to join us next year <3). I ate sooooo much food and then continued to pile it in for the next 2 days! I couldn’t help myself… :-/

It was freezing on Thanksgiving day so my parents had to bring in their tomato plants and I somehow convinced them the make fried green tomatoes! They were DELISH! I couldn’t have been more thankful for some cold weather and one of my favorite foods! I didn’t take any pictures of Thanksgiving stuff on my camera though… they were all on my dad’s camera and the pictures sizes are too big to email… Boo!

Friday I was planning to do a lot of black Friday shopping, but I just couldn’t convince myself to get out of bed and deal with the crazies. I did get out later that afternoon and bought a few things. I finally got the materials to make Riley’s (My BF’s baby) 1st birthday tutu! It turned out way cuter than I thought! We also met Homer... That's a whole other post... I'll just tell you it didn't go well. Hopefully I will get to that tonight or tomorrow.

Saturday morning we finally got off our booties and took ourselves home! I cleaned the house a little and got cleaned up for dinner with Kim, Glenn, Michelle & Rod. We went to one of my favorite spots in Dallas, Eno’s. It’s a pizza place in the Bishop Art’s District. I love that you can eat tons of pizza and then walk it off looking in all the cute shops down there! I got a couple Christmas presents while I was there too!

On Sunday I think we were the most productive we have EVER been. I guess all the relaxation caught up to us and we needed to get busy. I cleaned the rest of the house, bought some more Christmas decorations as well as a new tree (our old one was from my apartment and looked teeny tiny in the new house), completed decorating the house, planted spring bulbs and winter pansies, and then wrapped presents!!! I was so proud of all of our accomplishments!

We even topped off the night off with a trip to Petsmart with Beckett. He was obsessed with the Guinea Pigs! We had to drag him away from their cages! It was too funny!

Hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend!

Loves!

A new precious boy!

So excited to tell you that my parents are adopting this little bundle of joy!! They are adopting him from the same place we got Beckett, Legacy Boxer Rescue. He is a HUGE 8 month old little boy who's name is currently Homer! Ha! They get him on Friday morning and I can't wait for Beckett to meet his new best friend! I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures and video of them playing! CAN'T WAIT!!! Please pray that Beckett likes him and they get along!

They are trying to decide what to name him. There's a debate between Baxter and Boo! What do you think?

Loves!