currently...

I'm writing this from our official nursery!  We finished all of the painting on Saturday, got the rest of the furniture moved out, and today the crib and changing table came to accompany our rocker.  (PS: Don't mind the "I desperately need a shower, it's crazy hot, and I'm cleaning the house" look)

                                           

I'm on cloud nine from our date night this weekend.  We had tickets to the Padres game and finally got to a game before the season ended.  I think they knew we needed a good night because they won, which-if you're from San Diego, know doesn't happen very often.  My highlight was seeing the sweetest boy with downs start jumping up and down when their closing pitcher came out, he was getting the whole crowd into his enthusiasm, and it made my cheeks hurt with how big I was smiling.  

I'm currently 6 months pregnant!!! We hit 24 weeks last Wednesday, and trust me-a pregnancy post is on its way.  All I can say is thank goodness I finally went maternity clothes shopping, but wish this heat would finally go away so I can wear everything! 

I'm swooning over this shirt for our little man...

Tiny Natives

I'm desperate for some pumpkin in my life.  It was all I could do to not buy a can of pumpkin when I went grocery shopping, but I refuse when it is still 100 degrees outside.  In the meantime, I will try to get in the apple spirit and dream of making these skinny minnie chocolate chip muffins. 

I'm watching Drop Dead Diva like it's going out of style.  We don't have cable so we use Netflix and Hulu Plus to entertain ourselves.  Since the fall season hasn't started for all of our shows I've been on the lookout for something to keep me occupied.  Can I just say that I love this show?!?  

 

I'm just overwhelmed with God's goodness through the latest She Reads Truth devotional on Daniel.  My heart is feeling all sorts of emotions, and I don't ever want this feeling to go away.  

My crafting itch is starting to creep up, and once I find time the first priority is to make a set of these

via

I'm blown away by how amazing my class is.  Our first week was superb.  And rarely do you hear a teacher say that!  They are the cutest bunch, and I'm shocked at how I haven't feel as overwhelmed as I usually do at the beginning of the year.  I'm truly excited for this school year and love these little guys so much already!

two napkins really do make a pillow

Happy Monday lovelies!  I hope you had a very beautiful and relaxing weekend.  Our weekends have changed a bit now that Daniel is working Sundays instead of Saturdays.  The transition has been harder than expected (I know, it seems silly that one day would make such a different).  We were in a groove on Sundays: make breakfast, go to church, grocery shop, relax all afternoon.  Now that he is working on Sundays we are limited when we can go to church.  Our church has an 8pm service, and last week we tried to go...it failed.  And I turned into that wife I didn't want to be.  I was upset that he can't just leave when he is "off", that we couldn't go to church, and it turned into the "Jamie Pity Show".  I know, it's not pretty.  And that makes me forever grateful for a loving, and forgiving, husband who never remembers these ugly moments the next day, and just hugs me through it all.  

So this morning I went to church solo.  And instead of being upset, I got inspired to catch up on some crafts that I've been wanting to do for a couple months.  On the list of things to do were make new throw pillows for the living room and new coasters.  

For the coasters I followed this tutorial and it turned out quite well.  I'm not very familiar with stenciling, so it was a bit of trial and error.  The cat kept jumping up on them, then the stencil would slip a minute later, paint was everywhere...in the long run here were the 6 that turned out: 

And the two that didn't.  

Next up were the throw pillows.  I attempted some last summer, and even though they were cute-they just weren't quite what I wanted.  I found the pillow forms at Ikea (after much digging around) for $6 each.  A friend mentioned that the best way to make pillows was to use fabric napkins!  Genius, right?  Off to Anthropologie I went and ended up spending way too much money.  They all ranged from $8-12 a piece.  So I decided to check our World Market, just to be on the safe side.  Turns out I was able to find napkins there just as cute, for only $3.99.  I ended up keeping one from Antrho and used the rest from World Market.  Oh, and the black and white one I can't take credit for-that's all Ikea.  Overall, I'm in LOVE with how they turned out and they are a beautiful reminder that we all have our moments and we can make something beautiful out of unpleasant attitudes! 

summer bucket list revisited

The bucket list.

I thought I was doing pretty well, and then all of a sudden I went to revisit my summer bucket list and realized that I have some catching up to do!  I should cut myself some slack because I have accomplished some items on my list.  

One of the most important ones was doing quiet time daily.  When we were housesitting it was so nice to sit on the back porch and read in their beautiful backyard. Unfortunately our back porch is minuscule and not very private from the other tenants in our condo complex.  I have been reading everyday and am so thankful for She Reads Truth, I'm currently going through "Living the Surrendered Life" and have been thoroughly touched and amazed.  

Another big project for me was to get more organized.  That has slowly, but surely, been happening and I'm saving up for an upcoming blog post.  I wanted to share with you today two projects that have finally been completed that I am fanatically in love with.  

The first one wasn't on my summer bucket list because I started it two months ago.  Yep, you read that right!  The Mr. and I saw some chevron canvases in our friend's home and he thought I could make them for our house, and our guest bathroom was the perfect spot for them.  They were pretty easy once I got all of the taping down, but it took the Mr. almost a month to finally hang them.  They're now proudly adorning the walls in our bathroom and I love them dearly.  

Funny story: We couldn't decide on what saying we should paint.  I also was making the stencils using my Cricket machine.  The first saying just looked awkward, and I kept going back to the verses of one of my favorite songs.  So I repainted, made new stencils and got to work.  Well, the stencils sat for too long and then paper stuck to my canvases!  I grabbed a q-tip and a small paint brush and got to work to clean up the lines and from far away you can't even tell!  I love all of the little imperfections though, they fit nicely into how much God does really love us.  

Speaking of organization and bathrooms I wanted to show you guys one of my favorites.  I picked these up from Ikea and headbands fit perfectly in them!  I like having my headbands out so I don't forget about them.  My blow dryer also fits perfectly and is easily accessible. 

I can finally cross off making my first maxi skirt!  Being me, it didn't go as planned.  After I got busy making cute baby shower gifts for Heather I decided to be ambitious, wake up one morning and make a maxi.  Well, I used this tutorial and I didn't have enough fabric, I didn't have a surger, I am still a fairly new sewer, and the thing wouldn't go past my lovely lady hips.  So, I called my sister in law and had her try it on, hemmed it to fit her, and now we have matching skirts!  To make my maki skirt I used this tutorial.  It's still a bit too big because I made sure I had plenty of fabric but I've worn it countless times now and am in love.  Now I've been on the hunt for lighter weight jersey knit fabric that has a cute pattern so I can make another one!

life according to my iPhone

Whew!  After this week I can finally take a nice big breath and embrace summer.  I honestly don't even know how this past week got so jam-packed and I'm definitely realizing that I need to embrace and accept saying "no" sometimes.  

I love looking back on all of these pictures to see how many memories were made this week.

Enjoy:

{1} Celebrating the last day of school with my fab five {2} My new teaching buddy for second grade {3} We survived!  This year we all were cleaning our credentials and survived the crazy amount of work thanks to our amazing mentor, Beth :) 

{4} Date night = sushi at our new favorite place just up the road from us.  This is what the Mr. ordered...I think he was more excited about the fire than his sushi {5} I fell in love with the high pony tail and bangs, and my chambray top layered over my black maxi {6} I'm sticking with my summer bucket list and enjoyed this bad boy my first day of summer.   

{7} My good friend, Danielle, and I got busy putting together an adorable gift basket for one of our friends who is expecting a baby girl!  My sewing machine and I became best friends, and I'm finally getting the hang of it.  I was super proud of the onesie, burp cloths, headbands, and blanket I sewed for her.  {8} How cute is her belly???  {9} Part of our school's fundraiser is auctioning off a day with the teacher.  I was so lucky to take one of my adorable students miniature golfing this week.  We ended the day with a picnic lunch at the beach and fro yo, of course!

{10} A highlight of this weekend was attending a wedding to a young couple we love to death.  It definitely deserves a post all to itself, but the wedding was absolutely adorable and breath-taking.  They kept their guests occupied with a cross-word puzzle on the back of their programs, so adorbs! {11} The cutest couple ever! {12} Best friends reunited.  We were so happy to see Nathan visiting from D.C. {13} Seeing my great college friend at the wedding was such a treat.  It has been a full year since we have seen each other and we always just pick up from where we left off.  

And now I'm off to tackle our crazy, messy home.  Holy smokes, I don't think it has ever been this messy before so wish me luck!!!

"be merry" bunting tutorial

This holiday I have slowly been adding some homemade decorations to make it feel a little more Christmas-y!  

Side Note: So this project started a while ago and I was a horrible blogger and did not take pictures of the first process.  But, I did take lots of the second half, so do not fret!

I had a vision: I wanted to create bunting that read "Be Merry", and I wanted it to be made out of burlap.  

So I started along making my burlap triangles and strung them with red material.  Then, I realized I needed to figure out how I would get the letters onto my burlap.  I scoured Wal Mart and Michaels for the perfect stencil for me to paint.  Sadly I left empty-handed...well at least with no stencils, I can always find something to buy among these two places.  

And so the bunting sat, and sat, and sat.  I wish I could remember when the thought struck me, but it was a stroke of genius.  I could use my Cricut machine to create my stencil!!!  

I pulled out my Cricut and used my George's Font cartridge.  

I cut out the letters so they were 2.5 inches tall and I used the shadow effect so that the letters were thicker.  The lovely letters were then punched out of the paper and I was left with...

My Stencil!  By this point I was on cloud nine that I figured out how to make my own stencil so easily and that my bunting would be up before Christmas!  

Then, I laid the stencil over the burlap and held it tight in place with my fingers.  Using a sponge brush and red paint, I went over the stencil.  I only used one coat of paint because that is all it needed.  

I lifted up the stencil with eyes slightly closed just in case it was a disaster.  But, TA-DA!!  B-e-a-utiful!  

Finally my bunting was ready to be hung.  I'm so very sorry that this picture isn't the best, I forgot to take more but promise to show it at a better angle later this week.  I love the simplicity so much that I want to leave it up all year long as a beautiful reminder to find joy in life.  

This project was filled with lots of firsts:

first bunting project

first time using burlap

first time finally feeling comfortable with my Cricut machine

first time creating my own stencil

first time stenciling anything

first homemade Christmas decoration

What do you think???

my first giveaway!

Hi everyone!  I'm jumping for joy over here because I'm offering my first giveaway today.  

If you'd like to win this:

Head over to Henning Love with the beautiful Meg!  This lovely lady offered to let me post my first giveaway on her blog.  And, you get to choose the color: teal or red.  So head on over, good luck!

I can't wait to bless one of you with this beautiful necklace!

http://henninglove.blogspot.com/2011/12/december-sponsor-and-giveaway-from.html

{thankful vol. 13} craftiness

Today I am thankful for this stressful trip to a new mega craft store with this beauty....

That made us burn one too many fingers...

But produced the most elegant of flowers...

And the cutest bracelets on the block...

That I accessorized an outfit with...

And also got uber-cute fabric to bless a friend's new baby with two adorable onesies...

And matching headbands!

Who would've thought that a stressful trip could produce so much goodness?!?  I'd call it a success!

diy applique onesie

One of my room moms just had a baby boy, and I decided to finally get my craft on and make some appliquéd onesies.  I found this tutorial online and got busy!

All you need is:

-Heat N Bond

-Scissors

-Onesies 

-Fabric

It is SO easy, that my mind was racing with ideas for future projects.  Just follow these 4 easy steps and you will have your own, personalized onesie!

1. I first cut out my design from fabric (his name is Daniel). 

2.  Then, I ironed it onto one side of my head n bond.  

3.Next, I cut the design out of my heat n bond.  

4.There is a paper back that I pulled off next, and then ironed on the final design.   

Ta-Da!

I also made one with a little tie on it.  

On this onesie, I hand stitched around it to add a little more details.  

Now, they're wrapped up and ready for baby Daniel. 

 What do you think????

an epic team

Lindsay and I are an epic team.  Whenever we get together, there is nothing stopping in our way.  Here's a snapshot at our productivity yesterday...

We cut out TONS of foam circles to make...

Absolutely adorable coffee mugs to hang over her tables...

We decorate a middle school classroom...

And wonder when my room will ever be this big?!?!....

We stand on desks to reach from our tippy toes because the ceilings are that high (or we are that short)...

We bask in the beauty we have created...

We make messes...

We follow patterns for coffee coozies...

We debate a pattern and decide that the pattern is always right...

We show off our cute little project...(and practice posing for pictures)...

We show off what we made!