4 year anniversary.

Hello all! First of all, what do you think of the blog redesign? Eh?

Second - We recently had family photos taken at the property we visit each year. The same property where we had our wedding reception in 2011. The landscape is beautiful and it's fun to return each fall to document our family (my sisters, mom and grandparents join us, too).

You may remember from years past how Mike and I take a particular photo holding an empty frame and I insert the photo from the year before - thank you Photoshop. We started this tradition on our 1st anniversary and have done it each year since. Now that our daughter is here, it's neat to see the change in her from last year to this year. I really do look forward to seeing how we all will gain and lose weight change year after year.

Here are the year's past to jog your memory (or you can check out my blog post from 2013 here and the How-To post here).

2012 (1st year anniversary):

2013 (2nd year anniversary):

2014 (3rd year anniversary):

And finally this year, 2015, our 4th year anniversary:

If you don't do something like this with your family, I really encourage you to start! I'm happy we did 3 years ago.

Happy Memory Making!

Make a Treasure Tray.

It's been a while since I posted a craft.

Crap.

That last part wasn't necessary.

It's been a while since I posted. Period.

I'll skip the assumed reasons and get down to business. I'm frugal. And when I see something crafty being sold at an amount I'm not willing to pay (calculating time spent + materials = worth it?), I immediately think "How can I make that for cheaper?"

Such is this story about a cute "treasure tray" being sold by an awesome company a friend recently introduced to me at a home party. The concept is great! A unique way to display photos or notes. While I love most the products and what their origins represent with this company, I'm still not willing to overpay for a simple project.

[And when I say simple I mean I literally made this in 10 minutes. But more on that later...]

That price, though!

I saw this tray in the catalog and just loved it. Even more, my older sister loved it, too. But neither of us loved the price (darn it). And you know how you know when someone is thinking of buying something, but doesn't want to spend the money so she ponders it out loud? My sister did that. And I told her, "Don't buy it. I'll make you one." She replied with "Seriously?" and I was like "Uh, yea." Cuz I knew I had all the materials at my house to duplicate it. So, I added it to my forever growing craft to-do list.

About a week after attending the party, I grabbed everything I needed. And in about 10 minutes I had a finished treasure tray of my own ::cough:: for my sister! And it cost me NOTHING (sort of) since I already had all the supplies, even the shallow basket which was not being used. I recommend, if you plan to do this, using a loosely woven basket so the big needle can get through with the twine.

Look at that cutie. She's not a baby anymore...

The steps are simple and easy if you have a good sturdy needle. It's a matter of weaving the twine criss cross one way, then criss cross back the opposite way. You can make more or less rows than I did. And use any sort of clips you like. I happen to have some mini clothes pins in my craft supplies, so those were perfect!

I texted my sister a picture of the final product with something to the effect of "come and get it." And if I remember correctly, she was at my house in about 5 minutes. And she loves it.

If you try this craft, feel free to post pics or links to your projects in the comments here. I'd love to see them!

Did you know I'm on Facebook? Well - now you do! Please, show me some love and "like" me at www.Facebook.com/dwbhkl

Happy Crafting!

Make a unique Father's Day gift.

Need an easy Father's Day gift and feeling crafty? Do some diggin in your old Scrabble game (come on, you don't play it anymore, do you?) or get to Goodwill or some community garage sales, fast!

Overall the project cost less than $7. Now that's my kind of craft!

I used tiles from a Scrabble game that my mom found at a garage sale for a dollar. I made a trip to the store for a nice picture frame ($6) and busted out my glue gun.

I put down a couple simple dots of glue in a straight line and applied the tiles.

This craft literally took me 10 minutes to construct, but I absolutely love how it turned out.

I had a photo of Mike & Caraline printed for this and can't wait to give it to him for Father's Day. It'll be a special frame just for pictures of the two of them for years and years.

I encourage you to do this craft yourself. It's really very easy and it'll be something you can be proud of. That's better than any store-bought gift you can find.

Happy Father's Day!

Cheerios necklace.

My daughter loves Cheerios (uhhh flavored oat cereal? Eh, I'll just say Cheerios) She also loves "pretties" aka necklaces.

I had this brilliant idea to make her a necklace of Cheerios to keep her busy and for snacking. I had all the supplies on hand: Cheerios (you could use any flavor), string, a large needle and scissors.

I threaded enough Cheerios to make a large necklace to fit her (age 1) and I alternated Frosted Cheerios and regular Cheerios.

From beginning to end it took me about 20 minutes. I found it most efficient to stack a half dozen or so at a time and then slide them onto the string.

I tried it on her and she really liked it. In hindsight, I'd let her snack on this OUTside since I ended up with about 25 halves of Cheerios on our carpet, but it's okay.

Whatever makes her happy! Cheerios necklace is Caraline approved!

Happy Stringing!

Paint a "Mawwage" sign.

My good friend recently got married and asked me to make her a sign for their reception. She's a huge Princess Bride fan and loved this quote by the Impressive Clergyman. It was really quite simple to make.

First, I printed out the phrase as a guide for painting the text.

I constructed scrap pieces of wood and stained them dark java.

Then I taped off the lines so they were straight and began hand painting the words, constantly referencing the print outs taped to the wall.

I finished the letters that went below the tape after removing the tape. I also added a little heart with their initials for a special touch.

I love how it turned out! And my friend loved it, too.

Happy Mawwage, Tracy and Kevin!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. Whether you celebrate with Easter egg hunts and visiting the Easter Bunny, by attending Good Friday and Easter Sunday worship services or both, Easter is a fun time to reflect on life and revive hope for the future. Oh, and enjoy the SUN and lovely weather!

My little family celebrated with both my side of the family and my husband's with family dinner gatherings and we attended church service yesterday at our home church. Overall it was a happy weekend for sure! My one-year-old daughter doesn't quite grasp the Easter egg hunt idea but she seemed to have fun running around shaking the eggs filled with candy and coins.

My mother-in-law created these gems for our family dinner yesterday. She used Twinkies, marshmallows, M&Ms, Peeps and pretzels.

She may or may not have gotten a Facebook post from yours truly asking her to make them, complete with a link to a blog telling how to make them. I'm glad she did. They were a huge hit.

Thank you, Pinterest!

How did you spend your Easter holiday weekend?

Happy Monday!

Spice up your lamp shade.

I came across an idea on Pinterest to put wording inside lamp shades to create a shadow and interest. I decided to put my own twist on it and use a large Monogram and insert it behind our square lamp shade shelf thing in our living room.

The "D" I happen to have was like $2 at Michaels and it fit perfectly in the space of the shade, so no fixtures were needed. It's just snug in there.

So now when our lamp is on there is a shadow of a "D" that can be seen.

I like it!

Happy lighting!

Make a life-size ruler.

Hello?

Can you hear me?

Is anyone still reading? No? Well I don't blame you. I sort of disappeared for a while.

I blame it on that cute little 1 year old I've got stealing my attention.

And I'm perfectly OK with that!

Last weekend I finally finished a project I've had on my list for about 6 months. I made our life-sized ruler that will be used as a growth chart for Caraline and any child(ren) that may follow.

This way, when we move we can take the markings with us and not have to leave those memories behind on a wall!

It was really simple to make. I stained a 1x6 plank of wood then painted it. I used a stencil for the numbers and VOILA!

I know I say this a lot after my projects, but seriously, I'm so happy with how it turned out! I've already added Caraline's 1st height at 28 inches. Our little lady is short, but her personality is HUGE.

Happy measuring!