Ok, I like to pretend that I know what I’m doing when it comes to redecorating, or designing…

Fortunately, I have my amazing sister in law, who is a fabulous designer, to hold my hand and approve my ideas…

For the next couple of weeks I’ll be sharing bits and pieces of the room I’m redecorating for my 17 yr-old sister now living with us, and my new little kindergartner. 

This was a tough one to figure out a style that both of them would love, and that my daughter would continue to like, even after my sis graduates and moves away…  We finally decided on aqua/teal, a paler shade of aqua, black, and white.  I have to say I’m loving this combo!!

So the room is a work in progress, but we finally got the painting of the walls DONE…

with my carpet being a slight casualty along the way…

I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids…

Ok, so painting done.  (PS, we found a great carpet cleaner that got most of the paint out, but we’re still gonna need a rug!)

Moving on!  The closet door, totally busted.  (I have three kids 5 and under, lots of things in my house are busted!)

We could try and fix it for the 4th time, or figure out a prettier solution…

So maybe I’m the only one with this problem… or maybe you just want to try something different and maybe a little risky for your bedrooms, either way, here we go!

Supplies:

• tension curtain rod
• fabric (you can make your own curtain, or alter an existing one.  I chose to alter one I already had)
• thread
• rotary cutter and mat
• sewing machine

Step 1:

Get your curtain ready.  Measure the width and length of your closet door.  The curtain I already had would work perfectly for the width, but I had to take a lot off the length. 

Step 2:

Hem your curtain using a wide hem.  Fold the edge down about 1/4 inch and press it down.  Next, fold down another 2 inches, press and pin.

Sew along the folded edge, making sure to catch the first fold.

(Don’t worry the other side of my thread is white…)  Press the entire curtain for a fresh crisp look.

Step 3:

Get your tension rod out, and follow instructions to lengthen the rod.  (This is what a tension rod looks like, it’s pretty much a shower curtain rod.)

Thread the curtain over the loops, and pop it up behind the front wall of the closet, hiding the rod.

Voila!!  You’ve got a new sleek closet door curtain!!

I had another leftover curtain, so I decided to make a matching valence for the window…

What do ya think so far?  Any suggestions for this rookie:)

Linking up with  these fabulous blogs…

Whew!!  That was long break!!  But I have to say it was much needed and I’m feeling good; got my 2 kiddos in school, (except for my little shadow baby), the bedroom and furniture painted, baby gifts made, and I even have a little extra free time in the afternoon for playing with my kids!!  Maybe I’ll sneak a little sewing, baking, projects, and Christmas gifts in there too:)

Ok, Ok, on to yummier things:)

Get ready to drool…

If you like a rich, gooey, chocolate peanut butter combo, you will LOVE this yummy treat!

Once again, this one comes from the Sister’s Cafe…

Peanut Butter Cup Trifle

Ingredients:

9×13 pan of brownies, cut into 1 inch pieces
5.1 oz instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
½ cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
8 oz container thawed whipped topping (Cool Whip), divided
20 peanut butter cups, crumbled (I only had about half, so I added some milk choclate chips and peanut butter chips to make up the difference)
6-8 peanut butter cups to garnish. (Once again, I just used what was left of the peanut butter and milk chocolate chips)

Directions:

Combine pudding and milk. Beat for 2 minutes. Add peanut butter and vanilla, beat until smooth. Gently fold in 2 cups cool whip.
Layer in trifle dish ½ the brownies, ½ the crumbled peanut butter cups and chips, ½ the pudding mixture. Repeat. Top with cool whip and peanut butter cups or chips.  Chill until serving.

This makes a ton, so plan on sharing!!

Linking up with these fabulous blogs!

How do you do it!!  Is there a secret to doing it all?  Seriously, I’m all ears because I can’t figure out how to balance it all…

I have three small children, my teenage sister, and busy working husband.  A house to take care of, a business I’m trying to grow, a bed-room I’m trying to redecorate, kids getting ready for school, baby gifts to make, church stuff to prepare, a race I’m training for, a blog I try to keep on top of, and a crafting competition I’m trying to succeed at.  Not to mention all the family drama that is in the mix somewhere…

Big Sigh.

I’ve decided it’s time to let some things go, so I can be better at and find joy in the most important things in life.  I’m going to let up on the kinda rigorous blogging schedule I’ve been following lately for one.

And I will no longer be participating in the crafting competition.  It was a great experience for the few weeks that I participated, and I definitely learned a lot.  There are some amazingly talented ladies competing.  Heidi was great and so supportive through it all as well.

I really do love blogging, and reading all your comments, I’m just taking it easy for a bit!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!  It’s the last one for us before school starts!!

Are your kids ready to go back to school?  Make sure you send them out the door with one of these adorable lunch sacks from A Lemon Squeezy Home!!  I think these are just to die for!!

Have you started on those handmade Christmas gifts yet?  If you have, I’m soooo seriously impressed.  If you haven’t phew, I feel better now, heehee.  Anyway, check out this darling gift idea  over at Easy Peasy Grandma for a Kindle.  I’m totally making this!!

And last but not least, Check out this gorgeous wall art over at C.R.A.F.T.  I LOVE this pop of blue and black on those happy yellow walls.  What a unique decor idea!!

I’m always so amazed by you creative crafty ladies!!  Grab a featured button and have a great weekend everyone!!

My good friend Marina and I took our sweet stash to the streets of American Fork this last Saturday morning, for our first ever Crafter’s Boutique!!!

I had no idea what to expect, so with an open mind, lots of goods, and our two little helpers, we set up shop.

These little cuties were excellent salespeople…

We had a blast, and did much better than expected…  We may just have to do this again sometime:)

One of my best friends came to visit me from England this last week! It was so fun to see my crazy, lovely, red-headed Ceri!

Love her…

Hi Everybody!!

Do you remember seeing this little project from last week…

Well, I’m going to show how you can make one of your very own!!

So this was the project I entered into Heidi’s competition last week, for our “Chess Theme.”  You can change this up to fit your family’s favorite game…  I’m going to show you how I made a chess/checker board.

Supplies:

• magnet board
• paint (for board and game pieces)
• game pieces
• scrapbook paper, embellisments, stamps, etc…
• adhesive magnets
• glue gun
• mod podge
• brush

Step 1:

Prep your magnet board.  In this case, mine was a dirty old board I found in storage, so I had to wipe off and clean it. 

I wanted to paint mine the traditional chess color of black, so I taped it off and brushed it on.

Step 2:

Measure your game board space to determine the size of your paper squares.  For this board I cut each square, 1 3/4 X 1 3/4 inches.  This would leave a nice border for a pop of color around the game playing space.

Step 3:

Attach you paper pieces.  I measured the space, and marked each corner so I could lay out each row as straight as possible.

Brush the mod podge on the back of each paper square and lay them one at a time, side by side to form a row.

Continue with each row until you have all eight rows finished.  Next add your border pieces.

Brush another thin layer of mod podge on top of the paper.

Step 4: 

Make your game pieces.  Paint your pieces desired color.  These were metal to start out with, so I needed a few coats.

When your pieces are dry, attach magnets to the bottom.  If the magnets aren’t adhesive, use hot glue.

Step 5:

Embellish your game board.  I printed out the words I wanted to say on teal cardstock, and cut out each letter.  I used some fun stamps and coordinating paper to create some flowers.  This was meant to be a pretty girly board; you can’t tell though right!!!  (My husband said he would never play chess on this board, heehee)

I just laid everything out on the board and tried to mod podge them on.  It didn’t work!!  Hot glue does the trick though…  After all the letters are attached, brush on another layer of mod podge.

Done!!! You got your perfect game board!! Play on the bed, the couch, the car, you’re set!!

Checkers anyone?

Have fun!!

Remember, this week’s theme is “On the Farm.”  The competition is tough!!!  I kinda really need your vote:)

Check it out at Made By Heidi!!

Thanks a bazillion!!

I’m linking up with these fabulous blogs!!

Including:

Haha!  Maybe not, but I’m sure having fun trying!  Just letting you know that a new week with a new theme has begun over at Made By Heidi!!  “On the Farm”

Go check it out and send some votes my way:)

I sooo appreciate you!!

Ok, this is a must have recipe in every baker’s kitchen.  Why in the world did I just find out about this most amazing and easy dessert!!

Thanks again ladies over at The Sister’s Cafe!!

Ingredients:

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch pan. In a large bowl, combine dry cake mix, cherry pie filling, eggs, and almond extract. Stir by hand until well blended. (Using an electric mixer will break up the cherries.) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.

Fudge Frosting
1 cup white sugar
5 Tb butter
1/3 cup milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and milk. Boil, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Immediately pour over partially cooled cake.

Told ya it was easy!!!  And wait til you try it, sooo yummy!!!

Thanks so much for all who participated in the giveaway this week!! 

Congratulations Nicole!!

Nicole said, 

“GREAT headbands and tutorial. Love it

-Nicole
http://www.craftmysoul.blogspot.com”

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random integers, generated without replacement:

 9

Timestamp: 2010-08-14 07:00:18 UTC

More giveaways to come:)

Have a great weekend!! 

If you can, come see my at the Crafter’s Corner Boutique tomorrow from 10-6!!