Moss Easter Egg Tutorial

Project #2: moss Easter eggs to go with my Spring mantle:

Supplies: 

• plastic easter eggs
• hot glue gun
• moss (we used the kind in sheets)

This was a super simple project, but it did end up being really messy! First, we would cut a square of the moss sheet big enough to cover an egg. We covered the bottom half of the egg first and wrapped the moss around it, then stretched it over the rest of the egg & hot-glued as we went. Our method required a lot of cutting and fitting pieces in, so it might be easier to use the loose moss instead.

And here they are: sitting pretty in their little basket, waiting for more Springy decorations to join them. 

No craft session is complete without a little girl scout cookies & milk!

Zinc Letters & Moss Easter Egg Crafting

This weekend, I had the chance to go visit my parents for a fun & relaxing weekend. I always liked playing with paper dolls when I was little so my dad picked up these vintage ones to give me when I came home. How cute are these little outfits from the 1960s?

Saturday morning my mom & I went to Hobby Lobby for some craft supplies and ran across these beauties on sale. Even though our bar stools are pretty much brand new, I'm thinking they would be so cute (with a new rug under them).

 So anyway, here is what we ended up making. Project #1: faux zinc letters like these from Anthropologie. I wanted mine to be a lot bigger so that they would go above my cabinets in the kitchen.

You need:

• large wooden letters
• sponge paintbrush
• black acrylic paint
• pearl metallic paint

First, we painted the letters with a coat of black acrylic paint and let it dry. Then, we painted a coat of the pearl metallic paint over the black. It took a couple of coats to get the effect I wanted, because it was a little streaky at first.

 Here's the finished product (above my mom's retro kitchen stove & then my kitchen cabinets):

My husband wanted to know why I put the word FAT in our kitchen haha

Project #2: moss Easter eggs to go with my Spring mantle:

Supplies: 

• plastic easter eggs
• hot glue gun
• moss (we used the kind in sheets)

This was a super simple project, but it did end up being really messy! First, we would cut a square of the moss sheet big enough to cover an egg. We covered the bottom half of the egg first and wrapped the moss around it, then stretched it over the rest of the egg & hot-glued as we went. Our method required a lot of cutting and fitting pieces in, so it might be easier to use the loose moss instead.

And here they are: sitting pretty in their little basket, waiting for more Springy decorations to join them. 

These girl scout cookies & milk have been teasing me all weekend!

Offices I Love (and our office in progress)

We are starting to get our office together & these are some of the ones I've been drooling over:

Love the organization in this office... and the idea that it was created in a closet! You can do so much with small spaces.

Inspiring quotes :) 

This is an adorable office space for a family. 

Would love to work in this space...so open!

Color & styling

craft table awesomeness

 These two are so pretty & inspiring...love them!

How much could you get done on this huge workspace?

 More pretty spaces, love the colors!

 Chalkboard inspiration is always fun & vintagey:

chalkboard wall calendar decals & simplicity of black & white

striped walls

 Here is our office in progress: it's hard to show in the pics but the paint color is Silvermist by Sherwin Williams and we love it! Blake's desk is a built-in to the closet. We also have this neat little shelf at the top that I'm excited to decorate eventually (note the lonely decoration up there by itself).

my desk randomness

reading corner

Blake's messy desk area & my dumbbells...our office doubles as a workout room ;)

shelf up top

There are still a lot of things I want to do in there over the next few months:

1. a reading nook under the window

2. french doors

3. some type of bookshelf- may try to diy one of these ideas

Paleo update: grilled chicken w/ sauteed onions & spinach; strawberry blueberry salad w/ pecans & honey goat cheese

Blake trying yoga with me: priceless

Paleo 30 Day Challenge

So...this is my second time around trying the Paleo thing. If you know me, you know I have a tiny bit of a HUGE sweet tooth & a slight MAJOR obsession with Diet Coke. Hence, my TV-time snack last night.

Although I'd like to say I've been preparing healthy, home-cooked meals for my new husband the last 6 months, let's be honest...we've been eating a bunch of processed crap. Time to make some changes around here.

Blake is even doing it with me, partially to be more healthy but mostly because he would rather starve than grocery shop himself (he eats whatever I do)! We found this awesome blog to use as a guide for the 30 day challenge. She guides you through each day, telling you how much water to drink, when to drink it, what to eat for each meal, what exercise to do. She even has a grocery list for the week & links to the exercise videos...so she makes it super easy for you!

I'm hoping to use the power of prayer & accountability of friends to stay motivated. By being intentional about eating & exercise for a month, I feel like this will be a way to simplify & free up space from "foodie thoughts" in the future and just live a more healthy lifestyle.

Our kitchen is Paleo-ready!

First attempt at breakfast quiche

Musings on Lent

With Ash Wednesday quickly approaching, I have found myself in many conversations lately along the lines of "What are you giving up for Lent?" or "See ya in 40 days, chocolate". Although I've participated in such activities for years, I've found the Lenten season pulling on my heart a little differently this year. 

A few years ago, I decided to give up sweets for Lent. I boldly proclaimed my chosen sacrifice for all who would listen....but then the Girl Scout cookies came in : / I mean....they only come around once a year, right?

Fast forward a couple of years and I'm all excited to give up caffeine for Lent. A couple of days later, as I'm falling asleep at the wheel on the way to work, the Golden Arches and $1 any size soft drink sign reel me in.

And then there was last year, the year of the chocolate fast. But wait...do granola bars with chocolate chips count? What about chocolate flavored frozen yogurt? The lines were blurred until I had narrowed it down to a specific chocolate bar. Because that had such an impact in bringing me closer to God. 

To put it lightly...my past attempts at giving something up for Lent have been less than successful. But when I think back on them, I was giving these things up for all the wrong reasons. These "sacrifices" were spiritually empty and more about my body image or losing weight than giving something up to honor The One who gave everything up for me. I mean, isn't that what it's all about? It seems like a lot of us are just going through the motions with little thought to the real reason for the season. 

Matthew 6:16-18 says: “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

This year, I want my sacrifice to bring me closer to God, to free up space in my heart to grow spiritually and to put others first.

Here is one I found inspiring on Pinterest:

And on a lighter note...

and

 What are your thoughts on Lent? Are you giving something up this year?

Chevron for the classroom

Let's just say my classroom needs a little updating for next year. And with moving classrooms, this summer is the perfect time to do some re-decorating. I am totally diggin' the whole chevron thing right now (maybe a little too much), and after making a trip to the fabric store, decided to go with grey chevron and a sky-blueish color scheme(kind of goes with the sky blue & lime green decor I already have). I bought several yards of the chevron fabric and a few of the blue polka dot (pictured below) to make chair pockets with. Remember my trial run found here?

This weekend at a garage sale, I picked up this mini stool for $2. It needed a paint job, but had some potential. I touched up the legs with white spray paint and then made a chevron pattern with painters tape. I spray painted the seat with blue, then removed the tape & painted those parts yellow. MUCH cuter! My students will use this when sharing their writing or for sitting on during independent reading. 

Last but not least, I saw a similar canvas with initial letter on Pinterest and headed to Hobby Lobby for supplies. I started by choosing a coordinating blue for the letter (my future last name initial!) and then chose a gray to make a chevron pattern with the white background of the canvas. Then, I decided it was a little drab and outlined the pattern in yellow to match my stool. After it dried, I hot glued the letter to the canvas. This will go on a shelf behind my desk (should I wait til October when it's actually my initial?)

Paleo Week 1

So, it happened. I joined the Paleo craze. So far I am loving it! I printed out this poster and it now hangs proudly on my fridge. Basically, you eat like the cavemen did: protein (meat, fish, eggs), veggies, healthy fats (oil, seeds, nuts) and a little fruit. You DON'T consume: processed foods, beans, grains, alcohol, etc. 

In my first week, I really didn't crave or miss anything like I thought I would. Towards the end of the school year, I got on a big junk food kick: candy, treats & ice cream parties on the reg. at school, what was a girl to do! I would come home exhausted and reach for the first thing to fill my belly (usually something that came in a package & was totally unhealthy). 

Here is the rundown of my first week. I can't say I didn't cheat a little, but I am feeling healthier and more energized already:

Day 1: This was our closing day at school for teachers, so I was super-busy & had to eat on the run. A lot. 

Breakfast: small apple, egg & sausage off of a McDonald's breakfast sandwich

Lunch: Subway salad with turkey, lettuce, tomato, onion, green peppers & italian dressing (I've been letting dressings be my cheat...they can't be that bad, right?)

Dinner: Although I had planned to go to the grocery & had this huge list of Paleo-friendly items, it starting storming and pouring down rain on my way. Who wants to carry in groceries in the middle of a downpour? So I went to Qdoba instead & got their Naked salad with grilled chicken. Yummm!

Snacks: almonds & grapes

Day 2: 

Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, almonds (busy morning + no groceries)

Lunch: taco salad (made this a-mazing taco meat in the crockpot with ground beef, taco seasoning & Ro-tel) on top of lettuce with avacado, mexican corn & tomatoes (and ranch oops)

Dinner: Taco salad (it was so good I had to go back for seconds)

Snacks: raisins Monkey Salad, grapes

Day 3:

Breakfast: mini Larabar (who knew these were Paleo-friendly?), grapes

Lunch: chicken, lettuce, salsa, fruit (we had a going away party for someone at work and it was surprisingly easy to make good choices)

Dinner: Taco salad

Snacks: raisins

Day 4: 

Breakfast: Southwest eggbeaters & grapes

Lunch: Wendy's small berry almond chicken salad

Dinner: Taco meat, mexican corn & 1/2 avacado

Snacks: almonds, grapes, Lara bar

Day 5: 

Breakfast: southwest eggbeaters, banana sliced with honey drizzled on top

Lunch: Strawberries & almonds with honey on top, Lara Bar

Dinner: Lexingtonian salad at Drake's restaurant (lettuce, tomato, bacon, vinaigrette)

Snacks: raisins, almonds, chips & queso (BOO!)

Day 6: 

Breakfast: banana, Lara bar

Lunch: Salad, grilled chicken breast & green beans from restaurant

Dinner: Mermaids salad (greens, chicken, eggs, bacon, pecans, vinaigrette...whoa protein and delish!)

Snacks: raisins, glass of wine (whoops, social obligation)

Day 7:

Breakfast: Egg & sausage from breakfast sandwich at gas station

Lunch: chicken burger from Trader Joe's topped w/ avacado (these are awesome!) & salad (see picture below

Dinner: Turkey slices & roasted squash & zucchini with barnyard rub seasoning

Snacks: dark chocolate- covered raisins from Trader Joe's (cheater), grapes