Fall Weather is Here and the Soup is Cooking!

I decided to switch up my blog again and change it back to a misc blog instead of just a craft blog.  We'll see if I am any better at keeping up with this one ;)  We'll also see if anyone else reads this one... :)

Today is the first October day that feels like fall.  It was gloomy for most of the day, but I loved the chilly air!!  I decided it was the perfect day to start making soup (I love soup, but it's just not as fun to eat when it's hot outside!), so I made a trip to Wal-Mart to get some ingredients to whip up a pot of taco soup!  While it was cooking I looked through some soup recipes and found so many that I can't wait to try!  My goal right now is to make a new soup each week and I will share the recipe here just in case you want to try the soup too! If you have a favorite soup recipe, I'd love it if you shared!

My Taco Soup Recipe isn't anything that different from most of the ones that you've probably seen (tho most of the recipes call for ground beef, I prefer chicken in mine.  I think it gives the soup a better flavor.)  Sorry my measurements for this soup aren't precise.  I've been making it for awhile, so I just kinda throw it all together.

Chicken (I throw a couple of breasts in the crockpot with some salsa and let it cook until the chicken is easy to shred.)
Beans - Today I used one can of light red kidney and one can of black.  Sometimes I use chili beans.  You can use whatever combination you prefer.
One can of corn
Canned tomatoes - I used 2 of the Great Value brand Tex Mex tomatoes
Packet of taco seasoning
Chopped onion - I used about a half an onion tonight.
I put everything in a large pot and then added about 3 cans of water.  You can add more or less water depending on how much "broth" you like.

I eat my soup with a dollop of sour cream, some shredded cheese, and crumbled tortilla chips. Yum!!

Canvas Picture Holders

I wanted to add some non jewelry items to my website, but it's tough to know what might sell and what would be fairly easy to ship.  I love the canvas photo holders that I made originally, but they are too big to ship at a decent price, so I came up with some smaller versions.  I started with a couple different designs and hope to add more as I have time to make them.

Graduation Gifts

Three of the students that I work with at ECU are graduating this week.  I wanted to come up with some fun, special gifts.  I love themes, so I asked them each to help me think of a theme and then created a gift around that theme.  I was super happy with how they turned out!  I think this may be some of my best work so far! :)

Beach Theme...

Magnet Board with Finding Nemo magnets

  

Drinking glasses...I intended for these to look beachy...sand on the bottom, shades of blue for water, green for seaweed, and colorful fish...they look cool, but I'm not sure if the beachy part is obvious...

 I had to add some fun beach toys too :)

Big Bang Theory theme...

Magnet Board covered in quotes from the show with character magnets

I painted Sheldon's quote "Social protocol states that when a friend is upset, you offer them a hot beverage" on a mug and included some tea.

 I also painted a wine glass.  Sheldon would tell you to drink a hot beverage when you are upset, but Penny would tell you to drink wine ;)

 I saw this adorable kitty neck pillow at Target and immediately thought of the Soft Kitty song, so I knew it had to be part of the gift!

Friends theme...
Magnet Board covered in quotes from the show with character magnets

I attempted to recreate the peephole frame that is on the girls' apartment door.  I LOVE how the Central Perk mug turned out!!  I was rather impressed with myself ;)

I also added some bubble wrap and a magic erase board...you'll understand if you watch the show :)

Thankfully the students were as happy with how they turned out as I was!! :)

Bottle Cap Necklaces

I was looking for a gift to make some friends and I came across some great circular images.  I thought about trying to use them with my square tiles, but I wasn't sure I was going to like how that turned out so I looked into buying circle glass tiles.  While that was an option, it still wasn't exactly what I was looking for.  Then I found a bottle cap necklace kit and I decided to try it.  I haven't made the gifts for my friends yet, but I did make some baseball team and super hero necklaces.  I am super happy with how they turned out and looking forward to making more!  I ordered another kit today :)

Button Earrings

I recently opened a storenvy shop, so that I can sell some of my handmade products.  My goal isn't so much to make a profit as it is to be able to make enough money to keep buying supplies so I can make more items :)  I was trying to think of a new product to make when I remembered some cute earrings that my cousin had given me last Christmas.  They are cute, simple orange and pink button earrings.  I have a bunch of fabric, so I searched etsy for the rest of the supplies and found what I was looking for.  They were pretty simple to make and I am happy with how they turned out.  I adhered the buttons to silver post earrings and added them to my website yesterday.

Another Great Baby Gift

One of my best friends is pregnant with her first baby, so I wanted to come up with a very special gift.  I am big on taking pictures and printing them off to display (I know not many people do that anymore ;) ).
I found a great collage frame at Michael's.  I was originally looking for a 4-opening frame, but I knew I could make the 6-opening one work.  I grabbed a couple of paint pens and wrote verses from Psalm 139 around the sides.  Then I designated each opening for a different purpose: 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, newborn, and baby stats.

Then I bought 4 plain white onesies.  I was hoping for pink and purple ones, but I didn't have any luck finding those.  I painted the phrase "fearfully and wonderfully made" on each onesie in either pink or purple.  I found some cute pants at Wal-Mart to pair with the onesies.

I packaged them up together and got them ready to gift :)  Can't wait to meet the precious little girl who is going to be wearing these!!

Mustache Mugs and a Hot Chocolate Party

Not sure anyone is following this, but I will update anyway.

I find mustaches on guys creepy most of the time, but for some reason, I find it amusing that they are the new "it" accessory.  I think mugs that have mustaches on them to make it look like the person drinking it are cute, so I decided to make some :)  I found some cute mugs on sale at Target (it's amazing how hard it is to find nice plain mugs!!) and use enamel paint to make the mustaches.  I like how they turned out.

I decided to send the mugs to my cousins as part of a hot chocolate party.  I bought six different kinds of hot chocolate and 3 different kinds of marshmallows.

I also made some invitations for them to give to the friends that they want to join them for their parties.  

Hopefully they will enjoy their parties :)

Need a baby gift?

Have a friend who is expecting or just had a baby?  Want to give them a unique gift?  Paint blocks!  Three of my friends and I painted a set of blocks for our life group leader.  We put the letters of the baby's name on one side of the blocks and then decorated the other sides with a variety of designs.  There are so many possibilities!
I got my blocks at Michael's.  We painted them with normal acrylic paint and then sealed them with Mod Podge.
We were happy with how they turned out and our friend loved them :)

Winter Wonderland!!

Want to beat the winter blues?  Plan a fun winter wonderland party!  Decorate with snowflakes, snowmen, and white lights.  Take wintery pictures...a fun background and people all bundled up in winter apparel.  Decorate mugs for hot cocoa and make foam snowglobes to display pictures.  Make a mess with fake snow!  Have soup for dinner and hot cocoa bar for dessert!  Our party was the most fun we have had in a long time!!

Glass Tile Pendants

I just finished my first batch of glass tile pendants!  One of my best friends sent me some necklaces that she had made and I was intrigued, so I looked up the instructions and ordered the supplies on etsy.  I'm not the best at cutting a straight line even when I used a ruler to draw the lines, but I am happy with how they turned out!  Can't wait to share them with my friends!!

This is where I got my instructions from http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/2010/04/glass-tile-pendants.html

Girls' Night Craft

Need a fun craft to make with the girls?  Paint wine glasses!  If you don't drink wine then you can have a fancy glass for you juice or water ;)  Wine glasses are fun and fairly easy to make.

The paint...you want acrylic paint.  I get this paint at Michael's.  I think it's around $10 if you have a 40 or 50% off coupon (they normally have one each week).  There are directions on the box for baking them after they have been painted.  Once they have been baked then they are usable and washable :)

The first time we painted wine glasses I got a 4-pack at Wal-Mart for like $5.  One time I got a pack at Target for like $6.  Then I found the glasses that I like at the Dollar Tree!

I painted my first glass with my favorite flower, daisies.  I had extra glasses after our girls' night, so I decided to try some other decisions.  I showed some school spirit by painting an ECU glass, some team spirit by painting a Rays glass, and candles on a birthday one.  I've painted a couple of others for friends' birthdays and weddings.

I have a shelf full of glasses and a new box of paint...now I just need to find the time to use them!!  Happy Painting :)

Party Pictures!

Another thing that I like to do is host parties and get togethers for my friends.  I love pictures so all of our recent parties have incorporated some sort of fun photo-taking experience.  Add some fun to your next party with fun photo ops :)

For my birthday party, I found a photo booth kit at Wal-Mart.

 

For a friend's birthday party, I found a wall background at the party store and some frames at Michael's.

For our Christmas party, we "wrapped" our wall and I bought a variety of hats, headbands, and such from a bunch of different places (Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart, Family Dollar, Old Navy).

Can't wait to host more parties and come up with new ideas!!

Christmas Gifts!

Guess it's time to share some of my craft ideas.  I decided to do a homemade Christmas this year.  I was pretty happy with how everything turned out.  Hopefully everyone liked them!

My mom, aunt, and grandma got the following gifts.  My favorite is the bells!

Some of my friends got these gifts.  I found some great laser cut frames at Michael's and turned them into cork boards.  I also made frame memo boards inspired by pinterest.

I saw these wooden tile boards at WalMart and thought I needed to do something with them.  I decided to make them into picture boards.  I used modge podge to decorate each tile with seasonal scrapbook papers. I attached the tiles to the board with magnets so they could be switched around and some of them are reversible.  Mini prints can be made at Target for the same price as a normal 4 x 6 print :)

Figuring out gifts for men is always tough, but I think I came up with a good one this year.  I made personalized checkers sets.  My brother got Chiefs vs Steelers, Grandpa got Jeff Gordon vs Jimmie Johnson, Brian got deer vs hunter, and Dave got golf ball vs golfer.  I forgot to get a picture of Jeff's :/

Coming Soon...

I haven't used my blog in forever, but I decided to revamp it mainly so I can share craft ideas.  I like the idea now, but we'll see if I am any good at keeping up with it once the craziness or work and school start back up!  Hopefully some of you will enjoy this!

Ready or not...

Well it's that time again...back to school! Thankfully no students this week, just teachers. I know a week for the teachers might seem like a lot but believe me, it didn't feel like enough! So many meetings and planning...there was barely enough time to get rooms ready! We had Open House on Thursday night so our rooms had to look presentable. Physically, it was an exhausting week...I am not ready to get up so early again and next week is even earlier!! Emotionally, it was a very up and down week. I want to have a better attitude this year!! I want to be excited about teaching again!! It's been rough though because I am teaching a new grade and though I am excited about having most of the same students again I know the working with the 5th grade team is going to be a challenge. I also like the fact that I didn't have to change rooms and move all of my stuff, but I know that though I love the people who I share a building with, it's going to be hard to be away from the rest of the 5th grade at times. I feel like I don't really fit anywhere...
I'm sure things will get better once school officially starts and I get back into the swing of things. It is going to be a tough year with changes that are being made and the need to bring up our test scores, but I do think there is a sense of excitement and hope among the staff that has been missing the last couple of years.
Anyway, gotta enjoy my last weekend of freedom before the craziness begins!

A hunting I will go...part 3

I visited church number 3 today with a friend. The church has 2 campuses...I looked up service times online but obviously didn't pay careful enough attention to which campus I was looking at. My friend looked up directions and off we went. When we got there we realized that we matched the wrong campus with the service time I had found. Luckily we made it to the other campus quickly enough to not miss much. A bigger church than the rest...more like my old church. Friendlier than last week's. Overall not a bad experience, but I'm still not ready to call it home. The big question that I've wanted to ask at all of these churches is...where are all of the people my age?! I just want some people my age to hang out with...is that so much to ask?!
I have no idea where God is leading right now...I want to find a new community...somewhere to worship and serve but I don't want to just settle...
Guess next week will be church #4...

Favorite Quotes...

Well, I would love to share what I've been learning and encouragement that has been given but frankly it's been an up and down week. I've just been annoyed this week...I think more annoyed with myself than anything because I keep letting stupid things and people get to me! One of the worst feelings is caring for someone who just doesn't care about you! I just feel blah! I decided to share some of my favorite quotes instead...enjoy! :)

In church we talked about Him, we sang about Him, we read about Him, we gave testimonies about Him, we had emotional fits and shouted hallelujah--But what would we have done if God came right into the room and we all met Him face-to-face? It's one thing to feel the sunshine, but it's another thing to fall into the sun.

Faith without works is as useless as a screen door on a submarine!

Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it'd be easy...they just promised it would be worth it.

Why place pictures along with wedding announcements? Who cares what they look like if they're not available!

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.

It's always darkest before the dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

This last one is from the book Crazy Love (read it if you haven't!)...this is definitely how I feel right now~
Jesus, I need to give myself up. I am not strong enough to love You and walk with You on my own. I can't do it, and I need you. I need You deeply and desperately. I believe You are worth it, that You are better than anything else I could have in this life or the next. I want You. And when I don't, I want to want You. Be all in me. Take all of me. Have your way with me.

A hunting I will go...part 2

So I tried out another church today. There's not much to say. My roommate went with me because my friend who went last week couldn't make it. The people weren't as friendly as last week, no one came up and talked to us, but unfortunately I think that comes with the territory when it's a bigger church. I was surprised that they sang songs that I didn't know (that doesn't happen very often as I love to sing :) ) It wasn't as encouraging of an experience as last week but it wasn't a bad experience either. Again, not ready to call it home but we'll see what happens. Look for part 3 coming next week :)

Lord Reign In Me!

We sang this song at church on Sunday...I was so excited because I love this song and had almost forgotten about it! It's my heart's cry right now!

Over all the earth
You reign on high
Every mountain stream
Every sunset sky
But my one request
Lord my only aim
Is that You’d reign in me again

Lord reign in me

Reign in Your power

Over all my dreams

In my darkest hour

You are the Lord

Of all I am

So won’t You reign in me again

Over every thought
Over every word
May my life reflect
The beauty of my Lord
‘Cause you mean more to me
Than any earthly thing
So won’t You reign in me again

A hunting I will go...

So today was the big day...time to start looking for a new church. I was not looking forward to the task. I hate the awkward, uncomfortable feeling of sitting in a church where I know no one, especially when the pastor asks you to stand and greet those around you. I knew that I had to go though because we are not meant to be alone as Christians and I need to find a new community to connect to in order to grow and serve. So the alarm sounded this morning and I knew it was time to start this new journey...
Thankfully I didn't have to go alone! One of my friends is in the same boat that I am so we joined forces and decided to attend a church together this morning. We picked a church that we had heard good things about and had wanted to check out. It was weird walking into a new place and not knowing what was going on...frankly it was weird to even be sitting in a service as I haven't done that in months because I was working with the children. Who was the first person other than the greeter at the door to talk to us? The head pastor himself! That's impressive! Three different people stood in front of the church and talked about (with tears in their eyes) how important it is to work with the children and invest in them now! Amen!! It was smaller and much different than our other church but it was nice.
Anyway, you don't need a play by play...overall it was a great experience. Am I ready to call it home? No but it was a much-needed, refreshing change for the day and an encouraging start to this "hunt" for a new church. We'll see what next week brings...