Growing on Gettysburg

Check out this wonderful and creative mommy's blog and giveaway!
She even has an Etsy shop where she sells her creations!

I Heart Faces-Week 29 Photo Challenge

I've decided to enter the I heart faces weekly photography challenge.

(Just so you know...I'm in no way a professional photographer, nor do I claim to be.
Please don't judge me by my photography skills...or lack thereof.)

This week's theme, "Over my Head."

The photo represents the first thoughts which entered my head (after reading the theme).

Enjoy!

Don't worry, baby, physics was over mommy's head too...

Our BIG Announcement...

All right, are you ready for this?

We're...

MOVING!

No, not to another country.

No, not to another state.

And no, not even to another city.

Just to a two-bedroom apartment!

And yes, this is HUGE for us...

For many reasons, including:

1) We've been in the same, one-bedroom apartment for almost 4 years
(Yes, my 2.5 year old daughter still sleeps in my bedroom...and sometimes in my bed.
Where else am I supposed to put her in my one-bedroom apartment?)

and

2) We're college students, but still haven't moved (don't college students move a lot?!)

Okay, the truth is, I'm NERVOUS!

This is the first time we're moving our family (as small as it may be).

Over the years, we've collected stuff...

a PLETHORA of stuff!

Anyone have any moving advice?

Oh, and please excuse my diminished involvement in the blogging world over the next few weeks.

I'll be packing, cleaning, organizing, and probably telling a lot of my hubby's friends where to take and put boxes.

My Craft Desk (and the magnet winner)!

Our magnet winner is...

#5

Congrats to JOZEN!
Send your info my way, and I'll get these magnets in the mail for you!

Now on to other news...

My craft desk was a completely cluttered mess!!
Oh, please don't judge me by this picture!


Now, it's half decent.With about $8, and some fun colors, I finally have a slightly organized place to craft!

My mom and Magnets...

My mom came in to town this weekend!!

That means I had a clean house, food, and a craft partner for a few days.

While here, she needed to find a small, simple, and cute gift to give to her church class on Mother's Day.

So, we made 80 round glass magnets.

You're going to want to make some of these...
they're SO simple and SO adorable.

Here's a picture of the ones we made.

To make some of these, you'll need:
Clear, round glass gems (with flat backs)
Scrapbook paper
Magnets
Mod Podge
and
Some glue (Gorilla glue, E6000 glue, or a glue gun)
Note: Using a glue gun is the fastest and easiest way, but it is not the greatest at sticking).

First Step:
Cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit the flat side of your glass gem.

Second Step:
Decoupage the paper to the gem. Let dry.
Should look like this...

Third Step:
Glue your magnet to the flat side of the gem.
Like this...

And that's it!
Now you have some cute magnets that took a mere 10 minutes to make!

So...
I made an extra set of these.
If you don't want to make them, leave me a comment.
At the end of the week, I'll choose one commenter to keep my extra set of magnets!!
Check back at the end of the week to see if you're the lucky one.

Creative Genius...

I have a creative genius living with me.
I wanted to show you what my awesome hubby made (a few Christmases ago),
but first the short story behind it.

One Christmas, many years ago (3 to be more precise), baby Jesus didn't have a place to stay.
One crafty and generous (and bored) man noticed this.
He couldn't pass up the opportunity to create a warm place for baby Jesus to stay.
So he went to work.
Minute after minute, and toothpick after toothpick...
We come to this...

Yes, the whole thing is made out of toothpicks and glue!
We've displayed it for 3 years now (and it has held up).
Hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend!

BlogFrog

Have you heard of the BlogFrog?
It's a bloggy, community type of thing.
I found out about it, and joined it last week.
And just today, started a My Creative Heart community.
Want to jump on the blogfrog bandwagon too?
Yes, you know you want to.
So go ahead, sign up and come on over and join me.
I look forward to getting to know you all better!
See you soon!

Earring Holder...

When we had the giveaway, I asked what you would like to see on this blog.
Many of you suggested more budget friendly crafts and ideas.
Well, I hope to always fulfill that suggestion, and so does my hubby!
Anyway, a friend also wanted to see ideas for an earring holder.
From the day I received her comment, I've been on the hunt for a certain plate.
A plate with holes around the edges.
I have yet to be successful in finding such a plate (if any of you know where I can find one, please let me know).
And since I haven't been able to create this earring holder, here's some ideas from other people's creations.

My inspiration came from this Pottery Barn jewelry holder...

Then there's this one I found on etsy, using a picture frame and some wire.

And this one, also found on etsy, using mesh.

All 3 of them are fun!
If you do find your pieces, and need help putting them together, let me know.

PS: I hope to get the cupcake and cookie tutorial up soon.

My Craftless Week...

I don't have ANY crafts to show for this week!

I know, I know...terrible.
But I just haven't been in a crafting/creative mood this week.
All I've wanted to do is SLEEP and EAT, and basically just be LAZY!
I wake up every day thinking "What's WRONG with me?!" (and no, I'm NOT pregnant...trust me), then I go and get something to eat.
Maybe it's because I've been exercising more (hopefully it's that).
My hubby and I have pledged for the Pound for Pound challenge.
We're currently working on that, and hopefully we'll lose our pledged amount.
Anyway, I've still been looking at all of the wonderful things going on in blogland.
So, since I don't have anything of my own to show.
I'll show you this, that caught my eye.

Look at this AWESOME towel slide! I plan on making one for my little one soon (before summer hits). See how this was done here.
I hope to have something fun, of my own, to show soon.
So stay tuned...

Easter Treats!!

For Easter, my hubby and I decided it would be best to make some Easter "treats" for our little one.

In an attempt to save some money, I mostly used things I already had on hand (I did buy about $2 worth of felt for this project).

Anyway, on to the good stuff...

Our little one enjoys playing dress up and having tea parties.

So, that's the theme of her Easter treats.

Here's the "treats" she'll wake up to in the morning.

A wand...

Several cookies (don't they look delicious?!)...

And several cupcakes (although I only have 1 in this picture)!

What do you think?

Wouldn't you like to wake up to these treats if you were a little girl?

Let me know if you would like tutorials so you can make some for your little girls!

I'm participating in the linky parties on my sidebar.

Spring Cleaning!

I don't know about you, but I love spring cleaning!
Okay, maybe I don't love the cleaning part...
But I love the "after everything's cleaned" part.
So, that's what I've been up to this week.
Getting my house organized, cleaned, and looking good.
I don't have much to show, as far as craft projects.
However, I've slowly been working on something that's supposed to be done by Easter Sunday.
I'm hoping to get it done (and also posted) by tomorrow.
Here's a little preview...

Giveaway Winner!!

After spending quite some time trying to figure out how to get the random.org image onto this post, and having nothing work,
I decided to just tell you the number.

So...

Our Giveaway Winner is:

#10

BrittWilk said...

and i'd love to see more budget friendly stuff. love it. you've totally inspired me jenn. THANK YOU!!!!

Congratulations!!

And thanks everyone for participating!

Hope you enjoyed it, and look forward to more giveaways in the future!

Giveaway Reminder!

Just a reminder...

The Post 20 Giveaway ends tonight...

at 8pm!

Be sure to go here to enter!

I'll post the winner tomorrow.

What's For Dinner?

Yesterday, we went thrifting.

I love it when we find fun pieces like this one...

I don't know who JON is, or what exactly this was used for...
*Note: I just found out it was a karate belt holder.

But I do know that I like its new look!

What do you think of our new menu planner (that cost $1.50)?

Linking to:
Super Crafty Saturdays @ One Crafty Mommy
Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots & Jello
Just Something I Whipped Up Monday @ The Girl Creative
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Creative Therapy Session @ Life in the Pitts
Motivate Me Monday @ Keeping it Simple
Market Yourself Monday @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Make Your Monday @ Twice Remembered
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

PS: Don't forget about my giveaway here! You'll have until Wednesday to enter for a fun prize!

Book Page Wreath

What do you think of my newest decoration?
And, the best part...
It cost me about $2 to make.

Want to make one?
Materials:
1-Wreath Form (got mine from the dollar store...$1)
1-Book (from the thrift store...$0.75)
Note: I used only about 1/3 of this book with 700 pgs.
Glue gun
Brown ribbon or material (you can use whatever you have from your scraps, like me)
Color Cardstock (found in my scrap paper)
Brad (again, found in my scraps)
Picture frame (one that you already have on hand or make a trip to your local thrift store)
Note:You don't need the back or the glass.

First things first, start ripping pages out of your book.
Then, make a circle pattern.

Use the circle pattern to cut circles out of your pages.

Here's what your circles should look like.

Then take your ribbon, and using your glue gun, wrap it around the wreath form.

Next, pinch the bottom of your circle and attach it to the wreath using your glue gun.
Note: I used the tip of my scissors to hold it in place, avoiding glue gun burns.

Keep attaching your circles until you have covered your wreath.

When I was done covering my wreath, I also took a lighter and singed the edges of the paper.

For the "M", I drew the letter out on my cardstock and cut it out.
Then I cut out a flower, and attached it to the "M" using a brad.
Next, hot glue the letter to the wreath and hang it in your frame!

Linking to:
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Spring Has Sprung at Fun to Craft
Get Your Craft on Thurs
Funky Junk's Saturday Night Special
Favorite Things Friday

Fun Mail and Post 20 Giveaway!

Look at what came in the mail yesterday!

I'm SO excited!

And, while I go off and DREAM about one day being able to afford things from PB,
you can enter the POST 20 GIVEAWAY!

Yes, we FINALLY made it to post 20!

Here's what's up for grabs...

A lovely little book, bound by yours truly (with the help and supervision of an awesome friend).

What? You want one?

See below to enter this giveaway.

To enter (I'm giving you 3 chances to win):

1. Become a follower and leave a comment telling me you're a follower (if you're already a follower, just let me know).
Ex: Jenn K-Follower

2. Leave a separate comment letting me know what you would like to see on this blog.
Ex: Jenn K-More giveaways

3. Blog about this giveaway, and leave a separate comment with the link to your blog post.
Ex: Jenn K-Blogged here...

This giveaway will close on Wednesday, March 31 at 8pm (Mountain Time).
The winner will be chosen using random.org.
US residents only (sorry).

Have fun! Good Luck!!

Here It Is...

The finished product!

I finally finished my project from 2 posts ago.
So, without further ado...
Here it is.I needed a project to enter Lindsay's $5 challenge.



The idea is to create a Spring decoration using $5 worth of items from the dollar store.
You are also allowed to use any glue, paint, or fabric you already have on hand.

So, if you remember this post here, I had two dollar store pieces to work on.

I first glued them together (using Gorilla Glue)...

Then I painted it blue, the same blue as my nightstand pieces found here.

I added some brown to it.
Then, thought it needed something else to look a little more "Springy".

So, I used some tulle and a flower (both from the dollar store, also) to give it that extra something.

For a total of $4, I now have some spring decor and a place to put my jewelry at night!

PS: Don't forget, we're going to have a giveaway on post 20!
This is now post 19!

Linking to Women Who Do It All.