Homemade Last Name Wreath

You know that feeling when you have about a million things to do and not of those things sound like fun? I do. I have the boys birthday party coming up this weekend that I could be getting things ready for and even though I have planed... and planned... and planned... nothing I wanted to do sounded like a whole heap of fun.

so.... My distraction for the afternoon......

 

I have been wanting to make something like this but I'm not as crafty as I would like to be.

Its just a basic wreath which I added a burlap bow that I made out of burlap and some twine and attached some wooden letters to spell out our last name. I added a few little "primitive" berries/stars around where I thought it looked good and it was done. took me about 20 minutes and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

 

I adore all things fall and this reminds me of fall.  I think its the burlap. I love burlap things. It has felt like fall the last few days even though it is August. there is a briskness to the air. (maybe I'm just already craving fall)

1 hour Challenge

This hour challenge is for those problem areas. you know that hall closet or that cluttered desk. I regret to say I have to many "problem" area's in my house. Instead of tackling them all at once I have decided to take them on one at a time. To make things more interesting I've given myself a time limit. 1 hour. First all I had to do was pick an area. My first area was our "catch all" shelf. All of our mail after opening/ school papers/ work papers/ just need to put up so little hands don't get area. It had a bit of everything and was a huge eye sore in my kitching/dining area. I set the timer and got to work. to my surprise I finished up right around the 1 hour mark. I felt so much better and organized. I set to work on my next room. My laundry room. I did it. organized it all (well except for the pictures but that's a few hour long process- but they are all on one shelf in that room and I know where it all is now)

Its amazing what you can get done in an hour. so set your timer and get to work. what can you accomplish in an hour?

DIY $60 Firepit

My family loves camping. We don't get to go as often as we like with our busy schedule though. We decided to improvise.

I had bought My husband one of those little metal fire place pits from target a few black Fridays ago for around $20. He opened it and loved the idea of us all sitting around the fire making smores instead of all sitting around the TV on summer nights. However, it set in our closet for a few years- unused and untouched.

This summer I had enough. I decided I wanted to rev-up our fire pit a bit though. so instead of just building the normal bit itself I used the pan from the fire pit out of the kit I bought from target. I then went to walmart and bought a block like this - I got this from lowes website. it list the price as $1.97 but I seem to remember it being less than that at walmart.


we laid it out in the walmart parking lot how big we thought it would be. counted how many it took to be in the size circle we needed than counted how high we wanted it. you get the idea. easy math. I believe I had $40 in material (remember I got mine from walmart.. outside in the garden section) Brought it home and stacked and added our metal scoop from our $20 fire pit and ta-da instant DIY firepit. Easy and very worth it $60 fire-pit for our very own back yard. Kits like run around $200 on website to build similar fire-pits. We got a lot of use out of it last summer and hope to this summer as well.

Day 1 Menu Planning for this busy house..

jenniferamiedesigns

sitting down to menu plan for the next week. I am new to menu planning. I have tried it before and it lasted about 1 time than I gave it up. It really does help to stay organized, saves time, and saves money. first thing is first though, figuring out what I want to cook on what days I have the time for each recipe. since it is my first time running through I think I will stick with some classics. Spaghetti/pork chops/ baked chicken. easy peasy kinda stuff.

Next make my shopping list. Check what I already have and compare that with the recipes and mark off anything I already have. While making my list I put "veggie" in with most of my  and than checked the freezer and cabinet for what I had on hand. next time I find a great deal I'll stock up again.

Finally there is the trip to the store. Which I am about to accomplish when my husband wakes up. I don't want my first trip to the supermarket be tainted with the hecticness (that's a word? right?) of taking the boys.