DIY Ruler Growth Chart

You've probably all seen the cool giant ruler growth charts that are out there. Chad and I saw one for sale at Kirklands but at 39.99 (which is way cheaper than how much it is from pottery barn), we knew we could make it for much less. There are tons of tutorials on pinterest that I browsed through and then just did a combination of several of those when I made mine.

This is by no means a fancy tutorial, it's just the steps that I took to make mine =)

We started with a 1x8x6 board that we bought at Lowes. I think it was around $8.00. We used some stain (Minwax aged oak gel) that was leftover from another project. We gave the board two coats of stain on all sides.

Once it was dry I got to marking the lines. I used a yardstick, pencil and chisel tip sharpie marker. I went up the board and marked a little tick mark at every inch with a pencil. I originally printed out a template of the lines, but it was quicker just to mark with a pencil and yardstick.

I knew that the board would be hanging off the ground some so I started the marks at 6 inches. Then I used my ruler and a chisel tip sharpie to mark two 1" lines and then one 2" line (so the longer lines mark every quarter of a foot). Mini kit-kats to snack on are optional ;-)

For the numbers I printed out 1-6 in Century font (I think it was around 100pt). Then I cut  each number out (leave about a 1/2" around the number). I rubbed a pencil all along the back of the number, then laid it down on my board (pencil rubbed side down) and traced around the outline. That gave me a pencil outline on my board which I then went over with a fine point felt tip pen.

Then I used the chisel tip marker to color in each number. I know I could have made stencils, etc. but the pencil rubbing technique worked just fine and didn't take too much time.

And, here it is! I'm still trying to decide if I want to put our last name initial at the top of the board and then it needs to be hung! I love the way it turned out and I look forward to having a special place to mark Kinley and Emery's growth through the years!

Milk & Cookies - 1st Birthday Party

We had the girls first birthday party the day before their birthday. It was a day that I had dreamed of for years and it turned out perfectly. We used our neighborhood clubhouse and kept things pretty simple, but it was a sweet and special day for our girls.

This post shows some of the details. I'll be back with more pictures in the next post. 

Welcome to the party!

We decided on a sweet milk and cookies theme with pale pink, tan and white as our main colors.

 We had so many yummy cookies! Iced sugar, chocolate chip, italian wedding, strawberry jam and homemade oreos just to name a few. Delicious!

 

The milk bar

 Party favors (felt sugar cookie ornaments) and birthday wish cards

Watch K & E grow monthly pics and their one year old portrait on the gift table.

Smash cake central

More to come!

Date Night

Recently my mom and sister came to keep the girls so Chad and I could have a date night. My mom purchased a group0n to paint your own canvas at an art studio and she gave it to us. This was something really out of our comfort zone, but it turned out to be a lot of fun! It was open studio night so we each were able to choose our own painting.

I chose a simple black and white whimsical chandelier that I plan to hang in the sewing room/guest room. Although it was simple, it sure was tedious.

Chad chose a fish painting that he could hang in his office. He added the scripture reference of Matthew 4:19 to it.

 Headed home with our masterpieces!

Although we missed our girls terribly, we had such a fun night. It's definitely something we would do again! Thanks MiMi!!

Changes around the house

It seems like each year around this time I start getting the itch to make some changes around the house. After all the Christmas decor has come down I start looking around to see how I can mix things up.

Here are a few pics of little things I've been working on. I swapped out a few things on my mantel and then changed the chalkboard saying.

 

I texted Chad this morning to let him know that "baby it's cold inside" because our heater was acting up and it was 63 degrees in here. Brrr!!

Burlap wreaths have been all over Pinterest for a while but I finally gave it a go using this tutorial.

 

It was quick, easy and think it turned out pretty well!

Friday Randoms

It's Friday! Holla! Today is my husband's day off and I look forward to Fridays every week. While I do love being at home, it can get rather lonely so I'm so excited to spend the day with my love. I don't care what we do, as long as we do it together =)

~If you want to treat yourself then run, do not walk, to your kitchen and pull out some milk and nutella. I saw a recipe for nutella hot chocolate here and knew that I had to try it. Trust me, you will not regret it! For one serving I whisked 1 cup of milk and 2 tbsp. of nutella in a saucepan over medium heat.

heaven in a michael scott cup

~Next week is the end of the twelve week Bible study that I've been a part of. We are having a time of "Taste and Testimony" where we will share snacks and a little something that God has done in our lives as a result of the study. I'm planning to bring this yummy looking snack mix. I can't wait to try it! 

Source: iheartnaptime.net via Faith on Pinterest

~I've been wanting to re-work my mantel display for a while. Since we've lived here my bridal portrait has hung above the mantel and I'm ready to change that up. I thought about a mirror but all it reflects is the ugly fluorescent light fixture in our kitchen, so that's not going to work. I think I'm now going to look for a large thrift store frame that I can do a big vinyl monogram on. This isn't a new idea, but I think I will love it. I may even add a piece of fabric or burlap behind it. I'll post when it's done!

Source: etsy.com via Faith on Pinterest

~My Christmas cards are in! This was the first year that I haven't designed the cards myself and I'm a little sad. But, because of discounts/promotions I was able to get the cards I'm using for free. And honestly, what's better than free? That's what I keep telling myself anyway. I just need to address them and get stamps and they will be on their way!

~Speaking of Christmas cards, mark your calendars and don't forget to stop by on December 14th for the annual Christmas Card Carousel! This will be the fourth year that I've done this and it's more fun each year. Please spread the word and join in the fun!

<br><center><a href="http://walkwithmebyfaith.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k54/adesignoffaith/christmascardbutton200.png"/></a></center><br>

Hope y'all have a great weekend!!

Party At The Patch!

Today we celebrated the most precious six year old there is! We had such a fun party at a local pumpkin patch. We scoured pinterest for ideas and recipes for the big day and found so many fun things to try.

Here are some of the party details. I love how it all came together!

The cupcakes were uh-mazing. And, that icing tasted like Cinab0n icing....oh my!

I love, love, love planning and creating but it sure is a lot of work. It was fun while it lasted, but I'm also glad that it's over with. Until next year... ;-)

Trash to Treasure

I've had more time lately to work on some craft projects, which I really enjoy doing. I love taking something cheap and not so cute, and turning it into something fun with just a little time and effort.

My latest project was this $3.00 picture frame from Goodwill that went from this:

To this photography prop with just a little chalkboard paint. Fun, fun!

I've become a little ub-sessed with chalkboard paint lately.  I have another project that I used it for and I've also been working on a new fall wreath inspired by pinterest. I can't wait to show you the finished products!

Wonderful Wreaths

I've found lots of fall inspiration lately on pinterest. I seriously love fall. It's got to be my favorite season. I'm itching to work on a fall wreath for our front door and found a few that I like...

How gorgeous is this?!?

Source: thehighheeledhostess.com via Faith on Pinterest

This one is super fun with the polka dot monogram.

Source: brightboldbeautiful.blogspot.com via Faith on Pinterest

Also fun is the ribbon wreath. I don't know that I would want this on my front door, but it would be a cute decoration indoors.

 Source: ldscraftproject.com via Faith on Pinterest

The fabric flowers would be a great way to use up some scraps.

Source: knewlywifed.blogspot.com via Faith on Pinterest

The simple burlap wreath is great and I love the pop of color with the flower and letter.

Source: etsy.com via Faith on Pinterest

Aren't these feathers fabulous?

                            Source: midwestliving.com via Faith on Pinterest

Are you as excited for fall as I am?!?

New Toy

I have been toying with the idea of buying a craft vinyl cutter for a couple of years now and just never bit the bullet. I would see all kinds of fun things that I could do with it, but just wasn't sure how much use I would get out of it.

Well, I stumbled across a decent deal on 0verstock and decided to splurge with a little "fun money" on a new toy.

Now I am itching to get it and start playing around with it. You know, in all of my spare time ;-)  Just looking at all of these images inspire me!

I don't even have a goldfish, but this makes me want one so I can make a cute fishbowl. LOL!

And, they have a new interfacing product that allows you to cut out fabric. Now this is right up my alley!  

(all images via Silhouette)

I've ordered a few supplies to get started with, but I would love to know if any of you have any tips, tricks or anything to help me get going with this. I can't wait!

Shower the Bride!

This morning we celebrated my sister, the bride-to-be! I have spent weeks planning and preparing for this special morning and it turned out even better than I had hoped. It was such a special time celebrating with dear friends and family. I hope it will be a day that my sister always remembers!

I have seen so many fun party details along the way and there were many things that I wanted to do. If only time and money weren't an issue. Ha! Here are some of the details of the day.

Bridal Shower Bingo (thanks, Sarah!), Custom Water Bottle Labels (printed on photo paper from D0llar Tree - loved how they turned out!), Words of Blessing photo frame, I Do Bunting, etc. I was so pleased with how it all came together!

The spread of yummy food! Fruit Skewers & Fruit Dip, Muffins, Quiche, Casserole. 

The cake caused me much stress. I really wanted a cute designer cake, but the budget did not allow. I ended up going to the local grocery and having the bakery do this custom design and I was so happy with the way it turned out. And, it was delish! Can't beat that for $20.00!!

 

Fun times with sweet friends =)

 

Present time!! Grace got lots of great things. Isn't it funny how we can get so excited about roasting pans, baking sheets and trash cans when we are newlyweds?! I think that we should have "wedding" showers for married people for every 10 years of marriage, don't you?

Some of the sweetest memories I have of today were when we all gathered around the Bride-to-be and shared advice and words of wisdom about being married. There are some very wise, godly women that were surrounding us today and it was wonderful to be able to learn even more from them. We then had a time of prayer for Josh, Grace and Miss E and there was not a dry eye in the place. A time to treasure, for sure!

The Bridal Party (minus Miss Priss)

Not much longer 'til the big day! I can't wait!!

So Neat!

I came across this really cool site that lets you create your own word art. You can type in anything you want and play around with the font, layout, and color scheme. The possibilities are endless! You could use these for Bible verses, prayer requests, cards, invitations, and the list goes on and on!

I used it to create a collage of words that encourage me to keep believing the Lord for our miracle! These are words from different Bible verses that I have prayed and prayed over while we are waiting. I printed it out so that I can frame it and be encouraged to not lose hope!

I can't tell you how all of your sweet comments and reminders of your prayers have blessed my heart! I am SO very grateful for each one of you and how the Lord is using YOU in my life. I do long for the day when I can share how God, in His perfect faithfulness, has answered all of our prayers. Heavenly Father, please let that day come soon!

Love to you all. I'm praying for each one of you as well!

Edited to add: I've been playing around with Wordle some more and came up with this one that has words from my blog. You have got to play around with this site!