The Laundry Room reveal!

Every room in my home is in need of liposuction and a face-lift...  what I mean is... purging and painting or touch-up.  I started with the laundry room... seemed the least over whelming and a room friends do see when they are over... so here it is...  old hand-me-down washer/dryer and all.  One day I'll get cool front-loaders... but for now... I'm happy with these.

 First of all... paint color... says it all?  Much warmer and happier color than the original gray.  Second of all... lighting.  Fluorescent light does nothing... I say nothing... for a space.  Other major changes... the detergent holder... it's just pretty and fun.  And the baskets add a warm touch from the old plastic containers.  I wish those were cabinets... but they are not.  The baskets will have to do.

Sources of inspiration:
Paint Color: Eddie Bauer Pecan
{got the idea from this blog: A Soft Place to Land}

Lamp and Baskets: Walmart's Better Homes and Garden Collection
{the idea to even place a lamp, cute container and trey in the laundry room: Bless Our Nest}

Detergent container: Target - and it's a 2 gallon container

Trey:  It's just one I had.

Metal organizer between washer and dryer:  Container Store 

And this blog also inspired my laundry room re-do:  House of Smith's

Linking to The Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday!

Now... onto the next room.

Kiddos and Easter

A fun way to teach young children about Easter...  On Easter morning Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb empty.  He lives!  Kids love to help in the kitchen... this activity is kid friendly, easy and tastes yummy too!  (The original idea comes from a sweet and wonderful lady from my church.  Thanks Lisa!)

The ingredients.  (Also listed below.)

Easy for my daughter to help... marshmallow in butter, then in cinnamon sugar...

... place on crescent roll triangle.

This is where I helped... pinch in all the seams together tightly so the marshmallow stays in the roll as it melts.

And repeat...

Put them in a preheated oven until they are...

Golden brown... and let them cool!

Where's the marshmallow???

It's not in there...

Ingredients:
1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
8 large marshmallows
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat over to 400 degrees F.  Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Separate crescent rolls into individual triangles.
3. In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon and sugar.
4. Dip a marshmallow into melted butter, then roll in sugar mixture.  Place marshmallow into the center of a dough triangle.  Carefully wrap the dough around the marshmallow.  Pinch the seams together tightly to seal marshmallow as it melts.  Place on a baking sheet.  Repeat.
5. Bake in a preheated overn until golden brown... about 15 minutes.

Read the Scripture to your children about how Jesus us alive!  He lives!  Mat.28:1-9

(I plan to post another activity that is great for older children... it's more detailed but a great teachable and creative lesson for kiddos and Easter.)

First day of spring?

We have our work cut out for us...  didn't expect frigid temperatures today to work on the yard...  Thankfully we have awesome neighbors who helped spread dirt yesterday before the rain hit in the night...  Now for the grass.  I'm happy we'll have grass in our yard this year.  But right now... what a mess!

Scrapbooking Essentials

{ from 2003 }

 Scrapbooking.  Does just that word alone cause your blood pressure to rise?  You're not alone.

Here are my tips for memory keeping...  I want you to know that I truly do keep it simple.  I scrapbook for me.  For my family.  And I don't have time to make it "magazine ready".

Like I said...  I keep it simple but don't get me wrong... oh how I LOVE the art in scrapbooking. For me, the best part is the photography. I never want to do anything in my layout to take away from the photo. Also... the story.  You've got to tell the story.  Will your kids one day say... "oh those stickers are SO cute that mom placed in my album"...  or will they want to know where you were and what you said...what was the LORD doing in our lives?  That's what I want to remember.

Here are my essential supplies for documenting and keeping memories for my family:

1. My Camera… Canon Rebel Digital XT SLR. Love this thing and drive my family bonkers using it all the time. It seems like little Emma is in a constant state of “cheese!”
2. Round Tip Pens… quality black and cocoa, silver pens. Love to use my own handwriting and do lots of story telling and Scripture.
3. Adhesive… love Creative Memories tape runner… always have, always will.
4. Classic Paper… solids with a few patterns here and there.  I want the focus on the photos. 
5. My Journal… keep it near me and jot down things the kids do, say or moments I simply don't want to forget.  My blog has also been a great "journal" for my memory keeping.
6. Photo Trimmer… I love this one from Creative Memories.

Yes, that would be all...

 { from 2009 }

"He lives" Easter Favors

 

"He is not here.  He has risen, just as He said."  Mat. 28:6 NIV

Revisiting a project from 2007.  This is from one of Johanna's creations from a CTMH party she hosted a few years ago.  You could do this with pretty much any stamps.

- Easter Stamp set Close to My Heart

- "Ballet Blue", "Glorious Green" and "Pink Passion" ink pads from Stampin' Up!
- Bible Verse printed out from computer using "2peas Renasance" font from Two Peas in a Bucket
- "Close to Cocoa" ink around the edges
- cellophane bag from clearenvelopes.com
- Robin Eggs from Walmart

{ Projects.... }

I mentioned back in January that my sweet husband replaced our kitchen faucet because the old one stopped working.  I promised photos... and finally I'm getting to it.  It's amazing how the little things you can do to your space can make such a BIG impact...

... old sink...

... new sink ...

Cleaning and de-cluttering helps a space, too.

And that's what I'm up to this spring break...  purging, cleaning, clearing and organizing.  My goal is to have several "before & after" blog posts this week!

Also... I'll have some ideas on teaching your children about Easter.  (Happens to be my favorite time of the year... because He lives!)

Spring forward!

After a loooooong weekend of R&R with my sister... (we went to our friend's new B&B to scrapbook.  Just the two of us.  It was restful.  And I got a lot cropped for 2009... more on that later.)

H and the whole 1st grade had a barn yard "Moosical"!  It was so adorable... some other moms and myself decorated the stage...  it's amazing what you can do with yards of butcher paper!

And this guy... here's my "Pig".  H had a funny line and got to do a little number on the stage.  He made me giggle the whole time.  I didn't know he had it in him... a performer!  He kept his part in the "Moosical" a surprise for me and Danny... we were surprised!  All the kiddos did such a fantastic job.

So happy it's "Spring Forward" time... I love the longer days.  Here are some things that have been inspiring me lately...

A friend told me about this lovely blog:  It's the little things that make a house a home

This gal's work makes me want to get out my paint brushes:  Glazed from the Heart

Love their story and remodel of their home GREAT ideas here: Young House Love


Happy Friday!