Fabric Wreath

So my really good friend is helping with a relief society craft day and she is in charge of doing a cute wreath. So she came over the other day and we made these...and I personally think they turned out really cute! I am really excited! But since I live in an apartment...I'm afraid it will get stolen if I hang it on my door...so instead it's an inside decoration.

You will need: (just to add I am super cheap and got all of my materials at Hobby Lobby ((OBSESSED with that store!)) and used a 40% off coupon on each item to make it really cheap.) Paying full price you could make it for about $7.

**1 yard of Material, I got a really light tan color $2.99

**1/8 yard of burlap...and that couple probably make you triple what you need $.50

**Wreath...I got the hay one because it was a lot cheaper than styrofoam $3.99

**An embellishment to put in the middle of your flower, I used one I already had around the house

**Hot glue gun

**Pins

**Sewing Machine :)

With my yard I used the length (hot dog style) and folded it in half, and would cut each half I think three times, so all of my pieces of fabric were 38" Long and 5 1/2" wide. I used 8 pieces, I was able to cut 10 pieces...so I had two left over.

Then you just start sewing down the middle and scrunch as you go...it does not need to be perfect, you won't be able to tell.

 This is what one piece looks like when your done sewing.

 My friend hot glued her fabric to the wreath and I just put pins in it, so whatever you have on hand. I thought the pins were really nice because you could rearrange the fabric if you needed to.

 You just wrap the fabric around and where the two ends would meet I would try to bunch it up a little and throw a pin in there so you can't see down to the hay. If you kind of poof it while you go too it make it look more ruffly.

 I just did 3 rosette flowers out of the burlap and hot glued and pinned it on. You can find a tutorial here.

Here is the final product!

--Michelle--

Lessons Learned

I saw this and thought it was a really good list of "life lessons" so I thought I'd share! :)  Written By Regina Brett, she had breast cancer and when she turned 45 she made a list of everything she learned from her experience and life, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written."

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and
parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey
is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never
blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up
to you and no one else
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d
grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come…
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift

Another Good Book to Read

So, I heard about this book at work and then started seeing it everywhere and it really sparked my interest.  So I finally got the book from the Library last week and read it on Sunday. . . ALL of it.  It was really good.  The book is called "Heaven is For Real".  It is a true story about a little boy who dies for a few minutes during an emergency appendectomy and his visit to heaven during that time.  His father has written the story for the boy telling all of the experiences he shared with them since the experience.



Hope you enjoy this too! 

~Stacy~

Who's Your Daddy

I just went to an awesome youth conference about 2 weeks ago and had many excellent classes.  I came away wanting to share everything I heard and learned with my husband and kids.  It was so uplifting and good.  One of my favorite classes was called, "Who's Your Daddy".  The moment it was over, my friend and I were trying to figure out how to make it into a Family Home Evening lesson we could share that would be at our young kids level.  Well, I did it and they loved it!  I made it into a game and I would love for you to share it with your families too.  So here goes on paper. . .


To begin the lesson, if have or have access to the movie, "Remember the Titans," play the scene where the team is getting onto the bus for their camp and the team captains are telling the team members which bus they would get to ride on, segregating them by color.  The coach, Denzel Washington steps in and tells them they are not in charge, he is.  He asks them, "Who's your Daddy".  They look at each other confused because their Father's had just dropped them off for the camp and were standing close by.  He asks them again, louder, "Who's your Daddy?"  They finally answer, "You are".

Now to tie this into the lesson. . . I have them broken up into 4 colors, but there are really 3 groups: Spirit World, Earth, and the Rebirth.  I just used cardstock and had "Who's Your Daddy", "Who's Your Momma", "What Do You Get" on each set.  On the back side of the "Who's Your Daddy" pages, write one of the following on each:  1.) Heavenly Father,  2.) Your Dad here on Earth,  3.)  Jesus Christ,  4.) Satan.  On the back side of the "Who's Your Momma", write one of the following on each, coordinating the colors:  1.)  Heavenly Mother,  2.)  Your Mom here on Earth,  3.)  The Church,  4.)  The World, AKA, "The great and abominable church".  And on the "What Do You Get" pages, see the pictures down below!

You will play this part like a game, explaining it as you go along.  I taped all of the pages up on the wall with the answers facing the wall, grouping them with the "Spirit" and "Earth" groups together and the "rebirth groups" together.  If you want to go one step further, you can put a sign above the two groups.  The first saying, "No Choice", the second saying, "Our Choice".  If you have enough kids in your family, or a teenager, you could have one of them play a "Vanna White" character.  Start with asking the kids about premotal life and who our earthly parents are.  Each time they get one right, turn a card over, showing the answer.  After both parents have been displayed, explain that whenever we enter a family, we get something.  Then, see if they can guess that answer.  Move onto the "Earth" group.    When you get to the "What do you get" part, explain that besides the body, when we are born into this family, we are all also given a name.  If we are girls, when we get married and start a new family, we will get another new name as part of that family.

Now explain that we do not know if we had any choice to be born into Heavenly Father's family or into our earthly family.  What we do know is we made the choice to follow Heavenly Father's plan and come to earth which is what allowed us to be born and gain a body.  We also know that we will have a 3rd "Daddy" and this one will be our choice.  We make this choice when we are 8 and are baptized, but also everyday with the choices we make and they way we act.  Do these next two simultaneously/back-to-back.  Start with Jesus, followed immediately by the Satan page that corresponds.  With the "What do you get" page, I put 4 items, you could do the same ones or do different ones, but also compare them to each other one at a time.

So here is a look at the Pages:

Spirit World Group

Earth Pages

Rebirth Choice #1

Rebirth Choice #2

30 Minute Breadsticks

Easy Pizza Dough & Bread Sticks

1 Tbsp Yeast                           1 tsp salt

1 ½ cup warm water                About 3 cups flour

2 Tbsp sugar

Mix together as for bread.  Knead 3-5 minutes.  Raise 10 minutes. Knead 3 minutes more.  Roll out thin for pizza or thicker for bread sticks.  Cut into strips and raise 1o minutes more.  Bake 10-15 minutes at 425 for bread sticks; brush with melted butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Cinnamon Twists

1 ½ cups warm water                        ½ tsp salt

¼ cup sugar                                      flour

4 Tbsp butter (soft)                           2 eggs, beaten

1 Tbsp yeast                                     1 tsp. vanilla 
                                                        (optional)

Mix ingredients together.  Continue to add flour, ½ cup at a time, until dough isn’t sticky.  Let rise 1 hour.

Roll dough into rectangle approximately same size as cookie sheet.  Melt 1 cube  butter.  Pour ½ on dough, other half in cookie sheet.  Sprinkle white sugar & cinnamon on dough.  Cut with pizza cutter into ½ inch strips.  Fold over on itself, then twist from both ends.  Place in pan.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Cool & frost with powdered sugar glaze.

These are some really great breadsticks.  They are quick and easy, and super yummy!  My little 4 year old asks for breadsticks for days after I make them.  I sometimes melt butter on the pan and then dip the breadsticks in the butter.  I then fold the breadstick in half and twist it.  Sometimes I add Parmasan, sometimes just plain.  We love them both ways! 

~Rachel~

AMAZING Make up and Hair

Look at this girl! She is BEAUTIFUL!!! And she is amazing with hair and make up. I've been following her blog for a while her blog is Maskcara and you can find it here. She honestly has tutorials for every different type of make up look you are trying to get. She will find celebrities with really pretty makeup and do a tutorial on how to get that look, and she's take a picture of the celebrity and of herself with the same makeup and amazingly she looks almost exactly like them. She has a ton of awesome hair tutorials too, how to curl your hair beautifully all different ways. I just LOVE her blog...and I always go to it when I'm looking for a change up in my looks. :) She is the one that introduced me to fake eyelashes...which is my very favorite accessory now! :) She has tutorials on everything beauty...eyelashes, how to do your eyebrows, home beauty remedies that you can make for make up and hair to save you money. Go check out her blog...the first time I went there I was on there looking through the whole thing for about 2 hours! 

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Mmm.  That is what my kids say whenever I tell them we are having homemade Mac and Cheese.  They seriously love this kind more than the "real" kind from a box!!  I would hope so!  This is such a simple recipe, and delicious! 

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

3 C. medium shell macaroni, uncooked

4 slices bacon, chopped

2 Tbsp. flour

2 C. milk

2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350*

Cook macaroni as directed on package.  Cook bacon in a large saucepan.  Remove bacon and save drippings in the pan.  Add flour to drippings, cook and stir until bubbly.  Gradually pour in milk.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 3-5 minutes or until thickened.

Stir in 1 C. cheddar cheese and Parmesan; cook and stir until melted, add bacon and macaroni; mix well.  Pour into a 1 1/2 -2 qt casserole dish, top with remaining cheddar.  Bake 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

This goes great with some of Michelle's homemade rolls and a spinach salad.  

~Rachel~

Date Night!

Want a super fun date night idea?? Find a shooting range by you...I was a little nervous to go but we both had a BLAST! You can impress your man with how good you are with a gun! :) 

Honestly the BEST rolls EVER!

So I found these on pinterest and they are seriously so so good! I am absolutely the worst at making bread, but these just looked so good I thought I'd try them. Since there's only two I tried to cut the recipe in half and did not turn out. But I've made them twice again in the last month...because they are that good, and if you follow the recipe exact they have turned out perfect each time. My only change, is for the flower I only use about 8 1/2 cups...just to make sure I don't use to much. Then, I just put them in bread bags and keep one out to eat, and freeze the rest until we eat them. And they taste just as good when we get them out of the freezer. :) You can find the recipe here.

--Michelle--

Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken

Rachel actually gave me this recipe when I was going to college. I make it all the time...it easy and SO SO good! I've taken it to a few different people for dinner before...and they all seem to love it too. Here's the recipe:

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup  Italian salad dressing 

1 can cream of chicken soup (or I use cream of mushroom)

8 oz pkg cream cheese

8 oz pkg mushrooms - sliced 

Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine salad dressing. Pour over chicken and cover. Cook on low 4-5 hours. In separate bowl combine cream cheese and soup. Heat slightly to melt cream cheese. Stir in mushrooms. Pour over chicken. Cover, cook 1 additional hour on low. Serve over noodles or rice.

**When I make it I don't use mushrooms because Adam doesn't like them...and it still tastes amazing! :)

--Michelle--

Bagel People

I try to make my lunches creative for my kids.  They seem to eat better when it is not PB&J or macaroni and cheese everyday.  Some of the things that we do for lunches that are favorites are:

quesadillas, pretzels and peanut butter, homemade lunchables (crackers, meat and cheese) bagel people, ants on a log (celery, PB, and raisins).  These are just a few of the fun things we do, and not everyday, we do have PB&J (it's my 4 yr old's favorite lunch of all time).  

Today we did bagel people.  We use plain bagels, cream cheese as a base, and then decorate with whatever we have on hand.  Today we had lunch meat, olives, blue berries, shredded cheese, pickles, strawberries, and string cheese.  You can use any fruits and veggies that you have available (peppers, lettuce, chives, carrots, peanuts, parsley, tomatoes).  

I add a little layer of cream cheese and then let the kids build their own person.  They are very creative, sometimes we have mustaches, glasses (like the bottom pitcure) crazy hair, but whatever they make the kids seems to love.  And they eat them right up.

~Rachel~

Christmas in July

One of the many things we all have on our to-do lists in December is neighbor gifts.  We all take the time and make something nice for our neighbors to thank them for all they do.  Here’s something I came up with for a little gift for friends and neighbors in July or the sometime in the summertime.  I think you can never thank your friends and neighbors enough.

It’s a little bucket with all the needed items for ice cream sundaes.  We took them around to our friends on Sunday with a little tag that said “we hope you enjoy your sundae.”

Items needed:

sandbox bucket (I bought mine at Michaels crafts for $1) or a bag to put it all in
hot fudge sauce
caramel sauce
peanuts

You could be fancy and add an ice cream scoop, bananas, brownies, redi whip, or anything you like to put with ice cream.

I made some homemade hot fudge sauce and caramel sauce and put them in little jam jars with a little tag on them to heat in microwave.  I put some peanuts in cute matching bag.  I put the jars and peanuts on bottom of bucket where it is skinnier with the ice cream on top.

Here’s the recipes I used.  I love them and think they are sooo yummy!  I don’t think it gets any better than these.

The hot fudge sauce is from a family cookbook recipe coming from a cousin and the caramel sauce comes from my favorite cookbook in the world “Our best bites.” 

 I honestly think everyone needs to own this cookbook it really has the best recipes ever in the entire cookbook.  I haven’t tried anything yet that I haven’t liked and it’s especially great if you are doing a party or special event and want really great food.  You will be so happy with it.  Anyways, here are the recipes:

Hot Fudge Sauce

2 cups sugar
4 ½ T. cocoa
1 cube butter
2 T. flour
1 large can evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.  Boil 3-5 minutes on medium heat.

Buttermilk Caramel Syrup

¾ cup buttermilk
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup real butter (no substitutions)

2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda in a 4-quart pan.  Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to low-just make sure it’s still bubbling.  Cook, stirring very frequently, for 7-9 minutes or until the syrup reaches a rich golden brown.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

                                          
                                                                                      *Heather*

Flavored Water

It is summer time, and I am always telling my kids they have to drink lots of water everyday because it is so hot outside.  Plus, I am prego, plus my daughter and I both are prone to UTI's, and so we need to drink water even more.  Water is boring.  I have tried many things things this summer so far, to get everyone, including myself, to drink more water.  My latest attempt was a water drinking contest.  It was fun and exciting for the kids the first couple weeks, now, boring.  They don't even try anymore.  

But now, I found this awesome flavored water recipe on pinterest!!!  It adds a new element to the water drinking contest.  Once they drink one of their special 18 oz. water cups (with lids and straws, I might add) they get to have the flavored water!  And what a treat that is.  The second cup is always gone much faster than the 1st.  The kids goal is to drink at least 2 1/2 of these a day.  And now, they do, easily.  And they are loving it.  

Pictured is the Blackberry/Sage water.  SO GOOD!  There is a hint of sage, and the combo is wonderful!

Hope you enjoy trying these yummy waters!!

 

~Rachel~

Sesame Beef

During this pregnancy I have been craving, or maybe desiring to eat, Oriental foods.  They always sound good to me.  We even went to a celebration with all kinds of food booths, and I wanted Mongolian.  Oh well, nothing wrong with that!  I have been making all kinds of Oriental food though.  A few weeks ago I ran across this recipe and have been dying to try it.  Finally the broccoli lasted more than a day in my house (my kids LOVE streamed broccoli) and so we tried it!  It was delish!!  The meat was so tender.  And the best part, it was easy!  It took me about 20 minutes total in prep time.  Awesome!

Sesame Beef

Makes 6 servings
Found in LDS Living Magazine

1 1/2 lbs. boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
1 1/2 C. beef broth
1/2 C. oyster sauce
1/2-1 lb. fresh broccoli florets
1/4 C. water
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
hot cooked rice (optional)
Toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

1. In a slow cooker, arrange beef strips, pour beef broth and oyster sauce over the beef.
2. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours, until beef is very tender.
3. Place broccoli in microwave safe bowl with 1/4 cup water.  Microwave 4-5 minutes until broccoli is tender.
4. In a cup, combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons cooking liquid, stir until smooth.  Add to slow cooker 15-20 minutes before ready to serve.  Stir well and combine.
5. Drain the broccoli and stir into the slow cooker.
6. Cook uncovered on HIGH for about 15 minutes until sauce is thickened.
7. Serve over hot, cooked rice and garnish with sesame seeds.


Ok, a few "Rachel changes":
I steamed my broccoli for about 4-5 minutes.  I just like that better than boiled broccoli.  
And a tip my Mom taught me many years ago, cornstarch needs to be mixed together with COLD water, or you will always have lumps.  Now I have to admit, I followed the recipe the other day, and I was so disappointed with all the lumps, so instead of adding that cornstarch mixture, I got another cup and mixed the cornstarch with 2 Tbsp of COLD water and it was smooth in about 5 seconds.  So just a little tip there.  Cornstarch needs cold water.
I am sorry that I did not remember to take any pictures.  When I did remember, the next day, there was only a little beef left, no broccoli.  I will get one on here next time I make this dish!

~Rachel~