Fabric Boards and Letter

So I'm back to catching up on crafts! I was in a dilemma for such a long time about what to do with one of the windows in our living room. I wanted something to dress it up a little but I didn't want to use curtains because the window has a window seat. To add curtains may have made it hard to sit at the window seat. Plus I already had curtains hanging over some of the other windows in the living room and I didn't want to dominate the room with a ton of brown curtains, so I opted for this instead. 

First, I cut out the material so I would have enough fabric to wrap all the way around the canvas. 

Then, using my Mod Podge, I coated the canvas. You want to work quickly so that it doesn't dry too much before you attach your fabric.

 Smooth out the fabric over the Mod Podged surface, making sure to get out all of the air bubbles.

 Then Mod Podge the sides of the canvas and stick down the fabric. I used my scissors to cut the extra fabric away from the corners. Then using my hot glue gun I glued the extra fabric to the back of the canvas. You don't have to, but because I'm OCD I cut the fabric around the back of the canvas so it looked nice and neat. :)

 Here are the finished boards.

 And here are the boards hanging above my window! I was please with how they turned out. Adds just a little something I think. :)

I also did the same thing with the letter "E" to go above Everett's door.

I plan to add some embellishments to it, but for now it'll work. :)
Happy crafting! :)

Reasons to be Joyful

I can be joyful because:

1.) The Olympics are on TV! I love to watch the Olympics! It is so fun to watch all the different sports and cheer for the USA. I always feel so patriotic and I almost always tear up when I hear the National Anthem being played when we win a gold medal. I just can't help it! Lol!

2.) I got a new watch! I have decided to start a running program called Couch to 5k. Basically, you train to run a 5k in about 10 weeks. I needed a watch with a stopwatch for this and so I got one! It's lime green and SUPER cheerful...which I will definitely need to be cheered when I get further into the program. :)

3.) My son LOVES to read! He is CONSTANTLY getting out books and bringing them to us. He always says: "Boooooook! Boooooook!" It's so cute. He enjoys it enough that he will even look at books all by himself. I hope his love of books and reading continues all through out his life. 

4.) Volleyball season is starting soon! I get to coach Junior High and JV volleyball this year and still help with Varsity. I can't get enough of the sport. Watching the USA volleyball team play at the Olympics has also been getting me pumped up! :)

5.) Our good neighborhood. I really enjoy where we live. I recently got to meet some of the people that live in the cul-de-sac behind us and they invited us to the block party they always have before school starts. Of course, there are always those neighbors that are kind of problematic...like our teenage neighbors that drove their truck into the cul-de-sac's mailbox stand...which is now broken on the ground...but we really are blessed with such a nice place to live!

6.) I saved approximately $59 dollars today at Once Upon a Child! It was a madhouse there today because it was their "cram everything you can into a bag and pay $15 for the whole bag thing." :) I got a TON of winter clothes for Everett! I know it's a random thing to be joyful about, but I was SO excited to get such great deals on a bunch of clothes for Ev!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! Keep smiling!

Thoughts from My Heart

LOTS has been going on. LOTS and LOTS. And it's one of those times when LOTS has been going on in other people's lives and not necessarily my own life. Which it TOTALLY fine by me. Trust me, I'm not complaining, but all of the "LOTS" going on in other people's lives- some good, some bad, has made me realize how important prayer is. 
I HATE being cryptic. Like, for example, when you read someone's status on facebook and you think..."Ok, what in the world did that mean?? Should I be concerned?? Happy?? Sad?? Should I be asking questions?? Is it personal?? Should I mind my own business???" You know what I'm talking about- cryptic. And I feel like I'm having to be a little cryptic and vague as I write this. So I'm sorry that's the case.
Basically, there is stuff going on at home that I can't be helping with, or be involved with because I'm here. In Idaho. And I don't like that I can't be there to help. But, as I've been reminded of several times these past couple of weeks, I can pray. Prayer is often underestimated and undervalued in my mind and it shouldn't be...at all. 
My personality is one of "what can I do to fix this?" I have a hard time letting go and letting God (as the saying goes). Which sadly, shows what I believe about God. In essence, I am saying that what I could do to fix things is better than what God can do. I'm saying that my way is better. Which leads to all sorts of selfish, discontented feelings. Great! What a wonderful way to live! (note my sarcasm) 
How quickly I forget the things I've been taught, both at home by my parents, and at Northland- where we were taught over and over again that the greatest work we can ever do is on our knees! 
So I'm driving home tonight from church and my heart is overflowing. So I just start praying. Outloud. I call it praying, but it's more like jumbled words just pouring out from my heart. I just tell God everything I'm feeling, everything that I'm worried about, everything that I feel discontent about, everything I know I've been selfish about...everything. On, and on, and on...as I'm driving around the block again, and again, and again.
I look behind me at my son who is in his carseat. He is sitting there with his hands folded waiting for me to say: "In Jesus's name" because that's when he chimes in with his loud: "Mamen!" (All I could think was: "Sorry kiddo, but you may be waiting a while to say your Mamen!") But it was the perfect reminder for me.

Everett doesn't worry. He's a kid. He doesn't worry AT ALL. He doesn't worry about his next meal, or the clothes he'll wear, or about scheduling, or money, or jobs, or illnesses. He doesn't worry because he knows Daddy and Mommy will do ANYTHING to take care of him and to show him how much he is loved.  Just like Everett trusts Tyler and me as parents, I'm supposed to have that kind of trust in God. 

I know that already. 

I've known it since I was little.

But it really hit me tonight. Maybe it's because I have a kid now and I understand what unconditional love is. Or maybe I thought I understood it before, but didn't really. But I get it now. How easy it is to start out the day trusting God and then by the time lunch rolls around (or sooner) you've already gone back to trusting in yourself! Ugh!


Here is the verse God has given me time and time again when I go through these phases of worry and discontentedness. 

Hebrews 13: 5b-6 (AMP)

"...and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support, I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax my hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]  So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]..."

I know that I have kind of rambled and been quite vague and for that I apologize. This is what has been on my heart recently and I'm SO thankful that I have a God who is sovereign and loving! God is good, all the time!

Bass Fishing+Megan-Style= Merriness

On Saturday Tyler convinced me to go bass fishing with him at Bruneau State Park. There is a glorified pond there where Tyler and his friend Johnny Wiest catch GOBS of bass. Just last week Tyler caught 48 fish there in about 6 1/2 hours. Crazy. 
Tyler has been fishing there with Johnny since we moved out to Idaho and he LOVES it. It's one of his favorite summer things to do. Apparently, it was so fun that Tyler really wanted me to go along at least once to experience it. So I went.
Now, in case any of you have never gone bass fishing in the way that my hubby does, I feel like this deserves some explanation. First off, you don't fish from a dock. Oh, no. That would be too simple. You go out into the water in a float tube. (Possible problem number one for me.) And of course, the objective is to catch fish while you are in said float tube. (Possible problem number two for me.) Thankfully, my husband likes to be prepared and gave me a little "casting tutorial" in the backyard. It went something like this:
Tyler: "Ok, now that I've shown you how to cast, try casting into Everett's pool." (No worries, Everett was not in the pool...not like it would have mattered.)
I fumble with the line, finally get a hold of it between my finger and the pole like I've been shown, I bring the rod back, I fling it forward...and I watch as the line sails forward flinging my bait into the sliding glass door of our house...approximately 10 feet behind Everett's pool. Success. Tutorial terminated. Now to catch me a bass. 
We arrive at Bruneau and begin unloading the truck. Little did I know how much actually goes into bass fishing. Oh, how little. I am instructed to don the waders. Chest waders that is. Haha.  I am told to make sure to stay on my flip flops with the waders on so as not to ruin the feet on the waders. Easier said than done. After maneuvering around the bank for a little bit I was directed to put on my flippers. I did so and realized with one or two kicks I would be donating these flippers to the fish if not tightened. Tyler helped me tighten them and then I was told to get into the tube. Walking backwards, so as not to trip myself with the flippers, I waded into the pond carefully and eased myself into the float tube. So far, so good. Tyler told me to go out a little ways and wait for him there until he got all set up himself. Looking around I realized that I am sitting in a LOT of brownish-green water with lots of weeds. But I'm not sinking- that's all that matters. Tyler finally joins me and we begin to go across the pond to one of Tyler's favorite spots.  We begin fishing and in a short amount of time, Tyler is reeling one in.  I try to remember my "training" as I cast. I am excited and yet terrified about catching a bass. (They wiggle and are gross, you know.) Sure enough, I have a bite. I yank up on the fishing pole and reel like crazy. Oh...and I'm screaming and kicking like mad. I don't know what came over me--but that type of behavior seemed appropriate at the time. After I get the bass somewhat close to my float tube I realize with trepidation that I can't catch another fish until I get this googley-eyed fish off my hook. GROSS. Not happening. It took a while, but I kicked my way over to Tyler's float tube and let him do the nasty work. And actually, that's what I did for all 10 bass that I caught. I did at one point try to get the fish off the hook by myself. You have to stick your thumb in their bottom lip and hold tight while you undo the hook with your other hand. I got as far has having my thumb in the fish's mouth, but I SWEAR it licked me! That was the end of that!
All in all, I really enjoyed the fishing trip. I got to experience what Tyler enjoys doing and I even got to enjoy it with him. My only complaint (in all seriousness) is that there isn't a cup holder in the float tube to hold my Mountain Dew! :)

Flower Pillows

This project was SO SO SO much fun! Part way through this project my Tiny Tailor died. So I got a new sewing machine! (Apparently the Tiny Tailor is meant for tailoring...not sewing felt onto pillows.:)) 

Here's what you need to get started:

-- A little over a 1/2 yard of fabric….19 inches to be exact. You can get away with a half yard if you already have it, just cut your pieces to 18" instead of 19". 

-- 1/4 yard felt. Buy the good stuff on the bolt and not the cheap sheets in the kids crafts section. Buy a half yard just to be safe.

-- A large and small cup (or other circles) for tracing, a large bowl for tracing, a pen, scissors, and cardstock to make your template.

Trace and cut out the circles in your cardstock. I used two different sized circles. One was 2.5 inches and the other was 3.5 inches in diameter. 

 I traced and cut out roughly 30 large circles, and 20 small circles. Then I cut all of the circles in half.

Next I cut my fabric into three pieces.

1 large square 19 inches x 19 in. , 1 rectangle 19 in. x 15 in. , and 1 rectangle 19 in. x 12 in.

On the right side of the 19 in. by 19 in. square, I traced a bowl which made a large circle in the middle. I left 4-5 inches or so around the edges. The line I drew was to help with placing the petals in a perfect circle.

I lined up the edge of a large petal along the line I had traced. As I sewed the petals on, I overlapped the petals about a 1/4 inch. I continued sewing around the circle, adding petals.

 After I did four or five rows of large petals and I got closer to the center, I switched to the small petals. As I got closer to the center I curved and bunched the straight edge of the petals so they stood up a little and looked like real petals. When I got to the center I added a couple petals that were good and bunched at the bottom for extra volume.

I finished the short edges (12 inch and 15 inch) of my two back rectangles by folding one side under 1/2" twice and sewing. I placed my pillow front and back pieces right sides together, and lined up the edges. I put the larger rectangle down first against the flower with the right sides together, then put my smaller rectangle on top if it, right sides together. I used lots if pins. :)

 I sewed around the edges with a 1/2" inch inseam. Because home decor fabric frays easily, you can serge or do a quick zig zag stitch around the edges. (I don't have a serger, so I just did the zig zag stitch). I trimmed the corners and turned it inside out. Tada!!

This was by far the most I have enjoyed doing a sewing project! Hope all the instructions weren't too confusing! :)

Coffee Filter Wreath

WARNING: This craft takes A LOT of time and depending on your wreath size, it takes approximately 500 coffee filters. There. You've been warned. :) But it was still a lot of fun to do. Just make sure you aren't planning on finishing it during your kiddo's naptime. :)

What made my wreath take a little longer is that I decided to dye all of my coffee filters. I bought some regular $0.89 bottles of paint from Michaels. 

I diluted the paint with some water in separate cups. Then I put each coffee filter in for a few seconds so they would absorb the color. (In hindsight, I should have had bigger containers to put the filters in for the coloring. It would have been much faster.) Then I spread them out on some foil to dry. (Needless to say, this was a process that I spread out over several days.)

After they had finished drying, I started using my hot glue gun to stick them to my wreath form. I purposely left the plastic on the wreath form so that if for some reason I want to use it for something else I can just tear the plastic off and still have a good wreath form to use. Also, MAKE SURE you attach the ribbon that you'll use for hanging the wreath BEFORE you start gluing. It will be much easier now than later.

I also recommend some Mountain Dew to help get you through this project. :)
Here is the final product!

I will say, if you are hanging your wreath outside you will want to see if the sun hits it at all because otherwise the filters will begin to fade. Thankfully, we have a bit of an overhang so we are good to go!

Melted Crayon Stamping

Here is how I did the "LOVE" letters in Everett's room.
I sketched out the letters onto my canvas using a pencil. Then I chose the colors I wanted for each letter. I used about 3 or 4 different shades of the same color for each letter. I tore the paper off of the crayons (a crucial step as I found out.) :) Then using a candle that I had in the house I melted the tip of the crayon and then "stamped" it onto my canvas. I had to remelt the crayon every time I stamped. It was rather time consuming, but very fun. Here is the finished product:

 At the end I just used my glue gun to stick white ribbon to the backs so I could hang them in Everett's room. And there you have it! Two different melted crayon projects! :)

Melted Crayon Art

Several people have asked how I made some of my different crafts, so I thought I would write about how I made some of them. For my first craft I decided to do the melted crayon art because according to the instructions, it looked like it would be a fool proof craft that I couldn't possible mess up! (By the way, all of my craft ideas come from Pinterest.) 

I started by gluing all the crayons to my canvas. (You can choose whatever size you want.) I got a box of 64 crayons from Michael's for $1. They were the cheapo crayons, but they seemed to work well. I used my hot glue gun to secure the crayons to the canvas. 

Then I put down an old blanket and got out my blow dryer. I positioned the blow dryer above the crayons so that I was blowing the wax in a downward direction. You can melt the crayons a lot more that I did, I just preferred the less-melted look. :)

 Have fun doing some crayon melting! :)

Reasons to be Joyful

I can be joyful because:

1.) My husband went garage-saling with me! Wait- it gets better. He went with me at a relatively early time in the morning....IN THE RAIN! It was so nice of him! I really like going to garage sales but I am TERRIBLE at knowing how to organize my driving route so that I (a) don't get lost and (b) don't waste a ton of gas. It was wonderful having Tyler come with me. :)

2.) I have SLOWLY begun to tolerate running. Before I hated it. Now, I can't say I like it, but I can handle getting up in the morning to run much better.

3.) I have found that praying while I run is a great distraction. Before when I would run all I could concentrate on was how much my breathing sounded like a was about to die. But, for some reason, now I can totally ignore what my body is doing (a.k.a. dying) and concentrate on praying. Don't know why I didn't try this sooner. :)

4.) My son is saying more and more words everyday. Everett basically repeats the last word of any sentence. It's adorable. The words that he understands and can say are: ruff ruff, moooo, up, cup, Mama, Dada, bye-bye (more like buh-buh), uh-oh, yes, yeah, Papa, eat, amen (may-men), and thank you (tank-ooo). Occasionally, he will say "What?" and "Here." but those are far more infrequent. I just love that I am able to understand more of what Everett babbles about all day. It warms my mommy-heart.


5.) I got two fillings at the dentist on Friday. Usually people aren't thankful for these type of things, but I am. I'm glad because I actually went to the dentist (haha) and also because they found my cavities before they became painful. I much prefer a PLANNED dentist trip than a forced, unscheduled trip. And seeing as these were the first two cavities I have ever had, I was a bit nervous about getting them taken care of- but it was a piece of cake. And actually, I feel as though I got the royal treatment while I was there. They gave me awesome headphones to listen to the radio (to drown out all of the drilling noises in my case) AND they gave me a FREE moisturizing hand wax. (No, I did not get my hands waxed. Lol) Basically you dip your hands in wax three times and then they put soft fuzzy mitts on your hands. Then at the end of the appointment they remove the wax (which is really soft and oily) and your hands are baby soft. Pretty cool.


6.) We have alphabet letters on our fridge. I like them because it gives Everett something to play with while I cook and sometimes Tyler leaves me messages. Mostly ones that make me laugh. His most recent one was: "Why eat bugs?" Totally random, but it made me laugh. Apparently it's hard to come up with good sentences when you only have one of each letter in the alphabet. :)


Well, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Keep smiling away!
 

Ode to Dishwasher

I absolutely LOVE modern appliances. I am very thankful that God saw fit to have me live during this time period. Seriously, can you even imagine having to go outside to beat your clothes with a rock in a river to get them clean? Yeah, and can you even imagine ME being able to do that? Didn't think so. Me neither. Like I said I LOVE modern appliances. But I must admit that my very favorite appliance is my dishwasher. Her name is Harriet. (Yes, I named my dishwasher.) She just looks like a Harriet. I thought my little dishwasher to be so important that I felt she deserved a name...for heavens sakes humans name lots of things that are important to them...don't judge me people. :)

Growing up we always had a dishwasher and at times Marissa and I were asked to either load or unload it. At the time, I'm afraid, my attitude about this particular task was less than desirable. So it is certainly safe to say that growing up I took our dishwasher for granted. Then Tyler and I moved into our first rented house...without a dishwasher. Oh yes, you see where this is going. To be honest, I'm not sure one can completely understand going without a dishwasher unless it has been a first hand experience. It isn't fun. Of course I got used to it...kind of. But I always dreamed of having one. Especially after having a group of people over. I would stand at my sink washing away and think of what it would be like to put all the dishes I was washing directly into my imaginary dishwasher, pushing a few imaginary buttons, going to bed and then waking up to lots of cheerfully clean dishes. Ah yes. That would be the life. 

Then, a little less than a year ago, we started house hunting. I can remember talking with our real estate agent, Aaron Walker, about what we were looking for in a house. My request: a dishwasher. I'm not joking. Tyler is  sitting there listing off number of bedrooms and bathrooms, garage and backyard preferences and all I can think about is owning a dishwasher. Pathetic, I realize, but true. Aaron found us our dream house, dishwasher included. Couldn't be happier. 

For the first several days after we moved in I practically gushed to Tyler about how wonderful our house was and how thrilled I was with our dishwasher. In fact, every time we had someone over after we first got our house we would give them the grand tour. Of course when I gave "the tour" it always included my little Harriet. Though I think some people might have been a little confused at my grand introduction of...the dishwasher....
I can honestly say that I am still LOVING my dishwasher. Washing every single thing by hand for a little over 3 years will do that to you. And I have told Tyler that I will NEVER complain about loading or unloading the dishwasher. EVER.

I still randomly tell Tyler how much I love my dishwasher and how I am so thankful that I have one and he always smiles patiently with me...because it is like the eleventy-billionth time I've told him. But some things just never get old. Never. :)

Moment of Merriness...or Moment of Terror...whichever...

Well, we have finally made it HOME!! It's so wonderful to be home, although it is always a little bittersweet because of having to leave some of your family back in Colorado. But, like I said in a previous post, we took enough pictures to hold us over for at a least a LITTLE bit! Hahaha....like over 1,000 pictures. :)
This Moment of Merriness happened while we were at the YMCA cabin in Winter Park with Tyler's family and my family. I use the word cabin loosely. It was really more like a two story house with a huge porch. There were 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms- which were definitely necessary because there were 10 adults, 2 toddlers, and 1 infant. Full house, but certainly a fun filled house! 
We spent 3 days at the YMCA cabin and we packed them full of activities, food, laughter, and even a family NLF draft for this upcoming Fantasy Football Season! (Watch out folks, my team MegaDomination is going to do just what my team name implies!) Anyway, we were busy but it was the fun kind of busy. We spent played tennis, frisbee golf, putt putt, went on walks, watched the kids play on the playground, played games, and spent time at the pool almost every evening. Awesomeness... so back to my Moment of Merriness...
Amber (Tyler's older sister), her husband Dan, and their 2 girls stayed downstairs in a room near ours while my parents, Tyler's parents, Marissa, and Sabrina all stayed in rooms upstairs. One night (I think it was around 1:00am) Tyler and I were woken up by a really LOUD bang and then a crash. I knew it must have been a big deal because Tyler immediately jumped out of bed...............LET ME REPEAT................Tyler JUMPED out of bed. For those of you who know Tyler well, you know that he does NOT wake up quickly at all. It takes him close to 20 minutes to get his eyes to open. But that night after we heard the noise Tyler was out of bed faster than I could blink. He went to the window and looked out at the dumpster by our window but didn't see anything. He stayed there for a couple of minutes and then came back to bed...and he didn't say anything! I couldn't believe it! I was panicking! I thought for sure one of our family members had tripped on the porch, fallen, and cracked their head open. My next thought was that someone had tripped over the tub while trying to get to the toilet. It was a LOUD crash. But my hubby just got back in bed and rolled over!! So being the curious, annoying (and freaked out) wife that I am I said: "Tyler, what was that?"
Tyler: "It was nothing."
Megan: "You didn't see anything?"
Tyler: "No." 
(Let me pause here to say that Tyler rarely elaborates about anything but I thought this particular night was a bad time to NOT elaborate.)
Megan: "Are you sure everyone is ok?"
Tyler: "Yes."
Megan: "Are you SURE? Because it sounded like someone tripped and fell or something..." (waiting for further explanation...)
Tyler: "Nope, they're fine. Sleep well."
Megan: MOMENTARY FREAK OUT (because if it WASN'T someone from our family, WHO was it! Was my life in danger??? (Haha, yeah, a bit dramatic.)
Little did I know that my Mom and Dad had also heard the crash and my Mom had sent my Dad downstairs to see what it was. Finding nothing, my Dad went back upstairs to have a conversation with my Mom similar to the one Tyler and I had just had...just kidding. :)
I did eventually make it back to sleep but only after first deciding my evacuation plan and weapon of choice. 
The next morning my parents and Tyler's parents went outside and quickly realized what had made that loud noise. The dumpster, which was right outside our bedroom window, had been knocked over and all the trash from inside was strewn all over. And there were tracks....and paw prints on the dumpster. It had been a BEAR!  I had been sleeping about 10 feet away from a bear!!!  Apparently, Tyler had known all along that a bear had caused the loud noise, but didn't want to tell me because he knew I would freak out! The cabin had a journal that all the guests could write in and in one of the entries someone wrote about seeing a bear on a couple of different nights. Well, apparently the bear was back! Joy, Tyler's Mom, was SO excited! She really wanted to see the bear and was trying to convince all of us that it would be fun to put "bait" on the porch so we could REALLY be able to see it! Haha. The next night the bear came back anyway. We had all gone to get ready for bed and Tyler and I were in our room.  We heard a really loud crash- the same noise we had heard the night before. Tyler ran to the window and looked out and sure enough, there was a HUGE black bear going through the trash in our dumpster! (Apparently, it was unusually large for a black bear.) I couldn't believe it! Tyler ran upstairs to tell everybody so they could come see it. So there we were, all 10 of us, crammed into our bedroom gathered around the window peering out looking a huge black bear eating our dinner "leftovers."  Surprisingly, Everett slept through the ENTIRE thing. Even with everyone in our room he didn't even stir. Mom tried to get some pictures of the bear but because it was so dark the camera only picked up the screen on the window. 
Here are some pictures we did get:

The dumpster the bear pulled over.  Note our window right behind the dumpster.

Paw prints from the bear on the side of the dumpster.

The trail of trash the bear left behind.

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend! Happy Friday!