DIY: Refrigerator Word Magnets

Almost a year ago now, I'm guessing, I pondered over the idea of joining the Etsy world.  I came up with a few things I might sell, some better than others.  One of the not so good ideas was making and selling refrigerator word magnets.  I actually followed through on making these.  I made a TON.  And then I decided not to sell them, so they are still covering our fridge.

I just think these are so fun!  People come up with random, funny sentences or phrases.  So I thought I would give a simple DIY on the ol' blog today.

First I bought magnet sheets at Office Max.

Avery Ink Jet magnet paper to be exact.

Then I got out some Mod Podge...

and some sponge on a stick thingy's...

and then I cut out a ton of words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs from magazines that had fun fonts or crazy words and I mod podged them onto the magnet paper with the sponge on a stick.

The most tedious part comes after the mod podge dries...cutting out each individual word!

As I cut out the words I separated them into little baggies by type of word such as, adjectives, nouns, verbs, conjunctions...etc.  You don't need to do this if you're just going to keep them yourself.  Unless you want to know how many you have of each type of word.

Don't forget to cut out lots of a's, and's, the's, in's, for's, to's, you know...those kinds of words that you use a lot.

That's it!  Pretty simple.  It just takes a long time.

Have fun making crazy sentences!

Happiness is...

Rejoicing in God's creation!

I love poppies!  I am so glad they are the California state flower.  (They are, right?)  There are poppies planted in front of Grace to You right now and I have wanted to take pictures of them for weeks now.  I finally did on Wednesday.  ;)



Project!

So I am very excited to announce that very soon, in a couple of weeks to be exact, we will have a new resident at the Taylor household!  Jennifer.  We really like Jennifer.  She serves on High School staff with Em and me and she is godly, kind and funny.  :)

There is a funny story...well, incident with Jenn. 

The very first time she came over I was having a little party while my mom and sister were on vacation.  We all wound up talking about how creepy it can be at night when you are home alone.  Well, Jenn was sweet and offered to spend the night.  As we were getting ready for bed, Jenn was in the bathroom when I heard a LOUD crash downstairs.  In my mind, it HAD to be a burglar breaking in. 

(I knew it wasn't the dogs, because when I went to the hallway they were both running to the sound, barking.) 

So, Jenn and I made a stealthy trek downstairs to find that the middle shelf in the cabinet had decided to give way all of the sudden!

It was the shelf that holds all our canned food. 

Some of those cans have been there for years no doubt.

For 23 years that shelf has been holding cans and has never given out.  But it decided that the best time would be when my mom and sister were away.

I'm so glad Jenn was there, otherwise, I would have probably spent the night upstairs in my room, awake, rocking back and forth in the fetal position.

Jenn and I spent probably half an hour putting the fallen cans on the table and rearranging what was left in the cupboard.  She suggested that I start...eating the canned food.  ;)

Well, last night Jenn came over and was shocked to see that pretty much none of the canned food had been consumed.  In fact, there may be even more.  So, we decided to start a little project called: Eat Canned Food!  Maybe we'll start when she moves in.  We are going to make a list of the many kinds of canned food we have and then we are going to make our way through the cans, finding recipes that require a can of "creamed asparagus" for instance.  Then we'll check it off the list.

So, keep your eyes open for "Canned Dinner Tuesdays" or something like that.  :)  It should be interesting.

I'm a Cartoon!

So, I don't have an iphone, but I do have an ipad.  It's camera is not nearly as good, but I can download fun camera apps and tweak my photos.  So fun! 

DIY: Olive Green Drawers

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I love interior design.  And if you know me persoanlly you probably know that I love to fix up old furniture! 

Well, the other day at work, my wonderful boss, Rita, brought in an old little thing of drawers.  It almost looked like it belonged on top of a desk.  She was going to put it on the volunteer table which is basically a giveaway table, but first she asked me if I wanted it.  I almost passed it up but then I gave it a closer look.  I loved the rounded edges on the drawers and the old handles and it had a retro 50's feel.  So I took a chance..."on an unknown kid."  (Excuse me, random movie quote.)

Of course I had to blog about the process.  ;)

Not all the pics are great...so bare with me.

For some reason not all my before pictures downloaded, but here is a close up of what it looked like before:

Of course, I sanded it down first.

These drawers used to hold silver, so they had this weird fake felt inside.  I tore out the silver holders...

.

...and scraped out the fake felt.  This was the longest part of the whole process.  And I should have been wearing a face mask.  It came off like fine powder.

The mix of the powder with the wood chips was not the nicest thing to inhale.

I bought some nice already mixed olive green paint from Lowe's.

I taped up the handles because they were super hard to remove.

And I lined the drawers with some laminate paper also found at Lowe's.

Not a perfect paint job, but I don't think anyone will notice.

I stuck the drawers back in...

and Voila!  All done!

Here it is in my room.  ;)  A new pedestal for Woody!

The Cabin

What does a radio, a blue bin full of coffee supplies, some hot chocolate and excited eyes make for?

A wonderful weekend away in the mountains!  That's what! (In truth, we didn't use the radio at all, but doesn't it look cool??

Complete with snowboarding and long, deep conversations.  ;)

Not pictured: Shelsy and me.

The two of us actually planned on staying just one night but when we drove back to the cabin from Snow Summit in a cloud, we decided it would be best to drive down the mountain the next morning.

So we lived to tell about it.

Memory

Monday night I saw the movie, The Vow, with my mom and my Aunt Donna.  I know I know, cheesy sounding, right?  I was even more concerned when I saw that the critics gave it pretty bad reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised.  In fact, I really liked it.  Just a warning, I can't completely recommend it...watch with discretion. 

The movie is inspired by a true story about a relatively newlywed couple who get in a car accident and the wife loses the previous 5 years of her memory.  In the real story she lost a year, but she met, started dating and married her husband within that year and so she didn't remember him. 

It got me thinking, what would that be like if it were me?  What has happened in the last 5 years of my life?

I realized a LOT has happened!

I graduated college.

I received my teaching credential.

I was an assistant teacher at two different schools.

I joined high school staff at church.

My dad died.

I got a disease.

I started working at Grace to You.

I have many new, dear friendships.

I just can't imagine waking up one day not remembering any of that!  I think I would freak out over my gray hairs, I would wonder why I'm not teaching.  I wouldn't know half the people I interact with now on a daily basis.  And I can only imagine what it would be like to hear the response to "Where's dad?"

So! Memory.  Not something I thank God for often, in fact, sometimes I do wish I could forget some things.  But thinking about it, I am truly so thankful for my memory!

A Reading Nook

One of my favorite things to do after a long day at work is to come home and read.

I like to sit on my bed, grab a pillow, lean against the window sill and ever so often look out at the pretty view.  Framed by my little plants.

Right now I'm trying to read through the Bible quickly.  I know a couple people, yes more than two, that have read the whole Bible in a month!

I don't know if I'll make it that fast...but I'd love to read it in maybe just 3 months.

It's so cool to see the different things God teaches you as you reread a passage you've read many times before.  His Word is living and active!

Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

What are you reading right now?  I want to know!  :)

Style in a Flash

Okay, if it's not obvious to you just by looking at it, I thought I was WAY cool in the pic above.  I specifically remember that moment, posing for the picture like that.  Isn't it weird the things we remember?  We were at Vasquez Rocks and I absolutely LOVED that dalmation outfit.

You know it sounds all self-esteemy and all that kinda junk to say that if you like what you're wearing you'll feel more confident, but I think there is some truth in that.  Maybe even a lot of truth in that.  And yes, we shouldn't be overly concerned with what we wear.  After all, God looks at the heart.  But as my friend, Mariejtie, used to tell me, "It's just as bad to stand out for being poorly dressed (and in that I mean sloppy and messy) as it is to be dressed to the nine's seeking attention.  It's better to blend in."  Obviously not in a "conformed to the world" way, but in a way that doesn't draw attention to you instead of Jesus!

(Oh and you may want to blend in with this era as well.)

Well what do you on those days where you wake up late or just can't think of what to wear?  And you know you shouldn't be caring that much or spending that much time on getting ready, but you just don't know what to do.  You can't show up to work in a mumu, but you also can't show up 20 minutes late.  And if you want to spend anytime reading your Bible in the morning than sometimes you just need some quick styling ideas.

Well, I've come up with a few in the last couple of months that have really saved my sanity in the mornings.  Here they are:

1. A little teasing never hurt anyone.

When I don't have time for a shower or I took one the night before and my hair is all flat, I fall back on this little trick, taught to me by mi madre.  (Teasing was real big back in the 60's and 70's.)  Just back comb, hairspray a bit, smooth the top and fix with a few bobby pins and you're good to go!  Teasing adds body to flat hair.

And if the front is a bit oily you can just use a bit of dry shampoo.  One of the best inventions ever!

I actually bought this little sign and keep it near my mirror just as a reminder that it's okay if my hair isn't perfect.  ;)

2. Have a file of fave outifts handy.

I don't know about you, but I save a lot of outfit ideas on Pinterest under "Style" and when I can't decide on what to wear, I open up this board and can usually find an idea fairly quickly.  Shopping your own closet can keep you from buying what you don't need.

My sister also gave me a notepad for Sister Day where I can list what I wore and draw or add a picture of a certain outif that I liked.

I haven't really used it yet, but the idea is just wonderful.  ;)

3. Accessorize!

The wonderful thing about accessorizing is that you can wear the exact same outfit two days in a row and make it look completely different.  Add a belt and some jewelry, change up the shoes and I doubt anyone would know you're wearing the same dress on Friday that you wore on Wednesday.  You know unless it's orange leopard print or something.

So those are just a few small things I do in the morning to help speed up the getting ready process.

Any of you readers have any secret tips?

Love

I love this picture. 

My parents were undoubtedly a happy couple. 

My dad didn't bring home flowers every week.  (He actually brought home one rose one time.)

They didn't tavel across Europe together.

I don't believe they had an "our song."

My dad LOVED sports and my mom barely tolerates them.

But they loved each other very much. 

They loved spending time together.  They were married for just shy of 26 years, when death did part them, temporarily. 

My mom and dad met at a Bible study which my dad led in what was known as the Career Department at Grace Community Church.  My mom and her roommate at the time thought my dad was kinda "cute."  When the group went out to eat my dad would leave an empty seat next to him and wait to see if my mom would sit there.  And she did.  ;)

One night they were at someone's house and this book was sitting on the coffee table.  They were looking at it together and realized that they had a similar sense of humor.

One day my mom had a particular trying day at work and she told my dad about it.  He asked if it would help if he took her out for dinner and a movie.  She said yes and that was that!

I am so thankful for my parents.  I am thankful that they were committed to each other.  That no matter what trying times they would face together, splitting up would never be an option.

I remember one time when I was little and we were learning how to play Hearts as a family on the carpet in the "family room" my dad was explaining that he loved my sister and me but that he loved my mom even more...in a different way.  I was upset by this at the time.  Ha.  But now of course I understand and I am glad my mom always came first.  ;)

My parents are and always will be a great example to me.

Garden

A few days ago I mentioned my plant that wasn't doing so well.  I really thought she was going to die, so I prematurely bought another little plant from Restoration Hardware.  A tiny globe boxwood.  Well the other one pulled through after all so I decided that I am going to start a little garden on my window ledge/seat thing.  I also decided that since plants are alive, they need names.  The one on the left is Gloria, because she's a survivor.  (For those who don't know, Gloria Gaynor was the first to record, "I Will Survive.")  The other one is Woody.  Really clever there I know.  The great thing about Woody is that he only needs to be misted once a month!  I think I can handle that.

Now I just need some pretty flowers.  (Actually, when Gloria was a newborn she had tons of tiny bright pink flowers all over her.  But they must only appear bianually because it's been over a year since they were around.)  If anyone can tell what kind of plant she is just by looking at her, please let me know.

Here's a few more shots of Woody.

Do any of you readers have a green thumb?

Any tips?

DIY: Fabric Garland Chandelier

The other day at work, my friend, Jessica, directed me too a wonderful new blog called A Beautiful Mess.  If you have never checked it out, go there right now!  I absolutely love everything about it.  Elsie, the writer of this fantastic blog, has a plethora of fun DIY projects including the one below.  (The pic is from her site.)

Pretty much ever since I put up the chinese lantern in my room, I have been dissatisfied with it.  I didn't love the shape or the look and for the last year or so I haven't even had a light bulb in it.  So when I saw the fabric chandelier on Elsie's blog, I knew it would be the perfect fit.

So this past weekend I decided to do it.  What I liked about this project in particular was that all the materials were things I already had around the house.  It's made out of an old fashioned cookie cooling rack (which we happened to have), some white fabric and lace, and a sewing needle and thread.  :)

Here is the finished product in my room.

After it's complete you stick some white fairy lights through the rack and hang with an extension cord.

Just the right amount of whimsy for my room!

Happiness is...

...focusing on and thanking God for what He has given me already, not focusing on and complaining about what I don't have that I want. 

Colossians 3:15 "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful."

Psalm 69:30 "I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify Him with thanksgiving."

Psalm 100:4 "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise!  Give thanks to Him; bless His name!"

Psalm 4:7 "You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and their wine abound."

and one more:

Psalm 16:11 "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Because of God's amazing love, we have so much to be thankful for!  Everything in fact.  :)

(Oh and on a more earthly level, looking at that picture above, happiness is sleeping in.  Yay for Saturday tomorrow!)

Life

The above picture is a shot of the plant in my room, from it's good side.  I am notorious for killing plants.  A green thumb I do not have.  But this one has managed to live for over a year!  A lady at work gave it to me last Christmas as a "Secret Sibling" gift.  I take unnecessary pride in this plant; unnecessary in the sense that I have really had nothing to do with keeping it alive.  I water it occasionally.  And I placed it near the window where it can get a little sun.  That's it. (1 Corinthians 3:7 - "So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.")  And like I said before, this is it's good side.  The plant is not nearly as vibrant as it could be, because even though it's right near my bed and I see it every day, I still forget to water it. 

I find it fascinating (but I guess not all that surprising) how many things in creation are pictures of God and our relationship with Him.  The sun (and I've probably written about this before) is the center of the solar system.  The planets revolve around it and it is the source of light just like Christ is the center of our lives and He is the source of light: knowledge, holiness and glory.

In Proverbs, sluggards are told to go the ant and learn how to work.

Same goes for plants.  Psalm 1:2-3 says, "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers."

If I forget to water my plant or open the shades it starts to die.  The plant needs that water and light!  Same goes with me.  If I don't drink God's Word each day and bask in His light, I start to smell of death.  Sin is right there.  But with some water and sun, with the Word, life is renewed!  It's amazing to see how well my little plant improves when I cut off the dead leaves and give it something to drink.  Same goes with the refreshment I receive from God's Word and time spent in prayer with Him!

2 Corinthians 4:6 "For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

So drink up friends!  Enjoy your day!

That time of year...

Resolutions?  Yes, no, maybe so?  Well when New Year's rolled around I felt that it was almost pointless to make resolutions since I find such difficulty in keeping them.  Plus the whole idea just sometimes seems a little....cheesy to me.  What has happened to me and the idea of cheesiness??  In the last couple years I have wanted as little to do with cheesiness as possible.  But I think I've gone to the other extreme. 

This last weekend we had high school winter camp.  The topic was the glory of God.  To bring God glory should be my utlimate goal and resolution, which I cannot do apart from Jesus and the Holy Spirit working in me. 
1 Corinthians 10:31 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 
Romans 11:33-36 "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!  'For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?' 'Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?' For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be glory forever.  Amen."

Any resolutions I make this year should stem from this.  And it has become more and more clear to me in the last two weeks that I HAVE to make goals and plans in order to grow and truly bring God glory with my life.  If I don't plan anything it's not going to happen.  A friend asked me recently, "What are your plans for this year?"  And I didn't have much of an answer.  Lame!  The very next day I was reading a book that my wonderful boss gave me and the author was talking about the importance of setting goals to grow. 

So, at camp I decided that it might be a good idea to break up my day/areas in which I am involved and see in what ways I need to grow.  That may be a way to figure out some goals and plans to make. 
For me that looks like:
God
Family/Home
Work
Church/High School Group/Evangelism
Friends
Entertainment
Food
Sleep/Rest
Finances

Right off the top of my head I know that in my relationship with God I want to wake up at 5 every morning and spend time with Him in His Word and in prayer.  I want to read through the Bible this year, but faster than one year.  Maybe a few months or more.  I want to spend the majority of my time in the car praying to Him or singing to Him. 
With Family/Home I want to help my mom around the house more.  Be more involved with cleaning and cooking, etc. 
At Work I want to be focused on paying attention to what I am doing.  I want to make sure that I don't draw attention to myself at lunch by trying to be funny or whatever.  I want to take interest in other people.  I also want to take a couple of lunches every week to read. 
With Church/High School/Evangelism I want to faithfully pray for those on staff and the girls in my small group.  I want to choose a day or two in the week where I specifically plan to pray for them.  Same goes with missionaries and people I want to tell about Jesus.  To be realistic, I'd like to start off with telling someone the gospel at least once a month.  I know it should be more, but I want to start off with more than last year. 
With Friends I want to be more purposeful in our conversations.  To ask more faithfully how I can pray for them and then to actually do that! 
With Entertainment I want to be much more discerning in what I watch.  I want to ask myself, "Is what I'm watching glorifying to God?"  If I can't find any way in which it is, I shouldn't be watching it! 
With Food I need to come up with a plan for eating healthy and stick with it.  With the disease I have this is necessary and yet I forget that it is.  I would like to have self control in this area.  I'd also like to spend less in eating out.  In order to do this I really need to come up with how much I should spend a month and stick with it. 
With Sleep and Rest it's pretty simple.  I need to go to bed earlier!  I would like 6 or 7 hours of sleep a night.  If I get up at 5 that means I need to go to bed between 10 and 11.  That means I need to start going upstairs between 9:30 and 10 and that means getting off of FB by 10 for sure! 
And finally with Finances I need to make a budget and stick with that.

Well, again, those are plans that come to mind immediately.  I know that I could come up with more and probably other categories.  But this is a place to start.  It's also probably more than you wanted to know, but I am thankful to have a spot where I have recorded this and now you all can keep me accountable! 

So, what have you decided to do this year as far as resolutions?  What has helped you in the past?  I want to know readers!  Now is the time for you to finally comment!  har har...

Pinteresting Wednesdays

Okay, can someone just pin a bunch of these "work week" outfit ideas?  It makes getting dressed in the morning so much easier.

I. want. one. of. these.

 I love things like this that aren't too matchy matchy.

 This is just funny.

 And this is just cute.

 I'm trying this tonight when I get home.

I think this would just add that "little somethin'" to my room.



 So I started my first quilt a plethora of months ago and then got the measurements wrong so I had to take it all out.  Nevertheless, I got a little discouraged and took a break.  A long one.  I had wanted to make a "crazy quilt" like the one below, but my mom said that I needed to learn the basics first.  But one day.  I will make this.

New Year, New Feature: The Art Corner

The Sleeping Gypsy

by Henri Rousseau

Well, this may be the snootiest thing I have done on my blog yet, but I have decided to start The Art Corner.  I like art, but I was never really into art history before, but doesn't everyone need a little more culture in their life?  Well here you can get a little taste.

The idea came to me when I was helping my mom clean out a bookcase this weekend.  I came across a book she bought when she lived in New York.  It's called something like, 50 Paintings to see at the Modern Museum of Art.  I decided to look at one ever so often and actually read about each painting. 
The Sleeping Gypsy is the first one I came across.

I must admit, I was not a huge fan at first glance.  But as I read about the painting, I came to appreciate it more.  For one thing, the book actually had some quotes from Rousseau describing the painting himself.  I would much rather hear the actual artist's explanation rather than some art student's interpretation of it.
What do you notice about the painting?

Did you see that the lion is passing by the gypsy?  Yeah, I didn't catch that either. But here is Rousseau's quote: “A wandering Negress, a mandolin player, lies with her jar beside her (a vase with drinking water), overcome by fatigue in a deep sleep. A lion chances to pass by, picks up her scent yet does not devour her. There is a moonlight effect, very poetic.”

Apparently, when he tried to sell it to the mayor of his hometown, he was rejected.  The paiting did not receive any true recognition until around 20 years later!  Pablo Picasso was among the first admirers.

I personally think Rousseau was stinkin' good for being self taught.  The more I look at it, the more I love his use of color and the strong lines.  It also reminds me of what life will be like in the Kingdom, when the lion will lay down with the lamb.  That sure isn't the case nowadays.  There is a sense of peacefulness here and a sense of danger.  I like how the two contradicting feelings are present.  Okay now I'm at least on the verge of sounding like a pretentious art student myself.  (No offense to art students out there!!!)

What do you think?  Do you like it or hate it?