Bushel and Peck

For Christmas, my family is doing a "Secret Santa". We have never done it before, but now that (almost) all the cousins are married, we're trying something new. We thought about a theme, but ended up just going with whatev - so we'll see how this goes. :) Anyway, I decided to make a canvas (of course) of a song my Grammy used to sing to all of us kids when we were little. Now I just hope they don't somehow come across my blog in the next day haha. 

Merry Christmas!

We miss you Grammy!

1D

Here is a very simple One Direction canvas I painted for one of my girls that had a Birthday this weekend. She is in LOVE with them and wanted a canvas to join the rest of her poster wall. I couldn't turn her down! Surprisingly, for the perfectionist that I am, this didn't take me very long at all. It's an 11x14 canvas, and I used a thin red paint pen and a medium tip black paint pen. Took about 20 minutes! (This normally would have taken me about 45 minutes because something always goes wrong.) Maybe I'm just getting better. :)

Happy 15th Birthday, Natalie!

Patterns

This past weekend was wonderful. My mom came in to spend some time with me and do a little Christmas shopping. We spent the most time in Hobby Lobby (of course) wandering around getting idea after idea. I get my creativity from her. Although she loves fabric and sewing and I love paper and painting, we meet in the somewhere in the middle. Together we will think of some spiffy stuff.  :)

Anyway, I got to work on a project I have been putting off. I had bought some cardboard letters that spell "HOGS" a while back at HobLob but I never did anything to them. They were meant for a wreath, but they were too heavy to glue to decomesh. So they sat in my Papasun chair for a while. I finally thought of another idea and finally found the time to work on it.

First, I painted the letters white. Then I picked a print for each one. The H is chevron, O is houndstooth, G is argyle-ish, and the S is just vertical stripes. As I do on canvases, I drew everything out with a pencil. Once I stenciled every pattern on I went to town with a thin black paint pen. Now, the patterns were super easy - except for houndstooth. I looked up the pattern online, and imagined the process in my head. I'm not going to lie, it took me about 3 hours and a lot of double-checking. But once I figured it out and got the hang of it it was pretty easy. I will put a tutorial up later. After the patterns, I colored the sides of the letters black. Once they were done, I painted my canvas in a Razorback red and painted the edges black as well. Then I stuck the letters to the canvas!

 

This one was super fun to make!

Winter Thoughts

Soooo since I'm a teacher, I needed to come up with a "winter bulletin board" theme/saying. I've Googled and Googled and spent hours searching Pinterest and blogs. All I was seeing was "It's 'snow' secret..." or "There's 'snow' way...", which are all cute and fun. But I needed something a little, let's say, older, since I am a secondary teacher.  Anyway, after hours of looking, I gave up. Then one day (not even remotely thinking about my bulletin board) I came across a list of Christmas card ideas when - BOOM - I saw "Ice Ice Baby." I instantly sang the song and thought of a layout for it. I knew I would somehow use it as my winter saying. Yes, it is very cheesy, but it reflects a little more of my own personality...

Just start a singin'.

Now, here I went again with the canvases. I just used my paint pen and went to town. When I do these, I go to a font site first (usually dafont.com) and I search for a font that I like. Once I find one, I type in my words, draw on my canvas with a pencil, then go over with the pen. Fortunately, (and I have no idea how) I was blessed with a very steady hand. When it comes to tracing a straight line, it's not a problem. Wish everything was that easy for me (ha). Oh, and the snowflakes were another Dollar Tree purchase. :)

Enjoy the Little Things

Since it's almost Christmas, I needed to exchange my fall desk decor. It took me a while to decide but I finally did. (I can never make up my mind.) Hobby Lobby has been having a special on some canvases (Pack of 2 16x20 for $7.99, Pack of 2 11x14 for $5.99, and Pack of 2 8x10 for $3.99) for quite awhile so I have definitely been taking advantage of that. I bought a black paint marker that has literally become my BEST friend - he makes life so much easier. Below is my computer desk at school. I covered the bottom with burlap, like a skirt. It's just hot glued on. I added some red chevron fabric (that I also got at Hobby Lobby and used the 40% off coupon) that I will do something else with after Christmas. Maybe a new pillow. :) On the right is a mini Christmas tree and lights that go around the desk. On the left is my twine vase that I made last week. Then of course, my canvas. I saw it on Pinterest, and have always been a person who truly does enjoy the little things. So I decided to make my own! 

Simple.

I painted another canvas and I was very pleased with the result! :)

Chirstmas Bouquet

 First Christmas craft of the year!

I used a vase that I already had and rope/twine from Hobby Lobby (It was in the canvas bag section and about $4). I started by hot gluing the first two inches of rope around the bottom edge of the vase. Then I just wrapped it around and around and glued in-between some of the rows. I continued all the way up and even did an extra row on top just to make sure it covered the glass completely. I taped the end before I cut it off just in case it tried to unravel on me. Then I hot glued in on the inside of the vase to hide the end!

As for the greenery - it was all from the Dollar Tree for $1 each! I bought one tall green guy (in the back), two gold pine cone stems, two poinsettia stems, and then a gold crazy stem that I cut off and used as a short filler in the front. I stuck them in there and arranged until I was happy.

Voilà! Not too shabby for < 10 bucks.

A Round Circle

Today was one of the best I've had in a long time. It started off with my dog, Mr. Button, running into my bedroom (because he remembered I was home) this morning and scratching on the side of my bed. He just wanted to sleep in and I happen to be the one that stays in bed the longest (he knows this). I guess you could say it made me "wake up on the right side of the bed." :)

My mom came in a bit later and we ended up just chatting for almost an hour, catching up on the little things, like we usually do. We decided to go run some errands and meet my sister-in-law for lunch where we talked about what we were going to do for our Christmas card. After that, we ran to Wal-Mart and went home to watch the Hogs play LSU. (See ya, Johnny Boy!)

As the day went on, we cooked, painted signs, and gave Mr. B a baff. About 6 my brother and Amber came down and we took the challenge of setting up our self-timer for the camera to take our Christmas card picture. It was a bit difficult since we were trying to balance it on the back of a computer chair. After some failed tries, our doorbell rang. The Knights had arrived! Shout out to one of my best friends, Hayley, and her parents (who are best friends with my parents). I guess they were there to save the day and take our picture! But really just for game night. :) 

As the night continued, my aunt, uncle, cousin, boyfriend, and Hayley's boyfriend, Kevin, came. It started to get louder - in a very good way. We had yet another tasty dinner, caught up, and shared stories. Laughter was amongst the Williamson household this evening.

Off to Catch Phrase! Men vs. Women. (The women won of course). We have the blunt ones, the story tellers, the pointers, the ones the buzzer always lands on, the uhh-ers, and the hopeful skippers. One of which started a description with "a round cirle!" This is a perfect combination for a great night with great friends and family. 

I'm going to bed a very happy girl.

Blessed Beyond Belief

Today was Thanksgiving and I got to come home to spend time with my wonderful, goofball of a family. We shared many laughs, had a del-i-o-cious dinner,  played Bocce Ball until it was too dark to see, and ended with putting ornaments on the Christmas tree. Now, as I sit here with my parents watching The Blind Side, I look around and smile comes across my face: I am blessed beyond belief. 

My mom, who is my very best friend, has raised me to enjoy life and use my imagination. She has taught me to be myself, laugh often, and love the little things. I am a mini-version of her - well, actually, I am a taller, younger version of her (ha)- not mini. I'm glad we share the same sense of humor, one that no one will ever understand. My mom is full of life and I hope, some day, I will be an amazing wife and mother  just like her.

My dad, who is my other very best friend, always has advice and is always helping me out. Whether it's a text telling me that he left "leaf's" in the driveway so I could hear them when I came home for the Holiday (which is one of my favorite things ever to hear). Or being sneaky and filling up my gas tank. He has never let me down, and I know he never will. I hope to find a man (which I think I have) that will be a remarkable husband and father, just like him.

My brother, who is two years older than me, is a huge influence. He got married this past summer to a beautiful girl that is perfect for him and fits right in with our crazy family. I couldn't be happier for the two of them. D has always been there for me and I think our brother-sister relationship is pretty special.  Though we don't get to talk too often, I feel like we never miss a beat.  While we are very different, we are very much alike, and I am more than thankful for my "big bro".

Just happy to be home.

Brrrrlap

Today was a craft day. I went to Hobby Lobby and got absorbed in the mood of a DIY project. I'm teaching a Sports and Entertainment Marketing class, so these will be displayed somewhere in my classroom. Might hang them from the ceiling. :)

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, 
I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. 
I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

- Michael Jordan

Supplies were easy and I got everything in one trip without a list

 - just went through the process in my head.

Supplies:

1/2 yard of each color of burlap (Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's)

Acrylic paint

Something round to trace if needed (basket, lamp shade, bowl, small table)

Scissors

Mod Podge

Hot Glue gun

Fiberfill or plastic bags

Directions:

1. Iron burlap to get the creases out.

2. Fold burlap in half

3. Trace shape onto burlap with pen on one side

4. Paint the border (if wanted)

5. Paint the inside details (laces, name, etc.)

6. Glue (with hot glue gun) a small portion in between the two layers 

under the border and by the crease, let dry

7. Continue to glue top portion of shape, let dry

8. Continue to glue bottom portion leaving enough space for the filler! (about 4 inches)

9. Stuff the shape with fiberfill or plastic bags until satisfied

10.  Glue the final opening

11. Optional: Since burlap frays like crazy,  I used mod podge between the two 

layers just outside of the glue to help the burlap last longer

12. Cut out shape and fluff like a pillow

Excuse the mess but I was allllll over the place. This was just before I glued, stuffed, and cut.

Next project is a burlap apple! :)

 Check!

HE will direct your paths

Here is a craft I did about a month ago. It's a beaded path from mine and my boyfriend's home town to where we met, in Fayetteville, at the University of Arkansas. (He's a keeper.) The whole thing cost me about $2 because I had most of the supplies already.

How to: First I cut my piece of plywood to be 10 x 10 inches and painted it blue with acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby. While it was drying I cut the state of Arkansas out of an old atlas leaving a small border. I placed it on a piece of red scrapbook paper and cut a bigger Arkansas to use as a border and cut hearts for the towns. Next, I strung beads to be "paths" and followed the route to Fayetteville. (Since our hometowns are pretty close, we had part of the same path. But I did two paths: one blue and one green). Once I figured out my layout, I used mod podge to glue everything down and put a layer on top. I printed the the Proverbs verse on resume paper because it was off-white. I burned the edges with a lighter (which was fun to watch) to add some character and glued it to a piece of foam to give it some depth.

Now it's in my living room and I love it!

Be You.

My classroom is nearing the finish. It is a computer/lab classroom, so it is MASSIVE. It's hard to make a big room homey, but I'm doing my best. Here are a couple pictures so far. :)

I added colorful wallpaper to cover up the boring desk, taped flowers onto some pens, and placed my blue chevron canvas behind my computer to hide all of those ugly cords! I know my desk will never, ever be this neat, but it's nice to think so, right?

Be You. :)

I can't believe school starts in ONE week!!!

Shrimp in a Skillet

As for dinner tonight, I just wanted a little something that didn't take long. I was inspired from Pinterest, but made my own version. I shall call it Shrimp in a Skillet - original huh? Anyway it was pretty good and only took about 15 minutes.

Here is the recipe:

(Again, I don't measure, I wing it)

About a cup of frozen shrimp (no-tail)

1/2 TBSP of margarine

Minced garlic (depends how garlicy you like it)

Lemon juice

About 2-3 cups of your choice of pasta

Olive oil

Garlic powder

In a skillet, melt margarine on medium. Add several squirts of lemon juice and minced garlic then stir. Add shrimp and leave for about 5-7 minutes stirring often. In the mean time, cook your pasta. Flip the shrimp so both sides get a little brown. Once the pasta is done, drain and add a little bit of olive oil, more lemon juice, and garlic powder. Stir. Add shrimp. Serving for one.

Bon Appetit!

Deeli-o-cious

I LOVE smoothies. Lately it has been my favorite breakfast, it's one I actually make time in the morning for. I bought the Hamilton Beach smoothie blender from Wal-Mart for 15 bucks which has been totally worth it. I usually wing what I put it in - no measuring. I know there are a ton of smoothie recipes, but here is my recipe for a deeli-o-cioius strawberry banana smoothie:

1 cup of strawberry banana yogurt

Half of a banana (mine was pretty brown, but still just as good)

3 second pour of Silk vanilla milk

A small handful of frozen strawberries (or fresh if you want)

And a couple ice cubes

Blend and enjoy! :)

So. Much. Tape.

Today was a craft day. I've had two canvases for a couple months because I couldn't decide (I'm a horrible decision maker) what to do with them. But I finally decided and went with it. I love the chevron print, so that was my first one.

Red

All moved in to my new home!

What a start!

Recently, I began another chapter of my life. I graduated college back in May and moved to central Arkansas where I got a teaching job and became a coach!

School hasn't started yet, but I've already had a fair share of hours of meetings, classroom time, and practice. No complaints, just ready for more! :)