4th of July Mantel

Happy Independence Day! I have really gotten into the spirit of this holiday this year. I'm so grateful to have been born in and to live in this magnificent country. How truly thankful I am! My son has really gotten into learning the 50 states lately, so it's been fun to teach him about our amazing country for this special holiday! I've honestly never decorated for the 4th of July before, but I was just totally feeling it this year! (Check out my 4th of July pinterest board...I'm just loving all of it!)

 

So say hello to my 4th of July Mantel. I love, love, love it!

 Once again I found about a million amazing printables from some super talented ladies, and I was SO excited to use some of them for this mantel! I'll walk you through each one and give these ladies the proper credit!

The gorgeous blue Shining Sea printable is from Bettijo over at Paging Supermom! A big thanks to her - I adore this part of the mantel! :)

I so love this God Bless America print from Melanie over at The Crafty Cupboard. Her 4th of July mantel is beyond adorable! I absolutely love everything about it! Thanks to Melanie for sharing this beautiful print! :)

The absolutely darling centerpiece of the mantel, the Map Silhouette, along with the equally adorable Statue of Liberty Silhouette, are both from Kensie Kate. This is the first time I came across Kensie's blog, and I went on a pinning spree! She designs the cutest quotes and I added quite a few pins to my Inspiration board on pinterest. I'm so glad I found Kensie's blog, and a big thank you to her for sharing her amazing work! Her Map Silhouette is just so perfect as the centerpiece and I can't help but smile when I see it. :)

 And now to talk about my darling little pom pom garland. Isn't it so sweet?! I tell you, I can't get past this craze of mine for pom pom trim! (And I don't really want to get past it!:) It is SO fun to design with! There are so many options for colors and sizes that it really can be hard to commit to which ones I finally decide to use together (like for my spring mantel garland). I'm so happy with how this one turned out though!

 I got the large white pom pom trim at the Hob Lob. I feel like this trim would be perfect for a winter mantel - you know, snow and all that wintery stuff. Some of the super adorable winter mantels out there, like this one from Landeelu, almost make me want to decorate a winter mantel in between Christmas and Valentine's Day next year. But the fact that I loathe and detest the cold weather and snow just doesn't add up with decorating a mantel dedicated to snow and cold weather. So someone pelase go buy this chunky white trim at Hobby Lobby and do something amazing with it this winter! :)

 The teeny tiny red pom pom trip is from JoAnn's. It's just too sweet! I think I have an especial weakness for the tiny pom pom trim. :) And the dark navy blue I found at Wal-Mart. Thank you Wal-Mart! (It sounds weird to say that). Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's had no sign of navy blue pom pom trim. I was pretty disappointed. And then I found this perfect trim at Wal-Mart! Yay! :)

 I made a few more felt rosette balls to go with our 4th of July décor this year. Love this little white one and the navy blue! (I used the same method that Amy at Idea Room uses for both her heart wreath and rosette balls. Tutorial here! :)

 The kids were loving some Wonder Pets time while I was snapping pictures of the mantel. Gotta love that Ming Ming! "This. Is. Sewious". :)

 I found this sweet little wooden USA, along with the wooden American flag on the right side of the mantel, at the beloved Dollar Spot at Target. YAY! 

There you have it. A happy little 4th of July mantel for a happy little 4th of July. :)

We started our festivities last night at my in-law's neighborhood party - fireworks, BBQ, and music! The kids had such a blast! Tonight was a BBQ with friends, and ANOTHER BBQ tomorrow night! You can never have too many barbecues in one weekend. I just love this holiday!

 

Happy Independence Day 2015!!!

Spring Mantel

Spring is here! Definitely one of my most favorite times of the year. Usually, after a long, cold, dark winter, I am just bursting with the anticipation of spring to finally arrive! This winter has actually been super mild (YAY!) so I haven't been quite as desperate for the warmer weather and sunshine. But I am still so happy that it is officially spring! And with that comes my new springy mantel set up. I kind of love it - a lot!

 

So much bright cheeriness. :)



This darling pom pom garland...I'd been dreaming of making it for weeks, and I think it pretty much makes this mantel! 

When I was thinking of what kind of banner or garland I wanted to make for the spring mantel, I just kind of imagined something made up mainly of different colors of pom pom trim. I seriously adore pom pom trim. Every time I see it I want to buy it in every color and size, even before knowing what kind of project I'd do with it. It tempts me every time! :)

 

 I decided to do a pinterest search to see if anyone had done anything similar to what I was dreaming about. I found this darling pom pom garland tutorial at Lolly Jane and immediately pinned it - SO cute, and along the lines of what I knew I wanted to go for! I think maybe a bit of subconscious inspiration also came from this super cute Halloween garland I saw on pinterest this past fall. It's actually from Desirée at The 36th Avenue, who is also the super talented person who designed and shared the mint printable below! I remember now that I had wanted to create a garland like Desirée's for Halloween, but never got around to it. Maybe next year! And at least it helped inspire this cute spring garland. :)

 

When I finally decided to get going on making my garland, I searched all of my favorite craft stores for the perfect pom pom trims, and I finally hit the jackpot at JoAnn's! (As I've mentioned before, I just cannot bring myself to drop the "'s" off of JoAnn. It's just so wrong to simply say JoAnn...even if that is the actual name. Lol!) I found the pink pom pom trim, the tiny, sweet white pom pom trim, and the pleated yellow trim there. The yellow just spoke to me! It wasn't anything I was planning to get or have even worked with before, which isn't surprising since I don't do much sewing or crafting with ribbon or trim (besides pom pom:) at all! But I just knew it would go perfectly with the pom pom trim!

 

When I got all of my cute trim home, I actually didn't do anything with it for a couple of weeks. It still made me smile though just to look at my pile of colorful trim and envision what I would make out of it. A few weeks ago I finally started hanging up the trims and playing around with how they looked together. I got them all pinned up on the mantel just how I liked it, and I was so happy with how the pink, white and yellow looked together!

 

I had also come across some darling mint trim at Wal-Mart and snagged it right away, but I kept debating back and forth with whether or not I wanted to add it to the garland. Jared helped me by taking pics of me holding the mint up to the garland so I could see how it would look when hung. I finally decided to add it, and I'm so glad I did! I hot glued the mint to the yellow. I LOVE how it all looks together! Yay!

I was searching and searching online for the perfect printable about the Savior, to bring Easter into this mantel, since Easter is a BIG part of Spring, and every day. :) One Sunday night I came across the beautiful print by Desirée, over at  The 36th Avenue, that you see below. It says "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives...Job 19:25". I absolutely love it! She made it in several different colors, and it was tough for me to decide which to use! But since I have a thing for mint, I went with that one. Thanks to Desirée for creating and sharing such beautiful prints that speak of the Savior. I find such hope in His love for me, and I know that He lives. :)

Oh this little pink bird. It's just too sweet for words! Not too mention my sweet  baby girl in the picture behind it. I love that fun pic of our family! It's an oldie but a goodie. :)

The white and pink tissue balls are actually a part of my Valentine's decor, but I think they work perfectly for spring as well! I followed Amy's tutorial over at The Idea Room to make them. I've followed Amy's blog for years - love her and her blog!

 I am so loving this bright and fun "Hello, Spring!"printable by Heidi over at Happiness is Homemade. Isn't is so cute? I saw it on pinterest and knew it would be perfect up on the mantel for spring! Thanks to Heidi for sharing this adorable print!

Seriously, these two prints are just so lovely!

I love this picture of my Savior, which is one of the many beautiful pictures that can be downloaded for free at LDS.org. I love how His arms are outstretched, ready to receive us, to receive me. I love my Savior more than words can express. The link to this picture is here and also, here is a link to the entire Gospel Art collection.



Can I just say again how this sweet mantel makes me smile? :) It is so fun to create, in whatever form that may be. I guess for me, in this case, it was taking random things and putting them all together to make something bright and beautiful. Love it.

 

I can't end this post without a little word about Easter. We celebrated in such a special way this year by following along with Mercy River's observance of Holy Week, doing the activities and reading the scriptures that talk about how Christ spent each day of His final week on earth. It made the whole week, and especially Easter Sunday, that much more meaningful! I want to share my testimony that Jesus Christ lives. He overcame death, and because of Him, we and each of our loved ones will also overcome death. I think of those in my life who have passed on that I miss so dearly. And what comfort to know that they, all of us, will overcome death because of our loving Savior! And we'll be together again. Spring is new beginnings - new life. Happy spring and Happy Easter! :)

Baby Boy! :)

I feel like I've been living under a rock these past few months! A rock that induces extreme morning sickness, fatigue, encourages no motivation, and all that jazz. It's been rough. But I'm SO excited to finally be back in the land of the living, and even more excited to announce the upcoming arrival of our baby BOY!!! Jared and I are super excited for this precious boy. He'll be arriving sometime around July 25th! If he follows suit with his siblings, hopefully he'll surprise us by coming 3 to 7 days before the big due date! We'll see. :)

 

We had our big ultrasound on Wednesday and there was no doubt in our minds that we would definitely find out if baby was a boy or a girl. I just love to know. Sure, some people love finding out because they can plan and all that stuff...but I'm not really that organized anyway. I JUST LOVE KNOWING EITHER WAY! :) Can you tell how I excited I was to find out??

 

Our daughter has no clue that there is even a baby in my tummy, but big brother gets it and is SO happy that he's getting a brother! I'm pretty happy for him, and I'm glad that our sweet girl will be in the middle of two awesome brothers. :)

 

 

After the ultrasound we headed over to T.J. Maxx to pick out an outfit for our sweet little baby boy. Here I am, yesterday, with his cute, tiny little outfit!! This is my favorite outfit for baby boys - the collared romper! 



The T.J. Maxx outing has become a tradition, actually! With our first baby, after our ultrasound appointment, we decided to go right away and pick out an outfit for him! I had been just dying for weeks holding myself back from picking out clothes for both genders. So as soon as we knew he was a boy, shopping we went! Here we are at home later with the outfit we chose for our first sweet baby. :) July 2010. (Notice the collared romper again! Love those!!)

And here's a pic of me at T.J. Maxx right after our appointment to find out we were having a girl!! I couldn't just choose one outfit. Aren't those elephants just darling? August 2012.



It will be so fun to open the many diaper boxes that are filled with baby boy clothes from 4 years ago! (Aren't diaper boxes the best for storing stuff in??) My heart is just filled with love for this tiny little  boy so much already. I'm so happy that I get to be a mom again and to a sweet son! I feel so blessed.

 

While I tended to, more often than not, be very, very "woe is me" over the past few months with how sick I felt, I can't help but acknowledge all of the angels that helped our family! With little things (that were actually big things for us!) like running to the store for groceries for us, making us dinner, coming over when I really didn't feel well, setting up playdates with our kiddos, praying for us. We've been so blessed, and I thank my Heavenly Father for that!! And especially for this little boy who is joining our family! :)

A Tangled Halloween

Now that the Christmas Season is in full swing...time for a Halloween post! :)

About a year ago, after Halloween, my little man told me what he thought our family should be for Halloween the following year. This is what he said, "I can be Pascal. Daddy can be Flynn Rider, and you can be Rapunzel." When I asked him what his little sister should be, he answered "Mother Gothel". I about died laughing when he said that, and I knew that our family could definitely dress up as all of those characters and have a hilarious time doing it. So the plan was set.

And, well, our much anticipated Tangled Halloween has already come and gone, but we had a lot of fun! I loved putting the costumes together. It was fun working on those off and on leading up to Halloween and then seeing the finished product on Halloween.

Let me show you the crew. :)

 

Here we have my little Pascal. He is way too adorable in his costume! The little man  had a LOT of fun dressing up as Pascal! I can't get over how cute he is in this costume, and all the time. :) I followed two different tutorials to make his costume. Erin Bettis at Patricia's Daughter had the most AMAZING idea to use a pair of hooded footed pajamas for the body of the costume. Genius! I used her tutorial to cut out the fabric for the tail as well. Her post is here. I also followed Ashley's tutorial at Make It and Love It, and followed what she did for the little horn on top of Pascal's head, sewing on the tail, and the eyes! Her post is here. Aren't both Ashley's and Erin's costumes they created SO adorable? And I'm pretty happy with ours too! :)

Next we have Flynn Rider, displaying "the smolder" in all of its glory. :)

I always really enjoy putting Jared's costumes together. He already had this blue shirt and he honestly didn't wear it much, so I cut off the sleeves and hot glued them under a bit on the edges. I found the satchel at DI - I heart that place. I saw a tutorial on pinterest for making pirate boot toppers found here. The guy who made them, Wes, did a great job! The toppers I made (vinyl fabric) were definitely not perfect, but they look awesome in the pictures! He just wore them over his brown church shoes. The buckle buttons on the shirt (which I realize are not on Flynn Rider's costume but add a nice touch to the shirt) are just cardboard pieces that I cut out of one of our still lingering U-Haul boxes, spray painted gold. Jared grew out a bit of facial hair for Halloween and rocked the frying pan. He is one dang handsome Flynn Rider if you ask me! :)

Then we have Rapunzel with her dashing Eugene Fitzherbert/Flynn. :)

And the little lady who stole the show...the one and only Mother Gothel. Seriously, are you not dying laughing right now?!

She did so well keeping her wig on - I was surprised! 

The cuteness is almost overwhelming. I'm pretty sure this is the only "cute" Mother Gothel you'll ever see! I got this little lady's dress at DI, and put it over a red long-sleeved shirt. The cape she's wearing is her brother's Batman cape (a hand-me-down from a cousin! yay!) worn backwards. You can actually see a bit of the Batman insignia peeking out. I just can't get over how cute our little Mother Gothel is! :)

And a shot of the whole Tangled family. :)

 I love how menacing Mother Gothel looks, and Pascal showing off his chameleon tongue haha.

 We had a blast going trick-or-treating and eating dinner with Jared's family. It was an awesome Halloween! Now, what will we dress up as next year...? :)



Camp Kesem - a FREE Summer Camp for Kids Whose Parents Have Cancer!

Since tomorrow is #GivingTuesday, I have to tell you all about an organization that holds a special place in my heart: Camp Kesem! "Kesem" is Hebrew for "Magic", so Camp Kesem is all about giving kids a magical week of summer camp! More specifically, Camp Kesem is for children whose parents have cancer or have had cancer, and it is FREE. The families who send their kids are not asked to pay any money. It's a week of FUN for the kids - not a therapy camp, just a place for them to be kids and escape the cancer that has turned their family's lives upside down. This organization is amazing.

 

The camp is organized and ran by college students all over the county. Camp Kesem started at Stanford University in 2000, by student Iris Rave. Since then it has expanded to over 50 college campuses in the United States!

 

When I was freshmen in college at Brigham Young University, a guy in my student ward (church congregation) told me about a summer camp he was trying to get started at BYU. That organization was Camp Kesem. It sounded absolutely amazing to me, so I was immediately on board! I signed on to be a counselor that summer. We actually struggled to find campers to come (now there's a waiting list!) but we had 13 INCREDIBLE kids come to our first year of camp at Camp Kesem BYU! Pebbles and Bam Bam (Michelle and Austin Hadley) headed up that year of camp, and it was a huge success!

 

The next year I got to help plan camp and this time we were lucky enough to have over 30 kids at camp! Jared and I got married and moved to Eugene, Oregon for a job only a few weeks before camp, so we traveled back to Utah so I could be at camp in late August. It was another magical week of Camp Kesem. (Here's a video that some of our amazing counselors and coordinators put together that year). Since we moved to Oregon this was my last year attending camp, and how I've missed it!

Here's me and Smiley, second year at camp at the ropes course. :) (Did I mention every camper and staff member at camp creates a special camp name for themselves?? So fun!)

This summer Jared and I got to go to dinner and a talent show on the last night of camp up at Camp Wapiti, and oh how good it felt to feel the magic of Camp Kesem again! I even got to catch up with a few of the kids who were at our very first year of camp so many years ago! One of the original campers was actually a counselor this past summer! Talk about coming full circle!! It was awesome. Here's me and Merida. Her original camp name was Nemo - she's rocked both names!

I also got to catch up with this sweet girl, Skippy! I don't think my smile could have been ANY bigger in this picture!

It was so amazing to see these kids (and a few others from those first two years!) and the GOOD that Camp Kesem has done in their lives!

 

Everyone I know is affected by cancer in some way. I don't know anyone, honestly, who isn't. My Grandpa, my mom's dad, passed away in 2009 from prostate cancer and I remember talking on the phone with my mom shortly after and hearing her say, "I wish there was a camp that I could go to!". Cancer is awful no matter how old you are or who you've lost, whether you have it yourself or someone you love has it, and luckily there are many resources out there for all age groups. The resource that I know and love the most is, of course, Camp Kesem.

 

It can be so frightening, and confusing, for a child to see a parent undergoing cancer treatments. Though cancer isn't contagious, sometimes children don't understand that, especially since they're often not allowed near their parents whose immune systems cannot handle exposure to sickness, or even for the affect that radioactive waves could have on them. My heart goes out to the millions of precious children around the world who watch their parents go through cancer, who lose their parents to cancer, or who can't watch their parents go through it and be by their sides because they aren't allowed to see them. It breaks my heart.

 

While Camp Kesem is certainly not labeled as a therapy camp, these amazing kids get to escape cancer for one week in the summer every year, to be silly and crazy and carefree, to be around kids who know what they're going through, and I truly believe it does end up being extremely therapeutic. There are no classes on how to deal with your parent's cancer, there are no pamphlets handed out about what to do when your mom gets cancer. It's just fun, and oh the difference it makes!

 

If you have it in your heart to donate to this amazing organization, please don't hesitate! Raising the funds for camp is a tremendous job, and it's never easy. Somehow every year the staff of CK-BYU (and all of the other CK's on college campuses around the country) pull it off, and it's because of people who are touched by the cause enough to donate a little something. It all adds up to making a completely magical week for some pretty special kids. Click HERE to go to Camp Kesem BYU's page to donate! Or, if you'd prefer to see if your alma mater has a Camp Kesem on their campus and you'd like to donate to them, go here to find a list of every college that holds Camp Kesem each year, click on them, and go ahead and donate! :) Cancer totally and completely stinks, but we can make a difference in the lives of those with cancer by giving their children a week of FUN!

Join the spirit of #GivingTuesday and GIVE BACK!

If you're a big pinterest fan, go ahead and pin this image to spread the word about this amazing cause! :)

These Are My People

I just thought I should officially introduce you to the three people who I like the most. :)

My man. My rock. My love. He's both Texan and  Utahn, and has a special love for his hometown in East Texas. He loves sports. Playing them, watching them, everything. Especially BYU Football! He loves Skittles, Mountain Dew and NCAA Football. He works hard every day, and he loves his kids more than I've ever seen any other dad do. And he loves me. :) Most importantly he loves the Lord and he lives his life to follow Him. I love this Jared of mine. :)

My little man. This little dude makes me laugh every day. I love laughing with him and seeing his sweet smile light up the room! Being silly with him is the best. He loves the 50 states, Temples, busting a move, riding his bike, and playing football with Daddy. My first baby, who corrects me whenever I refer to him as such. :) I honestly cannot believe how fast he is growing. I love this little guy so much!

My little girl. She is the sweetest girl in the world, and also the sassiest. She can hold her own in any tussle with her big brother! She loves dinosaurs, babies, "Bear bears" (Carebears), babies, cheese, milk, babies and babies. I have to say, she is the cutest little thing around! Just look at that little face! She is my little love bug! I'm so glad this girl is in our family! I sure love her.

Those faces greet me every morning (however early it may sometimes be!) and I'm forever grateful for that daily blessing. I love this little family that God has given me. :) As I've said before, I'm not exactly sure what fills each and every one of our days, but the important things are there: playing and having fun together, reading our scriptures, prayer, and once again FUN! I love these three favorites of mine. :)

Fall Mantel

This year's autumn season has been every bit as lovely as I knew it would be, and we still have so much of it left to enjoy! Part of the loveliness of this fall has been decorating my mantel for the season. And staring at it's adorableness. I love it. A lot. :) 

Okay..so it isn't really a mantel. It's a chalkboard ledge. But from here on out we're all just going to call it a mantel! :) 

This is the first year that I've had a mantel to decorate for fall, so as I brainstormed on what I'd want as the centerpiece, the picture below came to mind, and in my opinion is the perfect centerpiece. :)

Seriously, this has got to be my very favorite picture of my little man! This was his first time jumping in a pile of leaves, and as you can tell, it was pure joy for him! :) My heart is so happy when I see this picture.

 And last year, our sweet girl got her chance to romp in the leaves for the very first time. Precious baby. :) (My amazing sister-in-law Amy took this photo of our sweet girl). I found this beautiful "Fall" printable on pinterest, and it was created by Diana at Love Stitched. She is amazing - I can't get over how gorgeous this fall print is! Thank you to Diana, for sharing her beautiful work! Also, I love the darling little pumpkin sitting on top of the frame. 

 Last fall, my friend Cami and I got together and we both made a fall banner, or at least started one. Cami and her son are actually in the middle picture on the mantel, behind my little guy! We raked leaves on the lawn by her home that day and our boys had a lot of fun. :) Cami is so much fun to craft with! That's actually the reason we first hung out a few years ago, was to try a craft project together, and we have done a lot of crafts together since then! I was at her house one day when she suggested we make these banners. She already had most of the supplies, so we went for it! We cut out the burlap triangles and sewed the smaller ones onto the bigger ones, and then stamped the letters on with some stencils and ink she had. Finally, last month, I attached the triangels to this pretty ribbon. I LOVE it!

 This fall subway art comes from the wonderfully creative Ann over at Sutton Place. All of her fall artwork is beautiful. Thank you, thank you Ann! :)

I'm super happy with how it all came together. I'm really loving all of these white frames! :) All of them came from Wal-Mart, excluding the middle frame, which is from Hobby Lobby. And I adore the cute little orange felt ball. So many darling little accents on this mantel - it just makes me smile.

I love looking up and seeing the faces of my sweet babies on our mantel. :) I can hardly wait for them (and me!!) to jump in the leaves this year! Happy Fall my friends!