More Wedding Details.....Flower Pins

Now, don't mind the poor photography, but you will get the idea.

For the wedding our sister wanted all the girls in plum sweaters with pencil skirts. Seeing as flowers are such a cheap, fun and easy way to spice things up a bit, we decided to make a flower pin for each of the girls.
We took different shades of purple fabric, as well as a few different types of material (satin, taffeta, and netting) and cut out various sizes of circles. We then melted the edges of each circle with a lighter, placed the circles ontop of each other in layers and stuck a brad through to connect them all.
After this we just used some Aleene's Jewel-It embellishing glue (found at Michaels) and attached pearls (from neclaces at Dollorama). Allow glue to dry then place a few safety pins on the back to attach to sweater! Voila! They turned out cute and added that needed little touch of colour and texture!
*A good tutorial is found on the blog "Make It & Love It".

Stockings & Tree Skirts

Now that Halloween is over (yes, it has been one day), it is time to start thinking Christmas!

I really want to make some stockings and a tree skirt this year. Here are a few ideas I have come across on Etsy:

Plus:

Free Amy Butler patterns! So cute!

http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/pdfs/Tree_Skirt.pdf

http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/pdfs/Felt_Stocking.pdf

What are you dreaming up for the Christmas season this year?

A few more details from Sarah & Logan's wedding.....


The Cake: My cousin Christy was the mastermind and creator of the cake. I will have to post a picture the real photographer took, but this was the best I got, sadly.

Christy has been the one to make cakes for all our weddings, and she does such a good job.





Tess's cake by Christy.....

My cake by Christy.....

Next:

This floor decal was an idea I borrowed from my friend Jen C's sister's wedding. We had a lady in Taber (who owns a Cricut Expression) make it for us. She had to piece it together, but did such a great job that you would never be able to tell.

It turned out really fun and added a little personalized touch to the dance floor.

Family History Memory Keeping

I got to be a part of a Relief Society evening on Family History work. Here are some ideas for Family History Memory keeping. Enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6ZRJ--P7lB5ZjgyNzk4OTAtZmRjYy00ZDA1LTk5NzctZmE0OWQ3MmUxMjQx&hl=en&authkey=COSc68MG

Love is Sweet

At my sister's recent wedding, we opted for a little spin on the ever-popular candy favour table. My mom, being the crazy and determined woman that she is, decided to make 450 carmel wrapped and chocolate dipped pretzel rods. Mmmmmmm. They were so good! We helped her wrap the rods with the homemade caramel, but she did all the dipping, and my dad even got in on the packaging. Good work, team!
We found the acrylic cannisters at Winners for $12.99. They are now being used as cookie jars and or flour containers at our various homes.
Tess was the mastermind behind the "Love Is Sweet" sign. She created it using Photoshop and then had it printed at Costco for under $2. The frame is Ikea.
Along with the pretzel rods, we had Wildberry Twizzlers cut in half as another option for those who weren't chocolate lovers. Both the licorice and the pretzel rods were a big hit.

Recipe for Mom's Caramel:
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup Eagle Brand Milk
1 cup Lily White corn syrup
1/2 lb. butter/margarine
Stir in sugar, syrup, Eagle Brand milk together before putting on stovetop. Then add butter. Have burner set on high heat. With wooder spoon stir continually. Turn heat down to medium, but make sure you stir all the time. With thermometer boil just to softball stage. To test for softball stage, have some cold water in a cup and pour a spoonful of the carmel in the water. When a softball forms, the candy is done.
Pour into buttered pan and let set up.

To make the pretzel rods cut the cooled caramel into approximately 1/2 " by 4" rectangles. Wrap around the pretzel rod and store until ready to dip with chocolate. You can drizzle with white chocolate after as well for a nice finished look, or roll in nuts or sprinkles.

Dresser Redo

This summer I found a cute dresser on Kijiji for $35. We had been thinking to get a dresser for our little girl (and soon to come little boy) to share. I thought this dresser had a lot of potential with the nice lines and character. It turned out even better than I thought! Tess did the painting (as I am not allowed to paint at the moment due to the baby boy on the way). She is so good! Thanks Tess for making this happen!
She just spray painted the existing hardware black. It worked out well that we already had the cream paint and the black spray paint! The dresser is solid wood and the drawers work perfectly! A "new" dresser for $35!

Another Cheapy Easy Recipe

I tried this recipe this past weekend and thought it was a great variation to our usual plain ol' taco recipe. It's quick and very tasty!
This is a recipe from my friend Debbie.

Cheesy Nacho Beef Dinner
1 pkg Rice-A-Roni (I used the Spanish one)
1/2 lb. ground beef
2 cups water
1 cup salsa
1 can corn
1 cup (or can) black or brown beans
1 tomato, chopped
Shredded cheese
Sour Cream
Tortillas or nacho chips

Saute rice with beef in large skillet over medium heat until beef is browned. Stir in water, salsa, corn, beans and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes until rice is tender. Stir in chopped tomatoes. Wrap in warm tortilla with cheese and sour cream (or on chips).