Catch Up

Sorry I haven't written in a while... Hubby & I have been busy since the beginning of the year.

A funeral & vacation trip to Michigan took up half a January A baby pig & sis birthday Colorado trip too up some of my February. Now comes the catch up & getting organized, not only in our house but in my life. See January 21st was my 5 year anniversary at work. Now, is time to step up on what else I would like to do in my life... even if it's part time.

With this I have decided to have a separate blog for purely photography in crafts... & some additional 'foodie' moments. The site is aliciaannphoto.blogspot.com, please be sure to follow there. Don't forget to pass along the word while you're at it.

Thanks,

Alicia

Many Faces of The Jar

WOW! Jars have many uses! They are great & I have used them all over place.

In our wedding:

 - Pen holders

 - Snack containers

 - Candle holders

 - Bride/Bridesmaids flower vases

- Glassware for the bridal party

To make your very own 'Redneck Glasses' 

... my mom made all the bridal party glasses for our wedding Thanks!

What you'll need:
-Jar of your choice (mom picked up the pint from the Dollar Store)
- Industrial Strength Glue
- Candle Stick

Instructions:
- Clean sticks & jars
- Glue jar to stick. Once dry you can spruce it up for the event. (ie. mom put a tie on Paul's & pearls & lace on mine).

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Now that I have tons left over, I have found lots of uses & decorations for them. Some I painted, Some I left natural. I've even glued some for a wedding gift. Wrote their name & wedding date, then painted them. In our cabinet they hold push pins, nails, wall things. In our bathroom they hold q-tips, flowers, & lotion (haven't made yet), on our fridge they hold toothpicks, pistachios, cashews, & popcorn, & on my coffee table we have a holiday triple water jar decor - although Jello thinks they are new water dishes.

To make the Painted Jar Decor:

What you'll need:
- Jars
- Primer Spray Paint
- Spray Paint
- Hot Glue (if you want additional notes on them).

Instructions:
1. Clean jars
2. If you choose to write on the jars with hot glue, do so now. Hope you have a steady hand. All details will show with the paint.
2. Once glue is dry, primer jars. I like to put them upside down on a stick, otherwise I get paint all over & I'm able to get all areas in comparison to painting them on a table.
3. Paint with desired colors & let dry.

I LOVE finding a unique jar to find a use for!

What do you like to do with yours?

Funny Friday: Here Kitty, Kitty...

Who doesn't love a good laugh? Paul & I love a good video, ecard, photo, or joke... when we find one I'll share it with you all!
This week cats!

This picture I came across on Pinterest & love since I'm always putting junk on my pooches

Source: roflcat.com via Alicia on Pinterest

I found this cat, Maru, a while ago on YouTube. Today I checked their channel & came across this one. Gotta love 'cat-in-a-box.' Maru lives in Japan & is a Scottish Fold kitty (I want one!).

This is Jello, our little cat we adopted not too long ago.

Do you have a little fur ball lighting up your day?

Tunin' In

Here's some artists I've stumbled upon recently. I thought I'd pass them on to you all.

Scott Shelby.

A Texan who's working on his DVM at Texas A&M & singing the local bars. He's a he singer that believes in singing from your heart & about events that shape you to the person you are today. Not only that, but his tunes make you want to get up & dance. With his love for agriculture, he travels the country with Matt Leutner Cattle & mainly performs at cattle shows. I hope to catch him someday! 

One of my all time FAVORITE songs & he rocks it:

You can catch more of his videos on YouTube & on his website, ScottShelby.com

Another young man, of friend of mine recommended is:

Ryan Cook & Sunny Acres.

He's a native of Nova Scotia & is perusing a career in country music. Couldn't find much about him, but I am loving his version of this song:

Yay! For the mandolin!!!

You can catch more of his videos on Youtube & info about his cds & tours on his site

What are some of your 'not so famous' favorite artists? 

Dub in Twine

I've always giggled at those who say 'dub' for 'double-you' (W). Paul & I could go by Dub-Kop (hehe). Here's one of the many crafts from Paul & I's wedding. I would love to claim this but I read about this idea from Crystal Cattle's blog.

What you need:

- Styrofoam letter - good priced ones from shindigz.com - also shipped really fast
- Jute twine - scored a HUGE role from Burlap Fabric.com
- Hot glue & gun

Instructions:

Pick your starting location & tac the twine. Begin wrapping, covering all the styrofoam, & tacking where ever you feel the need - I did each time I crossed the back side. If you're lucky & have a letter like ours, the ends need covered. I took cut pieces & crossed the bottom. Those string ends were covered by the wrapped twine. Which ended up giving it a blocky look, which I enjoy.

Afterwards, I spruced it up with a couple burlap flowers.
Now, that the wedding has come & gone, we have placed it on our mantle. It would also be good looking on a wall, in a frame, or on a shelf.
Let's see your Dub or fitting letter!

Cheesy Splurge

Hello, my name is Alicia & I'm addicted to.... CHEESE!

Today, I wondered into HyVee (normally don't, they're on the other side of town) & one reason I enjoy this grocery store is the fancy cheese section. Luckily, they were having a little sale. I limited my self to these three: 

Left: Eifel Tower Brie from Canada 

Middle: Red Waxed Dofind Gouda

Right: Kerrygold Aged Cheddar with Irish Whiskey from Ireland

Yes, whiskey... & it was amazing... all three were actually. 

Brie: creamy deliciouisness.

Gouda: soft, not strong, easy to eat with anything.

Cheddar: dry, smokey, lots of melt-in-your-mouth flavor

Now, we'll just have to see what Paul thinks.Can wait to try more! There's a cheddar made with port wine that I'm dying to try.

Do you have a favorite cheese?

Mantle Decor

Since Paul & I have moved, we finally have a mantle!!! This is the first one I have EVER had. This holiday season, we are doing it very frugally. So I'm taking in all those Pinterest ideas that I already have all the 'ingredients' for.

My favorite, this old window chalkboard.

 This I originally made for our wedding seen here:

It's super simple to make homemade chalkboards. Pick up spray primer & a can of spray chalkboard paint. Tape off the border. Spray a couple coats of primer. Let dry, then spray a couple coats of paint. What I have learned from drawing on it:
- It draws better after you have drawn & erased it multiple times
- Side walk chalk & art chalk work better then school chalk (in the beginning)
After the paint dried, I combined it with my favorite decoration & weather... SNOW & snowflakes! The wording was completely free handed by yours truly. Pretty proud of myself. I love a good font.

Next, I was checking Joanns for some cute, glittery snowflake candles & when I found them, they were out of my budget. So, I took some of our left over wedding candles and glitterized them. You know glitter is the herpes of crafts... it gets everywhere! and I LOVE it too! Paul, not so much. haha ;)

All you need:

- Candles

- Elmer's Glue

- Glitter

Instructions:

Glue the candle the design you desire - just one one side. Glitter it. let it dry. Then repeat with the other sides. If you try & do more then one side the glue will roll.

With the love of snow, brings snowmen! This idea came from this Pinterest link. I looked at the picture & went from there with my own idea.

What you'll need per snowman or lady:

- 3 Foam Balls of different sizes

- Wire (I had a fencing wire already in the garage)

- Yarn (for two I used almost one full 'log')

- Buttons (or I used a couple scrapbooking 3-D buttons dipped in glitter)

- Burlap (the length depends what your tying)

- Hot Glue gun

Instructions:

Wrap foam in yarn. Tack with glue. Once all three are wrapped, cut two pieces of wire a couple inches in length. Poke in the biggest ball half way. Dot hot glue around it then put on the middle sized ball. Repeat with the top 'head' piece. For the hat, I did two different styles. The one on the female was easier then the males. Females: coil wire around until it's big enough. Males: form in the shape of a hat. First layer is easy, it's the 2nd & 3rd layers that are a little tricky to get the same. I wanted them to have 'buckles' on the hat, which is a square I formed with needle nose pliers. Poked in the twisted wire arms. Dipped the 3-D buttons in glitter, glued on. If you use buttons, simply glue on. Scarves tied around their neck - easily done when they're laying down. The female's hair is burlap strings braided.

'LOVE' sign is also hand made, only I can't take the credit for it. It was a wedding gift. The pine around the base of everything is the trimmings from our Christmas tree.

Still have to get our stockings hung but this is a great start.
Have any decorations you love?