General Conference Activity Worksheets

 We are so excited for the upcoming General Conference! It is a great time to learn, reflect, and worship. We've created these worksheets to keep the littles busy, and to teach them who these great men are! And if you're like me and love writing down quotes, they're great for adults too!

CLICK HERE TO PRINT!

Fall Wreath Ideas

 We went a little crazy making wreaths this fall. But it sure is fun to sit and craft with a friend!

Buffalo Checkered Pumpkin Wreath for FALL!

We got a strand of eucalyptus leaves and everything else from Hobby Lobby and just used one ring from a metal wreath form.

This one is just a fun quick fall foliage wreath that we did together.

Wooden Ball Autumn Wreath with beautiful faux dried foliage. 

The foliage is from Hobby Lobby but wooden balls are from Etsy.

Pantry Organization Tips

 I am starting to realize how bad I am at estimating how long it will take to complete projects. I whole heartedly thought I could have my pantry organized from start to finish (with four kids mind you) in a quick two days. Well of course I was way off...by 6 days. Luckily I jumped into this project after a summer in the countryside of Virginia where I was working on projects outside in all that humidity...so taking a few extra days in the air conditioned house felt like no biggie.

In case you are thinking of organizing your kitchen pantry, here are few things I learned along the way...

You definitely want to take your time in the planning stages of pantry organization. There were many moments where I announced I was done, but realized the way I had things wouldn't workout. I really wanted my pantry to be a well oiled machine of intuitive organization where anyone could walk into my pantry and find what they needed--AND my family (kids) could easily understand where everything goes. If I didn't take the time to do this, the system just wouldn't be sustainable. It would turn into a whirlwind of chip bags and cereal boxes all over again.

Next, if your pantry is shaped like mine, the corner in the middle is such a pain to keep organized. And good luck ever reaching anything back in that corner cave! I decided to use Lazy Susans to keep that area organized and reachable. And I'm loving it so far!

Don't create a container with a nice little label for literally everything in the pantry. I had to use the "Kon Mari" method of organization to ask myself, "does this bring my stomach joy?" Because if it's expired and I used it once, or NEVER opened it, I threw it away. I also used bins at the bottom of my pantry for items we were "trying out" but weren't necessarily sure we wanted as a staple yet. 

Another thing we have done that I think will be less of a hassle for the person filling containers (me), is not using the fancy cereal containers. It's dry here in Arizona so we don't worry about the cereal getting weird anyways. I decided that things that we go through really fast, like cereal, would be more of a pain than anything to dump the cereal into a resealable container. But once again, that my only be a good tip if you're going through cereal fast in humidity, and/or live in a dry place like me!

Don't store things on the floor. It just doesn't look as neat. I was able to get some large baskets from Ross for the pantry floor to store food storage items, doubles, and things I wasn't sure I'd buy again. It was only $34 for four, and it looks so much better!

Containers can be found in lots of places, but I was able to make this project a little more cost effective by scanning the Dollar Tree and I was able to get most of the containers there! Even the cute white bins! They do go fast though...

Lastly....I like to keep my sticky things together. When you have kids making pb and honey sandwiches or using the maple syrup for breakfast, there will inevitably be some stickiness. I just like to keep it all off the pantry shelves.  I continued this idea through this organization process but instead of having them all on a tupperware container, I made a Lazy Susan from a circular board that I got from home depot. 

Take your time, do what you know will work for you and your family so can stay organized, and be patient! :)

My pantry is difficult to photograph all in one shot! 

BEFORE

It's funny how I didn't even realize how bad it was until I had it all organized!

Here is a video on where I got the containers!

Good luck, and happy organizing!

Easy DIY Macrame

I've been wanting one of these macrame wall hangings for my room and suddenly realized it might actually be pretty simple to try to make one. I always appreciate something a little more if I've put some work into it myself and given it my own personal touch. This was a very basic version, but I did it in an evening while binge watching The Mentalist. It's always a win when I can marathon a project in one night...while watching tv!

Cactus Painted Rocks

This is a super fun craft to do with the kids while they're home for the summer! The only problem here in Phx is where do you find rocks that aren't jagged-y? We got lucky and went over to the water run off area near the park in our neighborhood and found a few! But if you live near a river, snag a few rocks and start painting. This project is so fun! We used a couple of different greens on the little mini cacti. And then to paint the details we used a very small detail brush with an off white paint.

Free General Conference Activity Pages

        We are so excited to hear from our church leaders in conference this coming weekend! I was looking for something that my little ones could both color as well as take notes on to help keep their attention. I hope they have fun trying to match up the apostle with their little toon faces! (I did not draw these by the way... :) The images of our dear leaders are all from churchofjesuschrist.org)

I hope you find this useful! Happy Conference weekend!

Just click the download button below for the PDF!

DOWNLOAD

Tortoise Cinderblock Garden

     This cinderblock garden is now the new home to some pretty cute baby tortoises! My kids picked the flowers and vegetables (all tortoise-diet approved) to feed them! They will spend hours soaking up the sunshine and playing in the fairy garden area inside too!
We glued landscaping fabric to the bottoms of the cinderblocks that we planted in. We used liquid nails as glue. Super easy! Vegetables and herbs are all on vertical the wall and the perimeter has flowers.

Tiny Farmhouse Playhouse

 This was such a rewarding project! We painted this little bare wood playhouse, added flower boxes, and a dinner bell!

Three Tiered Tray from Dollar Tree Items

I always need more fall decor, don't we all?! It's kind of the best time of year. I wanted to make something generic for fall that could sit out until I put up my Christmas stuff and this was the perfect stand to hold some small pumpkins and greenery. It was easy to make, it just took all day since I had to wait for glue to dry, paint to dry, then flip and paint the bottom and wait for that too... so by the next day I could enjoy it!

Materials (Dollar Tree)

Pizza Pan (Bottom)
Pie Dish (Middle tier)
Cake Pan (Top- and there was just one size)
Two candlesticks

Other Materials:
Spray Paint ( I chose an antique white)
JB Weld Glue (works on non-porous surfaces)

1. Glue your candlesticks to the pizza pan and pie dish. Allow to dry.
2. Paint around the candle stick and the pan trying not to get the top of the candlestick where it will be glued to the piece above it.
3. Assemble pieces together and let dry.
4. Once the glue is dry, keep the stand upside down and spray paint the bottoms of the dishes.
Wait to use for at least 12 hours.

DIY Malm Bed Headboard Up-cycle

After 

Before

We've had this old IKEA Malm black-brown bed our entire marriage, it was time to get something nicer! So we decided to get ourselves a new bed! However, we still had this extra bed that wasn't looking so great. We decided to up-cycle and make it worth using in our guest room (recently created because we moved our daughters into the same room).

wood slats laid out

We started by buying all the wood for the headboard. We used 9 boards: 4 1x3, 3 1x2 and 4 1x4.

Figure out the sizes that you will need to cover your head board. Mine was a Queen size bed, so we cut the wood down to 68 inches because my queen headboard was 66.5 inches and we needed the extra space to cover our side pieces. You'll want a variety of sized boards so we spaced them out equally.

Start by sanding down the faces and edges of the board. Lay them out so you know which sides are going to be visible. We had some BEHR Grey paint on hand and decided to make it more of a stain so we could see the wood grain. Just add some water and dilute the paint down and it becomes more stain like consistency.

Let it dry for an hour at least when the weather is warm. You can do touch ups to get pieces that weren't completely covered, wait another hour. Next we clear coated it! We used Glidden Premium interior paint and primer. Again, let dry all the way before handling it.

Two coats of primer

Two coats of paint

Now before we assembled all the pieces together and built the new headboard, I decided we needed to do something about the rest of the bed. It was going to be this dark color that wasn't going to match anymore. So I got a primer, Valspar stainblocking primer/sealer and put two coats over everything I wanted it to be painted grey. Since the IKEA furniture isn't real wood, it's important you use a good primer prior to painting the wood! I also just used the paint as is and didn't add water to make it into a stain. I did use the same color, but it does appear darker than the headboard.

Side wood slat

Clamping the side to the top with liquid nail as well

Clamping the top two wood slats together

Once everything was dry we got to the fun part! Take your two side pieces and nail them onto the sides of your current headboard. We started out using a hammer and nail, but realized a nail gun would be so much easier! So we eventually did that. In order to make it as strong as possible, we bought liquid nails as well and glued all the wood we could prior to nailing it on.

Start from the top in case some of the wood is off from the cuts and that way you can cover up any mistakes with your mattress and bedding! The top piece is placed directly on top of the two side pieces as a cover. The wood that is placed before the top of the original headboard can be tricky, so we used liquid nails and glued each piece together as well as using a clamp to keep them straight. One way to fix this issue is adding a piece of wood that fits in between the wood (behind the headboard where you will not see it) and you can nail your wood slats directly to it.

Eventually our wood slats became too wide and we couldn't use the clamps to keep the wood in place as we used the nail gun. This is why you will need two people for this job! Have the slats perfectly in place when hammering (or nail gunning) the nails into place. Continue the process until the head board is complete!! Step back and enjoy your masterpiece!

Wood stain up close

DIY Oversized Chalkboard Calendar

We have been using a large calendar for our family stuff, but I've been feeling like one twice the size would be nice for the kids to have all of their scheduled things on it! That way when my son wakes up and sees the calendar he can be reminded what day's he needs to bring his cello or what day to wear PE shoes to school etc. It's one more step towards helping our kids be more responsible (so I don't have to feel like I'm trying to always remember everyone's life all the time)!

Sharpie makes some white markers that could be used for the calendar lines, but I used chalk marker since it should get absorbed into the material.  Regular chalk must be used for anything that will need to be erased on mdf chalkboards.

While I kind of wish I could use chalk markers, this calendar was inexpensive to make, and is going to work just great for our family!

Here are the deets!

Supply List

1-- MDF board 1/2inch thick (or thinner) cut to 3' x3.5' ---sanded with fine grit sandpaper
2--1x4"s cut at 45.5"
2--1x4"s cut at 32.5"
220 Grit Sandpaper
Chalkboard Paint (NOT chalk paint) +painting supplies
Stain--I used Special Walnut by Varathane
One inch screws

I was able to get al of the wood and paint/stain for about $35. I had some of the other things on hand like the screws and the sandpaper. I honestly ended up getting both kinds of paint, as you saw in the video. I wanted to experiment with both. If you want a really smooth surface, be sure to sand the mdf board down, and then either pain works just fine.

DIY Subway Tile Backsplash Using Mosaic Sheets: Under $150

First thing that I want to share is that this project was way easier than I was expecting. I'm attributing that to the fact that I opted to used the mosaic sheets instead of individual subway tiles. The tiles ended up being more expensive this way but it was pennies on the dollar in my mind. The job went so quickly that I would definitely use the sheets again. Let me also note that this was my very first tiling job, and I was so happy with how it turned out. Don't let it intimidate you!

We have put together a little video that is the end of this post that goes over the different steps from start to finish. I got my supplies from Floor and Decor because after price checking, it was much cheaper than Home Depot.

Also let me just say, this was my final project that I wanted to do in the kitchen. So after 6 years of living in my house, my kitchen is FINALLY done, haha!!

AFTER

BEFORE

I just love what a difference the backsplash makes!

Here is the step by step video on how-to video on laying mosaic sheets. Best thing is, it's only 2 minutes!

Modern Gold Ring Wreath

I knew I needed one of these pretty little minimalist wreaths the second I laid eyes on one. The great thing was, it was super easy AND inexpensive to make. 30 minutes and she was ready to put on display!

You will need:
Floral wire ring (Michaels--but you may have to spray paint it gold like I did)
Floral wire
Flower bouquet (or faux foliage of choice)


First, lay out your floral arrangement or leaves how you would like them on your wreath.

Then, beginning from one side, start wrapping the stems around the ring--you can also add floral wire. I used both--I wanted mine to hold up to an earthquake and/or soccer ball that occasionally flies through my family room.

Make sure there are no obvious gaps where you'll be able to see the ring/wire.

Then fluff those leaves out and stand back!

 I wanted something to hang next to mine, so we added these little geometric wall vases from Hobby Lobby, and added some faux succulents. I just love how it all came together!