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!

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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!

The Girls Room

 I work on my main living areas most of the time, but it  brings me so much joy to see my kids rooms looking neat + decorated. My new favorite thing is Beddy's. I love how tidy they look all zipped up (not to mention how easily the kids themselves can do that). And they have the most beautiful handmade styles to choose from. Santa was so thoughtful enough to bring these to me my girls this last Christmas!

Farmhouse Style Entryway Shelf

       This was a really fast project that we were able to put together in an afternoon AND we were able to make the whole thing with scrap wood that we had just sitting in the garage. We had the paint and stain on hand, so for us, the only thing we had to purchase was the hooks which were about $6! It's amazing how much you can do sometimes with the supplies you have on hand!

We used:
2-  1x6 boards cut to 24 inches
1-  1x3 board cut to 24 inches
2-  2x4 pieces cut to 90 degree triangles
2-  Scrap pieces of wood for the back- we used two 1x3 boards  cut at 10 inches each
4-  Farmhouse style hooks
1 1/2" screws


So after we stained in Minwax Honey, we painted the wood white and then distressed with the power sander.

The back is just ghetto, remember how it's scrap wood? That's why there are black stripes, haha. After all the paint is dry, flip the boards over and screw in the back support boards. Use a square on the side to make sure the boards are sitting evenly relative to each other.

          Flip the boards back over and slap some wood glue onto your 2x4. Place the support. I would make sure you've measured where you would like it to go so it looks even on both sides and then draw a mark with a pencil.

       We placed two screws, one from the back into the angular support and then one on top. No screws were visible at eye level ( just throw some decor on them or paint over :). 

Put your hardware of choice on! This set it from Ace Hardware. There are lots of fun options out there! 

Peanut Butter Easter Egg Cookies

These little peanut butter blossoms are some of the best things you will ever taste (assuming you love peanut butter)! Throw some chocolate eggs on top and you have yourself a festive batch of easter treats!

Peanut Butter Easter Eggs

*This recipe makes a very large batch. Its supposed to be for 48 cookies, I usually half it!

1 cup butter softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling
2 bags of Cadbury Mini Eggs

• In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars. Add vanilla and mix. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to mixture in mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
• Roll the dough into 1" balls and place onto a non-stick baking mat. Roll each ball in sugar gently. 
• Refrigerate the cookies for 30 minutes.
• Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for about 8-9 minutes. If you like cookies to be soft, be sure not to overbake them. They shouldn't be browned at all.
• As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press the kisses into the center of the cookie. 
• Allow the cookies to cool for about 3 minutes on the pan, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store the cookies in an airtight container.

Recipe adapted from Tastes of Lizzy T.

Refinished Built In Desk

I wish that I had pictures of this area before I started working on it, but the truth of it is, I get really excited about a project and just dive in without taking before pictures sometimes! I actually did the wood overlay on this wall a couple of years ago, but after painting my kitchen cabinets this last summer I was excited at the thought of painting my desk so everything matched downstairs. It may have taken me eight months to finally want to paint cabinets again, but I'm just super happy to have this area finished!

I used the same general finishes paint which was half Snow White and half Antique White, as well as the Satin Performance Top Coat. For a how to and list of what to use check out the video we made on painting our kitchen cabinets!

 I used two different styles of hardware, both bought on amazon. I really like the satin nickel finish on white--my goal is always to brighten and this hardware definitely contributes!

This is kind of a before picture, just in my kitchen. But the wood on my desk was the same! 

Repurposed Coat Closet

Sometimes space in a closet like this can be under utilized, especially when you live in Arizona and definitely don't need a coat closet!

Whitney transformed her closet into an organized space for all of her household cleaning items. She also utilized the space up above to stack her food storage. That's about four feet of space that we sometimes don't take advantage of. It's a great place to be able to stack things we don't typically need to access often.

BEFORE

        The goal was to have one side of the closet to have shelves and the other to be a holding place for the broom, vacuum, and mop. 1x3's were cut at 45 degree angles and set up together to create the supports for the solid wood shelves to sit on.

The Kreg Jig was handy in creating some pocket holes to secure the center dividing board to the back wall of the closet. 

After the wood supports were in place, the paint went on, and then the shelf boards were added and painted.

It made a world of difference in being able to store more and be better organized!