Weekend Stress Relief

I think just now I am coming off the stress of the past weekend. It seems like it always takes till Wednesday because Tuesday I still have mutual to worry about.

This weekend was especially stressful because I had to teach in YW. Not that I didn't have a whole month to prepare and I waited til the last few days to work on it (if you have read enough of my posts you will see this is a pattern with me - so no surprise).

So yes I procrastinated again and was working on the handouts the night before. I do have to admit that they did turn out rather well. I was worried at first because I had a less than $20 budget that I put on myself and I needed to make 20 handouts. I was pretty impressed when I actually kept the cost around $15. I am a huge penny pincher so that was a score for me.

SO this is what they turned out like . The lesson topic was on Heritage and I thought it would be nice to give them something they could write their heritage and traditions down in to pass on to future generations. So this little journal is what I came up with...the tabs on the side were things that I talked about in the lesson. I had them start writing in it right there in class so that they could see how easy it was to fill out some of the topics. Their pens were aflyin' across the paper so I felt like I had given them a good start. Awe, mission accomplished.

Well, I think the lesson went great (at least that's what was said - but they could just be saying that to be polite, although even the girls said it to me and I'm gonna take that as being sincere). The girls loved the handouts and maybe, just maybe I might have impressed a few leaders.

Not to mention that Jon and I were asked to give the prayers in Sacrament. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem but have I ever mentioned that we have 8:00 church. Which we are usually never on time to...and that is without me having to be presentable, have all my lesson props ready, and actually comb the girls hair. Thank goodness it was fast Sunday if we would have had to throw breakfast in there....

Well, we made it on time and everyone looked decent, and the prayers even passed the OK don't say something that doesn't make sense, long awkward pause or stutter test.

Anyway, the lesson is over and mutual is over so I am feeling relieved of all my stress. Come to think of it I might even start reading a book for my own enjoyment. Now that makes me smile :)

Crazy Week of Projects

This past week was so full of projects for me. I'm not sure why they all needed to be done in this one week but that is what indeed happened . So I thought I would share pictures of what I have been up to lately.

I recently joined a card making group where we all make 10 or so of the same card and exchange them with each other. This way we all have lots of fun cards to choose from when we need them. This months theme was Happy Birthday so this is the card I ended up making. Sorry pics are not the greatest but hope you get the gist of it. All the cards we exchanged are cute and I would post a picture of them but then there would be no surprise if I send you one. Sorry!

The next project I did was actually in the 1 hour I had Friday morning before school to make it because I of course procrastinated. This past week was teacher appreciation week at Kiana's school so I decided to give her teacher a big, yummy Symphony bar (you know the one with toffee and almonds - ooh la la). But you all know that I can't just give the bar without some frills so this is what it ended up like. I think it looks delicious enough to eat....

The other project that I made (yeah still the same week) was two Mother's Day albums, well the covers at least. The idea is that I will send a new page each month til next May so that it fills the tag ring with "What we've been up to". I know kind of a commitment but my Mother's give up way more for me than this. Here's how it turned out.

(Both Mom's loved them by the way). Maybe for a second I was the new favorite. :)

Hopefully these next few weeks won't require more than one new project at the same time because I'm pretty sure my house couldn't take the mess of neglect one minute longer.

Trash to Treasure

I have had a few requests for pictures of the projects I have been working on. So I thought I would share. Viewer discretion advised: if you are into fancy home decor that only the highest price tag can afford you may not want to look.

I am probably the biggest cheapskate that I know of (OK I do know a few others but their names will go unmentioned) and my motto is how can I make something for less. So after moving into a new home with no extra money and old furniture I was in makeover overdrive. Not to mention some of the things that I previously had didn't match my new darker wood home. Example - I had a sofa table and two end tables that were in great shape but didn't match. I figured if I tried something and ruined it I wouldn't be too sad because I more than likely would have D.I.ed them anyway. So with multiple cans of black spray paint and a whole lot of hope I went to work and here are my results.


I included a before picture for your viewing pleasure....




What they look like now:

I sanded down the edges to get that very in shabby chic look. I love how they turned out and it was dirt cheap. Mission accomplished.

Then my next project surfaced as an old ugly brown (not the cute famous browns of today) 8 1/2 x 11 paper holder that Jon had used in an office ages ago which had been collecting dust in our garage for so long that I thought for sure he wouldn't even let me move it here. But I knew it had some potential and I was going to find out what it was. So with some more spray paint in hand and a bit of creative cutting and tweaking it became my 12x12 scrapbook paper holder. SOOOOOO much cuter than before.

Sorry, no before picture on this one.

I love it when my crazy ideas actually turn out.

I do have one more project that I will display but that will have to be the next post. For now it is the dreaded......to be continued.