The last of the summer crafts.

Fall ministries kicked off this week and boy am I glad I finished all my projects last weekend!  There's been zero down time this week!  We took 47 volunteer youth leaders on our fall semester leadership retreat this weekend--the Lord has provided an incredible group of young men & women to lead and love the junior high & high school students of College Station!  I'm so humbled & excited that God has chosen to use me in this place!  So onto the less important things--the non-eternal but more easily photographed things in my life!  :)  

First...I made this t-shirt & onsie for some friends as a gift on the birth of their second child (a boy) and a big sis gift for their first kid.  This is the last 3-6mos onsie I'm sewing!  Too teeny!  I really liked doing the 24mos t-shirt--much more surface area!  

Next...the dining room is (finally!) complete!  I've never owned a dining room table (and still don't actually)--my roommate Erin bought this table from World Market & we decided we wanted to do mix-matched chairs like Monica & Rachel's apartment on Friends.  

Not the best pic, but the only one I could find!  Isn't her mix-matched table & chairs fun & funky?  I wanted a similar look so decided to buy old or unfinished chairs & re-do them.  I looked at a few antique stores around town, but then found some new chairs on sale at an unfinished furniture store (where my distressed book shelf came from).  Two chairs were stained different shades already but two were totally unfinished.  I painted one red & one turquoise, distressed them & and I love them!  

Don't you just want to sit here & eat?  And don't they look great with my new painting by my friend Janise?  I love it & love how great it looks in here!

This one's my favorite--I love how the turquoise turned out over the dark brown base color I did.  

Well, my free time is gone for a while, so I don't foresee any crafting time in the near future.  I am loving the somewhat cooler temperatures right now (well it was 101 today, but a few weeks ago it was 112!).  And I am super loving the fact that Starbucks is serving fall drinks!  I love me a pumpkin spice latte!  

Happy fall!

College T-Shirt Quilt!

Ta-da!  College t-shirt quilt: done & done!

If you're a serious quilter or just a knit-picker, you may now navigate away from this blog.  This was my first attempt quilting, I have NO quilting supplies, I didn't follow a pattern & I had to move my furniture to make room on the floor to be able to spread this whole thing out (I seriously considered asking the fabric cutting ladies at Joann's Fabric down the street if I could rent some fabric cutting table time).  From a distance it looks great & I'm pretty pleased with it considering all my (very legitimate I think) excuses listed above.  :)  I totally understand why these cost $100s to have made & I have no desire to ever do another one of these--for myself or anyone else.  But I am glad I finally did it!  Considering I acquired the first shirt 10 years ago...it's about time, huh!  It's a little bigger than a twin size & a little smaller than a full/queen size.  I think it's a perfect layering size!  :)  

Here's some of the sites I drew inspiration from:

I liked the way this place lays out the shirts: http://www.toocooltshirtquilts.com/

This site had some helpful numbers & instructions: http://www.goosetracks.com/T-Shirt%20Quilt%20Instructions.html

Just call me Miss Crafty McGee

Whew after redoing my living room life got super crazy!  With kids being on summer break we've doing youth events out the wazoo & I've been out of town with my family or had friends come visit on the weekends...been super fun but also busy!  Well there's 12 days until the fall semester at church starts so I've been a busy busy bee trying to get things done before things get hectic again.  Behold I give you the August Craft Collection!

First is a corsage/hair clip combo I made for a baby shower honoree.  I kind of followed this tutorial to make the flower.  I starched the fabric before cutting, gathering & sewing the petals together to give it a little more stability.  I then hot glued a baby hair clip to the back.  I found this great feather hat pin at Hobby Lobby & fixed it so the flower clip attaches to the feather base (and added some feathers to the side to give it some more pizazz).  The mom can wear it as a corsage at the shower & then unclip the flower & put it in the baby's hair!  I think it's brilliant!  :)  I also made a little mini clip since I had left over fabric.  

Can you see how the flower is clipped to the feather base?

Another view--how cool are those polka dot feathers?  

Next, I made/decorated some onsies to give as baby gifts!  I've been wanting to try this for a while & finally got the nerve to buy all the supplies & am really pleased with how they turned out!  I used this stuff called Heat & Bond on the back of the fabric appliques & then hand sewed them on.  Probably could have machine sewed but these are 3-6mos onsies & let me tell you they are weeny teeny!  I did sew ruffles to the back.  What's not cute about a ruffle bottom onsie?!  Love them!  

Gig'em Aggies!  Got to have your game day outfit!  

Who doesn't love flowers & cupcakes?

This is for the baby who's mom is getting the corsage.  Matches the big (and little) flower clip.

Then I made a new wreath for the front door.

The flowers match the pillows on my couch!  

They are also so big that they get squished between the door & screen door.  But I still love them.  

I also made these clothes pins for my desk at work--my desk borders a metal file cabinet & I wanted some cute magnets to be able to hang things--voila!  I modpodged scrap book paper to these clothes pins & hot glued a magnet on the back--perfect!

Lastly, my unfinished project!  I guess you could say I've been working on this quilt for years.  I started back when I lived in Midland (2 years ago).   I collected, washed & began cutting up my t-shirts from college.  Then they all went in some bags until this past month.  I pulled them out, googled some instructions, found a picture I liked & figured out how to do it without buying the how-to book!  In the process I learned why people charge like $400 to make one of these!  I actually have sewed the whole front & now just haven't decided yet how I want to do the back.  My goal (and posting it online is supposed to help keep me accountable to it) is to finish in the next 12 days.  We'll see!  Here's how it looked when it was all laid out right before I started sewing.  It'll be a full/queen size quilt.  I'm actually really pleased with how it has turned out so far!  

12 more days & a few more projects!  Happy first day of school eve to everyone else!  :) 

Living Room Makeover!

After two years I have finally arranged & decorated my living room!

The 1st season of The OC & I did a marathon 4 days of painting, sewing & moving furniture!  I repainted the living room/dining room in Urban Sunrise from Lowe's.  It's what I did my guest room in & I love it!  I washed the white curtains that were left in my house by the previous owners & added tan linen ruffles inspired by Jones Design Company.  The idea for this ruffle pillow also came from there--

My couch is red check with denim trim & belonged to my Aunt Jennifer.  I inherited it when I moved into my house almost two years ago & LOVE how big it is & the sweet memories associated with it, but since it's a little more "country" than the rest of my house, I recovered all the throw pillows in red floral, damasks & toile.  Somehow I think they all work together.  I hope.  If you don't think so, don't tell me.  :)

I got the artwork behind the couch from the Renegade Craft Fair that I went to last weekend with my friend Lynn.  These prints were one of the first things I saw & I knew immediately that they were exactly what I'd been unable to picture for my living room for so long!  The artist is Kate Thomas & her Etsy store is Little Things Studio.  All three prints have verses from hymns & I love them!

I also added a few things in my kitchen!  I recently found a stool that was the perfect fit for a little spot in my kitchen & so this weekend I recovered the seat in toile (same as the couch pillows & also the ruffle wreath that hangs in the kitchen too!) & I love it!  I also hung some cool pictures I got at the Renegade Craft Fair--drawings of pots, pans, knives & coffee pots on old book pages.  The artist is Sara at Girls Can Tell.  

(Sidenote: I think my favorite thing about the art in the living room & kitchen is that I bought them straight from the artist at the craft fair!  It was really a cool place!  Lynn & I went, not knowing what to expect at all & were so pleasantly surprised by how many vendors there were & all the awesome stuff we saw there!  The only downside was that they longer we were there, the less & less crafty we felt.  I mean these people were seriously crafty!  They were also uber hipster.  We were even asked if it was our first time there, we stuck out so much.  But we loved it.  The gal who did the prints in my living room was very lovely & kind and I'm so glad that every time I see her work it reminds me of her & the fun day with Lynn!)

I'm very pleased with how it all turned out.  But unfortunately my Memorial Day Weekend "to-do" list isn't quite finished yet.  Off to mow the yard & clean my room.  Notice my two least favorite things got pushed to the end of the list.  I did all the fun things first!  :)  

Yo quiero delicioso!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo I want to share my new favorite recipe from the Pioneer Woman...

Migas!

You can click on the link on her name above for the original recipe.  I had them a few weeks ago & let me tell you they were delicious!  But when I looked at the recipe I was SHOCKED at how unhealthy it was (12 WW points!).  So I lightened it up & made them about a week later & let me tell you I didn't miss the fat!  Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 corn tortillas 
• 1 jalapeno (diced & seeds removed)
• 4 roma tomatoes (roughly chopped)
• 1 green bell pepper (roughly chopped)
• 1 red bell pepper (roughly chopped)
• 1 red onion (chopped)
• 6 large eggs*
• 1 1/2 cups egg whites*
• 1 cup reduced fat grated monterey jack cheese
• 1/4 cup skim milk

*The original recipe called for 12 large eggs.  I've tried it with 3 C. egg whites (3 points per serving) as well as 6 eggs & 1 1/2 C. egg whites (5 points per serving) & I like the later best (1/4 C. egg white = 1 egg). 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, egg white & milk.  Salt & pepper eggs, then set aside.
2. In a small skillet "fry" tortillas (one at a time) until crisp.  I just sprayed the skillet with spray olive oil & got them crispy.  After they're all "fried" chop & set aside.
3. In a large skillet (over medium-high) cook onions, bell peppers, & jalapenos.   I seasoned these with fajita seasoning.
4. Once the peppers & onions are brown/black add tomatoes & tortilla pieces & stir.
5. Reduce heat to medium & add egg mixture to skillet.  Stir gently till they cook.
6. Add in grated cheese.  (Add chopped cilantro if you like it--I don't, so I don't!)

Makes 6+ servings.  I've made these twice in the last week & I love them!  Hope you disfrutar de them as much as I do!  :)  Ole!

Korea, part 1

I've been in South Korea this past week with my family (12 of us!) for my cousin Adam's wedding.  We've been in Seoul and Incheon and have eaten more, seen more, laughed more than I could have imagined!  I've taken hundreds of pictures & put a few on facebook, but I want to describe & elaborate on some things here.  We leave for the airport soon to start our journey home, so I can't do much right now, but stay tuned!  Here's a pic of my (immediate) family at the wedding last night--

It's really been a fabulous trip!  Housekeeping is knocking on my door to let me know it's time for me to check out!  More to come...

My new fav cookie!

I needed two oatmeal boxes for a costume I was making & so have been looking for recipes to use up all the oatmeal I'd emptied out.  Well I found a good one!  These are my new favorite cookies & are half as much fat/calories as my other favorite chocolate chip cookies & I don't feel like I'm missing anything!!  And if you're counting your points, they're 2 each!  :)  Best non-weenie cookies I've found with such a low point value!

They're from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook but I'll share the recipe incase you don't have it (it's a good one, I highly recommend it!).

3/4 C. butter or margarine
1 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 C. flour
2 C. oats
1 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bake at 375 on an ungreased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes.  Makes about 55 super delicious cookies.

I've made them twice this week--once for a meeting & tonight's batch for travel snacks for my family's trip to South Korea for my cousin Adam's wedding!  We leave Saturday morning & I am SUPER excited!  Stay tuned for more on that!  :)  Happy baking!

Tough 'lil carrots

I worked in my yard today for the first time this spring & look what I found growing in my garden!  Tough little carrots who survived the winter!  Yes, the biggest is about the size of my thumb but they're carrots!  I thought they were duds when nothing grew from the seeds I planted last fall.  Apparently these carrots don't want to be rushed.  I can identify with that.  They'll grow when they want to grow--when they're good & ready.  I haven't eaten them yet, so hopefully they taste good.  :)  

I was feeling a bit disheartened about planting this spring since my garden hadn't been too successful last year but now I'm inspired again.  Way to go, 'lil carrots!  :)

I'm on my way to Colorado this evening for our high school ski trip.  No skiing for me, just hanging in the lodge, sipping hot chocolate & reading some good books.  Sounds like a pretty awesome week huh? I'm pumped about it!  Happy Spring Break!  

It's Spring!

This weekend I decided it was spring & so it was time to wake my yard up & give it some color!  The bushes along the front of my house had all died over the last year & a half (part my fault, part climate...) so I'd been planning to re-do the front beds this spring.   I started with some red Knockout Roses and put Gerbera Daisies in the pot on my front porch.  It makes me so happy to drive up & see my pretty yard!  I have a couple more places to put things...one is to replace a climbing vine that died.  I want something colorful, but haven't decided yet.   The weather was so pretty this weekend, and I love working outside when it's nice!  Hopefully it'll stay like this for a while---100+ temps you just stay away!

I also bought a food processor & have become a salsa making factory!  I made basic tomato salsa this weekend and also mango salsa!  I haven't perfected my ratios of ingredients yet, but I'll share my recipe when I do.   Mmm...I do love salsa!  Anyone have a good recipe they will share?  I'd love to try!  Off to water my roses!   :)  Happy end of winter!

Yum-O Dessert!

This weekend I hosted a Red, White & Pink party with some girlfriends and made this awesome tart!  Please take note that my clothes & dessert are the appropriate color theme.  :)

Recipe can be found here.  It's many-a-step but worth it!!  

Flower Power

I made this felt flower yesterday during one of our cold spells we've been having here.  When it's below freezing all I want to do it stay home & do crafts!  :)

Cute huh?  And super easy!  Took like 10 minutes to make!  Makes for a fun accessory on a cold day.  :)

There & Back Again

It's 2/2/11!  Holy cow how did it get to be February already?!  As I am writing this it is currently 32 degrees outside & almost 5pm--this is the warmest it's been all day!  We are in day 2 of a 3-day freezing storm that has taken over Texas and the rest of the country!  I'm so glad this is the coldest it's been this winter & that it won't last long!  The warm temperatures are one of the many reasons I love living in Texas!    Brrrrr rabbit it's cold outside!

A couple weeks ago I went to Washington for a dear friend's wedding.  One of the things I loved most about my time with Worldview Academy was making friends all over the country & getting to keep up with them while traveling around doing camps.  Some of my favorite people were from the Seattle area & so it was such a fun blessing to get to spend the weekend with them!

The Bride--Mrs Sarah Gifford  :)

The Gering Girls

The Sims Family

Sarah & I were on staff together at Worldview my first or second summer (2002 or 2003?) and then got to serve on leadership together for a few years.  The Gering girls & I also served on staff & leadership together--all of which were some of the best summers I've ever had!   Just for fun--here's some throwbacks to some fun times we all had--

Jana & I with the Fremont Troll (c. 2004?)

Sarah & I in New Hampshire (c. 2006) 

Jana & I about to longboard in skirts...'nuff said (c. 2004?)

Twinkies!  Jessi, Jana & I in San Diego I think (c. 2004)

Jana & I made cupcakes with only a ziplock bag, our hands & some aluminum muffin tins.  We were Pioneer Women before The Pioneer Woman was popular.  Wish I had a pic of both of us doing this!

So thankful for these sweet friends!  And so so so thankful that this weekend it will be close to 70 degrees here!  :)  Puxatony Phil says winter is almost over & I am pumped!!   

Ruffle Wreath

Isn't it cute?  When my former college roommie Ashley was here we watched (almost) the complete first season of Glee & made crafts inspired by this website, Jones Design Company.  I'd hung a Christmas wreath on this door in my house between my kitchen & "back room" that leads to the garage & I loved being able to enjoy seeing it every time I was in the kitchen.  After Christmas I missed seeing it & was super excited when I found a tutorial on how to make this one!  And I loved these fabrics for flowers  that go so well in my kitchen!

They just make me happy!  :)  And since I don't love to cook, I need anything & everything to make my time in the kitchen more happy!  :)  

Extreme anxiety, sorrow or pain.

That would be the definition of distress.  And no, I am not distressed...but my newly redesigned guest room is!  :)  Over the last few weeks, I've been painting and scraping & furnishing my guest room & it's been hard work, but now that it's mostly done, it's been so worth it!  Unfortunately I don't have many "before" pictures.  The room had teal walls & the dresser I re-did had been my cousins & then mine as a baby.  I painted it red & blue in high school & so was faced with the task of scraping off all the old paint before my sweet friend Lynn came in to town to teach me how to distress it!  Inspired by this website, I painted it brown, then Del Coronado Tequila (off white-ish), took a sanding block to it & then added some knobs from World Market...and I love the result!  I did the same with an unfinished bookshelf I bought.  I painted the room Urban Gravity (gray), put together a bed, got my grandfather's rocking chair recovered, moved in my grandmother's sea chest & voila!  A guest room!

Don't you just want to come visit me so you can stay in my guest room?  My friend Ashley is in town this weekend & we've been crafting it up!  More on that later!  Stay tuned!  :)  

Thanksgiving

This past weekend the whole Nelson clan descended on the motherland of Corpus Christi (I was the 7th generation of my grandmother's family born in Corpus!) to eat turkey, watch football and celebrate my grandparents 60th anniversary.  We ate "traditional Thanksgiving food" on Thursday and for the first time ever I made a "Big as Texas Brandy Apple Pie" from scratch!  It's from Peace Meals by the Houston Junior League--it's a great cookbook with really beautiful pictures!  The picture of this pie is what sold me on the idea of making it!

The pie was huge & took a long time to make but it was SO SO good!!  

Of course we all watched "The" football game that night (Gig'em Aggies!) and then victory partied all night long!!  :)  On Friday we toured the USS Lexington and learned all about fighter pilots, airplanes and life on a WW2 aircraft carrier.  My mom's dad was an oral surgeon on a ship very similar to the Lex during WW2 so our favorite part of the tour was getting to see the dental area where he would have been!  

Here's Bonnie and I on the flight deck--

Bonnie also shot down some enemy aircraft with some of our cousins in tow--

The next day we toured the Texas State Aquarium and learned all about the fish in the Gulf Coast.  Here's all the Nelson girl cousins-- 

After a delicious lunch at the Surf Club we went to the Red Fish Hatchery (part of the Gulf Coast Conservation Association) where we learned even more about fish!  It was actually pretty cool to see where and how they raise the fish before releasing them into the Gulf.  

That night was our big anniversary dinner--yummy steaks & a yummy yummy cake for dessert!  

I'm so thankful for my wonderful family and the incredible example of faithfulness my grandparents have set.  They are two of the most generous, loving and kind people I know.  Their three sons have grown up the same way and as their granddaughter I am so blessed to be part of this family legacy!  It was a wonderful weekend to be thankful for all the Lord has blessed us with!  

Coffee Scoop Clips

Here's a sneak peak at the crafts my mom & I worked on last weekend when I went to Corpus...

We ordered the scoop/clips from Amazon, beads courtesy of Hobby Lobby & wire from Lowes.  It was an easy & fun project & will make for fun Christmas gifties.  (Sorry if this is a spoiler!)  :)  

11 days till Thanksgiving & 41 till Christmas!  

Here's What I Love: Dressing Up!

Two weekends was the Grace Country Fair (the churchy "alternative" Halloween option)--it was such a fun time to hangout with youth kids, serve the community & dress up!  An estimated 2000 people came &  I rocked the fair like it was 1989 (one of our kids asked if I was 80s Barbie & I just went with it since they have NO IDEA who Kelly Kapowski was--so sad right?!).  Yes, I did puffy paint my sweatshirt and even though you can't see I was rocking some sweet sparkly leg warmers too.  The pic above is with two of my 8th grade girls--one of the biggest joys of my week is hanging out with them!

I went to visit my parents in Corpus this past weekend.  My mom's birthday is this week & it was a fun weekend full of yummy food, football (GIG 'EM AGGIES!) and crafts.  What more could you ask for, right?!  We had the best fish tacos I've ever had in my life at this place right down the street from my parents house!  A newly discovered favorite!!

The current countdown is 17 days till Thanksgiving & 47 days till Christmas!  Can you tell I'm excited!  Woohoo!  :)  My favorite time of year is just a few weeks away!!