Happiness, Coming and Going..

3 Days until departure.

(will pay LARGE amounts for organizing/packing help)

You Capture-Summer

Sweet, Sweet Summer

You Capture: Summer

Paper Rosie Hair Pin Tutorial!

This is such a cute but yet sophisticated rose and can be used to embellish picture frames, cards, or hair clips! Think of all the lovely cardstock papers you could use to make these beauties fit any occasion!

You will need..
-Squares of card stock in whatever color you want your rose to be (it doesn't necessarily need to be a square, you just need to be able to cut a circle out of whatever you start with)
-Fast drying glue (I use a hot glue gun)
-Scissors
-Green Cardstock-enough to make a few leaves
-Bobby Pin
-Matte Acrylic Spray Sealer (krylon works)





1. Gather all materials together
2.Take one colored sheet of card stock, and draw a big spiral swirl. It does not matter how big it is, and it absolutely doesn't need to be perfect. Draw 2 leaf shapes on the green cardstock

3. Next, Cut out along the lines of the spiral swirl, starting at the outside point. (obviously from my example, it REALLY does not have to be perfect!). Cut out the leaves


4. Starting at the outside of the swirl, begin to tightly roll the swirl together. Keep the spiral held tight.
5.When you get to the center nub, let go of what you've just rolled up! (Trust me here) It will all uncoil ever so slightly to a natural rose.
6. Put a dab of glue on the little nub (the center of the spiral,) pushing the whole rose down onto the nub for a few seconds just to secure everything in place.
7. Slide bobby pin on to one leaf then place it on top of the second leaf and glue to the flower

8. Spray the entire paper flower and leaves with the sealer let dry 15 minutes and spray again. This makes the bloom waterproof and allows you to wear it again and again.
So sweet!

Be sure to check out other tutorials from Tip Me Tuesday! Thanks Tip Junkie!

Take Me Back To Childhood...a trip down memory lane

alt. title---Fun *Babysitter* Friday!

I am the third child out of four, and when we were younger, one of our absolute favorite things to do was to make forts. Every kind imaginable, and in every place imaginable (nana, we're still sorry about that fort on your roof..in case you're ready to forgive us now). We'd always listen to our favorite radio show once we were all settled in the fort, Adventures In Odyssey, which is a Christian based show all centered around the kids in (...wait for it...) Odyssey. Whit, the old man that runs an ice cream shop/hang-out, is always working on inventions and one of them was the Imagination Station, where the kids could go back to Bible times and relive stories. I liked to pretend that our forts were the Imagination Station. Just for humor/enjoyment....


So, since I've been babysitting so much lately, I've had a hankering to make a fort.
I made a fort with these 3 adorable children, but of course we needed snacks! Recipe for some delicious popcorn:
You will need:

popcorn kernels

Honey, cinnamon

chopped apple pieces, sprinkled generously with cinnamon

a teensy bit of vegetable oil

pot with matching lid
and last but not least...

one very hungry child. :)

1. Put the popcorn kernels in the pot and pour a little bit of vegetable oil in, place the lid on securely, then turn the stove on medium heat

2. Shake the pot every few seconds to make sure the popcorn doesn't burn.

3. Once all of the kernels have popped, take the pot off the stove eye and add the apples into the mix. Take the honey and pour as much as you want on the popcorn, then sprinkle some more cinnamon in.

4. Turn the stove off, but put the pot back on the heat and stir the popcorn and apples until the stove is completely cooled. This should make your apples look more like baked apples, and the popcorn will have a nice coating of cinnamon and honey. The longer you stir, the less sticky the popcorn.

^Your popcorn and apples should look something like this!

5. Make sure the popcorn/apple mixture is very cooled before serving, then you're ready! (also, don't forget napkins!)

6. Hand it to the (by now very, VERY) hungry child

7. Enjoy! Eat it in your fort while watching a movie, and, in my opinion, this is WAY better than any movie theater!! :)

p.s.-sorry for such bad quality pictures...

How were you a fun mom this week? (or fun babysitter..). Link up with Moriah at Please Pass the Salt!

Happy Friday + a fresh update

Happy Friday all!! I have been having waaaayy too many blah days lately, c'mon, you know what I mean, right? So, no more lazy days of summer for me, because two weeks from today I have my first college audition!! Here is how I feel about it:
aowihg;oiwshv;oisdhgowth;owaih;iwrhfAAAAAAH
Yep. I'm pretty scared, especially since today's the first day in a while I've really hunkered down and practiced for a lot of hours. Here is what i'm working towards...

Ok, please don't think i'm bragging a ton by showing you that, but LET ME TELL YOU, thats to show you how much work I have to do!! That's why i'm freaking, thats a valid reason, don't you think?! It will be a doozy.

You Capture-Play.

love having a friend that likes to play with my makeup :)

Love these girls. Would be ready to adopt them as younger sisters in a heartbeat:)

^Spoons. Taken a big chunk of my time this summer. ^Love me some Kathy.

^(b&w picture) I look like a complete goober in this picture, but I love these girls to death, would you guess they're twins?

You Capture: Play

Gorgeous Floor Tutorial

I am so blessed to have been able to get to know a lot of young moms from my church who have become such amazing role models and almost like older sisters. Mindy, who helps a lot with our youth group, has the most compassionate, caring, and thoughtful heart, and I have loved having a friendship with her the past few years. She's had a little trouble with floors the past few months, and, after what looks like a lot of sweat and tears, they now have the most authentic, gorgeous floors I've seen in a while. Her daughter can't have carpet due to allergies, so they decided they could paint the plywood that was underneath the carpet. I mean, who woulda ever thought of something so genious?!?! Please, check out her awesome cool blog that shows how they did it. Ooooh it makes me excited just thinking about it. Here's her round 2, after complications (even more reason to admire her). Great job, Mindy!!!

(now i just need to know...how much to do mine?)

^Go over to Three Ring Cottage for another floor painting tutorial. Not nearly as rockin' as Mindy's though...(just sayin').

Let the Countdown Begin

14 days. I can't believe it...... For years I've stressed over where I'd go to college and now I know where I'm going and I leave in just 2 weeks..... I have so much to finish and accomplish before the end of summer....

Why do friends change? Why does summer change? Some friends I thought I'd never see this summer I've seen a ton, while others I used to see everyday I've seen once of twice. I don't understand that.... I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle by trying to be friends still because college is just around the corner; if I can't be friends with them now over summer, how in the world will I manage to keep in touch during college? I hate not being able to always keep in touch with folks, I hate change (most of the time). ugh

Psalm One

"1God blesses those people who refuse evil advice

and won't follow sinners

or join in sneering at God.

2Instead, the Law of the LORD makes them happy,

and they think about it day and night.

3They are like trees growing beside a stream,

trees that produce fruit in season

and always have leaves.

Those people succeed
in everything they do.

4That isn't true of those
who are evil,
because they are like straw
blown by the wind.
5Sinners won't have an excuse
on the day of judgment,
and they won't have a place
with the people of God.

6The LORD protects everyone
who follows him,
but the wicked follow a road
that leads to ruin. "