"I Can" Can

                 I recently saw a post on Pinterest and thought it was the most amazing idea for helping to cultivate a positive self esteem in your child. The "I CAN" can. This would be such a simple and amazing project to do with your kids. While decorating your can, you can spend time talking to your child/chlidren about the things that they do that make you proud. Talk to them about the good choices that they make in life. Once the can is done, you can explain to your child that people do makes mistakes from time to time. But that it is important to just try your best. Have your child write down (or write it for them if they are too young) all the things that they can do. Anything that they are proud of. Try to let them think it through first before offering up suggestions. This will allow you to see what your child thinks are her/his strengths. If they are having a hard time coming up with ideas, help them out. Once you have come up with enough "cans" to fill your can, explain to your child that any time they are feeling down, upset, or discouraged they should pick out a "can" and read it out loud. Have them keep picking out "cans" until they realize their potential and are feeling better about themselves. (Go ahead and throw a few surprise ones in their too!)

This is definitely a project I will be working on this weekend with my daughters! Pictures to follow soon!

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Truth

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Shine On.... Just a Thought

It's so easy in this day and age to lose the light that has the ability to shine so bright inside of us. I know from personal experience just how easy it is to get caught up in all of the "what ifs" and the "should haves" of the world. We lose sight of all the amazing things that are right in front of us. Why do we let all of the negative things that  could happen get in the way of the amazing things that are happening?

If we step back, and take a look at all of the beauty that surrounds us.... take a look at all of the smiles that are sent our way... take a look at the flowers blooming... if we just took a few minutes out of each day to realize just how much life we have left to live, I think we would stop looking at all of the life that we are "losing out on". We might start to see all of the blessings that we gain each day.

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Truth

But, if you are lucky enough to find someone... love what you have. Cherish what you have. Stop focusing on the "what ifs" and focus on what is. Because at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

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Banners, Banners, and More Banners!

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Truth

"This is an important lesson to remember when you're having a bad day, a bad month, or a shitty year. Things will change; you won't feel this way forever. And anyway, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your sould needs most. I believe you can't feel real joy unless you've felt heartache. You can't have a sense of victory unless you know what it means to fail. You can't know what it's like to feel holy until you know what it's like to feel really f***ing evil. And you can't be birthed again until you've died."
- If You Have To Cry Go Outside, Kelly Cutrone

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"A Moment" by Jessica Michelle

"Just another moment,
bliss right before the dawn.
A second more of this love,
before we must move on.
One more breath to sink in,
seeping deep into my soul.
Just another moment,
a mere attempt to keep whole."
                       -Jessica Michelle 2010

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Truth

"I am Me. In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me. Everything that comes out of me is authentically mine, because I alone chose it -- I own everything about me: my body, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions, whether they be to others or myself. I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears. I own my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes. Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing, I can love me and be friendly with all my parts. I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know -- but as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles and ways to find out more about me. However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is authentically me. If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought, and felt turn out to be unfitting, I can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for that which I discarded. I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me. I own me, and therefore, I can engineer me. I am me, and I am Okay.”
― Virginia Satir

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Re-posting.... Again

Re-posting another project that I have done in the past. It was soooo messy, but definitely a lot of fun. I think I am going to have to try this again! But next time, I need to make sure to take "prettier" pictures of the final product!

         After weeks upon weeks upon weeks of little to NO inspiration, I finally sat down and spent 4 hours on crafts! I don't know if it had something to do with the fact that I had the house completely to myself for the first time in forever or with the fact that I have slipped back into my past obsession and broke down and drank a Red Bull (it was delicious by the way). Either way, I am so excited that I was finally able to create something!!!!
     I worked on 2 different projects. I have to say that Pintrest ( Click here to follow me on Pintrest!!) has definitely become one of my biggest obsessions and sources for inspiration. And with an empty house I was finally able to try out a few new ideas!
Materials needed:
* yarn/twine/string
*Mod Podge or Elmer's Glue (I actaully found that I liked working with the Elmer's Glue more than the Mod Podge- maybe because it reminded me of doing crafts as a child. But both worked just fine)   
*Balloons
*Deep dish (to fill with glue and soak the twine/yarn in)
* glitter (optional)
*Exacto Blade or needle (something sharp and pointy to pop the balloons)


Step 1: Blow up balloons! I blew up different sized balloons so that I would have a variety of sizes to work with.

Step 2:  Fill your bowl with the glue or Mod Podge (if you are using the glitter, add now and mix thoroughly).  As you can see in the picture below, its going to get very messy. So make sure you put down something so you don't get glue on your work surface!

 Step 3: Dip the yarn/twine in the Mod Podge and begin to wrap the yarn/twine around the balloon. Continue to wrap the twine/yarn around the balloon until you have a good majority of the balloon covered.

Step 4: Once you have finished wrapping the balloon in with the yarn/twine, set it down on a flat surface to dry. I let the balloons dry over night (8 hours). This was probably the hardest part for me! I kept checking to see if they had hardened. I am pretty sure they were not quite ready when I deflated the balloons. They would have definitely of held their shape much better if I had waited long enough.

Step 5: Popping time! Take a needle or a Exacto blade and pop the balloons. The balloons will shrink down and pull away from the twine/yarn. And you are left with gorgeous orbs. 

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First "Offical" Attempt

         I am a DIY addict. And when one of my best friends (now sister-in-law) asked me to be her maid of honor, I was super excited for 2 reasons. 1) Well, I was the maid of honor! and 2) that meant I got to throw her a Bridal Shower! Another reason to get crafty! Within the past month and a half I threw a DIY birthday party for both of my daughters, and I became addicted even more. I started planning right away. She was having a fall wedding and I wanted to make sure every aspect of her party reflected her wedding theme. She wasn't the biggest fan of pumpkins (she insisted that there were absolutely NO pumpkins at the wedding), but I threw in a few white ones just to pull everything together. It turns out she thought they were adorable.  



Looking back, there are definitely a lot of things I would do differently. Given a little more time, and money I think that this table could have been completely fabulous. But at the time, this table seemed fairly impressive to me (it did look a lot prettier in person if I do say so myself), but in looking at this picture, I can definitely see where I could have made improvements. Under neath the bottom layer of burlap, I would have added some ivory lace linens. I think that would have helped the burlap to not look as harsh compare to the white table cloth. I am not the biggest fan of balloons for adult parties, but I think adding some white balloons, covered in a soft gold tulle would have really helped to spice up the room a bit. I love the idea of hanging the balloons upside down from the ceiling. And as picky as this may seem, I hate the way that the veggie tray pops out in this photo. It is like a sore thumb to me. I think rather than a veggie tray, I should have maybe done a cracker tray or a cheese platter. The colors would have flowed much more easily. But for a first attmept, I am fairly satisfied.

At the point of the bridal shower, the bride hadn't fully decided on her colors for the wedding. So, in wanting to keep this simple and sweet, I went with neutral Fall colors. These colors gave it a touch of simplicity and romance. It is amazing how many different shades of white and brown there are!! I tried to throw in a little splash of color to spice things up just a little bit. Nothing adds color or says Fall more than candy apples. The vibrant red pared with the sweet caramel definitely helped to tie together the table.

           I love love love sweets. Any time I throw a party, there is a 99% chance that there will be more desserts on the table then actual food. The first dessert that I decided to make was a semi tribute to my brother (the groom). He loves butterscotch pudding. So instead of just serving a big bowl of pudding, I made a pudding parfait bar. The cups had different combinations of vanilla, chocolate, and butter scotch pudding. All were topped with whipped cream because, well, you never need a reason for whipped cream. But after topping them with the whipped cream, I decided they looked a little naked. So I set out an assortment of toppings (crushed Oreos, M&M's, and a mixture of crushed Kit Kat bars and Reece's Peanut Butter Cups). They were a hit! So simple and so cheap to make! I think the Oreos were the most expensive part of this dessert.

     The bride is a huge chocolate lover. When I think of a chocolate dessert, brownies always come to mind first. You just simply can not go wrong with brownies. I decided that a tray of double chocolate brownies would be perfect. But, because I am fairly picky, the brown just looked too harsh against all of the softer colors on the table. I decided to cover some Oreo's (another of the brides favorites) with white chocolate and then drizzle caramel on top of them. SO DELICIOUS! These were hands down the most delicious thing at the party. The Carmel added just the right amount of gooey-ness to make your mouth water.

                           

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