Count Down: BFFFL's Wedding, MCT2, and End of School

BFFFL's Wedding: 12 days. MCT: 11 days. Last Day of School: 21 1/2

My life has been utter chaos the past few weeks. Preparing for my best friend's wedding, getting my sweet 4th graders ready for the state test, and helping Stefan get things in order for is internship for ESPN this summer (I'm SOOO proud of him!!!) I'm trying to come up with some super fun things to do with my sweet babies after all their hard work after testing. I am now welcoming ideas. I have a few pinned to my Pinterest board. 

Photography Show, Spring Break, and Crayon Art

It's FINALLY Spring Break!! I thought 3:20 on Friday afternoon would never come. But it did and I am one happy lady.

Last week, Stefan and I attended an art show at our friends' studio. Renee and Will Reedy own a studio in downtown Columbus. Renee is a photographer (like myself) and Will is a cinematographer (like Stefan). Stefan and I met this lovely couple through our church. Will is our new worship leader in our contemporary service, and Renee plays the keyboard in the praise band. When we found out that both Will and Renee were into photography and cinematography we were ecstatic! Since then we have had many chats about church, faith, and the arts. Stefan and I are both looking forward to what God has in store for this new friendship.

I have been meaning to be more crafty lately, but time has been something I have not had. I took the opportunity on this beautiful day to do something crafty after my sister and I came back from shopping. I have seen this crayon art deal going on through Pinterest (where else?), and I thought I would give it a try. I apologize that I didn't take picture throughout the project. You'll just get to see the finished product. The one on the left is the version that is seen on Pinterest. I used an 8 x 10 canvas and just chose different shades of the same crayon. (I bought a box of 96 crayons just for this occasion!) The one on the right is a different version of crayon art (Stefan's idea but my work.)

As seen on Pinterest.

 Stefan's idea of crayon art. I did the work.

I know this picture isn't crayon art. I just like it. Stefan doesn't like pictures so I rarely get one with him in it. 

Writer's Block

I'm still here, just with a bad case of writer's block. I hope to have some things to post soon.

'Tis the Season

It's Christmas time already! If you know me, you know that Christmas is one of my most favorite holidays. I look forward to it because I get to spend time with my family all while celebrating the birth of Jesus. This Christmas has been a humbling experience for so many reasons. One reason in particular shed quite a bit of light on what Christmas is really all about. It's so easy to get carried away with buying and giving gifts, and sometimes we forget what this holiday is really about. It's easy to focus on the materialistic things of Christmas. My prayer for myself for these past few days has been to help me to not lose sight of the "reason for the season" (for lack of a better phrase....I know it's a corny phrase, but it's true).

I'm out of school until January 9th. Though I am in need of a break, I will miss my sweet little 4th graders. I'll be working hard to get things in order for this next semester. It's hard to imagine my first year of teaching is halfway over. It's had its ups and downs, but nonetheless it's been a wonderful experience. I'll be doing literature circles when we start back, and I'm so excited about them. I've been doing a good bit of research about them. If you read my blog (do people even read this?) and have some knowledge of literature circles or even ideas, let me know! Like I said, I'm very excited about starting these in my classroom.

I'm using this break to catch up on my crafts board on Pinterest. I feel as if it has been neglected lately.

If I don't write until after Christmas, Merry Christmas to you and your families. I pray that you have a safe and wonderful holiday.

Recycling Glass Jars

In my family we have a few odd traditions. Where we spend our Thanksgiving depends on where the Egg Bowl is played that year. We watch the Christmas Story 24 hour event every Christmas. And we drink milk out of frozen mason jars. People that come to my apartment say it's quite strange. If you were to open my freezer you would see about ten of these said jars. I decided to downsize the number of jars, but needed something creative to do with a few of them. Of course I would turn to Pinterest for this project. I found this article in my research of crafty things to do with my jars, now all I needed was some spare time. Between teaching, lesson planning, daily chores, and a social life, my spare time is just that.

Two weekends ago I had a free weekend. Stefan was at UAB working the MSU v. UAB game. I had some friends come into town from the coast. While I was waiting on my friends to arrive I decided to dive into making my jars into tea light candle holders.

The materials needed.

Put the twine on the jars in different designs. It helps to tape the the ends to the inside or on the bottom.

It's also nice to have some helping hands! (Thanks, Mom!)

Jars after coats of white spray paint. I put 1-2 coats.

Let it dry for 10 minutes.

Take the twine off and you have beautiful tea light candle holders!

Pretty easy, don't you think?

A Good Luck Charm

I've had the wreath finished for about a week now. I've just been busy with my little 4th graders and barely have time in the evenings to post anything crafty. I'll get better.

My MSU wreath is finished just in time to cheer on my beloved Mississippi State Bulldogs at their first home game against LSU on Thursday. I have I said that school gets out early on Thursday? My students are as excited as I am! (Them probably being more excited that we have a half day on Thursday.)

I want to make more of these to sell to friends, family or whoever. So if you or anyone you know might want a ribbon wreath of any kind, let me know!

If you know anything about me, then you know that I absolutely love to cook, and that I am on the crafty side. I have this lamp in my room that I have been meaning to do something with, and a stack of old magazines that I have yet to recycle. I'm sure my next post will have something to do with the lamp. Until then, love and peace.

Just In Time For Football Season

After being obsessed with Pinterest, and stumbling upon this blog post by She's {Kinda} Crafty blogger Stacey, I just HAD to make a wreath in my Dear Ole State's colors of maroon and white. While I have not yet finished it, I am giving you readers two photos of what it looks like now. It is almost finished, I just have to get the letters on it. It's my first attempt at doing a wreath, so don't leave too many negative comments on how it looks. The pictures are also not as good as I wanted them to be since they were taken from my phone. Oh well. The finished one will be taken with a real camera.

The materials to make the ribbon wreath.

The ribbon wreath minus the MSU letters and football cut out. It's a terrible quality picture. I'm ashamed to say I am a photographer.

I am waiting on my letters and football to dry, then I will put them on the wreath. Just in time for football season!