Happy New Year!

Happy new year! I hope you all had a great celebratory new year with friends and family. We had some friends and family over to out apartment and had a lot of fun. I don't usually get too sentimental looking back on the year around new year's, but 2011 was a great year for me so I thought I'd rewind the highlights.

In 2011 I...
*Finished off a fantastic senior year with some of my best friends
*Graduated from college
*Moved to a new city
*Worked my first real full-time job nannying for an amazing family
*Found my passion in the teaching world working with at-risk children
*Moved in with my boyfriend
*Got engaged to my best friend
*Received my teacher's license
*Watched one of my best friends become a Mrs.
*Started my blog
*Developed my talents in the handmade world
*Saw two of my favorite bands, front row
*Spent lots of quality time with loved ones

*I never make resolutions, always goals, and these goals are always elaborately designed (I'm talking a step-by-step typed out outline to complete them). However, it always seems by February school and life take over and I lose focus. This year, I will make a few goals for myself, but mainly reminders for a happy life.

In 2012, I hope to...
*Get a full-time teaching job
*all and visit my close friends more often
*Find an organization to volunteer for in my new city
*Save more money
*Be the best maid of honor in the history of maid's
*Cook for my fiancé more (when I say more I mean period.)
*Go to boot camp for days per week
*Run another race
*Find new music I love
*Read more books
*Call my siblings more
*Maintain positive thoughts and be appreciative daily

I started my blog this summer as a personal blog to keep my family and friends updated and share my daily musings. The feedback I received was more than i ever expected or hoped for. It's something I love doing, and something I find worthy of my time. If I am going to put time into it, I want to put genuine thought and effort into developing my blog.

2012 Blog Goals
*Update my blog 5 times per week
*Make one craft for my blog each week
*Become a sponsor on other blogs to increase my viewership
*Monetize my blog
*Develop weekly features
*Host guest posting
*Be consistent

Happy 2012 :)

More Newspaper Art

Remember this recycled newspaper art project I finished last week?

Well, I was secretly making it for my mom for Christmas, but I wasn't sure if she'd like it. I posted it early to see if she'd comment on it... and she told me on two separate occasions she liked it so I was safe giving it to her :) I also made her this one! Here's how I did it.

What you'll need:
Canvas
Paper (I used newspaper but you could use fabric, magazines, wrapping paper, etc.)
Acrylic paint
Paint brush
Sponge brush
Mod podge

(This project was inspired by this tutorial from Crafted Love)

First, tear up some pieces of newspaper. I chose to tear instead of cut so it would have more of a collaged look.

Next, mix up your mod podge solution. I don't think it really matters the exact mixture, I would say I had 1 part mod podge, 3 parts water. It should be thicker than water but easily spreadable.

Cover one section at a time of your canvas with the glue solution. I would recommend putting newspaper or an easily cleanable medium under your canvas because I made a MESS and had to clean up and start over by putting newspaper down. Oopsies :)

After you put the goop on the canvas, lay the paper down and put more goop on top. I started making the newspaper go up or down or side to size, but I ended making it go every which way, which I liked better.

Wrap the newspaper around the side of your canvas. I wrapped mine around the back so it would stay down. Eventually I had to tape it down on the back because it wouldn't stay.

Let it dry for a few hours before you paint. I put mine outside to dry so it would dry faster (I'm impatient), but I would NOT recommend this. The cold made the newspaper peel and I had to re-glue some parts. I think this is also why I had to tape it to the back in the end.

Now that your canvas is dry, time to paint! I originally got this idea from Crafted Love (see above) and I liked her design, so I stuck with it. I was in a hurry to get it wrapped before I went home so I didn't have time to be too creative. However, there are so many possibilities-- chevron pattern, you could lay down lace and spray paint, you could paint a book, make some abstract art, geometric shapes, anything!

Mom loved both art pieces (I think). It was a fun and inexpensive gift to make.

I think this describes me pretty well.

{Source}

Wedding Venues!

It's been awhile since I posted about out wedding plans, so I thought I'd share our progress in our wedding venue search.

We have officially decided to get married in Cedar Falls, IA! We were going back and forth between Des Moines, Cedar Falls, and my hometown Monticello. We both had a connection to Cedar Falls, where we met, went to college at UNI, and want to move back to someday. It's also a middle point for our families who live in opposite ends of the state.

We looked around online and visited some venues, and we think we have decided on having the reception at the Rotary Reserve Lodge just outside of Cedar Falls. It has the rustic, vintage, natural vibe we were going for, and the lodge and surrounding area are beautiful. This way, we can also decide on the caterer we want rather than having to go with hotel catering and paying double the price for the same type of food. We are both very excited to have a venue so now we can set a date and book other things. Here are some pictures of the Rotary Reserve.

Another great feature is the outdoor deck that spans the back of the lodge (where all the windows are). I didn't get any pictures of it, but if the weather is nice we will take full advantage of it.

We also looked around at possible ceremony options, and this one is a little more tentative. We thought it would be cool to get married somewhere on campus, and we were looking around online and saw the Gallagher Bluedorn was an option. We never talked to anyone or looked too into it too much, but we did go and take some pictures. How awesome would it be to get married here?

 These stairs would allow for quite the entrance!

The opening in the wall is where we would stand and we would have to strategically place the chairs around the beams.

Anyway, nothing is set in stone and plans could change, but I wanted to share my excitement and our ideas with you!

Christmas Traditions

Kevin and I are spending Christmas apart this year so we had to get in some traditions before we head home for the holidays. One of his favorite movies is "It's a Wonderful Life" so I got it for him for Christmas this year. I made some specialty hot chocolate and we cuddled in for the evening. (If you haven't seen this movie, you need to! It makes me misty eyed every time!)

My hot chocolate experience changed my senior year of college when I moved in with two of my good friends, Erin and Andrea (hey ladies!) Until then, I had only experienced hot chocolate in water with the occasional mix of marshmallows. I was missing out. Erin introduced me to making it with milk. Andrea introduced me to other ingredients. And hot chocolate was never the same again.

Here is how I make my hot chocolate:

• Hot chocolate mix
• Milk
• Cinnamon
• Marshmallows
• Candy cane

It's so yummy. It's especially yummy on a cold winter night snuggled in with your honey.

Recycled Newspaper Art

This is another project I found on Pinterest and interpreted it into my own work of art. This has been a loooong project to complete and I worked on it over time to keep from going crazy. I had planned on doing this on two canvases and hanging them side by side but I would have lost my mind.

That being said, I am very happy with the outcome and (I think) it was worth the work. The best part is the only cost of the project was the canvas, which I got on sale for 2 for $7 at Hobby Lobby. I had been saving newspaper for awhile so it's an earth friendly art project as well.

What you need:
Canvas
Any paper (You could use magazines, wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, etc.)
Hot glue gun

Step 1: Cut paper into strips. I cut them in different widths to get a variety of height in my art. I also was sure to always keep a seam/fold and loose ends. This makes it easier to roll and you won't have to glue as much.

(Fold/Seam)

(Lose ends-- to be rolled in the middle)

Step 2: Roll the newspaper. Start rolling with the loose ends so they are in the middle and the fold in the paper is on the outside. This way, you don't have to glue every single end down.

Step 3: Place a dot of hot glue at the end of the strips to secure the paper and to keep it from unraveling.

In my process, I made about 10 rolls and then glued them on the canvas. It seemed to go faster this way.

 Step 4: Glue rolls to the canvas

For some rolls, I left bigger spaces in the middle. Some I wrapped many strips in one single roll to get a fatter roll. Some, I used only a few strips of paper. I have also seen this done with magazines, and it makes it a bit more colorful.

I like it best when you look at it straight on. When you look at it from the side it does look a little silly. It might have looked better if they were all the same height. I have seen a lot of newspaper art out there and I always like the look at it. My college roommate had a bowl made out of recycled newspaper, and I've also seen clocks, picture frames, etc.

What do you think? Kevin says he doesn't "get" it. I kinda like it.

Vacation

My blog has received over 100 page views since I last updated my blog, so I thought I'd throw my loyal readers a bone and let you know what I've been up to! Thank you so much for checking back frequently. I promise I will be back with some quality posts soon.

This weekend Kevin and I went back home for Christmas at our home with my dad's side of the family. All my aunts and uncles were able to come back, and I haven't seen everyone in a long time. It was a lot of fun, complete with an acoustic concert from my very talented cousin, Kenzie. More about Christmas with some pictures and videos to come.

Kevin and I decided to go on a little vacation for a couple days to Galena, IL. It's about 40 minutes from my hometown and a fun place to visit. We walked around main street and did a little Christmas shopping. We were looking for some more antique/thrift stores to increase our Mason jar collection, but Galena didn't have much to offer. It was a relaxing little vacation.

Today we are headed to Cedar Falls! I am excited for a number of reasons. 1) I haven't been back to visit CF since July! 2) We are going to look at wedding venues! 3) We are going to visit friends! 

We will head back home Wednesday so I can finish making and wrapping Christmas presents, relaxing, and watching Christmas movies.

I will be back with an update later this week, including some DIYs I made for Christmas. Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!