Dowel Wreath

Do you remember  the Dowel Wreath out of the Lowe's Magazine (you can read the post here) I was talking about?

Instructions to make your own Dowel Wreath are from Lowes website. I am putting the instructions from their website here.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: Use a miter saw to cut a 2"×48" dowel into 36 discs: 9 at 1-1/4", 9 at 1", 9 at 3/4", and 9 at 1/2". Sand the faces and edges of all discs with medium-grit sandpaper.
Step 2: Pair each 1-1/4" disc with a 1" disc and glue each pair together side-by-side. Allow glue to dry for several hours.
Step 3: Use a compass to draw a 9-1/2"-diameter circle on a piece of cardboard or paper. Cover the drawing with waxed paper; this will prevent the glue from sticking in Step 4.
Step 4: Use the drawing as a guide to arrange the 9 pairs of glued discs in a circle --alternate the 1-1/4" discs with the 1" discs. Glue the pairs of discs together, maintaining the circle shape. Allow the ring to dry.
Step 5: Arrange the 1/2" and 3/4" discs in a second ring outside the first, alternating the sizes, and then glue them along the outside of the first ring. Allow the glue to dry overnight.
Step 6: Leave the wood raw or finish with paint, stain, or a coat of polyurethane.

Here's how mine turned out! :)

First the boys cut the wood for me

Next I sanded them all down and glued them together

After that dried overnight, I glued them into a circle shape

Again had to wait for that to dry, and then glued the outside circles

Then stained and and put a coat of polyurethaned it.

Hung it on the door

I LOVE it!!!

Jakah liked the rings so much we ended up making him some blocks, that he LOVES playing with!

This is linked up to Frugal Girls Chic & Crafty Party





WTF Wednesday - 9.28.2011

Have you ever seen the show Ridiculousness? Its hosted by Rob Dyrdek. Its kinda like America's Funniest Home Videos... but funnier and sometimes grosser

For Example.....



Who in the world would this this was a good idea. Or should I say, How did you get talked into doing that?

WTF

This is linked up to Funny or snot

Fun Levels

My husband had a really hard time turning 25. His grandpa died in his 50's. (he was very close to his grandpa) So at 25, he had his mid-life crisis. It was a tough year for him. And eventually, He bought himself a Toyota. Wanted a "project" to work on at home. See he loves engines, trucks and his job involving both of those. But he wanted a project he could work on, and make it into whatever he wanted. Oh and he wanted to be able to go wheelin'.

One of my adorable nephews :)



The Toyota was fun for a while, hauled our dirt bikes around for us, and we were able to go wheelin'. I usually had to ride with my brother-in-law since the Toyota was a 2 seater.

Which is what brings us to Fun Levels.... While I was pregnant, Casey decided he wanted a wheelin' truck that fit more than 2 people. He wanted to be able to take Jakah and myself out with him. So he, very convincingly talked me into a 4 runner body. He wanted to keep the truck frame and motor. Promised me that my fun level would go up to 100%.

So this happened....



My fun level hasn't gone up yet! But apparently its because it wasn't done. Of course not! The never ending "project"

He has now finished it!

It is now John Deere green.

And you know what.... My fun level still hasn't gone up! That liar!



Buster Browns

My grandpa, Popi, was amazing. His favorite holiday was Christmas. He loved buying gifts for other people, and then watching them open it. He loved wearing his santa hat, and had every Christmas decoration. The few times we were able to travel to Michigan for Christmas were amazing. And honestly, Christmas hasn't been the same for me since he passed.

I loved calling him once a week and just talking to him. He had 6 grandkids, and only 1 of them was a boy. I think he loved having mostly granddaughters.

He also loved shopping. And was always looking for the "gonga deal". He was pretty good at it. When I visited him around 6 years ago he would take me shopping. On senior citizen day of course. He got a discount. (That trip is where I fell in love with Kohl's and desperatly wished they would open one here in Washington) He picked out 5 or 6 outfits for me that trip. Of course we had to get shoes and purses to match! My Popi rocked!

For a few short years, I was lucky enough to live close to him. Of course this was when I was little and living in Arizona. He would take me shopping, and pick out all of my clothes and shoes. It got to the point that only my Popi was allowed to buy me shoes. (always atleast 4 pairs at a time. And my parents wonder where my love of shoes comes from) Of course when we moved away from them, my parents had to call him with my shoe size and he would buy them and ship them to me.

I still miss him horribly. I am sad that he has never gotten to meet any of his great-grandchildren. He would be happy to know that the tables have turned and now he has 3 great grandsons, and 1 great granddaughter. It also makes me happy to know that he was able to see atleast one of his granddaughters get married (me, I am the only one married LOL)

Today I took Jakah shopping for some new shoes. I found him an awesome pair of Buster Browns. On clearance for $10.

I had a sudden urge to want to call my Popi and tell him. See he loved buying me Buster Browns. So while I am sad that I am not able to call and tell him, It makes me happy to know that the tradition has passed on to me and my son.

And I'd like to think that Popi would say "You found a GONGA deal Audie"

Pushing My Buttons

Jakah,

I know your dad has been working a lot these past 2 weeks. I know he had to work last Saturday, and its looking like he is going to have to work this Saturday. I know you miss seeing him and hanging out with him. I also know you are getting not one, but 5 back teeth all at once. (because you have never gotten 1 tooth at a time, they always come in giant groups of 3-5) I also know you are 21 months, and you are trying to be even more independent than you once were.

But....

I am done. You have pushed almost every button I have, and some I didn't know I had. But I don't see how I can handle anymore.

No more dumping out the dog's water, no more throwing your blocks thru the living room, no more climbing the back of the couch to look down at the stairs, no more getting behind the tv fence and touching the tv, No more jumping or body slaming the dog, no more whining for no reason, no more running all of your trucks into my ankles (or into the dog for that matter), and I am really over you arching your back and screaming everytime I try to put you in your carseat or stroller.

Oh and please stop screaming bloody murder when I try to cut your toe / finger nails. I am pretty sure the neighbors are going to call the police because they think I am beating you. (I am totally NOT beating him!)

So please be nice to your mama. Or I will cry, call in a grandma, and go take a mommy time-out in my room with this.

Thank You,
Your Maaaa Ma

WTF Wednesday - 9.21.2011

I don't really have anything clever this week, except for a few photo's my friend e-mailed me that made me say WTF!

This is linked up to Funny or Snot

Apple Pie

Fall is in the air here. Although it is very sad, since we only had about a month of summer... sigh

Either way, I wanted to make an apple pie. I had a graham cracker crust sitting in the pantry that needed to be used up. I thought the two together would taste yummy and I was right! Although I did use way too many apples and had a dome pie. But it wasn't soggy (soggy pie is gross!) and one of the best pies I have ever made!

This recipe is a combination of a few I found, so basically created by me

Ingredients:
1 graham cracker pie crust

5 medium apples (I used granny smith)
        - peeled, cored, sliced and then cut into small pieces
1/4 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 cup white granulated sugar (more or less depending on your taste)
Dash of salt
2 tablespoons of butter
Lemon juice

Ingredients for crumble top crust:
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of firm butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of oats

Pre-heat oven to 425
Start off with peeling and coring the apples. I did it the easy way and just sliced them up into wedges. Them cut them into cube shapes. I put them in a bowl of lemon / ice water to keep them from browning while I finished cutting them all up.

Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add apples and stir until fully coated.
Put into graham cracker crust.
Dot with butter

For the crumble crust-
Mix together all the ingredients until crumbly. (I just used my fingers)

Put on top of the pie.

Bake at 425 for 40 minutes (mine should have baked longer, but I think its because I had too many apples)

Top with whip cream and enjoy!

Please let me know if you try this recipe and how it turns out!!

This is linked up to The Frugal Girls and Tatortots and Jello





 

New Name?!

I'm trying out this new blog name... What do you think?


Honest Opinions...

Lowes Fall Craft Projects

Do you guys get the free Lowes magazines? One is Creative ideas for outdoor living and the other one is Creative Ideas for home and garden. You can sign up for them Creative Ideas Magazine. I love getting them. They have awesome projects in there. I found 2 fall projects that I really like.

First Mumpkins

photo courtesy of Lowes.com

I find these ADORABLE but very time consuming! And they only last 3-4 days!!! Yikes! I bet it would be super cute with a fake pumpkin and fake mums......

I might have to attempt to make one to see if it works.

The other project I really (REALLY) want to do is make a Dowel Wreath

Photo courtesy of lowes.com

My husband always complains when I put wreaths up because he says they are girly. (well duh I am a girl!) But this is totally a compromise! I am so going to Lowe's to get the supplies for this. I will take pictures to show you how it turns out!


This is in no way sponsered by Lowes. But I wish it was!

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

I found this recipe on All Recipes after an extensive google search. Apparently most poppy seed muffins have lemon in them, but I wanted almond.

I did change the type of poppy seeds used, mostly because I bought the wrong thing. Oops! And the original recipe calls for a glaze. You can find it Here

Ingredients

3 eggs

2.5 cups white sugar

1 1/8 cups vegetable oil

1.5 cups milk

1.5 teaspoons salt

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

.5 of a 12oz can of Poppy Seed Filling (paste)

1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.5 teaspoons almond extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Beat together the eggs, cups white sugar and vegetable oil.
2. Add in milk, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, vanilla, almond flavoring, and flour.
3. Mix well.
4. Bake in paper lined muffin cups (filled 3/4 full or 3 small greased loaf pans) at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes for muffins and 50-60 minutes for loaves. The tops should be browned and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

They are YUMMY!!!! I didn't make the glaze since I like mine all plain jane

Oh and this recipe said it makes 12... And I doubled it... I ended up with 48 large muffins and 64  mini muffins.... Don't do it! I guess we shall see if they freeze well!

WTF Wednesday - 9.14.2011

I made Almond Poppy Seed muffins from scratch... The recipe said it made 12, so I doubled it.

And ended up with 1,000,000 muffins

This was after Casey and Jakah ate a whole bunch....

WTF
(recipe to come)

This is linked up to Funny or Snot

Sitting around eating bon-bons

I met a friends boyfriend a few days ago. He is apparently 26 (acts like he's 17) and they have a 9 month old son. The baby wasn't planned, so they have had to grow up pretty fast. (she is 22).

I talked with the boyfriend for a while. He is very chatty! Tells us about his car 14 thousand times... (I don't care)

He asks us questions about us, we answer. We ask him questions, and he turns it back to us... Hmmm...

He makes a comment to me that really makes me mad.

"Aren't you grateful that your husband works and provides everything for you?"

Let that sink in for a minute... Here is some guy that I just met asking me that question.

First off, Yes, I am grateful and extremely lucky. Second... I work two jobs. One is during the school  year, and I am able to bring Jakah with me. The other is during tax season, and again I am able to bring Jakah with me, and Casey picks him up on his way home. I know I am lucky to have this sort of situation.

We also chose, and were able to have me, stay at home to raise our son instead of putting him into a daycare. Again I am grateful and extremely lucky to be able to do this. BUT this is our choice. We choose to go without things for this to be possible. (and yes, as an accountant I am very good with money and a budget)

I guess the reason it makes me mad to hear this comment is because A) He just met us and B) I don't sit around on my ass all day eating bon-bons. I do everything around the house, including the outside stuff (like mow the lawn), along with raise our son. Oh and still work. While this guy talks about buying performance parts for his car and expects his girlfriend to do everything (and pay for everything) pertaining to their son...

Really just pisses me off and I really just wanted to tell him to Grow the F&*% Up!

Oregon Road Trip - Day 3

Ah day 3! Jakah didn't sleep the night thru, and ended up in bed with us for the first time in his life! He also turned 19 months old.

We decided to drive to Crater Lake. Its all Casey and I really wanted to see while in Oregon. Its 3 hours away from Eugene.

We started the trip with a stop at Voo Doo Doughtnuts. Mostly because I had seen them on the Food Network and they had just opened one in Eugene.

Jakah loved it!

What kind of wife would I be if i didn't buy my husband a creme filled cock n ball doughnut?

After doughnuts to go, we were on our way. First stop, Salt Creek Falls.

The Boys



After a quick hike down to the falls, and a potty break we were off again! .................and 2 hours later we finally made it!

I should mention here that my kid doesn't sleep in cars. Awesome... And hadn't slept the night before... even better! So by now he was whiney, crying and so super crabby! It was ridiculous ugh! So we were all a little grumpy from being stuck in the car with him.

Crater Lake FINALLY

Beautiful!

What! a photo proving I was on this trip!

The water was so clear and blue!


There are a lot of hiking trails and beautiful waterfalls to go see. But at that point his mommy and her baby were just done. We still had 3 hours to drive home!

So we ate lunch and then were off, but not without a stop to play in the snow

Snow with Shorts

Sliding down the hill

My husbands idea of taking my picture

I bought Jakah a semi-expensive hat that I love

Yay! Heading back!

And that pretty much sums up our Oregon Road Trip. The next day we drove home, but not without a stop at the outlet mall where I found Jakah some clothes at Gymboree (sales tax free of course!)