6 changes

‘It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.’
~ Confucius

once again. thinking about resolutions. loved this article from zen habits and plan to do it differently this year. plan on changing my habits.

choosing 6 changes to make every two months in 2010. although they may sound overly simple. i like them and have thought long and hard on which 6 changes i want to make.

overall goal, big picture: love who i am.

1 change: exercise every morning (even if it is just for ten minutes)
2 change: eat 2 fruits and 2 vegetables everyday (seriously people, this is a goal)
3 change: drink 8 glasses of water everday
4 change: floss everyday (i know . . .)
5 change: meditate everyday
6 change: begin writing book (no i will not tell you what it's about, yet.)

will document my journey of these 6 changes here.

here i go. like bob from 'what about bob,' taking baby steps. :)

as far as the normal resolutions go. i love some of the ideas from here. and will implement some of them, even if they are not everyday habits.

how are you going about your resolutions? or am i just a resolutions freak this year?

rainbow cake

found this idea when browsing on say yes! to hoboken but it originally came from omnomicon. i love this and would love to make it with nieces and nephews!

get easy instructions here!

how to: modge podge wall hanging

so i am done with at least one of my projects that i listed here. i think it turned out pretty cute! i was a little worried . . .

these are some of the supplies that i used. thanks to tara and michaels {see michaels for more perfect directions} i was able to do this cheaper and cuter than the original plan!

we used styrofoam instead of canvas. me an leah bought a big 8'x4' sheet of styrofoam from lowes and then just cut it down to size. it cost $12 for the huge sheet, instead of $20 a piece for canvas. :) but my knife pretty much got ruined. we heated it on my gas stove and then the styrofoam cute like butta . . . ;) but make sure to use a knife you don't care about.

so we modge-podged on the cute scrapbook paper {about $0.30ea. at roberts} being careful not to get any air bubbles.

then modge-podged over the top to seal it.

then used a blow-dryer to dry it. some of ours did get air bubbles, but we used a ruler to smooth while we blow-dried . . . it even got out the bubbles that we noticed after they had sort of dried, just make sure the paper and glue are hot. {oh and make sure all the air bubbles are out before you seal the top with modge podge. probably not a good idea to use the ruler when the glue is on top}

then we covered the sides with 1 1/2" ribbon and pinned and hot-glued it on. then added a little hanger so we could hang it on the wall. {i put some glue on the hanger thing just to make sure it would stay}

so here is the finished product! i think it looks pretty good!

i really like walking into the living room and seeing it now . . . it makes me smile. :)

and this is the cutie who measured the wall and marked the spots on the wall so they would all be perfectly straight and even . . . i am so glad he did this because i get really overwhelmed by hanging things on the wall for some reason. thanks babe! {can you tell he didn't want me to take his picture . . . ;)}

i need your opinions

so i was talking about making that modge podge wall art thing and i finally found where i got the idea.

check it out.

here are some of the pics from the sight . . .




then tell me what you think. i really thought it was cute and i wanted to do it above my tv, since i have lived in my house for like 2 years and not put anything there . . . but i couldn't find any square canvases - i did find some 18"x24" ones and decided that three in a row would be cute and fill up the bigger space that i have . . . but i would have to create some sort of different design on each to make the paper fill all the area. would that be way ugly? the way i am picturing it in my head, i think it will be cute, but i guess i am just wondering if you gals out there have any other ideas . . . so let me know!!!!

i wish i was an artist and could just paint a cool tuscan scene across them all. wouldn't that be cool!

projects

i don't know what it is, but i have always been a project person . . . i always have something that i am thinking about making, going to make or that i am half-way through making. ever since i finished the summer semester and have some extra time it seems like i have more ideas piling up and all i want to do is read "the host" instead of doing my projects.

so to remedy my summer laziness i am making a list. i love lists and i love checking things off lists even more . . . haha. . . maybe i'm crazy ~ but i think it's good crazy ;)

so here goes:

-sweater quilt {i started this at least a year ago and got really ambitious and said i was going to crochet the edges, well i think i am only 1/3 of the way done with that . . .}

-hem my drapes to the right length and sew the drapery things that are going on top of them {i bought the drapes like two months ago and the fabric to add to them like two weeks ago ~ on clearance at joann's and the perfect color! so excited!}

-modgepodge the three canvases that i bought at michael's yesterday with cute scrapbook paper. . . i need to find the link and the blog that i got this idea from, but i loved it and think it will go perfect above my tv. :) since i don't really have a family to put family pictures up of ~ i think i will go for some creative art . . . hopefully it turns out. :)

-start and finish the aprons that i bought the fabric for like 4 months ago! they are going to be so cute!

my goal is to finish these four things by the time school starts on august 20th . . . wish me luck!

the cherry fairy

back in the day when my auntie sue used to babysit us kids, she would call the cherry fairy! if you have never heard of her before - she is a fairy that the babysitter can call and ask to come spy to see if the kids are behaving well while being babysat. {usually sue would call her in front of us so we knew that she really called her - then we were on our best behavior all night} then right before you go to bed, you line your shoes up in the hall and if the cherry fairy thought that you were good then she would put treats in your shoes! it is so fun to find what the cherry fairy left you in the morning.

so last night i was babysitting my niece and nephew, hana and conrad, and something made me remember the cherry fairy. i used to call the cherry fairy for kids when i would babysit a lot. so i told them the story of the cherry fairy and that if they were really good, she would leave them a treat. hana was so darling with it. She leaned over to me after i told her and said, "becky, please tell me the secret of the cherry fairy. i promise i won't tell anyone." she is 5 and says the cutest things! needless to say she was an angel all night - not that she wouldn't have been anyway. Anytime i would ask her to do anything she would say, "i'll do whatever you want me to." i think i had a little too much power. :) just kidding. the most i really had her do was help me straighten the living room before bed. oh and she even drew a picture of the cherry fairy and put it in her shoe before bed. conrad didn't really understand the whole concept so was still his normal rowdy self, but still was a good boy. :) {he's only 2.5 yrs old} but we had so much fun coloring and jumping on the tramp. those kids are so darn cute and so smart for their ages . . . i had a blast!

i didn't take any pics, but here they are posing for family pics!

so next time you are babysitting, tell the kids about the cherry fairy! it makes the night so much more magical and fun!

*thanks aunt sue for all the fun memories and congrats on the new beautiful baby! i'm excited to see you and the new little one this weekend!