New Beginnings...Churchy Craft

We had our New Beginnings for Young Women this week. If you're like me and have no idea what that is, it's a program to introduce the girls who will be turning 12 this year to Young Women and Personal Progress. For more info, visit lds.org.

The theme for the youth this year is "Arise and Shine Forth" D&C 115:5. We played off that theme and made the theme of the night Step Up and centered it around shoes. We have basically no budget so decorating had to be pretty cheap. I borrowed the pom pom garland, frames, pom poms on a stick, and serving trays. I tied shoe boxes with homemade baker's twine and added a few of my shoes. We gave the girls a sugar foot scrub as the gift and served shoe sugar cookies for dessert. Considering our budget or lack of, everything turned out really cute.

Craft Night

Here are the results of craft night #1. I'm kind of dying at how cute these turned out. I haven't had a keychain for years, but I'm pretty excited about this.

We kind of used this tutorial, but I sort of forgot to look at it. We ended up changing it up a little. I love the jewel in the middle.

pom pom garland

Remember last week when I said I was obsessed with pom poms?!?  They're so cute and easy. I made this garland for Valentine's Day. I couldn't decide how to string the pom poms because I wanted to bring in all 3 colors-red, white, and pink. I used 3 pieces of each color and braided it together and hot glued the pom poms. I love how it turned out.

Valentine's Day decor

I love holidays. I especially love holiday decorations. I pulled out a few things I already have and added a few new things to decorate for Valentine's Day this year. I bought the materials for the heart wreath before, but due to the spending freeze I basically had to work with what I had on hand.

vase of conversation hearts, pom poms on sticks, kiss me blocks

 heart wreath

 love love love holiday decorative towels

 pom pom garland

gender reveal

Lindsey and Blake Burton are having a baby. Celsey and I made this darling beehive cake for the gender reveal. The them...what will baby burton bee??? I no joke almost died at the cuteness.

It's a BOY!

This cake was oh so much fun. Celsey came up with the idea, and I could hardly stand the cuteness. Can't wait for the next gender reveal coming in a couple weeks.

boo boo bunny

I saw this bunny on a random blog and had to make it. It can be dipped in water and frozen to make an ice pack. In an effort to spend less I used rhinestones for the eyes and a short rolled crochet chain for the nose. Since sometimes life struggles=crying=headache, it was the perfect I'm thinking of you gift.

heart wreath

This wreath is all over the internet. I've been dying to make it so I finally did. I love it!

I used the tutorial from the idea room and adapted it a little. 

I didn't think about this until it was too late, but next time I MIGHT wrap it in red yarn or fabric so white doesn't show anywhere. More felt for more circles would be good too, but due to the spending freeze I had to work with what I already had.

Supplies

heart wreath (found at Hobby Lobby)

red felt (i bought 3/4 yard but wish i had a little more)

pins

circle pattern (i used the inside of a roll of masking tape and a wooden circle)

pen for tracing

1. trace circles (I used 2 sizes to give wreath a little more dimension)

2. cut out circles. i used gingher scissors and could cut 4 layers at a time

3. fold circle in half

4. fold in half again

5. pin base of folded circle into wreath

6. i started out super close together..probably too close together

7. cover wreath randomly using big and small circles

8. attach ribbon (i used hot pink) with a pin and hang

these are officially the crappiest cell phone pictures i have ever taken. i really need to stop being so lazy about my picture taking.

Tonight's Dinner

I had a bunch of veggies that needed to be eaten stat so I threw them all in the crockpot with 2 cloves of garlic, a can of cream of chicken, and Italian dressing. I ended up cooking quinoa at the last second. I heart healthy food...seriously.

new obsession

I'm obsessed with these little pom poms like dying at the cuteness obsessed.

to make these cute little things you need a pom pom maker

who wants to craft?

CRAFT NIGHT OUT

People have been asking for a craft night so I'm finally doing it. I've been making these rosettes for hair for a while now, but I nearly died when I saw the key chains from vixen Made. They are super easy. Anyone can make them...promise. Check out the tutorial  here, and then come to my house next week and make them.

when: Thursday, January 26, 2012 7:00
where: my place (email/text me for my address aubreyzaruba@gmail.com)
who: everyone is invited..the more the merrier
what to bring: glue gun, fabric if you have something in particular you want or I have a lot of scraps, $1
rsvp so I have enough supplies: comment or email me aubreyzaruba@gmail.com

healthy breakfast

This doesn't exactly look delicious, but it is.
Steel cut oats
Honey
Scoop of fresh ground almond butter
Blueberries

Try it. It's healthy, clean, and delish!

New Year...New Goals...New Look...New Everything

2011 was a great year for crafting, but I have big plans for 2012. I love the opportunity to reflect on the past year and look forward to changes in the coming year.

New Year...2012
New Goals...resume clean eating, take more risks, BE MORE CREATIVE, focus on my relationship with God, spend less money (January spending freeze)
New Look...stay tuned
New Everything...

I'm really excited to see what 2012 brings. What's new for you in 2012?