I finally got something done on my mantel this weekend. I haven't had anything on it since Christmas and it has really been bugging me! Part of the reason is I was afraid to put anything up there while we were actually using the fireplace because I have ruined some things since they got too hot.
I just used stuff that I had around the house and threw this together.
I printed the letters on burlap and cut out the banner. I used really small clothespins and jute to complete the banner. This was the first time I printed on burlap and let me tell you, I am hooked! This will not be the last project I do that involves burlap and printing.
I had this lantern outside next to our patio swing all last summer and had a hard time keeping it upright with all the wind here in Kansas, so thought I would bring it inside for now. I took real eggs and pierced the ends so I could blow the egg out and painted them. I had the white metal basket with grass that I have used for centerpieces before.
I just found an old frame and spray painted it white. I had some moss covered rocks that I threw in there.
I had some leftover silk flowers from an outdoor arrangement I did for the patio that I put in this white pitcher. I tied some burlap to it to tie in the banner. I found these fake nests at Hobby Lobby that I thought were so cute!
Our weather has been perfect for spring this week. I am looking forward to more beautiful days! Happy Spring everyone!
Over 6 months ago I had gotten a note card in the mail saying that there was a class action lawsuit against Amway and that since we were dealers during that specific time, we may receive something. I forgot all about it until a couple weeks ago I got a huge heavy box in the mail. Then the next day I got another one. I ended up with 8 jugs of laundry detergent, 6 bottles of fabric softener and 6 bottles of stain remover. Oh, and 3 bottles of echinacea pills. Anyone have any idea what they are for? I've heard of people taking echinacea for allergies, but not sure what the reason is.
Jacob & I spent one evening working on building a tote rack for the basement so I can put all my totes of seasonal decor in an organized place. This is what happens when I leave them randomly on his gun reloading bench or in front of his vet supplies cupboard.
I got to run the impact drill. It was a lot of fun! I thought of many other projects I want to use it for. Can you tell how excited I was?
On Presidents Day Aunt Jannette, Ester, Mom Knobloch, and I went to Wichita to do some shopping. Ester's co-worker had told her about this fun Greek restaurant so we ate there for lunch. You could sign their wall if you wanted to.
We couldn't pronounce, nor did we know what most of the things on the menu was so we ordered an appetizer sampler that had things like hummus, grape leaves, taboulah, kibbeh, kafta, and baba ghannooj.
Yep. Even these country girls can come to town once in a while. Hummus was the only thing we had a clue about. The baba ghannooj was some sort of eggplant dish. If you are interested in knowing what the other things are you can go to their menu .
We followed it up with Tiramisu. It's a dessert made with coffee liqueur, lady fingers, and mascarpone cheese. I have had tiramisu and hummus before. Otherwise, everything else was broadening my horizens. It was delish and I would go back!
We saw this cute natural foods store and took a look around. Their prices scared us, but other than that it was so clean and organized I would have loved to shop there!
You could mix your own trail mix.
Last weekend Kurt, Alex, and Nyla and us went to Washington, IL to see Layne & Heather (Wulf) Steffen. It was so much fun to travel with other people and it was so good to see Layne, Heather, and baby Gabe! Unfortunately I don't have very many pictures, but fortunately for you they are all of Miss Nyla!
Such a sweetie!
Isn't she just a cutie!
This one isn't a very good picture, but I had to throw it in there with her all snuggled in with her baby.
This past weekend was our Invite-A-Guest and we had Todd & Kara Strahm. The weather man was predicting some sleet and snow so most of everyone's guests canceled out. Meaning, Todd & Kara were half of the guests for the weekend. There were a couple college guys that were also brave. So the 144 pieces of fried chicken that I ordered? Yeah, we had 34 people to eat it. I was able to cut it down to 96 pieces so it wasn't quite as bad. But we also had a full roaster of potatoes and a full roaster of green beans that these 34 people needed to eat as well.
So if you know anything about Angry Birds, you must watch this video before I explain the next few pictures.
Todd introduced Nathan to the game Angry Birds. Then he had to play several levels before handing it over to Nathan.
Nathan finally gets it...
30 minutes later...
And I have more pictures just like the above that proves he is now addicted.
Sunday morning we got a phone call that they were going to cancel the meal that afternoon but would still have church due to the weather. The weather did basically nothing (remember, I am an Iowa girl) and we had 4 large spaghetti casseroles, 3 loaves of garlic bread, 6 containers of cottage cheese, and 6 dozen ice cream treats to eat. Hmmm... So we had the young couples (8) and the young group (4) with a total of 12 people to stuff themselves. We didn't get rid of near enough food so needless to say, Jacob has a lot of work to do. Hope you all had a blessed weekend and if anyone knows of a good use for echinacea pills, please let me know!
Hey "Baby" (Baby Ruth) Whenever you're around my heart goes "crunch" and falls into a bunch of "pieces" (Reese's Pieces heart) So please handle me with "butterfingers" and I will be your "sweetheart" (Gummy Sweettart hearts)
And some beautiful pink roses.
Then that night, he surprised me with dessert. Ice cream and berry hearts. I was very impressed with his creativity this year :) It's hard to believe this was our 6th Valentine's Day together! I love him more every year!
Friday night we had supper at Justin & Liz's with other young couples.
We each had our own chocolate name cards. I love the burlap and twine wrapped around the cup. We also had a box of chocolate covered strawberries at our places courtesy of Victor & Hope. They were such a treat!
Supper was fabulous! We had a salad and Pineapple Raspberry Whip for an appetizer and palate cleanser. Then steak, potatoes, and green bean bundles for the meal. It was delicious!
And any room we had left in our stomachs, was filled with this decadent dessert. Liz made chocolate bowls using balloons. You just melt the chocolate and using a spoon spread a little bit on waxed paper. Then dip your blown up balloon in the chocolate and set it on the chocolate that is already on the wax paper to hold it in place. Once it hardens, pop the balloon and wa-lah! You have a chocolate bowl to hold this tasty triple chocolate dessert. With chocolate sprinkles and a chocolate heart on top. Did I mention I LOVE chocolate?
I kinda wish I would have eaten dessert first because by the time I got to the bowl, I had to just let it go. We were so full! After supper we played a game of Guesstures. We divided up into men against women. Sadly, the men creamed us. But that's not what matters anyway. We made lots of memories with our friends! And that's what counts.
P.S. We weren't going to count the points at the end, but us ladies were so sure that we had more that we made the men count them. Serves us right! :) Although, no one ever actually double checked their math...
My brother's family stopped by on their way to California for vacation so I got to spend some good quality aunt time with these two cuties! One thing Aunt Krystal needs to learn though is to always have 2 dolls in the house. Oops!
So one got the singing Christmas pig instead. By the end of the weekend, Porky was the one I needed 2 of! Jake & I are secretly hoping these batteries go dead and we will never replace them :) I wasn't fast enough with my camera, but at one time I saw them using the bottle to feed the pig. So cute!
We made pink camo cupcakes on Saturday.
With pink cupcake wrappers of course!
Kelsey loves to help in the kitchen and did an excellent job mixing the batter.
And of course little sister Kaley wanted to do it too!
We divided the batter into 3 bowls and colored them accordingly. Remember the camo cupcakes I did earlier? HERE
It takes a lot of time, but I didn't mind. How can you resist the excitement in their faces?
Before baking:
After baking:
We frosted them and Kelsey got to put the pink sugar crystals on top.
Don't they just look like so much fun?
Inside:
I tried unsuccessfully to get pictures of the men eating pretty pink princess-y cupcakes...
Kaley really enjoyed hers!
Kelsey did too!
These two little girls sure know how to weasel their way into my brother-in-laws hearts... Each one took their turn at babysitting the baby dolls while the girls played house. They would leave them with the "babysitters" when they went grocery shopping, to the doctor, etc.
Nathan here was told he was the "Dad" while the other boys were the kids. Kelsey informed him he had to call her "Hon" if he needed her for something.
Now do you understand why I titled this post "Classified Pictures"??? I am sure I could get demoted from the favorite sister-in-law status in a hurry if they ever find out about this! Oh wait! Right now they don't have any other one to replace me with. So, I will continue to embarrass them until I feel threatened :)
