cheap valentine's crafts and decorations

i la-la LOVE valentine's day. maybe it's because i love red so much, i don't know. i love the decorations, the treats, i love it all. i think my fondness also stems from the idea of giving heartfelt usually homemade gifts to each other.

this year i want valentine's day to be extra fun, but i don't want to spend a lot of money decorating and preparing for it. here are some of the decorations and treats and crafts we've done so far and more that we plan on trying later.

i got some cheap heart doilies at the grocery store and strung red and white baker's twine through the holes. just a few of them together created a cute little garland for the front window.

a fun thing to do with the kids is these crayon/wax paper hearts. ours didn't turn out as planned but we still love them. there's a great tutorial for this on martha stewart.

another cheap decoration i put up is a garland made out of simple white doilies. i just folded them in half with some glue around some pretty white and red ribbon.

i have tons of cute red and pink and white cupcake liners left over from sweet m.'s birthday party, and with those i'm planning on making these cupcakes, also seen on martha stewart.

some other treats we might try are these brownies and these jello treats, both from family fun magazine.

p.s. in looking these up, i've found so many other cute crafts and treats. i think i'll do another valentine's post tomorrow!

sprucing up project: update

so here are the changes that we've made to the dining area so far. the vibe i was going for was cheerful, vintage, and colorful. let me just say that i did go over budget a wee bit, but i made sure that there was room in other parts of the budget to make up for it.

here it is all together:

one of the details i really love: the curtain tiebacks that look like vintage painted glass doorknobs.

i took this one so you could see our little organization area over by the door. the red clock is metal and opens like a locker door. we put our keys and stuff in there. and the basket is for mail and bills that we need to deal with.

as you can see, the plate wall is still the same, although we have a few more plates to hang up;i'd also like to find some nice things to put on the sideboard.

this area is newly arranged although everything there is old. the "keep calm" poster we've had for a year or more, and i always knew i wanted it in this corner. i just wanted to have some other stuff to put with it. the painting to its left is something i love because it was done by my twin sister when she was very young, (how old, nene, 13 of 14?) and i like the cheerful colors it brings to the kitchen/dining area. the "w" is a few years old and i think i'm going to paint it differently, but i like it in this area of the room.

and guess who snuck behind the curtains while i was taking pictures?

so that's it for now! eventually i'd like to paint the whole dining/kitchen/living area, and maybe get some new chairs, but i must say i'm very happy with it in the meantime.

emma

it's such a happiness when good people get together--and they always do. -jane austen, from emma

on sunday, masterpiece classic is airing a new adaptation of emma by jane austen, with romola garai as emma, (she's gorgeous, right?) and johnny lee miller (of eli stone and mansfield park) as mr. knightley.

i think this might be my favorite romance in all of austen. and i think it's because emma and mr. knightley are such good friends first. the way they joke with each other and rib each other in a good-natured way, it rings so true for me. perhaps that is because my husband and i were good friends before we started dating and falling in love. it's a wonderful way to do things, i think.

anyway, watch it sunday night on pbs!

love at home

there is beauty all around when there's love at home.

there is joy in every sound when there's love at home.

peace and plenty here abide, smiling sweet on every side,

time doth softly sweetly glide, when there's love at home.

it's not always like this, but when it is, it's lovely.

fasting for haiti

photo credit: tequila minsky
yesterday in church we had a lesson about our heavenly families. we talked about how we are all children of God and how that affects how we view ourselves and how we go about our lives.

it made me think of all our brothers and sisters in haiti, and how insanely scary and sorrowful and desperate their lives must be right now. i am not so good at thinking of others before myself. i know it's human nature to focus on our own little families, our own little section of the world, and i am very good at human nature.

but if i were good at being like Jesus and filled with His love, i think i would be thinking far more about haiti than i am. i know it's a far away place that i've never been to, but that doesn't change the fact that we are all part of the same family, and that we are all children of Heavenly Parents who love us all.

i was reading about the conditions in haiti, and looking at pictures here. some of the pictures are extremely disturbing, but i thought, who i am to close my eyes and look away? for these people, this is their reality right now. they can't escape from it.

i'm not suggesting wallowing or anything of the sort. i was praying last night and the thing that kept coming into my head was fasting. i read somewhere that a lot of the people in the affected areas have not eaten for days. i think i can go without food for 24 hours and give the money that i would've spent to the red cross, or doctors without borders, or lds humanitarian services. maybe going without food for that long will help me in some small way to understand what the people of haiti are going through.

if you'd like to join me i'll be fasting tomorrow, tuesday, january 19th, one week after the earthquake hit.

p.s. i decided to do my fasting one day later just because i posted this so late. so anyway, wednesday. of course if you choose to you can fast whenever you want!

free dirty projectors music

if you want a couple of free dirty projectors' songs, go here and all you have to do is type in your email address. they send you a link, don't worry if it takes a while.

project 365:2010 update

so i've only been doing this 365 project for 10 days now, and i can already tell you; it's hard. i never plan out a shot for each day, i try to just see where each day carries me. but sometimes i admit i find myself scrambling to take a picture of something before the light gets too bad. which is not what it's supposed to be about. it's supposed to be inspiring me to look for beautiful things in my everyday life, not necessarily to go outside of my normal patterns to find something i think is photo-worthy. y'know?

one thing that i've noticed though is that it has helped me look at things with a more critical eye. and even though i've taken ten pictures, there was only one time i didn't cringe while uploading them to my flickr account, and that was with this picture. not because i think it's great, but because i know that when i took it i was feeling inspired, and not, "oh crap i've got to take a picture, quick!"

here's to more of the feeling inspired moments and less of the other kind.

and i hope all of your new year's goals and projects are going very, very well.

the sprucing up project: dining room (area)

one of my new year's projects is to "spruce up" my house, one room at a time, one room per month. oh, and my budget is $50 per month, so no major changes this time around! just a good spruce: a deep cleaning, an organizational overhaul, and maybe a couple of new decorations if possible.

so this month i'm starting with the dining room, which is technically a dining area. i've already done a couple of things with this room, the EAT letters and the plate wall, but i wanted it to look more finished and i needed some kind of organizing system in place since this is where we come in from the garage (through the laundry room.) the other MAJOR need in this room is curtains for the sliding glass door area, which used to have vertical blinds covering it, but they have since broken (and let's face it, they didn't look great in the first place.)

i also wanted to have a little area for art prints, etc. so i'm thinking i'll need a picture frame or two.

here are the before pictures:

next week i think i'll post some inspiration pictures from magazines and blogs that i'd like to incorporate into this space. and sorry if this is extremely boring i'm just doing it for myself, to have it all recorded.

but it would be helpful if anyone has any insider tips or special sources for super cheap home decor stuff! thanks!

"when i get older i will be stronger"

so it's only a few days into the new year, and i've been thinking a lot about motivation. it seems like whenever i set any new goal, i usually do really well with it for the first few days, and then something happens to throw me off track. i get sick or one of my kids does, i wake up late or forget, you know, LIFE happens. in spite of my best intentions i can't plan for every circumstance, and i get thrown. my carefully-crafted schedule seems useless, my goals seem too hard, and i think, "why am i doing this?" or "i'll do it some other time," or the worst one of all, "i can't do this."

i don't know about you but this is something that ALWAYS comes up with me. it's not a possibility, it's just an eventuality. and i've been trying to plan for it this time. none too soon either, because this morning i got thrown a little kink in my day. (and the smallest thing can really get to me.) i started to feel like some of the things i had planned for today could wait for another day. and i was frustrated.

then i thought to myself, "this time is going to be different," and i called my mom, my greatest cheerleader, and she said, "you can do it! just keep at it!" and i read my favorite quote (now my motto) to her:

My dear brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged if you stumble at times. Don’t feel downcast or despair if you don’t feel worthy to be a disciple of Christ at all times. The first step to walking in righteousness is simply to try. We must try to believe. Try to learn of God: read the scriptures; study the words of His latter-day prophets; choose to listen to the Father, and do the things He asks of us. Try and keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible—and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of you. -President Uchtdorf, from last general conference.

then i put on this song, turned it way up, and got to work.

p.s. what do you do to get or keep yourself motivated when you feel completely defeated and you just want to give up?

project 365:2010

in an effort to improve my photography and get inspired creatively, i'm taking on a 365 day project. one photo a day for the entire year of 2010. that's it. i didn't pick any theme, i figure it's going to be hard enough to get myself to do one picture everyday. but there you have it. i might periodically put the pictures up on the blog here, but i'll be posting all of them here.

and here are the pictures for day one and two.

day 1

day 2.

have you started any projects for the new year?

best songs of 2009

i wasn't going to do a list like this at all; 2009 was such a GREAT year for music that it's hard to pick any favorites, but then D'Arcy asked for it, so blame her!

"lisztomania" and "1901" - phoenix. this whole album, wolfgang amadeus phoenix, is amazing. it's one of those albums that can make cleaning fun.

"song away" - hockey. watch this video and try not to smile.

"little secrets" - passion pit (any song on their whole album, manners, is amazing. perfect dance music.

"i can see the pines are dancing" - a.a. bondy, from the album when the devil's loose. this song is one of my favorite songs ever. just speaks to me that way. plus i love the title, and it makes me want to take a drive in the mountains.

"you and i" - wilco featuring feist. from wilco, the album. i already quoted this song to my husband on my anniversary, so you can see how much i love it.

"you saved my life" - cass mccombs from catacombs. i was going to quote the lyrics but you seriously need to listen to the song yourself. it's beautiful and amazing.

"i'm a pilot" - fanfarlo. my favorite song on my favorite album (reservoir)of the year. one of my favorite albums of all time. these people are amazing.

"oh no" - andrew bird. from noble beast. he's one of the best lyricists ever, and this song has some of the best lyrics he's ever come up with.

"i'm on my way" - yo la tengo. from popular songs. so mellow, so sweet.

"two weeks" - grizzly bear. from the album veckatimest. this song blows my mind with its amazing-ness. it's too good. the whole album is genius.

"now we can see" - the thermals. from the album now we can see. this song pumps you up. it's like a gritty powerful musical version of plato's allegory of the cave. at least that's what i get out of it! :)

"stillness is the move" - dirty projectors. from the album bitte orca. such weird goodness.

"my girls" - animal collective. from their absolutely stellar album merriweather post pavilion. i've never heard such sweet words set to such strange, cool, peppy electronic music. and i love it. seriously moving stuff. i don't know whether to cry or dance.

"boat behind" - kings of convenience. from declaration of dependence. put on this album, have yourself a dinner party. seriously.

to preview these songs and some of my other favorites of the year click here.

if anyone wants a cd with these songs, let me know!

what were your favorite songs/albums from 2009?

nothing changes on new year's day?

you know that u2 song?

all is quiet on new year's day

a world in white gets underway

i want to be with you night and day

nothing changes on new year's day.

right now the house is quiet except for my "best of 2009" playlist, the husband took the kids sledding and snowmobiling. here's how he looked:

(handsome, right? i'd steal that hat from him if i thought it would look as good on me.)

anyway, the house is quiet and i'm thinking about all the goals and plans i have for this new year and whether i'll be able to accomplish any of them, let alone all of them. i tend to dream big and have small follow-through.

but right now i'm thinking i don't care about the past. i think things DO change on new year's day. i'm thinking i will accomplish my goals this year.

i'm thinking about how i've cleaned my whole house in preparation for the new year (like the chinese do for theirs) and tonight, how we're planning on incorporating another chinese tradition into our new year. the tradition is that at midnight you open all the doors and windows in your house to let out the old year. (i don't know if we'll open ALL of ours, brrrrr! but we're going to do it!)

when 2010 comes around i want 2009 out of here. it was a great year in a lot of ways but i'm so excited to start the new one. it's my clean slate, my world in white getting underway...

it was just like christmas

i hope you all are having the merriest of holiday seasons! here are some images from ours so far that i don't want to forget:

camping out by the christmas tree

watching and waiting for grandma and grandpa

making sugar cookies with grandma

looking at the tree christmas morning

don't ask me why little c. was sitting on daddy's shoulders...he just wanted to, i guess.

in the bleak midwinter

what can i give Him, poor as i am?

if i were a shepherd, i would bring a lamb;

if i were a wise man, i would do my part;

yet what i can, i give him: give my heart.

merry Christmas, everyone! i hope your season is filled with cheer and love and peace.

free christmas music!

just in case you hadn't heard, itunes is offering a free holiday music sampler (i think it's just available for a few days.) it's twenty songs, all different styles from weezer to david archuleta to sarah mclachlan to rascal flatts, and it's all free. just go to itunes to download.

found out via stephmodo

twoofthosetoo, originally uploaded by yyellowbird.

if we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.
-ivan turgenev

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

Wow, I can't believe Thanksgiving week is here already. I just loved this video. I LOVE Thanksgiving. I really missed not having this holiday when we were down under. I think that anyone can benefit from stepping back and looking for things to be grateful for. When I think of everything I could mention, I get teary.

it's nice to know

that these guys weren't a fluke. their second album, contra, which comes out in january, is sounding like it's going to be almost or just as good as their first. this is the video for the first single from the afore-mentioned album. it's called cousins, and it doesn't stink!

todaysmama holiday meme

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme
TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?
a new lens for my camera, a hand-held blender, camera gear, adobe photoshop cs4, and books! books! books!
2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?
when i was a teenager i started to make a hand-bound book and never finished it. years later my mom finished sewing the pages and bound it for me. it was an amazing present.
3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?
a really funky afghan.
4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?
my parents always made christmas so fun, it's hard to say. probably when they gave me and my twin sister each a little kitten.
5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?
c.: anything with car, truck, or robot. m.: art supplies
6. What is your favorite holiday food?
my mom's homemade rolls. they are perfection.
7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?
i might try a gum-drop wreath i just saw on a blog, or help the kids make their own snow globes
8. What is your favorite holiday movie?
it's a wonderful life. hands down, favorite movie of all time.
9. Favorite holiday song?
"christmas time is here" from a charlie brown christmas. (but i really love so many others)
10. Favorite holiday pastime?
hanging out with family and watching my kids open their presents.

i can see the pines are dancing

on a recent fall-getting-close-to-winter day, we all went to the park together.

can you see m. at all in this first one? she's standing under that really big tree.

it was cold. this is m.'s cold face:

this is when daddy helped her cross a fallen-tree bridge.

here is little c.'s cold face:

here is m. playing on the bridge

i like the way the light turned out in this one:

daddy climbed quite a tall tree, like a conquering hero:

i just loved the way little c. was looking down in this one: