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Im sure you are all familiar with the traditional wedding guestbook...you know that lame book that we all sign that the couple probably throws away after a year or so.  Well when I was getting ready to get married I knew I wanted to do something different than the boring old wedding guest book, I just never saw the point of that.  I ran across an article on theknot.com (because what bride doesnt spend hours a day on the knot.com before there was pinterest!) that had different ideas for a guest book and there were some pretty good ones!  Among the top ones for me was a picture of the couple with a big mat the guests could sign, another was a tree where the guests would use green stamp ink to make the leaves of the tree, but my favorite was the one that I ended up using and that was fabric squares that you make into a quilt.  With fabric squares, each guest can write you a message, draw a picture, just sign their name, whatever they want it lends to more creativity on their part and I loved that idea.  I think everyone that came to our wedding in Orlando and the reception in Houston all signed a square at least once and I have this beautiful (ok so the quilt needs work) quilt that I can look at all the time and be reminded of the love of our guests on our special day.

I know this picture isnt very big, and thats a little by design so you cant see all the horrible stitching in the quilt.  I think Im going to take it and have it professionally done because my husband and I did an AWFUL job putting this together.  I know nothing about quilting so I did the best I could, but let me tell you what we did.

Pre-wedding I cut about 100 fabric squares about 4x5 so they were large enough for people to write and for me to sew but not too large that I would have to have this massive quilt to deal with. 

Wedding Day I had my bridesmaids have the squares on the tables with sharpies and fabric pens and told the guests what to do with the squares.  At the end of the night they picked them all up and gave them back to me.

Post-Wedding was a little more interesting.  I had this brilliant idea to lay all the squares out on the floor so I would have the perfect pattern (all seriousness this was a good idea it just took forever), but the "brilliant" idea was that I didnt cut the square perfectly so they werent all the same size.  As I started sewing each row together piece by piece I noticed it wasnt 100% straignt, but I figured it would work out in the end.  Well it didnt.  As Joe tried to sew all the rows together to make the big quilt the rows werent all the same length or width so he had a hard time there.  Once he patched all the rows together we got a really big sheet of green fabric for the backing and batting to go in the middle (pretty sure that is right for quilting but I dont know anymore), getting the batting to sit right was the hard part and its still not laying right because we suck at sewing.  Now you can understand why I dont want to try and learn how to sew this project scared me for life!

To date this quilt is hanging in the office where I look at it all the time.  I dont notice so much that it is pretty much falling apart, I notice more the notes people wrote and the drawings that were done.  I do want to have this fixed so it doesnt fall apart one day and have all those notes lost but I do love that we put it together as a couple (Im not gonna lie there were fights!) and it is still standing through the move.  I cant wait for our 50th where we look at this just as fondly as we do today.

If you are married, what did you do for your guestbook, and if you had the traditional book what did you do with it!!

Project Housewife Out!

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Crochet Part 2

Last week I shared with you my attempt at making a scarf that turned into, well I dont know what it tuned into, but you can see that here.  This past weekend my friend Geri, who is a crochet master, showed me the double stitch.  The double stitch (is that the right word, it doesnt seem like it but I could be wrong) is in my opinion better than the single stitch because you get done faster, which is always a good thing in my book.  I dont quite know how to explain this yet, but you can check out a tutorial here.  The tutorial is from Lion Brand yarn, which I have said before is a GREAT resource for all things crochet/knitting so if you want to learn some great stitches go check them out.  So do you want to see what I made over the weekend?!  Well I guess it doesnt matter because here is the picture : )

This is from yarn remnants that Geri had so its not very big, but big enough to practice turning and the stitch itself.  Also, big enough for a pot holder yay!  I made something that I can use!!  So you can see its not totally even but Geri counted my stitches and there are the same amount of stitches at the top and the bottom so its just me pulling too tight at the bottom and not at the top, which I will work on.  Geri did give me a great tip though if I wanted to make this a perfect square.  Pin the project down to a perfect square, put a little water on it and it will form to a square.  Who knew water would be so helpful with crochet!  So what do you think?  Did I do better this time?  I need to go buy some more fat yarn so I can practice, all I have at home is the thin stuff and I dont think Im good enough yet to work with it.

Where are my fellow crochet-ers?  You guys have any aweomse projects you made that you want to share?!

Project Housewife Out!

Foodie Friday

Its Friday Friday gotta get down on Friday!  I know that song is lame but it always gets in my head when its Friday.  As we all know this weekend is Superbowl weekend, Im not much for the superbowl but I love watching the ads, they get crazier each year!  I wanted to share a recipe for superbowl that hasnt been shared yet but I think thats going to be impossible.  My go to super bowl dip is the buffalo dip but everywhere I look I see buffalo everything...so I think what I want to share with you today is a pulled pork recipe that I love.  Pulled pork is a mans food and is super easy which I know I love so its a win win!  Yay for win win!

Today's recipe is Pulled Pork with Strawberry BBQ Sauce from Better Homes and Gardens.  I actually was plesantly surprised by this recipe.  The strawberry gave the sauce a sweetness that I love in my BBQ sauce but not too much that it was sickly sweet.  I hope you try it and love it too!

Pulled Pork with Strawberry BBQ Sauce

Servings: 8           Prep Time: 30min          Cook Time: 2hrs            Stand Time: 10min      Difficulty: Easy

 Source

Ingredients

• 1 2 1/2 - 3 pound boneless pork sirloin, shoulder, or butt roast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 4 cups strawberries, halved or quartered
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• Bottled hot pepper sauce (optional, I dont use becasue I dont like spicy but its sure to give you an extra kick)
• 8 rolls or buns, split

 Instructions

Trim fat from pork. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. In large Dutch oven over medium heat brown pork in hot oil on all sides. Add half the strawberries, the ketchup, vinegar, garlic, rosemary, and several dashes hot pepper sauce. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 2 hours or until pork is tender. Remove pork from Dutch oven; loosely cover with foil. Let stand 10 minutes.

For strawberry BBQ sauce, skim fat from cooking liquid. Return liquid to Dutch oven; bring to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 8 minutes or until reduced to about 2 cups.

Using two forks, shred pork; discard fat. Stir 1 cup strawberry BBQ sauce into pork. Stir remaining strawberries into BBQ sauce.

Serve pork on buns. Top with additional sauce and parsley. Pass remaining sauce. Serve with tomato wedges.
Nutrition

Calories 359, Protein (gm) 35,Carbohydrate (gm) 31,Fat, total (gm) 10,Cholesterol (mg) 89,Saturated fat (gm) 3,Monosaturated fat (gm) 4,Polyunsaturated fat (gm) 3,Dietary Fiber, total (gm) 3,Sugar, total (gm) 10,Vitamin A (IU) 146,Vitamin C (mg) 45,Thiamin (mg) 2,Riboflavin (mg) 1,Niacin (mg) 8,Pyridoxine (Vit.B6) (mg) 1,Folate (µg) 77,Cobalamin (Vit. B12) (µg) 1,Sodium (mg) 738,Potassium (mg) 747,Calcium (DV %) 101,Iron (DV %) 3,Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

I hope you have a great superbowl weekend and may the odds be ever in your favor :)  Sorry I couldnt resist!

Project Housewife Out!

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Thankful Thursday

Another week is almost gone but this week it sure hasnt been sunny but dreary and rainy and gross.  I got rained out on my run on Tuesday and it was too hot and muggy for my puppy to finish the run today but Im happy about the rain since this past summer we had such an awaful drought it killed pretty much everything.  So on this Thursday I am thankful for the rain, the light steady stream that we have had all week.  I think thats the best kind of rain because it gives the plants plenty of time to soak up the water and keep soaking it up.  I know my poor pitiful pecan tree needs all the help it can get.  Fingers crossed it springs back this spring.  I really want to go enjoy my beautiful backyard.  Post to come on how we turned out plain jane backyard into this prettyness :)

I hope everyone is enjoying the rain, the only thing I would like to change is to be able to be at home on this rainy day watching a movie enjoying the laziness that comes with the rain.  You know what Im talking about...the instant you see the gloom that comes from a rain cloud you are ready to go back to bed and stay there.

My Oreo loves the rain, he ran in it and didnt think twice.  He has a crazy tounge, but I crack up at him about it so I had to share his silly picture with you...because what is Thankful Thursday without a picture of Oreo!  He is also the first dog I've had that isnt scared of thunder...the vacumn cleaner sure he runs and hides, but thunder he just sleeps right on through it.  A nice change from the Sheltie I had that would sit on my head, pace back and forth and be all around miserable through the whole storm.

What are you thankful for today?  Is it something as simple as you are here another day or are you thankful for something bigger?

Project Housewife Out!



Chipping Away UPDATE

Remember when I posted this ugly chandlier and told you I would update you when I fixed it?  Well I fixed it and it looks much better yay!

It didnt take me nearly as long as I though it would so that was awesome!  I think I am actually going to make this available on my newly opened Etsy shop (nothing there yet, when I post something I will let yall know first!) but I have to hang this one first and make sure it can hold up.  What I did first was take all the strips down and glue the same paint chip color to the back of the original paint chip (see the top picture to understand that one).  I used scrapbook tape since its double sided, non-acidic and pretty sturdy so it will stay in place.  After I got all those paint chips on I started hot gluing them to the new frame my handy husband made.  This new frame, by the way is premade rings from hobby lobby that were soddered together with 18guage wire all 5inches long.  Sodering them together took all of 10minutes so that was easy too.

 This is 1/2 way around the frame and also gives you a shot of the frame so you can see better what it looks like.  Be careful of the hot glue I got a nasty burn on my finger from being too hasty :) 

 The finished product...sooo much better then this mess, all lopsided and ugly and able to see the paint chip backs.  Im going to hang this hopefully tonight and will post the hanging pretty version soon.  If you guys are interested in one for youself let me know so I can prepare how many to make.  Right now I have pink and yellow chips all punched ready to be made.  Which consequently is the most time consuming part of this whole project.  If you have a movie you have been wanting to watch, put it in, get out your whole punch and paint chips and go to town. 

Have you tried to make a paint swatch chandlier?  I would love to see how yours turned out!

Project Housewife Out!

Blooming Box

Today's project is a continuation of the pallet art I did last week.  I actually had 2 pallets and only used one for the project so I had a great idea to make a flower box.  I never really loved what I had for under the TV

And for a long time I have been thinking of doing flowers under the TV, I was just having a hard time finding the perfect container for the flowes.  I though of using a make travel trunk but they werent long enough, then I thought of using glass but that really wasnt the look I was going for and then the pallet art.  You can see the full article here.  Once the art was done I asked Joe my handy man husband to make me a flower box.  I wasnt thinking anything fancy, just four sides and a bottom but he decided to make it cute and give it an angle.  Now you have the back story, below is the finished project.  Ok to be honest, I have done MUCH more primping to this since I took this picture because lets be honest the green things are a little CRAZY but i was just so excited I had to share it with you!

Here is what you are going to need for this project:

• Wood (cut to your specifications, mine was 4" tall by 20" long)
• nails/hammer
• saw that can cut angles if you want the fancy box, otherwise just a regular saw
• paint, if you want
• flowers $30
• flower foam $5

Total cost for this project was $35 and that was just flowers and the flower foam, all the other items I had at the house!  How awesome, since this would cost over $100 at the store!!

First step is to cut the wood to your measurements.  Make sure you also cut a piece to fit into the bottom so you dont have the foam fall out if you pick up the box.  You can kinda see the angles here, but Joe actually had to redo this because the angles werent quite right, so not to preach to the choir or anything but measure twice, cut once.  Luckly we had plenty of wood to work with so no harm no foul.

Then nail all the pieces together.  I would nail the long pieces to the bottom piece first then close it off with the two smaller side pieces, but whatever you feel more comfortable with do that.  If you like the look of the wood and dont want to paint then skip this step, but if you want to whitewash your wood follow me to the next step :)

For this step you need your box, paint, water and a paint brush.  This is probably not the correct way to white wash but I like the way it turns out so this is the right way for us.  I had a gallon of white paint with about 1/4 left.  To get it the thin, whitw wash consistancy, we filled up the gallon with water about 3/4 full and then mixed the paint with the water. 

Now all you have to do is apply the paint to your project.  Easy peasy!  Let that sit overnight to make sure you dont get paint on anything then you can move on to the next step...adding the flowes!  Before you get started on the flowers, add the foam

Joe cut mine down a little so it fit perfectly in the box, if you did just a square box then you probably wont have to do this but with the angled box it does help to cut it do you have a perfect fit and it doesnt move around in the box. Once the foam is in start adding the flowers.  I bought bunches of blowers so I actually had to cut mine apart first into individual stems so if you bought bunches great, you probably saved money you just have to add one extra step.

 I added all my big flowers first then filled in the spaces with my smaller yellow fillers.

So what do you think, pretty easy right?!  Oh and I added a butterfly, because they are cute and I can so there!

I think it looks so much better than what I had before and it was pretty cheap too!  What do you think, is there somewhere you could put a cute little flower box?


**Update** I decided that I needed to show you the primped version of the box since the longer I look at the above picture the more I realize it doesnt do the box justice**

Much better right!
Project Housewife Out! 

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I DID IT!

Happy Monday everyone!!  Today's post isnt really a project I can teach you (yet) but its a project I have been working on for a while.  I dont know when it started but it seems that the crochet trend is back by popular demand.  I love crocet hats and scarves and decided I wanted to learn as well.  I bought some supplies and had my mom and Geri teach me the basic single stitch.

This is what I started with but Geri quickly told me to get started I needed a bright color yarn and a thicker guage so that it is easier to see what you are doing.

So after getting super frustrated with this teal piece, I moved on to bright yellow and a pretty thick yard.  Mom and Geri helped me for a while but then I went home and was on my own.  I thought I was doing pretty well, set my work down and realized I was not.  I was doing something wrong on the turn but didnt know how to fix it.  So I set it down and picked it back up the next day, tried a different tecnique and that seemed to work so I finished my ball of yarn and was just happy to have a finished product.

I realize its not much of anything really but I was happy to have something to show for all the work I did.  I am great at the single stitch now but still need to work on the turn.  My next attempt will be with the teal yarn and with the double stitch...stay tuned to see how that adventure turns out.  One day I will have a pretty hat to show you but it seems like that day is a little further off than I thought.

I did want to share a really great website with you, Lion Brand Yarn has a great website with videos and print outs, free patterns and of course yarn and supplies.  I love that this company has all these free resources to show you how to crocet.  I watched the video to figure out the beginning slip knot but needed someone to actually sit with me and show me the chain, Im really not a great visual learner but I caught on eventually.  If you are interested in learning how to crochet go check out Lion Brand Yarn, see their resources and buy some of their yarn (I really like martha stewart styles) and get started. 

I did realize though that this may be a hard project for me, my joints get really stiff when I do this and that may just be because I am just learning and my fingers are a little too tense but I have to take frequent breaks to let my hands rest.  So just be patient and keep with it dont give up keep plugging along.  I cant wait to share more crochet adventrues with you!

Any of you out there crochet?  I would love to hear some tips you have or your favorite pattern, share with us!

Project Housewife Out!