Project Post 18: Pipe & Pallet Clothes Rack {Part II}

I forgot to mention in Monday's blog post that it was my 100th post. Woohoo! No one cares about that milestone but me, but I couldn't believe I was already there so I wanted to share:)

I showed you my early-Christmas-present clothes rack that Tyler made me back in this post, and we made a few more as Christmas presents. The pallet he used for the base of mine was the only pallet we had with wide wood planks that were already a great (old) color/finish. So, for the others, we had to get a little more creative to make them just as special. We knew Tyler's mom would love to have one, so we planned to make her one. I didn't think my mom would really like to have one (didn't think it was her thing), but when she saw mine, she said she wanted one. Fine with me! I love giving gifts that I know the recipient wants!


Tyler got the two bases made and brought them to me to finish. I decided to try staining the first one (it went to my mom) and I wanted to paint the other one (for Tyler's mom) - just to get some variety. I am completely happy with how each of them turned out. I won't show you pictures of my mom's because it looks a lot like mine that you've already seen. Here are some pictures of Tyler's mom's clothes rack (I will add better pictures later - I forgot to take final pictures before we gave it to her, and I didn't get good pictures of it at their house because it was at night and I just snapped them in a hallway).

The finish ended up really messy and I love it. I slapped on some mustard yellow/gold for the base and then just put a glaze over that. There you have it!

Project Post 17: Flip Book

Since this is the last day of January, it's probably time to get out of the Christmas frame of mind. Now, I took down my decorations on December 26th, but I left up all my Christmas cards to enjoy them a little longer. So, I must confess that just up until a couple of days ago, the wall in our kitchen still boasted this:

And there were a lot more on a vertical swivel display on my island, too. Oops! Now they're down, packed neatly away and stored, and the chalkboard is free to display non-Christmas messages.

After I got married and way before we had a little one running around, I thought it would be a good idea to scrapbook my Christmas cards every year (also back when I had an abundance of free time in the morning and evening). It was a good idea, but now it's just a little unrealistic, and living in a small house makes me stingy with storage. I don't necessarily love the thought of having 4 bulky scrapbooks of cards (and counting) just because I enjoy looking through them from time to time. Plus, I had a complete album of 2008 cards, a partial album of 2009 cards, and 2.5 years of incomplete albums that were eating away at me to complete. So, I decided to get rid of the album idea and go with the little flip-book-on-key-rings idea floating around Pinterest. I didn't even pin a picture of it on one of my boards (as far as I remember), but I've seen dozens of them floating around.

Last night I finally got around to putting it together. I love finishing a task that gets clutter off my counters, island, table, etc. And this one did it, so it is a very rewarding craft. Here are the details:

{Punched two holes in each card, made a little cover for front & back, secured with two scrapbook/key rings}

{This takes up WAY less space :)}

{Detail shot of inside - cards arranged by year}

{Detail shot}

(Note - this really only works for picture cards, which are really all I keep each year. It would be impossible to do this with regular greeting-style cards I think)

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

{Me with Granny Iva}

{Me, Mom, Granny Iva}

It all started last summer. A bunch of our family was up at my grandparents' house having dinner one evening. While I was back in my grandma's bedroom rocking Levi, she came back there and got a little storage box out of her closet and said "I was wondering if you thought you could use these for anything." Inside the box were a few piles of fabric scraps that had been cut out by my great grandmother from clothes she used to wear with the intention to someday make a quilt (or two). There were not enough scraps to complete a quilt pattern, but I knew I could use them for something.

My (great) Granny Iva holds a special place in all of our hearts, as I (and most all of my siblings/cousins) had the privilege of growing up knowing her (I have mentioned her here and here before).

I had an idea of what I wanted the minute I got the scraps. I had seen this blog post a few weeks before, so I sought out the shop it came from, which is called For the Love of Joy. I emailed Anna, the shop owner (you can visit her shop here, and her blog here), and told her my story, and asked her if she would consider making 10 pillows for me, using my great grandmother's fabric scraps and a scripture of my choosing (Matthew 5:9). Everyone in our family can quote this scripture, having heard it recited by my grandma (the one who gave me the scraps) most all of our lives.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9

I wanted to give these pillows as (Christmas) gifts to my family members as an heirloom of Granny Iva's. Anna was extremely gracious and told me it would be a privilege to make the pillows for me, and she even provided me a discount since I provided some of the fabric. I sent her the fabric scraps back in August or September, and told her I just needed the pillows before Christmas, which she mailed to me in plenty of time. They turned out perfect, and I have never been so excited to give a gift as I was for these. Had I had no budget, I would have commissioned a pillow for every family member, but I live in the real world so I made sure to have at least one per family.

Be sure to visit Anna's shop if you are in the market for something special like this. She has so many precious items, especially if you or someone you know is expecting a little one. Here are a few of my favorite items from her shop:

{Family name pillow with scripture, image via For the Love of Joy}

{Coffee sleeve, image via For the Love of Joy}

{Quilted Boppy Cover, image via For the Love of Joy}

Anna's shop will be closed for a couple of weeks in January, but she will be back after a short vacation. You can find out more about it on her blog.

Here are some of my family members with their pillows, and a few snapshots of my pillow. I love these heirlooms and I'm so happy to have had them made!

The Red Sleigh

My sweet grandpa has always been good with his hands, and has made us several things over the years, but it has been several years since he has made anything, and I think everyone assumed he was not able to any more. On Christmas day, my grandparents walked in with this beautiful red sleigh full of presents and little family heirlooms for Levi (which was a huge surprise in itself because we don't exchange gifts with this side of the family).

Andad (what I call my grandpa) had made this beautiful sleigh for Levi, and Anna (what I call my grandma) said he had been planning it for quite some time. He is so great at things like this - there are no nails or screws in the sleigh - and the pieces come out so that it can be stored flat and not take up much space. I love this so much - and it is so, so special! I can't wait to use it every year for Christmas.  

{Anna, Andad, and Levi back in July}

{Levi and Andad early this Fall}

Thank you for making this Andad! We love it SO much and will cherish it forever!

Christmas snapshots

{Christmas Eve Dinner at Shogun}

{Shogun}

{Bath time at the grandparents'}

{Presents}

{Presents}

{More presents}

 

{Allie & Paul}

{Frying up some taters for a beans and cornbread dinner}

{visiting with out-of-state family}

Cran-Pistachio Sugar Cookies

Our church hosts a Cookie Exchange Party before Christmas every year, and it is really a fun idea. I know most people know what that is, but for those who don't, I will explain. You make three dozen of the same type of cookie and bring them to the party on a platter. One dozen of them are taken and put out on the buffet line (dinner/snack foods are served at the party, along with all the different cookies to test), and the other two dozen are put out on display (for the voting, later). While you eat and mingle, you are suppose to test the cookies, and vote on your favorites - there are several categories, like Best Use of Holiday Color, Best Use of Chocolate, Best All Around, etc. When you leave, you get to pack up two dozen cookies of your choice to take home, and after all the recipes are typed up, you get a cookie recipe book that has every cookie from the party in it.

I had pinned a few "easy" cookies on a Pinterest board, because I wasn't sure I was going to be able to go and wanted to have something easy to whip up in case I was left baking at the last minute, which I was :) Here are the easy (and festive!) cookies I whipped up:

Cran-Pistachio Sugar Cookies (from here)

Ingredients:

1 pouch Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

1 box pistachio instant pudding and pie filling mix

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 cup dry roasted salted pistachio nuts, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Instructions:

In a large bowl stir cookie mix, pudding, and flour. Add melted butter and eggs and stir until incorporated.

Add pistachios and cranberries and mix well. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes and do not over bake.

The author suggested adding green food coloring and I tried this for a batch I made for a Christmas gathering - and I do not suggest it. The subtle green color that the pistachio pudding gives the cookies is enough in my opinion; the food coloring just makes them look cheesy.





{Cookie table at the party}

Giveaway Winner & Weekend Fun

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway! If you were not able to comment and entered via Facebook (several people contacted me through FB who couldn't get their comments to go through on the blog), don't worry - I got your entries:)

The winner is entry #6 - which is RYAN!!! Congratulations Ryan! I will contact you through Facebook to get your info :)

We had a great weekend full of Christmas fun. Thursday night was our Sunday School Christmas party, Friday night we ate out and took Levi through the Garden of Lights to see the Christmas lights, Saturday we had a dress rehearsal for our Christmas musical (I was in the musical and Tyler ran the sound for it) and then got a babysitter and went on a date, and then Sunday was the church musical, which was amazing!