Owl Be Your Valentine {Tutorial}

Cole and I did some more Valentine's crafting yesterday and today, so I thought I would share with you how we made these little owl Valentine's using toilet paper tubes. Aren't they cute?! I've actually been saving up our T.P. tubes for the purpose of crafting with them, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. And the best part- I had all the other materials on hand too (minus the treats)- score!

My sweet little helper. Here he is making Valentine cards for his cousins. :)

And here's Caleb giving me the evil eye for not including him (sorry baby) :(.

"Owl Be Your Valentine" Craft

Materials you'll need:

Toilet paper cardboard tubes (or paper towel tubes cut down)

Construction paper or other scrapbooking paper

Silly eyes

Tape

Glue stick

Scissors

Marker

Treats (to fill tubes)

First I cut out circles of construction paper with tabs to fit on the bottom of the tubes (so the treats wouldn't fall out when filled later).

And taped the tabs to the sides of the tube.

Afterwards I cut out my sheets of construction paper sized to the cardboard tubes, with a little extra for overhang.

And here it is glued securely to the tube.

Then the fun part- making it look like an owl! :) I cut beaks out of yellow construction paper first by cutting diamonds, then folding them in half.

And cutting out some teardrop-shaped owl "wings".

After that I cut some more construction paper for the bellies, wrote the message on them and glued them to the front. And lastly, I glued on the wings, eyes, beak, and folded down the top of the tube to create the "ears". 

I think they're pretty cute! Silly-looking, but cute. :) Next I'll fill them (from the top) with treats and fold the "ears" back down.


And here are my boys happily having a screaming contest during lunch.

Awww ...boys. :) 

xo,

Gail

Valentine's Craft

Seeing as how Valentine's Day is only a week away, I thought it would be fun to share a little V-Day craft that I did today during the boys' nap time. I'm not really big into hearts in decorating for the house, so when I saw this on Pinterest awhile back I thought it was really adorable and decided it fit within my decorating style. And, it's so simple you can practically do it with your eyes closed (okay, minus the scissors part! ;) But you get my point....it's eeeeasy. :) I like the way it turned out. Let me know if you try it too!

XO Clothesline Craft

Materials you'll need:

Graph paper (optional)

Pencil

Scissors

Sheet of cardboard (a leftover cereal box would do)

Craft paint (I used white and red and left some unpainted)

Craft paint brushes

Twine

Mini clothespins (crafts supply store)

 First I used my graph paper to draw out the X's and O's (you could do words too). I then traced them on my cardboard and cut them out. 

 After that it was just a matter of painting them and waiting til they had dried, which only took a few minutes

And here's how it looks in my kitchen. 

I think they're kind of sweet. :)


Happy Valentine's Crafting to you!

xo,

Gail

30 "Leaps"

Hello 2014 (albeit a little late ) and hello to anyone who might read this!

I thought I had fallen off the face of the earth in the blog world, but I've decided to make a come back and to try my hand(s) again at this whole blog thing. ;)

Something I've realized about myself over the last year or so is that I really do have a whole lot I want to do with my life ( inward) and in my life (outward). I have a lot of desires, goals, and unfulfilled dreams. And with 30 lurking around the corner, I'm not getting any younger so I'd better get on them now! Ha! (so dramatic, I know. ;) ) But basically, I just don't want to hit 5 years from now and say "I really wish I had done (fill in the blank) or gone to (fill in the blank) or learned about (fill in the blank), etc. and here it is 5 years later and I haven't really done much in the last 5 years." I want to be more than I am. Not because I'm not perfectly content with where I am (sometimes I'm a little too comfortable) but because I know that God wants me to be more. Not in a "He expects more out of me and if I don't do something about it He's going to be disappointed in me" sort of way..but in a "I think God might want me to trust Him more, and take some leaps of faith". A lot of times I can allow fears or laziness to hold me back, and I don't want those two to define me. I'm hoping that my life will be defined by my faith in God and His love for me extended to others. That is my desire anyway!

Sooo....

Back to blogging. ;) I thought it would make sense to start blogging again and write a list (of sorts) of areas I want to improve in and things I'd like to do/be/shoot for. I'm hopeful that maybe writing it down publicly will force encourage me to "leap". I guess we'll see!

Okay, enough talking/writing....here it goes!

30 "Leaps":

(in no particular order)

1. Refinish a piece of furniture ( I have about 5 projects waiting for me as I write!)

2. Joyfully serve in an area of ministry in our church.

3. Help contribute to our family's income from home by using my own personal talents/gifts ( ie: a small business?).

4. Make quiet times, prayer and meditation a more regular part of my day....because I want to!

5. Be intentional with initiating with my friends (you know who you are). :)

6. Be intentional with initiating with my family (again...you know who you are).

7. Visit our missionary friends and serve with them short term in Ukraine, Indonesia, etc. (this may be a longer than 5 year goal...but maybe not!)

8. Finish writing and publish (ahhh!) a short children's book.
9. Buy our first home (that we loove!)
10. Get rid of everything in our house that we do not #1- love and #2- use. Basically, be rid of excess.
11. (Continue to) decorate our house in a way that really reflects my personality and slowly get rid of everything/switch out things I don't really like. (that'll be fun to blog about!) :)
12. Be the best involved, hands-on Mom I can be and pray for my boys daily.
13. Be the best wife ( respectful, gracious, & serving) I can be and pray for my husband daily.
14. Share my testimony with a small group. Yay- check check. :)
15. Lead a Bible study.
16. Go on a 10-year anniversary vacation with the hubby to an exotic location (without the kids...3 1/2 years to go!) ;)
17. Get "up and at 'em" earlier/become more of a morning person.
18. Familiarize myself better with technology---esp. computers and cameras. It stinks to say this--but technology is really overwhelming and intimidating for me. Hello- that's why I married a computer guy! :) But still...
19. Exercise. Plain and simple. In other words...if I'm not pregnant, I just haven't been exercising and that's not good. :(
20. Go completely green/organic (or at least as much as possible) with eating, hygiene and household products and explore more recipes to make so the transition is more manageable/budget friendly. We're about 75% there so far...
21. Have people over more. Host get-togethers, dinners, casual after-church lunches, etc. Just be more hospitable!!
22. Have another baby...or two. ;) 
23. Forgive someone I haven't...
24. Resolve a conflict with someone I haven't...
25. Take a chance with my personal appearance (but still be me)...cut my hair? Dye it? Be a little more bold with my dress? I've always pretty much played it safe there...
26. Start playing the piano again....(which would require... ;) )
27. Start putting our pictures into photo books/albums :) 
28. Get a dog for the boys! (in a few years or so) :)
29. Do something that scares me...go on a cruise? Ride in a hot air balloon? Parallel park? (haha, jk ;) )
30. Surrender my life continually to Christ! 

Well anyway..that's a start! Here's to the next 5 + years and blogging about the journey!

xo,

Gail

P.S. Do you have any future or immediate goals? What is one thing you are chomping at the bit to do but just haven't taken the "leap" yet? Do share...I'd love to know!!