French Board 2.0

Back in February, we did a Secret Admirer Valentine exchange at work.  I took pictures of all the valentines I made so that I could share with you here, but apparently forgot.  So here I am now.

The idea of the exchange was to leave little trinkets on your Valentine's desk all week long.  I left cookies and pinwheels and really weird cards to try and throw her off all week long...

...but on the last day I gave her this homemade french board.

Of course, this totally gave away that it was me, since you may remember I made this french board for my own cubicle at work awhile back:

Oh well!  I had a blast making it, and she enjoyed receiving it.  I love the way the colors look together.

This is one of those easy DIY projects that is so satisfying.  You should try it! :)

Thanks for reading!

--CC

Raised Bed Garden

Hello, and Happy St. Patrick's Day! :)  Here in Florida we're well into the spring season.  The Azaleas and Dogwoods are blooming, the trees are budding, and we're experiencing warm weather with lots of rain!

Yesterday it was sunny and warm, so my fiance and I got to work building a raised bed garden.  (We also had this little helper.)

I was surprised at what a quick and easy project it was.  After just three hours of work, we were completely finished.  We used a bunch of different tutorials online as a guide for building our raised bed, but didn't really follow any instructions in particular.  We ended up buying one 2x10x16, cutting it into four 4 foot sections, and drilling it together.  We used a 4x4 that was 12 inches tall in each corner for extra stability and to bury into the ground so the bed would stay put.  (If this makes no sense, you might want to check out this tutorial--it's the best raised garden bed instructions we found and it even includes a shopping list.)

The whole project (lumber, dirt, and all) cost us just $75--well worth it for the tasty vegetables and the enjoyment we'll get out of it.  Plus, once you have the raised bed set up you can plant in it again and again.

I can't wait to see my little vegetables grow! :)  Thanks for stopping by!

-CC

Clever Valentines

I don't know about you, but I'm loving all the clever little Valentine's plastered all over Pinterest right now!  Lucky for me, last year my fiance and I opted to exchange little Valentines throughout the week instead of giving each other gifts.  It's way more fun and helps you to savor the holiday all week long!  Plus, you get to feel like a kid again. :)

So we bought some of those tiny mailboxes from the Target dollar aisle and had a blast last year.  And this year we're doing it again, so I thought I'd share the Valentines I made him here. I'm sure you've seen many of them on Pinterest, but here's my rendition!  (Fair warning:  I'm no scrapbooker!)

I Love You S'more and S'more Each Day with S'mores Cookies

 Recipe for S'mores Cookies is here.

Blowing You a Kiss Valentine with Gum Balls & Hershey Kisses

We Make a Grate Pair Valentine with Mini Graters

You Rock My World Valentine with Pop Rocks

You Hold a Piece of My Heart Valentine with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Heart & Reese's Pieces

I put the first Valentine in his mailbox tonight.

The fun starts tomorrow!  I hope you have a terrific Valentine's week.  Thanks for reading!

--CC

Hot/Cold Therapy Pillow Gifts

Hello there!  It turns out I didn't get to finish my quilt this weekend after all.  Silly me forgot to prewash the rest of my fabric!  I wanted to get my sewing on, though, so I spent this afternoon working on a hot/cold therapy pillow for one of my co-workers who has tennis elbow right now.  It was the perfect project since I already had all the supplies on hand--even the rice!

It had been awhile since I made one of these, so I had to check out my own tutorial for the dimensions.  Lol!  But once I got into the project I remember what a simple, quick, and satisfying project it was, so I made another for my step sister and niece.  I can't wait to give them away.  :)

I hope you had a great weekend and got in a little crafting!

Ew! The Flu!

Hey everyone!  I just wanted to stop in and say thank you for all your kind and supporting words when my sewing machine was broken a few days ago!  It is fixed now and I am so anxious to move forward with my project.  It's so close to finished!

Unfortunately, though, I've spent the past week caring for my poor sick fiance, who has a bad case of Influenza A!  (Get your flu shots, everyone!  It's no bueno this year!)  He's feeling much better now, so hopefully I'll be able to get back to work this weekend.  In the meantime, here's a little sneak peak of my project progressing...and my cat and her catnip toy.

Hope you're doing well!  Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting!

--CC

Sometimes I Want to Throw My Sewing Machine Out a Window

Last night I was about halfway through a big project and my sewing machine quit working.  Sometimes when this happens if I come back later it just magically works, so I went to bed with intentions to finish up the project this morning before the fiance returns home from California.

This is not my actual sewing machine...just a picture from the interwebs!

But this morning the problem persists! It seems to be a problem with the thread not pulling through the bobbin.  I tried changing my bobbin and loosening my tension.  I tried removing everything from the underworkings of my sewing machine and putting it back together.  Nothing.  So I can't finish my project!  It makes me so frustrated!  Any ideas?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends!  I've never been much of a partier, so I didn't spend my New Year's Eve drinking or even out like most people.  Instead, a close friend of mine went to dinner with the early birds (everyone in our section was over 50 and drinking iced tea), then hit up the grocery store to get our shopping done for the week.  Once that was finished, we hung out at her apartment and talked about our New Year's Resolutions.  Mine are:

1. Eat out less
2. Refinance/consolidate student loans
3. Save money
4. Go on more date nights
5. Make more bucket lists to help me enjoy the seasons
6. Make a quilt
7. Focus more on the positive and less on the negative

My friend lives near downtown, so at midnight we broke out our sparklers and walked downtown to see the fireworks display.  Not a bad night!  I hope your New Year's Eve went just as well.

Thanks for reading!

--CC