It's been a week...or eight...

So, uh, remember my pledge to clean my office in a week {eight weeks ago}? 

I finally got to it yesterday.  I'm not completely finished yet, but it had gotten exponetially worse the past few weeks and it was time.

Here's how it looked yesterday before I started.

Ugh.

I'm embarrassed to say that it took me most of the day, but here's how it ended up:

Wow.  Look at that.  I had forgotton what color my desk was underneath all of that stuff....

This is a picture of me and my sisters when we were younger.  My mom made all three dresses. 

 I finally have room to display it.

...and a few other things...

De-junking my house has made me realize that we have waaaaaaay too much stuff.

I always thought it was weird when people said that they spent their first 30 years buying and collecting stuff and the next 30 years trying to get rid of all that stuff.

It's totally true, though.

I want to surround myself with people and stuff that I love and that reminds me of happy times in my life.

It feels so nice to have the office mostly clean.

To quote my two-year-old: "Ohhhhhhh yeaaaaaaahhhh!"

Bed Dilemma

Time for a bedroom change downstairs. 

The clock is ticking until the moment my two-year-old daughter decides that her crib is uncool and bails. 

So the plan is to replace the queen-sized bed that my ten-year-old is currently sleeping in with two twin-sized beds.  I had been looking for some interesting, fun headboards {old doors, maybe something upholstered, etc.} that I could pick up for free cheap when I stumbled upon these photos here:

By Lindsey Smith on Design Sponge

The Gustavian Bed by Remodelista

I began to obsess.

I had to try to make this bed!

So I started gathering wood.

I had a bit left over from my movie shelf makeover a few weeks ago, and because we are apparently borderline hoarders, I found more in the garage, more in the "woodpile" and then picked up a few more at a thriftstore.

For $4!

It was cold outside, so naturally, I gathered all of my supplies in the family room and measured and screwed boards on the back to hold them together.

I need two headboards, hence the two seperate groupings of boards.  They are each just over 40" wide.

Now, you have to forgive me here.  I forgot to take pictures of me drawing the template on the boards, braving the cold, and going outside to cut the tops with my jigsaw.  Sorry.

But this is what I ended up with:

They aren't done yet, but I couldn't wait to show you! 

There will be painting, sanding and staining involved in the final product.

Don't worry, I'll make sure to post pictures when they are done. :)

Hopefully, the weather will be good so that I can finish them soon.

And get them out of the family room.

What's for Dinner?

I'm always on the lookout for new dinner ideas.

These are some of our recent dinners:

Sausage Shish Kabobs

Turkey & Apple Salad

Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

Malibu Chicken Sandwiches

I love grilling and can't wait to try some new recipes...anyone want to share?

Burlap Love

I don't know what it is, but lately, I really love burlap! 

I've seen some really cute wreaths, pillows, chairs and framed products made with burlap...

I've been wanting to put this pillow together for awhile now, but just took the time this morning.

I can't decide if I want to put it in the living room...

on my bed...

or outside...

Which do you think?

I'm linking this burlap project up to Funky Junk's Saturday Night Special, Burlap Edition.

April Visiting Teaching Message

Next month, the Visiting Teaching message is on

The Purpose of the Relief Society. 

The Relief Society was organized to help us increase in faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and provide relief by serving the Lord and others.

To make this fun message to share with your sisters, all you need is

a 9" x 9" sheet of paper {cardstock works best}

A stapler

about 12" of ribbon

Easter grass and a few easter treats

These downloads:

VTApril2011

The Best Lemon Cake Ever

Start by folding the left side of the 9" x 9" sheet half way in from the corner like this:

Then do the other side.

Hold it together while you staple, first the left side, then inside the cone on the right.

Like this:

Next, gather your supplies and fill the cone.

Affix the ribbon on the sides with a stapler and you are done!

Happy April Visiting Teaching!

Quick Project

Whenever I start sewing something, it seems like my kids always want to sew, too.  The other day, I decided to devote an evening to kids' sewing projects.  We ended up with these fun aprons and a few small pillows.

They were pretty easy to make and sewed up really quick.

MMMMonday!

I realize that I'm about 3 years behind on this one, but today, I made my first batch of

Oreo Truffles!

If you have apparently been under a rock like me, here's how easy they are:

One package Oreo Cookies

One 8 oz. cream cheese

16 oz. melted semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mash up the Oreos, then pull out about 1/2 cup of them for later.  Mix mashed up Oreos with cream cheese.  Roll mixture into tiny {about 1 inch} balls, then coat in melted chocolate chips.  Sprinkle reserved Oreo crumbs onto truffles, then refridgerate about 1 hour.  Gain about 5 lbs. eating them. :)

{My kids loved cleaning up the extras...}