In the Details

I have been blessed with some tiny miracles, some tender mercies, some little experiences that show me that God is in the details of our lives.  That He wants to be in the details of our lives.  He knows us and loves us individually.


As I have said in the recent past, I am a newly called 2nd counselor in our Young Women's presidency and I have the privilege of working with the 12-13 yr old girls in my church.  I love them!  They are full of life and energy.  They are funny and caring and kind.  It's such a joy to be able to share experiences with them.


As a challenge to them and to help them complete their personal progress, (Click on the link to find out more about that program) I have issued them a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days.  I have reading schedules and a book where they can write down their thoughts, feelings and favorite scriptures as they are reading, treats to be earned, a group text to share our thoughts with each other or to share on social media and other fun things to get them motivated to read!  (If  you are looking for some great ideas on this, check out The Red Headed Hostess!  She has some great stuff)  When I was preparing this, I kept looking for talks by our church leaders about the Book of Mormon and the blessings we receive from reading it.  I prayed for experiences outside of what I was going to do for the girls so that they would see how important it really is to study the Book of Mormon.  Each time my prayers were answered in little small ways...ways I couldn't have imagined.  Of course...because the Lord knows what each of us need to hear and how it will impact us the most!  Time after time they came....people bearing their testimonies in church about the strength the scriptures, specifically the Book of Mormon, gave to them.  At a fireside our bishop's closing statement was almost an exact copy of what one leader taught the girls in our Sunday school class about how they needed to not only know the scriptures in their minds, but they needed to feel it in their hearts by witness of the Holy Ghost that they are true. 


Then there were messages in our group text about what the scriptures meant to them and why that particular verse stood out to them.  I love hearing their thoughts and feelings.  Then one girl shared her favorite verse for the day...1 Nephi 4:6 "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." She then said that we should follow the spirit the first time it prompts us to do something.  It reminded me of the blessing I received when I was set apart for this calling..that I needed to act on my first impression.  Then again at a fireside I attended last night, where the incredible Josie Solomon spoke.  She too quoted that same scripture.  We need to trust in the Lord and follow Him and serve Him and our fellow man.  We never know whose live we need to touch.  We may be the only person who can touch that person in a way that will change their lives for the better.  But if we ignore that first prompting, we may miss our chance.


By the way...if you haven't read or heard Josie's story...you should!  Here is a link to her blog.  She is inspiring.  The things that she has done with her life are incredible.  She is truly amazing...a light to people.  I can't say I would fight back as hard as she does if I was in her situation.  She is a true disciple of Jesus Christ.  Just BEAUTIFUL inside and out!


I guess in short...I am saying that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father love us.  They want to help us and they are there for us always.  Even if we can't see it at the time.  They are woven into the details of our daily lives.  I'm so thankful for this knowledge, for this inspired help and for the opportunity I have daily to make a difference in the world around me.

DIY Garage Floor Sealer

So here is another DIY project for you!  Last winter we noticed a leak in the ceiling of our bonus family space in the basement.  It is underneath our suspended garage.  After some investigation we noticed a LARGE crack in the cement.  The water from melting snow on the tires of our vehicles was leaking down into the crack and into the ceiling of our bonus room!!  NOOOOOOO!!!  So we knew we were going to have to fix that this year!  Well...spring and summer came & went.  The kids keep us running and we could never find the time to get it fixed.  So here it was the end of September and we finally started to research and carry out our DIY!  We decided to go with a Rustoleum epoxy product.

Before we could finish our floor we had some prep work to get done!  First we had to either pressure wash, acid wash or grind the existing sealant off.  Since we had a leak already we decided to go the grinding route.  Mostly you want to rough up the concrete enough that the epoxy will stick to it.  We rented a grinder from Home Depot and went to work.  It took us about 12 hours to complete our 3 car garage.  It was a longer process than we had hoped, but we finally accomplished our task.

And it does get DUSTY while you are using the grinder so be sure to use a mask.  There is a place to plug in a shop vac to the grinder and I would definitely do that!!

We filled the cracks with Sika Crack Fix.  It took a couple of tubes to get this sealed.   It works best if you clean out all of the loose cement from the crack and then vacuum up the dust BEFORE you apply the crack fix.  After that, you will need to let it dry for 24 hours.

Once that is dry you will need to mop the entire surface you are going to apply the epoxy to and wait for it to dry.  Next, tape off the edges and then you are ready to start applying the epoxy.  You are going to want to start on all of the outer edges first with a paint brush and then roll the rest with a roller.  We went over each section twice to be sure we got it covered well. 

Once you are satisfied with the coverage of the section you are working on then throw the paint chips down.  This makes the finish stronger and holds together the epoxy better!  We chose a blue, gray, black & white mix.  My husband rolled the epoxy on while I scattered the paint chips.  This part took us about 2 hours to complete.   This is what it looks like close up....

 

It takes 24-48 hours to dry.  You cannot park a vehicle on it for that long.  And the recommended temperature is no lower than 55 degrees.  It got a little cooler than that on the first night we did it so we let it dry for at least 48 hours.  They also recommend no direct sunlight to be on the epoxy while it dries so we closed our garage door!  Overall we are happy with the way it turned out.  Here's hoping it will bring us many years of dry ceilings!!  It was a weekend project, but we are doing ours in sections due to the amount of stuff we have in our garage.  So we did the 2 car side first and we are now tackling the 1 car side.


This is for sure a project you can do yourself and save yourself thousands of dollars, but be prepared to spend some time getting it done!  Happy sealing!!










Caramel Apple Snickerdoodles

You guys!!!!  These are the BEST cookies ever!  My sweet friend, Ashley, let me in on this little secret.  CARAMEL APPLE SNICKERDOODLES!!!  For those of you who know me, Snickerdoodles are my FAVORITE cookie.  My grandma used to make these for me.  I loved them.  I love her!  She passed away a few years ago, but every time I have a snickerdoodle it brings back all of the good memories shared with her, including eating warm snickerdoodles fresh from her oven!


This particular recipe can be found at thefirstyearblog.com.  She nails this recipe!  My only suggestion would be to double the amount of caramel bits....but I really love caramel!  And a little tip...these Kraft caramel bits are not easy to find so look for them in advance of making the cookies.  I went to 4 different stores to find them!  I finally found them at Walmart!  Oh and the recipe doesn't call for sugar free apple cider, but that was the only box of powder apple cider mix I could find, but they turned out really good!


These were a fun take on snickerdoodles and perfect for fall! 


Enjoy!!

Love you to Pieces

I was recently called to serve as 2nd counselor in our young women's presidency in my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I had a really cool experience with this.  I knew that our current leaders were being released, because I was an advisor within the Beehive class.  I had only been in a few months so I wasn't surprised when I didn't get a message that I was also going to be released.  NEVER did I think I would be called to the presidency.  One of the other advisors was teasing me that I would be the new "Beehive President", which is the 2nd counsel of  the presidency...right I thought...but then I had  gentle reminder that Heavenly Father calls who he knows is the right fit at the right time.  I remember thinking...Ok Heavenly Father, if you want me to have this calling and work with these amazing young women, I will gladly do it.  There was this warm, peaceful, burning feeling and I knew it was the Holy Ghost.  I still brushed it off and went about my day.  Later that evening, I was visited by a member of our bishopric and was extended the calling.  I knew for a surety that Heavenly Father was preparing me earlier in the day for the call that would later come.

As preparation for changing leaders and in an effort to reach out to each girl, I found this cute little handout from Pumpkin and a Princess.  I laminated them and put the names of the advisors who now would be working with the girls.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to get to work with such great women and to hopefully influence the lives of the girls I'm working with!!

"If you desire to make a difference in the world, you must be different from the world"
          -Elaine S. Dalton

China Cabinet Refinish

I'm refinishing my 2nd piece of furniture with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I just love using it!  It is so easy and fun to use and it covers so well!!  So the piece I am doing now is an old china cabinet that needed some extra attention.

Here it is...see what I mean...it needs a little love!  First things first...I removed the wooden knobs since I am going to replace them with new hardware.  Next, I washed it down with soap and water to get all of the dust and debris off of it.  Let it dry overnight and then, I sealed it with Zissner clear shellac which I got from Home Depot.


For this piece I decided I was going to try to mix some different chalk paint colors.  I wanted to do something dark gray, but my husband wanted a lighter gray.  So I compromised....I mixed a dark gray color called Graphite and a lighter gray color called Paris Gray.  I mixed 1 part Graphite to 2 parts Paris Gray.  You can click on the Annie Sloan link above to see all of the colors!  Once I decided on the colors, I went to my local retailer, Drab 2 Fab to get the paint.  When I was there I saw a piece where they had a solid color on the top of the cabinet and then another lighter color on the rest of the cabinet.  That was perfect!  Dark for me and light for my husband!  Here is what it looked like after letting the shellac dry for about an hour and using 1 and a half coats of paint  (I did let the paint dry overnight between coats) and a little sanding....



So I sanded the edges of the doors and the trim on the doors.  I also sanded on the doors and the bottom lip to help it look a little more distressed.  I did not do any sanding to the top of the cabinet where the Graphite paint was.  I applied 2 coats of chalk paint to it and no sanding.  When I sanded the doors, some of the old paint from before showed through.  I liked the distressed look and didn't want a completely smooth finish on this piece so I decided to try washing it with just the Paris Gray.  To "wash" it I took 1 part of water to 1 part of paint and mixed it together really well.  I applied it with some painters cheesecloth.  I used vertical strokes when applying it and then went back over it with some more cloth rubbing off the excess until I was happy with the application.  I did darker in some spots and lighter in others so it didn't look uniform.  This was the look after I washed it....

After letting it dry overnight I applied some Annie Sloan clear wax to it.  I used circular motion and worked it into the piece and then wiped the excess off with the painters cheesecloth.  The cabinet looked really flat before, but once I added the wax it really shined up nice.  To the touch it was smooth but not tacky, so I knew I had gotten all of the extra wax off of it.  I let it sit overnight and then I applied the hardware I had picked out for it.  I got these knobs from Hobby Lobby.  I didn't know they had so many pieces of hardware!  Definitely check it out!!  And here's the final product.....

I am really happy with the way it turned out.  Now to fill it and decorate!  Chalk paint is a great way to refinish furniture.  It's so easy and helps the amateur painter finish with ease!  On to the next piece...


Happy Painting!!!

DIY Fall Wreath

This DIY fall wreath is so simple!  I have used store bought wreaths in the past, but I wanted something new and to change up my décor a bit, so I decided to MAKE a new one!  I knew I wanted something with more earth tones and simplistic...this so super easy and totally doable!


You will need:

• 1 grapevine wreath
• some flower sprigs and/or greenery (its really up to you on how full you want it)
• floral wire cutters
• floral wire (optional)
• 1 burlap bow (or ribbon if you want to tie your own bow)

Everything to make my wreath came from Michaels!  I have some coupons and was able to get 60% off of most of the items. 


Take your grapevine and put it on a flat surface.  Next, poke your sprigs and greenery through the grapevine in the places you want them, bending back the wires to keep the sprigs in place.  You may want to thin out the sprigs, if you do, use your wire cutters to break them apart....if you use other scissors, the chances of you breaking them is VERY high!  I've gone through a couple pairs of them because I was in a hurry and just tried to use them.  If you don't have any, you can bend the wire in a circular motion until you can get it to break off, but that isn't an exact science and they sometimes break in places you didn't intend.  Wire cutters are the way to go!


 Once you have them in place, flip the wreath over and either bend the wires back around the grapevine and poke them back down into the wreath.  Or you can use floral wire to tie them in, but I like to poke them back into the wreath..its easier!


After you have your floral pieces secure, turn your wreath back over and attach the burlap bow.  You can attach it with the floral wire and tuck the ends back into the wreath.  And you're DONE!!


See how easy that was?  Anyone can do it!  It took me about 20 minutes from start to finish!  This type of wreath can work for any occasion.  It's simple and looks great!  So what do you think?  Do you think you could make a wreath like this??  Of course you can!


Happy Wreathing!!

Back to School

Its back to school time!  Yay for all of us moms out there & dread for most of our kids (well, I have teenagers, sooooo...yeah!).  I teach the young women at my church.  The girls are 12-13 years old.  So as a good luck this year I put together a little treat for them!

Its just Orange Crush soda and some Hostess cupcakes.  I made a tag that said, "This year might not be a piece of cake  BUT  we know you will find a way to Crush it!  Have a great school year."  I put them in brown paper sacks like they would have taken their lunch in, you know, to keep with the theme of school, and attached the note to the outside.  Then we delivered the treats to the girls!

  They LOVED them!!!  They also loved the fact that we took time to remember them before going back to school.  I love doing little things like this!  I think they know how much we love them too when we show our interest in the things they are going through! 

Get the free Printable Here!