Mission 7: Christmas Wreath

This is the Christmas wreath I made for our front door!  Cute, yes?  

To make it, I pretty much used the same technique I used to make our Halloween candy corn wreath earlier this year.

I have really, really wanted to use glitter spray paint on a project and what holiday is more glittery than Christmas?

To prep the wreath, I painted it with regular green spray paint.  I then painted over it with the glitter spray paint.  

Oh my gosh!  I LOVE that stuff.  

Isn't it pretty?  I kind of want to spray everything with it.

Anyway, after the spray painting it was all downhill.  I hot glued some metallic red beads on the wreath and then added a pre-made bow. 

Thanks to a Hob Lob 40% off coupon (used on the $7.99 glitter spray paint) the whole project cost around $14.  Cheap!

Pretty awesome, huh?

Mission 1: UPDATE

Oh, hi. I'm back!

Remember WAAAAY back in September, when I started this blog, I decided that I was going to knit the Purl Bee Super Easy Baby Blanket. Yeah. That was FUNNY!

What is even funnier is that I thought I was going to knit TWO! Ha ha!

Turns out, when I got started and cast on enough stitches to make the baby blanket into a toddler blanket, it was a much bigger project than I imagined. MUCH, MUCH bigger.


After working on the "blanket" for a week straight, I decided that I was going to make that sucker into a scarf. I am not a patient person and I was getting very discouraged at my lack of progress.

Turns out, it made a pretty cute scarf.


Thank goodness.

Mission 6: Halloween Wreath

There is something about Pinterest that makes me want to make a wreath.

Sure, I've tried to make a couple of Christmas wreaths before, but they have always been half-hearted attempts. Yet, when I see all these beautiful wreaths that people post I have this insane desire to adorn my door with things far beyond my craft expertise.

I saw this Spray Painted Grapevine Wreath and thought it was about the cutest thing ever. And while I will someday make a turquoise version, I really wanted to make something to celebrate one of my favorite holidays: Halloween!

Halloween is always a big holiday in our house and we have a pumpkin carving party every October. I decided to start decorating a little bit early this year and made this awesome candy corn grapevine wreath for our door!

First, I spray painted the wreath a matte black color. I kind of wanted it to look a little like charred wood so I wasn't super particular about getting every nook and cranny. Then, I painted a wooden "W" (to signify our last name, of course) to look like candy corn.

Is there any candy more quintessential for Halloween than candy corn? I think not!

Finally, I made some cute little felt flowers in candy corn colors. After a bit of Googling, I found this tutorial on how to make them and, while they look kind of intimidating, they were way easy!

I love how it turned out and I am already thinking of what kind of wreath to make for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Mission 5: Cuisinart Classic Ice Cream Machine

When we went to Louisville, KY to visit my brother and sister-in-law this last August one of the places we visited was the Comfy Cow. The Comfy Cow specializes in making incredible ice cream in creative flavors using only all natural ingredients.

Since our visit I have been kind of obsessed with opening a Comfy Cow-esque ice cream parlor here in NWA. However, to do so, I need to know how to make some amazing ice cream!

We had recieved at monstrous ice cream maker as a wedding present nearly 5 years ago and we have used it a several times, but, alas, the last time I got it out a few weeks ago it was missing some vital parts -- namely the canister that actually holds the ice cream. Where it has gone, no one knows.

Enter this little beauty: the Cuisinart Classic Ice Cream Machine. Or, as I am wont to call it, The Beginning of My Ice Cream Business.

Now, which color? I am leaning toward the orange or green, but all my small appliances are red so...

What do you think?

Mission 4: Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

Cooking is one of my favorite things to do.

For as long as I can remember, I have been really interested in the idea of making food that people love so much they can't help but talk about it. It might just be the Southerner in me, who knows.

One of the things I like to do the most is bake cookies. They are almost always simple to make and they are always a good sweet treat to have on hand.

I have a pretty set cookie repertoire -- NY Times chocolate chip cookies, Emeril's Kicked-Up Snickerdoodles and the Pioneer Woman's ever versatile Oatmeal Crispies. I don't, however, have a good sugar cookie recipe. This is a shame since sugar cookies are my favorite!

Enter these Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies. How can you go wrong with toasted coconut, tangy lime and sweet, sweet sugar?

They were so simple to make and a big hit! In fact, I have since made a lemon version of these cookies and have plans to make an orange version.

The (citrus) sky's the limit!

Click here to get the recipe!

Mission 3: Paper Plate Rainbows

As soon as I saw these paper plate rainbows posted on Pinterest, I knew I had to make them! Duncan has been kind of rainbow obsessed the last few months so I knew that he would love making them and, as a bonus, they were easy enough for Wren to make too.

I didn't have any streamers like the ones used in the original idea, so we went to the good ol' Hob Lob and bought some ribbon (50% off!).

To attach the cotton balls to the plate we just used some Elmer's and smeared it around. The only difficult part was figuring out how to attach the ribbon to the plate to make the rainbow. After trying glue and failing miserably, we broke out the masking tape and it worked wonderfully.

Wren did a pretty good job being entertained with the whole glue plus cotton part of the project, but after that her attention waned and she ended up playing in the dog's water bowl -- her favorite outdoor activity.

Dunc, on the other hand, LOVED it! I used this craft as an opportunity to tell him about Noah and God's promise to never destroy the earth with water again. Good teaching moment, right?!?! I was kinda proud of myself. Which probably negates whatever good I did by teaching D about Noah.

Oh well, God still loves me.

And look how proud Duncan is of his rainbow!

Mission 2: Spinach and Feta Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a staple in our house. There is nothing easier to put together when you are in a hurry and have some hungry kids on your hands...well, except PB&J.

Sometimes we just have plain cheese quesadillas or I add some taco "meat" made with soy crumbles. Or, my favorite as of late: cheese and corn quesadillas. Easy peasy and delicious too.



I am pretty sure you could slap anything between some tortillas, add some cheese and call it a quesadilla. Veggies? Make it a quesadilla! Apples? Make it a quesadilla! Hot dogs? Make it a...no...wait...don't.........ever!

Anyway, when I saw the spinach and feta quesadillas posted on Pinterest I knew I had to make them.

It was pretty easy to make.

First, I steamed up some spinach. To do this, you just put your raw spinach in a pot, add a tablespoon or so of water and cover. Cook until the spinach wilts.

I then let the spinach cool enough so that I could squeeze all the water out with my hands. There is some fancier way to do this involving a dishtowel, but I don't have time for that business!

After that, I chopped the spinach up so that it would be easier for my kids to eat. You could totally omit this step, I just thought it would make eating it a bit less troublesome for them.

After the spinach was done cooking/cooling I got down to making the cheese mixture.

Guys, this stuff was good! You could pretty much just eat it like this with a fork.

Ain't nothing betta than feta.

Like that?

After you make the cheese mixture you just spray your pan with a little nonstick spray, warm up your tortillas in the pan, assemble and cook.

After the first bite, both of my kids were completely silent except for the occasional "mmmmm". I knew we had a winner. In fact, I have snuck cooked spinach (a once disliked food) into several of their meals since the quesadillas and haven't had a complaint!

Ha ha! Trickery!

Click here to get the recipe!