Mother's Day Salt Dough Necklaces

I posted about my mother's day sneak peek the other day, my sister, hubs, and I headed to the store and bought paint beads, ribbon, and jump rings! We, well... I accidentally got Folk Art's enamel paint in gold and silver. The back of the bottle said to bake at 350 for 30 minutes so I tried just one heart to make sure it would mess up the salt dough and it didn't. It made the metallic more...pronounced maybe. It came out of the oven a tad darker, smoother, the paint more "melty" looking instead of splotchy from me dabbing it on.

Anywho, I first seen this on Pinterest, of course =)

To make the salt dough we used 1 c. of flour, 1/2 c. of salt, and cold water. You use enough cold water until you get the consistency of play dough. I had trouble with the consistency. I got it too wet, then it seemed too dry. When rolling out with a rolling pin though, make sure you flour the surface! I don't think of these things until afterwards because I so do not bake, lol. That's my sister's department but she forgot her rolling pin so we used an old glass milk carafe. It worked =)

Here are the final products! The gold heart has both mine and my sisters fingerprint's in it. That one's for my mom.

This lil silver baby heart is also for my dear mommy but it has my little girls fingerprint.

This one is for me =) My mother's day present to myself.

The trio I made. I also made another tiny gold circle with Kenna's fingerprint for my granny.

I had fun making these. I hope they like them =)

Linking up with Positively Splendid, I heart nap time, Somewhat Simple, Get Out of My Head Please, Ask Anna, Lil Luna, Southern Lovely, House of Hepworths, The 36th Avenue, The Shabby Nest, 504 Main, Happy Hour Projects, It's So Very Cheri, Love Notes by Lauryn, Too Much Time, Tatertots & Jello, Today's Creative Blog, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Ladybug Blessings, Carolyn's Homework, Nelle Creations

Fingerprint Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of god
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of god
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of god

So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them?

I see God’s fingerprints all over my 20-month little girl. After being married for a few years, we started trying to get pregnant. Years later, I made my first trip to see a fertility specialist who pretty much told me I was overweight. I was baffled. Bigger women than me had children. I wasn’t that big, was I?

After deep thought, my husband and I decided to forego the fertility specialist. If God wanted us to have a baby, he would let us know when the time was right. If we never had children, we had plenty of nieces and nephews to spoil. Six months later, we started debating on where to go on vacation and I started getting sick. People were constantly asking if I could be pregnant and I said no. Well, I was. The moment I found out, I just cried. Shock, happiness, fear, so many emotions. I called my husband. I called my work and told my coworker, Amy, all the while just crying away.

The longer the pregnancy, the more problems surfaced. Extreme swelling, possible gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, monitoring and more monitoring. I was admitted in to the hospital just shy of 33 weeks for them to tell me I would probably be in the hospital until my due date so they could stabilize my blood pressure and whatnot. Two days later, Kenna came into the world at 2 lbs. 11 oz.

I woke up from anesthesia scared and not feeling like anything had happened. Not understanding why my pregnancy had to be so hard when I don’t drink or smoke. When all I ever wanted was a baby and hoping she was a strong fighter—and she was. Still is.

Twenty-three days of NICU, we were going home at 3 lbs. 14 oz. and she was the tiniest, sweetest little thing in the whole wide world. Still is.

Linked up at The Rusted Chain

Mother’s Day Sneak Peek

Can you guess what I’m trying for Mother’s Day gifts? I hope it turns out! I’m making a craft run today at lunch to pick up jump rings, paint, and maybe some bling =)

Easy Crockpot Lasagna

Tried out a new recipe the other night and it turned out scrum-dilly-umptious. Mr. LCH couldn't stop gushing over it so I'm thinking it was a 10+

Without further ado...here's my Crockpot lasagna!

Ingredients:

2 jars of spaghetti sauce or marinara of your choice 

(I used mushroom because it's the hub's favorite)

16 oz. ricotta cheese

16 oz. shredded mozzarella

16 oz. no boil (or oven-ready) lasagna noodles

Any meat or veggies that sound yummy

Preparation:

Start by browning hamburger meat.

Then, put a thin coat of sauce in the bottom of pot. 

Break up noodles to fit into your pot and lay on top of sauce.

Spread ricotta cheese over noodles. Sprinkle mozzarella.

Add hamburger meat over mozzarella and then

REPEAT layers until you reach the top of your crockpot and top with cheese.

Cook in your crockpot on HIGH for 2 hours and then ENJOY!

NOTE: See how small my Crockpot is? I ended up only using about half of every ingredient with the exception of the ricotta cheese. However, if I would have used my larger pot, I could have used up all the ingredients and had more leftovers 

(which sadly, leftovers were sparse). It was so good!

Until next time,

Easter wreath

NOTE: Wow, guys, I'm slacking. I just realized that I never posted this draft from Easter =( I think I wanted to come back to it to make the pics larger and just never got around to it!

The other day I posted about my nap time spray painting. 

I went from painting my wreath form...

Fingerprint Friday

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of god
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of god
And I know its true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of god

So look around you and see where YOU can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them?

   

Bottom picture borrowed from friend. Top courtesy of me =)

Although the drive home from work is long, all the wildflowers in the ditches and fields make it worth it…

Linked up at The Rusted Chain

Blank spaces

Finally decorated my work space after 1+ years back here! Love it =) Now I just need to remember to bring in my fake potted plant I snagged at Ikea!

Because I’m at work, in lieu of using nails (or trusty push pins), I tried out Command Strips damage-free picture hanging strips and I am in LOVE. I wondered how they could possibly work because I was thinking they were more like Velcro and how much would they hold, but NO, they are amazing. And thanks to Amy for telling me about them! This is my opinion, no money or gifts exchanged =)