peace, love, and crafts

church/silpada fundraiser

Kristen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:17:51 +0000

hello lovely people. do you like jewelry? do you like marvelous, hand crafted .925 sterling silver jewelry? (wish i could insert a fun comment about a giveaway here, but not this time) …however, my little church, Grace Outreach Family Church, is doing a fundraiser to help raise money to enclose the outside patio for expansion of the sanctuary. we are a small church so this is a big deal. :) (side note: i am the kid’s church pastor and the mister is the youth pastor and worship leader…all volunteer) :)

one of the ladies in our church is a representative for Silpada jewelry. she is giving the church 100% of her commission from all the sales that are ordered (by February 5th). so here’s where y’all come in. if you would like to order something from Silpada, then not only are you going to receive some fabulous jewelry but you will be helping out our church. you get to look good and feel good. ;)

here are some Silpada facts:
“Silpada Designs’ products are handcrafted from the finest .925 sterling silver and semi-precious, composite and man-made materials available while subscribing to the highest standards of excellence in craftsmanship. over 30 artisans touch and create every piece of our jewelry. customer satisfaction is Silpada’s number one priority; therefore, to ensure we always exceed your expectations, we stand behind our jewelry with a lifetime guarantee and 60 day exchange or refund policy.”

there really is something for every taste and style. our 2011-12 collection includes more than 477 bold, unique and highly detailed jewelry creations and accessories. 363 of the 477 items cost less than $100!

**if orders are placed online, at checkout be sure to assign your order to “Grace Outreach Fundraiser”
**the charge will not go through until after the order is submitted on Monday, February 6, 2012.

i, along with my church family, will be forever grateful. and if you aren’t interested in the jewelry then prayers for our expansion would be great! :) if you are interested please let me know!!! thanks everyone!

(ps…if i have the most orders then i can win up to $100 worth of jewelry. THEN i can do a giveaway!)

january photo a day challenge

Kristen — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:28:00 +0000

if you aren’t on instagram then you probably don’t know what i’m talking about (although you can share it through any media: twitter, facebook, tumblr, flickr, blog, etc.) but here’s a recap of my january photo a day challenge. i love how it challenged me to take photos of other things besides P. ;) thanks Chantelle over at fat mum slim for this awesome idea.

you can follow me on instagram: kmcashan

**excited for february too!

yarn painting

Kristen — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:25:13 +0000

i’m a fan of adding texture and using different mediums on projects…especially paintings. so remember this canvas i had hanging up in the kitchen, well i finally did something with it. (i did say i was going to finish it over the weekend…but monday will do). i saw this cute idea over at ruffles and stuff and wanted to do a little something myself.

all i did was paint the background (it’s hard to tell but it’s gold), sketch out the utensils, and then glued the yarn on! *side notes….try to use another glue besides hot glue because 1) it leaves those annoying strings that are extra hard to get off and 2) it takes off the actual paint (i used acrylic paint) BUT i am a slacker and use a hot glue gun for ummm everything. ;) fabric glue is probably the best bet.

one of my favorite coaches in high school gave me this little saying and it’s still with me. love it. -hi coach p!
**also, i’ve accepted that since i do all my crafts/work at night, i don’t get the greatest lighting for pics. oh well. i know y’all don’t mind. ;)

so yay for finishing a project that has been on my to-do list for a long time. :)

daddy is back!

Kristen — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:58:43 +0000

i played single mama for a couple days this week. the mister went to a men’s retreat and miss p and i played and played and played…and slept a little. props to all those single parents or those whose spouse goes out of town a lot. we did have a good time. kept ourselves super busy (my excuse for not posting on here lately). ran lots of errands, visited the park several times with some friends, and just had some good extra bonding times. we even went to one of my fav kid’s consignment shops and got her some more shoes….because she is a walking fool now. :) she walks with her hands in the air. cracks me up. whatever works right?

well i’m glad the mister is back home. we missed him, but i think it’s nice to get away every now and then. it’s healthy for the relationship i think. makes you miss them even more, and appreciate them even more when they are here. :) well here’s to one more fun-filled, busy day of the weekend. be blessed!!

projects lined up

Kristen — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:13:35 +0000

now that the holidays/birthday parties are done…for now, i have a teeny bit more time to focus on other projects that have been on hold. including these lovely blank canvases that have been hanging up for a few months now, reminding me each day that they need some tlc. ha. i have ideas ready for them, just haven’t had time. when i do finish them, people won’t have to ask if i left them blank on purpose. ;) my goal is to finish them by the end of this weekend! there, i said it…now you have to keep me to it! ;)

happy tuesday.

penelope’s 1st birthday party

Kristen — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:39:08 +0000

this sweet girl had her 1st birthday party last weekend. we ended up doing a rainbow (not an actual rainbow, just the colors) and book theme party. i tried not to get too overwhelmed with all the colors, because well, it’s a lot of color, but i loved how bright and, of course, colorful it was. since her birthday is so close to Christmas, she didn’t need any more toys so i asked for books in lieu of toys. this girl loves her books (and now we have an awesome collection!!) the goal was to make as much of the decor as i could and use stuff around the house that i already had. i think i did pretty good. :) there were some things that i didn’t get a chance to do…so i will save them for her next birthday! (yes, i already thought about her next theme…too soon??) ;)

*my canvas portraits were very fitting since they are all about miss P.
*i made some circle garland with wonderful construction paper. :)
*i hung up this awesome vintage lace table cloth as a background, and threw up some finger knitted garland i made a couple years ago. then i pinned up this paper doily garland (thanks katy!) with the tiniest/cutest clothes pins ever. i loved how cute and handmade this turned out. :)

(don’t hate on my super creased table cover. didn’t have time to worry about that) ;)
*here we have the DIY table. kept it simple with balloons and streamers on the wall. (simple, but how cool does it look?) :) inspiration table here. (thanks mom!)
*to go along with the book theme: decorate your own bookmark station and decorate your own colored book (made from paint swatches. thank you home depot!)
*and DIY painted initial goody bag

*my favorite party decoration! it’s still hanging up too. i guess you can call these accordion paper flowers. even though it took awhile to do all of them, they were fun to make! (thanks M&D and husband for the hanging advice) :) this was my inspiration. super easy to make and hang up. (perhaps a DIY post coming up?)

*made this tent/reading nook for her. i followed this tutorial which was super easy, but there are tons out there. i made it with the vintage sheet that i’ve been wanting to use for something special but never knew what. :) and i love how it’s easy to take down/set up and put away when we’re not using it. i would keep it out all the time but we don’t have that much room.

*more paper circle garland over the window. so simple but looked really fun. i might have this up still too… :)

*i used some of her vintage golden books to display her photos by month. this was an easy and super fast way to show her year’s worth of pics. i simply used some hole punched circles and added stickers for each month..and of course used the cute, tiny clothes pins to hold them up on the books.

ahh the cake(s)! my sweet friend katy, who is mastering her baking skills, made P’s cake and smash cake (first time attempting this kind too!)
*i made little matching accordion flowers for the cake toppers.
*it looks like P is really loving the cake…but she’s really screaming in that pic. haha. she gave some to her daddy instead.

*LOVED how the rainbow cake turned out. (watch out martha stewart!) :) looked pretty AND tasted great too! you’re the best katy!

she didn’t care for the cake so much, but she went to town on her ice cream. it was her first taste of sweets! i think i was more excited for her to try it than herself.

*made just a few mini cupcakes for her play date buddies too. :)

*had a little something for the big kids too. printed out this fun “Alternative Names” children’s book titles quiz over here. some of those i didn’t know. i need to work on that.

well there ya have it folks. penelope ruth’s first birthday! yay! i can’t believe it’s already been one year since THIS! :) thank y’all for everything! she is so blessed and loved by many! *i have waaaay more photos from her birthday party, but i felt like this was plenty for now. ;) (any questions on how to’s or anything, feel free to ask!)

365 days

Kristen — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:54:08 +0000

at 1:19pm on 1-19-11… :) a moment i will never EVER forget (especially since i wrote it down here) ;) we love you sweet girl. you are amazing. praise God.

11 months…a little late.

Kristen — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:22:22 +0000

i said i’d do a birthday party today post but i feel i should get caught up and do her 11 month pics. so maybe she turned 11 months a month ago, but i’ve been busy. ;) but this was her at 11 months over the Christmas break. i actually didn’t have any non-phone photos of her so i had to ask my mom to send me some she took.

11 months was a fun time! P started taking her first steps (well technically at 10.5 months) and being even more adventurous as before…climbing onto everything possible and getting into anything and everything. with that brought more scrapes and bruises, poor girl. made her look tough though. ;) her fav word is still dada. and she learned “ackle” for apple! :) she had her first Christmas and i’m pretty sure she loved it, especially being with all her family. oh and ever since her daddy took off a few days for Christmas and was able to spend more time with her she’s becoming a daddy’s girl. i guess i’m okay with that. ;) it’s sweet. she stills gives me tons of attention, but it’s sweet to see her bonding even more with him. i know he loves it too. AND sweet girl learned how to give hugs!! my fav. she squeezes her stuffed animals so hard and leans her head on them. makes me smile EVERY time. (still working on kisses) can’t wait for those open mouth slobbery kisses!

ps…look at all that hair!!! it’s growing! :)

next party?

Kristen — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:46:15 +0000

it’s officially time to take down her party decorations. sigh. some will be saved, some will be hung in my “studio”, and the rest will be thrown out. sigh. it was so much fun planning it and getting it all set up. even all the last minute stressing. haha. my life would not be normal if everything was done on time. ;) a HUGE thank you to my mom for helping me the night before with stuff…i might have put her to work and made her stay up really late. and i might have taken a few hours of sleep away from my dad. they are troopers. :) and also thanks to my dad, the mister, and my sister for helping with the set up too. appreciation all around!!! oh and for my sweet friend katy who made the fabulous cake and took pics! (which i also kept her up way past her bedtime…SOO sorry!) ;)

i might be having technical difficulties with the photos from the party at the moment….but that will be taken care of (hopefully) by tomorrow. so the plan is to post the party pics tomorrow. :)

now what?? well there’s tons to be done! one project/event at a time. :) i have a few etsy orders to do and then need to get started on my friend’s bridal shower coming up!!! yay! anyone else having a party that needs decorations?? :) maybe i should become a party decorator! (i’m not that good..just would be fun) ;)

oh and i did make sure to have a night off last night. painted my nails. drank a lil jam jar. and caught up on some shows. it was nice. now it’s back to work. :)

p’s birthday week

Kristen — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:54:34 +0000

it’s party week people! i have been a little busy these past few days. i wanted to get a post in at least but that hasn’t happened. oops. you know when you think something will take an hour…well triple it. that’s really how long it takes. ;) at least for me that is. lots of little things pop up that need to get done and then random things get thrown at you. lol. but it’s birthday week!!

we had her big family shindig on saturday and it was so much fun seeing everyone!! our entire immediate family came into town just for her (we did miss a couple due to not feeling well. sad day). it was like our wedding day-happened all too fast. lol. got lots of good pics (thanks K & H!) so i am excited to go through them and show ya a few…okay a lot. ;)

i can’t believe this tiny human being is about to be one (on thursday!). it’s fun to think back one year ago and see how my life has changed completely…for the better of course. i won’t get all mushy on this post…i’ll save it for her birthday. :) i’m so going to be that mom who says all that sweet lovey dovey stuff to them on their special day in front of all their friends. ;)

here’s to more celebrations! P has a little birthday play date with all her buddies tomorrow. excited to leave the party decor up for a little longer. :) have a great week everyone!!!