I Love my "LOVE" banner!

(click on images to enlarge)
I recently posted on Facebook that Pinterest.com has given me an unhealthy love for wooden pallets, burlap, mason jars & rosettes. After reading my posts, a friend (and former co-worker) whom i haven't seen in years generously mailed me a box filled with burlap and other beautiful remnants of fabric! I was thrilled to say the least!

After thanking her profusely, I quickly decided i needed to go back over to Pinterest and see what all i could make with my new Burlap. After spending way too much time online (Pinterest is known to do that to people), i found four ideas that i knew I'd like to try right away:

• a burlap table runner


• burlap place mats


• a burlap wreath


• a burlap LOVE banner

Today i created my very own LOVE banner, based on this picture below.

I didn't have any of the beautiful white ribbon, so i went ahead and used some of my red holiday ribbon i had originally used to wrap up my children's Christmas presents.

I love the simplicity of it! And the fact that I can remove each pennant and change the saying for future holidays/events is an added bonus.

Thanks again Shannon for the burlap and other fabrics! I'll be sure to put them to good use.

Here is a list of materials i used:

• Burlap (cut into pennant sized pieces)


• ribbon for the ends


• foam letters to stamp ( i recommend using cheap foam stamps for this project)


• white acrylic paint


• twine


• a standard stapler

*Tip* I attached the pennants by folding over the top edge and stapling the twine in between the top pieces. By doing this i can easily slide the pennants on and off making it easy to change up my banner!

And as promised, here are a few pictures of my T Shirt rug (still in progress). As you can see this will project will probably take some time. I suppose I'll just have to spend more nights watching movies or listening to music so that i can get this finished by the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Melody

Banana Split Bites? Yes, Please!

I have been compiling a list of things i'd like to make for Dylan's birthday party coming up in March. Her theme is a "Strawberry Shortcake Baking Birthday Party! Although i'm not a huge fan of cooking, i love to bake! Especially fun yummy treats for a party, so this theme is right up my alley.

Once we narrowed down the theme (she kept going back and forth between the Strawberry Shortcake birthday party and a Tangled themed party), I decided to start working on projects.

I decided i would try these Banana Split Bites this week. So after picking everything up at the store (except for the cherries i forgot to get), the kids and i decided to get started this afternoon.
Banana Split Bites!


They turned out great! They were a bit messy to make but definetly worth it! I didn't have time to take a picture of the ones we made (we had to eat them instantly, they looked way too yummy!) But they did look very similar to the ones pictured above.

You can visit the original link to the Banana Split Bites by Bakers Royale HERE

The only tip i would add, would be to maybe use chocolate chips instead of chocolate Almond bark to dip the bananas in. I used Almond bark, and although it did harden quickly, it got a bit lumpy since the bananas were moist.

These will definetly be making an appearance at Dylan's upcoming birthday party in March, (probably followed by an even quicker disappering act)


Melody :)

I'm back! Did you miss me?

After being away from the blogger world for awhile now, i've decided it was time for me to get back into the swing of things. So one of my New Years goals this year, was to revamp my blogspot page and attempt to post at least once a week. Not guarenteeing anything, but at least this post is a start!

It's been quite awhile since my last post (wow, last post was in 2009), and since then a lot of things have happened. I'm not going to list everything ( i realize you have a life too), but a few of the highlights would be:

• I am currently working as a freelance photographer, photographing everything from newborns to weddings. This has been quite a learning process (and i'm still at the beginning) but i'm really enjoying it :)




• We have been actively looking to purchase our first home! Not sure if we will have to wait until the end of summer before we are able to purchase, but none the less i am currently creating new projects that will some day help create our new house into our home.
  



• My husband Troy and I celebrated our 10year wedding anniversary in May of 2011! Our kids are growing constantly before our eyes. Zaine turned 8 in October, Dylan (our little girl), will be 7 in March and Jackson our youngest, turned 4 in September. I can't imagine life without any of them! They really do complete me :)

Well now that you're pretty much caught up, i thought i would leave you with one more thing :) One of my newest obssessions is a website called Pinterest.com. If you haven't heard of it before, i'm sure you will soon! One of my other New Years goals is to cross an item off my Pinterest bucket list each week (whether it's creating a project, trying out a new recipe or simply doing a fun new activity with the kids that i've found on Pinterest)

Until i've incorporated my own little Pinterest savings (extra envelope for those who are familiar with the Dave Ramsey Finacial Peace University system), i'm trying to create things/plan activities that are either free, using items i already have, or under $5. So this week my goal is to create this floor mat that i found on Pinterest:

http://pinterest.com/pin/204984220509074482/
I'm using old work tshirts of Troy's that he no longer wears that are still in decent condition. Last night i started cutting a few into strips while watching Fraiser on Netflix (have i mentioned my love for Netflix before?) I'm planning on cutting up some more strips tonight and then plan to attach them to a mesh grid either tonight or tomorrow (if i can find a grid when i'm out this afternoon). This is a great project that should cost around $2 or $3 that i can work on when i'm relaxing just watching tv or a movie.

Although i know this won't turn out as cute as it would if i was cutting up white bath towels, but i'm sure it will still turn out cute! And i'll be sure to post some pictures within the next few days.

Until then, thanks for checking out my newest blog post :)

Melody :)

Christmas Stamp A Stack in September

Get a jump start on your Christmas cards this year!

Check out my latest blog on my Scrapbooking blog:

http://askthescrapbooker.blogspot.com/

I just blogged about my Christmas Card Stamp A Stack that I have planned for September. If you are interested in signing up, or have any questions just shoot me an email and I will be glad to help! melodysteiner@yahoo.com

Melody

The Mommy-Files...Pete's Dragon DVD Giveaway!

I absolutely love Pete's Dragon! One of my all time childhood favorites. And this week The Mommy-Files is giving away 2 copies. Although my chances are slim I'm really hoping I can win this movie both for the kids and myself! Wish me luck!!

Here's the link to her review on the new DVD, including clips of the movie!

http://www.themommy-files.com/2009/08/disneys-petes-dragon-dvd-review.html

I got to sing onstage with The Beach Boys!!

This past weekend was definetly one to remember! My sister who works for the City of Beloit and The Beloit Riverfest, was able to get me a backstage pass to see The Beach Boys perform Sunday night. All I was promised was a glimpse of them from backstage, but that was good enough for me!

Once we pulled backstage in Mindy's little golf cart with her lovely assistant Kayla, I noticed we pulled up right along side The Beach Boys tour bus. The door was wide open and it was all I could do not to jump in and make myself comfy! If John Stamos was there (he usually tours with The Beach Boys) I don't know if I would have been able to restrain myself!

After watching several songs from backstage I was told I could go to the very front of the stage (where the crowd began) and could take pictures with the other press photographers! I ran up there and just before I took a picture of Legendary Mike Love, he winked and waved at me!! Me!! Needless to say at this point I was on cloud 9! I quickly took a few snapshots before a security guard said it was time to go backstage again.

So now as you can imagine I'm thinking this was the highlight of my night! Mike Love winking and waving to me! Nope, the fun didn't stop there! Mindy's friend/co-worker Brittnay Whitnebel (Miss Beloit 2008) was able to get Mindy and I onstage. We got to sit towards the back of the stage and watch The Beach Boys from about 10 feet away! After a few songs we got down, but were told we were going to be able to go back up on stage and sing Barbara Ann with The Beach Boys.

Oh my gosh! Sing on stage with The Beach Boys!! This is huge for me!! I absolutely love The Beach Boys! So we went on stage (along with several other people) and sang Barbara Ann with them. Needless to say this was an incredible experience for me, definetly an occasion to scrapbook!

So I need to say thanks again to my beautiful sister Mindy & also Brittnay for one of the best nights of my life!! Thank You!!

Below is a link to a video I found on YouTube of us singing with The Beach Boys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD5HmqcPjRk

(I am on the far right of the video, and Mindy is a couple girls down to my right. The video is a bit blurry at first and a little far away, but it is still great to have this even on tape!)

Stephie, Peyton & Keegan came over!

(Dylan & Peyton)

Yesterday my sister Stephanie came over with her two little ones, Peyton & Keegan. Dylan couldn't have been more thrilled to have them over! I love the above picture and can't wait to show it to them when they are all grown up and have children of their own.

Here are a few more pictures of our day together with all the kids.

(Keegan not very happy! Jackson probably took his sippy cup)

(Peyton riding on Lightning McQueen)

(Dylan, Jackson, Keegan & Zaine laughing at Aunt Stephie!)

Aww memories!