I love free things...

I love to get things for cheap and free is even better! Like this box of apples I passed on my way to a playdate.  I slowed down, almost stopped but passed on by...why? Call it a momentary lapse in judgement and I was kicking myself by the time I got to our playdate especially as my friend was making spiced crabapples and her house smelled delicious!! As luck would have it they were still there on our way home, woo hoo!!  I was pretty stoked and decided to make applesauce out of these little gems! 

I must have been really enthusiastic as my husband even gave me a hand and we had it made in no time!  I have no idea what kind of apples these are, just that they are alaskan grown and a tad on the tart side. We added some brown sugar and cinnamon and it turned out rather tasty, just a hint of tartness.  Not bad for our first try!  I have some left and I think I may add some store bought apples and see if that will help cut the tartness more as I don't really want to add a whole lot of sugar.

I was so happy to have a reason to use this strainer thingamagig, it will survive the cupboard yearly purge once more!

Taking a bath

All clean and ready to eat!

Nathania

Can I get a little help from my Friends?

Hi All!

I have something I'd like a little help with...if you're so inclined.

I work at a school with kids who are lower on the economic scale. Many of our students will never travel outside our state, and the exposure to new and or different places around the world is limited. One of our 5th grade teachers is trying to collect postcards from around the world, to ignite discussions about different  places--and this is where I need your help!

Would you be willing to send our students a postcard?

This doesn't have to have much information...just your name and a hello! If you want you can include a return address...the students are working on special "Alaskan" thank yous, which you will receive if you include a return address. But it's not necessary.

If you're willing...please email me and I will provide the schools address.

Thanks!

Sarah

Random Acts of Craftiness: Backgammon Anyone?

I found this blog that I really like...his-and-hers-blog.blogspot.com...Erin, the "Her" of the blog makes me laugh all the time. Anyways, she has this link up party each month called:

(click to check out the other cool crafts!)

This is actually the first month...but back to whats what...each month she announces something that you have to use in your craft. And its got to be original...no copying from Pintrest here!

This month it was game pieces. And we couldn't use scrabble. We could manipulate the pieces anyway we wanted.

I went to good ol' Value Village a couple of time scouring the game aisle and couldn't think of a thing, until I found this beauty:

5 bucks and she was mine. Now, I have absolutely not a clue how to play Backgammon, but have always been drawn to the pattern it makes. I remember playing with the set my parents had when I was little...mostly making patterns with the pieces:) 

I ripped her apart...I wanted the the board pattern.

I also ripped off the front velvety fabric...and the pleather.

and then I got stuck!

I thought about making the following:

a pouch

a bunting/banner

a book cover

scrapping the whole thing

coasters

a rocket to the moon

I tried the pouch...it didn't work

I didn't have any books to cover

I didn't want to give up

coasters are boring and I have too many

I didn't think my rocket ship would last.

so...I cut circles out of the backgammon board, velvety fabric and pleather...and started making the bunting....which would have gone into the:

“What the $*%#@ is That?!”

Random Acts of Craftiness Fail Club

but I persevered

and

made

a

wreath!

Which I really like, but my door is purple...so it is currently searching for a home in my house.

The overall effect is pretty snazzy in my opinion, and it only cost five bucks!

I really like this challenge because it's super easy to fall into a copy craft mode and this made me think outside the box!

Be sure to go and check out the other creations...just follow the button up top!

Sarah

Who doesn't love Elmo?

I can't believe my little rambunctious girl is 2 already!!! Where does time go?! In my case it's taken up by trying to keep up with my little runner!  She is a spitfire and is such a blessing in my life!  Happy Birthday Aria!!

Aria loves Elmo so I decided to try my hand at an Elmo cake I found on Pinterest. It turned out pretty good minus the red frosting...do you know how hard it is to get Elmo red frosting?  I had to make do with a maroonish red :(, but Aria however could have cared less and recognized Elmo right away which was my goal!!

Aria enjoying a piece of Elmo's head!

RUNNING!!!!

Nathania

Some of my latest projects...finally

Here are some of my latest projects...

I purchased a little dresser for $5 at a garage sale eons ago and the plan was to redo it for Aria's room. Instead it languished in purgatory, I mean my garage, after receiving it's initial coat of new white paint. In a sudden fit of crafty energy I decided to get the poor dresser out of purgatory and into a nicer location. I modged podged some cute scrapbooking  paper onto the drawer fronts and added some IKEA knobs that I had laying around.

Small note to self: after modge podging said paper onto chosen surface, do not apply top coat right away as it makes it impossible to get paper bubble free...one SHOULD put modge podge to the back of the paper, place it on said surface, in this case drawer fronts and smooth out all the bubbles and let it dry.  :-). To ensure the paper stayed flat and bubble free I put the drawers paper side down on a flat surface with weight inside the drawer and let them dry overnight. I then applied 3 coats to the top of the paper and once it was dry I drilled holes for the knobs and VOILA it was done!

 I love how it turned out and decided it would go great in my craft room!

My next project was my poor craft room...or junk room as it has turned into!!!

Sarah came over one day in a whirlwind and declared Operation Clean-up Craft Room had commenced...

Before

After

She even got me this awesome chair and footstool to create a little corner just for me to relax in sans child toys and household mess!  She also made the pictures hanging on the wall. Sisters are the best!!  Especially mine!! Love you Sarah!  Doesn't the dresser look nice?

My final project was this coat rack. I had purchased some cool old door knobs in Michigan years ago and spent a long time trying to find some more. Then for my birthday one year my awesome friend Lisa bought me some!!  I was soo excited!  With some help from my husband I got the knobs spaced evenly (I may have issues with measuring) up on the board and then maybe months later, I know, I know I'm horrible at completing anything in a timely fashion, I got it up on the wall. I love the character it adds to the entryway!

What have you been working on?

Nathania 

Mini bathroom reno

While I love 70's yellow it was time to say goodbye to

 this lovely BR sink and it's current sink and mirror.

All the necessary replacements had been patiently waiting in the garage (as they

always seem to do in my house) to be put to use shamefully for months!!!

With some encouragement from my mom, who was visiting, I actually got started!!

I began by resurfacing the current counter top with a counter top

resurfacing kit that I had inherited. It went surprising fast and

was a lot easier than I had anticipated.

I started by scouring the counter top with the diamond embedded sanding pad.

After wiping it clean I placed the adhesive topcoat on and then applied the

decorative chips which was rather messy as they flew everywhere!

After drying for 12 hours I sanded them down til they were smooth and

then applied the topcoat.  I love how it turned out!! 

So nice and shiny and brand new looking!!

With a few paint touch ups and the new sink, mirror and light

I have a NEW bathroom!!

Nathania

anniversary trip

Three weeks ago...yup I'm behind at posting...but anyways, about three weeks ago, Andy and I celebrated our anniversary. We've done the going out for a nice dinner thing, and thought we should do something different. So we decided to be "tourists!" In a state that has great stock in tourism it wasn't difficult:)

We were able to get a great deal at Aleyska--the fanciest hotel in Alaska...it also happens to be the only ski resort up here. So we headed down to Girdwood for the evening. When we got there we found out we had a great view of the mountain! We traipsed around the grounds a little bit. Taking pictures of the ginormous begonias and such.

The next morning we got up and headed down to Seward to go kayaking. Our friends Peter and Alex had been up the week before and had gone...recommending it highly even though they went in the pouring rain. So we thought we would try it. We've never been kayaking up here and there was a coupon! 

Hello!!!

We had really nice weather...no rain. Now to explain something about Seward. It rains there...all.the.time. We had some cloud coverage at the beginning but it let up and we were able to get some great views.

We did the 8 hour trip, which included getting out at Cains Head...and hiking up to an abandoned fort from WWII. It was really neat, and the view from up top was spectacular!

Overall we had a great time celebrating our anniversary and have decided that doing something touristy was the way to go...maybe it will become a tradition!

Do you have any anniversary traditions?

Sarah

Monday Munchies: cheese spinach roll-ups

Friends of ours have recently gone onto the adventure of becoming vegans...without oil. I'm not sure I could do it! Anyways, they had a whole bunch of food that they didn't want to go to waste, so they asked if we wanted it. Do we say no to free food? NO WAY JOSE! We received a bunch of cheese--like a whole box full, some other random ingredients, salad dressing, oh and did I mention cheese?

Now, being a good dutch girl, cheese is one of my food groups. I love me some good cheese!

So we had a group at church to go to with a potluck, and I looked at some of the things they had given us to come up with a dish to bring.

I had a roll of crescent rolls...so I decided to go out to my garden and grab some spinach.

I cut each crescent roll into three pieces, so I would have more:) I added some Havarti cheese, some spinach and rolled them up!

I baked them according to the package on the crescent rolls....but watch them because they are smaller portions...therefore cooking faster. 

I added some Parmesan cheese on the top just to add a little more flavor. They were delicious little bites!

Happy cooking!

Sarah