Sports Standing Display Tutorial

I made these for my father and grandpa for Father's Day and they loved them. Really easy way to keep track of where their favorite team stands during the season.

What You Need

Wood(title board should be 24in x 5.5in and team boards should measure 24in x 3.5in)

Paint(colors for each team)

Chalkboard paint

10 eyelet hooks
8 Cup hooks

Minwax Classic Gray Wood Finish

Sandpaper

Stencil

1. Start by staining all your wood and let dry overnight 

2. Then paint a thing layer on each board. I used white on my league boards and then each teams main color on the team boards leaving 7in for chalkboard paint.(note: you can either paint the whole board if you want a clean look or if you want an aged look leave the edges unpainted)

3. Stencil on the league on the top board and either the city or mascot onto the team boards(for the team boards I used the teams other color for the lettering)

4. Paint on the chalkboard paint at the end of each team board following the directions on the bottle

5. Once paint has dried paint a white "-" in the middle of the chalkboard paint
6. Optional: use sandpaper to sand down the lettering for an aged look
7. Attach the boards with eyelet hooks on bottom of each board and cup hooks on top of each board(makes it easy to move them around as the ranks change through the season)
8. Attach 2 eyelet hooks on top of league board for hanging.

The First Day

Today was the first day to my "new" life and by "first" I mean the first day for the one hundredth time and by "new" I mean where I start making all the right choices for myself.  Now-a-days, women are expected to have careers, knit, craft, cook from scratch, have a healthy social life, raise a family, and maintain a size 2. Where are we suppose to be getting all this time? Though the expectation of being able to to do it all seems a bit high, I am apparently to be crazy enough to think I can do it. So today was the first day where I was going to get back my figure and start looking gorgeous again, because somewhere between the medical school, social life, learning how to sew, and cooking big dinners for my love, I went from healthy and curvy to whoa what happened here. And since my mother continuously invites me to the pool every Sunday even though I continuously turn her down, I figured it was time make some changes. So in addition to blogging about all the awesome projects I am working on, I am also going to blog a little about this new journey of mine. (another thing on that to-do list!) I hope to keep everyone updated on my progress and post meal ideas and different health tips for anyone else looking to get back into a swimsuit.
So to start off right, I bought a ton of fruit which I swore to myself I will eat this week, posted pictures on my mirror of what I use to look like(I am never go to look like a super model, really I don't want to I love my curves), and made a meal plan for the week. First day was a pretty big success minus the hunger pains. The hardest thing about dieting I have learned over the last 4 years of dieting off and on is when you are busy and tired it becomes really easy to undo your entire week of hard work in a minute of weakness. If someone says brownie sundae when I get home from clinic on a Friday, I'm a goner.
 So Goal #1 is to resist temptation during a moment of weakness and grab some sweet pineapple instead.
 Goal #2 is to not go out to eat. Goodness is that hard. Between the hours at the hospital and that everyone uses food as a social experience how does one not go out to eat?
Goal #3 is to find some time to workout a least 3 times this week and add in arm exercises daily.
Wish me luck!

Date Night Jar

One of the hardest things for us is deciding what we should do for our date nights and we end up spending another night going out to dinner and coming home to watch a movie. So, I decided to make a date night jar.

Things You Will Need

Wooden Craft Sticks(Popsicle sticks)

Marker

Mason Jar

Ribbon

Fabric Flower

Paint or Stickers

1. Start by writing your date night ideas on the craft sticks. (Note: you may want to color code them based off of how long they may take i.e. a night vs a full day)

2. Then decorate your jar. I attached the fabric flower on the lid of the jar and tied ribbon around the top and finally painted "Date Nights."

3. Place sticks into jar and take turns grabbing one when your date night comes around. 

Date Night Ideas

1. Indoor Picnic
2. Look at Dream Houses(try houzz.com)
3. Grab Oklahoma Joes and head for a park
4. Sketch Dream home(or you can get one of those computer programs)
5. Watch TV on mute and take turns making up your own lines
6. Couples Bucket List
7. Local Comedy Show
8. Drinks
9. Watch old movies
10. Go rock climbing
11. Build rocket from kit and try flying it
12. Spend an evening in a downtown areas of a smaller town with little shops and local restaurants
13. Drive to the middle of nowhere and look at the stars(don't forget the blanket and snacks)
14. Relive your first date
15. Make ice cream sundaes and tell stories of your childhood
16. Drive in Movie
17. Go miniature golfing
18. Make homemade pizza together
19. Restaurant hop-have each course at a different place
20. Video game night
21. Drive around town and take silly pictures
22. Aquarium 
23. Tarot cards
24. Go to the lake
25. Body Paint
26. Back Rubs
27. Cheesecake Factory
28. No electricity night
29. Long Drive
30. Live local music
31. Bowling
32. Garage sales
33. Make a time capsule
34. Baseball or other sporting game
35. Zoo
36. Make a map of the places you would like to visit and the things you would like to see before you die
37. Build fort in the living room and watch movies with slumber party snacks like pizza and popcorn
38. Museums
39. Order chinese takeout and watch movies at home
40. Make brunch together
41. Go movie jumping(watch multiple movies at the dollar theatre or watch a couple of matinee movies
42. Visit a new local restaurant
43. Laser Tag
44. Red Box and Pizza
45. Water Gun Fight
46. Dessert Only night
47. Spend a night at a bed and breakfast or at a hotel
48. Visit an art museum
49. Play tennis or catch
50. local theater
51. Go to a movie or local theater that serves dinner
52. Have a marathon of your favorite shows or movie series(we have watched Scrubs, Harry Potter, Xmen, and our marathon to prepare for The Avengers)
53. Go to Buffalo Wild Wings(or other sports bars) and watch a game
54. Play frisbee
55. Play board games(we like stratego)
56. Go to the arcade
57. Casino Night(we always take a set amount of money and play together(take turns spinning the reel))
58. Go to local craft store and pick out a project to work on together
59. Dinner and movie in bed
60. Take a walk
61. Fondue
62. Dessert cookoff
63. Go through old pictures
64. Make patio or dining room into an old 50s diner and have shakes, fries, and hamburgers

4th of July Centerpiece Tutorial

Things you Need

8 sheets of red, blue, and white tissue paper

floral wire

Ribbon

12 wooden sticks

Red, white(clear), and blue dragon tears

Vase

Masking tape

Red, blue, white paint

Hot glue gun

Scissor

1. Start by putting down layers of white and red dragon tears into the vase alternating each color

2. Top off with blue to give the feel of the flag

3. See tissue paper tutorial here

4. Leave 2 flowers of each color out and use masking tape to attach around the vase

5. Arrange flowers into vase

6. Use Ribbon to tie a bow around the neck

Easy Ice Cream Cake

I learned how to make this cake while I was in high school and not only is it delicious it is very easy to make. It has always been a big hits at birthday parties, dinner parties, and just for dessert after a summer dinner.

Ingredients

2 boxes of ice cream sandwiches

Chocolate Fudge

Caramel

Big container of whipped cream

oreos(or reeces or any other cookie)

throw away cake pan

Directions

1. Start by putting down one layer of ice cream sandwiches that fills up your pan.

2. Cover in a layer of whipped cream, then fudge, caramel, and crunched up oreos

3. Lay down second layer of ice cream sandwiches

4. Cover in whipped cream, fudge, caramel, and crunched up oreos.

5. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours but best overnight.

A Year of Happy Memories

Things you'll need

Paper Mache container

Razor blade

Buttons

Paint

glue

1. Start by painting your design onto the main part of your container. I did a tree as my main design and used buttons as "flowers"
2. Cut off the part of the lid that will go down over your design so all you have left is a flat circle.
3. Cut a small hole on the top of the lid and paint lid
4. Glue lid down to the top.
5. Write down things that happen to you throughout the year that make you happy. 
6. Open a year later and relive a year of happy memories.

Bucket List Display

A bucket list display is really simple to make and a fun way to display your goals and keep track of what you still want to do. You can make a bucket list for your new year, you can make a couples bucket list, you can make a list of things you want to do before you die. Whatever kind of list you make, it is a reminder to live each day the way you want to live it. You only live once after all!

Things you will need

Clothes pins

Paint

Sharpie Paint Pen

Bucket List

Bucket

Other decor(ribbon, stickers, fabric flowers)

1. Start by painting your clothes pins whatever colors you would like.

2. Write each of the things on your bucket list onto one of the clothes pins with paint pen

3. Paint "Bucket List" onto your bucket

4. Decorate your bucket however you would like

5. Clip each of your clothes pins onto the side of the bucket

6. Each time you complete one of your goals unclip it and put into the bucket.