I'm dreaming...of a DIY Christmas

I am that person. You know, the person who start Christmas Shopping in July and is finished by the first week of December. It gives me legitimate anxiety if I don't have my shopping done early. Plus,  I hate dealing with crowds, especially crazy Christmas shopping crowds. This year was a struggle because Matthew wasn't working from April until September so I couldn't do my normal shopping schedule. Since funds were tight, it was a good year to do a lot of DIY Christmas presents.  I tried to find some great DIY projects, since I wanted to give gifts that were better than something I would have bought at a store. I only made a handful of DIY gifts because they are truly time consuming, but I'm so happy with the turn out of it all. So here they are...

-My step father-in-law has an amazing hunting camp. Hunting camps are extremely popular throughout the south, so I'll give a detailed post of how hunting camps work in the next few weeks. But, back to the gift. This past summer, he finished the inside walls and ceilings of the camp. So I thought the perfect gift for him would be a huge pallet sign to put on his newly finished walls. At the time, it was easier said than done. I received some free pallets from my awesome neighbor down the road from us, so the only cost for this project was for the brackets used to put the pallets together. It took me forever to take the pallets apart. It finally got to the point where I just borrowed a saw from my step father-in-law and cut the pallets apart with the help of one of my good friends.

It took a good few hours to get the pallets apart but the end result was more than worth it. After the pallets were removed, I sanded them and wiped them down with a cloth before staining. I chose a golden pecan stain, and thought it turned out great.

I put the brackets on the backs attaching the pieces, I didn't get a picture this time around but I will be sure to take a picture for the next sign I make. And by I put the brackets on, I mean that I gave up and Matthew did this part! I turned my sunroom floor into a "staining" area because a) the floors are already a golden pecan so spills aren't a problem and b) it was too dang cold to work outside by the time I got around to staining. I did a good few layers of staining and let it completely dry before coming cutting some freezer paper stencils with my silhouette cameo machine. I  used a spray adhesive to attach the stencil and used plain white paint for the words and images I wanted to put on the on the sign. Here is the finished project! I'm going to put up an additional picture when it's put on the walls the camp.

-My mother-in-law is up next because, again, I made something for her to enjoy as decoration at the camp. The one room that is practically finished as far as floors walls and furniture goes, is the master bedroom. So, I wanted to give her something to start making their bedroom at the camp a little more "homey". I found some inspiration on pinterest from here and here and ran with it. I used some burlap fabric, my printer, some old ribbon and some affordable picture frames! This was the end result.

- For our grandmother, great aunt and uncle we decided to make some stepping stones since they have gardens. And by we, I mean I decided to make them and so this project was 100% me! I used the method of making the stepping stones from this amazing website. This was one of those projects that I thought were going to be really time consuming but ended up being finished pretty quickly and was SO easy. The best part? Again, it was a $5 project! This was the finished result

-Levi, the little boy who I was a nanny for, also needed a little something from Mrs. Karen too. I tried my hand at dying plain white onesies, and it didn't turn out 100% how I wanted it to, but it did take on a cool design. Then I picked some fun designs, since his daddy is a hunter, and used the freezer paper stencil method I normally use with my silhouette cameo machine. He looks completely adorable in them!

-This project wasn't a "christmas" project, as much as it was a cool thing I wanted to do for my trip to Disney. I made some shirts for my nephews to wear in the park, as well as some shirts for me and my sister. Again, I used the freezer paper stencil method and they turned out to be fabulous! Not to mention, Mulan said that she love our shirts! I was practically swooning.

 

 

-Decorations are also things that are so easy to DIY! We didn't have the time, or energy, to decorate the house as much as we wanted to this year. But I wanted to share a few of my projects that I came up with.

 This one was so easy, I couldn't believe it. I just printed the image out on pretty scrapbook paper and BAM, instant Christmas decoration!

Okay, so my tree isn't DIY but I thought it was pretty and wanted to share a quick picture!

I don't have a fire place that I can hang my stockings over, and I wanted to make some sort of sign so this is what I came up with. I may try to make another one next year and just make it a little bigger. Overall, I'm happy with it though!


And that's that. I have onnnne more DIY Christmas present but it's doing to have a post all of it's own. I hope I didn't bore you all to death and maybe even inspired some of you to go the DIY route next year. It's a challenge in the best way possible. Until next time..

A Year In Reivew

2013 what such a crazy year for us. So, I thought that with the new year getting started that I would share the top moments that we experienced in 2013!

• We experienced our 2nd wedding anniversary. 
• Matthew was honorably discharged after almost 5 years of service and we relocated to his home state of Louisiana.
• I turned the big 2-1! 
• We've got to take a few trips to Houston to visit are great friends! So thankful they are only a few hours away!
• My family surprised me with a visit when I was extremely homesick!
• Baby Owen was born! I absolutely love being an Aunt to another nephew.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 2nd Family visit and we got to meet baby Owen!
  
• Matthew went to the police academy!
• Matthew turned 25!
• Matthew graduated the police academy 
  
  
  
  
• Matthew is officially a sheriff's deputy!
  
  
  
  
• I went to Disney World with my sister and her family!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   As you can see, it's been one awesome year. It's had it's trials but not without it's rewards! We are looking forward to 2014 and all it decides to bring us!

New Year, New Direction.

Well, since it's officially a new year... I thought I would grace the blogging world with my presence. I know, it's been a while. I'm a terrible blogger. But, I'd just like to say that my hiatus hasn't been by choice, it was more of a need. A lot has happened since we've moved to Louisiana. I decided that until we "settle" that I would hold off on blogging. Honestly? It's because probably 80% of my posts would have been emotional nagging posts, and no one likes a nagging blogger. So here's what everyone has missed in the last few months.

Employment: When we decided to apply for an early EAS date from the Marine Corps, we had a plan. What's that old saying? If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans? I would have to say that we probably provided a lot of laughs for the big man. If anyone has me on Facebook, you'll already know that our original employment plans fell through. We had saved plenty, or so we thought,and hoped to be receiving regular paychecks by early July at the latest. A set in stone job, fell though. Plan B, fell through. This is why we found ourselves in August without Matthew being employed. I was fortunate to have a nanny job lined up to help a little, but it's not a lot. After applying to every police station/sheriffs departments within a hours drive from our house, he finally got a call in the middle of August from the local sheriffs department that he applied to a few months ago. He needed to get POST certified, meaning he needed to go to the police academy. We are blessed enough that the department sent him to the academy at the beginning of September and he became an "official" graduate of the academy in December. He's officially a sheriffs deputy for our local parish.  If you haven't figured it out, it was almost 5 months without a steady income. We're blessed beyond measure that Matthew's family was able to help us in anyway that they could. But it was still a stressful time, which is the main reason for the lack of blogging. My anxiety was through the roof, but things are finally looking up.

Living Arrangements: Again, we are so blessed in this department. Matthew's family owns a house that has been in his family for generations. And when I say that, I mean literally since it was built in the late 1890's. It's a beautiful 4 bedroom former plantation house that has been vacant since my mother-in-law moved out when she was remarried nearly two years ago. There are a million DIY projects I have planned, and will be showing progress as they happen. I'll post some "official tour" photos soon, along with some before and afters!

Change it "Title": The saying goes "once a marine, always a marine". But I don't feel like it's always the same for marine wives. I will always be thankful for my time as a marine wife, and will always support my friends and family who still are marine wives but I don't "feel" like a marine wife anymore. So, that being said, I am officially changing my title from "marine wife" to "police officer's wife". Some things are what I'm used to, such as crazy work schedules but other things are different. Before, I only had to "worry" about Matthew for the 9 months that he was deployed. Now, I have to worry every time he leave our home for his shift. So, please, say an extra prayer for Matthew's safety and extra prayer for my anxiety! It's going to be an adjustment but an adventure all in the same.

So, rather than the adventures of being a marine wive, my blog will now be about my time as a police officer's wife in Louisiana. I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences with everyone, and the recipes/DIY projects I've been working on. So, I welcome you to join me on my new adventure. It's going to be a crazy, wonderful and beautiful ride.