.Fabric Letters.

Happy Monday!

The weekend found me ill with a week long cold-turned-double ear infection. 

I did the one thing I knew to distract myself from feeling absolutely pitiful: 

CRAFT!

I used supplies purchased from Hobby Lobby and Joann Fabrics to make these lovely little letters:

Materials needed:

- 8" letters of your choice

- Fabric of your choice (I asked for 10" by 10" squares and received a funny look from the fabric lady..I'm new at buying fabric and was told they were only able to do the width of the fabric, my bad. I was happy to take home long strips because I love having extra!)

- Sharpie/Pen

- Hot Glue Gun

- Glue Sticks

- Sharp Scissors

- Padding (I used some from an old chair I reupholstered years ago that was collecting dust at Adam's studio.)

I planned on doing a step by step picture tutorial for you but I have to admit something..

This project was not fast and not easy.

I am in love with the outcome but will refrain from creating this craft again. Maybe it was because I am sick and expecting my 'you know what'--so my patience was and still is nonexistent. This craft was not a difficult one, just a bit annoying and time consuming.

I do love love love my little letters though:

 Making Your Fabric Letters:

1. Trace your letters onto padding.

2. Cut your padding about an inch around your traced line so you have enough to wrap onto sides.

3. Hot glue the padding to the letters and pull tight to wrap around sides. 

Hint: Hot glue the face of your letter first. Then cut the padding at each corner of the letter creating slits, this will make it easier to wrap sides.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 using your fabric instead of padding.

Hint: Be sure to line your fabric up on the letter's face so it is exactly how you want it and glue that first. 

5. Using a different fabric, cut it into strips to use for side covering.

Hint: To ensure straight creases instead of frayed edges, put a thin line of hot glue on the inside of your cut out fabric strip. Fold your fabric on the glue line. This will be the nice, smooth edge you see on the side of your letters.

6. Glue your strips on the sides of your letters and wrap extra fabric tightly to the backside of your letter.

 Depending on your letters, this craft may be easy and fast (if you chose the letter "T") or it can be rather frustrating like my "A" and "K" were and take a bit of time and determination on your part. The outcome in my opinion is worth it because I am in love, imperfections and all!

 Since I came home with extra fabric, I decided to add a little decor to our sofa table:

Little touches..still have a long way to go in the decorating department!

Even though this craft was not the best to create, I'd love for you to try it. My final fabric letters are darling and make me smile. Thanks for reading and stopping by

Little Things Bring Smiles!

{linking up to these fabulous parties}

.The Sock Bun.

I did it.

I attempted the popular sock bun and though I did not look like these women, I didn't completely fail.

Here is my sock bun after 8 hours of sleep.

A tad beat up but victorious..

..it actually stayed in!

 While my curls may not have been as glamorous as others achieved, I certainly got volume..

..with a bit of frizz.

It was fun and will definitely try it again.

Any tips for more curls, less frizz?

The look I loved best was the night before when I successfully had my hair slicked back with a gorgeous full bun on top of my head. 

I felt like a movie star..

..only was missing my designer gown and red carpet.

Maybe next time ;)

Our Holiday: Part 2

Another post so soon?--I told ya I was back!

I have a confession for you...

I


hate


cooking.

It's true. I can cook, I do cook, but I never want to cook. Anyone else with me? The only time I enjoy cooking is when we have company. I know this makes my husband sad because I should find joy cooking for him, but...I don't always see it that way. 

While Adam's family visited Lynchburg for two weeks and stayed at his mom's house, something came over me: A strong desire to cook! Maybe deep down inside I wanted to simply impress my in-laws but regardless, I found myself..dare I say..excited to be in the kitchen.

My biggest "struggle" is knowing what to cook or bake. Well, I am proud to say I had a light bulb moment..

Call


Mom.

And that's exactly what I did! I asked her about recipes I remembered eating as a child during family get togethers and what would be best to feed a lot of people..13 to be exact. My mom then sent me a message on facebook, oh yea she's hip, with recipes and exact measurements instead of her usual "a shake or two..a pinch..a shlupe..a dab"  --it was incredible! Adam and I then set out to the store and bought a whole mess of groceries and I became fired up for my cooking and baking tasks.

I do not have photos for everything I made because when food is ready and served I only think about one thing: My stomach.

Here are a few baking goodies we remembered to capture using my mother's recipes.

Pineapple Bake

Ingredients:

- 20 oz can of Crushed Pineapples

- 4 Eggs

- 1/2 cup of Sugar

- 1 tbsp or 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract 

- 1 loaf of White Bread

- 1 stick of Butter

Drain can of crushed pineapples. Beat eggs and stir in sugar and vanilla extract. Blend well and stir crushed pineapples into egg mixture. Spray casserole dish and spread mixture inside. Cut off the crusts on 8 pieces of white bread. Cut or pull apart with fingers the crusts into small pieces. Cover egg mixture with crust pieces. Add more cut up crusts to casserole dish if needed to cover entire egg mixture. Melt butter in microwave and pour onto crust pieces making sure all are covered. Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes. 

Enjoy!

 Egg Bake

Ingredients:

- 16 slices of Bread

- 1 box of Corn Flakes

- Canadian bacon, Ham, Sausage, whatever you like and as much as you like

- 8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese

- 6 Eggs

- 1/2 tsp of Salt and Pepper

- 1/4 cup of Minced Onions

- 1/4 cup of Green Peppers

- 1 to 2 tsp of Worcheshire Sauce

- 3 cups of Whole Milk

- 1 stick of Butter

Remove crusts from bread. (If you make the pineapple bake first, use leftover bread or save crusts from the egg bake to make the pineapple bake later!) Spray a 9x13 pan and lay slices of bread on bottom to line entire pan. Add meat, cheese, onions, and peppers on top of bread. Cover again with bread slices creating a meat, cheese, onion, and pepper sandwich. Mix together eggs, salt and pepper, whole milk, and worcheshire sauce and pour over bread layer. Cover and place in fridge overnight. In morning, cover the entire dish with corn flakes. Melt butter in microwave and pour over corn flakes. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Egg bake will puff up while baking.

*Feel free to take out or add ingredients to your liking. I have made this egg bake twice using ham and then sausage, both amazing!*

French Toast Casserole

Ingredients:

- 16 oz loaf of Italian Bread (no seeds)

- 12 Eggs

- 2 cups of Milk

- 1 cup of Maple Syrup

- Cinnamon (to your liking)

Cut bread into bite size pieces. Spray a 9x13 pan and lay bread pieces in pan. (I had two full layers of bite size bread pieces.) Mix together eggs, milk, and syrup. Pour mixture over bread layers. Turn bread if needed to make sure it is fully covered with egg mixture. Cover and place in fridge overnight. In morning, sprinkle cinnamon on top. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Casserole will puff up while baking. Add more syrup when dished out.

Yum!

My confidence is slowly increasing as well as my enjoyment in the kitchen. Like I said earlier, I do cook and can cook it's just finding joy in it. I guess I have to listen to my own blog title for this one..little things bring smiles!


What are some family recipes you made over the holidays?

P.S. I was not able to eat any of the featured recipes because of my gluten intolerance but I remembered how delicious everything tasted from years of eating them and knew they smelled and looked exactly as they should!

Our Holiday: Part 1

I am embarrassed about two things:

1. Being away from the blogging world for this long
2. Posting about our Christmas and New Years Celebration in late January

My only reason or excuse is I have simply been tired, just drained. I needed a vacation from my vacation..ever felt like that? 

I have been making great progress on getting healthy, more on that here, however the past month found me dealing with a bit of stress which unfortunately resulted in headaches..lots of them.

The past two weeks have been treating me well and I have felt the tension leave my body thanks to a merciful Heavenly Father, a sexy husband who gives the best head rubs, and having my normal routine back in action.

So my friends, I am back! 

Now here is a little bit of our Holiday..a month later :)

The holidays began in early December and it did not end until January 9th. Talk about a long holiday. My side of the family came to our house the beginning of December to celebrate Christmas and though it was short, it was very sweet. Adam's family celebrations started on Christmas Eve with us acting as the hosts for dinner, dessert, and entertainment. We had a delicious ham dinner with a brown sugar-orange juice "gravy", mash potatoes, corn, pineapple bake, biscuits, and chocolate cake topped with vanilla ice cream for dessert. I must say, I was and still am very proud of my first Christmas Eve meal...everything came out as planned and tasted great! (Yes, I am patting myself on the back while smiling and nodding.)

Here are two shots from our time together:

Christmas morning was a relaxing time with the hubs and pup!

Christmas night was the beginning of two full weeks with Adam's family..all of them! His siblings from MN flew in with their beautiful children to bring in the New Year together as well as many aunts, uncles, and cousins. I am afraid a book would be written if I included everything we did for those two weeks so I will share some photos and hope it does the job for me!

New Years weekend was celebrated in a beautiful mansion built in the 1800's. It was the perfect gathering place for all of the family who traveled in from out of state. 

Here we all are ringing in the new year--Adam and I seem to be the only ones ready for the picture above and we seem to have been the only ones to spice it up in the photo below. Can you find us? ;)

Here is a group shot of everyone who came and trust me when I say, this is only half of the Holm family. Adam and I are on the left side first seated row from the top--just look for the curls!

After New Years, the extended family headed home and we had one week left with Adam's siblings and our nieces and nephews. Here are a few shots from our week.

One fun outing was taking a trip to Amazement Square, a children's interactive museum. It's safe to say both children and adults had a good time.

The week ended on a high note because my brother-in-law Alex performed the play Completely Hollywood Abridged. It was fantastic!

This lovely family photo was taken by Adam and I personally think it came out perfect! It will be printed and framed very soon.

The final holiday celebration was Adam's 26th birthday. No pictures were taken but we had a special night with two of our best friends and enjoyed a pancake dinner and a movie.

Phew, I am tired just reliving all of that--and there is still so much I did not write about! I am happy to be back in my normal routine and I cannot lie, it's nice having a quiet house again. Our time together was busy and memorable..here's to next Christmas and New Years!

Check back for Our Holiday: Part 2 where I will share some yummy recipes with you!

.Adam Everett.

Before I begin writing about our long holiday, there is one post in particular I must do first..

{It's this one!}

Happy 26th Birthday 

to my best friend, 

my husband, 

Adam Everett.

 You have become quite the man and have blessed my life tremendously! 

 I am proud of you..

I love you more every morning..

and..

I know you will give me the cutest babies in the world!

Happy Birthday Adam!

.Still Here.

Hi friends, I'm still here.

We have had family visiting for the past week and they will be here throughout the rest of this week. Posts will be coming back in action next week :)

Happy New Year!

.Little Things Bring Smiles Part 14.

The name of my blog is

Little Things Bring Smiles.

I chose this title because it is important to remember the little things in life and to rejoice in them. My reason for blogging is to share my life, all parts of it {including the good, the bad, and the ugly} along with my home, crafts, and DIY projects I complete. Each month I want to focus on the little things that brought smiles to my days. 

I would love for you to share your little things and see if they bring a smile to me, or another reader :)

 Here are my little things from December:

- Preparing our home for family visits

- Setting up our Christmas tree

- Decorating our home for Christmas

- Listening to Christmas music thanks to Pandora

- Starbucks dates with my love

- The cold weather

- Weekends with the girls

- Baking and crafting with the girls

- Buying Christmas presents for friends and family

- Heating blankets and coffee

- Brand new slippers from Target

- Celebrating Christmas with the Morrows

- Holding my niece Emma

- Playing and laughing with Emma

- Cooking meals for my family

- Hosting my first Christmas Eve dinner party

- Celebrating Christmas morning with my love

- Morning snuggles with Adam and our pup

- Watching as Adam played video games

- Late nights playing board games with friends/family

..the list could honestly go on and on, December was a fantastic month!

Always remember,

Little Things Bring Smiles!