Visitor, Birthday, & Crafts

This weekend we had a visitor & a birthday! EC, one of my very very best friends, flew in on Wednesday night and is flying out today.  We had such a relaxing weekend.  We drank lots of wine, wore our pj's more often than not, and made some beautiful crafts.  We haven't been able to just have some quality girl time together in the last few years.  She lives in Vegas and like myself, only makes it home for events.  So for the last 3 years I have only had the pleasure of seeing her three times, all three times we were busy little bees with events.  So this trip was amazing to be able to talk and talk and talk and talk and just hang out, it was perfection.  I did however, get sick! I caught a horrid head cold and was sick most of Friday, but I dealt and we had a good day. 

This weekend was also Bruce's birthday!  The big 2-7!!! He had to work a double the morning of, so that was a bummer, but EC had all of his gifts ready and also got him an array of donuts so he could eat and run to the bed! That day we baked and baked and baked. I accidental added too many ingredients and made WAY too much batter for his red velvet cake.  So not only did he have a double layer cake, but also two dozen cupcakes! But he loves the homemade cream cheese frosting, so they won't last too long! EC got him a McDonald's gift card, he LOVED that.. We don't eat out often and I hate McDonald's, so he is always excited to have an excuse to eat his favorite fast food. I got him tickets to the Avs game on Dec. 4th when they play his all-time favorite team, the Red Wings, he is beyond excited! Saturday, his day off, is when we celebrated! We made his favorite meal, a big steak and home made mac n' cheese.  And we also bought some spiced beer, bud light, and ingredients for some mixed cocktails.  We drank, ate, and played games, Bruce's perfection. 

The town we live in is super small and there isn't much to do, so we did a few crafts and put up our Christmas lights.  Bruce was laughing because so far we are the only house on our block that has our lights up, BUT in my defense this was the only weekend that we were available to put them up before Dec. 5th.  And I am SUPER CRAZY (and am not afraid to admit it) about Christmas! I would be so sad if the lights were not up the entire time possible.  So my wonderful hubby climbed the ladder and did the job beautifully, while EC and I fluffed wreaths. 

So all in all this past week was AMAZING! Here are a few pictures of crafts.....(there are more, but I am not going to upload the pictures until some are given away as gifts).  Also, our headboard project had to be postponed, but I will upload pictures when it is complete!

Hope everyone is well! We love and miss you all!
Love,
Bruce, Nichole, & Pudge xoxoxo

This is a jewelry holder made of flower pots.  I had some old orange flower pots and turned them useful. I painted the pots with 'distressed coal' paint and then glued them together and added ribbon to the bases.  Total cost was about $3 for the paint only, $10 if you have to buy the flower pots. You can find it here: http://pinterest.com/pin/2251868533290850/

This I made for Bruce's birthday, it's his 'man bouquet.'  He absolutely loved it! I just took a Styrofoam block, cut it to size and glued the candy boxes to all four sides.  Then I glued Popsicle sticks to each piece of candy and stuck in the top of the block, SO easy.  All things needed can be found at the dollar store.  Idea found here: http://pinterest.com/pin/2251868533272024/

Headboards

So my attention has been completely on our home lately.  We are into DIY projects, as it is way way way cheaper to do it this way.  So my latest obsession is with headboards.  I would like a new headboard, cloth to be exact.  I love the 'vintagy' look of cloth headboards, but they are SO expensive.  So thanks to Pinterest I have found a blog that has given very detailed directions on how to make your own for under $100.  Sooooooo the Mr. and Mrs. are going to try our luck! Ahhhhh, to be honest I am quite scared.  I love to complete small projects, and small always means super cheap, which gives me some comfort knowing that if I screw up, it's OK because I didn't spend much.  A headboard is a bit different.  It's the centerpiece of the bedroom........so basically just WISH US LUCK!!! We are going to need it!!! :)

Here is the link to the blog:  http://www.pepperdesignblog.com/?p=1200

And here is a picture of what we hope to accomplish! :-) (different color fabric) I will post pictures of our finished product, iiiiifffff we finish! LOL

Got my craft & cook on! :)

So today I decided to try my luck on a recipe Bruce has been dying for and some small apothecary-like vases......they both turned out just as planned!!! I was so excited!! Have I mentioned that I LOVE LOVE LOVE pinterest?! Both projects came from there!

For the apothecary vases I went to the dollar tree and used their small and medium candle sticks and small vases.  I clued the vase to the top of the candle sticks, that simple! I filled them will Q-tips and cotton balls and put them in our bathroom! They look great! I want to try a different, shorter and thicker, candle stick type, but they didn't have them at the dollar tree I looked at.  So of course I will stop at a dollar tree in Denver to see if they have them, I mean can't hurt right?! It's only a buck!!

This morning I made a delicious cinnamon bun casserole! It was so delicious and Bruce loved it! I took a pack of cinnamon buns and baked them according to their directions, cooled them, and pulled them apart. Put them in a baking dish and added the egg mixture (eggs, milk, sugar, and cinnamon).  After pouring the egg mix over the entire dish I cubed some butter and put them on top with some pecans. I covered and out it in the fridge for four hours, then baked at 350 for 50 mins. SO DELICIOUS & EASY!

I love crafty days! And days that I am able to bake and not burn anything!  I also made some scalloped potatoes, shake n' bake chicken, corn, and chicken stuffing for dinner! We finished laundry and got ready for the work week ahead, all and all a wonderful fall day! :)

Here are a few pictures of the fun today!  Hope all is well!

Love,
Bruce, Nic, & Pudge xoxo

Pinterest & update

Since the wedding has come and gone, I have maintained my interest in crafts.  I am by no means 'creative' but have definitely become more and more crafty.  I started with doing DIY projects for the wedding and now I am continuing with our home.  We love anything that we can make ourselves, so I am learning to incorporate our style into the projects I am doing.  So with this new interest comes a HUGE obsession with Pinterest.  I absolutely love love love it.  I am still trying to learn and am super hesitant to pin anything quite yet, but the ideas that you can get from this site are unbelievable! I feel more crafty just from taking a look each day.  If you haven't been there to take a look yet, GO NOW!! It's totally inspiring and you'll love it!

So moving on......Bruce and I are doing very well.  Last weekend we were plagued with my sickness.  One of our favorite holidays went to waste! I came down with the flu early Saturday morning and my wonderful hubby took very very good care of me.  Luckily by Monday evening I was feeling a ton better! We had originally bought 4 huge bags fun size candy, but were almost out by 7pm, which is when the trick-or-treating was suppose to be begin! We had early birds! :)  So Bruce ran out and bought 3 more bags, the biggest he could find! We had a fantastic time.  Pudge dressed up in his pumpkin costume and greeted all the kids.  He did accidentally knock over the neighbors granddaughter, he was just so excited to see her and she's little.  Needless to say, she got an extra special treat! We had a blast, and we loved seeing all the adorable kids.

This weekend we are heading to Grams house to visit and bring her wedding photos.  We are also going to an Avs game Sunday thanks to the free tickets from my boss.  We love hockey and I love the Avs, but Bruce is insisting on wearing his Wings jersey, bring on the harassing.   They are not playing the wings, but we will definitely hear it.  Should be a good time anyway. 

We are also planning on taking a trip to the mountains to get our 2011 Christmas photo for our cards, that's always a fun time! Soon we will be heading back to get our 2011 Christmas Tree, that's my absolute favorite! There's just something so amazing about hiking in the mountains to find a tree to bring home and fill your house with that amazing smell.  This is a tradition we hope to continue for many Christmas' to come!

Hope all is well!! We miss everyone very much!!

Love,
Bruce, Nichole, & Pudge xoxo