Sole Hope

So Kim and I last year went to a Sole Hope event and this inspired her to want to host one of her own. So for Christmas I made her a banner for it and thought today I'd share it with all of you.

So first off y'all might be wondering what Sole Hope is. It's a none profile that makes shoes out of jeans for children in Uganda to help prevent Jiggers getting into their feet. At the Sole Hope Events they have cutting partied where you take jeans and cut out the shoe patterns from them. Then they get sent off to be made into shoes. So for Kim's future party I made a banner based off the jeans concept. You can use colored jeans to make the shoes just as well as traditional blue jeans. So here is the banner and I'll explain how I went about making it and why I used what I did to make it.

Tada! It's Jean pockets! I simply cut out the back pockets of the jeans. I picked up these colorful ones at goodwill. Made sure they were in nice conditions since I planned to give Kim the rest of the jeans for making shoes. So after cutting them out I had to figure out what order I'd like them in. I just laid them out on the table and played with what colors I liked next to each other. When buying the pants I tried to pick colors that would look nice together. 

After figuring out the order I took white fabric paint and free handed the letters leaving the O in hope blank. Here is a close up look. 

For the O in hope I wanted to match the Sole Hope symbol they use. So I took a screen shot of it on my tablet and then sized it to the size I needed and traced it to paper. I then cut out the tracking and laid it on the pocket and traced it onto the pocket with the white fabric paint. Once I had my out line how I liked it I just brushed the paint into the center of each peice. My white fabric paint was that good Ole puff paint from the 80s our moms used to make sweatshirts with. So I had to brush it smooth or it would have been very puffy. Here is a close up of it. 

Then I took some rope and laid it out and placed the pockets under it to see how long I would need it to be and how I'd like my spacing to be. After I got that all figured out I cut the rope. I then used safety pins to attach the pockets to the rope. You see with each pair of shoes you cut out you pin together the pieces  with a safety pun that then travels with the shoes to Uganda where they will use that safety pin to remove the Jiggers from the child's feet and place the shoes on their clean feet and clean the pin then they use the pin to pin information on the childs shirt on how to prevent Jiggers so when they get home their parents too can be educated on it. 

I hope you all have enjoyed learning a little and seeing a fun craft that has many meanings to it. I'll put a link to Sole Hope here for you to read more if your curious to learn more or about hosting your own party. 

http://www.solehope.org/

August Stitch Fix #3

August Stitch fix #3
So this go around I decided to go more casual clothing and boy was that a great choice. And a choice I think I will be sticking with for a while. While I love dressing up and being all cute, it was just not as fuctional in my day to day living. So thanks to a good friend who showed me her awesome stitch fixes and explained she requests casual wear I was inspired to do the same.

First item, Renee C
Alecia Abstact print maxi dress size L-$68

So I loved all the colors on this dress, and the chevron. But it was not flattering on and my Fiancé was not a fan at all. Of it. It was comfy and easy to wear. But would have required heels and with Neil only be a touch taller than me I have started to get away from wearing heels. So in my notes I made sure to put a request for no more maxi dresses, as much fun as they can be, they just won't work in this stage of life. 

Second item, Gentle Fawn

Tulalip Split Neck Top size L-$54

So this was comfy but the arm holes were way to big and it fit big too. This was my fiancé's lease favorite item in my box. Other wise it would have been a cute top for our camping trip. 

Third item, Liverpool

Mira Skinny Jeans size 12-$78

I'm wearing them in the above picture. 

They were amazing beyond comfy and looked great on. I am wearing them with my other two items as well. I cuffed them because they were a touch long but I thought it made them all the cuter. Sadly I sent them back because of the price. This box landed during a tight budget and thus I could not justify the price. 

Fourth item, Papermoon 

Georgie Knit Tank size L-$38

I loved this one so much. It's soft and comfy and I loved the flow of it. I wore a cami under it and it looked great with the Mira Skinny Jeans. Neil liked it too. I kept this one. 

And last but not least...

Fifth item, Papermoon 

Cresson Knit Top size L-$38

This was my most favorite item from my box. It's super comfy and looked great on me. It will be perfect as the nights start getting cooler with fall. 

So that was my August box. I hope this will help anyone looking for ideas for their future boxes.

Oh and for those wondering this is my future living room I'm standing in. We painted it yellow recently. The door way with the curtain behind me leads to the rest of the house. We put the curtain up to keep the AC in in bedroom and living room as its a window unit and can't cool more than that. We are still in the works of getting the house all set up. But we move all my stuff up Labor day weekend and that will be a big step to get it more our home and not a Batchelor pad. 

Thanks for reading. And I promise I have more fun posts coming that have nothing to do with boxes in the mail. 

4th of July

I know this is a bit late but I wanted to share the crafts and dessert made this Independence Day.

First our dessert.
I took this recipe and altered it just a little. Instead of the gnash I did blue frosting. And sprinkled a few white pearl sprinkles to get the white for the red white and blue.

It was very yummy, but I did over bake the red velvet part, since your turning the cake mix into brownies you should pull it out a touch early. And it will cook some in the pan after you pull it out of the oven. 

Now to our crafts. We did fireworks using bendy straws. I took straws and taped them together and then we dipped them in paint and stamped them on paper. I was inspired by a pin I came across on pinterest. 

We also did a foot print flag. He was very excited about it. I recommend starting at the right side and moving left. We did it the opposite and after realized it would have been a little easier the other direction. We did a hand print for the blue section. 

I hope everyone had a great 4th!

Graze Box

Graze Snack Box $6.99 

You can choose how frequently you receive them. Weekly, biweekly or once a month. I'm doing once a month at the moment. 

So the box is super cute. And this is their small 4 snacks box. 

Here are the 4 snacks I recived.

As you can see you grade the snacks after trying them. You can go through there whole inventory of snack options and mark trash to any you know  you won't want to try. And any that you want to try the most you can check the send soon box below your rating. So of these three items the cracked black pepper cashews was my favorite and the herb bread basket was good too. Was not a fan of the everything bagel. And have not tasted the honey drizzled cashews yet. 

Here is what the box looks like opened. 

I was a little disappointed that the snacks were a bit smaller than I expected they would be. I'm going to do one more box and see how I feel about it after that. I'll be,sure to share again with all of you. 

If you should decide to try it feel free to use my code and earn free boxes. Here is my code

NPG2NLVRP

graze.com/us

June Stitch Fix

So I had been hearing a ton about Stitch fix and decided I would try it out for myself. Got my first box in May and figured out real quickly I needed to be more specific in my requests. I did keep one dress from the first box. So when I got my second box last weekend I knew I wanted to share my experience with y'all.

Here is the dress I kept from my first box.

If those who don't know what stitch fix is I'll explain it the best i can. 

So they have a profile you fill out with your sizes, price range and style. And you will get assigned a style professional who will hand pick you 5 items to be placed in your box. There's clothing, jewelry, scarves and handbags. You can opt not to receive some things. Like myself I've chosen to only get clothing and no accessories. 

You can then choose how often you'd like to receive your box. I get mine once a month sent to my Fiancé house. So he can help me decided on items. There is a $20 styling fee with each box but it is taken off the price of the things you decide to keep. Always try everything on. You'd be amazed how some items look very different on than they do laying flat. After I try them all on, I decide what to keep and what to send back. They send you a bag to send the items back in. If you keep all 5 items you get a 25% discount on your purchase. 

    

So here is my June fix.

#1 

Skies are Blue

Scribe Ruffle Front Blouse -Large $48

I loved the color and was so excited to try it on. 

but after I tried it on I did not like how it fit. Just kinda hung funny and the ruffles did not lay right. I also could tell it would require ironing and I knew that would rarely happen. So it was returned. 

#2 

Fun2Fun

Gesto Crochet Trim Blouse -Large $44

I loved the color and was also very excited for this one. But it was WAY to small, I'm not sure even a size medium person would fit in it. And when I tried it on for my fiancé he pointed out that it was very see through. No picture of me wearing it since it was so tight and see through. 

So it was returned. 

#3

41Hawthorn 

Filbert Abstract Striped Henley Blouse -Large $58

This top I had seen on pinterest and loved it on there so I was excited to see it in my box. I was so so about it after trying it on. It puckered just a touch at the buttons. But the fabric is beyond soft and I loved that. I later tried it on for my Fiancé and he hated it. So that pushed my thoughts on it sone. Ultimately I could not convince myself it was worth keeping when he did not like it and I did not love it. 

So it was returned. 

#4

Pixley

Mille Textured Dress -Large $68

We both loved this dress! It was cute and very comfy. It was a touch to small. Could not quite get the zipper all the way up. But I contacted stitch fix to exchange it for the next size up.

so it was kept. 

And last but not least 

#5

Le Lis 

Tessa Lace Detail Dress -Large $74

I thought this one was cute, but it was a lot like the dress I kept in my last fix and my fiance again did not like this one. It fit very well and was comfy. I would recommend it to others as well. But with both of those things counted against it I decided to return it. 

I did style it with a belt that made it cuter. 

All photos taken by my Fiancé who was lounging on the couch thus the slightly odd angle of the picture. 

I hope you all have enjoyed my sharing of my stitch fix box. And if you have any questions feel free to ask. 

Here's a link to my referral for stitch fix should any of you chose to try it out. 

Meet Nolan

Hello Friends!

Things are going well here in Nashville. I'm enjoying it alot. Found a church I love. and discovering new parts of my town each time i go out. But best of all my job here is wonderful! So I thought today i'd introduce to you my new little man, Nolan!

these range from one month old to three month old.

I've already started doing crafts with him.

Heart foot prints for Valentine's Day

Thumb and toe print clovers for St.Patrick's Day

Baby Chick for Easter

and here is Sofie Nolan's buddy.

i've also done some backing at work too.

1. Red Velvet White Choc. Chip cookies (minus food coloring) Recipe

2. french toast pound cake (think would be awesome with Choc. drizzled and whip cream)

3. Coke-Cola Cake (Sorry not great pic) Recipe

4.Chocolate Lasagna Recipe

Moving Update!

So I  just realized its been Foooooorever since i updated you all on my move to Nashville. so here is an update!

1.last i believe i shared was packing up my apartment and moving back in with my parents temporarily till i moved up to Nashville with the Boylans.

2. i am not going to be working for the Boylans like we thought. Brandon is going to continue the stay at home dad thing for a while. But i still felt God calling me to Nashville. This again shows Gods plans are rarely our plans.

3. So the boylans have graciously offer to let me stay with them temporarily should I find a job in Nashville. 

4. I started the job hunt...and thanks to my great friend Carol i cot connected with Greenhills Nanny Agency Andrea there is Awesome and i highly recommend them to anyone seeking a nanny or a nanny job!

5. I started driving to Nashville for interviews quite frequently.  interviews turned out to very useful for me to realize what i really wanted in a job/family and that was great/

6. I got a job! I got the call Friday and was es-tactic. i had interviewed twice with this awesome family and had been praying for the job a lot too. They are due with their first child a boy on Dec. 30th.  So i will start in February part time and then in March i'll go to full time. i figure it will be at the earliest end of March that i'll be getting an apartment. But I'm so thankful i'll be able to stay with the Boylans to get familiar with the area and to find a great apartment.

so there is the latest update on the move! and i'm really going to "try" to post some yummy goodies and other  things in the next few coming weeks.