Divine Nature

In my church I serve the teenage girls in my ward by helping them pass off a program we have called the Personal Progress Program. (if you'd like to learn more about it go here.) In October the value I'm focusing on is Divine Nature. So of course I did what I always do when preparing for...anything...and I hopped on pinterest to try and get some ideas. I found a few cute things and I wanted to share what I came up with!

 The first idea I came across was this quote by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I LOVED this quote, I feel like it describes exactly what I want the girls to understand about their own divine destiny in God's plan. I saw all sorts of cute subway arts done with this quote, but they all cost money and...I'm cheap! So I made one of my own. I printed it off, stuck it in (a dollar store) frame, decorated it up a bit, and voila! A super cute framed art they can put up in their bedroom if they so desire!

  


The second thing I came across I can take absolutely NO credit for whatsoever. It's adorable and creative and NOT MY IDEA! Props to Shannon Christensen at Shannon's Studio for being so awesome and making up this adorable kit. 

It's called a Hugs & Kisses Kit. One of the experiences that is in the Personal Progress program is to "Make your home life better. For two weeks make a special effort to strengthen your relationship with a family member by showing love through your actions." Shannon came up with a this kit with ideas to do for your family member each day for two weeks! Adorable! She even has provided a free download if you want to make one for yourself. You can find the post on her blog here. Make sure to let her know if you download the file for yourself!

 Here's what one of the pages looks like. So fun!

I'm challenging my girls to do this for October! You should give it a try too...let's face it, we all could improve one relationship or another with our family...right?

Yummy Broccoli Cheese Soup

 I'm not a broccoli lover. In fact, I don't eat broccoli in any way shape or form...except in the soup. My brother-in-law, Norman, made this for us once at a family gathering and I actually begged him for the recipe. It was AMAZING! Even my 3 year old, who doesn't eat anything, likes this soup. Do you want the recipe? Here it is!

2 1/2 cups water

4 potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cups carrots, chopped (I get the ones that are pre-shredded)

 1 cup white onion, chopped

1 10 oz. pkg. chopped broccoli

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

3 chicken bullion cubes

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 Tbls. dry mustard

1 lb. velveeta cheese, cut into pieces

Boil water in a large pot. Add potatoes, carrots, and onion. Steam vegetables for about 20 minutes, then add broccoli. Steam again for about 7 minutes. While vegetables cook, in a separate pan, make a basic roux. Melt butter and add flour. Cook until it bubbles for 1 minute. Slowly add milk, chicken bullion cubes, pepper, and dry mustard. When mixture thickens and vegetables are cooked add cream mixture and velveeta cheese without draining vegetables. Stir until well mixed.

This soup is awesome served in bread bowls. It's creamy and chunky and really yummy. Perfect for the coming fall! Enjoy!

Hot/cold rice bag

On a quarterly-ish basis some good friends and I get together and have a favorite things party. We each think of something, a product, craft, item, etc., that we are just loving at the time and we bring enough to share with everyone at the party. We try to keep the party to around 10ish people so we aren't breaking the bank. It is a blast and so fun to do...you should try it. 

Anyway, so I'm pregnant right now...meaning my back hurts a lot. And often. Let's face it, being pregnant means I have aches and pains all over my body. One of my best friends during pregnancy is my heating rice bag. LOVE IT! So I chose my rice bag as my favorite thing. 

That meant that I had to make one for everyone...so I got on pinterest (yay for pinterest!) and found a pretty easy tutorial on how to make a rice bag. I found this tutorial from Make It and Love it and tweaked it a little to make it just a bit simpler. So here it is!

 

 You will need:

-Fabric rectangle cut to 19x12 inches.

-4 1/2 cups uncooked rice

-Your favorite essential oil (I used Wild Orange from Doterra, but any yummy smell will work).

-Sewing machine, thread, scissors, straight pins, etc. 

Take your fabric rectangle and fold in half so you have an 19x6 piece folded over. Sew right sides together along one short edge and the long edge using a 1/2" seam allowance so you create a tube.

Put 4 1/2 cups of rice in a bowl and about 6 drops of oil. Mix well. 

Put 1 1/2 cups of the rice in bag.

 Pin at about 6 inches.

 Sew along pins to create your first section. Repeat with second section.

 Once you've created two sections add your remaining 1 1/2 cups rice to the top section. Fold edges down about a 1/2" and pin well. Sew.

 It's not the easiest thing to sew with the rice in the bag so pin well and go slowly. 

And you have your very own rice bag. You can put it in the microwave for about a minute and enjoy the lovely scent of essential oils, or you can stick it in the freezer for a few hours and have a cold pack for bumps and bruises. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Dresser Redo

Don't you love yard sales? I'm a HUGE yardsaler. I was taught as a young girl that used and CHEAP is the way to go. I look for everything used. Or cheap. And I make it my own. 

I found this beauty at a yard sale a few weeks ago for $10! Holy cow! Real wood and everything, it just needed a little TLC. 

Before

 All sanded up and ready to paint.

 After.

It was so easy to do. I just took the (very dated) hardware off, gave it a light sanding all over, and painted it with white paint that I already had lying around. I got the new hardware at Home Depot for about $20 for all of it, and Voila...for about $30 it looks like a new dresser. 

I plan on putting it in my daughters room, but I want to personalize it just a little bit more...stay tuned for more fun things I'm going to do with this dresser!

About Me...Aubrey

This is me...One of my favorite things to do is create! I love redoing furniture, making cards, scrapbooking, sewing, cooking, organizing, YOU NAME IT! 

The thing I am before anything else is a wife and mommy. My husband Alan and I have 2 BEAUTIFUL girls and another one on the way. Our life is full of emotion and drama and we LOVE it!
I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as Mormon. I'm very proud of who I am and what I believe. If you have any questions feel free to ask or you could also visit mormon.org to learn more.

I was born and raised in Southern Utah and I'm still here. I love everything about where I live (except maybe the bad drivers...) and don't plan on going anywhere soon. 

On my blog you will see a little bit of me...everything to do with what I do. I hope you enjoy!