Congrats Glenn and Lesley

Im so excited, my brother Glenn, and his girlfriend, Lesley just got engaged!

 He did a wonderful job on the proposal, he even hired a photographer to capture the moment:

My parents had a little get together for them with all their friends, so of course I wanted to have some fun decorating! I had seen a couple ideas online that I wanted to try out. 

One was yarn balls....not balls of yarn!

This is a simple craft, but messy...fun and messy!

Items needed:

yarn (I used 2 different colors)

a bag of balloons: I used 5 inch round balloons to make smaller yarn balls

Mod Podge, see my last post on how to make homemade CHEAP mod podge

Instructions:

1. Blow up, and tie a balloon. I only blew it up a little, because I wanted it to be round, and not oblong.

2. Did the yarn in the mod podge mixture.

3. Begin wrapping the balloon with the yarn. You want to leave areas where the balloon is not completely covered. 

4. After you have the balloon covered as much as you wish, squeeze the excess glue off of the yarn ball.

5. leave out overnight to dry.

6. Once the ball is completely dry, you can take a pin and pop the balloon.

Whaala!

You have a yarn ball.

You can place them on the table for decoration, hang them from fishing string, place them in a basket...let your creative juices flow!!

The engagement lunch was so much fun, while I was busy decorating, my love was makin the burgers!

Happy Engagement Glen and Les...we love you guys!

Ordinary Glue

I have come to realize that in creating fun crafty projects, that there has been a common ingredient:

This is true, whether its creating a mosiac with scrap paper, making a fun photo frame, tile coasters...Mod Podge is a must. Since it can be pretty expensive, I decided to make my own...and it works!

Homemade Mod Podge:

Ingredients:

1 jar with twice the volume as the glue that has a lid. (I bought mine from Hobby Lobby when it was half off for $1.10

3 regular size white glue bottles. (I bought off brand from walmart for 29 cents.)

Water

How to:

1. Pour the glue from all three bottles into the jar.

2. Fill the now empty bottles of glue with water.

3.Pour the water in the glue bottles into the jar.

4. Fasten the lid on the jar and shake.

Walla! 

A Jar of Mod Podge

Cost: 1.97, this includes the jar, so each batch of Mod Podge will only cost me:

.87

As much as I use this, its a HUGE savings!

Ordinary Cabinets

About a month ago, Kellen and I were driving to my parents house to have dinner. Kellen, my thrifty hubs, spotted a pile of cabinet fronts sitting out by the road. Now, most people would call this pile, trash, but to Kellen it was sturdy wood, and lots of knobs to be reused on furniture. So we stopped on the busy street, put the hazards on, and started piling some into the trunk. After a couple minutes, I convinced him that we had enough, and dinner was waiting. Kellen's treasure was only about three minutes away from my parents, so once we got there, Kel convinced my dad to go back with him and load the rest up.

So we started brainstorming what all we could use the cabinets for...and this is what we came up with....

Wallla! 
Its a Fun and Funky Chalkboard! 

Here is the simple how-to:

1.Strip the cabinet front using paint thinner and a scrub brush.
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2. Paint the outer and inside molding (We chose black and pink).

3. After the paint is dry, use painters tape and  cover the inside molding. (pink)

3. While the paint is drying, we made our own chalkboard paint.(See recipe below)

4. paint the flat surface with the chalkboard paint, after the paint is dry remove the tape.

5. Mod Podge wrapping paper between the two moldings.

Chalkboard Paint
If you haven't noticed, chalkboard paint is pretty expensive. However, I did a little research (thanks to Pintrest) and found a super easy way to make the paint extremely cheap!

1. 1 cup of paint (any color)
2. 2 Tablespoons of tile grout.  White Dry, non sanded tile grout. I found mine at Home Depot for five bucks and some change.

Mix the two together. Make sure there are not any clumps, and then paint! (We used a foam roller, and the paint went on really smooth)

This is so easy, and fun...the possibilities are endless!

We are in the process of making about twenty chalkboards, all different colors and patterns....the best thing, all the materials were recycled!

I would love to be a part of a craft show, however, I'm finding that its too late for the fall shows. Registration for a lot of them was over in June. Oh well, maybe an Etsy store? any ideas??

Discovering the Heights

This fourth of July was a bit different than years past. Normally the two weeks prior to the big day, parking lots and side streets are sporadically filled with:

However, while the northern half of the country has been experiencing heavy rains, we have to manually water our grass, and we are in a drought. So, consequently, they were all:

I must admit, it seemed a bit odd not to hear the popping of black cats or the screeching of the lightning bug. However, we made the most of it and went out with my brother Glenn and his girlfriend, Leslie.

Glenn took us to a really cool pub in the Heights called Taps (http://www.tapshouseofbeer.com/).  Pulling up to the entrance, Kel was ecstatic to see the epic barrel entrance (featured below).  Now, I have to preface this. I am not a beer drinker. Kellen desires for me to enjoy the brewskies, and I try, but usually after the third sip, I've had about all I can handle. Im definately the fruity drink type. However, as I walked in and saw the 82 beer taps, I was certian I could find something that was decent. So.... I actually found a beer I liked, it's...drumroll, this is a huge deal (well, I think it is)....pear ale, yes...It was delightfully refreashing! (btw-Kel says its not a real beer!)

The best thing about Taps is that they have two patios with really fun games....corn hole, a gigantic connect four, and an oversized jenga! We had to try them all.

Houston put on a thirty minute firework display downtown. Glenn's job allowed their employes and families to watch the display from the top floor of the parking garage. So after all the games, we headed to watch the fireworks with all the other Houstonions. Thanks Glenn and Les for inviting us! We had a great night!

Sabbath

So lately I have been thinking about the word Sabbath. More so now than when I was single, I find myself in need of a sabbath. Maybe because when you are married, there is always someone around, and I find myself unable to just read, pray, and journal like I used too. I used to be so disciplined when it came to reading and working out. Ugh.

Do other people have this problem post wedding? I am almost through with a biography of Amy Carmichael. She was quite a fasinating lady, someone whom I greatly respect. Reading about all her missionary ventures leaves me with an itch to travel.( Ill probuably write more in a later post)  Anyways, I am trying to incorporate more sabbaths in our lives.

 What does sabbath look like for you?

I would love to get others thoughts.

Weekend O' Fun!

Usually our weekends consist of  going here and there, meeting with people, cleaning, and the never ending list of things to do. However, This past weekend was actually really relaxing.

Friday night we spent the evening cleaning out the garage, now to a normal person, this probuably wouldn't be too fun, but to me, I love organization. When the house is clean, I can be much more relaxed. WHen the house is in chaos, I feel like my whole world is a mess. :) Saturday, I actually did my first ever cleanse. Im really needing to get back to working out and wanted to jump start the new lifestyle by  getting rid of some of the junk! Well, lets just say that I stayed in for the day!!

I moved to Copperfield about three years ago, and I had yet venture the pool...until Sunday night. Im so excited that our pool is open till 9pm every night. (Its not so dang hot!!) Kellen mastered the grill and made some yummy kabobs. (I was impressed, he even went to the store to get some fresh veggies, and pineapple.) Last minute, We had the Baileys over, and then all 7 of us went to the pool. It was quite a fun night full of diving boards, slides, and noodles. I hadn't jumped off a diving board in YEARS!  I think we shall return to the neighboorhood pool!

I promise this blog will not be a play by play of our life....stay tuned!

Blog?

Yes, the Kapsars now have a blog. :)

Kellen and I both have so many friends and family that live far, and some near that we just don't get to chat it up as much as we would like, so hopefully this blog will help us stay more connected, or at least let you know what we are up too!

Im also hoping that we can display some of our thrify DIY projects. Both Kellen and I love creating! Whether it be furniture, cheap recipes for home remedies, or fun art, working on  projects is very therapuetic for us both. please follow us as we venture to show how our little ordinary world is full of beauty!!