Magnet tutorial

So a couple of people have requested I put up a tutorial about how to make those magnets. However, I'm not going to, because my sister already did! So instead of retyping it all, here is a link to her blog where she thoroughly explains the process (she also tells how to make the chalk board too). Thanks Jan for letting me steal your tutorial!

Glass marble magnets

Just a few tips, I got all of my supplies at Roberts and my sister in law who made these got her supplies at Michaels. So either place should have the stuff. At Roberts they had two sizes of the glass marbles, I got the larger size (about 1 1/2 in.). The circles we glued on I made on my cricut, I believe I made them 1 1/4 in.

One other thing, I found the glass marbles in like the mosaic section... maybe? I think they might also be in the section where they have glass vases and fake floral, because you can use them to fill vases. That type of thing. I also saw something like them at a really random place, the Down East furniture store (by some vases).

Good luck! And if you have questions I'd be happy to help, but they are pretty easy. It's really just a matter of gluing cute paper on the back of flat glass marbles :)

sister crafts

While my sisters were here we made crafts! Yay! I love crafts :)

First we made cute glass magnets (idea from my sister in law, Katie):

These are Jannifer's. We just used cute paper for the backing. I made some for my mother in law with all of her grandkids faces in them for Christmas this year. And now i'm kind of thinking of making some valentines day ones too.

And then we made chalkboards. Noelle and I made menus for weekly dinner and Jannifer just wanted a chalkboard for notes:

Jannifer's.

mine :)... i didn't get a picture of noelle's, but it is similar to mine.

And here it is written on. Very functional! I even got a cute little picture stand at walmart to hold it up. p.s. i love planning out meals, you spend way less at the grocery store that way :).

Welcome 2011

This past weekend my 2 sisters and their husbands came to visit us for New Years.  We had such a fun time with them!  I love that we are all married now, it makes it really fun to hang out (and luckily all of our husbands get along well).  We did lots of things like... went to the Orange Peel (my favorite St. George treat), got Nielsen's frozen custard (Dan's favorite St. George treat), ate at the Bear Paw (a great breakfast place here), went to the St. George downtown New Years Eve Celebration (and froze... but the magician made it all worth it!), watched Dick Clark, ate more junk food (this was all before the New Year healthy eating kicked in), shopped the outlets, hiked in Snow Canyon, played games, went to Texas Roadhouse (yum! honey butter!), did crafts (just the girls, the boys watched football).  It was definitely a full weekend and lots of fun!

Here's a few pics I snapped during the weekend:

Danny, Jared & Dan.  At the New Years Eve celebration.

The girls: Jannifer, Me & Noelle.  I think it was about 20 degrees that night... freezing for St. George!  Although Northern Utah was in the single digits, I think.

The sand dunes at Snow Canyon!  The sand was so soft, if only it was warm.  Still fun to play in though.

Noelle.  She is cute.

hiking!  ok i'm really not all that outdoorsy, so we kept the hikes simple.  My sister Jannifer loves hiking, she has been to Snow Canyon about 4 times.  I told her to find me an easy hike :).

Climbing the rocks.  Noelle, Jannifer & Danny.

Jared & Dan, kung fu face off.

Jared, Dan & Danny... karate kid pose!

Thanks for coming sisters & brothers-in-law!  We had a great weekend!

Healthy Snacks

Like many people, Dan and I have a New Year's Resolution to get in better shape.  We are starting to eat healthier (which means mostly cutting out desserts and things made from white flour) and exercise nightly (at least during the weekdays, weekends are a different story...).  Anyhow, I have been looking for healthy snack ideas because I am a big snacker.  I prefer to eat smaller meals frequently (which is actually better for you).  So... anyone out there have any suggestions of healthy snack ideas?  I'd love to hear them!

While shopping I found these:

Bunny Snacks!  I thought I'd show them to all of you, especially you parents who are looking for something a little healthier for your kids.  Granted they are probably not super healthy, but they are all natural (no preservatives) and contain whole wheat.  They are similar to teddy grahams but, I would think, better for you.  They have other flavors and sell cheddar bunnies too (similar to goldfish).  So I bought some... for me :).  And they taste good!  I just got them at Walmart and they are pretty comparable in price to the other brands.

So... any other healthy snack choices?  Feel free to share ideas in the comments section.  It would be greatly appreciated!

Christmas

Ok I am finally getting around to blogging about Christmas. It has been a busy past few weeks, but I am excited for this new year! As for Christmas it started out a week before Christmas when Dan told me he got me too many presents so he wanted me to open half of them. And so I did...

Early Christmas for me!

And then for real Christmas we drove up to my parent's house in Saratoga Springs. We had family dinners, went to see movies, played games, and enjoyed a party with my high school friends... but I didn't really take pictures of any of that. The only pictures I snapped were Christmas morning.

Dan with his Wii. He was excited and I really surprised him! He didn't give me any ideas of what he wanted for Christmas but I figured how could I go wrong with video games? Plus it's a fun thing to do together. I'm not big into video games, but Wii actually has some games that don't take much skill. Meaning I occasionally beat Dan at them :).

My Dad opening presents. We got him Toy Story 3. He never saw it because he was on a mission, so we figured we'd get him up to date on the good movies that came out while he was away.

My mom holding a picture of her grandkids. She loves presents like this!

Christmas morning! Dan got me a Bosch. Which I love! I have already used it a lot. I told him I wanted a Bosch or a Kitchenaid, I didn't care which one. He went with the Bosch because it has a blender attachment and Kitchenaid doesn't (we really needed a new blender!). It is also more compact and I don't have much space in my kitchen right now. So it's perfect. If you are looking into getting a mixer I would highly recommend Bosch. They are known for lasting forever! :)

I took a picture of these cute treats my sister in law, Katie, put on top of our present from them. Thanks again, Tim & Katie & Chase & Riley! My sister in law is seriously so amazing at making the cutest things in the kitchen.

Last picture, Dan playing with the top my Dad gave him. My Dad got them for all of the boys b/c not many people have tops anymore or know how to throw them. Dan has wanted to learn so it was a great gift for him! He's getting better at it.

We had a really fabulous Christmas and it was especially great to spend Christmas with my parents, who I was not able to see the past 2 Christmases due to their mission. Thanks for letting us stay at your home, mom & dad! I really feel blessed that we were able to spend time with great family and friends and that we were able to afford such nice gifts. Life is good! I hope all of you had an amazing Christmas spending time with your loved ones too.