They Say It's Your Birthday....

...da-da-da-dah-dah!

Holy CUPCAKES!!!  Now that we live pretty far away from ALL of our family members....we have got to be "on-the-ball" with sending B-Day cards....thus my mass production of 'de cupcake cards....in ALL colors!

Yep - pretty much something for EvErYoNe!

Ummm....Holly...no peeking!! :)

"Lucky You....To Be Married To ME!!"

I found this CUTE idea HERE....and decided this was the PERFECT gift to place in my husband's car in the morning...

Download sign HERE!

(There's a front & a back....I cut them out and glued them together.)

I found a smaller paint can at Michael's for only $2.99...and filled it with some of Jamie's FAVORITE treats...that were St. Patrick's Day colors, of course!!

A CLOSER look at the YUMMY treats...

I had some scrapbooking paper left over from my "Luck Blocks" and I quickly decorated the top...

....and I am FULLY expecting a HU-MONG-O kiss for this!! {WINK}

Have a WoNdErFuL St. Patrick's Day!!

 

The SURPRISE Is Revealed!!

Ok...ok....so I can FINALLY tell ya all what my girlz and I have been working on!

After marriage....we all think that since we MARRIED our Prince Charming....than of course we are all going to live HAPPILY ever after...RIGHT!!

Things get crazy and life never seems to slow down! I found that although I love my husband even MORE than when we got married (...if that is even possible...) we were slacking in the dating department!!

I came up with a plan...and got a bunch of my amazing friends to join in.....and we created a blog called:

We will be posting a BRAND new creative date every week! We are all taking turns....and we will also be sharing fun gift ideas we do, success stories, marriage tips, etc. I also gathered all of our love stories together and I will be highlighting a love story each month.

OH - and I am also super proud of this project because I really wanted this blog to reflect a FUN girly vibe...and I couldn't find a blog layout that I LOVED.....so I decided to learn HOW to create a blog layout...and I actually designed it myself! I feel like I have been to a website design school for the past three weeks...but it's definitely worth it!

This craft blog and my personal blog will be getting makeovers next! :)

Click HERE to go to our "Date Blog."

My NEW "Secret" Project...

I have been M.I.A. again....and it's because I am onto ANOTHER project. But THIS one is going to be a secret until it's ready to be revealed.....

I am SOOOO excited about this.

{{SQUEAL with delight!!}}

It's not a craft, but it's definately something that I think the majority of you will be interested in!

I recruited a BUNCH of my friends...and it will be "revealed" in three more weeks....JUST in time for Valentine's Day! You are all DYING to know what it is, huh!! Well....

...the picture above is the only hint I am going to leave you with....

...until then...

Lotsa Luv, Tara

Our FAV Present We Did This Year!

Homemade Christmas Post #8:

Jamie & I wanted to do something really special for our parents for Christmas this year...and we were SO pleased with the results! I got the idea from another blogger....which I highlighted HERE. We made these presents from SCRATCH!!

We decided to spell "Mother" and "Father" for my parents....since there are SIX kids (six letters...) and "Mom" and "Dad" for his parents since they have three kids in their family.

We purchased the letters at Michael's...and made (with cardboard and spray paint) the letters they didn't have in stock. Then - over the Thanksgiving Break...we took pics of our brothers & sisters with the letters...

My brothers & sisters...

We then found a local guy who has a wood-working shop & had him cut some boards for us and cut out a design around the edges. (One day, I would LOVE to own all of those tools that he had!! For now....good 'ole Mike will be our "wood guy".)

I photoshopped the pics...with my ever-expanding photoshopping skills...(if you are a pro - do NOT laugh!!) and printed the final products at Costco.

We painted, sanded, and stained the boards....and then modge-podged the picture....

Here is my mom with hers...

My dad with his....

LOVED how the "mom" & "dad" turned out!! These are Jamie's siblings.

(We put the spouses in....of course!!)

Final products....do I need a NEW camera or what?? They look YELLOW!!

Jamie's parents with their presents. This was our FIFTH pic of them...they kept laughing and his dad kept covering his face...

They seriously looked amazing and when we are done with OUR family....I am SO doing this for Jamie!

HINT: If you do this...make sure NO ONE is wearing white! That is our only regret....but we still loved it!

A Present for My Dreamer...

Homemade Christmas Post #7:

Those of you who have been faithful readers....know that my hubby decided to go back to school to become a Teaching Golf Pro. We moved from the four seasons of Utah to Sin City VEGAS...so he can go thru UNLV's Golf Program. We gave up our friends, family, beautiful home (that we built together), huge yard, awesome neighborhood & neighbors, and amazing ward so he could follow his dreams.

...and ya know...I would do it ALL over again!!

I knew early on that my passion was to teach....and I was able to accomplish those goals long ago. It was HIS turn and although I want more than anything to be a stay-at-home mom....I am glad I am able to work right now to support his decision to go back to school and I am SOOOOO proud of him!

We had this GREAT picture frame (that I found a KILLER deal on, of course...) and I had the BEST idea on what to do for Jamie for Christmas...

I searched for meaningful quotes on following your dreams....and I found the perfect one!

I was SOOOOOO excited to give it to him! I seriously get MORE excited about giving people presents than I do about receiving them!

It's now hanging in our bedroom as a reminder that dreams CAN come true!

LOVE you, babe!

Perfect RM Present...

Homemade Christmas Post #6:

The youngest in my family, my brother - Brady, recently returned home from his two-year church mission to Mexico. I am the ONLY one (out of six kids) in our family who DIDN'T serve a mission. Crazy, huh! I think Brady was the most faithful "letter-writer" out of all the siblings! He diligently wrote a letter home EVERY single week!

His letters became a little more difficult to read as he learned Spanish....and started mixing up his English and Spanish...while writing these letters. We often had to try to guess on what he was trying to say. :)

Jamie & I decided to put all of his letters into Word format, add the date, fix all of the mistakes, put all of the letters in sheet protectors.....and present it to him as a Christmas present. Since he shared a TON of amazing experiences in his letters....it's kinda like a journal.

I scrapbooked a cover and the title for the spine...

Jamie (my husband) was SUCH a great help when it came to helping with editing the letters...and getting them organized into the correct order...

He loved it....and WE loved rereading all of his humorous and spiritually uplifting stories! Win-win situation!!

P.S. He is ALSO single....and attending BYU in Provo, UT. You can tell yer l'il sistas & family members about HIM as well. {WINK}

Blocks For My "Teacher" Sis...

Homemade Christmas Post #5:

My l'il sis, Ashley, is a school counselor & I thought it would be fun to help her decorate her office!! They turned out adorable! There is supposed to be vinyl on the black block that says, "...is cool!!" AND there will be vinyl that says "No.2" on the pencil...but I ordered it from my fav vinyl gal....and it wasn't the right size. (My bad!!)

Here are some UP-CLOSE pics of the letters....

My CUTE l'il sis after opening them....

I have a set for myself, too!! I need to get on it! My classroom is needing that extra touch!

MORE Fab Frames!

Homemade Christmas Post #4:

THIS was one of my favorite presents! I wanted to keep it! (I know, I know...that thought only lasted for a moment....or two....)

Jamie's sister, Jen, was married a year after us, and I had her send us the "color scheme" of their home....and this is what I came up with...

I have made a few of these before.....but I LOVED the dark inking around the edges of the cream frame....I have to give the credit to Jamie! He thought it needed to be a little more dramatic...and he was right!

An "up-close & personal" of the scrapbooked section...

The couple themselves!

PiCtUrEs GaLoRe...

Homemade Christmas Post #3:

Jamie & I found KILLER deals on some frames at Michael's during their "Black Friday" sale...and they were PERFECT for what we wanted to do for his brother, Josh, and one of my little brothers - Shaylor!

Originally we wanted to have the quotes on vellum paper on top of the pictures....but it was REALLY hard to see the pics, so I ended up "scrapbooking" the quotes above and below each of the pictures and they turned out great.

Here is Josh with the picture of Christ.....and a quote that Jamie picked out.

My l'il...er....younger brother, Shaylor, is the MOST adventurous person in our family! He is becoming QUITE the avid rock climber....OH....and he's single (and at BYU-Idaho)...tell all of your little sisters!

We thought a picture of him rock climbing...combined with one of his favorite quotes....would be a GREAT present. (Quote: "People who say it cannot be done, should not interrupt those who are doing it.")

Here he is with his present.....isn't he a CUTIE!! He's pretty tall, too....spread the word to the l'il sistas! Oh - and he's a RM!! :)