Welcome Flower Pot

Hey Everyone!
I hope that you all are having a fabulous week. This week has been quite hectic for me. Three words: Vacation Bible School. Any one who has helped their church decorate or has coordinated anything for VBS can probably relate to how busy it can get. My dining room is currently filled with fake safari crates, fake vines, and a DIY palm tree. My husband will admit to loving the new decor though. He's from Brazil, so he's loving the tropical feel that we have going on in here right now. I wouldn't go as far as saving I want to keep the palm tree in the dining room, but I don't mind living with it for a few days before we take it to the church! I am super happy right now though, since I am relaxing on my couch, curled up in my favorite holey quilt writing to you all.

There is not a whole lot that I love more than my Silhouette Cameo, and flowers. And since I can't stick vinyl on flower petals, I decided to stick it on the pot. I bought this solid white ceramic pot from Lowe's a few months back, and it was the perfect candidate for some vinyl. I mean let's be honest, it was practically asking for it.

Click Here to Download Chub Gothic!

Chub Gothic is my very favorite basic font. I use it every time I just need a bold, easy to read font.

- - - Steps to make your very own 'Welcome' Pot - - -
(Using a Silhouette Cameo or Cricut)

1. Measure the face of your pot lengthwise. I measured mine to where the letters wouldn't wrap around too much. I wanted the letters to all be visible from the front view. I believe that mine measured 8".
2. Using my silhouette software, I changed my 'welcome' text to the font, Chub Gothic, then scaled the entire word to 8" long. 
3. Then, I cut out the text using black outdoor vinyl from Expressions Vinyl. I have found that the perfect blade length for my machine is a blade length of 2, speed of 10, and pressure set at 8.
4. After taking out the negative space, I applied my transfer tape to the decal, then rubbed it onto the pot.
5. Then I peeled off my transfer tape, and marveled at it's cuteness!

Show your pot some love, and vinyl it up! 

God Bless, xoxoxo.

You're a Cool Dad.

Happy [Belated] Father's day to all of the lovely father's out there! No one can replace the love of a father, and although they should be honored all year, I'm glad that on father's day, we can make those awesome daddies feel extra special. Unfortunately, I live about 18 hours from my Daddy, but hopefully one day we won't be so far away! God willing.
I was so excited when my little sister asked me to make her a sign for our dad for father's day. She's a super cool 15 year old, so when she asked me to make a sign, this one came to mind. I've been wanting to make something that says "You're A Cool Dad." for a few weeks now, so this was the perfect opportunity! It was also perfect because I could literally hear my little sister saying this to my dad, and what was even more perfect is the fact that my dad really is a cool dad!

I made this sign with a pine board from Lowe's, then coated it with one layer of min-wax dark walnut. After letting the stain dry for the recommended 8 hours, I applied my vinyl, then coated the entire thing with mod podge. You have to coat the entire thing [not just the letters] or else you'll have a shiny luster on one part of your sign & not the other. The mod podge ensures that the vinyl will not come off, and it also gives it a nice finish!

[I used my Silhouette Cameo to make the vinyl letters, but any craft cutter will work or even just vinyl letters from a craft store!]

I also made this sign for a good friend of mine! It was for her husband. She came to me with the saying already in mind, and I thought that it was a super cute idea! These were such fun projects that anyone can do.

To hang the sign, I just bought some rope from Lowe's, then drilled two holes through each sign, and put the rope through the holes then tied a tight knot.

Easy as that!

XOXOXO, God Bless.

DIY Mailbox Numbers

Hey There!
Even though we moved into our house 8 months ago, we're still in what I would like to call, 'the new home discovery stage.' And by this I mean, we're still discovering things that we love about our house, don't love about our house, and things that our current house doesn't have that our next house has to have. This is our very first home, so we weren't huge sticklers when it came to home shopping since we really didn't know what we were looking for. Our home is a dream house for sure, but there's little things such as 'more cabinet space' that will definitely be on our next homes 'must have list'. One of the things that I recently noticed was that our house was the only home in our 'hood without house numbers on the mailbox. How does that even happen?! We have house numbers on our home, but since our house is on an incline, the numbers are almost impossible to see at night. Not that we have many night visitors other than the occasional pizza delivery man, but I still wanted our mailbox to fit in with everyone else! With a personal flare though, of course.

OH, and let's not ignore my patchy grass in the background. I would be lying if I told  you that I did not accidentally kill all of my grass. Because I did. Boy did I kill my grass. Actually, I over-killed my grass. If my grass was a person, I would have been heavily charged with some sort of crime. How did I do this you may ask? Well I sprayed weed AND GRASS killer all over my yard. I missed the 'and grass' part. Who actually wants to kill their grass? They set me up for failure.
This was an extremely simple project with the help of my handy dandy Silhouette Cameo. The vinyl I used for this project is a high quality outdoor vinyl from Expressions Vinyl. I used white because it showed up best on my black mailbox, but you could use any color that your little heart desires!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FONT, CHUB GOTHIC.

CHUB GOTHIC is my absolute favorite simple font. If this font was a person, I'd have to invite it over for dinner. It's perfect!

After I created the decal, I just applied my transfer tape, cleaned off my mailbox, then applied the decal.
Simple Dimple. 

Now our mailbox fits in more with the other mailboxes in the 'hood, it's just a chubby gothic version. 
Get it? Chub gothic is the font that I used.
Ba. Baha. Bahaha.

Ay yi yi. 

Have a marvy day!

God Bless, xoxoxo.

Chicken Enchiladas

This meal takes me back to about a year and a half ago when Phillip and I had just gotten married and received orders to North Carolina. This is the very first meal that I made as Mrs.Walker. We actually got married two years ago, but Phillip was at basic training and tech school for the first 6 months of our marriage.
The real reason why I made this meal is because it's an extremely simple recipe! My mom always made these enchiladas, and I always loved them. Whenever those awkward and confusing newlywed shopping trips came around, I would call my mom and ask her where every ingredient was in the store, then I would send her a picture of the ingredient to make sure that I was getting the right one. I remember being in tears last year when I was trying to buy a little ham for Phillip and I's first Thanksgiving away from home. I went to the deli and asked for one ham, when she asked how much I wanted, I replied saying, "Just enough for a Thanksgiving ham". She then pointed me away from deli meats, and towards the frozen hams. I never did find a little ham, and ended up settling for microwavable ham. Yumm..  

- - - INGREDIENTS - - -

- 8 BURRITO SIZED TORTILLAS

- 2 12.5 oz CANS OF TYSON CHUNK CHICKEN

- 3 CUPS OF SALSA

- 2 CUPS OF MEXICAN SHREDDED CHEESE

- RED ENCHILADA SAUCE (OPTIONAL)

- QUESO/WHITE CHEESE DIP (OPTIONAL)

- - - DIRECTIONS - - -

- Drain & pour the chicken into a large bowl. Mash it up with a fork to separate the chunks of chicken.

- Mix your salsa and cheese into your bowl of chicken.

- Lay out your tortillas & load the center up with your mixture.

- Roll that baby up!

- Pack the tortillas into a baking dish, then pour the enchilada sauce all over the top of them.

- Bake them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

- Once they're done baking, pour the cheese sauce all over them, then serve!

Yummy! I've never met anyone who did not enjoy this recipe, so I hope that your family enjoys it as much as mine!

God Bless, xoxoxo.

John 14:27 Faith Cards

During my quiet time the other day, I decided to sit down with not only my bible, but a notebook and pen too just in case I ran across a verse that was helpful in my life or that I thought might be helpful to someone else. I'm glad that I did this, because the entire verse of John 14:27 was so powerful, and brought peace into my heart.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27

Originally, I thought "Wow, that verse would make such a pretty printable". Then as I was making it and playing with different colors, the idea of a 'faith card' came up. When I think of a faith card, I imagine that it would just be a comforting verse that you would print out and then mail to a friend or pass out to someone whom you think is in need of it. You never know how far a gesture like that could go, it may just be the ray of hope that someone was searching for.

You could print these out on any type of paper, but card stock would work best and last longer!

Click Here To Download

& Here are some color options for your sweet hearts!

Click Here To Download

Click Here To Download

Click Here To Download

God Bless, xoxoxo.

Canister Labels

About 4 months ago, I made possibly one of the best purchases of my life... my beloved Silhouette Cameo Starter Bundle Kit. I am so obsessed with this machine! I only use it to cut vinyl, because working with paper and any other material is just way too frustrating for me. Paper rips and tears, but vinyl is tried and true and hasn't let me down yet. I use a very affordable, very high quality outdoor vinyl from expressionsvinyl.com. I can not say enough good things about this company! Their prices are amazing, their products are amazing, and let's not even get into their shipping. I usually receive my shipments within 3 days of placing the order! Insane!

My very first project that I ever did with my silhouette was making canister labels! I got these adorable glass canisters from Wally world for a wee $7 each! They had even bigger ones for just $10, but this size (1 gallon) was just perfect for my rice & oats. The vinyl that I used when I first did this was a very low quality vinyl from my local craft store. I paid way too much for it, and I had no idea what I was doing! I even applied each letter by hand separately, who knew there was a thing called transfer tape!? Not me!

This is the only picture I have of my old canisters. They're not too shabby, but the new ones are definitely an improvement. And let's not ignore the fact that my sweet husband has a food lion bag on his head. It was snowing, and he was making fried rice, so clearly he needed a chefs hat.
We take our snow days really seriously around here.
It's really good that we don't have kids, because we are that couple that doesn't stock up on any amount of food, and ends up being snowed in with nothing but rice and oats. 

The font that I used for this label is just a simple font called 'STENCIL', most computers come with that font already installed. I liked how it has a farmy look to it.
After peeling out my negative space, I just apply my transfer tape, then stick it to the clean surface.

I'm really odd, and use the top end of my lotion to smooth out my transfer tape. It works better than any other tool I have used, so why change what works?! And I get to smell my lotion as I'm applying vinyl.

Peel off your transfer tape, and you're done!
You could mix yours up with a different font or a different vinyl color!

God Bless, xoxoxo.

[Copycat] McDonald's Sweet Tea

Whenever I was in High School, I could easily down an entire large cup of McDonald's sweet tea every day. Now that I'm a whopping 2 years older and 2 years wiser, I now realize that my future self would probably not appreciate my current self's sweet tea intake. So, I slowed my roll and actually stopped drinking it all together.

It wasn't all cold turkey though, when the Air Force brought us to North Carolina it soon became evident that McDonald's sweet tea wasn't even a 'thing' here. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE in Arkansas loves McDonald's sweet tea. But here in North Carolina, either people make their own or they get it from Bojangles.

Holy Moly Bojangles.

The people here are crazy about it. I have never even heard of a Bojangles until we moved here. It's pretty much like McDonalds, but with chicken biscuits instead of double cheeseburgers.

Anyways, the fact that most people make their own tea here, inspired me to make my own, and the McDonald's tea taste was my goal. I use an uncovered pitcher for this, but that's because we drink the whole thing in a few days. However, if you plan on having this in your fridge for more than a few days, I would suggest using a covered pitcher.

-DISCLAIMER-

I'm sure that McDonald's makes their sweet tea very similar to this recipe, but who doesn't love being able to make in in the comfort of their own home? For just $1.50 a pitcher!

- - - INGREDIENTS - - -

• 8 Cups of water
• 3 Family size Lipton tea bag
• 2 cups of sugar

- - - DIRECTIONS - - -

1. Pour 7 cups of room temp. water into a pitcher.
2. Put 3 tea bags into the pitcher of water, and let it soak for about 15 minutes.
3. In a bowl, mix you sugar with 1 cup of water.
4. Once mixed, put the sugar-water mixture onto a pan and let it come to a boil. once it comes to a boil, take it off the stove.
5. Dunk your tea bags in the pitcher a few times to make sure that you get all the tea that you can out of them. Remove the tea bags.
6. Pour the sugar-water mixture into your pitcher and mix it all up.
7. Store it in the refrigerator and serve over ice.

And, you're done! Perfect for a hot summer day, poured over ice and shared with friends on the porch. 

God Bless, xoxoxo.