Movies

These are just a few movies I've watched recently that I thought were particularly good. Definitely worth watching!
Drive

 This movie turned out to be a lot different then I thought it was going to be. I loved loved loved it! and I promise it's not just because Ryan Gosling is in it..

Jane Eyre

I've seen two old movies of Jane Eyre, but this one blows the other two away. They make the story so much better and the movie all together is really interesting.


X Men First Class

I am such a sucker for X Men and each movie just keeps getting better and better.


Everything Is Illuminated

I know this is an older movie, but I never really watched the whole thing until recently and I loved it!

I'm also really excited for some of the new movies coming out this year. I really want to see
The Hunger Games
The Avengers
Jack the Giant Killer
Brave
The Dark Knight Rises

And of course Django Unchained
and The Hobbit

-Brenna

22 before 23

I finally got all my goals written down for this year before I turn 23! I know all of these won't happen, but it's worth a shot ;)

-Brenna

Mug Shots

For Christmas I made mugs for most of my family. I used this tutorial and they turned out to be super easy to make!

My brother Amos':

 My Dad's:

My BIL David's:

 My SIL LaRae's:

My nephew Isaiah's:

 Liz's:

 Chase's Grandparents:

 My Mom (Cindy):

These were a blast to make. I want to get some colored porcelain paint next time. I think color would add a lot. But if you need any kind of present or just a mug for yourself, these were really simple and they were really nice to my wallet :)

-Brenna

21 Before 22 Recap

I really can't believe it's already been a year since I did this fr my Birthday... This year has seriously flown by!

Last year I did a post of 21 things to do before I'm 22. I think it really helped me to stay motivated by having goals like these so I will be doing another list this year. But for now here's a recap of how last years list went.

Of course I didn't get all of them done and I will be moving some of them to my next list, but here's everything I did get accomplished...

1. At least 50 Etsy sales
2. More embroidery lessons - I took a few more lessons from my Grandma :)
3. Travel A LOT -I really didn't get to travel much this year. But I did go to New Zealand, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
4. Redesign my blog - Check. But it's time for a new one soon.
5. Start yoga again -I have done a little bit of yoga this year, but not on  a regular basis like I would have liked.
6. Draw more
7. 50 paintings - not even close...
8. Make more baby stuff for my niece and nephew
9. Cook more - In Texas living off barely anything, I didn't really have a choice but to cook and I actually really enjoyed it!
10. Get contacts
11. Make Red Rabbit my full-time job
12. More family time
13. Chick flick day -I had lots and lots of these this year :)
14. See my brother -I'm so happy I got to see my brother this year <3 and hopefully I will see him this year too!
15. Finally edit our wedding pics
16. Get a good camera -Nope... this year both Chase and I are in need of one...bad. So this goal might be a little late, but will have to happen.
17. Make and accomplish more goals
18. Have a big card making day -this is the first year I haven't had one of these :(
19. Post more tutorials
20. Make Red Rabbit stickers, tags, and cards
21. Set more time aside for Chase -Not knowing anyone but Chase in a strange city meant lots of time with Chase.

This is my first year doing this and I found out how hard it really is to do all of them (as you can see), but I can tell you now that this years list won't be any more realistic then last years. This is the list that has all of my big goals in it. Every goal for myself. Business, Personal, and just silly fun stuff that I want to do. Even if I don't get all of them done... it's still something to work towards all year.


Inspired by: Hula Seventy and A Beautiful Mess

-Brenna

Wooden Dominoes DIY

I made this set of wooden dominoes for my nephew for Christmas. They turned out to be super easy and pretty fast to make, so if you need another quick Christmas gift idea, you still have time to make a set of these!

 

What you will need:

• 1" X 3" piece of wood. I used a 10' long piece for the size of set I was making.
• Belt sander
• acrylic paint
• clear coat spray paint

Cut the wood in to 1.5" size blocks.

Use a belt sander to smooth out all of the sides and to round off the corners and edges. This might take a while. Luckily I had two belt sanders and the help of my Mom and Grandpa :) so it didn't take me too long.

After you sand them on the belt sander, you might want to go over them with a fine sandpaper to make it more smooth.  

Paint a black line down the  center of each block.

Paint the dots! You can do them all one color or do each number different. I used the end of an acrylic paint brush handle to do my dots so that they were all the same size.

After they dry, cover them with clear spray paint. Be sure you get all the edges. I did a few coats on the top to make sure the dots were protected. After they're dry, turn them over and spray a couple coats on the back.

Let them dry completely and you're finished! You can also print off some domino game rules HERE to add in with the set.

How many domino blocks you will need for a set:

You will want to figure this out before you start because I ended up being 2 short and having to do a smaller set.

Use the formula (n+1)(n+2)/2, where n is the number on the highest double in the set.

So for a double 10 set it will be: 11 + 12 / 2 = 66

11 set = 78

12 set = 91

13 set = 105

and so on...

I went to my Grandpa's house to do all the sanding and after we were finished he gave me the perfect box to put them in that he had made a long time ago and they fit perfect! So I wrote on the bottom of the box that they were from Aunt Brenna and Great Grandpa Spider Webb (my nephews nick name for him).

I'm really glad with how it all turned out and I liked even better that they were so easy to make!

-Brenna

Basic Embroidery #1

Over the past couple years, embroidery has become one of my favorite hobbies... ever!

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It's so relaxing and so much fun! Plus the possibilities of things you can make with it are endless. I learned most of it from you tube videos and I was able to take some lessons from my Grandma :)

I wanted to share some basics on embroidery, so I will be doing a short series of basic embroidery techniques, stitches, etc... I decided to start with the two very basic stitches that are used in embroidery.

What you will need:
-Needle
-Scissors
-Embroidery floss
-Hoop
-Muslin (most of the time, normal cotton fabric works just fine)

Cut a couple feet of embroidery floss. You can separate the strands for more of a detailed look, or use all 6 strands for more of a bold look. Thread the needle. Leave one end shorter and one longer and tie a knot on the longer end.

Stitch #1

This is the stitch you will probably use the most.

Start going up through the back so that your knot will be hidden. Make a stitch a little bigger then a grain of rice.

Bring your needle back up directly in the middle of the stitch and repeat.

After a few stitches it should look like this...

And the back should look like this...

Stitch #2 

For this stitch, start out with one small stitch, like the first one, but instead of coming up through the middle on the second stitch, you will want to come up a little above the first stitch (about 2 stitches in length away).

When you bring the needle back down you will go the opposite direction and bring the stitch back towards the first stitch. Like this...

After a few stitches it should look like this...

And the back...

That's it! Now that you know the basic stitches the fun part comes! Next embroidery post, I'll share some tricks on how to make really cool stuff in a super simple way.

Hope you have fun!

-Brenna