DIY Thank You Gift

This past weekend, Nelson and I went to San Francisco to take engagement photos. My lifelong friend (and one of my bridesmaids!) is a talented photographer and she was nice enough to take our pictures for us. It was a gorgeous day in the city and we all had a great time spending the day together.

 

I wanted to give Elysha a thank you gift for taking our pictures, but I wanted it to be something special. Because this would be the first time we were seeing Elysha's new apartment in the city, I thought it would be cute to make her thank you gift something that could also serve as a gift for her new home. She also loves crafts, so I was looking to combine the DIY with the housewarming idea. That's when I remembered these Chalkboard Plaques the Girls Team made back in 2012!

 

My mom and I picked up the supplies when we were at Michael's with our overflowing cart. We bought the stand and the wooden plaque, then bought more chalkboard paint at Lowes. We had primer and gold spray paint in the garage...MIHM suggestion: everyone should always have gold spray paint handy.

I set up shop in the backyard.

I wanted to spray paint the stand gold for some flashy flair. It took about 60 seconds to spray paint the stand gold. YOU GUYS. WHAT ELSE CAN I SPRAY PAINT GOLD. THIS WAS AMAZING. If you have ideas please leave them in the comments below...seriously, I have a whole can and I'm not afraid to use it! :)

I painted two coats of primer onto the wooden plaque and let it dry overnight.

The next day I painted two coats of chalkboard paint onto the plaque. Two coats is very important (according to the guy at Lowes) and I could tell that the second coat did make a big difference in terms of smoothness.

 

Shout out to my dad for helping problem-solve before I even knew there was a problem! The newspaper that I left under the plaque as I painted on the chalkboard paint stuck to the back so he sanded it off before I came to pick up the plaque, leaving for a nice and clean backing. I was able to write a nice note to Elysha with permanent marker on the back, splinter free!

The finished (and amazing) gold stand.

The finished gift!

 



I was really happy with how much gift turned out, and Elysha liked it a lot too, which is the most important thing. :) It took about two days to complete this project due to drying time, but only about 20 minutes to actually prep. and paint. It's great because while this is a homemade gift, it is still something that somebody can actually use. They can make their own sign on it, use it for a grocery list, draw on it, etc. etc. The Girls Team will definitely keep these chalkboard plaques in our back pocket as DIY gift ideas, and we suggest you do too!

Our First Wedding Blog!

Hey guys! It's here! Our first wedding post! You might think that because of this blog, the Girls Team would be really eager to DIY wedding related items, but in fact you'd be quite wrong. When weighing the pros and cons between BUY vs. DIY, we end up on the BUY side much more so we won't be super stressed or in over our heads. 

That being said, there are a few decor ideas we are taking the reins on! Both my mom and I had the day off from work in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day so we decided to browse around town for some wedding decor. 

Because we are getting married outside in the middle of beautiful trees, Nelson and I want our decor to be simple and natural...trees, sunflowers, pinecones, mason jars and chalkboards. The end. :)

Today we set out to find some frames to refurbish into chalkboard signs. After a trip to Goodwill and Cost Plus, we didn't really find what we were looking for. No need to panic, we have 8 months and a super handy guy named Dad at home if we need him. :) We also strolled through Michaels, Marshall's and Pier One. In the course of a few hours, we had some very lucky finds! 

Let's start with the pinecones. For our centerpieces we are thinking of sunflowers in mason jars, set on wood slabs with pinecones and a few candles sprinkled around them. My plan was to buy pinecones on Etsy; my ambitious Girls Team partner wanted to hunt them out of the wild. (Who has time for that?! BUY vs. DIY Girls Team partner!) BUT THEN. We found them at Michaels for $4.99 per pack. BUT WAIT. Each pack was 90% off...yes, 90%!! So we bought 21 packs of unscented pinecones for 50 CENTS EACH. SCORE! 

Our crazy cart that received a few comments/double takes from fellow shoppers. 

Then, we found the perfect wood framed chalkboard for our table numbers. Add them to the pile!

Our great finds. I am SO excited about these!

We were also searching for something to put on the guestbook table for cards. We found this large hurricane vase (on sale!) at Cost Plus and I knew this was perfect. Our plan is to use chalkboard paint or a chalkboard sticker and then use white chalk to write "cards" on this. Simple, cute. Perfect, done. :)

And lastly, check out these awesome wood slabs hanging out in our garage. Our plan is that the mason jar vases will sit on top of one of these as the centerpieces. Shout out to my dad's great coworkers who have been bringing these to him so we can use them for our centerpieces. (Wood slabs at Michael's run about $14-$18 each. Yikes!) Definitely feeling the love and help all around! 

Today was a great day hanging out with my mom and coming across a few great wedding finds! We are so excited to see how all of this comes together, and we'll update as we go. 

Calzones!

It's a new year, and with that, we're mixing it up here at MIHM. Please help us welcome featured Chef Ryan to the Make It Happen Monday kitchen! Last week Chef Ryan taught the Girls Team how to make calzones, and he brought some of his grand chef wisdom to us all! 

Before we get into the calzones, let's introduce our featured chef. Aside from being my brother's best friend and college roommate, Chef Ryan is an avid MIHM reader and a frequent face around our house! His favorite things to cook are "a bomb sandwich, delicious breakfasts, and sautéed bowls." And, before we got started he reminded us that "there is no place for a scared chef in the kitchen." Inspiring words as we set out to make calzones for the first time!

So with that in mind we started on calzones using this recipe from Food.com and waited for commands from the chef. (Our featured chef insisted we address him as "Chef" all night...Specifically making my brother call him chef after he assigned Corey to the dishes, ha!) The prep. time for these calzones only took about 15 minutes, but there were 4 of us splitting the work, and then it took about 20 minutes for the calzones to bake in the oven.

Ingredients ready for our chef to review.

Chef Ryan prepped the dough.

Corey browned the lean ground turkey (in place of sausage for a healthier option).

I handled mixing the cheese, sneaking a few taste tests in.

My mom sliced the pepperoni into bite sized pieces and we mixed the meats into the cheese.

After the dough was prepped, the meat was browned and the filling was ready, the rest of us stood back and watched Chef Ryan work his magic. 

Adding the filling on top of a layer of pepperoni.

Folding the dough over and using cornmeal to keep it from sticking. This was a new technique for us at MIHM!

After rolling the crust tightly to seal, Chef Ryan coated the top of the calzone with olive oil and sprinkled parmesan cheese and dried oregano on top.

Baking with a few slits in the top of the dough to let steam escape.

My mom heated the marinara sauce for dipping.

Hot and delicious calzones ready to eat!

Calzones served with a fresh garden salad!

The calzones were SO tasty. The inside filling was a mixture of creamy cheese and savory meat, and the crust was cooked to perfection. The calzones were salty, rich and satisfying and we already started to think about all the varieties of calzones we could make in the future. We were all very impressed with Chef Ryan's creation! 

A few additional wise words from Chef Ryan: 

-Had we added sauce into the filling, we'd be cooking a Stromboli, not a calzone.

-Key tips to a delicious calzone include having a gentle hand with the ingredients, especially the dough; taking time with the ingredients and not rushing through steps; and flouring the board and your hands heavily with flour or cornmeal. 

-Always use quality ingredients for quality flavors. (This was Chef Ryan's catchphrase for the evening!)

Inviting Chef Ryan into the MIHM kitchen was the perfect way to kick off the new year of MIHM. His enthusiasm and passion for cooking added so much energy to our evening! His willingness to experiment with the ingredients was refreshing and inspiring! In his own words, "you need to know what you're doing and have passion for cooking to make it fun and express your creative freedom in the kitchen." When I asked Chef Ryan what his favorite thing about cooking was, he said, "experimenting, discovering new things, and trying things he's seen on TV." 

We asked Chef Ryan if he would return to MIHM in the future, and if so, what would he make for us?...I mean...what would he teach us how to make? He said he would love to come back and cook some Tri Tip with homemade marinade, mashed garlic sweet potatoes and a seasonal vegetable medley. So yeah, obviously we are bringing Chef Ryan back ASAP! 

His final piece of advice was not in English..."mise en place," meaning to put in place, a.k.a. preparing your ingredients and kitchen gear beforehand, makes for a much easier cooking process. Makes sense to us! 

Before Chef Ryan wrapped it up for the night, I asked him if there was anything else I should make sure to include in the blog about his delicious calzones. He'd like all our readers to know that he is single and good with kids. ;)

On that note, thanks and see you soon Chef Ryan! 

Cute Blanket, Cute Baby :)

Hey MIHM readers! It's been a while since we've posted...the holidays had us up and around the state. But now we are back and excited for all the fun things to come in 2014, including new blog projects!

Remember when I started making this baby blanket for our close friends back in September? And then as my mom moved on to new crochet projects, I still was working away at it? Well, exciting news, I finished the blanket yesterday about an hour before meeting our new baby pal! Just in time! 

Finished blanket.

Holding it up for a sizing reference.

The cutest child with the cutest blanket...Go Giants! 

This blanket took me a little over 4 months to make because I worked on it in phases. Some weeks I'd crochet every night, but then I'd go a week or two without ever picking it up to work on it. The only other crochet project I've made was this blanket for Project Linus which was the same stitch the entire time, so following this chevron pattern was definitely a challenge for me. By the time I was about halfway through I felt comfortable enough to not carry the pattern around with me and each row took me about 30-35 minutes to finish. Although I mastered the pattern, I still couldn't quite figure out how to perfectly end each row and start the next without adding or dropping a stitch...so don't look too closely at the edges. ;-)

I am so happy with how this blanket turned out! I felt proud and accomplished as I wrapped it up for our friends. And then, after meeting their baby and seeing her laying in it, I felt so excited and happy to be a part of her life! (And, I was thinking of what I could crochet for her next, telling her dad that he'd be sick of me sending them things made of yarn in no time!)

In 2013, the Girls Team tried a few larger, more challenging projects and even though some Monday nights it felt like we weren't being as innovative as the first year of MIHM, I think our bigger projects have been more special and meaningful. Gifting this blanket away was a great reflection of that.

We are looking forward to 2014 and plan to continue evolving MIHM. We'd like to feature more guests on the blog, try to tackle a few wedding-related projects and maybe even make some lumpia!