Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!!

We had a few photos that we had to post for today. It's Halloween and we have certainly been getting in the spirit...

Mummy Dogs

Bellakin...or a Bella pumpkin

The hot dog dressed as a hot dog...and she even tried to eat it!

Now go and eat lots of candy, its the one day where it is totally allowed. Over here at the Crain household we are listening to Christmas music to celebrate (try c.d.'s for $1 at Target) and then headed to a Halloween party.

Trick or Treat!

Boo!

Well, it is a tad late to be posting this little craft I did quite awhile ago, but the Emergency Room called and I had to answer. Okay, a tad lame...but it was all I had. I am not quite as funny now that I am not on tons of meds. Even though this craft comes a mere 3 days before Halloween, don't think of it as ONLY a Halloween craft. Really, this garland can be used for ANY event. You can make it for a birthday party, Christmas, Easter, baby shower...I mean really this is a very muti-purpose craft.

All it took was:

-black scrapbook paper

-orange scrapbook paper

-ribbon

-letters printed out from Word

-hole punch

-Fiskars scissors for the wavy border (optional)

-hot glue

Seriously, the only thing I bought was the black ribbon (technically I bought the hole punch, but only because I lost my other one!). Most of you probably have ribbon lying around your house, or at least I do, but I decided I wanted LARGE ribbon and mine was too small. See, if you choose to be less picky than I am than you can do this for free. Yes, I said it, F-R-E-E. To further inspire you all here are some great photos of garlands that others have done...

GreyLikesWeddings

Today I found the GREATEST GREAT idea EVER on a blog. Unfortunately for you I am not going to tell you what it is. It is actually a Halloween idea that we want to implement next year, but we are still trying to figure out a way to do it for fun this year to a very unsuspecting neighbor. This is why I am not telling you. Maybe another day, but not today.

XoXo,

M

Our Very Own Bachelorette

Bella did it! She is a finalist for the Bachelor! We were all so excited...in fact Bella was sleeping when I told her, but I think my jumping up and down is what really got her attention. We can't wait for the next round. We are getting Bella prepped for whatever they throw her way. She definitely cannot wait to hear Burger ask, "Will you accept this bone?" Go check it out for yourself, and while you are at it see what her competition is. There are some good ones out there, but we still think Burger knows Bella was meant for him.

Sidenote. Sorry for the lack of posts these days. I actually was taken to the ER on Saturday morning and since then have pretty much been asleep. I wake up to hydrate myself and then fall right back into dreamland. I'm off to the doctor this morning to see if we can beat this thing so I can be back to my usual self. I will post again once I have a little more energy.

Oh baby baby

Is it weird that I want to have a baby just so I can design a nursery around this....?

Image via Flickr 

Ok well the real truth is Josh and I are always designing nurseries for our nonexistent babies. We know exactly what we want, we just need the baby. Well, no baby coming anytime soon so for now we will just stick with the eye candy via other blogs. Please mom, stop crying, we will have a baby one day...give us time! Thankfully we are not at a lack for baby love because EVERYONE we know seems to have just had a baby or is getting ready to have one. Every time I hear someone say they are pregnant I just know it is another baby to love and squeeze so I am okay with it! Another thing that excites me when people announce their upcoming mini-me's is finding out what their nurseries will look like. Secretly I am super excited for a friend that is having a baby, I just know she is going to have a well designed nursery. Not to name drop, but it's totally Kari. She has GREAT design sense...and maybe I am partial since realizing her and I totally have the same taste, but seriously she is great.

So on the subject of nursery eye candy...I found some A-MAZING inspiration on KenziePoo. I cannot believe I have been without this blog until today. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Oh wait, did I mention that I L-O-V-E this blog?! See, Josh and I are NOT traditional designers when it comes to nurseries. We do not want pastels, Winnie the Poo, or any other typical "nursery" item.  It is not that we don't appreciate traditionalism, we just LOVE being different. KenziePoo TOTALLY fits our style. Ok so if any of you are having babies, or just like to pretend you are like creepy ole me then please go check it out, I promise you won't be disappointed!

Oh and just a sidenote, cannot wait until Jim and Pam have their baby! Can you imagine a JimPam baby? Yeah I know, it will be that great.

Safety First

The Bachelor Update: 
Fun news! Burger a.k.a The Bachelor left a comment for Bella on the last post! HOORAY! Let me tell you, Bella was dancing all over the place when we read it to her. Yes, my dog can read...but it was much more fun to read it to her as we all danced around in excitement. Ok, well the dancing was semi hilarious considering my stomach and throat were in a whole lot of pain after my whole experience at the hospital and Josh came down with the flu...but it was dancing nonetheless. Anyway, the latest is that there were over 100 submissions and Burger is picking the semi-finalists this week. Keep your fingers...or paws..crossed!!

On to regularly scheduled programming:
So not to be a totally crazy stalker or anything, but the rest of this post also has a bit to do with Young House Love. Yes, I love their blog...and yes I do believe they should be an inspiration to you all as well. Well, let me move on to what I was trying to say and then explain what they have to do with it.

Livearth.org

Joshua and I have been striving to be "green" since we got married. Once we have our house we hope to add in a lot of great eco-friendly elements that should help the earth along with our pockets. We would LOVE to do compost since it is a great way to use up all of our scraps and yard clippings and it also means great nutrient rich soil for the vegetable and fruit garden that I have already been planning. Since we do not have our house yet we have been implementing other things in our daily lives. The biggest one is household chemicals and cleaners. We have slowly been making the switch to "green" cleaners and it has definitely been trial and error. Most people know I can be what they call a GERMIPHOBE. Yes, I admit it and I am gosh darn proud of it. However, a lot of the items that disinfect are the most toxic chemicals in our house (i.e. bleach). This has been our biggest struggle as I try to find something that cleans well, but also gets rid of the flu and cold germs that lurk around our house during this time of year. Even so, we had already made it a personal goal to rid ourselves of all toxic chemicals before we started our family. Babies are a big deal to us and once we are ready to have our own we want to make sure our house is as safe as we are able to make it. We realize how many things are out there that we can't shield our baby from, that's what our Father is for, BUT there are things we can do to help. So, we started scratching our heads to try to figure out what to do about this problem. I didn't mind making up my own cleaners, especially since it would save us money, but most of the items that people would list were things I had never heard of. That bothered me.

Enter Young House Love. Today they featured a smart guy who really knew his stuff about going green. He had great recipes for creating your own cleaners...out of stuff I actually knew! Amazing I know. We plan to start trying stuff out (once we have used up the brand new bottle of cleaner we picked up at the store) and we will let you know what we think. Maybe it will work and maybe it won't, but we can't let this one pass us up! Good luck to those of you out there who try it!

XoXo,
J&M

P.S. This is our favorite way to get our dishes clean without being unsafe for our bodies. It is available at Target. Please note that the packaging has now changed and it is now in a resealable bag. 

Bella's Got A Boyfriend

This is a big day in the Crain household...well especially for Bella! See, Bella entered to be a contestant on the Bachelor, doggie style (keep it clean folks!). Our favorite blog, Young House Love created a brand new blog for their handsome Chihuahua, Burger. Well, Bella is IN LOVE with Burger so she jumped at the chance to enter in a contest to become his one and only. Okay, maybe it was more like Josh and I were jumping up and down at the idea, but either way she was excited. Keep an eye on Hamburger's House to find out if Bella makes it to the semi-finals. We are crossing our fingers BIG TIME! How cute would little chiweenies be? For those of you who feel the need to remind me that yesterday I mentioned that my dog is unable to produce a la 101 Dachshunds...well, don't. I can dream can't I?

Here are some photos that we sent for the contest, plus a few more just because we love Bella that much...

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your support! Also, for an update...I have been home from the hospital for 3 hours now. This all to say that I survived!! My stomach and my throat are hurting, but you know...it's all in a days work. I promise to give an update on the whole procedure (well I will leave out the graphic photos) soon. I am giving my body a little bit of a rest before I recount the details. Thank you everyone for being there for me through all of this. I appreciate the love and prayers!!

Blog Fun

While I sit here starving (I'm prepping for the colonoscopy) and waiting for the dreaded 3:00 appointment with a big jug of nasty (another part of the prep) I got to thinking about a few things that I find helpful as a blogger. I think most people have heard of them, but just let me have this moment...it keeps my mind off of all the yummy goodness I can't eat. Oh and by the way...this is totally just me raving about these websites/programs. Although, if any of them wanted to be a sponsor to my blog one day I wouldn't say no.

#1 Google Reader
Wow, could you have asked for a handier way to get all of your blogs read in one easy place?! When I first started reading blogs, I would go to a friends blog who had already added them to their sidebar (coughSarahandKaricough) and just go crazy reading them all. I then realized that doing this was silly when I could just add them to my favorites. Soon I realized that having to scroll through my favorites was ridiculously time consuming and annoying. That's when I finally found Google Reader. If you are an avid blog reader and haven't discovered it...please do now! It saves me so much time AND I can easily read the blogs on my iPhone. Loving it!

#2 Picasa
Picasa is the greatest free invention for photographers. I heart it! Let me give an example (and show you one at that). Last night Josh and I went out to my old stomping grounds (think the boonies of Salem) and wanted to capture some of the beautiful fall foliage before it was all gone. Unfortunately, the light was pretty poor because he had to go in to work unexpectedly so we did not get out as early as hoped. This bummed me out BIG TIME. Let me show you a photo so you can understand that lighting is EVERYTHING when it comes to photography.

Picture BEFORE Picasa

 

Picture AFTER Picasa

See? Not a HUGE difference, but enough to fake a little extra light. Who can complain when it's free?!

#3 Polyvore

Oh my mood board loving goodness! While Photoshop gives you the greatest opportunities for creating interior design fabulousness, many don't have the moolah for it (or at least I don't). Enter Polyvore. I have been making inspiration boards non-stop. I may not have my house yet, but I could tell you what each room is going to look like. I also used it to give Ruby (remember the dining room?) a good idea of my color inspiration for her kitchen/living room. Polyvore is geared more for people who want to play paper dolls in a sense (you'll see what I mean if you check it out) you can also use it for your home. The greatest thing is the ability to go out and "clip" pictures from your favorite stores websites and add them into Polyvore. It's quick and simple and oh so fun!

Well, now that I have kept you busy finding new ways to enjoy blogging, I will leave you with a few fall photos...

 

 

Our dog is a model. Sometimes we wish Bella could have puppies, but we took care of that problem a long while ago. See, we thought ahead and knew that one day we would wish she could have puppies and then when she had 11 puppies we knew we would not be able to get rid of any of them. We would then become 101 Dachshunds. Oh, a career with Disney? Maybe we shouldn't have taken away her ability to have puppies...then again I still have the option of becoming Tinkerbell so maybe I will pursue that dream instead.

Have a great Monday!

DIYing the Nest

One of our favorite things about the holidays is decorating. We can't wait to get our hands on those boxes that have been stored away for a year and begin to pull out all those little things that we forgot about. Now, neither of us are huge Halloween people. We like to celebrate, but when it comes to decorating we just are not into the black and orange spooky stuff. I would definitely say we prefer a more muted Fall palette with a few Halloween touches. This year my Halloween touch was coming in the form of glitter. I don't know what it is, but this season has brought about my love for sparkly things. Sometimes I feel like a bug to a light...I just get mesmerized. I definitely got the desire to get crafty for this holiday. Currently we are trying to save for a house and we are living in a very small apartment. Buying items for the holiday was pretty much out of the question (except for a GORGEOUS candle holder that we found for a steal). Here is my attempt at craftiness...

First, I fell in L.O.V.E with these pumpkins. I knew I had to attempt to make them in my own way. There is something inside of me that refuses to do anything EXACTLY the way I see them. This is true even in recipes...I always have to add something or take something away. I guess I am just a rule-breaker like that.

(Trying to find the source for these)

This was my inspiration, but here was my interpretation...

I love his cute little face. As you can see I added some things, used new materials, and didn't use other things. That's the beauty of creativity, you get to interpret it however you want.

I also wanted to add some real pumpkins in with my little pumpkin guy so I got my glitter on one more time and my cute pumpkins went from this...

To this...

Hint: If you wanted to use the pumpkins from year to year, you could easily buy craft pumpkins from Michael's and then keep them forever!

After receiving a few questions regarding this project I thought I would add some information. I chose to use Martha Stewart's glitter (I bought the 24 pack because I love it that much!). I REALLY like her glitter. Yes you can use other glitter, but I think her's is extra glittery and spectacular. I also used Martha's glitter glue with a brush applicator. While I know I could have probably saved money by using a regular craft glue (one that dries clear of course) I decided I wanted to go all out and buy her special glue. Sometimes I am a sucker for things like that. It worked well in my opinion, but I am sure its just regular glue. The colors I used for the two glitter pumpkins was fire opal and onyx. For the pumpkin guy above I used carnelian.

From there I wanted to put them all together to make a tablescape. Remember that candle holder I spoke of? Well, Josh and I found that on sale at ZGallerie and we just couldn't pass it up. I believe it was originally $17 down to $9. We were loving the color. I then searched around my house and looked through our holiday supplies for some more items to add. I found a silver plate, a napkin, and a couple of votives. In order to get a more pulled together look I also found some leaves that were lying on the ground outside of work. I snatched those right up, placed them on the silver plate and here is what we came up with...

We felt pretty good with the end result. Of course I would have liked to add more, but on a serious budget with only a few things to work with it's a great way to add a festive look. I challenge everyone to look around their houses for items that they can incorporate. You would be amazed at what you can reuse and repurpose in a whole new way. Try it out! 

Its a Celebration!

Yesterday we celebrated my sister and my dad's birthdays. Their birthdays are not on the same day, but they are just over a week apart. Not to upset either family member, but my dad was turning 60 and my sister was celebrating her big 21er. Don't worry, you are going to see those numbers later on in the post so its not really a surprise.

We started the night with dinner. Thankfully my mom made food that I was able to eat even with my diet restrictions. Here is the gang:

(left to right: Brett, Joshua, Karma and Joel (David's parents), Dad (Terry), Mom (Jenna), Brooke, David, Stephanie)

After we were bloated like a turkey from all the fixin's we headed in for a "surprise" coordinated by my sisters boyfriend. All we knew was that it involved a blindfold and a stick.

 Yes, that's right, it was a PINATA!! He made her be the swinger (for lack of a better word) and boy did that girl swing. It made me a little nervous to be taking pictures so close up, but I just could not help myself.

 

 

Halfway there...Look at how good that bear is feeling...

R.I.P

Once the bear let go of all of his candy and Luna Bars (yeah I don't know either...) everyone went running like little kids. There were no kids just to clarify.

I should mention here that my sister is actually moving to South Africa in about 3 months. She is going to be doing mission work for the next two years over there. She had recently returned from a mission conference that she attended so we got to have some time as a family to talk about everything she had learned.

After talking about the trip, it was definitely time for some present opening. We all gave dad an iPhone although I am still wondering if he is going to understand how to use it. Dad isn't completely tech savvy, but he is getting there. For Brooke we knew that there were few gifts that we could give that would be useful to her since she is only able to take a few possessions with her when she moves. So we went ahead and gave her money and this is how we presented it...

Before I tell you what it said inside...yes I am going to embarass myself greatly in just a moment...I want to talk about the card. Anyone who knows me probably knows I rarely give cards. There is something about cards that just makes me break out in a sweat. I can never find one that says anything halfway decent...no I just can't handle ones that say, "Your love is like a rose, sweet and powerful." I am just not nice like that. My card would say, "Your love is like a rose, full of thorns and aphids." I promise I really can be nice, I just am not so good at the lovey dovey cutesy stuff. Anyway, after being sick of paying $6 for a card that makes me gag I chose to start making my own. Seriously people this is the way to go! I love crafting, but I am by no means good at it. I just buy blank cards from the craft store, put together some pretty paper (isn't the glittery black paper oh so fab?!), add a detail or two, and there you have it! You doubt me, but I promise you can do it!

Ok, time to admit to what I wrote inside. The thing is, we didn't want to just give her money and be done with it. We wanted to give it to her somewhat creatively. So, here was my attempt at being a poet and well you SO didn't know it. Sorry.

We wanted to buy you something nice,

but we hoped money would suffice.

Some shoes, some clothes, some diamonds,

who knows,

but these were not the things we chose.

See, you are leaving soon to a new place,

so you'll have new things that you'll embrace.

We wanted to help you pack light

by offering something  that will fit just right.

So spend the money as you wish,

even on an expensive dish.

We love you,

this much is true,

and we hope you have a happy birthday too!

Love, Joshua & Mal

Next was cake and ice cream (no I didn't partake). I will leave you with this...

Shopaholics Unite!

Ikea, Ikea, Ikea, I am so glad that you are only an hour away from my home. I grew up entering in your doors many days, strolling through your massive showroom, eating all the glorious food. When I moved up to Oregon I thought I might just die. The closest Ikea was hours and hours away in Seattle...although that never did keep my friends and I as high schoolers from taking trips up there and stuffing every crevice of our small cars with the goods. I am grown up now, and I must admit...absolutely nothing has changed! My friend Ruby (who besides my husband I tend to spend every waking moment with) had suggested an Ikea trip and even though I had promised myself this weekend would be devoted to cleaning, I just couldn't say no.

What prompted this trip? Well, awhile back Joshua sold Ruby and her husband their brand new house (which they got to watch being built in front of their very own eyes). Since then Ruby has given me the amazing privilege of designing the entire interior space! Um, yes please?!?! Although, truth be told...she thinks I am doing all the designing, but she really doesn't realize just how much she is inspiring the design. I have my secret ways of getting her to tell me what she REALLY likes and then I do my best to incorporate it. So sneaky I am. Anyway, yesterday's goal was more items for the walls, some extra accessories, pillows for the couches, bookshelves, lighting...well there was a long list. So how did we fare? Well, let's see...

Actually I will take a brief pause in programming to not forget the fabulous other favorite store...HOME GOODS! Home goods is another store that is not located in Salem (although at least we do have TJMaxx..phew!). Funny thing is HG is located right in the same parking lot as Ikea so we always get to hit up both on the same trip. This trip up we chose to hit the Goods before going to the giant Swedish store. We did score a few things, but namely these satiny pillows...

After a quick stop for some nourishment we entered into the land of Ikea. No matter how many times I have been there, it is a requirement to browse the well designed sets. There are wonderful ideas in there..and being an apartment dweller I can certainly appreciate all the multi-use and efficiently sized items. So did  we accomplish our goals? NEARLY. We were able to get a lot of the accessories that we were in search of, as well as almost completely finishing the dining room. We had hoped to get the two bookshelves that Ruby had picked out, but unfortunately the boxes weighed more than we did AND the car was already filled to the brim. SO CLOSE! We also did not find the light fixtures Ruby was hoping for, but I am confident that Target will probably be able to help us out there.

So, want to see what was accomplished last night? Oh wait, let me tell you that our entire trip up and back to the two stores lasted NINE hours. Not only that, but we then spent the next three hours assembling. LONG DAY, but so very worth it. Ready for the dining room? Here it is...

Before...

(Hopefully Ruby doesn't hate me for this one, we had just helped them move in and this was the catchall, but not anymore!)

After...

I was so happy with the outcome and both homeowners seemed to be as well. What a successful day! The bookshelf I spoke of earlier will serve two purposes...shelf space AND buffet. The dining room and living room are connected so with the addition of that piece they will have a lot of versatility.

I did take a few photos of items that I think were AMAZING at Home Goods..

(Saw these at TJMaxx as well. I remember seeing much more expensive versions at Pottery Barn)

 

(They had great Ottomans, but L.O.V.E the one on top!)

 

(Adore the metallic purple, silver, and white color scheme. 

Would look great with black as well)

Punkin' Pickin'

Candy canes...pine trees...family...singing to baby Jesus...Christmas is by far both of our favorite holiday. We can't wait to finish eating Thanksgiving dinner so that we can run out to a Christmas tree farm and pick the perfect tree. Well, even though Christmas is still a couple of months away, we do have two other holidays in the works. See, even though we LOVE Christmas we still absolutely love the other holidays. I have been crafting and decorating like crazy (which is actually really hard considering our apartment is still unpacked). Last weekend we headed to Bauman Farms in Gervais for some serious pumpkin picking fun. Of course I brought along my lovely camera to document the day!

The first stop was a walk through the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off. The following picture was what greeted us as we walked through the door...

The 1st place winner weighed in at a mere 1462.5 pounds!!

I took a lot of photos of the sights...and A LOT of photos of pumpkins. There is something completely irresistible about the orange fleshy goodness. Now, orange is a traditional pumpkin color, but I have to be honest. I LOVE LOVE LOVE a beautiful white pumpkin. In fact I may have brought a couple home with me...just saying.

 

Someone didn't like that spider much and ate its face.

Teehee...

I left him behind after that last picture...

There is a bee on that flower. I. hate. bees. I was ready to run in case that evil bee should choose to make me his next meal.

 

 

Oh Indian corn how I love thee.

 

Pumpkin graveyard anyone?

I actually strongly dislike W of Oz...I know, so un-American

This was Josh's attempt at being a photographer...I think some more practice is needed...oh but look at his shiny teeth! Three years of braces did him a whole lot of good. Girls, he's MINE!

We had so much fun and wish we could spend every weekend at a pumpkin patch. If you want something fun to do go to Bauman Farms, it is fabulous! Let me tell you...you can go on a zip line, shoot apples at wood cutouts, stuff your face with apple cider donuts and kettle corn, play with animals, get lost in a hay or a corn maze...the list honestly goes on forever. Don't worry, we did pick some pumpkins and I will show them to you later. You thought I forgot didn't you?