Aggie Wreath

I have made several of these wreaths before but I had never made myself an A&M wreath. I figured it was finally time that I added one to my home. 

Items needed

• Sheared Fabric Scissors
• Screwdriver 
• Hay wreath wrapped in plastic (any size you want)
• Chalk
• 6 yards of total fabric (depends on size of wreath)

First start by tracing out 4x4 squares on your fabric and then cutting them with the shears. I did a little bit of the fabric at a time so I could actually see how many squares I needed. (With the A&M fabric I had to cut out double the amount of squares because it didn't have a back to it.) Once you get a good amount of fabric take a square and put the screwdriver in the center and poke it into the wreath. Make sure to get it in there pretty well so they won't fall out. You can make your own pattern but I did 4 squares in a row by 2 squares wide and then did every other color. I did use less A&M fabric because of having to double up on it. 

Continue this around the whole wreath and this will be your finished product.

You can then wrap ribbon around the wreath and hot glue it down or add any sort of knick-knacks that you want. My mom had these pieces left over from an old wreath so I added them to mine. 

Crafty Time!

I haven’t had a chance to blog in a while and also not a whole lot has been going on since Matias and I have moved to Sugar Land. We absolutely love living here and we both love our jobs and the people we get to work with.

I just recently got promoted to Replenishment Analyst for Women’s Athletic Apparel (after only working as a Merchant Assistant for less than 4 months) and get to move this coming Monday (October 1^st). I am extremely excited for this opportunity!

This past weekend my parents came up to celebrate my promotion and to use some of their extra vacation days. I also took off to enjoy more time with them! On Saturday Matias and my dad went to the Texas A&M football game vs. South Carolina State while my mom and I stayed home and did some Christmas decorations/crafting. We were only able to get through 2 out of the 3 crafts that we had picked out to try.

Glittery Wine Bottles with Christmas Words

Things you need

• Wine Bottles
• Goo Gone
• Glittery Spray Paint/Glitter Paint/Glitter (three different shades of color)
• Clear Spray Paint
• Mod Podge
• Sitck-on Letters

First try to remove the label from the wine bottle. Let it soak in hot water for at least 10 minutes and it will make it much easier to remove the label. If any of the goo is still left use goo gone to remove it. I recommend soaking the bottles for another 10 minutes after using goo gone so the bottles are so slick otherwise the paint will slide right off. Then let the bottles air dry for at least an hour.

Then try painting the bottles with the glittery spray paint/glitter paint or make your own by mixing glitter with modge podge. We first used glittery spray paint but noticed that the air from the can was making some areas have globs of paint and leaving other areas with very little paint. I recommend if you use the spray paint to still go over it will a paint brush to try and smooth out some of the areas otherwise go over it with some glitter paint of the same color after it dries. I recommend letting this dry overnight and looking at the results the next morning and seeing from there. It is very important to make sure that all of this is dry to see what needs to be fixed later.

We then re-sprayed the bottles with a clear spray paint to seal in the glitter and also so the letters would stick down better (this did not make the letters stay down better because of how hot it was in the garage). I then went over the letters and some of the bottle with mod podge to make sure the letters stayed down. I would recommend doing at least 3 layers of this.

Even though this turned into a three day project I think our bottles turned out really well.

Christmas Frappuccino Bottles

Things you Need

• Frappuccino Bottles
• Goo Gone
• White Spray Paint/White Gloss Paint
• Mod Podge
• Stick-on Letters
• Christmas Stickers

As soon can see we used a lot of the same stuff as the project above so it made it really easy to be working on this project while we were waiting on the spray paint to dry. First we cleaned the frappuccino bottles and got off the labels. If you use the Target brand bottles the label is just plastic and peels right off instead of having to remove any of the stickiness that the Starbucks brand leaves behind.

We then spray painted the bottles with white spray paint. I recommend placing them upside down and letting the paint drip down to get a more even coat. I did a couple of coats of this but we were still not happy with the evenness of the coats, so we went back over it with white gloss paint. (I recommend using sponge brushes and not brushes with bristles because it won’t leave streaks.)

After letting this dry we applied the stick-on letters and Christmas stickers. (I did not have the color I was wanting in the letter so I painted them the color I wanted.) We then went over the stickers with mod podge to make sure they were down good. Now all we need is some fake flowers/glitter beads to put in them and they will be complete.

Backyard Plants

We absolutely love our new backyard and spending time playing out there with Lilly. We don't currently have a patio covering but instead we are using a tailgating tent to provide some shade during the hotter parts of the day. During the evenings it is absolutely perfect because the sun sets on the other side of the house and a nice breeze goes through the backyard. This is great for me because I hate being outside when it is hot. Now during the evenings I can actually stand it and both Matias and I can play with Lilly out there.

Right view of the backyard

To everyone that has seen our backyard and were trying to tell the difference between the different trees we have, we have finally figured them all out. Most were guessing that three of the trees were either lemon or lime trees....well guess what? Y'all were all wrong because they are orange trees! I was so excited to find a ripe orange today and get to try it. Of course I was expecting the sweet taste of oranges that you try at the grocery store and was very surprised when I tasted something very sour and tangy. Matias says these oranges are good for scents or jelly/jam. Now can someone actually teach me how to do this, so I can at least put them to good use.

Me with my horrible tasting orange

Besides the orange trees we also have two fig trees (can someone tell me what good these are) and several rose bushes. The garden area close to the house has several aloe vera plants and a rosemary bush, which I have already used for cooking. I absolutely love our new backyard!

Fig tree and Orange Trees

Fig Tree

Rose bush

Rosemary bush

Officially Moved and Graduated

So we officially moved to Sugar Land about 2 weeks ago and are completely settled in our new home. We love having so much space and such a big yard for Lilly to play in. She absolutely loves it but is not allowed outside by herself because some of the holes. Until we can trust her completely in the new yard she can only be let out under supervision. Which is completely fine since it will be the same rules when we get the new puppy in three weeks. We got to make our official pick tonight and picked the tan puppy (Angel) or her new name Briar Rose Spirit of Aggieland (Aggie for short). 

Our move was a very stressful process. We ended up hiring a moving company that way we wouldn't have to deal with the stress of moving everything ourselves and wouldn't be as tired from everything. Let's just say I was still plenty stressed out after our movers showed up 3 hours late and then threatened to leave after we asked where they had been. Then they ended up putting a dent into our dryer and breaking off the start button. (Sears was finally able to come out today and fix it for us). Let's just say two weeks without a dryer leaves you with 7 loads of laundry to do in one day, especially after having family come in this past weekend.

Family came in this past weekend for Matias' graduation from Texas A&M University. It was great getting to see everyone and spend time with both sides of the family and have all of the dogs staying with us. My parents got to stay with us for the first two nights and then Matias' sister, Jimena, and her husband, Michael, stayed with us the next two. It was really great having Jimena and Michael here because we don't get to spend a lot of time together. We had a lot of fun hanging out, talking and playing Quelf. 

Getting to Matias' graduation was also an adventure in itself. The entire evening and night before his graduation poured down rain (we got about 5-6 inches) and when we were leaving that morning (6 am pitch black) the street was completely flooded. Luckily we were in my Jeep instead of Matias' car but it was still pretty high and as we got to the main street there were cars abandoned all over the place and we just prayed that we would be able to make out of the water. Somehow we were able to make it to an area that wasn't flooded and were able to get back to College Station for graduation. Of course when we got back from graduation all of the water was cleared. That afternoon we had a graduation party at Matias' aunt's house for all of the family. We had a great time with everyone celebrating Matias!

Sunday of course was Mother's Day! We all spent the morning outside in the backyard playing with all of the puppies (we had 5 dogs) and spending time together since it was such a nice day. Afterwards we went to eat at a place called Willy's. The food there was actually really good and it was cool because the whole restaurant was opened to the outside. The food was really good and they had amazing fried pickles and onion rings. Matias and I can't wait to go back and try something else. All in all it was an amazing weekend and I had such a great time. 

Last Weekend in College Station

This past weekend was our last weekend living in College Station:

Friday was Matias' last day working at Aggie Pet Zone and my last day, officially, in the office at Virtualbookworm. I think it has been bitter sweet for both of us. We are ready to move on with our lives and see what God has in store for us but we both absolutely love College Station and are going to miss it a lot.

Friday night, our Sunday School class had a movie night and it was the last event we were going to be able to attend. It was a lot of fun being able to see everyone and catch up. Christine made us a really cute cookie cake with a beagle on it (guess they know how much we love beagles.) We up having a lot of fun and the movie that we watched was really good too. If you haven't seen the movie Red, then you really should because it was extremely funny and was still a good action flick.

Saturday we woke up early and headed to Dallas for the day with Lilly. This past week she turned 1 year old so we took her to visit her momma and sister. Her momma actually just had 3 week old puppies and we are getting another pup from this litter. We kept trying to put Lilly in the box with the puppies but she really didn't want to be in there and was actually kinda scared of them. We enjoyed getting to see and play with the puppies and can't wait 5 more weeks until we can go and get her (hoping for another girl.)

After Lilly met the puppies, we took her outside to see her momma and older sister. Her mom sniffed her and ran right past her to go check on the puppies, but her sister, Aurora, played outside with her. Then, two of her brothers from her litter showed up to play and we took them all to the dog park. It was great and Lilly was really tired on our way back.

When we got back to College Station we spend the rest of the night cleaning and packing for the move this week. I keep thinking we are done packing and then it is like more stuff appears that needs to be packed. I can't wait to finally move and get everything put away because I hate living out of and around boxes.

Sunday morning we went to our Sunday School class for the last time. It was extremely sad to realize this would be the last time that we would get to attend and that next Sunday we would be looking for another church. I am so thankful for our Newly Weds and Young Married Couples class and hope that we can find something just as great in Sugar Land. I am incredibly thankful that God put this class, and all of the friends that we have made, into our lives.

After church we went back home and picked up our cars to get them cleaned in order to be able to pack some of our stuff into it. Once we got back, we did some more cleaning and packing. Fun fun! Then later that night we went over to Mandy and Michael's for one last dinner together in College Station. It was great talking to them and I am so glad that we have become friends this past year. I am also extremely thankful that they also will be moving to the Houston area in the next couple of weeks. 

After we went back home we of course did more cleaning and packing. Can't wait till Tuesday when we finally get the keys to our new place and then Wednesday the movers come. This is going to be an extremely busy couple of days but I can't wait to finally get settled.