We've Moved!!

Web addresses, that is. Please check out the new digs over at the new McchesneyMoments Blog.

See you there!

Black and White Stenciled Plate

You know that I LOVE crafty home magazines and I was so excited when the newest issue of Do It Yourself came out last week.

As you can see, one of the focuses of the issues is painting all sorts of fun things. There are some really cute ideas and one of them is to paint plates and hang them on the wall. If you look closely at the cover photo, you can see two bright pink plates that are painted and hanging on the wall next to the lamp.

I think that they are so cute! After reading more, I found that they gave the plate a base coat of pink spray paint, and then used a stencil to add the white details. I love the concept so I decided to give it a try. I headed over to the Dollar Tree to see what goodies I could find, and as always was pleasantly surprised. I got a great plate to use and a set of stencils!


Here is what I used to make my own stenciled plate:

1) white plate ($1.00)

2) flower stencil ($1.00)

3) black spray paint ($4.00ish)

4) white acrylic craft paint ($1.97)

5) sponge paint brush (free-I already had this)

I started by giving my plate a black base coat with black gloss spray paint.



Next, I cut out one of the flowers on this stencil and began using the white paint to stencil the flowers on in a pattern.


I did make a few mistakes and luckily I was able to correct most of them because I used acrylic paint. I was able to wet a q-tip and correct my mistakes. I'm not sure where I'm going to hang it yet, but I think it turned out super cute! I think I will make a whole set using the different flowers on my stencil. How fun!

Bookshelf Sneak Peek...Ascend

I just wanted to give you a quick sneak peek of what I am reading now, and what my next "From the Bookshelf" post will be about.

Ascend by Amanda Hocking

This is the third and final book in the Trylle Trilogy. It was just released on January 12th and I can't wait to see how the series ends!

Valentine's Day Subway Art

Every time I go blog-hopping I see cute examples of subway art. It seems to be such a popular trend right now and I love it! Creative people all over are making fun pieces for all of the holidays as well as just everyday decor. One day, during one of my blog-hopping sessions I came across a post where someone made a Valentine's Day subway art piece using stickers, scrapbook paper and a cute frame. So one day while at Joanne's I headed to the sticker aisle to see if I could find some fun/cheap Valentine's Day stickers. Of course I was in luck!

Here is what I used to make my variation of Valentine's Day subway art:

1) 1 pack of V-day stickers ($2.99, plus 1/2 off)

2) 1 piece of white vellum paper ($0.69)

3) black frame with frosted window ($8.99, plus 1/2 off)

I started by cutting out each sticker and arranging them in the shape of the square that would show through the front of the frame. This was probably the most tricky part. I was trying to fit in as many stickers as I could. I had to play around with the arrangement a bit. It was almost like doing a puzzle!

Note: There are sunflowers painted on my craft desk. These are not part of the project.

Next I stuck the stickers onto the vellum and cut it to fit in the frame. Then I put the stickered-up vellum in the frame and ta-dah! This was really such a simple project that took all of about 10 minutes to put together.



I think it looks really cute on our shelf!

From the Bookshelf #1: Insatiable

Today, I am starting a new collection of blog posts about the books that I am currently reading. I'm calling it my "From the Bookshelf" series. Sort of sounds like something Oprah would do, right? If only I were as cool as Oprah. Anyway, I will blog about current books that I am reading... even if they are stinkers.

So, my first book post is about Insatiable by Meg Cabot.


Let me just start by saying that I am obsessed with Twilight. So, somehow I am now automatically drawn to anything involving vampires. This book proves that theory once again. Yes, it is indeed about vampires.

One night, Trav and I were looking around Borders and I wandered into the fiction section, searching for a good book to download onto my Nook later that night. I came across Meg Cabot's books and saw this one. The cover caught my attention right away because the color scheme is very Twilight-esque. I first came across Meg Cabot with The Boy Next Door, which stood as my favorite book for a number of years until I read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Anyway, I love Meg Cabot and when I saw that she had written a book about vampires, I thought "I must read this!"

Here is a quick book description blurb from the publisher Harper Collins:

Sick of hearing about vampires? So is Meena Harper.

But her bosses are making her write about them anyway, even though Meena doesn't believe in them.

Not that Meena isn't familiar with the supernatural. See, Meena Harper knows how you're going to die. (Not that you're going to believe her. No one ever does.)

But not even Meena's precognition can prepare her for what happens when she meets—then makes the mistake of falling in love with—Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side. It's a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire hunters, would prefer to see him dead for.

The problem is, Lucien's already dead. Maybe that's why he's the first guy Meena's ever met whom she could see herself having a future with. See, while Meena's always been able to see everyone else's future, she's never been able look into her own.

And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

Now might be a good time for Meena to start learning to predict her own future. . . .

If she even has one.

Source: http://www.harpercollins.com

I just finished it last week and I have to say that I really enjoyed MOST of it. I love it when characters fall in love with "Mr. Perfect" only to find out that they are actually vampires! The vampires in this story were different, and probably more traditional, than my beloved Twilight vampires, which was fun to read. The main character has a very different opinion of the whole vampire, pop-culture, phenomenon, which I couldn't personally relate to but enjoyed reading about anyway.

There was definitely a section that took me days and days to read and it really wasn't a long part. It was the big "vampire war" climactic scene and for some reason I just couldn't get into it. All leading up to it and then after, I could barely put the book down, but that one part seemed to drag on for too long. There was a bit of a love triangle and who doesn't love that? Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to other vampire lovers.

My New Love, My Nook!

This past Christmas, Trav got me THE gift of all gifts... a Barnes and Noble Nook Color! Reading is my all time favorite hobby and relaxation strategy, so this was the PERFECT gift!

When we moved, Trav was less than thrilled with moving all of my books, but I refused to give them to GoodWill. They are like my own personal trophy collection (I have never been very athletic, hence I have no actual trophies, so I take great pride in my books :-). We also recently found ourselves bargaining over who gets to use the computer in the evenings. We both love to surf the internet. My surfing tends to be the blog-hopping variety.

Before Christmas we found out that the Nook Color has an internet feature and we joked about how this could solve a couple problems for us. Number one being that all of my new books would be electronic and not actually take up any physical space. Number two being that I could stalk my favorite blogs on the Nook, leaving Trav with free reign of our laptop. Plus, Nook books are cheaper than regular books. The more we talked about it the better it sounded.

I hoped he would get me one, but I didn't know for sure... until Christmas morning. I was so excited when I opened it! What a great hubby he is!!! We have found that it comes in really handy for even more than we originally thought. It has a couple of games like crossword and sudoku puzzles. We have found that we love to work on crossword puzzles together while we are driving, or waiting for our food in a restaurant. Do we sound like senior citizens? Yikes!

Here is a photo of my new beauty.

I bought this lovely green cover for it. I just love it!!!

The cover has this cute quote on it.


I just wanted to share my bliss over my new obsession and mention that I have decided to take breaks from project posts and throw in posts about my reading list from time to time. How fun!

Valentine's Day Pillows

Now that it is officially February, I am excited to share my Valentine's Day pillows that I made for our living room!

A couple of Fridays ago, I was checking out "Feature Yourself Friday" on Fingerprints on the Fridge and I came across this cute post. I loved this simple yet fun way to decorate for V-day. I decided that I would like to try my hand at making some cute pillows. Remember, I am pretty much a novice sewer. I'm sure there is probably a much more sophisticated way to make pillows, but the description below is how I made my little lovelies.

Here is what I used to make my pillows:

1) 1/2 yard red and white gingham fabric ($3.99/yd)

2) 1/2 yard red with white polka dots ($3.99/yd)

3) quarter yard square ($1.29)


Apparently I forgot to take a picture of the gingham. Sorry!

I started by cutting and sewing the fabric into pillow shapes, leaving a small opening to put in the stuffing. I ended up making four pillows, two out of the gingham and two out of the polka dots.

I typed up "love" on the computer using a neat, simple font in all lower case letters. I printed it, and then I cut the letters out and traced them onto the white fabric. Once the letters were traced on the fabric, I cut them out and used craft glue to glue them on the pillow shape.


After the letters were on, I started stuffing the pillows through that opening that I left. I used poly-fill pillow stuffing.


Next, I used a needle and thread to stitch up the opening.

Now, I have four lovely pillows for our front room and they look so cute in our dark colored chairs!

"Home" Art

I recently made a trip over to one of my favorite craft stores, Hobby lobby. It seems like I've been spending an awful lot of time at the crafts stores lately... Anyway, while looking around I found the cutest framed art. It was the word "home" written in different fonts with the H on the left side and the other three letters stacked on top of each other down the right side. It was in a black frame attached to a black ribbon for hanging. I loved it!

Hobby Lobby was selling it for $14.99. I really considered buying it but then thought better of it. I knew that I could make this for much cheaper. And I did... for under $7.00!

Here is what I used for this project:

1) 1 piece of vellum scrapbooking paper ($0.69)

2) 1 piece of dark gray scrapbooking paper (free-I already had it)

3) printed letters "Home"

4) black frame ($4.99 clearance at Target)

5) black ribbon (free- I already had it)

I started by printing out "Home" using different fonts and then cut the letters out. I used these as tracers, and traced onto the gray paper. Then, I cut the gray letters out. I'm really starting to think that I need one of those Cricut things.




Next, I cut the vellum down to size for the frame and then attached the gray letters to the vellum using scrapbook adhesive tape. Finally, I attached the vellum to the backing of the frame and put it all together. The last step was to cut the ribbon and attach it to the hook on the back of the frame.

Now it is hanging next to our front door and I am so glad that I decided not to buy it at Hobby Lobby!

P.S. Sorry the lighting in the photos is crummy. I was having trouble with the flash.

Black and White Table Runner

When we bought our house we knew that we would need some new furniture. One of the first sets that we bought was a new kitchen table and chairs. We found a set that we loved on sale and knew that it was meant to be. We got an espresso colored, counter top height table, and 8 chairs. We were so excited!

Once the set was delivered we quickly found that the surface of the table scratches quite easily. So, we decided we needed some way of protecting it, but we didn't want to use a tablecloth all of the time. We bought a table runner and 4 place mats that we found for super cheap. We weren't too specific when choosing them, other than the fact that they needed to be cheap. Now I have decided that they definitely aren't the colors that I'd like to use in the kitchen, so I have been looking for black and white fabric to make my own table runner.

On Saturday I went on another Joanne's adventure and found that the quarter yard fabric samples were on sale for $1.29 instead of the usual $1.99 price. I was sifting through these squares looking for fabric for other projects and came across these black and white samples.


I loved them, and they were exactly the right price... cheap! I ended up buying 2 of these, thinking that I could maybe sew them together to make a runner. Once I got home I went to town. You should know that I am still kind of new to sewing. I know just enough to get by with making pillows and sewing straight lines. Luckily for me, this project was as simple as it could have possibly been. I sewed them together and then sewed seams around the edges.

Overall, I think it turned out prefectly, especially with a price tag of less than $3.00. My next project for the kitchen is to make curtains. Yikes! Hopefully, I'll be finished and ready to post about them in the next few weeks.

Berry Breakfast Smoothie

Over winter break Trav and I read Jackie Warner's book This is Why You're Fat. Gotta love that title! I really like Jackie, so we were excited to read her book. I'll post more about this later, but I just wanted to share my favorite part of Jackie's weight loss plan. She suggests having a berry smoothie each morning for breakfast. I have been doing this each morning and I actually love it! I don't drink coffee so this is the perfect morning treat. I never thought that I would enjoy getting up early to do this, but I actually look forward to it. So, I thought that I would share this yummy idea with others.

Here is what I use to make my smoothie each morning:

1) 1 ice cube

2) 1 tbsp. flax seed

3) 1 scoop whey protein shake mix

4) 1 cup mixed berries

5) a little Truvia for a little extra sweetness

6) 2 cups of water

I start by putting the ice cube into the blender and crushing it.


Next I add the powder ingredients (flax, protein, Truvia).


Then, I add the berries and the water.


Lastly, I blend it all together and VOILA yummy morning deliciousness!


Jackie suggests adding spinach to this for added vitamins and minerals, but I haven't been brave enough to try that yet.

I love these smoothies for many reasons, one being that I get one serving of fruit and 2 cups of water first thing in the morning. But the main reason that I love it is because it is delicious! It's almost like starting the day with dessert. What could be better than that?

Weekly Menu Planner

I think this is probably my favorite project I've done so far and I hope you like it too!


Each weekend Trav and I plan out our dinners for each night of the upcoming week. This way we can make one trip to the grocery store and it also helps to ensure that we are buying exactly what we need instead of a bunch of random junk.

For the past five years, I have purchased magnetic notepads that we keep on the fridge to help with this meal planning process.

We just wrote in the name of our dinners next to each day. This system has worked wonderfully for the past few years.

That is until I came across this project post on Under The Table and Dreaming. She made a reusable menu planner out of a regular old picture frame! Once you have it all together, you can use a dry erase marker to write down your menu for the week. You just write right on the glass. Then, it's easy to wipe off to erase and redo the next week. I think this is pure genius! Not only can you save on paper, which is obviously earth friendly, you can also customize it to go with the decor in your kitchen. Genius I tell you!

Here is what I used to make mine:

1) scrapbook paper for the background (I used black and white)

2) a sheet with the title and the days of the week printed out (I used white cardstock)

3) thin black ribbon

4) 8x10 frame


The first thing that I did was choose a fun font on our computer and typed out "This Week's Menu" along the top with the days of the week down the left side. Next, I cut the printout to the size that I wanted and mounted it onto the pretty scrapbook paper. Then, I cut down the scrapbook paper to 8x10 so that it would fit in my frame. I added a strip of thin ribbon to dress it up just a bit. Finally, I put it in the frame and got out my dry erase marker. It was such an easy project. In all, I think it probably took me about 20 minutes.

I love this project for many reasons but mostly because you can make it as detailed or as simple as you want. We have used this every week since I made it, and I love that we are saving paper!


P.S. Please disregard our out-of-control kitchen utensil canister. I know it's kind of ridiculous!

Jewelry Storage

A couple of weeks ago I bought this magazine called Real Room Ideas. There are so many great ideas in there, and I just love it! One of my favorite ideas, which I quickly stole, was a necklace keeper. Jewelry storage has been an area of frustration for me personally because it has been hard to find a reasonably priced jewelry box that is not god-awful to look at. When we moved, I bought this jewelry tree from Target.


I think it's so pretty! I actually I bought it more because I just think it's a cool piece rather than to actually hang my jewelry on. I did eventually end up hanging earrings and necklaces on it, and it quickly just became too cluttered. So, you can imagine my excitement when I found an affordable alternative in my new mag.

In the magazine, they suggested buying a shadow box frame that has a front hinging door. I found something similar at Target one day for $15. It was a frame especially made for album covers. I think the size is around 12x12. This frame is much more shallow than I had in mind but I thought I would give it a try.


I also bought a package of black and white scrap booking paper (also from Target, $0.99) to use as a background.


I used the cardboard that the frame came in as the background piece that I would stick pins in.


I covered this cardboard with a piece of scrapbook paper to make it pretty, and attached it to the inside of the frame with some adhesive pieces that I had from previous projects.

Since I had decided to use an album frame rather than a regular shadowbox, I found it difficult to find pins short enough to allow the door to close. Originally, I thought that I would use some clear, regular bulletin board pins that I had, but quickly found that they were not short enough. I went to Joanne's in search of something that would work. I found some sewing pins that luckily were short enough. They really are cute little pins! The only problem is that they were not as sturdy as I would like for them to be because they are so very small.


Next, I decided that it need a little more flair. I glued tiny black buttons (left over from my "button art" project) onto the head of each pin so that they would stand out a little bit. I also cut out some little flowers out of yellow card stock and added black and white buttons for detail. I glued these guys in the corners.


In order to solve the sturdiness problem I decided to put hot glue on the pins as I was sticking them into the back piece.

Now, my necklaces all hang in my frame and my earrings hang from my lovely tree. I also lay my watches in the little nook at the base of the tree.



What do you think? Do you have any great ideas for storing jewelry?