My Amazing Lasagna

Last night we had the missionaries from our church over for dinner.  I always debate what to make for them when they come, last time we had them over one of them informed me that he was a pasta lover.  I thought "Perfect!  I'll make Lasagna!"  The hustle and bustle of my evening is the cause for forgetting to take a picture of my beautiful creation... but one of the missionaries did tell me that my Lasagna made his "Top 3."  I felt very honored.  Anyway.

Holli's Amazing Lasagna!

9 Lasagna Noodles
15 oz. Cottage Cheese
1 can Olives, sliced  (Olives can be substituted, my husband likes when I add spinach instead.  Add whatever you like in your Lasagna!)2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
26 oz. Spaghetti Sauce, changing flavors of sauce adds a nice twist to this meal.
2 C. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 lb. Ground Beef
Brown and drain beef, cook pasta as directed. In bowl combine cottage cheese, olives, eggs, garlic powder, salt and pepper. In another bowl combine spaghetti sauce and beef. Spread some sauce on bottom of 9x13 pan, layer with lasagna and ½ cottage cheese mixture, add some cheese and more sauce, repeat layers once. Top with remaining noodles, sauce, and cheese. Bake for 30 min. at 400°,  or until cheese is melted.

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I've always loved the idea of Lasagna, but I never did like the food itself.  When I got married I decided to try it.  Last night my husband and I reminiced about all the different lasagna's I baked trying to find the perfect Lasagna.  It wasn't pretty.  I finally took my favorite parts of several different lasagnas and combined them, and this is what I came up with.  It's my first recipe that I claim to be "mine."  Although I'm sure many other people have something very close to the same thing.  I think it's Spectacular.  I hope you like it too.

Easter Egg Wreath

I loved Kristie's post about her easter egg wreath.  It's such a cute idea.  I'm in need of easter decor as well so I made one of my own.

It's not nearly as cute at Kristie's, but it didn't turn out too bad.

Did you miss Kristie's post about how to make an Easter Egg Wreath?

Click here to see it.

My Quilt Rack

Here's the pictures of the finished quilt rack my husband made me. 

He hung it up on Valentine's Day and told me that was my gift.  I love it.

I decided to hang my first quilt on it, after all the quilts I've made, even the one's I've given away, this is still my favorite quilt.  It just says so much about who we are and what we like to do.

On top I put pictures and items from some of our adventures.

Curious what they are?

Black bears are my favorite bear, I especially love the black bear  "black forest" figurines (I'm determined to have them all!)

From left to right:  Little bear w/ Canoe (We love to be on the water) The Mama bear with baby in the Chair (Our children are one of our greatest adventures, even if it means we stuck at home sometimes.) The Bear hugs in the forest (The our family shares of being outdoors.)  The little bear on the end is special.  It's different from the rest, but it's from our honeymoon, which we never got until this last fall.

The pictures are from our river runs. 

The small framed one is from our honeymoon trip in Jackson Hole, my husband and I rafted the Snake River, this is a picture of us going through the "Big Kahuna" Rapid.  The other two are from my husbands 3-5 day river run down Desolation Canyon. 

The antler is a shed my husband found while hiking and the little stuffed squirrel is from the Grand Canyon. 

3 years ago my husband and I hiked the Grand Canyon from rim to rim in 12 1/2 hours.  It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

The tile in the center is to remind us to look at everything in our lives as an adventure, no matter what comes our way.

Bring on the COLOR!!!

The other day after cleaning my house I sat on the couch (for the 5 sec. I had nothing going on) and looked around. I realized that my house was really blah. There was no color anywhere. It was kinda depressing. Then to make it worse I realized that I never put up any valentines decorations (the whole 2 decorations that i have) :) haha! It was right then that I decided that I was done the blah-ness and that I was going to get some color ASAP! So I

went to the dollar store today and bought some fun things to make some new projects! Well here is the beginning of project color!

For this project I got 2 bags of easter eggs and a little wreath and some ribbon. I already had some little tiny eggs from last year that I pulled out too.

First I made a bow and hand sewed it together so it wouldn't fall apart and then attached it to the wreath.

Then I hot glued easter eggs all over the front side of the wreath. Here is the back of the finished wreath.

And here is the front.

And here is the cute COLORFUL wreath hanging on my door! Fun huh!

After I finished the wreath I had a few extra eggs so I added some onto the entrance into the kitchen! For this part I just used thread and put it through wholes on the top and bottom of the eggs (My eggs had 2 holes on the top and the bottom) Then i just taped the thread to the wall. I think it looks kinda fun! I also had a little extra ribbon and made a tiny bow to hang in the middle.

Happy Easter Decorating!

Our Family Motto

Today started out as a good day.  My husband put the last coat of stain on the shelf he made for me.  It's drying as I speak.  So we rearranged furniture in our living room today so we could hang the quilt rack where I want it.  (It's mildly refreshing to rearrange furniture, change things up a bit, if you know what I mean.)  Anyway, I got an idea for a vinyl project while I was rearranging ☺

For years now I have enjoyed a quote by Helen Keller, I'm sure you've heard it:

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.

Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure."

Once upon a time I got a fortune cookie that said "To you, Life is a Bold and Dashing Adventure"

This fortune has inspired me just as Helen Keller has, so I combined the two and we have Our Family Motto.

So I went to the hardware store and I bought a tile and I cut my quote from vinyl.

The only problem I have now is that (on the stand I bought) my tile is slightly too big for the intended location.  So I've decided once my quilt rack is hung it will sit in the center.  ☺

Sneak Peak at My Most Recent Project

I am excited.  A week after I bought my silhouette the company came out with a new product.

Fabric Interfacing.  Meaning I can cut fabric with my Silhouette!  I'm quite happy about it.  So I rushed to their website and I purchased one of each new interfacing, it finally showed up 2 days ago.

Long ago I made an alphabet quilt for my children... and it's awful.  I haven't even posted pictures on this site because I hate it so much.  So I'm making another one.  It's going to be a very fun and colorful quilt.  If all goes as planned. 

Here's all the letters I have cut thus far.  Isn't it amazing how nicely they cut?  I'm astonished.  This is going cut applique time in half.

I'm hoping to use the Eric Carle Brown Bear Brown Bear Fabric Collection for the basis of the quilt.  It's going to be amazing!

What do you think?

Woodworking Tools

Over the course of the last year I've spent a good chunk of money purchasing woodworking tools for my husband.  Table Saw, Mitered Saw, Jigsaw, Belt Sander, next on my list is a router.  Why am I spending a good chunk of my crafting money on wood working tools?  Easy. I want real wood shelving and hopefully in the future real wood furniture. (I also want a swing set and a place to hang my hammock in the summertime!) The first project I have set before him is a quilt rack.  Which he stained last night.  ☺ 

I love the color.  Once I get him a router I might make him pull it down and put a nice finish on the edges, but in the meantime...

I really love it.  It's simple, yet beautiful.  The only problem I have now is deciding which wall to hang it on, and which quilt to hang on it.  I might have to have him make a few more so I can hang them everywhere  ☺

Little Hearts Everywhere

When I bought my Silhouette I got a free roll of pink vinyl.  I thought to myself "pink? why pink?"  The only pink things in my entire house are in my daughters room and I'm not ready to vinyl in there.  So I thought to myself, "Valentines is coming up ☺"  I made little hearts, and I put them everywhere.

(Still a little crooked... I need to work on my lines)

I only took a couple pics, but they are everywhere... on all the doors, my walls, my appliances.  It makes me feel happy!

My one and only valentines decoration.  No I didn't make it, but I've thought of duplicating it and making another. 

My Recent Vinyl Projects

All of Holli's vinyl projects inspired me to get my cricut out and do some porjects of my own. I decided that I am going to make the most of apartment living and decorate like I would my own home. I love the welcome on the front door!

My "spring cleaning" urges have hit early this year! I think I have already deep cleaned twice! (not the same areas though :) I organized my pantry this weekend and decided to get some new containers and label them! Here is how it turned out!

(Sorry this one is sideways)

This is a fun and easy project! Now I think some other rooms in my house need some organizing! :)

Project FAIL....but its cute though

Well this project was alot of fun and turned out really cute, but they don't fit like I want them too....

With a cute ruffle bum!

I started making these shorts as matching outfits for my daughter and niece for our trip to Disneyworld! I tried these on my daughter and I learned my lesson the hard way, that when you are coping shorts that are made of stretchy fabric you need to use stretchy fabric.... oh well! So they sadly won't have these darling matching shorts, which turns out is ok because plans changed and the trip got cancelled. Oh well, I will try to make some again sometime because I still love this fabric! :)