A Warm House

I think that this is longest gap I have had in blogging for a long time. I guess that's what happens when you buy a house and are busy moving in it. On top of that Mr. Wonderful and I chose to have a House Warming party 6 days after we moved into our house!!!!

I am so glad that we had one and so quick! It gave us motivation to setup shop a.s.a.p and get all those brown boxes out of the house.

Definition of a HouseWarming Party: Is a party held within 120 days of moving into a new residence. It is an occasion for the hosts to present their new home to friends & family, and to receive gifts to furnish the new home. Housewarming parties are generally informal; usually there are no plammed activities besides a possible tour.

Our family & friends filled up our rooms and their cars filled up our Court!

Their presence also filled our hearts

, including the kids.

Our home became theirs for Dinner. Menu: Spaghetti, Lasagna, Raviolis, Garlic Bread, and Salad.

We also had Neighbor presence at the House Warming! Yay for living next to kind & sweet people.

The guys broke in our new sectional as they watched the football game.

My Dear friend took over my camera to capture moments as I played the Tour Guide.

We were overwhelmed by house warming gifts, even apparel to keep the kids warm.

Aunt Kit brought holiday cheer with a couple of her gifts.

We witnessed smiles on our family and friends faces,

as they visited our home for the first time.

The Appetizers were a hit, even the Boy thought so!

The Man and Lady of the house were not only hug-ready but camera-ready!

My Best Friend aka the kids GodMomma was in town to share our joy too!

My sweet siblings enjoyed the sweet dessert table!

Girlfriends broke in the house

with laughter, jokes, and poses!

Eventually the night had to come to an end.

The Girl waved goodbye!

We thanked everyone for coming and for all the gifts!

Engineer Print Success for under $20

My last post was all about us finally owning our 1st house! This means it's time to decorate each room. One of my favorite rooms I am starting with is the Master-bedroom. This is the only room Mr. Wonderful and I do not have to share with the Boy and Girl. I wanted to make it specially tailored for us.

One of our favorite pictures with each other was taken in a photo booth at his brother's wedding. I wanted this picture to be one of the focal points in the room. I had seen on pinterest the amazing Engineering prints for only $4.99 at kinkos. I decided to give it a try!

What I used:

Our favorite Picture

24x36 Engineer Print(of favorite picture)$4.99

24x36 Underlayment Wood from Home Depot $5.00

Hanging hooks and Wire from Home Depot $4.00

Modge Podge (already had it from JoAnns)

Color Pencil

Paint (left over from other projects)

Paint Brushes and Rolling Brush

How I did It:

1. I went to Kinkos with this picture and ordered a 24x36 engineering print.

2. I wanted to add some color because the $4.99 engineer prints only come in black & white.

I chose to color my flower with a red coloring pencil.

3. I went to Home Depot and asked for a 24x36 piece of Underlayment Wood. Engineer prints are super thin so I wanted to place it on top of something sturdy.

4. I painted the wood. I did not want the brown wood color to overtake the picture.

I mixed yellow, white, brown, and black because that's all I had and I did not have enough of one color.

It worked!

5. After I let the paint dry on the wood I got my Mod Podge out. I rolled a single layer on the wood and on back of the print.

6. I placed the engineer print on the wood.

7. I rolled a layer of Modge Podge on top of the print.

I loved the way it turned out. I even love the wrinkle effect it has!

*if you want a no wrinkle look use Adhesive Spray instead of Modge Podge

8. The hanging material that was purchased at Home Depot was placed on the back of the wood.

9. I hung the picture under a decal saying in our Masterbedroom.

10. Mr. Wonderful loved it!

HomeOwners!

Mr. Wonderful & I have been married for 5.5 years and I have wanted a house for 5.5 years. Instead we have rented 6 different rentals. Yes 6! We have had to move due to jobs, needing more space, mold, and owners going into foreclosure.

In the past 5.5 years we have worked with 4 different realtors and been approved that many times too. Offers were never accepted and my husband was not completely sure about becoming a homeowner. We have laid the house owning business down time after time. I have cried to Mr. Wonderful and to God, about my desire of wanting to own a house. A house that we could make into a home. A house that would allow us to grow our family. A house that we could serve and bless others. A house devoted to honoring God. A house that we could FINALLY & COMPLETELY settle into.

I did not know why it was taking so long, but now I understand.

God was preparing our hearts, our life, and our location, and our house! If we would of bought with the previous attempts we would of been in the wrong city, wrong house, with wrong hearts, and wrong timing.

This time around we started looking on August 19th 2012. We had found a great realtor who was referred to us by our awesome mortgage loan agent. My husband states that the realtor and I had kindred hearts. We were both determined to find a house ASAP and would make a way out of no way to go see a house as soon as it caught our eyes on the Internet. We placed our 1st offer on a house that we were very interested in on Aug 29th and another offer beat ours. It took us a couple of days to get over it, but we did.

We looked at a total of 9 houses when it was all said & done. Which was great because had a lot of comparisons to go by. We got to see different layouts, backyard spaces, neighbors, how much work & money we would have to put into the houses, and proximity from major destinations(freeways,parks,grocery stores, and family). On September 6th we found the next house we wanted to put an offer on. It came on the market on a Monday and we placed an offer on a Thursday morning. The offer was countered & we accepted on Friday the 7th. Escrow took 60 days( the longest 60 days in my life). We got the keys in our hands last week,November 6th 2012!!!!!!

We own a house today in which we BOTH love and wanted a 100%!!! A house that is right in between both of our families(about 15 miles each way). A house that we can afford. A house with some of our hearts desires: on a court, updated, spacious, a huge backyard, and around the corner from a park.

I have had to lay the house dream down so many times in the past and wait on my husband & God. I am so glad that I completely laid it down. Now it feels so perfect to be in Gods timing and on one accord with Mr. Wonderful!

While waiting I meditated on these scriptures:
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Picture Perfect Plates

I am a little obsessed with pictures! I wanted to hang some of my favorite photos in my kitchen. I did not want framed pictures. A light bulb came on for my desire. I came up with the idea of picture plates! The idea turned into reality last week!

What I used: Modge Podge

Scissors

Paint Brush

4 Glass Plates(from Dollar General)

4 Pictures printed from computer printer & on regular printer paper

1. I cleaned & dried plates

2. I uniformly cut all pictures to fit somewhat in the same area of all the plates

3. I applied 1 layer of Modge Podge on top of each picture(as they lay on plates)

4. I let them sit and dry for a hour.

5. I placed one more single layer of Modge Podge on pictures and again let them dry again for a hour.

I love the end products.

I plan on hanging them on the kitchen wall fairly close to my You Are My Sunshine sign.

I am trying to decide if I should just stick them to the wall or place them in plate hangers!?

I will keep you updated with my Picture Perfect Plates!!!