Think Spring

Maybe it is all of my NY friends that have had some a cold and snowy winter.

Or maybe it's because I'm back in a country where we celebrate Easter

Or maybe it's because after 2 1/2 years of living in a very tropic climate, I'm so excited to be in a place where we have four seasons. 

Or it may be because I have my own place to decorate and make home.

Whatever the reason was, I have been so excited to decorate my place for different holidays and seasons. I love what I do, but it's not the highest paying job and so I found most of my decorations at the Dollar Tree! I think I spent a total of $9. Totally worth it to had a little spring and Easter to my place.

When my family was here last week, I had my Dad put up this shelf above my fireplace. My fireplace didn't come with a mantle and this space still looked a little sparse. I thought a shelf would be a great place to not only fill up that wall more but also a great place to decorate with picture frames and little trinkets. I love how it turned out!

Several of you have asked about my wooden wall piece. I bough it in China and it made the journey home last July and then on to Oklahoma in December. 

I absolutely LOVE it. 

I haven't stained it or anything, I don't think it needs it. 

In the middle it says "blessings" in Chinese.

I bought these two flower vases and the cute spring/Easter flowers for a $1 each.

Total cost was $6.

This little vase and sparkly eggs were also each a $1.

I think it turned out really cute!

I wasn't sure how my little Easter egg garland would turn out.

I didn't want it to look tacky but thought my fireplace needed something.

My Dad put up these hooks when I moved in so that I could hang my garland and Christmas lights. 

These little eggs were just $1 and I noticed that they had 2 holes in the top. 

Perfect to put some yarn through and hang!

I think it also turned out really cute!

Here is hoping for spring to come soon for all my northern friends. 

I have a busy week coming up. Sunday is Winter Jam here in Tulsa! I am so excited to see Skillet, Jeremy Camp, For King and Country, and several other Christian bands for just $10! I am going with several girls from my small group. Then on Thursday I bought tickets for the Kari Jobe concert which will be in town. I love her and even though I just saw her last fall, I'm excited to see her again. Then next weekend, there is a Women's Christian Conference in town, Extraordinary Women. I haven't bought my ticket yet but I think I'm going to go. I so missed women's retreats and conferences when I was overseas.

It will be a busy but very fun week! 

Happy Friday!

My Office

I am slowly trying to show you more and more of my life here in Tulsa. 

I'll be honest, it's been hard to know what to blog about. I want to keep blogging because I love it, love connecting with other bloggers, and love looking back and seeing all that God has done in my life.

What I am doing now isn't any less significant than what I did in China. I am still working with orphans and still uniting families through adoption. 

It just looks a little different now and it has been hard to figure out my role in the here and now. Not just in my job, but in life as well.

Anyways, I finally got around to decorating my cubicle!

I was inspired by Pinterest and I thin it turned out pretty well. 

Since I probably spend more time here than in my apartment, I wanted it to look cute and inviting.

I got the idea on Pinterest to buy fabric to add a bit of color. I love the gray fabric I picked out and it was on sale as well. 

Even better!

Since this is the shelf right above my computer, it is kind of hard to reach since I have to reach over my computer. So I decided this would be my decorative shelf. 

Right now I have pictures, my lamp from Thailand, tissues, chapstick, lotion, and eye drops (I have had terrible eye allergies the last few weeks... I'd appreciate prayer!). 

Those little mason jars I bought at Hobby Lobby for less than a dollar and painted the inside of them. I then glued some beading around the top and a flower and they turned out pretty cute! I may eventually put some fake flowers in them. 

The book I received for Christmas from my Grandma: "Signs of Life" by David Jeremiah. 

I have been reading each morning and oh my, does it make you think! 

I highly recommend it.

My bigger mason jars which I am using to hold my pens, highlighters, scissors, etc. 

 There you have it. 

A little peak into my office space or my "home away from home."

Happy Friday!

Stay warm all of my NY friends!

Spring is in the Air

Whether spring is really in the air or not, it's that time of year where we are all ready for spring. At least I am! And what is more spring like than a pretty flowered wreath for your front door? 

I moved at a hard time to move, Christmastime. 

And that made decorating hard at first because I wanted to not only decorate my apartment because it was my new home, but also decorate for Christmas. 

But once Christmas was over and it was time to take my Christmas decor down, I felt like I was taking all my decorations down.

Several weeks ago I decided that I wanted a spring wreath for my front door. There is just something about a bright colored wreath that makes it feel like "home" when you walk in. 

I looked and looked and not only couldn't find a wreath I liked but they are so expensive!

I decided that maybe it would't be too hard to make my own and watched a tutorial on YouTube. 

Oh my goodness, if I knew it was this easy, I would have made one weeks ago! 

I bought my supplies at the Hobby Lobby that is right down the road from my apartment. 

The plain wreath was on sale and cost be about $2.50.

I decided to go with pink and off white flowers. That way I can keep it up all spring and summer.

You can't craft without a Starbucks, right?

Thanks Grandma for the gift card!

The tutorial I watched said rather than gluing the flowers directly on the wreath, it would stay better if you glued loops of fabric and then glue the flowers on. 

I bought brown and pink burlap type materiel. 

It was super cheap too, since I didn't need a lot of it, I only got 1/4 of a yard and I think they cost me $1 each!

Once you glue on the fabric loops, you glue the flowers into them.

I decided it do a 3/4 flower wreath rather than covering the whole thing. 

I still haven't decided if I want to do the rest of it, add a bow, add some of the pearls I bought, or leave it alone.

I think it turned out pretty well! I'll make another one for fall I'm sure.

And cost?

It cost me less than $20. Probably about $15.

Much cheaper (and prettier) than the already made ones!

And much more fun.

Preschool Crafts

I am not the most creative person and so this whole preschool teacher thing has been quite a learning experience. Over the last year, I think I've gotten better (thanks to Pinterest) at coming up with fun, creative, and educational crafts. Right now we are working through the alphabet and each week we are focusing on a different letter. I thought I would share a few of our recent crafts.... I think they turned out well!

"A" is for Alligator...

"A" is also for Apple...

 "B" is for Bumblebee... There are white wings on there but with the white background (should have chosen a different background color) you can't see them too well.

 "B" is for Bear and Baseball.... none of which this craft is portraying. We just pasted paper "squares" (that was the shape we were working on) into a letter B.

This is my favorite so far. "C" is for Caterpillar. Aren't they adorable? So glad I brought "googly eyes" back form the states. The kids thought they were pretty cool!

Hopefully the kids are learning something and having fun as well. Have I mentioned how nice it is to have my own preschool room? It's wonderful!