Halloween Block Decorations - DIY Yourself some Unique Decorations

Halloween is huge in our neighborhood... in our town... in our house. The leaves are starting to change and the air is getting a little crisper at night so I'm feeling inspired to make some decorations.
 
Supplies

The Creative Side of My Brain :)
Wood Cubes
Acrylic Paint & Foam Brushes
Mod Podge or Gel Medium
Scrapbook Paper (3-5 coordinating patterns)
Paper Trimmer & Scissors
Embellishments (buttons, flowers, etc)
Tacky Glue
Markers/Pens (I used Faber Castell Big Brush Pens and Pigma Micron Pens)
Letters (Stencils or Stickers) or you can cut them out on a Cricut

I saw some cute wooden cubes at the store, but thought they were a bit expensive, so I headed to Home Depot for some wood. Bought an 8 foot piece of wood 4x4x4 (which equates to 3 1/2 all around) and cut it into cubes with my chop saw. (I was just a BIT covered in sawdust when I was finished).

Sanded them smooth, used a tack cloth to remove the little sawdust bits and covered them with two coats of paint.

Dug through my huge paper stash (not saying I have a problem or anything - I can quit anytime) and found a bunch of paper that would fit into a Halloween Theme. Obviously I don't have enough because I ended up making a few pages of my own for the Halloween phrases. Cut the paper into squares 3 1/4 x 3 1/4.

Then I just let my imagination and creativity loose - this is what takes the most time - the back and forth trying lots of combinations until I found the look I wanted. Used Gel Medium to apply each square of paper (chose not to cover the bottom of the cube). This can be random or you can line up the patterns on each of the cubes. Used my heat gun to help speed up the drying process. Had lots of fun adding embellishments, lettering, flowers, and buttons with my glue. Used my markers to distress the edges and add some additional details. I wanted to be able to display them stacked or lined up so I didn't put anything bulky on the top of the cubes.




You could make them for any holiday you want. And what a cute gift for someone.


Happy Creating!  Love, Steph



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Conversation Techniques to Building Deeper Relationships



My dad ordered a book and we received it a week after he passed away. It was called Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being by Dr. Martin Seligman.  FLOURISH - what a perfect word to sum up the life my dad wanted to live. He was all about looking at life through "positive" eyes. And even with all his health issues, he chose to live a life full of joy, full of enjoyment, full of laughter....just full!

I read this book and it was so powerful. Part practical wisdom, part self-help with a lot of scientific studies to back it up. It was slow going for me (felt like I was back in college studying), but I was able to pull out many helpful gems that both reinforced my focus on a joy-filled life and opened my eyes to several new things.

One of the most interesting things I learned was... how we respond in conversations can strengthen or weaken our relationships.

How to deepen a relationship with one Conversation Technique.

When people we care about tell us about a victory, triumph or good thing that happened to them, how we respond can build the relationship or undermine it.
  • Active/Constructive  Acknowledge, be excited for them, celebrate with them. Ask questions so they relive the moment with you.
    Non-verbal: Smiling, Enthusiasm.

  • Passive/Constructive  Passively say, 'that's nice'. No further interaction or conversation.
    Non-verbal: Little to no active emotional expression.

  • Active/Destructive  Critical, negative words, pessimistic, find the fault or potential downside in the victory.
    Non-verbal: Display negative emotions, frowning.

  • Passive/Destructive  No acknowledgement of the success/victory, change subject.     
    Non-verbal: no eye contact, leave room, etc.

I've been trying it. Such a great difference.

Have a Joy-filled week!  Love, Steph


Measuring Cups - a simple way to store them



I use to dig in my kitchen drawers for the right size measuring cup until I 
came up with a practical way to store them using the inside of a cupboard.
Used one of my favorite organizing things: Command Hooks

Grabbed a pencil, level and spaced out the measuring cups evenly on the inside of the cabinet (making sure nothing got in the way of the door closing).

I have two sets of measuring cups Stainless Steel and Collapsible and I tend to use every one them when I'm really on a cooking blitz. (You don't even want to see what the kitchen looks like then.) 

 Put up the Command Hooks, waited a bit as they set, then put up all the cups. 

 
Simple, easy to use and.... no more digging around in a drawer.

Happy Organizing! 
Love, Steph



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