May Visiting Teaching Message - General Conference Quotes {free 8x10 printable}

My attempts to have the visiting teaching messages done by the first day of the month are futile. . . especially when there were so many AMAZING talks at General Conference. Which is why I decided to make an 8x10 print with most of my favorite quotes, still couldn't fit all of them. I confess that I still haven't heard or read all the talks but I have truly benefited from what I have heard. I just found out my phone will read the talks to me. . . (I know, most of you already knew that) which is great while I am folding laundry, making dinner, working on orders, etc., etc., etc. I will gladly take any little bit of spiritual advice or uplifting messages I can get!

I hope you enjoy this month's handout and share it with the sisters you visit! Simply click the download button, print and deliver!
For more information on visiting teaching and General Conference, go HERE!
 

Under the Sea Party!

Here it is, my friends. The sum of all of my labor and stress over the past few weeks.

 Jojo and Kaitlyn's Under the Sea party!

My daughter (Jojo) and her best little friend (Kaitlyn) both turn two within a few weeks of one another, so we thought "wouldn't it be so much easier to just have one party instead of two?"

well.....I think we still ended up doing the amount of work and preparation for two parties. But it was fun doing it with a friend! Below, my friend and co party planner, Sarah and I. (I am on the right.)

From the left, we had crabby crackers, gummi octopus, fish candies, shark fruit snacks, goldfish cookies, mermaid tattoos, swedish fish, rainbow twizzlers, goldfish in a sand bucket (with the shovel to serve), and a shark watermelon bowl.

Here's a closeup of the shark watermelon. His eyes are blueberries. mmmm

 Blue balloons with goldfish on the strings.

We had quite a few goldfish cut out, but the balloons fell with more than one fish! I found this idea on pinterest, and you can find it here at the Young moments blog.

 Blue Kool-Aid 

 The birthday girls and their little outfits! We found them matching shirts and I used fabric glue to adhere strings of sequins for the 2. i made hair bows with seashells on them, and little sashes with mermaid fabric! Being two year olds, almost everything came off right after pictures. ;)

Goody sand buckets! I printed out the names on regular printer paper, taped the paper to the inside of the buckets and used a paint pen to trace the names. They were filled with glow necklaces, sunglasses, goldfish snacks, and lots of CANDY! 

 The birthday girls, being mischevious. (And looking like Bono?)

 I used a large cardboard box, flipped it inside out and painted a fish bowl on the side. With a little door on one end, it was the perfect photo op!

Ah, the cake. Promise it was yummier than it looks! The turrets were made with regular cake baked in cans. The front piece of the castle was made using a sandcastle mold- we used the no bake cheesecake mix, packed in the graham cracker crust first and then poured in the cheesecake. This is the only one that survived, besides the little top piece. (Shoot. had to eat the rest...)

The base is a layer of pound cake. YUM.

We squished up some blue jello and made a moat around the castle, complete with octopuses and sharks for protection. (naturally.)

 Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the cake. messy!

The backdrop for the main table was a blue tablecloth with crepe paper hanging over it for a water effect. Both my co-party planner and husband work in the medical field and have lots of access to blue surgical drapes. Perfect! Each table was covered with one, and it made for awesome clean up!

 The food table- we had sandwiches and mac and cheese.

 Jellyfish (paper bowls and ribbon), and my cute sailor of a husband. ;)

 

Okay, and check out the adorable invites that we sent out!

You can purchase them here at Telisa's etsy shop!

Free Mother's Day Printable over at {I Heart Naptime}

You can find me today over at I {heart} Naptime with a free printable for Mother's Day!! Here is a sneak peek:

I am also working on getting the May Visiting Teaching message up with all the wonderful quotes from Conference! Any suggestions on your favorties??

Furniture Friday!

Ta DAAAA! Here it is.

The friday furniture post with the coffee table- finished! I've been running around crazy working on my daughter's "under the sea" birthday party, but did manage to get this done.

Here's a little sneak peek of the party...

Peek! Sorry, that's all you're getting! ;)

So, below, you'll see the before picture of the coffee table that I pulled from someone's trash.

(I am not ashamed to recycle furniture.)

I loved the criss-cross pattern on either side, so I sanded down until I got to bare wood.

 It. took. FOREVER. I had my hand sander, and it still took forever.

I taped off the criss cross sections on either side and lightly sanded and primed the rest.

Next, I painted two coats of a very light blue,

 then got out a tiny paintbrush and painted little whimsical designs onto the bare wood.

 Gotta love those legs!

 Here it is in my living room... I think I like that leg style- can you tell by our end table? ;)

Have a colorful week!

linking up to these parties:

craftomaniac, between naps on the porch, stories from a2z, not just a housewife,  tip junkie, sugar bee, tater tots and jello, at the picket fence, remodelaholic, whipperberry, i heart naptime, diy showoff, be different act normal

I am loving all the recipes I find on Pinterest!! Here are my fave this month:

Mexican Haystacks by Yummy Fun

This was a big hit with the company we had and it was so easy to make. . . it also makes A LOT so it is the perfect recipe for a crowd. Note: it seems like there is too much liquid but once you shred the chicken it absorbs it all. 

We eat mexican at least once a week around here so I will definitely be making this again soon!

20 Minute Teriyaki Chicken & Rice by While He Was Napping

This recipe reminds me of my fave place to eat lunch in college . . Teriyaki Stix! YUMMO!

Pizza Grilled Cheese by Forkful of Comfort

Such a simple concept and so good. My boys LOVED them, especially served with a side of Ranch dressing . . . yep, we are health nuts around here;)

For recipes on the side:

Hot Corn Dip by Gina Marie's Kitchen

I didn't have all the ingredients for this baby and it turned out good so I am sure with ALL the ingredients it is FANTASTIC and quick to make! Love that. 

Roasted Sweet Potatoes by The Galley Gourmet

These are now a new staple at our house. OH MY, they are fabulous!!!! I love sweet potatoes and get tired of just baking them and HATE cutting them into strips for fries so this is my new favorite side dish!

And for dessert:

Cream Cheese Lemon Bars.

I don't know the source of these . . . the recipe was on the pin, if they are yours let me know so I can give you the credit you deserve because they are delicious!

Samoa Bundt cake by Besty Life . . . need I say more??? It was AMAZING!

Thank you to all you talented cooks out there who help us clueless people in the kitchen! Please visit the original source of these recipes if you want to pin them! I will be back with more tried and true recipes found via Pinterest!