DIY - xo door hanger

The day of looooooove is nearly here once again, & thus, the crafting begins. I moved away from the traditional wreath this time, & I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. If you want to play along, instructions are below!

SUPPLIES:

- foam board

- printer + word/photoshop or the confidence to freehand

- utility knife

- glue stick

- watercolors or preferred medium

- string or yarn

- hot glue gun

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1. Print your "x" & "o" in whatever your preferred font may be. I used Qumpellka No. 12 at approximately 1079 pt. Since I was using Photoshop, I dragged the corners of the bounding box to fill as much of the 8.5 x 11" page as possible. 

2. Tape the cut out letters onto the foam board. Follow the edges with the utility knife

3. (optional) Flip the canvas horizontally to print a reverse image to place on the foam board. I did this because my board was a little too glossy for the watercolors I wanted to use, but also so that the edges of the paper would overlap the rougher edges of the cut foam board. I used #f0eded as the color on the reverse side so it wouldn't show through once reversed to the white/blank side.

4. Glue & admire your handiwork.

5. I used about five colors to make my... salmon? color, & kept it pretty watered down so I could just keep layering the color. I continued to blend the color as it dried, which is very obviously not pictured. I painted the edges of the board, hence color everywhere! though, I am pretty much a hot mess when it comes to paint.

6. Hot glue yarn to the back of the foam letters. This takes some strategizing to get the letters fall the way you'd like once they're hanging.

7. Stand back & admire your work! I think it's kinda adorable. 

(ps. If you're like me & can't get enough Valentine's Day,

DIY Valentine's Day Felt Heart Wreath

Some other simple Valentine DIYs from last year)

things heard around the Bethune apartment

"Oh, you're way better than Netflix." - Every day validation

"New rule: I need to at least see the Vine once before you post it." - Too many golden moment opportunities catching up to me

"I imagine that the noise our printer makes translates to 'Do your thang, do your thang, do your thang,' is that weird?" - Proof I've been working from home for awhile now

"This recipe says that making extra bacon to stir into the soup is optional. *simultaneous laughter*" - The making of Wednesday night's baked potato soup

"If I haven't called you by 4, call the police because this guy was totally creeper status." - Jared making a Craigslist pick up for work

"I hope you realize I'm moving into my parents' during the Olympics." - My Olympic obsession coping with our lack of regular TV channels

"Whoa. Commercials. Weird." - Realization made after Jared pulled out the ol' rabbit ears to make my (realistic) Olympic dreams come true

(This entry brought to you by us trying to keep ourselves busy as we wait for the Sherlock season premiere. Not even slightly embarrassed at how much I'm nerding out. I have a feeling Jared, while entertained by the show, is mostly in it for the British style-watching.)

on capturing moments

Jared's dad outdid everyone in the Christmas gift-giving arena when he surprised each of the kids with their own DVD collection of their childhood home videos. Such a labor of love, as he converted each video to DVD, then had the patience to make 8 of each. I mean, bless that man. Hours - HOURS - were spent over the Christmas week watching Jared & his family in these videos, growing up & into the wonderful humans they are today.

It was eye-opening for me as someone who married into the family, just comprehending sibling dynamics & witnessing the scenes that are still referenced to this day. My sister-in-law Alex & I would often make eye contact during Reigner (her husband) & Jared scenes that were especially antic heavy, laughing at how much sense these videos were making of our dearly beloveds. Of course, I watch 3 yr. old Jared toddle across the screen & my mind wanders to how, eventually, we'll be pointing to those facial expressions & comparing them as something our child does. Pretty amazing, this treasure trove of Bethune Family Movies.

We ended our first night of watching the videos together by watching the "bonus feature" - Film from the 70's that captured my father-in-law & his brothers as young guys in southern California. A little ways into the video, my mother-in-law joined the group & then stayed in his videos for, well, forever. Sweet, right? The camera didn't capture sound, so his mom & dad narrated our way through it, talking us through their camping trips in Northern CA, the layout of their first house, Jared's eldest sister's first birthday, their cross-country trip to Virginia to make a new home... Absolutely priceless memories.

As we got ready to go, we all were struck with this feeling of good grief, we are not taking enough videos! What ever will we show our children! I mean, really, if I'm taking video, it's with the intention of turning it into a "music video" or because someone is doing something that we're going to want to replay at least once. (& let's face it, it's on my iphone & is the first thing that is getting deleted when I get that low space alert.) It's not the candid. It's not the every day moments that will be such a treasure to look back on. Even now, the childless first apartments that seem so insignificant but are so much a part of these early years of marriage - I want to capture it all.

There's this weird balance of not living our lives through a lens vs. not capturing memories & even staged photos vs. real life. It really bothers me that I can go to my parents house & flip through photo album after photo album, but if I want to see photos from the past in my own home, I have to get on my computer & access an external hard drive. My goal is to start printing photos this year. & ohhhh, there are so many I want to print. But I think it's important. (Just like I hope books never actually fade away into e-readers.) Jared has been put in charge of taking more videos, especially around our families & closest friends. Even beyond printing pictures & compiling videos is just prioritizing keeping my digital files organized. Such a drag... But so worth it.

Jared & I made this video almost immediately following the first night of watching their home videos... Feeling a little self-conscious because we definitely don't have a 70's VW van we're camping out of or California Redwoods as a backdrop to our mid-20's, hence my assertion that we're definitely having fun. Super silly (dumb?), but ya know, I'm already grateful to have it. Well, 50-something-year-old Kelsey is grateful, anyway.

wearing - 1/50

Alright, so since it's obvious I will never be able to post multiple style posts in one week, I'm giving myself the goal of sharing what I'm wearing once a week. Sort of like the cute mom bloggers who do a photo a week of their children, except I have boots instead of babies. I guess I'm technically two weeks behind this year (SHOCKING) so that brings us to 50 outfits in 2014. Hopefully. 

The thing about style posts is staring at my own face/body for a seemingly endless amount of editing time & realizing how much I hate those jeans & yowza I need a hair appointment. It's great fun. Really. But on a serious note, any recommendations on jeans for a lady with a wider derriere & smaller waist/hips? I've shopped at American Eagle forever because they seem to be all that fits without the huge waist gap in the back, but I'm ready to branch out. I'd be ever so grateful.

 If you're new to the tree, you can read here about some of my personal style background (where I also laugh at committing to weekly style posts, by the way), here for style & Sunday Best posts of yore, & here for that hottie husband of mine's Tumblr. Don't let my irregular posting habits & disparaging remarks about myself fool you. These posts are my favorite to share, & I'm excited to have a reason to be more committed to them. Challenge accepted!

minus & plus

-

Last night's Chipotle poisoning me.

+

Having fortunately mastered being productive whilst sick on the couch over the past few months.

-

Forgetting about the Golden Globes until I got on Twitter last night.

+

Falling asleep to the Unlocking Sherlock program on PBS instead. So, yeah.

-

Grocery stores not carrying more than just Simply Lemonade or Simply Apple. WHAT GIVES. I HAVE NEEDS.

+

A husband that knows to buy two when he finds Simply Grapefruit.

-

Taking outfit photos in our neighborhood, where cars & pedestrians alike oggle as though we're committing a crime.

+

My awesome reflexes responding to someone yelling "SUPERMODEL WHOOOOO" with a raise-the-roof gesture mixed with a chicken dance strut. Oh wait maybe that's also a minus.

-

Attempting to make caramels, which seem to be perfect until cutting into them & finding they didn't set.

+

Using unset caramel as center filling for a birthday cake, which turned out to be divine.

-

Spending so much time with our local nieces during the holidays, only to find ourselves in withdrawal now that it's halfway through January.

+

We have a new nephew arriving at the beginning of February, which should help fill the void.

-

It is once again January in Virginia, & all I want it spring.

+

But January in Virginia usually means at least three 70 degree days, of which we've already had one.

-

Yeah. Not feeling awesome right now.

+

So, more water for this girl. Ey-ooohhhh.

*Read more minus & plus posts here