The Hansen Family

I am an avid follower of Young House Love and Bower Power . Two blogs that inspire me to be more creative, motivate me to decorate and encourage me to do more diy projects. Recently they started a Pinterest Challenge which is basically a challenge to get-er-done. Stop pinning and start doing.   I had so many ideas in mind for this challenge, and you will see more of them soon, but I decided to showcase something easy, quick and very very inexpensive...hand drawn cards. These cards would be great paired with a monogrammed board or can easily be put in a gift bag . My Pin-spiration came from these pins: Original source Original source Original source I am terrible about buying cards for any occasion. I'm always purchasing them at the last possible minute, and when I finally do purchase the card(s), they are pricey. Plus, it's hard to find the perfect card for the occasion anyway and I thought this could be more personal and fun, and I guarantee you...

I have discovered some really fun camera apps for the iPhone. I just had to share them with you. I found these great apps because of blogger Grumbles & Grunts . Admittedly, she is a much better photographer than I. Practice makes perfect! original source Camera+ is a great app for focusing and controlling exposure. You can touch the screen where you want to focus and you can use a second touch to control the exposure. The second touch exposure tool basically adjusts the lighting of the photo. original source  Afterglow is a great app for filters. The possibilities are endless. You can add filters on top of filters, which most camera apps don't allow you do to. This one is really fun! Both apps are $0.99 and well worth it. Camera plus does have a free version, but not as good. Here are some photos I took using both of these apps.  Yes, I know I still have a LOT of work to perfect my photography skillz, but I had to share t...

The decorating process seems to drag on and on. Buy something here, buy something there. Save a little money here, save a little money there. If you remember here our living room is our biggest challenge. Slowly we are buying furniture and filling the room with decorations. We bought a table for under the stairs. It was a great find! We went shopping in Des Moines at Homemakers. There were so many to chose from, but we stumbled upon this in the clearance section. Originally $299 marked down over 60% and an additional 10% off. Bonus!   What I originally wanted from Ballard Designs cost $329 - $399 plus shipping and tax. It's beautiful right? But the sizes were off and we thought it may be a little too heavy for the room. We weren't crazy about the silver knobs. A little to modern for our transitional/traditional room. So we found some extra kitchen knobs and switched 'em out. Now it's just a little more subtle don't ya think? We are slow...

Here are some cute Valentine's Day treats that are really easy to make.  And I've made it easier for you! You can download the file and print them out, voila! Normally, I'm not this prepared for Valentine's Day, but Josh and I are headed to warmer weather next week, which means I have been preparing everything for the kiddos ahead of time. Oh, I know what your thinking, she doesn't like Valentine's Day. Yes, yes, that is correct, but my kids love it. You can read more about my distaste in Valentine's Day here . Glow Stick Valentine   Mustache Valentine     You can download the files above and personalize them by clicking on the photo and saving them to your desktop. How do I do that you ask? Download the file. Open Word. Adjust your margins to 0" on all sides. Go to Insert > Photo > Picture from file     S elect file ( file will insert into page) Go to Insert Text Box and place where y...

  If you have been reading my blog lately you ma y have noticed that I started this year with some goals . I have been crossing off each project in January starting with all of our closets   ( here .) February is here , holiday and all . Ahhh Valentine's day, one of the two holidays that I cannot stand. I know your thinking, what girl doesn't like V alentine's D ay? ME, that's w ho.  ( The o ther ho liday I cannot st and, you ask? Halloween) I never real ly liked Valentine's Day , even in Elementary School.  When I was in third gra de, d uring our Valentine's party, a boy chased me around the room trying to give me his V ale ntine, apparently I didn't want it. I was traumatized. Ha!  Flowers? Sure, but not red roses, I prefer yellow roses. I would rather have a fresh bouquet of mixed flowers, and when it comes down to it, I would prefer we/he didn't drop the outrageous amount of cash on flowers on this holiday. Chocolate? Yes, I cannot live ...

**This contest is now closed** I'm doing a celebratory dance right now (can you see me?). This is a pretty exciting day. My little blog has reached 10,000 page views, cue happy dance . For a little blogger like me, this is a BIG deal. Some of you may laugh, because bigger bloggers like Young House Love , Bower Power , I owa Girl Eats and All Things Thrifty probably get 10,000 page views A DAY. Craziness. Thank you, all of you, who read my little chaotic blog. I really appreciate you, I do, I do! Now for the giveaway. As a thank you for reading my blog, I am going to giveaway one 16 x 20 typography sign. You can view more of them here . To enter to win 1, 16 x 20 print, leave a comment below that you shared my blog with your friends on Facebook, through email or any other social media source, by Thursday, Feb 7, before 5:00 PM central standard time zone. I will select a random person from the comments below as the winner. I will announce the winner Monday,...