Jordanne's Place

Before I knew it, the summer was over and it was time to start a new chapter of my life. It was a surreal experience walking through the same halls my siblings walked through, as well as my mom so many years before them. Everyone I knew was excited about the prospect of being a high school student. I, on the other hand, was more nervous than anything else. I wasn't sure what  to expect, and trying to navigate a school I had never been in before to find my classes was really all that was at the forefront of my mind. I had a lot of the teachers my siblings had previously, and I was picked out easily by all the teachers because we all looked alike. I don't remember much about my first day of school, but apparently I missed the first day of cross country practice and Steven went nuts about it. He made sure I was at the next practice and that I never missed another practice again. Even though he wasn't supposed to, he drove me to practice and home from practice. I remember being...

Growing up as an adolescent, I wouldn't say I was the most popular girl in town. I was known by a lot of the adults as a Helton, which worked in my favor due to my elder siblings leaving an impeccable reputation behind them. But to my peers, at least the ones I wasn't close to, I was most likely just another face in the crowd. I remember middle school being especially challenging for me, as I think it is with most young children. There's a lot of changes going on in the body both mentally and physically and sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. Although I thought I was probably pretty normal back then, looking into my past I would call myself "interesting." I stayed out of trouble and never did anything that would be worth regretting, but I remember a girl who was in an odd state of emotional affairs. I remember being unhappy a lot of the times, secluding myself from family when we had gatherings, and not wanting to participate in much of anything. I wore a l...

Have you ever uttered the words, "I wish I knew how to sew!" before? Do you know someone who has? I hear it all the time after I've completed a project, people saying "Oh, you're so creative! I wish I could do something like that" or "You made that? I wouldn't even know how to thread a needle, much less make something on a sewing machine." I get it, sewing can seem daunting, especially if you've never tried your hand at it before. But in all actuality, it's only as daunting as you make it, and you may even surprise yourself! In the age of technology, it's amazing what you can learn just by watching self-help YouTube videos. I knew the basics of sewing before I really started to get into it, but most of what I've learned has come from video tutorials online and some from people I know. Sewing isn't overly difficult, but it does require much patience and practice. Personally, I know I got frustrated the first few times I tried...

Being a mom is an honor and a privilege. I know there are so many people out there who want to be a mom with every fiber in their being, but whatever the reason or circumstance, they are unable. For this reason we shouldn't take being a mom for granted, which I know is sometimes easier said than done, especially on those really tough days. Being a mom is far from glamorous. Sometimes we feel inadequate as parents because we can't give our children every little thing they desire. Sometimes we feel like we're missing out on fun when we don't act like Ms. Honey and Matilda, pushing all the furniture in the living room out of the way so we can play with hula hoops and roll all over the floor. (And if you don't get that previous sentence, then you've obviously never seen the movie Matilda) Sometimes we feel like bad parents when we have to discipline our children, sometimes constantly, because they won't obey. And then sometimes we feel like a failure as parents ...

Y'all, Pinterest is the bomb. Whoever created it was a genius. There are so many things you can find on Pinterest, especially when it comes to crafts. I have a sewing board on there that has over 250 pins on it, and I haven't even begun to make a dent in it. I decided the other day that I needed to try something new. I've been sewing things that require zero sewing notions, but I was determined to change that. When my aunts and uncles sold my grandparents farmhouse a while back, they had to clean everything out. My Grandma had a craft room where she kept all her supplies and creations. Y'all, she had so much stuff! I never got to go down to look through her stuff, but my mom and sister did and they brought back her sewing machine that was mounted inside a sewing table and a sewing box. The box had your usual threads in it, but it also had a bunch of hooks and eyes to attach to clothing as well as a bunch of zippers and snaps. I've never attempted to sew a zipper in ...

If you've known me for any length of time, then you've probably had the Mountain Dew cupcakes that are a household favorite. Most people would probably say this is my signature cupcake, which is really quite funny to me, especially since I'm not the one who actually likes Mountain Dew--my husband is. I got engaged to Steven my senior year in college. Let's be honest, we would have gotten hitched way sooner than that, but mama said that I had to graduate from college first, and what mama says goes! Steven and I were very involved with FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) while we were in college, so we had quite a few friends through this AWESOME organization. The girls of FCA all planned a wedding shower for me, which was TOTALLY UNEXPECTED. I remember arguing with my roommates about not wanting to wear a dress to the FCA house that day because I just didn't want to, but I caved and did as they suggested and made myself look nice. The thing I enjoyed most about th...

Curtains have been on my to-do list of crafty projects, and I finally got to try my hand at it this weekend, thanks to my mother and father-in-law. They just moved to their new home this past September and they've done such a nice job of decorating it to feel like home. One thing they hadn't done though is add some curtains to their door. They have a good sized glass pane at the top of their door that makes looking inside their home pretty easy. They really wanted something to cover it that way peeping toms wouldn't have it so easy. I've never made curtains before, but it seemed like a pretty simple task. I watched some videos on proper proportions for curtain making, but I had to do some major adjusting because I simply didn't have enough fabric to do it the suggested way. I found these two videos to be the most helpful in learning how to make curtains. You can check them out here and here . Here's what you need to make these super simple, panel curtains: Fabr...