Nap Time is Craft Time

Size Information

2012-01-17T15:18:00.000-08:00

Here are the sizes of the boots and shoes along with the measurements

Size 1: small, (0-3 months), 3.0"-3.25"

Size 2/3: medium (3-6 months), 3.25"-4.5"

Size 3/4: large (6-12 months), 4.5"-5.5"

Size 4/5: X-large (12-18 months), 5.5"-6"

Aprons come in sizes

small

medium

large

x-large

onsie and boot set

2012-01-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

I got an order to make a onsie and boot set for a friend of mine at MOPS. I can finally post the picture since the outfit has now been gifted to her:) The recipient is a military momma having her third boy! she is an amazing mom-just like most military mommas!! amaze me how much they do and can do-they definitely sacrifice so much for us!!

chair Redo

2012-01-07T07:38:00.000-08:00

Before:

After:

my grandpa had this chair taking up space in his workshop and he decided he was never going to get it done-so he gave it to me much to my husband's disappointment:) all I need was another project! It sat around in my shed, then his garage-finally he moved it to my craft room. Having to look at it everyday I decided to finally do it:) I am loving it as my new office/craft room chair!!!

Reindeer Noses

2011-12-16T06:11:00.000-08:00

I made these for the craft sale and posted a tutorial on my friend Jen's blog:)http://www.thriftynorthwestmom.com/2011/12/reindeer-noses-free-printable-tag/

Pictures from the Prepping for the craft sale

2011-12-05T07:43:00.001-08:00

for the passed few weeks I have been crafting away in preparation for the craft sale. It was a fun day-I got to visit with two old friends from high school. I did ok, but it was a long day after a long week-and I don't for see any slow down until Christmas!! 'Tis the Season!!

Christmas ornaments

2011-11-29T06:33:00.000-08:00

Like many of you each year I like to do a handmade ornament. I usually do one for my nieces and nephews and for my boys. This year I am using my stash of scrabble tiles. From teaching I would collect them and use them to play spelling games and other word games. My stash had become quite large!! I also like to use them for parties for beverage or food labels.

This was probably one of the easiest ornaments I have made-Joe cut the scrabble racks for me and I glues out names or Christmas words-easy peasy!

Christmas Cards

2011-11-26T05:26:00.000-08:00

I used to love planning our family Christmas card especially when the boys were babies-so easy to pose and dress. Now they both have their own sense of "style" and their own ideas of how they should pose! I have spent the last two months trying without success to get a good picture of the boys!! One is not looking at the camera or somehow ends up not even in the picture-ugh!! I know it is just as stage and in a few years it will become easier again!

I have been trying to find places that have photo cards with multiple picture spots-it is not easy!! I have finally found my favorites over at Tiny Prints. Click over and take a look your self! They have by far the best selection and cutest cards around!! Here are some of my favorite:

I am really liking that there are so many different choices with more than two photo slots-since I can't seem to get one good picture of both boys I need a card like these that I can use more than one picture with! Head over here to look at other Holiday Card selections!!

http://www.tinyprints.com/shop/picture-christmas-cards.htm is a great place to find your holiday card!!

New Boots

2011-11-20T11:42:00.001-08:00

Check out Chickie Momma Crafts on facebook for order and price info.

baby boots

2011-11-07T09:39:00.000-08:00

Here are my latest pair of baby boots-made for a customer. I loved them so much I ended up making another pair for a craft bazaar coming up later this month:) If you want to purchase some check out chickie momma crafts on facebook-there are lots of other items for sale too:)

thanksgiving wreaths

2011-11-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

I am loving our new black door it seems to make wreaths and the flowers around it really pop! I made a new wreath for November-seriously my favorite month! Pretty leaves, giving thanks and the anticipation of Christmas, Turkey dinner-what's not to love!!

latest projects

2011-10-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

these are some fun labels I am working on for a friend-more to come on that later. It has been fun doing some papercrafting:)

It seems this time of year I get a sewing bug-which is good since it is getting time to get Christmas crafts and projects done. This is a pair of little boots and cape I saw on Pinterest:) and decided I had to make.

We just repainted our bathroom a pretty gray blue "polar drift" and I decided to redo the dollar store frames I had in there. Seriously, these frames have been a great investment! I downloaded some free sea life botanicals and tada new artwork!!

I have been trying to get a few projects that I have "Pinned" done-loving Pinterest! I seem to be able to get more of the projects I see actually completed!!! Also I am trying to get a number of things done before bazaar and holiday fair season is underway!

Pottery Barn Knock off

2011-10-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

I am loving Pinterest-so much eye candy!! For someone visual it is like a new magazine everyday! A few months back I pinned a Pottery barn knock off ruler thinking this would be fun for our bonus room. We mark the boys height on the wall up there, but marking the walls really urks my hubby so this would be a perfect solution.

It was so easy-total cost $8 and I love it:)

Guest Posts

2011-08-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

This summer I have been doing weekly guest posts on my friend, Jen's website and this week I will be doing a post everyday on Back to school teacher gift ideas! Be sure to check it out! Here is a picture of one of the posts:)

Another Scrap Project

2011-08-08T09:05:00.001-07:00

I saw these cute coasters made of scrap fabric the other day and thought-what a great idea!! love the using up the "too cute, too toss" fabric scraps!!! I made one set of 4 drink coasters I think I will be giving as a gift to the secretary at preschool and then I made a larger hot pad size one for my succulent in the living room. It was on a silver tray, but I like the pop of color more with the white tray. Really simple to made and cheap!!

The sewing bug

2011-08-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

Why does it seem as soon as the weather turns warm I want to hunker down with my sewing machine! Craziness!! I have been trying to get a few more projects off the to do list, meanwhile putting off a really big one (ugh making a slipcover for our office wing back chair). I finally finished making a little tote bag I want to use at the bottom of our stairs-often the boys bring down toys or other items that collect downstairs and need to go back up. I am hoping this will work to put them in the bag and then take them all up at once. I had bought this fabric for some curtains I made last year and I had a lot left over. I love the stripes and I think I might have to make a tote for me too:)

Pinterest Projects

2011-07-31T06:19:00.000-07:00

I love Pinterest and I have been pinning away!! I simply adore having all my ideas filled and organized in one spot! But there is no use pinning if I don't do the pins! This week I finished these two projects I had pinned. The first is a flower scrap pillow-I LOVE projects that let me use all the cute little scraps of fabric that I can't seem to part with! The second is our family hands-I traced each of our hands in a different color-there are tons of these on pinterest, different ways of doing it. I am a total sucker for anything with my kid's hands!!

Baby Shower

2011-07-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last week I threw a baby shower for sweet cousin, Ali. She is a super cute and talented crafter. You can check her out at her blog knittybutton. My mom was a huge help in throwing the shower, she and I set a little sewing sweat shop and made little elephant party favors. I love showers-not the game, but the food, decor, presents! Food, decor and presents ALWAYS make for fun!! Anyhow it was a very nice evening and the boys loved having the house "decorated" for the few days leading up to the shower, pretty sure my husband likes NOT having it decorated now that the shower is over:)

chair Redo

2011-07-16T06:47:00.000-07:00

My grandpa a few months back was cleaning out his workshop and called to ask if I wanted a few "projects"-of course:) I finally finished one of them the other is still waiting for me to make it to the foam shop on 84th! eh! hopefully I can get to it in the next week or so.

For some reason I can't find the before shot-I remember taking it! It was a cherry stain with no seat-that was the hardest part cutting the foam and doing the strap and boards before attaching the cushion. I like the sewing and painting part, but foam is not my favorite. I really don't like the way foam feels-weird I know. I want to also make a small ruffle slipcover out of the same fabric for the seat-I have the pattern dancing around in my head and hopefully I will be able to get to it soon too. Just wayyy toooo many projects!

Party in a Box

2011-07-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

This past MOPS year I was Leah's secret sister-she is soo sweet and a real servant. She is always doing for others and I really wanted to giver something special for her last secret sister gift. I really tried hard to think of different ideas, finally I decided to "throw" her a party-in a way. I made her a party in a box. It was fun to put together for her. She loves all things girly and is the mom to two sweet little girls, so it was fun to thing pink! I love having an excuse to "do" pink with two little boys I don't get to throw a pink party very often. In the party box I included: a fabric banner, cupcake toppers, cupcake wrappers, cake mix, doilies, a cake stand, candles, favor packages, a party hat, ruffled streamers, sprinkles, party stickers, napkins, a crown, birthday countdown, and a birthday frame.

Dino Party!

2011-06-27T17:47:00.001-07:00

We celebrated my youngest's third birthday yesterday. He is obsessed with dinosaurs so we had a dino party. It was fun and the weather was perfect. We went on a dinosaur egg hunt, dug for dinosaurs in the sandbox, marched around in dino feet and played dino egg ball.

Every Boy needs a Dinosaur Tail

2011-06-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

I saw this a while back on the blog Running with Scissors and I have been wanting to make it. At the end of the month my dinosaur and dragon obsessed son turns 3 and we are having a dino party this week-so I thought it was a perfect time to do it!! It was really easy!! I get a little worried when they are blog patterns, but hers was super simple and made it really easy!! Jack loves it-he has been hugging his tail all morning! now brother wants one-of course. I have to enlarge the pattern though for him so we shall see.

Make your own Milk bottle glasses for cheap

2011-06-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

I love the look that is really popular right now to use small milk bottle jugs as glasses for parties. Pricing them out though they can be quite spendy! A few weeks back there were some coupons for the Starbucks coffee drinks that you buy in the grocery store. I am not a fan of these drinks, but the bottles are small milk jugs:) With the coupon and a sale on them at Walmart, I was able to get 8 for $3.00.

I got them and surprisingly they were really easy to clean and remove the stick from!! Tada, my own milk bottle glasses for cheap:)

linking this post to Skip to my Lou!

40!!

2011-06-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a party for my husband-just a small family BBQ. It was fun to celebrate him-he is really a hard worker and does so much for our family. I realized later that I didn't even get any pictures! Just a few-mostly because he is usually my right hand man at parties, but I realized yesterday after trying to keep the house clean and get everything prepped how much he helps!!!! I did ofcourse make a banner-can't have a party without one:).

Summer Bucket list guest Post

2011-06-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I guest posted over at Thrifty NW Mom's blog on making a summer bucket list. Here is a picture of ours-for a complete list of activities check out the post over there!! Also just check out her blog especially if you are into saving money!! She saves me a bundle!!!

End of the year MOPS leadership party

2011-05-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

I have had the privilege of being involved in MOPS at our church. I LOVE this ministry because I can be a stay at home mom and still be reaching out and serving at this crazy, sleep deprived stage of life! So many ministries are hard for mom's of preschoolers to do because you can't take your kids along-but not so with MOPS!! I have met so many wonderful, loving, selfless ladies in this ministry! I was asked to be co-coordinator this last year and it was honor to serve in the position-even though I had no idea how hard and stretching it would be!

This past thursday was our final leadership meeting of the year. Renae the coordinator and I wanted to make the last meeting a party for our team that has been so great this past year! It was fun to decorate and create a party for them. I love to plan party decor and Renae is great at the order and sequence of making it flow. I especially loved that it was for ladies so I got to use LOTS of pink-not often the case around here!

Silent on here, but crafting away!

2011-05-24T12:10:00.001-07:00

I ordered this print from a etsy site for our MOPS graduations gifts. I love the print and the verse was perfect since it is from the passage our theme was based on. I have a whole bunch of oak frames my MIL gave me, but not really an oak fan-so spray paint, a little antiquing and now it is white:) I also didn't have the budget for new matting so I used the old cream matting and painted it grey.I love old mason jars especially the aqua ones-but oh my can they be pricey-recently saw some in the glass case at Goodwill for $20!! So I made my own using glass paint. I did a number of them to use as vases. they are a little brighter than I originally planned, but they give a nice pop of color.
I made a birthday countdown-the print was a free download from a blog and I painted an oak:) frame white and now using a overhead marker we can count down the days! Daddy's birthday is next so we will start with his-it should be good practice too for joey's number recognition.
I am going a little crazy making these paper flowers-not sure if it is because of the weather we are having or what! I love them-so easy and so fun. I made them last summer for a friend's baby shower-this time I am making them with skewers attached so you can put them in a vase. I think next I will attempt to make them on a wreath-we shall see.
the tall vase/jar is a craft we did in MOPS this year. I also made the cake platter using the same technique-E6000 glue and a candlestick, and platter. I found the "cheese lid" at Goodwill missing its platter, but it works perfect on top! I also made the meringues-boy do the boys LOVE them! We made a Pavlova twice last week-topped with fresh fruit and whip cream-yummers!!

I have been pretty quite on here-just seems to take so much time to upload pictures and such, but none the less I have been crafting pretty steadily:) It seems right now I am at a place with the boys that working on a few projects is ok-they are constantly wanting to craft too, but able to be more independent and allow me to do the same. I have pics of most of the stuff I have been doing, but not instructions.

a little late

2011-05-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

Here were the bunnies I made the boys for Easter- I had meant to post them earlier, but time got a way from me! The pink and beige one was for a friend of ours that turned two. They were super easy to make using this tutorial.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2011-05-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

It seems that it is a never ending theme around here:) Last weekend was my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary party. My mom and I were in charge of the cupcakes which was really fun:) I baked all of them over the last week, brushed them with a simple syrup to help them stay moist and then froze them. On Saturday morning we frosted them all-all 156 of them:0. I have been using swiss meringue frosting lately instead of regular butter cream-first because of the calories, but I also love how it is less sweet and more creamy. This is the recipe I used and it makes it so clear and easy!!

I thought about taking pics earlier, but totally forgot at the party-which I was really bummed about because I wanted to get one of my grandparents too-instead you will have to suffice with a pic of them from a birthday party a year ago!

Easter baskets

2011-04-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

I love easter-spring, birds, eggs, the resurrection, promise of new life-white, fresh clean-oh and candy:)

I love the dollar store-a month or so back I got a dozen mini peat pots for $1 and new I would make something out of them:) I had made something similar to these for Christmas when I taught-we painted snowman faces on them and filled them with pine cones. This time I made little baskets-used modge podge to put on a little easter picture (free download from the vintage printer) and used a silver pipe-cleaner for the handle-another dollar store find-20 for a $1. Filled them with grass (left over from last easter) and some little mini chocolates (rite aid freebie this past week.) All in all I made 16 of them for less than $3-not too bad. LOVE a craft and a cheap, cute one is even better:)

On another note I have been trying to take my camera off auto-I feel like I am learning a foreign language, but slowly hopefully my pictures will improve:).

Kitchen chair slipcovers

2011-03-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

Before:

very nice, but not practical with little boys!

After:

My mother-in-law gave us her dinning room table-which is really nice-our was going to need a face lift this summer-the only problem was that the seats are a light tan-fabric, not so good with a 2 and 4 year old! So I decided to make some slipcovers for them. We had thought about just recovering however slipcovers I can just unbutton and throw in the wash!! A fabric store near us is going out of business and I was able to get a good deal on the fabric. They were really easy to sew, but it took me a little while to make the pattern. I love them! But the best part is they don't show anything!!! Yeah for plaid!

Happy St Patty's Day Craft

2011-03-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

This afternoon the boys and I got busy making some fun St. Patrick's Day Crafts for his preschool friends. I didn't capture any Kodak moments of the boys helping because I was too busy making sure their hands stayed clean:). Jack was in charge of dropping the chocolate "pots of gold" into the bag-then I would arrange them then Joey would hand me the "rainbow" after he got all the right colors. He was a little upset the purple/indigo wouldn't fit in the bag, but not too disappointed when I told him he could eat those ones!

Coffee Table turned Bench

2011-03-03T14:13:00.000-08:00

Before:

After:

I purchased this coffee table a year ago for $20 from goodwill and it has worked ok in our bonus room, but the wood is pine and well it gets dinged all the time-nothing I hate more than chipping paint!!! So I decided to turn it into a bench.

I love it! I used fabric I had purchased from Big Lots and foam from Freddys (little secret their foam is 1/2 the price of Joanns!)

We are currently using it in the boys room-which is great since we put their beds back together as a bunk bed it was hard doing story time-now we use the bench! I am going to make some throw pillows for it this week.

Candyless Valentines:)

2011-02-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

I am doing a few projects for the boys valentines which will be chocolate-free:) Now that Joey has a preschool party and some friends of ours are having a little party they really do not need anymore sugar.

I am getting them each a package of socks and making them a little heart-hot/cold pack. Joe will be getting some of these as well, mostly cause he really needs sock:)

We are also giving the to Miss Wendy, Joey's preschool teacher.

My Nook

2011-01-21T14:54:00.000-08:00

So my sweet husband has been listening to me:) First he knew I wanted an e-reader of some sort and at small group one night I must have said gifts were my love language because-well he remembers me saying it and thus he surprised me one day and bought me a Nook. I have to be careful what I tell him I like or want because he loves to indulge me and the boys!

Anyhow I spent nap time today sewing a cover for my nook. I want to get one with a light eventually, but I am waiting for a sale because they are pretty pricey!

I love it and now I can keep it in my purse without worrying so much!

This post is linked to Skip to my Lou-made by you monday!

Bathroom redo on a no budget:)

2011-01-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

Before:

this is one of the pictures before-I kept the frames and put in pics of the boys

Notice the plain mirror-this was one of my favorite things we changed-we used wall trim to make a frame around it-LOVE it now, not so much before!

I forgot to take pics before I emptied the shelves and the walls:)-oops:)

I love the pictures of the boys in there now! They are so cute and so cheap, thanks to Costco!

I LOVE the way the mirror turned out!

Using a can of spray paint I was able to add all the accessories back in!

I made this hand towel:)-inspired from my ruffle pillow I made last week-however my husband did say, "I like everything, but he towel is a little girly:)"-hmm

I have been wanting to redo our downstairs powder room for quite awhile however it isn't really in the budget and the walls were RED-not my favorite to paint over! I decided over Christmas I was really tired of it and needed some sort of project-so while Joe was taking a test on Saturday I got started. I LOVE it and it cost under $50!! Would have been cheaper however we ended up having to get a second piece of trim cut;).

Ruffles:)

2011-01-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

So these ruffle pillows have been all over DIY blogs thanks to anthropology and pottery barn-so of course I had to jump on the ruffle wagon:)

I think having all boys has made me even more want to embrace my girlyness.

It wasn't too hard to sew, but does take a little longer than the typical pillow.

I used a white sheet I had gotten at Target on clearance ($1.98) this summer-same sheet I used to make my snowman bags.

Linked to Skip to my Lou and Sew Chatty!

My Talented Cousin

2011-01-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

So head over to Knittybutton and enter to win an incredible give away!!

My cute and talented cousin, Ali is giving away some super cute knitted goodies!!!

New Year's Eve Craft/Project

2010-12-31T09:39:00.000-08:00

I like New Years Eve-the start to new goals, projects, lists, cleaning, sorting, games, appetizers-it is really my kind of holiday. However I don't think I have made it to midnight since 2000! I love journaling and thinking through my goals for the new year. I wanted something to do with my family-some way of remembering looking back and starting the year with Thanksgiving. This past year was not easy in many aspects however we have so many blessings and things to remember that were happy and good. I also want to start a list each year of things we want to accomplish and do as a family-not just as individuals. I feel that so often my goals might get thwarted because they are just that only for me, but family goals seem to have more long lasting impact. For example eating healthy-doesn't really work unless we all eat healthy.

I used an composition notebook to make a family journal that we will use to record our new year rememberings and goals entitled" The Best of . . ." Some of our Best of include Potty Training, big boy beds, sleeping in their own beds all night, overnight get-away for mommy and daddy and many more. What are things you do as a family to ring in the New Year??

Homemade Vanilla Extract

2010-12-27T08:47:00.000-08:00

For a few friends this year I made Homemade Vanilla Extract. I had been wanting to for a while and Christmas is always a good excuse to make homemade gifts. It is really easy!

You need Vanilla bean pods, Vodka, Glass jars.

I found the glass jars at our Dollar Tree, they said oil or vinegar on them, but I made little labels to cover that part up. Then added a direction tag. Place one vanilla pod per 6 oz. Cut the vanilla pod in half and split down the center so the seeds are exposed. Place in the jar and add the Vodka. The extract needs two months to "marinate" and cure then it is ready to use. The best thing is that it can last forever. When running low simply fill up with Vodka and every so often add more vanilla pods.

Linked to Skip to my Lou and Today's Creative Blog!

Sugar cookies

2010-12-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

I have been busy the last two days trying to finish up all the food prep for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas. So far I think I have used at least 10 pounds of butter-wouldn't Paula Dean be proud! Thankfully much of that is in gifts!!!-so hopefully the 10 pounds won't be added to my rear end!!

I love the look of royal frosting, but hate the taste so I have been using a few different recipes to try to get the royal frosting look without the icky, hard as rock taste.

First I have found that using americolor instead of wilton makes a significant difference. The other thing I have learned is that I am not really a fan of sugar cookies-so I have been using shortbread cookie recipes instead-and they make the cookies sooo much better!! I have also been using a glaze type frosting adapted from Toba Garrett's cream glaze recipe. Then I use the icky tasting royal icing as the pipping-therefore it can taste not so grand because the glaze is good and so are the shortbread!!

Here are the recipes I used:

Scotch Shortbread

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 cups flour

chill 30 minutes

roll out to 1/2" cut and bake 325 for 10 minutes

Cream Glaze

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon flavoring (vanilla, lemon, rum, peppermint . . .)

Royal Frosting

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons Meringue Powder

5 Tablespoons water

(flavoring if desired)

-I use this for pipping so I use about 4 tablespoons of water-you want it fairly stiff

Salt Dough Ornaments 101

2010-12-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

Last week I guest posted on my friend Jen's blog about different affordable gift ideas. One of my favorite is Salt dough ornaments. I love making them because I can get my "cookie" fix without the calories. Plus the boys love it!! They love rolling the dough, doing the cookie cutters and of course decorating them. Since doing the post I have had a number of friends ask me specific questions about them so I decided I would do a post on them too:)

Here is the basic recipe:

Classic Salt Dough Ornament Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

Directions:

1. Mix salt and flour.

2. Add in half the water, then gradually add the remaining water.

3. Knead until the dough is smooth, this can take up to 10 minutes.

4. For flat dough ornaments roll out the dough on baking paper

Create:

Use cookie cutters, cut-out templates, or just use your hands.

Dust dough with flour and begin to add details to the ornaments with a toothpick, popsicle stick, and knife.

Don't Forget:

Use a straw to make a hole so you can hang the ornament or a small piece of wire inserted while the dough is soft (I use 34 gage, cut it about an inch then fold it to a horseshoe shape and stick the two ends in the dough)

Baking: Time varies based on thickness of ornament

Temperature: 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours - or until dry

Decorate: Let cool before you begin

Paint with acrylic paints

Glue on beads, buttons, or any fun accessory

I like to use puffy paints and glitter glue

Preservation: Making them last a long time

Coat with acrylic varnish when everything is dry

- Substitute coffee for water - great for gingerbread people, reindeer and a bonus is it smells goodJ

- Add food coloring to make dough a unique color - white, blue, red, etc...

Sorry my pictures are backward:)-Anyhow this year we are trying a few new techniques. -I tried doing some rubber stamping on a few and the boys did watercolor on theirs. I also tried gold leafing on some and that turned out really pretty. I will try to post pictures as we finish more, but I am a really bad photographer-so frustrating. I need someone to come give me tips!!! Anyone out there have any for me let me know:)

Head over to Today's Creative Blog and Get your Craft on!!

Sneak Peek!

2010-12-10T11:56:00.000-08:00

today is my last post over at my friend, Jen's blog Thirfty NW Mom!! Be sure to check it out because there will be a give away!!!

Here is a little sneak peek of the post:)

foam ball ornaments two ways

2010-12-07T18:35:00.002-08:00

I bought a bag of styrofoam balls at the dollar store last year with the intent to make a few Christmas ornaments and finally this year I am getting around to it.

Here are the two I finished this week.

-the first is a cupcake:) I used a silicone cupcake holder (bought a 4 pack in the $ bins at Target this summer.), I took the Styrofoam ball-stuck a skewer in it so I could paint the top half with glue then rolled it in fake snow and stuck it in a jar to dry. After it had dried I hot glued it in the cupcake holder and glued the ribbon and cherry on top.

-the second I saw on a blog last year and bookmarked to try. I used a 1.5" circle punch and punched out dictionary pages, then folded/crumbled them using the end of a pencil and hot glued them on the ball. Next I used a straight pin to stick in the ribbon. I glittered a star and wrote "Peace on Earth and hot glued those two on as well.

linked to Get your Craft on!

Guest Posts!

2010-12-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

this week you can find some fun gift idea posts from me on my friend Jen's blog!

Jen is Thrifty NW Mom and always has the latest on coupons, grocery deals and cyber bargains!!! Seriously, she has saved our family lots!! Everyone I know reads her blog so if you are the last person in the NW to check it out-head on over!!

She often has 5-6 different deals a day!!

Anyhow, I am super excited to be posting over there this week. So get going!!!!!

Clothespin Wreath

2010-12-04T06:44:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to make this clothes pin wreath for a while. I have seen them on a number of blogs used for baby showers, birthday cards, tea and I decided to make one to use with 25 days of Christmas Activities. I did the colors non-Christmas so I could use it for other activities as well. I LOVE it. Of course the Amy Butler paper helps:)

I saw on the blog Blue Cricket designs that they had used library pocket for their days so I used those and then placed inside our activity for the day!!

Linked to Get your Craft ON!

Our 25 Christmas Books-list

2010-11-29T11:05:00.001-08:00

Here are the 25 we wrapped up this year: (we have more Christmas books, but these are the ones I chose to wrap)

1. Olive, the other Reindeer

2. Amazing Christmas Extravaganza

3. Polar Express

4. Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree (my personal favorite)

5. Why Christmas trees aren't Perfect

6. The tale of three trees

7. I spy Christmas book (there are like 6 versions ours is the ornament one)

8. Snowmen at Christmas

9. The Night Before Christmas (mary engelbriet version)

10. Whose Coming to our house?

11. B is for Bethlehem

12. The Crippled Lamb

13. The legend of the candy cane

14. the littlest angel

15. Snowflake Bentley

16. LLama, llama holiday drama

17. God Gave us Christmas

18. Dream Snow

19. Mistletoe Madness

20. I'll be home for Christmas (toot & puddle)

21. Whose that Knocking on Christmas Eve

22.The Mitten

23. The Gingerbread Man (jan brett version)

24. The Little Drummer Boy (golden book version)

25-we read the Christmas Story from the book of Luke

Ideas for Christmas with Kids

2010-11-28T07:26:00.000-08:00

One of our "traditions" is reading Christmas books. I keep all our Christmas books packed with our ornaments and so it is a special treat to get them out with the Christmas decorations. Last year I wrapped up 12 books and each of the 12 days before Christmas we unwrapped one and read it as our story that night. This year (thanks to preschool book orders:) we are doing 25 books of Christmas. It is so fun because they get to unwrap a present each night and then we read the story. We actually now have way more than 25 Christmas books, I will try later to list our favorites.

Snow day= craft day!

2010-11-22T16:18:00.000-08:00

So today we got our first snow of the season supposedly just the beginning of a long snow-filled winter which is quite unusual for us around these parts!! I love how peaceful and calm everything looks in the snow and how it just forces us to slow down and enjoy being together. The boys and I had fun playing in the snow and then watching the Nutcracker. Thankfully the snow play totally tuckered out the boys and I was able to get some crafting done-mostly finishing little projects.

Here are a few projects that I finished up:

I finished an appliquéd tea towel I had started back in september

I finished making Christmas gift toppers/ornaments:

Joey and I made this crayon Monogram for his teacher Ms Wendy:

Joey mostly chose the color of the crayons then he was the glue painter-I drew lines where the paint needed to go then he would paint it on the section and I would stick on the crayon.

Branch Reindeer-I saw these last year on Etsy and booked marked them. I really liked how they turned out and I am glad I finally got to making them.

a little holiday crafting

2010-11-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

Joey and I have been doing a few holiday crafts in preparation for Christmas. Mostly I have been trying to read Thanksgiving books, we are doing a thankful chain and in our nightly prayers trying to list the things we are thankful for that day. I really don't like to do too many Christmas things now because I love Thanksgiving and it gets the shaft! I feel like I need to do my part to make it special. However last week Joey and I did a few little crafts and I started working on some homemade Christmas gifts. This is a really simple little button wreath. I cut a wreath shape out of an old cereal box then let Joey paint it white, then let him go to town with glue and buttons. When he was done I put a little glue on the spots that were loose and hung a ribbon on it. I think they would be cute as gift toppers.

Turkey Time!

2010-11-08T07:28:00.000-08:00

Last year I made one of these pillows with Joey's hand prints, this year I will make a matching one with Jackers. They were really easy to do-I used freezer paper to cut out the give thanks part then painted on his hand the turkey and pressed it onto the burlap like a stamp.

We also made turkey cookies this weekend for Joey to take this morning for snack-the topic of the day is turkeys. They turned our ok, but not exactly what I had envisioned, but I am pretty sure the pre-K class won't care as long as they taste good.

link your own creative activities on Made by You over at Skip to my Lou!

Petal Pushers

2010-11-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

This week I have been trying to get some little "to do" out of the way. I made these fun petal pushers that have been on my to do list forever. They are fairly easy and I think so fun and girly. They would be cute on a pillow, scarf, coat, sweater, little girl skirt or jumper, pinned on a headband or ponytail holder-such endless possibilities!

I also made some batman masks and finished my felt food that a friend ordered for Christmas.

Project #33

2010-11-02T12:04:00.001-07:00

Before:

After:

this antique rocking chair was at the local goodwill the other day and I couldn't help myself:) It ended up being quite a beast to reupholster mostly because the last person who did used the wrong type of staples and glue. In the end I think it turned out pretty cute-it is like a little ray of sunshine and since I had the fabric, batting, and paint it ended up only costing 13.00 for the whole redo!!

coffee table

2010-10-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

old table

hard to see, but the top had major dings,

plus the reddish cherry finish was just too much with the oak and walnut

we already have in the room

Joe's part:)

My part:)

So this summer we decided we really needed a new coffee table. Our old one was from Joe's bachelor days and a very soft pine, plus ugly scroll legs that just never did it for me. So we decided we could make one thanks to Knock off Wood:) It was really fun to do the project together. Joe built it and I did the finish work. I love it! It is a chunky farmhouse style table that when all was said and done cost $27 less then we sold our old beat up one for on Craigs list:).

Fall Treats

2010-10-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

Joey and I made these today. I saw a picture of them last year in Southern Living Magazine and thought they would be fun to make. Jack and I spent the morning looking for "moon pies"-which are big in the South, but not here! Finally we found something similar in the "little debbie" section. They seemed to work fine. Joey was my helper after I would put the glue (corn syrup, water and powdered sugar) he would stick the eyes and nose on. They turned out pretty cute. He took some to preschool for his friends and I took mine to my MOPS girls.

Link over to today's creative blog and post your own DIY.

MOPS prayer journals

2010-10-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

This year for MOPS steering team Renae and I made prayer journals. Each leadership meeting we trade journals and pray for the person whose journal we have and then before returning the journal we write a note of encouragement to the person we were praying for that week. We used square "sweater" journals from the $ bin at Michaels and altered them with doilies, Amy Butler paper and some other fun embellishments. I think they turned out pretty cute!-Hopefully they won't get too beat up going back and forth to different homes:).

Check out other made by you over a skip to my lou!

A slipcover

2010-10-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

I finished my first real slipcover!! I have done some small slipcovers for square storage bins, simple chairs, but nothing this involved and complicated. It was actually fun-kind of like putting together a puzzle of sorts. It took lots of measuring, draping and redraping, but in the end I thought it was fun. I did piping only my second time! And the best part the fabric was from Walmart-that is right they have upholstery fabric (not too many choices) for $5.98 a yard!!

I originally got a pair of them for a friend who was in need of furniture until theirs came via moving van, but she ended up only needing them a week-they had been told two months! So I took one and my sister took one-now I might have to steal hers back:)

It is the perfect size for my craft room and super comfy-beware I might not be doing as much crafting maybe napping:)

No. 31

2010-10-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

this little lady was found just down the street at a garage sale. I was really surprised that the guy was only asking $25 for it since EVERYTHING else at the garage sale was way over priced. However $25 seemed like a lot once I got it home and realized how permeated with cigarette smoke it was!!! Thank goodness for white vinegar!!! That stuff mixed with boiling water and about 6 baths did the trick and you would now never know it's previous owners smoked in door.

I painted it white then sanded and did a gray white wash over the top. It also needed a little putty work on the decorative trim and some new drawer stabilizers, but I had all that in the shop:) I used these fun white and brass antique knobs that came off another dresser-to save money and I liked them.

Use'n up Scraps!

2010-10-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

I have had this project in my folder to do for over a year!! Finally a morning with no little helpers and I was able to get it done:) So happy when I find a cute project that uses up scraps-especially since I have a hard time throwing out cute fabric no matter how small. You can head over to Cluck, Cluck, Sew to see how to make your own. (My favorite ok, one of may favorite sewing blogs). I made mine a slipcover to put over less autumn pillows-plus slipcover pillows are a must with little boys around.

Royal Frosting

2010-10-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

So I have tried royal frosting before and though-ehh-tastes icky and is not super user friendly. That is until I found this blog-which helped it all click-First start with yummy cookies (i used this recipe) because they are the star of the show. Royal frosting will never taste as good as butter cream or cream cheese, but it can be a whole lot prettier:)

After becoming inspired to give it a go, I decided to make some bat cookies-for joey to take for snack at preschool. Tomorrow is his day-he gets to bring snack, be line leader (major deal) and take show and tell (if he can narrow it down to one item). Tomorrow the theme is bats, plus joey is totally into batman so he was super excited to help.

I am now plotting my next sugar cookie adventure-maybe candy corn, fall leaves or acorns-hmm royal frosting offers so many endless possibilities!

Teacher Gift

2010-09-24T07:11:00.001-07:00

Now that Joey is in preschool I get to be on the other side of teacher gifts-believe me I have been given sooo many different gifts. If your giving teacher gift DO NOT give them a MUG!!! I must have been given over 100 and I have one that I kept-ONE-chances are if you give them a mug it won't be the one they keep!!

Anyhow-off my Mug soap box!! so Joey helped-in a limited capacity make some little post-it note holders for the preschool teachers at his school. I haven't done paper crafts in awhile so it was fun to get scrappy.

Hopefully the teachers will find them cute and useful:)

Nesting Baby Shower

2010-09-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

So my good friend Christy is having a baby girl in November!!! Yeah!!! After her second she said they were done and sold all her stuff:) but they weren't, in fact in wouldn't surprise me if she has more after this one-which is a good thing since her kiddos are too cute!!

Another good friend of ours Alyssa came along side me and we threw the shower together. Alyssa is great-she is a southern girl so of course perfect at thinking of things I don't-like we need some more pop of color on the plate:)-love it!!

She and I had fun over the last few weeks plotting the details and trying to figure out all the little fun details. Originally we were planning the shower at my moms and it was going to be poolside-but crazy Washington weather was supposed to be raining in fact it was magnificent-but whatever! I moved half my living room furniture out and we put up 2 additional tables to seat everyone am posting some pics from the shower and I will try to post some of the recipes that we had requests for later. It was a lot of fun to bless Christy-she got the cutest stuff-makes me want a girl, but yeah that is not going to happen-if I got pregnant it would be a boy anyway so alas no girlie for me:)

No. 30

2010-09-04T15:26:00.001-07:00

Finally I have something to post-not that I haven't been busy, but I recently got a new lap top and we purchased a motor home so we have been busy on other "projects." I do anticipate however now that fall is starting to creep in with cooler mornings and evenings more crafting will get done. I have also been prepping for a friends baby shower that is this coming week so hopefully when that is done I won't ignore this here blog!!

This little beauty was fun to find and to pick up. It happened to be for sale in the neighborhood where my husband grew up! It was fun to show the boys his old school and house.

You certainly don't find

dressers made like this anymore-dovetailed drawers, solid wood and enough varnish to cause some-sort of lung disorder as I was sanding! I love it though, but I say that about all of them:) I really am debating on rearranging and fitting it somewhere or selling. We shall see!

No 29 French Provincial

2010-07-31T15:50:00.001-07:00

Before: After:

It has been fun to finish a few projects thanks to the perfect weather and daddy being home!

I got this one off Craigs list and I was soo excited-mostly because of the style-French Provincial! I did another dresser similar that now is in my craft room. I did a gray wash finish and used the old hardware for the two bottom drawers and some antique ones I had for the top-I spray painted them all to match. It is a simple sweet dresser-perfect for a little girl's room, changing table or a hall entry way.

No 28 a night stand

2010-07-30T07:01:00.001-07:00

Before:After:

This night stand used to be my mom's when I was growing up. It is solid wood and has character other than flat drawers. I did a gray whitewash finish to lighten it up then countered it with some chunky farmhouse pulls-that I got this spring for a close out at Target. The pulls ended up costing less than 2 a piece-rare for pulls especially ones this big.

No 27-sweet and simple

2010-07-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

Before:After:

I had been looking high and low for a chair for my craft room-something big, plush and comfy, but when I purchased one liked that it totally overpowered the room-so to Craig's list it went and I settled on a simple sweet little seat! Joey or Jack are really the only ones who sit in there-I am usually at my sewing machine, ironing or scrapbooking which I prefer to stand and do. I bought it for $3.97 at Goodwill and sanded it then tried a new technique of adding color to my stain. I added just a little blue to give it a washed look. I like how it turned out!

Summer Salad Mango Slaw

2010-07-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

I love cashews, fresh mint and pretty much any type of slaw so I personally think this recipe is INCREDIBLE!!!! Really I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!-infact I kinda did:)
Mango Slaw with Cashews and Mint
2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and julienned
1 to 1 1/4 pounds cabbage, halved and sliced very thinly
1 red pepper, julienned
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons of fresh lime juice, from about two limes
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons oil of your choice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste (or omit this and whisk in a chile paste to taste)
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup toasted cashews, coarsely chopped
Toss mangoes, cabbage, pepper and onion in a large bowl. Whisk lime juice, vinegar, oil, salt, sugar and red pepper in a smaller bowl and pour over slaw. You can either serve this immediately or leave the flavors to muddle for an hour in the fridge. Before serving, toss with mint leaves and sprinkle with cashews.About your mango: This salad will work with almost any variety or ripeness of mango, whether sour or sweet. Use the one you can get, or that you enjoy the most. In general, a firmish not overly ripe mango (unlike the very ripe, sweet one I used) holds up best but all will be delicious in this salad.

No.22-26-Table Set

2010-07-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

So I finally finished my biggest project to date-a table and chair set.
They originally were a orangey oak-my least favorite stain so of course that had to go! I painted them a white and did an early American antiquing stain over the top. I love the table-LOVE the shape and how the finish turned out, the chairs however are not my favorite-I don't really like painting chairs-I much prefer re-upholstering them to paint and stain.

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-07-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to Marvelously Messy for giving me the beautiful blogger award!

It really amazes me that people besides my flesh and blood read this here blog-I really am thankful!

Ok, so I am supposed to tell you 10 things about me and pass along the award!

First here are 4 readers I am passing the award along to-they are 4 faithful reader!!

Missy at Are you there God

Alyssa at Tales from the Fort

Melissa at I'm Bored let's make something

JaneAnne at Gravity of Motion

Thanks ladies for reading and commenting! You all ARE beautiful bloggers!

ok, 10 things about me:

1. I never had allergies until my second pregnancy and they are terrible!

2. I am a total morning person- I love the quiet of the morning and I would rather get up early than stay up late.

3. My hair color is natural-I include that because that is probably the question I am asked the most. I have never liked my hair color-I always wanted black or really blond

4. School supplies make me giddy. I love new pencils, notebooks, folders-I buy them every September even if I don't need them.

5. I love to read, but until this past year all I could read was the Bible-I would fall asleep if I tried to read a novel or devotion book. That has changed-probably since my boys sleeping habits have changed:) Since Christmas I have read 13 books and I am currently reading 2 right now.

6. I am the oldest in my family and I think I am probably your typical oldest child-bossy:)

7. I didn't start drinking coffee until my 30s

8. I am a total homebody-it is my favorite place on earth

9. I am a Target girl married to a Nordstrom boy-he seriously would let me buy anything and everything I want at Nordstrom-but I can never find anything

10. I love to cook, bake, grill-love it! and thankfully my grandma taught me to clean as I go so it makes it fun because the clean up after a good meal doesn't take as long as eating the meal.

milk and cookie party

2010-07-06T07:18:00.000-07:00

Pictures from my son, Jack's 2nd birthday-

milk and cookie party!

Low Calorie Potato Salad

2010-07-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

6 medium sized russet potatoes (quartered, boiled then peeled-boil before peeling makes it really easy to peel)
6 hard boiled eggs- use all the white and 4 yolks (boil for 12 min. let sit for 10 more min. then let sit in a bath of ice water for at least 30 min. -this makes them way easier to peel)
1/4 cup chopped onion (I prefer white for the salad, but any will do)
1 glove of garlic minced
In a bowl whisk together:
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp paprika
3/4 cup nonfat mayo
1/4 cup pickle juice
1/4 cup dill pickle relish
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
2 teaspoons sugar

pour over potato and egg mixture and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving

Summer Salad#2-kinda:)

2010-06-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

ok so this really isn't a salad, but chips and salsa is my favorite snack-and during the summer I love to make different salsas with fresh summer fruit. Here is one recipe that is one of my favorites:

Watermelon Salsa

lime juice from 2 limes

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups chopped and seeded watermelon

1 jalapeno seeded and chopped

1/2 red onion diced

3 Tablespoons basil (fresh)-if using dried use 1/2 as much

1-2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

mix together, cover and chill at least 30 min before serving

you can also add chopped mangos and cilantro if desired!

Back to School?

2010-06-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

Our MOPS theme for the year is Momology and we went with an "old school" theme from our planning meeting. I thought in case you have a hankering to throw a schools out party or a back to school party I would post these pics!

linked to get your craft on! head on over there to get lots more ideas!!

Summer Salad #1 Cucumber Salad

2010-06-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

Last summer I posted a recipe a week over on my home blog and I figured this summer I would post them here since really they don't have a lot to do with the in and outs of our daily family life.

If you have a favorite summer salad your family enjoys-send it to me:) I try to do one or two salads a week during the summer months and we are always looking for new favorites.

Cucumber Salad

I have never been a cucumber fan-but I LOVE pickles in every form so this recipe seems like a great one for my first summer salad. Some recipes say to peel the cucumber -i was too lazy:). I really like cucumber peel, but if you are so inclined, please peel your cucumbers. This is a perfect side dish for a picnic, barbecue, or just to keep around to snack on.

4 cucumbers (I used one large English cucumber)

1 small onion sliced thinly (red or white)

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup white sugar

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste

Put the vinegar, sugar, and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Set aside to cool.
Slice the cucumbers and onions. Add them to a bowl with the fresh dill. The dill is what makes this salad so good. (seriously don't even make it if your not using fresh dill!)
Generously season with salt and pepper.
Pour the cooled vinegar mixture over the cucumbers.
Give it a stir and put it in the fridge until cold. Marinate for at least an hour.These are best eaten ice cold out of the refrigerator.

These reminded my sister and I of our favorite Thai Restaurant's onions for spring rolls-they would yummy on a sub sandwich or in a pita, or spring roll.

Checking off the list

2010-06-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

I have a list of 30 things I want to do or make-Every time I cross something off a new craft, sewing project, paper craft or piece of furniture seems to take its place. Today I FINALLY crossed off making a camera strap-seriously it has been on the list for over a year!! I don't know why it took me so long to make it-it only took about 20 minutes! I am happy with it and am amazed at how much more comfortable it is to wear!!

Birth stats Subway Sign

2010-05-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

I am in love with vintage subway signs. I love the crisp clean look of the letters and the bold statement they make without being over powering. I recently saw some that were birth stats and I decided to make them for the boy's room. I finished Joey's this week and I love it. I especially like that it is masculine-so many birth stats are so girly.

I found the canvas at Michaels a two pack for $9-then used a 40% off coupon. Next I printed off the letters from the computer, cut them out and used double stick tape to temporarily adhere them to the canvas.

Once they were laid out how I wanted them I spray painted the whole canvas with black spray paint.

finally I pealed off the letters and ta da!!

Now this week I will work on Jacks!!

linked to making the world cuter!

Lamp redo and some cushions

2010-05-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

Before:

After:

So this morning I bought this lamp at our MOPS garage sale and I have been needing to get one for my craft room! I like the height and it is sturdy which has been an issue for standing lamps I have looked at. I love the shade-from Target (of course) and on clearance (of course). Perfect addition to my craft room!

I also finally finished sewing the cushions for the chair I bought for the craft room-however it is huge! I am not sure if I will sell or keep it, but until I find something I like more I will just keep it. It is really, really comfy or as joey calls it the "cozy rocking chair."

Linked to DIY over at a Soft Place to Land

2010-05-14T08:24:00.000-07:00

NO way! Annie over at Annie's Antics just gave me the Versatile Blogger Award-so sweet! Thanks Annie! Head over and check out her fun blog:)

In appreciation for the award I need am suppose to:

Thank the person who gave me the award,

Share 7 things about myself,and, Pass the award on to 15 bloggers who I have recently discovered and I think are fantastic!(in no particular order)

Contact the bloggers I have picked and let them know about their award!
7 things-hmm,

-I am a coffee snob-really only like starbucks for lattes and haven't actually had a latte in about 6 months! I am currently addicted to vivanos and ice tea!

-My hair is my natural color-probably the question I have been asked most in life. About a year ago I got some of the white hairs colored, but that was the first time anything, but the sun has highlighted my hair.

-I am addicted to fabric and paper-I have too much and really need help!

-I love earings even though they really hurt to wear and I almost never do unless I am going out with my husband or going to church

-I love being a mom, it is the best job in the world and I feel so blessed to stay at home with my boys

-I am always redecorating something somewhere in my house-drives my husband crazy, but it is true and I try to stop, but I can't:)

-I am a tennis shoe or flip flop girl-I wish I could be a cool shoe girl, but alas I have come to terms with the fact that I won't-give me a new pair of nikes and i am in heaven or flip flops and I am satisfied. I love how girls can wear boots, high heels and cute snappy shoes, but it isn't me and never will be.

ok, so here are some of my recent favorite blogs:

http://blah-to-tada.blogspot.com/

http://www.createstudio.blogspot.com/

http://ginghamcherry.blogspot.com/

http://twiddle-thumbs.com/
http://www.mangiodasola.com/
http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/
http://www.growcookeat.com/
http://alltheweigh2009.blogspot.com/
http://daisypinkcupcake.blogspot.com/
http://www.forloveorfunny.com/
http://www.thepartydress.net/
http://partyperfectblog.blogspot.com/
http://charishumin.blogspot.com/
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/

Click on their links and check them out! I am pretty sure you will love them too!!!

pillows

2010-05-07T08:05:00.001-07:00

I am trying to get a few project off my to do list, but now with gardening and planting season it is harder to stay indoors! I did manage thanks to our icky weather to sew a few throw pillows this week and almost finish up the cushions for my craft room chair! The white one I used the flour sacks from the dollar store and cut off 3 inches off the bottom to make into the rose. I have a few more flour sack pillows to make one with pleats and one with ruffles. The little bird fabric I bought a few months back to make pillow cases for our bed. I love it and wish I had bought more! The felt pillow is one I made a few years back out of felt. I love the pillow but with all boys it is kind of girly! I have decided throw pillows can be my touch of feminine:)

This post is linked to made it monday and a soft place to land!

Mother's day craft idea

2010-05-03T11:05:00.001-07:00

For part of our mother's day gift to the grandmas I made these hand print tea towels. I love this poem and had been wanting to use it for something, and this seemed like the perfect combo-a hand towel!
1. trace the boys hands on card stock to use as a pattern.
2. Use the pattern to trace it onto wonder under and iron it on to the fabric. Then cut the hand print shape out of the fabric and iron on tea towel.3. Zigzag around hand print to secure on towel and prevent from slipping when washing (wonder under claims you don't need to do this-but I don't trust it:)
4. Use Iron on transfer paper to print poem on.-Be sure to follow the directions!! You have to make a mirror image before printing!
5. Trim transfer paper to size and then iron on tea towel.

5. Add decorative trim or what not and ta da:

This post is linked to Made it Monday!

Spring Kid Craft

2010-04-26T13:01:00.001-07:00

Joey and Maya are really into painting-and thankfully they are becoming better at keeping the paint contained!! Last week we painted these cute little wood flower and butterfly shapes that I got from for a dollar at Joannes. After they dried I wrote the name of plants on them, then sprayed them with an outdoor acyclic sealer and now they are marking my flower pots. We are going to do a few more for mother's day gifts and some more for other plants I need to be marked. So easy and so cheap-gotta love that kind of craft:)

A little Sewing

2010-04-20T07:39:00.000-07:00

Well the craft room is not yet complete, but I have so many sewing and craft projects-as well as ironing, piling up that I got the sewing machine out yesterday and in less than an hour made a diaper and wipes bag. So glad not to have to have the large cumbersome diaper bag anymore-freedom!!!

They are really easy to make, I just looked online at some sample ones and went to work.

Click over A Soft Place to Land.

So much to do!

2010-04-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

I finally made the paperbag butterfly wreath! took awhile, but spring isn't over yet!
Moved my craft/sewing stuff-I still need to paint the cupboard, but I am waiting until the sun is out for a while so it won't take too long!
I painted and refinished by desk/sewing table! So loving it black with the dark wood showing through!
Got the playroom/bonus room shelving put together and up and running-In the right hand corner is our No3 basket-it used to be a picnic basket now it holds our kid painting supplies!

So this post has lots of randomness to it-is that a word? Anyhow it is the reason for the lack of recent posts-I have been busy and haven't had too much time to post what we have been up to!

Family Rules

2010-04-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

I saw one of these last summer and put it on my list of crafts to do and I finally finished! I am so excited. I found the frame at Joannes on clearance for $6 and I used the precut wood to do the lettering on. I also am in love with Provo paint markers-made this sooo much easier. I am so excited-now if we can just follow rules:)

Drapes

2010-03-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

One thing my husband does not understand drapes-well two actually drapes and throw pillows-It drives him crazy that I am constantly changing or adding to our home! But Oh well, I think it stems from his minimalist decorating style. But seriously nothing adds warmth like drapes!! So this past month I made three sets of drapes. I tried my hand at Roman Shades for the boy's room-they have heat and light resistant lining-so their room is SOOO dark-in fact we had to get a nightlight:). I made some new ones using grommet rings for the bonus room and for my craft room some fun drapes using Anna Griffin fabric. Wait till my husband sees the throw pillows I have planned to match:)

Mustache Party

2010-03-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

So last weekend my oldest turned four, hard to believe! We celebrated his birthday with a "Mr. Man" theme and had a mustache party. He is SOOOO into staches! I have had to draw one on him almost everyday since Halloween. Here are a few pics from the party. We made mustache crayon for party favors, chocolate mustaches and did a mustache photo booth. Fun stuff!!
Linking up to A Soft Place to Land- for the DIY Party!

Old Window Redo #2

2010-03-10T07:13:00.001-08:00

Every since I helped my mom do her old window redo I have been on the lookout for my own.

A few months back while picking up a dresser to redo I saw an old window in their garage and much to my husbands chagrin I asked, "how much?" Even more to my husbands dismay they let me have it for free:) I ended up having to remove the glass since a part was chipped and then I glued and reinforced the corners. I love it! I am sure it is lead paint-but I stained and sealed over it so hopefully it will be enough to keep the ickies from getting out:)

I ended up redo again our upstairs landing-I liked it before, but I stole the old lamp and books for the boys new room and I really wanted a pop of color up their since the walls are a more of a neutral tan.
I ended up finishing the frame yesterday and Monday picked up this fun lamp at Marshalls-I love the sleek modern look of the lamp with the shabby look of the old frame. Yesterday I decided it needed just a little more so I made the nest hanging too. I like it, but knowing me I am sure I will change it up again-ugh my poor husband:)

I am linking up to Blue Cricket for show and tell-head over and get inspired by all the fun projects!!!

Guest Post!!!

2010-03-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Hey, Today I am a "guest poster" on Steals and Deals!!!

Head over there and read my post on how to redo furniture:)!!!!

No. 20 and 21

2010-02-23T11:09:00.001-08:00

this past week the weather here was FANTASTIC-perfect for getting some painting project done!!

I was able to get a new dresser for the boy's room painted and redo one we already had:) Love it!!!

BEFORE:

this little-I do mean little gem was off craigs list and just down the street from us-It is actually going to be too small for my, but like "life in the fun lane" I am going to use it until I find what I want then sell it.

It is the perfect size for a changing table . . .After:

I am going to go pick up the photos for these poster frame (on target clearance) later. they are pics of the boys together-so I will post another picture when I get them hung.

Before:

we got this a year ago for the bonus room toys from target-not cheap, but only partially real wood. It was espresso color and came with some cute red toy bins that ended up banging the snot out of the shelf. So we decided to paint it for the boys room and I am eventually going to make some fabric bins for it.After:

now it is in the boy's room holding most of their books.

It was hard to redo since much of it isn't real wood, but I pollied the hay out of it so hopefully it will hold up!

This post is linked to Kim and Kimba's DIY!!!

No. 19-the boys bunk beds

2010-02-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

Before:

it is hard to tell from this picture, but parts of the rails had been chewed on and sawed on-took lots of wood filler. Originally I had thought of staining them an espresso color, but they needed to much wood patching and filling.

After:

I should have got the shot before I moved them into the room, but oh well-if you live close you can just come see them:)

So this summer I got a steal of a deal on these bunk beds. They were marked 20, but everything in the thrift store is always 1/2 off and they were missing a side rail so they ende up costing 8. However they had been "well-loved" shall we say and needed lots of TLC aka, sanding, filling, striping and painting. I finally finished them and LOVE them. So does Joey he call them his "Up Beds."

go Post your own DIY at A Soft Place to Land

at Today's Creative Blog

Boys Room Redo Part One The Duvet Cover

2010-02-20T07:46:00.001-08:00

the original curtains

Took out the top seem of both the lining and curtain-thus making a pocket.
Next, we turned them inside out to add the twill tape (very important). It keeps the duvet in place!

On the curtain/duvet cover we added 6 inches of twill tape, attaching it in the center.
We put these at each of the four corners to become ties to tie the duvet to.

Then on the duvet at the bottom of each of the four corners we attached twill tape across each corner making a triangular shape.
Note: I bought the duvet at Ross-WAY cheaper than anywhere else. I also bought a king size and cut it down to fit the two twin beds-this was also way cheaper than buying two twin duvets.
I was able to find one that was hypo allergenic and had an allergy barrier covering.

Flip the duvet cover right side out and slip the duvet inside attaching the twill tape from the cover through the loop on the duvet make a simple loose knot.

Finally at the top sew the top back together all but about a 16 inches across the top (making a pocket to get the duvet in and out of. (important so you can wash both:)

and either attach Velcro or make button holes and add buttons to close the pocket.

TA DA! sorry about the fuzzy picture! I will try to get better ones when I post the bed redo.

We have been transitioning the boys into one room-slowly we hoped however some of it has been sped up by Jack-aka the climber. He has mastered climbing out of his crib a skill his brother didn't learn until 3.5-so needless to say he is no longer in the crib. We moved Joey's toddler bed in Jack's room and have begun to get Joey's room ready for both boys.

I found bunk beds this summer for a super steal at a Thrift shop in Steilicom. They were so cheap I thought for sure they were miss marked, but no just missing a side rail which papa GG was able to whip up in a matter of hours! I started working on them this fall in hopes of getting Joey's room ready by his 4th birthday, but Jack helped ups move the timeline up slightly!

In September I bought 3 packages of Dwell studio Curtain Panels-I loved them and they were on clearance for 4.98 each. Originally I thought maybe I would make a bean bag out of them or use them in the bonus room as throw pillows. I also bought two matching throw pillows from the same set for 1.98-can't get stuffing that cheap.

I decided a month ago to try and make them into comforters-however I really wanted to get the boys Duvet because of their allergies. So yesterday my mom and I (mostly my mom) make them out! I love how they turned out!!

Go over to tatertots and jello or on Todays Creative Blog and link your own post!

Happy Birthday Banner

2010-02-15T19:18:00.001-08:00

I have been wanting to make a girly birthday banner for a while, but really with me being the only girl-what is the point? So our MOPS birthday bash was the perfect excuse for me to make one!

I used the Party streamers from the dollar store, fine glitter, paper glue, 5 inch circles, a 2 inch scallop punch and letters spelling Happy Birthday. I still haven't decide if I want to put another blank circle in the center and hang them all together or leave them as two separate???

Sorry about the bad pictures I think it looks much better free hanging between two rooms, and not up against a white wall:)

Head over to kimba's and post your own DIY!

Finished!

2010-02-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

I just finished the portable, high chair from the give-away a few weeks ago, now I need to make it to the mailbox!!! I am hoping by this weekend. Since Jackers has RSV we have been laying low this week, but I should get it out to Alicia by Saturday!!!

I made it a little bigger than mine-mine seems slightly small-so her little guy will probably float in it for a while, but they just get so big so fast!!

Made My Day!

2010-02-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

So I have been neglecting my poor blogs lately-not because I want to, but I have so many projects and duties right now that finding the time to post has been really difficult.

Just yesterday I received the Sunshine Award from Liz over at the Flowering Dogwood!!! Go check out her blog-some really fun stuff going on over there!!!!!! Thanks, Liz!!!!

I couldn't believe it! I am always shocked that anyone besides family and friends actually read this thing!! I truly am honored and it totally made my day!!!!

I want to pass the award along, but that will have to wait until another day because to day is catch up day. It is the one day I only have my own children to care for and thus I really need to get stuff done-like laundry, dusting major fun stuff going on around here!!!

I promise I will be back soon with some pictures of cute crafty stuff:)

Valentine Chair Backers

2010-01-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

I first saw these on Jon & Kate + 8 and thought they were so adorable. But when I looked into where to get them they were of course Pottery Barn and really pricey-especially for felt! So I decided to make my own. I used this cute vintage Valentine fabric-that used to be a jumper of mine when I taught (yep, I was one of those teachers that had a "jumper" for every holiday-but in my defense it was the rage in the mid 90s :0). I love how they turned out. They were super simple and I love making things that we can use year after year!

Head over to kimbas and post your own DIY, Little Sparrows, toot your horn, or Go get your craft on with kim!

Valentine Wreath

2010-01-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

I love red and white, so Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays to craft. This week I have a few Valentine Crafts to do with the kids-hopefully I will post those late, however this week is Crazy busy with a something EVERYDAY! Hate weeks like that!

Here is my latest Valentine Craft. I made it from Tatertots and Jello's Tutorial. It is made from cupcake wrappers-so clever!!!

Click over to skip to my lou and post your own craft!

No. 18

2010-01-24T09:28:00.000-08:00

I have been working on this dresser since before Christmas!!! The weather here has been not cooperating!! This week that all changed and I was finally able to get it completed.

Before:

After:

And the Winner is . . .

2010-01-23T07:13:00.000-08:00

Lucky Number 13!!!! Alicia!!!!

email me alica and we can work out all the details!!

So very excited for you and hope you will enjoy yours as much as I do mine!!

sarahgiampapa@comcast.net

Thanks so much everyone who entered!! I would love to do another give away, -let me know what you would like to see as a give away!

thanks, sarah

Time for a Give-Away!

2010-01-18T14:12:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to do a give-away for awhile now, but just haven't gotten around to it! Bad, Bad, Blogger, but today is the day!!

So are you excited to find out what I will be giving away?????

It is going to be one of these:

Your very own custom made, portable, fabric highchair (that was a lot of adjectives!!)

I love mine so much that I want you too, to enjoy one! Even if you don't have kids that age they would be great for Grandma's house so much easier to pack away then a big highchair and what a fun baby shower gift! I will draw for the winner on Friday!!!

so here is how you can win:

-leave a comment= one entry

-become a follower= another entry!!

-blog about it one your blog= another entry!!!

(be sure to leave me a comment for each thing you do so when I use random number generator it will count you three times)

New Throw Pillows

2010-01-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

I found some great new pillows at Target for cheaper than the stuffing so I decided to change out the ones in the living room. I also made a grey hounds tooth one with this great fabric I found at Big Lots-I know Big Lots of all places-they had decorator fabric by the yard! So strange, but a great deal! I am really loving grey-never really liked the color before, but for the moment I am totally into it!

No.17

2010-01-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

Before:

I can't find the before shot???!!

It was a honey color with tarnished brass knobs-just use your imagingation!

After:

I think my mom used her flash on the photo, which makes the back look a little funny-but you get the idea!

I finished this a while back before Christmas, but totally forgot to take a picture of it finished! Thankfully it found a home at my mom's so I was able to have her take the after photo. I couldn't believe how cheap I got this off Craigs list-some people have no idea what they have or maybe $10 in their pocket is more important-either way I am happy with how it turned out.