Friday

Ah, thank you for your kind comments about the walls. I do love them. Even just primed.
We had a small group thing here tonight, and Doug gave me some props for my work on the walls, even though he did just as much as I did.
It was strange to have three other couples come to our house...that we didn't really know. They had all signed up as being interested in joining a small group, and since we didn't figure that a small group with just Doug and I in it would be all that exciting, we invited these people to join us. It turned out to be fun, and we really had a good time. There were 8 adults and 12 kids and thank goodness it was nice out. We laughed and got to know one another and it wasn't at all wierd. I was worried.
I was a beast all day trying to get the house clean. I feel bad about that.
I have a new favorite blog. It is here. You will love it.

another post for me.

found something else that I want to make, and just using this as a place to park the idea for now.
I must have a thing for skirts lately.

wanna see?
go here.

this is a post mostly for me.

Because I want to make myself a few of these skirts and if I don't put it down here with the link to the tutorial, then I will forget.

don’t stand still for too long…

Having recently acquired a Cricut…I am in the process of labeling everything in the house that I can! All of those little projects that I had once thought I would love to do “if only I had a vinyl machine” are happening! Here are two bigger projects that I completed this past week:

First up is this saying by Shel Silverstein. I do love it and had almost ordered it from a vinyl graphics company except that it cost waayyy too much to justify. Enter new Cricut machine purchased at deep discount from JoAnn Fabric and one roll of white contact paper. It took tons of time to cut out and then apply to the wall (one 2.5 inch letter at a time) but I am pleased with the result. I only wish I would have spaced the lines a bit farther apart. It needs something else…maybe some framed pictures from Where the Sidewalk Ends or The Giving Tree, but it’s a start and I saved a boat load by doing it myself!

Next up is the kid’s bathroom. I painted this room with my free quart of Cool Cobalt from the Glidden giveaway last year. It’s a bit smurfy, but it works in a small kid’s bath. The hooks and board were lovingly hung by my hubby who patiently puts up with me and my many ideas. We have four kids and so four towel hooks are a must. The numbers don’t really serve a purpose since they each have their own color of towel, but it sure looks cool, doesn’t it?

Do your kids need reminded too? I was so tempted to add {wipe}.

xoxo~

Jen

I am linking up to the following:

Edited to add: why are my links just this jumble of html instead of those super cute linky buttons???!!!! Anyhow for those of you who don't speak computer I am linking to Kimba's DIY Day and Make Your Monday at Twice Remembered. Sorry for the mess below!!!

<center><a href="http://asoftplace.net/%22><img border="0" alt="DIY Day @ ASPTL" src="http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee349/GDest07/Kimba/kimbaDIY125.png%22 title="DIY Day @ ASPTL"/></a></center>

<center><a href="http://twiceremembered.blogspot.com/2010/02/make-your-monday-week-15-add-your-link.html%22><img src="http://www.twiceremembered.com/blog/makemonday1.gif%22/></a></center>

Must love nuts.

I got a little squirrel-y what with all the snow days and extra kids home. I may or may not have painted the walls in the playroom/hang out room with seven bottles of craft paint. When Doug came home he said it looked "cool". Wanna see some pictures?






I started reading the last Twilight book so that I could censor out the graphic sex parts for Erin who, unlike me, has read the first three books and is dying to know how the fourth book turns out. I started it yesterday afternoon, and was 545 pages deep when I realized that I was scared to death. At this point the kids were in bed, and I was {home alone} reading. I shut off the lights, dashed up stairs and texted Doug telling him that I was afraid of vampires getting me while I slept. Chicken Little. Except for now I need to read the first three books, and finish the fourth because I HAVE to know what happens. Darn.

frenzy

For some reason, I went into all out Christmas mode yesterday. Maybe it was the realization that today is the last day of school and I had 1597 things to do. So off we went.
Ethan and I went to Bible study where I had a lovely time with my friends there.
Then we went to the store to get snack and cookie supplies.
We came home and did a bit of cleaning, and cooked some dinner.
After dinner the kids and I made some of those pretzel-hershey kiss-m&m things. We don't know what they are called, and none of us could come up with a good name. We are still thinking.
Then I baked some cookies from a recipe that belonged to my great grandma. They are called sugar and spice cookies. They have molasses and cinnamon and ginger in them, and as they were baking, I honestly remembered the smell. Each batch made 4 dozen, and I made two batches, as they were very easy. I sent all but about 8 cookies to work with Doug. They have that "eat me with coffee" taste, and so the firemen will hog down. I also sent the rest of the pretzel-hershey kiss-m&m things to the firehouse. I only needed about 80 for Erin's class, and I made about 200. I don't need that kind of temptation laying around here all day. They are bite size, which makes it worse. Kind of like the donut versus the donut hole idea. I would never eat three or four donuts in one sitting, but I know I would eat the equivalent amount of donut holes at one time. Bite size will kill me one day.
I whipped up some buckeyes earlier this week. I sent some to the neighbor, and we saved one dozen for each of the kid's teachers. I sent those in today along with a cute "Innkeeper's Key" idea that I had seen on a blog. My friend Lori gave me three cool skeleton keys from her stash, and I tied some fabric scraps and ribbon to them with a little note.

I decided against pictures of all this mayhem, in keeping with the Christmas theme that I have going this year. What's the theme, you ask? Well, it has many names.
Slow and Steady.
Relax and Enjoy.
Stress Free.
Less is More.

You get the idea.

book page wreath

I attempted this project yesterday, and I must say two things...

1. The town I live in has NO GOOD dollar stores. Where do all these bloggers live that they scoop up the sweetest stuff for one dollar??!
2. My wreath turned out to be HUGE. So big, in fact, that I ran out of pages. I need to fish another book out of the basement and finish. Then I'll show you.


On a heavier note, Ethan is on Prednisone for croup. I may not make it through the next 5 days...yet he is doing fine.

Make ready the house…

I finally finished the numbers over the hooks…why didn’t I do this sooner? I just used a sharpie, and I love it!

I put this lamp in the laundry room yesterday. Again, why did I not do this sooner? Doesn’t it look like an actual room that you’d like to spend time in now? {like I have a choice}

I see you…

Hung this bucket that I got at Target for .50 cents on the chalk wall. I also picked up a .99 cent box of chalk. Ethan has been entertained for long periods of time with this “new” idea. Go figure.

Okay, now on to some party decor. Here is the skeleton outline. His bones are hidden in the house and as they are found we will tape them up. His face (which you saw above) is decked out with ribbon hair and a sparkly #8 crown! His, or rather her, torso is wearing a grass skirt and lei.

Erin is making “Happy Birthday” wishes on the chalk wall.

Jack. He is so excited for the party. He wears his emotions on his sleeve.

A few more streamers and balloons. We can’t wait!!

couple of recent goodies::

Stiched up these bookmarks for Owen's class. Who doesn't love a fun bookmark?!

This apron was a birthday gift for Ethan's little buddy Grant. We had the apron already, but it didn't really fit anyone since it was so tiny. I added the pocket and marker holder. So cute!

take a second and enter...

Traci at Beneath My Heart posted a great tutorial for a corkboard and is giving away a super cute magnet board. Go now and enter. If you win, I'll be happy for you : ) If you have a giant frame that I can have to make my own corkboard...I'll be happier : )

baby legs

I did not know about Baby Legs until I didn't have any more babies. I still love them, and have nearly gotten a pair just for fun. But now...lucky me, I found a tutorial that shows how to make them from womens knee socks. I can't wait to make some, and I have seen them on bigger girls {which I have two of} as just cute leg warmer thingies. Yea!

onesie dress

Hands down, cutest thing I have made...ever!
The tutorial by Stephanie at Barefoot in the Kitchen was great, and you should try it!

I can't wait to give this dress and it's twin to my sister in law. I hope she loves them as much as I do. I also made two blankets out of the sofest ever fabric. Perfect for two soon-to-be-expected twin girls!

I linked up!

I linked up the stair project. I most certainly did that without Doug {I nearly did it without his blessing as well as without his help. Good thing I am a good kisser, or he'd be long gone.}

Stairs, continued::

After lots of comments on painting the spindles and/or runners white, I should probably say that there is NO white trim anywhere in my house. And I kind of promised my oh-so-patient husband that I would under no circumstances paint ANY trim in the house. I do think that I will find some cream sticky vinyl and cut some numbers or something to put on the risers. Any ideas besides numbers? Some cute saying?

Pumpkin project with ribbon.

Check out the tutorial here for this super cute ribbon pumpkin at Inspiring Creations.
She has so many cute projects, just go look at them all!

{Okay, so the picture won't link up, so you'll have to click to see what I am talking about.}

Stairs::Part Two

When I started painting, I really thought I had made a huge mistake. But with the pad and carpet already off the steps and in the trash, there was no turning back.
In the end, I really do love them! I still have one coat left to do, and then I'd like to do something (words, stencil, ??) on the risers. Suggestions?

avery's birthday::

Avery's birthday is coming up. She was born on the day after Halloween, and while I don't dive too deep into the halloween soup, I do love the colors of halloween and the decorations and the costumes. Oh, the costumes. Usually I start obsessing in early September over what kind of cute costumes I can make the kids. Anyhoo, this year Avery has agreed to a costume birthday party. Fun! The unspoken rule at the school is that you invite the whole class, and based on the past few parties the kids have been to, the whole class usually shows up {something I was hoping would not happen}. I am still banking on a smaller crowd since she is new to the school, but we could have a full house.
Avery is in full party planning mode, which I love, and we have scoured magazines for good ideas and fun crafty projects. I had another inspiration today at craft morning, when Beth brought these cute fabric bookmarks for everyone. Our original plan was to make enough caramel apples for everyone to take one home for their party favor, but we have revised that to be bookmarks instead. It's a better idea, and we can use some super cute halloween fabric and ribbon. If I wasn't lazy I'd take a picture of the bookmark and include it here...but I am lazy.

something else

After I spent all my money in the first 5 minutes at the Country Living Fair, I found another cool vendor that had really neat typewriter key jewelry. I took one of her cards, and was looking at her site today, when it hit me...

I had THIS in the basement.

So now, I am working on a top secret project, one for me, one for a friend. I'll show you when it's done.

It's all I can do to wait for the super glue to dry...

Nearly done...finally

After nearly three weeks of being unfinished...the doors are nearly done. I just have a last coat to put on in about 30 minutes. I really love the way they look!!

And here is my necklace that I got at the Country Living Fair. I spent all my money on this about 30 seconds after we walked through the gate. I think my pocket was actually on fire. But, how could I resist? I love it so much...

Want one.

I know an Old Lady who swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed the fly....and I also don't know why I can't find a single good tutorial on how to make a puppet like this one. I would love to have one of these, but am not loving the price tag. I think I can wing it...stay tuned.