The Rachel Berry Blog

{ Teacher Gifts 2013 - Part 2 }

2013-06-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Okay here are the rest of the Teacher Gifts that I did this year.

The Ruffle Apron's I've been making, are totally inspired by the Whatever Blog by Meg Duerksen. I've been an avid reader of her blog forever and am totally in love with her style and her craft weekends!

This is the apron I made for Corbin's Teacher,

I so so so love how it turned out.

DO YOU THINK THESE WOULD SELL IF I LISTED THEM IN MY ETSY SHOP?

yes, I know I'm not the first person to sell ruffle aprons but thought I would try... Maybe...

This one I already posted about, but here it is again. I made this one for Addison's Teacher.

Brinley had a male Teacher this year, and one of his most favorite things is Beef Jerky.

So I cut out a quick cardboard frame and printed out the note, then adhered it all to some manly scrapbook paper. Then, I stapled it to the package of Jerky.

He loved it!

We are into the full swing of summer vacation, in fact I have 8 kids at my house at this very moment. My friend Brooke is on her way home from The Farm Chicks Show and her booth did AMAZING, so I'm having her kiddo's over for the day.

I was serious about my above ?

Do you think those aprons would sell if I listed a bunch in my Etsy shop?

I need to find a new craft to make and sell. I need a job to help pay off all our debts.

We want to be debt free!

PS. i miss school and all our fabulous teacher so much already.

{ Are You Going To The Farm Chicks Show? }

2013-05-31T14:04:00.000-07:00

If you are going to The Farm Chicks Show in Spokane this weekend, be sure to stop by my friend Brooke's booth. Keep reading for a discount at her booth.

Isn't the name super cute!!

Brooke made the wood sign out of old barn wood and trim.

I did all the lettering blocks, I made them out of cardboard, I love how it turned out!

Brooke refinishes the most amazing pieces of furniture and if you stop by and decide to shop, tell her

"Rachel Says Hi" to receive $10.00 off of your $50.00 purchase!

Brooke can be found in BAY-1 Spaces 32 and 33.

Here are some pictures she just texted me of what is set up so far.
I so wish I could have gone!

So stop by and say hello to Brooke, and don't forget to tell her that Rachel Say's Hello!! :)

{ Ruffled Apron For The Teacher- Part 1 }

2013-05-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

I made this apron for Addison's preschool teacher Miss Sharae.
i think it turned out really cute!

don't mind my crap-tastic iPhone photo, i promise to get a better one later on this week.

now, i need to get mr. corbin's apron made for his teacher.

this is our last week of school and it's gonna be a busy one!

{ Year End Teacher's Gifts- In Process }

2013-05-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

yup that's right, my kids last day of school is on May 31st. so i am getting a jump on teacher gifts.

i only have to make 2 gifts, the 3rd is a male teacher and his will be store bought.

my other 2 kids have too many teachers to "make stuff" for so, i think i will make them a simple thank you with some chocolate attached. everyone likes chocolate right?

i will post when they are all done. i sure hope they turn out cute.

happy memorial day weekend!

{ A Mother's Day Meltdown. }

2013-05-12T11:55:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm just going to say it.....

i am not a real big fan of Mothers Day. in fact, for me it's just another day of the week.

i still cook, clean, and pick up after my kids just like i do 365 days a year.

but today's is mothers day, maybe today will be different... NOPE.

this morning i was yelled at by one of my teenagers. i know, i know, he's a teenager. it's comes with the territory.

but, then as i was driving the kids to church, i said out loud, after more yelled words from the one of my teenagers, how I hate this stupid holiday and that it's no different then any other day of the week for me.

then i quickly slide on my huge "celebrity style" sunglasses so my kids couldn't see the tears streaming down my cheeks.

was i acting like a child and having a pity party?

yes.

was.

i guess, i was expecting more from my day. and i'm blaming the outburst on my hormones.

because i can...

i'm skipping church today to stay home with one of my kiddos. he's caught some dang cold bug and is coughing up his right lung.

i think i was home last year with another sick kiddo.

it's all very groundhog day to me.

i did manage to spent a few minutes online and i have to ask,

are all your Mothers Days as perfect as your instagram/facebook posts seem to be?

i hope they are, and part of me is completely jealous of the fact that MANY of you get breakfast in bed.

the closest i've ever come to breakfast in bed is, when we stay in a hotel and we walk down stairs for the free complimentary breakfast.

i will spend my "holiday" doing the following things.

Dirty dishes in the sink

no, i won't be cleaning my boys bedroom but it just makes me frustrated seeing all this mess.

ALL THE TIME.

loads of laundry, lots from having 7 people in our house and lots from the boys camp-out.

does anyone notice the cooler in the background?

apparently we now store the cooler in the laundry room.

don't get me wrong, i think it's great to have a day to celebrate all things Mother and

i do love being a mother to my kids.

i fiercely love all 5 of them

and i have found being a mother one of the hardest, & most rewarding jobs i've ever had.

do i feel rewarded everyday? nope.

but every once in a while one of more of my kids will remind me that i'm doing a pretty good job, most days.

being a mother has made me more grateful for my own Mother. she has done so much for me and still does. i want her to know that i love her very much.

i also love my Mother-in-Law because without her i wouldn't have my amazing husband and frankly she had a pretty big hand in how he turned out.

and i like him alot. :)

i ran across this photo yesterday while purging our "shop". this is 1 of maybe 2 pictures that i can think of that's just of my mom, my sister and me. it just made me stop and think about all the women in my life.

so, i'm going to buck up & slap a huge smile on my face and enjoy my "day". i mean the day's not over yet. it has to get better, right?!!

my hat is off to all you amazing mothers out there, i can only hope to aspire to be more like each and everyone of you more each day.

photo via web

{ A 13th Birthday!! }

2013-05-03T14:50:00.002-07:00

this boy turns 13 today....

he's a pretty darn good kid.

he's an honor roll student & has been this whole school year.

he's energetic as all get out.

loves football.

loves to eat. pizza & ice cream.

is always smiling.

is a hard worker.

he's a good friend.

loves to hunt

loves to fish

loves to work with his dad.

love to build things, all. the. time.

and, he's finally 13!

Happy Birthday Parker-Roni!!

We love you!!!

{ It's My 38th Birthday }

2013-04-23T09:49:00.001-07:00

yup, it's my day today!

i've had a few reminders....

this was my favorite reminder early this morning.

i also have a few things planned,

1. trip to the DMV to get my license renewed

2. spend 2 hrs at school for the human growth & development class with my oldest girlie

3. pick up kids from school

4. get a hair cut

5. clean the house

6. do more laundry

7. clean something

yup i am full of fun today.

{ Random Organization }

2013-04-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

How has it been a month since I last blogged about nothing?

we've had the plague here at our house for

what seems like months.

I hate vomiting, but the weight loss was a small perk. :)

I have no crafting desire what-so-ever.

I want to craft.

I need to craft and actually sell things, I have bills to pay.

I'm trying to get more organized so i started with my small hoard of Washi Tape.

the colors make me happy.

i need more color like this in my life.

*The cigar box I paid 50 cents for at a local thrift store.

Then I moved onto my ribbon.

I learned i need a BUNCH more clothespins.

But where to find them?

seriously? where can I find more?

Cupcake liners...

Yes, I hoard those as well...

I rescued these doorknobs from my grandparents/parents old grocery store.

i found them in the basement in a very dirty box.

i took them all.

I will have to take pictures of that place one day and share them with you.

It's a cool OLD building, with lots of treasures as well as a bunch of old crap, I mean stuff that needs thrown out.

I love the rust and the hint of blue color.

So that's my organization for today.

Dinner needs made, again.

i think i will make these, they are so DELISH and I actually have all the ingredients. ;)

photo via RealMomKitchen.com

Oven baked chicken fajita's, recipe can be found HERE

Are any of you fellow bloggers doing any spring organization?

{ Just Testing - AKA Google Reader Replacement }

2013-03-16T11:48:00.001-07:00

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

{ Looking for Spring.... }

2013-02-18T15:03:00.000-08:00

I'll be the first to admit it, I get the winter blues.

I find it to be a really depressing time of year.

My checking account is always tight, my utilities, high, my spirit low.

I do love "The Holiday's", BUT I find there are just one too many during the fall/winter months.

I dislike snow, I know we need it, but I hate the mess it brings inside and out.

I yearn/need sunlight and the warmth that it brings.
I am thankful that we have had sunny days, but when you see sun you would think warmth would be with it.. Here, that's not the case it's sunny and freezing.

This time of year, all I want to do is have pajama day and do nothing... (which happens more than I'd like to admit) I find my creativity goes in the crapper, I want to create fun new things. But the drive to actually bring it into fruition goes away.

You could say I am over this winter, and she is more then welcome to go on her merry little way.

Am I alone here?

Does anyone else feel this way?

Photo taken by me in June 2011

{ And Then She Was 11... }

2013-01-16T12:41:00.004-08:00

Happy Birthday to our Brinley Girl!

She's growing up into such a beautiful young lady,

we pretty much love this girl to no ends!!

A little blast from the past.

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

{ 15 Years }

2013-01-13T11:11:00.004-08:00

Happy Birthday to my First Born, who made me a

Mother 15 years ago today.

Can't believe he's already this old, I haven't aged a day! :)

Happy Birthday Jentry!

{ Christmas 2012 }

2012-12-28T15:13:00.000-08:00

We had a great Holiday Season this year.

Christmas Eve was spent with my wonderful family and friends.

My kids were awesome this year, every gift they opened, they loved and were grateful for. The phrase "Thank You" was flowing on Christmas day.

I loved it!

I'd would like to say THANK YOU to all of you who sent us cards, I loved getting each and every one of them.

I am going to try and send out something one of these days.

But at the rate I'm going they will be a Valentine's Card. :)

Here are some pictures of our Snowman themed tree this year

(a couple are from Christmas Eve and the rest I took on the 26th when I took her down).

How is it that the Christmas Tree comes down WAY faster then putting her up? But my house is back to normal.

In fact it feels a little naked.

I suppose I should get to getting some winter decor up.

I hope you all had a great Christmas!

The next couple posts will be crafty, I promise.

{ Christmas Craft }

2012-12-17T17:17:00.000-08:00

I had a few minutes to whip up a Christmas craft and this is the one that my Friend Nanette and I choose to do.

WE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!

Seriously, this was the easiest thing to make and looks totally amazing when you're done.

Items used:

Foam Board

Cheap-o foam paint brush

Black Craft Paint for foam board edges

Print made at local Copy place.

Inspiration was from HERE

PRINT PDF can be purchased HERE

We made the 16x20 size.

Seriously, this would make a great last minute gift for someone.

I gave one to Addison's Pre-School Teacher and she loved it.

I have another Christmas Craft that I will be making this week, but I cannot post about them yet as they will be Christmas Gifts.

But I promise to share after deliveries have been made.

Thanks Nan for crafting with me!

{ C's Baptism }

2012-11-11T16:23:00.003-08:00

Do you ever have an event in your life, where you are so busy getting everything ready that you take hardly any pictures?

Well, that my friends was how Corbin's baptism went.

Don't get me wrong it was an awesome, spiritual day.

We combined his baptism with some friends in our ward and the program turned out really, really nice. The music was amazing, and I cried happy tears through most of it.
I was mad at myself for not getting many pictures but here's what I did manage to capture.

I made his invitation in Photoshop CS3.

Can you believe these shots I got for a kid that was hating this photo session with his mama!

Thankfully, for Corbin it only lasted 10 minutes.

The CTR banner I made using some brown shopping bags from Wally's that I cut to size and ran through my printer. The white pom pom's I made with my friend's Nanette and Danielle.

The rest of the of the filler was loaned to us by Nan.

We had lots of treats for after the baptism, but sadly this is the only shot I got with my nice camera of the mini pumpkin cupcakes I made.

photo via android
This photo was taken with my cell phone. Most all the food was eaten, we only went home with a handful of the mini pumpkin cupcakes.

Here are my boys, Corbin was so darn excited.

We are so happy that he is Choosing The Right!

We want to thank all of our Family that drove so far to support Corbin, we love you all.

Thank you to my fabulous friends for baking, loaning, crafting and listening.

You are my glue.

{ ARG! To The Pirate Party! }

2012-10-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the invitation I made for Corbin's Birthday.

Corbin had picked out these on etsy, but we were running out of time trying to convo back and forth with our 3 hour time difference and I had to get these done asap.

So, I did a little more looking around on Etsy and found the kit.
(Pirate kit was found via another Invitation seller's Etsy shop,
she stated what kit she used and where it could be purchased from.)

So, 1.5 hours later in Photoshop (i know i am slow)

I had whipped up a very similar version based on her super cute layout.

Now to figure out the cake, goodie bags, games, and, and, and......

Invitation completely inspired from HERE.

Pirate kit purchased from HERE

(She also has a cute pirate girl version as well, just type "pirate" in the search box)
Free Fonts that I used: Blackladder ITC
Century Gothic
Click on the font name to download them for yourself.

EDITED: I take no credit for the design of this invitation.
The invitation was completely inspired from HERE.
Yes, I changed a few things to suite my own taste,
I do not sell this invitation on Etsy in any way, shape or form.

{ 2-Wheels! }

2012-10-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Guess who learned how to ride a 2 wheel bike WITHOUT training wheels last month?

Yup, this little dude.

He is such a stud, his birthday is this week.

So a pirate party in in order, you know what I'll be doing this week.

I'll post his invite I made tomorrow, right now I have errands to run.

{ Happy Birthday #42 }

2012-09-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

Just a little shout out for my main man who turns 42 today.

Love this man more then he knows.

Glad he's mine forever.

Love you Babe & Happy Birthday!

{ 9/11 }

2012-09-11T02:30:00.001-07:00

Our family will NEVER forget.The following pictures were some I took with my phone at the
Tri-Cities 9.11 Memorial in Kennewick, Washington last month.

Seeing a part of what used to be one of the Twin Towers in tangible form is incredible.
To know that people built & walked among these pieces.
To know the strength that building had.
Then, to remember the hate that brought it down.But being able to watch via the internet The National 9/11 Memorial being built from that hallowed ground in New York City, just goes to prove that the human Spirit may bruise, but it can never be broken.

Our thoughts & prayers go out to all the families affected by 9/11.

{ She's Growing Up }

2012-09-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

My baby will be 5 this Halloween and proof that she is growing up is in the following picture.

Yup, that's right she went and lost her first tooth the night before she went back to school.

Sigh......

{ First Day Mugshots }

2012-09-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

I am a fiercely devoted mom who loves her kids.

But, School is a lovely thing.

{ Super Saturday Crafts }

2012-09-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

I was asked to help again with Super Saturday this year, I've been struggling with what craft I should do.

Here is the first craft I though about doing: Round 1

Then, I went through all the steps and decided that sewing was never going to happen on my watch while teaching a SS class.

(I'd rather give birth naturally to a 9lb baby (i should know i have done it 2 times)

Then I moved onto these 2 crafts from this Etsy Store: Round 2

But, sadly time wasn't on my side, nor the shipping prices for 6 sample pieces (3 of each, unfinished) now, if I were only ordering 1 piece I would have been golden.

So, I decided to move onto the simpler side of things.
Round 3- ding, ding.

Here are the 2 items I will be teaching:

The idea came from Jen, she is such a sweetheart and has some pretty rocking craft ideas along with some super cute
Activity day ideas.

Okay, so her blog is pretty much stocked with cute ideas.

You can read her blog here: Cinnaberry-Suite.

I loved this Temple Silhouette from the first time I saw it, and decided, hey we could make this!

I've been reading Clarendone Lane for a while now. This gal has such great style and her home decor is awesome, she also has an Etsy shop, so if you want to order a Salt Lake Temple Silhouette you can order them from her Etsy Store.

I pretty much went for more of a "use year round" type of craft, instead of going so holiday. The Big Boss's wanted more of a gift type craft so that's what they are getting.

Are any of you attending a Super Saturday this year?

What will you be making?

Well, I better run, we have a laundry list of things to get done today,

these poor kids of ours are gonna wish they were in school today!

We parents love a good holiday. :)

{ Mom, I Mustache You A Question. }

2012-08-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Well, my brood came home from school yesterday and happily they had a great day! All I can say is phew, & thank goodness, I was a little nervous for them. More for Jentry, being it was his first day in High School (man I'm getting old).

As I was cleaning up the dishes from dinner last night, Corbin informed me that he needed to take a water bottle to school.
He then sweetly asked me if I could buy one at the store with his name on it.
I told him yes,
All the while knowing there was no such thing.

So what's a Mom to do?
I dusted off my Cricut/Vinyl and cut out a hat, mustache & of course his name.
I think it turned out pretty ~~cute~~ MANLY and I'm sure NO ONE in his class will have one like it.

Please don't mind the water spots, I washed it out before I made it all fabulous.

I so love this, and it took maybe 15 minutes to do.
There's nothing sweeter then a quick easy craft I tell you.
Okay, sure it's manly but it's also freaking cute... I had to say it.

I am slightly stoked for him to see it in the a.m.

I just ♥ this sweet boy of mine.

Here are links to the products I used:
Just click on them & they will open in a new window.
Mustache- DB Disguise 1
Hat- DB Disguise 2
Name Font- GUESS WHAT
Program- Sure Cuts Alot aka SCAL

{ 1st Day Back To School }

2012-08-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Our annual back to school photo.

Corbin 2nd ~ Brinley 5th ~ Parker 7th ~ Jentry 9th

More pictures to come later.

The Border Date Font on the photo is actually a brush, here is the link:
Three Sixty Five Days Photo and Journal Overlays
The 2012 Font is a Freebie Font:
Sketch Font

{ Mama, Mama I'm Coming Home.. }

2012-08-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

This boy has been gone for 9 long days.

Parker with his -now gone- as in went to an actual farm- Rooster Albert.

Lucky for us, he is on his way home today.

I do believe that Lake Powell has had him long enough.

Thank you K family for taking him on a trip he will always remember.

Oh, how I've missed this sweet, mischievous boy.

P.S.- He's home just in time for school to start

TOMORROW!

What is it with me and music titles?

I know I love me some tunes, but honestly, I've got to stop! ☺