Raspberries and Kisses

Make it Yours

2012-01-19T23:40:00.000-05:00

Storage is something my house seems to lack. That or we have just outgrown our house, which is more like it. Regardless we are stuck here for a while at least. We love our location, just not so much the house. I’m constantly searching for storage style furniture. A while back hubby and I came across this grungy rolling extendable rolling buffet on craigslist for $20.00. As seen below!

I have witnessed many beautiful furniture transformations through various blogs, so we took a plunge on this piece of furniture. We started by disassembling the buffet as much as possible and lightly sanding it. Then taping off the top table part we painted the bottom a creamish color. The top table top was completely sanded/stripped, and then restained a dark cherry color. Next I went and lightly sanded all around the bottom section on the cream and applied a glaze. This took some time to ensure a good consistency. The nice thing about using a glaze is it is very workable before it dries and sets, so you can keep working on it until you reach a desired look. I kept all the original hardware and spray painted it to refresh its appearance. Finally I used an old book I had purchased from a library book sale (the pages were yellowing and really aged) then modge podged them inside the drawer. The age of this piece of furniture was really apparent especially in the drawer! Below is our transformed piece of furniture and I absolutely love it! This sets in our dinning room and holds additional kitchen pieces.

Not too long ago I found a piano bench w/storage at Goodwill for less than $5.00. I have some visions for this; we will see how they pan out! I know my hubby loves my visions…they always come with work for him! Thinking about refinishing something…take the leap you’ll be happy you did!

Finding My Groove

2012-01-18T16:50:00.002-05:00

How does one even come back from such a hiatus? My last post was at the end of October and I don’t know what happened. Blogging is hard, especially when there are so many awesome people out there that just have a knack for blogging and creatively writing. I’m still amazed at all the things people come up with….and on occasion I amaze myself! Since last October I have made lots of great things, which I hope to blog about. Part of getting my groove back consists of getting back into using my Menu Board, so I know its Wednesday but I’m going to share this week’s menu:

Monday – Chick-Fil-A (Our lazy holiday meal)

Tuesday – Pizza Casserole w/salad (only changes I made to this was I used 1lb of beef and 1lb of sausage, also instead of two layers of cheese I only used one for the final layer on top) This turned out great! We have tried something similar in the Crockpot that the family wasn’t so crazy about. Everyone said this one turned out much better!

Wednesday – Crockpot Beef Stroganoff over egg noodles w/green beans

Thursday – Spicy Peanut Noodles w/broccoli

Friday – Steak & Potatoes w/salad

Saturday – Crockpot Potato Soup & Sandwiches

Sunday – Mandarin Chicken over rice w/green beans (This is so easy and a staple in our lives seeing as the kids love it and always ask for it!)

I actually veered away from my usual easy cheap meal style and tried to put a little variety in our eats this week. A few other things we are trying this week are:

Breakfast: Egg and Spinach Quiche Cups

Snacks: No Bake Energy Bites
Seasoned Walnuts (Walnuts are very beneficial for O Blood types)

Deserts: Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

I was lucky enough to receive a Kindle Fire for Christmas, which proves to be completely useful when it comes to cooking! Well that and Pinterest of course! I love placing recipes on my Food board and then when it comes time to cook using my Kindle to pull up recipes…Love…Love…Love..my Kindle Fire!

Comeback tomorrow when I share a buffet furniture makeover!

Baby its cold outside!

2011-10-29T22:42:00.000-04:00

Burrrr…today was one of those days you just wanted to curl under the covers and stay in bed and watch movies kind of day! While that would have been nice it just wasn’t feasible. Ya see Christmas is upon us and being on a budget well this require some homemade gifts. I’ve known this for some time now and really should have started sometime back, however I generally lack motivation! I did not get to Christmas gifts today, however am working on a gift for my cousin who had a baby girl a little while back. Hopefully I will start Christmas present crafting this week. If you are looking for a little ones Christmas gift idea or even Birthday gift idea I recently made this cute little set for a neighbors birthday.

I achieved this by using my son’s cape as a pattern. I then created a mask, arm cuffs, and crown. I embellished them all and it turned out great! Now to think of little ones I can make these for.
Also, since we didn’t put up Halloween decorations I am seriously considering putting up my Christmas décor in November. Let’s face it decorations are time consuming to put up and even more so to take down. I like enjoying them for as long as possible, without being tacky of course!
Tomorrow we will be cheering on my hubby who is running his 2nd year in a row the Marine Corps Marathon! He spends a lot of time training for this day, so I’m hoping everything will go as he plans!
That’s it for today…Happy Blogging!

Spooktacular Birthday Party

2011-10-24T13:15:00.000-04:00

Today I am posting details from the awesome Halloween Birthday Party my fabulous neighbor and her family threw for her grandson’s ages 9 and 10. The detail and time that went into planning this party really paid off! We saw some awesome costumes and ate some ghoulish food! Get ready for some photo intensive viewing! First though is my kiddos in their costumes. Silly Whim and Stinky Face are both sporting Hula Girls costumes fashioned by myself. Actually the Hula skirts were made for Silly Whims recent 9th birthday party Luau, which I will share sometime in the near future. Bubby of course is Iron Man.

There were so many cute costumes below were just a few a caught on camera:

Our Party House hosts:

Some of the awesome decorations:

I even took a picture of the toilet!

Now I have saved the best for last, the FOOD! As gross as some of it looked it was all awesome! I made sure to get picture before all the hooligans devoured it! The green pie looking dish was Chicken Buffalo Ranch Dip. The Deviled Eggs were green with orange insides. There was a veggie dip that looked kind of bloody with a hand. I so loved the Mummy English Muffin Pizza’s, which we will be having this week for dinner with salad one night! The Rice Crispy Treat Pumpkins were to die for! Popcorn hands with ring embellishments. Gray Pasta Salad with Chicken, Veggies, and Ranch dressing. The Punch had a frozen hand in it with plastic rings! The cake was so cute as well! Loved it all! I was totally impressed, which takes a lot for me.

If you are preparing for an upcoming Halloween Party or considering planning one next year I hope you got some great ideas from this post!

Happy Blogging!

Lunch Note Monday on Thursday

2011-10-20T00:05:00.001-04:00

Yeah…I’m thinking I might move to a Lunch Note Weekly theme…it leaves me open to do lunch notes anyway during the week as opposed to always feeling late to my own party. Who am I kidding though I will always be late to my own party and others too. So without further ado, just click on the image below to download.

Also, I just have to say the proofs are in from my oldest senior photo shoot. Below are just two of the proofs, but Susan D. Photography did an awesome job and I could not be happier. My little girl looks so grown up.

Happy Blogging!

Senior Sunday

2011-10-16T23:31:00.000-04:00

Today was Senior Sunday, well at least at my house it was. If you have ever had a senior or even been a senior yourself you know there is alot of details that go into ones senior year. Today just so happened to be one of them in my oldest life...Senior Pictures! Honestly we could not have asked for a more beautiful day! We had a nice little walk around downtown Fredericksburg with my favorite photographer Susan Driggers from Susan D. Photography. I can't wait to see all the great shots she captured of my beautiful daughter!

On another note birthday parties are officially over in my house for the year!! YAAAAA..now for the serious stuff...Christmas. Needless to say when you operate on a budget you have to start thinking about this stuff early. Honestly this is not early enough for me, but with all the birthdays hitting me between August thru October this is as early as it gets! This week the kiddos will each be completing one of these! To download click on the image below.

Hope I've got you all thinking about getting a move on Christmas now!

Check back tomorrow for Lunch Note Monday.

Lunch Notes Monday and a Happy Birthday too!

2011-10-03T23:56:00.001-04:00

Today celebrates a very special day in my life. It was 9 years ago today that my daughter Silly Whim was born. I baked cupcakes for her class, I baked cupcakes for Girl Scouts, and I baked a cake for the family all to celebrate her! Her sleepover is scheduled for this weekend and I'm sure some more baking will be involved! "Happy Birthday, my sweet girl!"

On a sadder note my stinky face has been sick today. I hate it when little ones get sick and they don't even complain, but they just are not themselves. She has been such an angel today and just sitting and watching her show and sleeping. I hope that she starts feeling better soon.

Below you will find this week’s lunch notes!

Happy Blogging!

Lunch Notes Monday on Wednesday?

2011-09-28T11:03:00.000-04:00

Rain..Rain..go away we have had enough of you these days! Goodness, I really wish the weather would make up its mind. It's hot, it's cool, it's rainy..it's sunny....I'm actually so ready for the summer/rainy season to be over, and then when it is over it can take the ants and mosquitoes with it! It's hard living in limbo between seasons...our drawers can't handle the clothes influx to accommodate two seasons. I love fall the weather is a nice medium between warm and cool...perfect. I love bonfires and walks that don't leave you drenched in sweat! Enough of that rant though, I think you get my point.

I hope you are finding good use for your lunch notes...while these are intended for kids I suppose your spouse could get a chuckle out of them too! Below is this week’s lunch notes and I promise next Monday I WILL be on time. I know this because they are already to go! Just click on the images to download.

Join me tomorrow for a great gift idea for a little boy or girl. This would make a great gift for birthdays or Christmas!

Have a great one!

Lunch Notes Monday

2011-09-19T23:54:00.001-04:00

Well three parties and one more to go! Today my sweet baby girl Stinky Face turned two. Where does the time go? It's amazing how even the smallest family parties can wear you out! Last up a 9 year olds slumber party...Ya..aa..a.a...a, can you sense my excitement? Hopefully I will have some pictures up of Stinky Face's birthday in a day or so. Up now though is this weeks lunch notes. Hope your little person is enjoying their notes!

Lunch Notes

2011-09-13T16:14:00.001-04:00

We are starting week two of school and everything is bumping along nicely, although I’m still adjusting to getting up at 6:30am. Sunday my Bubby officially turned 5. We celebrated Chuck E. Cheese style. It was small and fun. One can always count on Chuck E. Cheese to pull you through. He really wanted a carnival birthday party; however rain was in the forecast for the next ten days so we adjusted. Now I have plenty of time to pull off and awesome carnival party next year. Today was actually Bubba’s snack day for Kindergarten to celebrate his birthday. Yesterday, I gave him a couple of options for cupcakes and he settled on these

This idea was pulled from the Family Fun magazine site! I think they turned out cute. I’m anxious to see how they fared with his classmates.
Now to get started planning Stinky Face’s 2nd birthday this weekend, which should be easy since we are just doing a family thing. This Silly Whims birthday is coming up in 3 weeks. Ahhh…then I can focus on getting Christmas done. To some it may be a little early, but when you have four kiddos and have to make every penny count it is never too early. I actually already have a few!

So, I’m a little late with getting this out, however here are this week’s lunch notes. I hope you can use these to put a smile on your little ones face.

Don’t forget to come back next week for new lunch notes!

Lunch Notes

2011-09-06T11:02:00.000-04:00

Well summer is officially over…school has started…and we are commencing with new routines! Back to blogging we go. Today was my kiddo’s official first day of school. I’m not going to lie I’m feeling a little sad and depressed. No matter how annoying my kids could be sometimes I do love them and miss them when they are not here! Especially my Bubba, he started kindergarten today and I’m going to miss him sliding up to me and rubbing his head on me telling me “Mommy, I love you”. I know he is going to have a wonderful day and is going to be exhausted when he gets home…I can’t wait to see them! I’ll probably change my tune once they get home though..just saying!
I’ve decided to try and start something new. Since I pack my kiddo’s lunches pretty regularly I like to stick little notes and jokes in their lunchboxes. While I am posting this one today my plan is to post these on Sundays. I may even post my lunch menu plans, but we will see how well I can pull myself together for that. I have two of the same joke/note to a sheet as I have two kiddos packing lunches. My kids are the worst a pulling off knock knock jokes so I’m hoping this will help them out at lunch. Click on the link below to download this weeks lunch notes!

Hope everyone is enjoying the peace now that school has started and don’t for get to come back and pickup next week’s notes on Sunday!

Daddy’s Day

2011-06-19T23:14:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone enjoyed spending Father’s Day with that special guy in their life! I know I enjoyed spending the day with both of mine (Dad and Husband). Of course I always enjoy spending time with my family, but days like today give me the excuse to craft something for them too. I blog hopped all week looking at all of the cool ideas everyone else was doing and I meshed my own idea into something of my own! First I would like to share with you the awesome present I received for Mother’s Day. Can I just say I think my craftiness has rubbed off on my hubby as he has really come up with some great ideas over the years for me. How lucky am I he understands my value of homemade memories rather than store bought stuff! This was made using my kiddos hands and fingers!

Okay, while I wish I could remember the link for where I saw this idea alas I do not. The only difference for mine was I was a little cheaper. I could have purchased a three slot picture frame for my finished project; however I chose to create one. I purchased (3) unfinished 4 x 6 wooden picture frames at Michaels for $.66 each (they were on sale), also a steak stick which I purchased for $.99 back in the unfinished wood section as well. First I painted all the edges of the frame inside and out. Next I traced and cut the frames out of scrapbook paper and modge podged the paper frame to the wooden one. I purchased two letters “D”& “A”, which were on sale for $.99 at the Hobby Lobby. I spray painted the letters one light and one dark. I took pictures of the kids holding the letters different ways up against a brick wall. I then took the best ones and photo edited them slightly, printed, and placed in the frames. Next I glued all three frames side by side across the stick. For the “DAD” frame I have not yet added the ribbon. However, for my Dad whom we call “PAP” I attached ribbon to the back so that it could be hung. I also decorated the front of the frames with scrapbook stickers which best fit each recipient. I am totally happy with the outcome! You can really do so much with this and it was a pretty inexpensive project, which we will be able to lovingly adore forever!

Lastly below is a picture of my oldest that I snapped when we were doing our pictures for the craft. I adore her, although I will openly admit she is a pain 99% of the time.

Happy Blogging!

Unique Birthday Wrapping

2011-05-20T11:15:00.001-04:00

I seems we can go all year only being invited to one or two birthday parties, then all of the sudden May comes and they come in a flood!! Let me just say I “LOVE” Etsy! I love a handmade item over a store bought item any day. For starters they are original, and chances are no one out there is going to have one exactly like that! So, naturally I just like assuming everyone else would appreciate the same kind of gift. I always like feeling like I put more than just a trip to the store into my gift…I mean my kid’s gifts. (smile) Last weekend I made a gift for Silly Whims friend like one I have made before the nail box kit as seen in this post. Additionally, I made her friend a t-shirt, which really fit her personality. This weekend both Silly Whim and Bubba have parties. While I did buy both gifts I wanted to add that touch of personal to them, so for Silly Whims (one of her best friends) I had a picture from Silly Whims Spa-rific Sleepover, which I hope to post on soon. I took the picture and created an iron on design. I also used Steam-a-seam (love that stuff) to create fabric appliqués of her name. Additionally, I used spray paint to create a splattered paint look and went over my appliqué with fabric pain. I started with these a 3 pack from Wal-mart was $6.97, and everything else I already had!

Below is the finished product:

Next for Bubba’s friend, whom I will say we don’t know that well I created an appliqué of race car and his name on the bag. (appliqué is indicative of contents) Bubba is going through a car phase right now. To create an appliqué I simply print out whatever design word I want to use then flip it print side down and trace over my light box onto the steam-a-seam. Next I peel off the side that is NOT traced on and place it on the WRONG side of my fabric. See below:

I gently press with an iron to seal together, and then cut along traced lines. I arrange how I want it all to look on whatever item I have chosen to place it on then remove the last piece of paper from the steam-a-seam and iron on for my permanent look. I also used the spray paint for this as well. This bag turned out like so:

Both bags stuffed and fluffed:

I’m probably over estimating others appreciation for this type of stuff, but it makes me feel better and honestly you spend just as much maybe even less than you would have if you purchased a bag!

Have a great weekend!!

Toilet Seat Sweet

2011-05-19T16:38:00.000-04:00

Interested in the title of this blog post? Keep reading to find out what it is all about! Honestly though I was rather embarrassed to post after having gone for such a long time in between postings. I long to be that person who posts several times a week, I suppose to become that I may have to settle sometimes for just simple posts. That leads us to today’s posting “Toilet Seat Sweet”! I have come to accept sometimes the simple things in life are what be me joy. We have been needing new toilet seats in all of our (3) bathrooms for some time now, so I was excited when I was meandering through Home Depot not too long ago and saw these ditty’s .

Having a 4 almost 5 year old boy toilet seats can really mean a lot! You can imagine my excitement when I can get the Whisper (No Slam) Close toilet seats for $9.93 (originally $39.97). So, I pretty much got three for the price of one! Gotta love it when that happens!! While that was almost enough excitement for one day I had also searched the internet for some type of seat handle for any size boys to use when lifting and lowering the toilet seat! That is when I came across these:

http://www.theshandle.com/

These have to be the coolest seat handles every. Such a simple idea I actually wish I had thought of it! Alas I did not; I did invest in three handles. These are great not only do I feel better about my little man lifting the seat and not touching the gross seat! Added bonus is the reminder on BOTH sides of the handle reminding little ones to wash their hands! These are super easy to install, the seat does need to be flat on the bottom of the seat. This is what mine look like installed. They have several designs to choose from and some neutral ones. I have three different ones.

My Whisper Seat in action (teeheehee)

Please note this is NOT a paid promotion I have not been asked to review these, however as a mother of four I always like hearing about products out on the market that make life a little easier for moms! I am just simply sharing with you what I found that I like and works well for me. This may not be the case for you; however I hope you found this useful!

Good Friday

2011-04-22T23:53:00.004-04:00

Today is a very special day as it is the day that Jesus died for our transgressions so that we could be forgiven. I for one am very thankful for all that he sacrificed for me. It is sad that I did not truly understand the meaning or the word of God until I was older. I am very fortunate to have a husband who has taken it upon himself to ensure that myself and our children completely understand and give thanks daily. This evening after dinner and getting ready for bed we sat as my husband read from the Bible the meaning of Good Friday and Easter. It is important that our children understand Easter Is more than just baskets, eggs, and candy. Silly Whim asked plenty of questions! Afterward my husband, La (my 16 year old) and myself watched “Passion of the Christ”, which in my opinion is a very moving movie. I cried like a baby the first time I saw this movie! If you haven’t seen it I strongly recommend seeing it at least once in your life, though I do not recommend it for young children.

Now onto a little of what I have been up to lately. I have not posted much lately, but I have been busy trying to finish up some projects started some time ago. A friend of La’s had a baby back in December. She graduated last year so she is a young mother. Having had La when I was 18 I empathize with being young and starting your family, it’s was not easy, but it was part of my life that brought me here. So when her friend’s daughter was born I had said I wanted to make her a blanket. It took me a while, a long while, but I finally finished! Below are the things that I made her. I am very happy with how things turned out. As a young mother I hope she appreciates them, I know I would have had someone made them for me when I had La!
This is everything that I made:

This is a closer look at the blanket and matching onesie:

Then of course I made this cute little onesie dress for Easter:

Lastly I made this cute one. The “C” is her initial. I found this ruffle material on clearance at my Joann’s. I plan on making Stinky Face a skirt with this same material!

Well, that is just one of the little projects I can now mark off my to do list.

Oh...and a week or so ago I ran across a really cute little snack, which of course I do not remember the link to, however I jotted down the recipie and made the for Bubby's preschool Easter celebration the other day. They were so cute. Definitely a make again!

Here is a closer look at these birdies and their nest...so cute!

I pray that you all have a blessed Easter and remember why you are here, by his grace.
God Bless.

You were an amazing woman!!

2011-04-08T23:47:00.003-04:00

I will start by taking a moment to say this week has been a little hard for me. This week I lost my last living grandmother. While I am very sad at her passing in a way I am relieved that she did not have to suffer long. My grandmother found out about two weeks ago that she had a rare form of blood cancer. As strong as my grandma was I know she was scared. My grandma lived an amazing life! When I look back through my life I have so many treasures she has made for me and my children in her lifetime. It is amazing that she was always there whenever someone got married, had a child, or was sick she always managed to just show up. She has traveled, written books; she was a girl scout/leader for so many years she was recognized for her services! She was my Girl Scout leader for several years. She drove until just recently. My grandma was just simply an amazing woman and if I live even just ½ the life she did that would be an accomplishment! Below is a picture taken when Stinky Face was born:

Now that I have shared that I will share the spring wreath that I have been working on. I purchased a green foam ring wreath at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago anticipating making this and just recently was able to get to it. Everything else I had on hand. Below you will see my supplies (glue gun not pictured). You will notice I already wrapped the wreath.

Next I spray painted my push pins used to hold my flowers (circles) together.

The rest is not really pictured in detail; however I had three circle patterns that I used to give a layered flower look. The smallest (yellow) on top was pinched slightly as I pinned it. I wasn’t completely satisfied with it so I added rosettes in burlap and the blue floral fabric to fill it in. I like a cluttered look (this is where my husband laughs and says, “Yes she does”). So below is the look I settled with:

Then I used my yellow fabric to sew a little strip for hanging the wreath and my final product turned out like so:

Silly Whim likes it, so it must be good.

I’m linking up with some of the links in my side bar.

Have a great weekend blog land!

My NOT so lazy days….

2011-04-01T10:16:00.000-04:00

I’m still alive!! No my dearest friend Allyson I have not hot glued myself to anything…YET! I really have just been BUSY! I actually have several projects/blog posts in the works I would tell you, but to be honest I want you to come back and check me out! Let me tell you it’s not easy to have your camera with you literally everywhere. My camera has so many pictures on it all working towards projects not yet finished! I have completed a couple of things though. One project I completed recently was two pillows for girls “Brownies” who have been with our troop since they were daisies whom are not moving. I wanted to come up with something special that they could take with them to remember their troop and friends. The pillow itself was pretty simple and the girls loved them. Below is one of the pillows just after I finished it.

This was the pillow all signed by the troop!

For my next project I ask you to please keep in mind I am jack of many trades, yet master of none! I say this because my idea of sewing is winging it! Yes, I can sew kinda sorta some! I love sewing and being able to make my kiddos clothes and dresses and pillows and whatever else I might be able to imagine up, however if you look in close detail at my projects you will definitely see my flaws! Hence why my 16 year old does not request I make her stuff and since I was so young when I had her she really didn’t get the crafty side of me so I think we are both okay with it. As for the rest of my kids I wanted them to be able to look back through their childhood and remember that mommy always made them things. I’m all about making memories, which leads me to my next pillow…still sticking with my scouts theme. We all have them….old uniforms. When I moved my mom gave me my old Girl Scout vest some patches sewed on and some in an envelope not sewed on. Let’s face it I am never going to really do anything with it and my hubby gets rather irritated when Bubba (5) dances around with it on. He will be a Boy Scout soon enough. Well Silly Whim bridge up from Daisies to Brownies last year and recently I finished making sure all of her patches were assembled on her tunic. I wanted her uniform to have more of a purpose though rather than just sitting in some box stowed away for nothing more than just to show her kids someday. So I decided to make a pillow from it. The idea started rather simple and grew a little bit. I started with this:

Next I made sure the tunic was lined up nicely and then I cut the shoulders off strait across the top. I followed this up by trimming the trim all the way around like so.

Since I had to cut her troop numbers and flag off I needed to sew them back on. I also decided to use pictures from her years as a Daisy and using iron on transfer put them onto fabric. I then framed each picture using ribbon.

After all the pictures were in place I used the freezer paper stencil to put the years she was a Daisy. I also used some glow in the dark fabric paint to do some writing around some empty spaces. I then cut some strips of lavender fabric and created a trim and pinned it in place.

Then I just sewed the pillow up and ta da!! Done!! I really like how it turned out! Mind you it is NOT perfect, but I’m okay with that. I hope that Silly Whim can look at this and remember all the fun time she had as a Daisy.

Now to try and thing what I am going to do with the Brownie vest. Aw..I still have another year…plenty of time!

I'm linking up to Project CSI this week and some others in my side bar!

St. Patty's Day Recap

2011-03-18T12:26:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I know it seems as though I have not posted much here lately and to be honest the time change has really taken its toll on me! Who knew one hour could wreak so much havoc! I will say though I have been doing little things here and there ideas of course that I have seen raiding blog parties. I’ll start by showing you the little bit of St. Patty’s Day decorations I did have up. Below is a picture of a mini apothecary dollar store jar. I had seen several people do this and I really liked the idea that it is small. I LOVE apothecary jars, but they are just too big for my house. I needed one that fit my space and who could argue it coming from the dollar store! These were made using a vase from the dollar store, a candle holder, and my favorite glue E6000. Assemble just like the thrifty cake plates. The garland was also purchased at the dollar store. Also picture here is a thrifted 5x7 frame purchased for .99 at Goodwill and spray painted with my new favorite color Krylon’s Brushed Metallic Carmel Latte, then I filled it with a cute little printable I found blog hoppin here. Love it!

Then of course I shared Bubba’s shirt with you, however I never came back with Stinky Face’s shirt. That would be of course because I finished it St. Patrick’s Day morning around 1:00am. Yes, I am that person that thrives off last minute projects, what can I say? I had purchased both Stinky Face and Bubba the same shirt, but to make Stinky Face’s shirt more girly I added elastic to the sleeves and bottom of the shirt to give it a puffy bubble look. Then I freezer paper stenciled a shamrock on the front and outlined it in gold glitter writing “Lucky” in the center. Below are a couple of shots of my kiddos decked in green. Of course Lolli being in High School is gone before most of us get going in the morning and she doesn’t wear much of anything I would make her anymore so she is missing from the picture!

I have to say I love that my Silly Whim (8) is still whimsical. Yes, while many children in her class no longer believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, or Leprechauns my Silly Whim has not let them kill that for her! Last night before going to bed she worked very hard on her Leprechaun trap, as seen below:

Every year we like to mess her stuff up a little and leave a note from the leprechaun. We even go as far as to burn the edges around the paper, which is pretty tiny. We then roll it up and tie it with string. I also made these awesome treat bags I saw at Karen’s Ideas Galore and filled them with gold rolos!!

Bubba woke up St. Patty’s Day morning 4 or 5am I don’t know exactly I was sleeping. He was scared and swore he heard voices. Well, eventually I was able to get him to go back to bed. Then when he woke up that morning and saw the Leprechaun Gold, he immediately came up with the notion that was who he heard last night and that the Leprechaun was sniffing him! What?? Love it! Then Silly Whim was all smiles this morning when she saw what had happened. Yes people she has already started thinking of her design for next year’s trap. Love her!

The day could not be complete without ingesting a year’s worth of green food coloring.

Breakfast – Lucky Charms w/green milk

Dinner – Green Chicken Alfredo, Broccoli, and Roasted Brussels sprouts (YUM)

Dessert – Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint Milk Shake (So..so..GOOD) and St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes from Food, Friends, and Fun, and let me just say these were awesome! You can't really tell from the picture, however the icing is green and the pudding mix in the cupcakes made the cupcakes green too! I will definitely being making more cupcakes using pudding as these were really moist and yummy!

Well that was our St. Patrick’s Day! How was yours? I would like to leave you with this poem:

May your day be touched
by a bit of Irish luck,
brightened by a song in your heart,
and warmed by the smiles
of the people you love.

Till next St. Patty’s Day…Top of the morn’in to ya!

Happy Blogging!

What’s Cookin?

2011-03-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

Here lately I have been seeing a lot of menu chalkboards in my blog hopping and knew it was something I wanted to do, especially with a Silly Whim (9) who asks everyday “Mom, What’s for Dinner?” Of course I would never buy something new so I had to be on the lookout for something thrifty that would fit the job. Well, this was the week!! I came across this old thing at Goodwill for $1.99 earlier this week!

While it was cute, it would definitely not go with my kitchen! So I wiped it down and disassembled it like so:

Next I primed:
,

Then spray painted with Krylon’s Brushed Metallic Carmel Latte, yes it looks as good as it sounds!

Now this next part I do not have pictures of however it was pretty simple. I took the chalk board to my craft room and found a scrapbook paper that I felt fit the bill. I used spray adhesive to attach the paper. Then using my cricut I cut the words “What’s Cookin?” I applied a layer of modge podge to the scrapbook paper and then positioned my words over it. Once that dried I added an additional layer of modge podge to seal it! To give this a finished look I cut a piece of ribbon and hot glued it on overlapping the paper and the chalkboard. Then with the cricut using a different font I cut out initials for each day of the week and I inked around the edges. I ran these initials through my xyron mini sticker maker and slapped them bad boys on my board. I snipped 7 pieces of black ribbon, sealed the ends and tied them in a knot, then put them on using glue dots. This was my outcome!

I must admit this was just what I needed and now rather than being asked 50 million times what is for dinner they can see, not that it will make a difference they probably still won’t like it! I’m loving it and it turned out even better than what I had imagined it would!

Little fact: Do you know how Stinky Face (1) got her nick name? For this face right here…we call this her stinky face! Love her!

Happy Blogging!

My little Charmers

2011-03-06T00:31:00.000-05:00

Ahhh…why does it always seem there are just never enough hours in the day, week, month, or even year? Maybe I just don’t maximize the hours I do have. Although I can’t imagine a life lived completely maximizing time. Now that was completely depressing, and we should have none of that on this blog! As St. Patrick’s Day approaches Silly Whim’s St. Patty’s Day dance was this evening. Silly Whim’s is always very excited about these types of functions and truth be told she has had a lot going on over the past month! We can’t forget about Bubba though and even though he is not in school yet he loves attending functions at his soon-to-be school! While he is my little boy I can’t wait for him to enjoy school and friends and when he is 6 Boy Scouts with Daddy! Shhhh…don’t tell Daddy though he told me he wanted me to do it with him…I just think he sees just how awesome Girls Scouts is *smiles*. So, in preparations for the dance tonight and St. Patty’s Day in general I purchased some green t’s for Bubba and Stinky Face.

Since Stinky Face didn’t go to the dance I focused on just Bubba’s for the time being. I have used this technique before and it’s no new concept freezer paper stencils. I drew out the shape of a tie.

Then I cut it out. Like so…

Next I used my Quickutz die cutter and my shamrock die and cut several out of the freezer paper.

I then positioned the tie how I wanted it, then ironed it on. Then I positioned the shamrocks around like I wanted them and ironed them on. What I had at this point looked like this.

Next I painted the tie with white fabric paint. I ended up doing like 3 coats to get it where I wanted it.

Here is Bubby’s completed shirt. I ended up adding a lil’shamrock to the little pocked. I think it added a little extra touch!

Here is our goofy Bubba modeling for us!

And we can’t forget his stellar sista Silly Whim feeling very special that her 16 year old sister did her hair for her! Ahhh…siblings at their best! We really have for take this moment in, because wait…yes just like that it is gone again!

Thanks for allowing me to share if you stuck around. If I find the time in between the insane cookie booths this weekend I am hoping to get to Stinky Faces too. Of course once I do I will share that one as well.

Happy Blogging!

Hooo Are U?

2011-03-02T13:26:00.001-05:00

Just in case you too want to play along!

Here are my answers!

1. Do you make a budget and keep it or just fly by the seat of your pants?

I wish I could make a budget and keep to it; life would be so much simpler that is for sure! Since becoming a stay-at-home mom when stinky face was born we do have to adhere to a much stricter living style.

2. Do you do spring cleaning and if so which month?

Yikes, don’t judge me for this one, but I’m not sure I ever really do spring cleaning. Maybe bloggers will inspire me this year though

3. Are you a yard sale lover and do you have them and go to them?

I love going to yard sales definitely more than having them, however I do enjoy having them occasionally!

4. What do you take when you have a headache?

I have a tendency to push it to the limits..you know complain about headaches rather than do anything to get rid of them. Since I am still nursing stinky face I generally only take Tylenol or Ibuprofen.

5. Name 3 things that you feel lucky to have in your life!

Top of the list is the LORD, my awesome family, and roof over our head!

Last week's illness lingered a little too long and developed into an upper respiratory infection, ugh so now I am on antibiotics! On another note if you havn't taken the time to notice the cute...adorable..sweet...Girl Scouts selling those all too famous Girl Scout Cookies, please take a moment to do so. As a leader I can tell you scouts DO make a difference!

Mommies aren’t allowed to be sick

2011-02-25T12:01:00.001-05:00

I’ve been struck..brought down..and there is NO time for that! What is one to do though? It all started about a week ago when Bubba started with “the cough”. He had no temperature and didn’t complain much, just rested a little more than usual (and who can complain about that, right?). Then…Stinky Face came next only she had a temperature and sounded awful. Hopeful that it would go away I waited two days! Then reluctantly we headed to the doctor’s office. There is where I learned that the flu and strep throat are known to keep company with each other (who knew). Of course I felt even worse that I let it go for two day before taking her. For obvious reasons both Bubba and I were also tested for strep and we both came back negative (so that is good). However, our week could not possibly be complete unless I too was sick, and so it was! As we come to the close of our week Bubba is sounding better, Stinky Face seems to be doing a little better, and I am still running a small temperature and feel as though I could cough up and internal organ any moment. Obviously there is no time for mommy’s to feel under the weather, especially when Girl Scout cookie booths start this weekend!! I am one of Silly Whim’s (8yrs) Brownie leaders and the next two weekends are jam packed with cookie booths, so I am hopeful this illness will be over soon! Since I have been under the weather I thought I would share what I recently finished up!

For Christmas this year I made handprint pillows for all the grandparents! I also started making one for myself, which I never did finish that is until recently. I used this tutorial and tweaked it a little. I used steam-a-seam and created iron on transfers with fabric. I also embroidered each child’s name and age along side of their handprint. Below is my pillow….I love it and hope the grandparents enjoyed theirs!

Now to come up with something for this year…ideas welcome!

An attempt at organization

2011-02-22T12:29:00.001-05:00

I am always looking for ways to organize and keep order in our house, who isn’t right? My husband would probably say a fail miserably at this job, but it’s not for the lack of trying! I am always forgetting things I need to pick up when I am out even though I make lists, which always seem to get left laying somewhere on my way out the door! Recently my 16yr old has called one too many times from school asking me to bring her homework (that she forgot). Needless to say I finally got fed up and told her I will no longer bring her homework or other forgotten items to school. My most recent project was something I am hoping will help with some of our current struggles. It all started with an idea, and then I set out to find a smallish white board. Of course I looked at goodwill first, however my gold mine this time was Target that’s right the good ole trusty end caps. I picked up this fantastic little white board for $1.98!! Below is what I ended up with.

I wasn’t extremely excited about the plainness of this white board so I decided to try and make it my own.

For starters I taped off the white board exposing only the frame.

Next I used some spray paint for plastics that I happen to have on hand and sprayed the frame. I did a couple coats to get a good covering.

Warning: Be careful NOT to do THIS!

After your paint has dried you can remove the tape and place the pen back on the board.

Next I found some scrap fabric and created several flowers each a little different. First I cut a strip of fabric and folded it in half and ironed it. Next I went over to my machine and ran a long stitch down the side not folded and pushed the fabric together creating a ruffle. See below:

Next I rolled the ruffle up to form a flower. Once it looked just how I wanted it I hand stitched the back/bottom of the flower to keep it together and then glued a small piece of felt over it. I then folded the flower down a bit to create this look:

For the next flower I cut another strip just as above, however this time I twisted my fabric and rolled into a flower. Once I got the desired look I hot glued the flower to stay, and then placed a small felt circle on the bottom with hot glue. I also did a felt flower this same way without folding in half. The felt flowers still seemed a little naked, so I plopped some little pearls in the center (love it)! These are what my final flowers looked like.

Next position your flowers in an arrangement on your board which make you happy! Once you get the look you desire then hot glue your flowers in place.

Now using those handy dandy command hooks adhere them to the locations you want to place your board. For me this was the front door, now hang and put that bad boy to use!

Now there should be no reason you or anyone for that matter to forget stuff anymore (we can all wish right?). Plus think of all those loving messages you can now leave for your family! Not to mention reminders such as trash day for those who have lived here for 9 years and still can’t remember when trash day is *smiles*.

Check out the linky parties in my side bar I will be linking up to some!

Happy Blogging!

Playroom meets Formal Living Room

2011-02-17T23:07:00.000-05:00

Hellllloooo….Blog land! I’ve been planning on doing some furniture makeovers for a while. Being as I have NEVER done this I must admit I am a little scared. To prepare for larger projects I found something at Goodwill, of course, that we needed but it didn’t necessarily go with the area we needed it for. Exhibit A:

While this would look great in a child’s room or playroom it just did not go with the area I wanted to put it in. While in Goodwill I tugged on the parts to ensure the pencil’s eraser was removable. I had something in mind, to replace it with. So, a trip to Lowes I found a decorative top to replace the eraser top. Exhibit B:

Next I wiped down the entire rack, then disassembled it like so:

I proceeded to coat all the pieces with primer. I used a low odor primer. I put 2 coats of primer on all pieces; it just seemed to cover better that way. So at this point it should look like this:

Next I painted all pieces with one coat of acrylic burnt umber. The coverage wasn’t great, but I figured since I was going to an aged/distressed/shabby chic look that was okay. So, at this point this is what it looks like:

Now moving into the final stages for my top coat I used an acrylic butter cream color mixed ½ and ½ with a faux glaze. With this mixture I painted then went behind and used a damp paper towel and rubbed some off. The first coat I did the outcome wasn’t what I wanted, so I went over each piece again with the mixture and rubbed again. This outcome was more what I was looking for. Remember this is my first project! I may at some point soon do some type of spray paint sealant. So below is what the pieces look like upon completion:

Completely assembled:

Placed in the formal living room and in use*smiles*:

My husband would love it if I would just have one coat for each person, but my fellow mothers have to help me out here. You just can’t have one coat! There are winter coats, spring jackets, dance jackets, and rain jackets! When you have six family members that is a lot of outerwear. I have to add I think we have the smallest coat closet EVER! So, with that said I’m happy with the little project. Before I tackle larger projects I think I will try a couple smaller in expensive ones. If you have done furniture and have any advice to give please do so in my comments, I can definitely use all the help I can get!

Happy Blogging!

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Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T23:19:00.000-05:00