Coley's Corner

Quote of the Week: Good in Everyday

2012-01-30T23:56:00.001-05:00

"Everyday may not be good but there is good in everyday."

- Author Unknown

Weekend Wonders: The One with Valentine's

2012-01-29T21:59:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about what kind of Valentine's Noah will make for his classmates at school. Of course, I turned to blogs for inspiration. There are tons of cute and creative ideas out there. Below are some of my faves.

Stitched Heart Bookmark

I love this little Valentine with a simple felt heart bookmark from Thirty Handmade Days. The "Your tops in my book" card is available on her site for free download. I think this would be great for tween girls who still want to give their friends a little something.

I Dig You

How adorable are these little shovels filled with candy over at The Fry Family blog.

Popcorn Valentines

These popcorn Valentine's at Duncan Team Blog are fun and cute! You can download the free printable label to make your very own.

Love is a Battlefield

This little toy army guy Valentine at Jacolyn Murphy had me chuckling.

Pillow Box Valentines

Kristi at I Should be Mopping the Floor shares two (a boy version and a girl version) cute free pillow box Valentines. Simply download them, cut them out, and fill them with treats.

Bubble Gum Valentines

Living with Three Moon Babies shares a free printable and a how to for these cute bumble gum machine Valentines.

Sucker for You

Shindig Parties shares this adorable (free) printable card.

Write One Valentine

Purple Sage Creations shares this adorable Valentine. Just print the tags, tie it to a cute pencil, and you have a great Valentine for your child's classmates.

100 Valentine Sayings

Still need some inspiration? Check out this post at the C.R.A.F.T. blog. Jamie shares a list of 100 clever Valentine sayings.

I seriously could keep on going and going but will make myself stop before this turns into the longest post ever!

Tender Moments

2012-01-27T16:20:00.001-05:00

It’s Friday – the day where I join other bloggers and take five short minutes to just write from the heart. Five Minute Friday is hosted by Gypsy Mama and this week’s prompt is TENDER.

As a Momma I experience many tender moments and for each one I am so thankful.

Noah is often very sweet and tender hearted. He has this innocence and love about him that is just indescribable and qualities I really hope he never loses. He worries about other people a lot, so much so that we watch what we say in front of him. For example, awhile back my Mom and I were talking on speaker phone and I asked something about a friend of hers that was about to have surgery. Noah had never met this friend of hers but instantly became concerned about her and then insisted that my Mom make her a blanket. (My Mom makes no sew fleece blankets and have given Noah many and he associates blankets with feeling bad, hospital stays, and surgery.)

I pulled a muscle in my back lifting Noah and he knows that my back is bothering me and I went to the doctor about it. Yesterday, he was being so sweet and tender with me. He kept gently rubbing my back, giving me “ouchie kisses,” and telling me to get under the covers.

I love these tender moments with my boy and tuck the memories away in my heart for safe keeping.

Easy No Sew Curtains

2012-01-26T21:33:00.002-05:00

I made these curtains last summer when I was working on my creative studio but never got around to posting the pictures. Since the challenge is window treatments this week at The CSI Project I thought I'd take pictures and share.

So these curtains actually started with two top/flat sheets that I bought individually at WalMart for about 5 bucks each. They have a great selection of colors that are perfect for various projects and I obviously chose teal since the color scheme in my creative studio is teal, black, and white.

So to create a hole to run the curtain rod through, I just turned the sheets over and made a small slit on each side of the wide seam at the top of the sheets careful just to cut the back side and not all the way through to the front. Then you just run the rod through and hang it! It should look something like this......

It's seriously THAT simple!

They looked a little plain though and I wanted to tie in some black and white to match the rest of my creative studio so I had some black and white damask fabric left over from another project that I thought would work great to create a valance of sorts. I also grabbed some Stitch Witchery, black ribbon, and my iron and got to work.

First, I traced a bowl on to some cardstock. Then I cut it in half. I then traced a bunch of those on to my fabric and cut them all out. Following the instructions on the Stitch Witchery, I adhered the half circles to the black ribbon just slightly overlapping them and then I attached them to the curtain rods.

It was a pretty easy project and inexpensive and I'm pleased with how they turned out.

Linking to the parties listed in my sidebar

and

Looking out the Window

2012-01-25T13:44:00.000-05:00

I love how every morning my sweet boy heads to the window when it's too cold to go on the front porch to watch for the school bus.

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

and

5 Minutes for Moms

It's a Hard Life

2012-01-24T19:13:00.000-05:00

The first time I heard the song Hard Life by Brad Paisley tears welled up in my eyes. It felt like the song was written for my Noahie. I made J listen to it the next day and he immediately felt it too.

The chorus says:
"Yeah, it's a hard life
But I'm okay
If I didn't have this, I wouldn't be who I am today
And I have lots of friends
Oh, and I have love
And yeah, I have a hard life but in some ways everybody does"

The part about having lots of friends and love just about makes me do the ugly cry Oprah loathes. J and I have always said that although Noah may not be able to run a marathon or be the CEO of a huge corporation, he has already in his short life touched many people lives and he has SO many people that love him. Every time something big happens in our lives, like Noah's Scoliosis surgery last year or the recent grand mal seizure emergency J and I are always humbled at the amount of prayers, thoughts, and love shown to Noah and our family. People who have never even met me or my child in person have shown him tremendous love.

Not every person is lucky enough to receive the amount of love that Noah has in his life and I think love and kindness from others can make living a hard life just a little bit easier.

Quote of the Week: Creative Life

2012-01-23T22:13:00.000-05:00

"To live a create life,

we must lose our fear of being wrong."

- Joesph Dearce

Weekend Wonders: The One with Valentine's Day Decor

2012-01-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

Do you decorate for Valentine's Day? In the past few years, I have started doing a little Valentine's Day themed decorating. It's fun as Valentine's Day is also my man's birthday. I had planned to make a few new things this year but have been a bit under the weather lately with a cold and haven't had the energy to craft but am feeling better and think I will be able to do some crafting soon! In the meantime, I've been looking at the many Valentine's Day decor projects that are popping up all over the blogosphere lately.

Here are a few of my faves....

Love Blocks

I love these fun, cute blocks over at Six Sisters' Stuff.

Love Candles

These love candles at In the Loop are so pretty and elegant.

Paint Chip Banner

How cute and fun is this paint chip banner at Twigs and Twirls!

Red Wreath

I love this vibrant red wreath at A Little Tipsy. And would you believe it's made out of crepe paper!

Love Sign

I think this simple sign at Thrifty Decorating makes a big impact.

Love Note Pillows

Days of Chalk and Chocolate created adorable Valentine pillows with a hand written "love note."

Framed XO

Momma D and Da Boyz created this cute framed "XO" seed bead art.

Heart Wreath

I love this heart wreath made out of red burlap at I Heart My Glue Gun.

Conversation Heart Art

While I think they taste like chalk, I had to include something with those quintessential Valentine's candy, conversation hearts and this convo heart art at Wonderfully Made Pursuits is too cute.

Vivid Memories

2012-01-20T21:09:00.000-05:00

It’s Friday – the day where I join other bloggers and take five short minutes to just write from the heart. Five Minute Friday is hosted by Gypsy Mama and this week’s prompt is VIVID.

I have vivid memories of my childhood. Although it took me growing up to realize it, I was blessed with two amazing parents who gave my brother and I every opportunity they could.

I remember summers at my Grandparents house, trips to Disney World, football games, birthday parties with amazing cakes made by Momma, slumber parties, movies on Christmas Eve, astronomy club meetings with my Dad, and so much more. I carry those memories with me now.

I hope that I’m providing Noah with the same type of childhood my parents provided me with. I hope he has vivid memories to carry with him as he grows.

Crafty Goals for the New Year

2012-01-18T21:57:00.000-05:00

I was laying in bed the other night trying to sleep but my brain wouldn’t stop thinking of projects that I wanted to accomplish. I thought it would be a good idea to get them down on paper.

Gallery Wall – I want to create a gallery wall on a wall in our living room. I’ve been pinning different gallery walls (like this one or that one) that I like for ideas of placement and I’ve been collecting frames for a good 6 months now. Now, I just need to choose photos for the frames (that’s the really hard part!) and paint all the frames the same color then enlist my darling husband’s help to get them all hung up.

Old Window turned Picture Frame or Coat Rack – My Mom’s sweet friend, Miss Lainey, gave me an old window. I have wanted one for awhile so when Miss Lainey asked my Mom if she had any use for an old window, my Mom told her I had mentioned wanting when so it became mine. It is now sitting on my back porch waiting for me to show it some attention. I haven’t decided if I will turn it into a coat rack similar to this or use it as a picture frame similar to that. If I turned it in to a coat rack, then I’d have to rearrange some furniture in order to hang it near the front door and that seems like a lot of trouble just to have a spot to hang something but we shall see what I eventually decide.

Re-Vamp an Old Mirror – My Mom recently told me I could have this gorgeous old mirror that is hanging in one of the spare bedrooms at her house. It originally belonged to my Grandmother and was green. When my Mom acquired it years ago, she painted it dark brown. It does need some love, like a fresh coat of paint but it has some beautiful scrollwork at the top. I am thinking of hanging it in our bedroom and painting it a light shade of teal that matches some of the other things in my bedroom. Although my Grandmother hated blue so I don’t think she’d be happy to see her old mirror painted teal so I’m also considering cream which an accent color I have used in our bedroom. Either way, I may attempt to distress it a bit. I have never distressed anything before and I personally don’t typically like the look of distressing but thought it might be nice on this mirror since it is old. And if I do distress it and don’t like the end result I could always start over.

Faux Organic Bloom Frames - I love the look of Organic Bloom frames but do not love the price. I want to create some similar for my studio.

What crafty goals do you have for 2012?

Quote of the Week: Story of Your Life

2012-01-16T07:02:00.000-05:00

"When writing the story of your life, don't let anyone else hold the pen."

~ Unknown

Weekend Wonders: The One with Organizational Stuff

2012-01-15T22:13:00.001-05:00

Was it about the New Year that makes everyone want to organize? I guess it's something about starting a fresh. I know I'm not the only one because organizational projects are a plenty in blog land. Here are a few of my favorites.

Add Buckets to Cabinets

I love how Jen at Tatertots and Jello added buckets to her cabinets to add more storage space.

Greeting Card Organizer

Christine at So I Saw this Tutorial shows us how to organize our greeting cards by occasion and organize birthday cards by month.

Label Your Chargers

Do you have a million different chargers like I do? Cathe at The Craft, Design, and Inspiration Journal of Cathe shares a simple tip; label your charges so you know what goes for what.

Command Center

This "command center" at Lovely Crafty Home looks helpful complete with monthly calendars, menu plans, and a folder for each person in the household.

DIY Chalkboard Labels

I think labels make everything look better and more organized and these DIY chalkboard labels at Little Blue Boo are perfect for organization.

Laundry Basket Stacker

I love this laundry basket stacker at Ana White and she even shares dimensions and instructions on how to build it.

What are you doing to get organized this year?

Christmas Toys

2012-01-13T19:18:00.001-05:00

I got two nifty and neat new crafty toys for Christmas and sadly with everything that has been going on I just haven’t had the time or energy to play with them yet.

I received the Silhouette Rhinestone starter kit. It comes with rhinestone template material as well as some heat set rhinestones. There are different template patterns (like butterflies, flowers, even letters) that you can cut out with the Silhouette and then set the rhinestones on a shirt or bag or whatever your little heart desires using an iron. I’m excited to give it a try and not sure what I will create first.

Secondly, I received a Bind it All Machine! I’ve wanted this for a couple of years now but other things (like the Silhouette) took precedence over it. With the Bind it All, I’ll be able to bind anything I want and make my own little notebook and albums. I can’t wait to give it a try. I'm planning to bind a calendar I printed in the next few days.

Did you receive any fun crafty toys for Christmas?

First Night Alone

2012-01-12T00:01:00.001-05:00

It is my first night alone with Noah since the grand mal seizure aka the scariest night ever. In fact, he is all snuggly in bed with his puppy at the moment. J was off work for a week during Christmas and New Year’s and then I was still at my parents’ house until today.

I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t a bit nervous because I am. The grand mal seizure happened while Noah was sound asleep. The myoclonic seizures he has had since the grand mal have been mostly at night as well. So nights make me nervous. I worry that I wouldn’t handle the situation very well all alone. Yes, I have the emergency syringe now but what if I don’t get it fast enough or I mess up somehow? I just have to keep reminding myself that I was made for this. I can do this.

I have had a hard time sleeping at night since the grand mal seizure. I would prefer to just watch Noah sleep. I asked a friend whose son had seizures how she slept at night and she said it was difficult but she had to remind herself that although she couldn’t be with her son 24/7, God could and it was in his hands.

So I’m reminding myself of that as well. God made me for this – he made me to be Noah’s Mom and he is watching over and with us 24/7.

It reminds me of one of my favorite verses.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
~ Jeremiah 29:11

Loyal Fan

2012-01-11T00:14:00.001-05:00

Noah asked for a Clemson jersey and hat for Christmas and as you can see Santa obliged. He was all decked out for the Orange Bowl and although they lost, Noah doesn't care. He's a loyal fan whether they win or not.

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

and

5 Minutes for Moms

Chalkboard Tins

2012-01-09T00:01:00.002-05:00

I guest posted this project over at The CSI Project blog last week for their weekly challenge which last week was creating something useful out of leftover Christmas items.

These Activity Chalkboard Tins are created using tins that you may receive over the holiday season filled with treats. By revamping these tins using chalkboard paint, you will create a useful activity tin that you can keep in the car for road trips, grab and bring in a restraunt, or even pull it out and take it in church to occupy your little ones - and since I used chalkboard paint, they can even draw (with chalk of course) on the lid of the tin!

To get started, you will need:

leftover Christmas tins (or look for some on super clearance)
chalkboard spray paint
chalk
stickers and/or ribbon to embellish the tin
crayons, paper, stickers, small toys, and tissues to fill the tin and occupy your kiddos

What You'll Do:
1. Clean the inside and outside of your tin. I was a bad spray painter and did not prime this first because I was short on time. Typically, I try and prime all projects first. Once you've primed, spray paint the tin with your chalkboard paint. You need two coats to create the chalkboard finish.

2. Let your paint dry and then follow the instructions on the bottle to "break in" the paint. I just rubbed the side of a piece of chalk all over the tin, wiped it off, and it was good to go!

3. Next comes embellishing! My son loves all things baseball so I used baseball stickers on the side of the tin. I did a girly tin using rock star and diva themed stickers. I did not have any problems with the stickers adhering to the tin as is but if you do, you could add a little glue to the back of the stickers. On the girly tin, I also glued ribbon on the edge of the lid of the tin.

I purposely did not embellish the lids of the tins so that kids can use the chalk and draw on the lid.

3. Fill the tins with fun things for your kiddos such as small toys, bubbles, stickers, crayons, chalk, etc. Don't forget some tissues so they can wipe off their drawings and draw again later!

I hope you enjoy making this project and that your kiddos enjoy playing with it!

(linking up to the parties listed in my sidebar)

Quote of the Week: Words

2012-01-08T21:42:00.000-05:00

"Words are the voice of the heart."

- Confucius

Weekend Wonders: The One with Calendars

2012-01-07T22:02:00.000-05:00

Do you need a calendar for 2012? I do! (I know I am a few days behind!) I found printable calendars galore on various blogs and thought I'd share them for the others who might be a few days behind too.

Doodle 2012 Printable Calendar

This is a cute calendar from Creative Mamma.

Favorite Quotes CD Calendar

This quatrefoil calendar at Write Click Scrapbook features a different popular quote each month and is sized to fit in an empty CD case.

Simple 2012 Calendar

This is a clean and simple looking calendar from The Twinery Blog.

CD Case Calendar

This is another calendar that fits inside a CD case at the Pizzazzerie blog.

Cute Calendars

Graphic Garden has several cute themed printable calendars such as a country living, teddy bears, and this and that.

Year at a Glance

Prefer to have the whole year in front of you instead of month by month? Check out this year at a glance calendar at Red Stamp.

Owl Lover Calendar

Are you an owl lover like me? Then this calendar featuring a different owl each month at Living Locurto is for you.

Fun CD Case Calendar

This is another calendar that goes in a CD case at Craftzine blog. They also show you how to assemble and stand the calendar in a CD case.

Enjoy!

Brave Like a Tiger

2012-01-06T17:22:00.000-05:00

Posing with the Tiger statue at Clemson

It’s Friday – the day where I join other bloggers and take five short minutes to just write from the heart. Five Minute Friday is hosted by Gypsy Mama and this week’s prompt is ROAR.

I had to giggle when I first saw the word prompt for today. The first thing I thought of is J’s text message tone on his cell phone. You see, my husband and son are both big Clemson Tiger fans. I’m talking HUGE fans – Noah’s room is orange and purple and adorned with tigers and tiger paws so when J got a new cell phone a few months back, he started looking for new ringtones and text message tones. He ended choosing a tiger roaring as his text message tone so every time he gets a text message, you hear a big “RRRRROARRRRR.” It’s actually quite annoying, especially if he forgets to turn his phone down before we go to sleep and he gets a text message. I have woken from a dead sleep to the phone roaring and for half a second I wonder if I am waking up in a jungle.

But recently, we had some tender Tiger moments. On the scariest night ever when Noah had the grand mal seizure, J and I were with Noah in an exam room in the Children’s Emergency Room at a local hospital. As the nurse was messing with Noah, he was fussing a little bit. J and I were both talking to Noah trying to get him to relax so they could do what they needed to do and check him out. J began telling him to be “brave like a tiger.” J had never used that exact expression with Noah before and I am not sure what it was about the phrase but it helped Noah calmed down. The nurse was also a huge Clemson fan so a whole conversation ensued about Noah’s Clemson room, calming and relaxing him a bit more.

A couple of days later, we were at the lab with Noah and they were trying to get blood from him. Once again, J told him to be “brave like a Clemson Tiger.” Once again, he calmed down.

My boy has been through a lot lately but he’s always brave like a tiger.

Good Boy Roy T-Shirts

2012-01-05T16:09:00.000-05:00

Back in December, my Mom and I each had tables at the annual church craft fair. Across from us were a teenager and his Mom working their own table selling t-shirts. I listened as the Mom told someone about their t-shirt line which is called Good Boy Roy.

Her son, Zack, was the actual creator of the shirts. Zack struggles with OCD, depression, ADHD, anxiety, and Tourettes. Zack enjoyed drawing cartoon characters and drawing was something that always seemed to calm him down. One day his Mom decided to have one of his characters put on a shirt. He loved it as did other people thus beginning their t-shirt line which they named Good Boy Roy.

Zack explains: “The first character that came to life on a shirt was Roy, mom thought we should call him Good Boy Roy. Like me he really is a good boy but sometimes does things he should not do. And that is what I have always said after something happens that I did not mean to happen, I always say "I really am a good boy", so Roy is kind of my alter ego.” Source

We purchased the “Christmas Roy” shirt for Noah.

(click photo to see larger view)

I love it – and so does Noah. It looks so teenagerish. But the line is not limited to seasonal shirts. Some of my favorites are God Rocks, Sports Zman, and Bullies Make me Angry. The line isn't just limited to shirts for guys either - there are a few girly versions like Laughing Lizzy.

Of course, I had to ask Zack if he had ever thought of doing a character in a wheelchair. He has and it is in the works. We'll be purchasing that one when it becomes available.

Go to the Good Boy Roy website and check out all of the cool shirts as well as a few other products. You can even sign up for a newsletter to be notified of new releases.

Full Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC regulations): I was not compensated in any way for writing this review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. I think the shirts rock – it’s that simple.

Christmas Eve Photos - Finally!

2012-01-04T00:51:00.000-05:00

In light of everything that happened (you know, the grand mal on the scariest night ever and the subsequent seizures) I am just now getting some Christmas pictures posted. To be completely honest, I didn't take a whole lot of pictures on Christmas Day. Noah was glued to me most of the day so taking pics was difficult and he looked pitiful (pale, dark circles under eyes) so I didn't do a lot of snapping.

He was in a GREAT mood on Christmas Eve though and I got some good photos I wanted to share.

My parents, my brother, J, Noah, and me on Christmas on Eve

Noah and his pup

Cutest Little Elf

Noah and Paisley in their Christmas jammies and ready for Santa.

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

and

5 Minutes for Moms

One Little Word 2012

2012-01-03T23:10:00.001-05:00

Last year around this time of the year I saw many bloggers posting about choosing one little word to focus on for the year. This year, as 2011 rolled around to a close, I began to think of a word that would be a good focus word for me for 2012.

Ultimately, I have decided upon on breathe.

I decided on this word for many different reasons. Let me give you some scenarios of instances in which I want to remember this word……

When spring baseball starts and I’m watching Noah and my Dad round the bases through the lens of my camera and I have a huge smile on my face, beaming at my boy, I want to think to myself “breathe” and breathe in the moment. I want to breathe in that moment and store it in my heart for safe keeping.

When Paisley is barking, dinner is burning, the microwave is beeping, Noah is fussing, it’s raining, and J is running late, I want to think to myself “breathe” and get through the moment.

At the end of a busy day after a long day of multi-tasking, I want to soak in a hot bubbly bath and breathe in the solitude.

In May, after a hectic and slightly stressful time of planning the annual BirthMom Buds retreat, I want to remind myself to deeply breathe and let myself enjoy what has been planned.

I’m naturally a sort of high strung person. This year, I want to slow down, breathe, enjoy and soak in tender moments with family and friends. I want to slow down and breathe through the stressful moments.

I've signed up to take Ali Edwards year long One Little Word class at Big Picture Scrapbooks and am excited about it. I'll be periodically sharing the journey with all of you.

Have you chosen a word for 2012?

Guest Blogging at The CSI Project

2012-01-02T23:56:00.000-05:00

I'm guest posting today at one of my favorite crafting blogs, The CSI Project. Each week, The CSI Project issues a different crafting challenge to bloggers. At the first of the week guest bloggers offer tutorials for the weekly challenge theme and then on Thursdays, bloggers link up their projects and they are judged by a guest judge. I've participated in many of their challenges and they are always fun!

This week's challenge is to create something useful from leftover Christmas items. I came up with turning Christmas tins into chalkboard activity tins for kiddos.

Go check out my post!

Quote of the Week: New Year

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

"Today we will open the book. Its pages are blank.

We are going to put words on them ourselves.

The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day."

- Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Happy New Year!

Top 10 of '11

2011-12-30T22:11:00.000-05:00

As the current year closes, I always take some time to reflect back on what all has happened in the year. I decided to do this on the blog with a Top 10 posts of 2011. These posts are a combination of my favorites and yours, based on stats.
(Click the links to view the post.)

1. Defining Noah

2. 2011 Special Olympics

3. All You Ever Wanted to Know about Freezer Paper Stenciling

4. Thrifty Paper Storage

5. Bookcase Makeover

6. Noah's 15 year old Portraits

7. Not So Scary Haunted Houses

8. Crafty Caddy

9. March of the Penguins

10. The Best Christmas Present Ever