Life In My Pj's

Shutterfly & Cupcake Winners

2011-11-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great Halloween! Now it’s time to start getting ready for Thanksgiving, then my favorite…Christmas!

Thank you to all that participated in my contests. The winners are as follows:

Shutterfly:

Jenni
Jessie
Giana

Please email me at sales@kamnco.com to receive your Shutterfly code! Congratulations!

KamNCo cupcakes:

Shootings Stars Mag
ruthhill74

Again, please email me at sales@kamnco.com with your choice of cupcake from my shop at KamNCo.

Thanks again to everyone that participated. And stay tuned as we will be having another sponsored contest in the next few weeks!

I will also post to Facebook and Twitter.

Have a great day and ~SMILE~

Pink Saturday

2011-10-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

In honor of Pink Saturday, I have a giveaway at Beverly's Blog Here.

I am giving away this specially designed cupcake:

Be sure to go to Beverly's Blog to enter!!

If you get a chance, please be sure to "Like" KamNCo Here.

Pajama Party #11

2011-10-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here we are, getting back into the swing of things with my Pajama Party.

Please link up any projects you have been working on.

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. I have all my buttons on my buttons page. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs during the week. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Life In My Pjs is now on FACEBOOK!

Don't forget to check out my contest HERE

Weight Watchers and Some Great Recipes

2011-10-17T18:14:00.001-07:00

I have been doing Weight Watchers for about 6 weeks now. Decided after 4 years it was time to get the baby weight off, right? To date I have lost 12.6 pounds. Hey, those .6 are very important!

Anyway, I’m the type of person that will eat the same thing everyday if it means the program will work for me. My family, not so much. So I have been searching for recipes ever since.

I came across the most wonderful website! I am in no way affiliated with this site, I just LOVE IT! (I wish I was though, she’s genius with her recipes)

The website is http://www.skinnytaste.com/ and I just wanted to share some of my favs, so far. I’m sure there will be more.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

I have been making this Chili for the last few weeks as my make ahead lunch. Its perfect with some baked Tostitos Scoops for a great lunch. I just portion it out and freeze it in little containers. Pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and I have a wonderful lunch.

Skinny Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting

Made these last night for dinner. Yummy! And there are plenty left over to, again, freeze and have for dinner another night. Very tasty.

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Yogurt Cupcakes

These are fantastic. There is a link in the recipe for her Pumpkin Butter which I also made first. Then the cheesecakes. YUMMY! Wonderful dessert and not too high on sugar (compared to other low fat desserts) which was perfect for me and my dad, who is diabetic. Delish!

Even if you aren’t on the Weight Watchers program, check out the recipes. There are TONS! And they are healthy and all look delicious.

Let me know if you are doing a weight loss program. Its great to see the progress. Yippee!

Don’t forget to enter my 2 contest going on right now. One is Here and the other Here.

Shutterfly 2011 Holiday Card Giveaway & CONTEST

2011-10-17T12:06:00.001-07:00

I love Shutterfly, I must say. Last year I made some great picture books of my son for his relatives that live far away. They loved them so much. It was a great way to showcase “ A Year In The Life” for all the relatives that do not get to see my son very often.

I also used Shutterfly for my Christmas cards last year. These were the cards I ended up going with:

Everyone loved them. They are folded cards and printed on very sturdy card stock. No flimsy cards here! I was able to personalize the inside with different things my son had done throughout the year. It was awesome!

All of Shutterfly’s new folded cards can be seen HERE.

I specifically have my eye on :

Seen here.

Mainly because I already have my photo picked out for Holiday cards this year, so I am leaning more towards the ones that just have one picture on the front. However, there will be more opportunities for pictures soon, so I may have more photos to add. I also like that there have been a few things that I would like to share inside the card, and the layouts all allow me to do that. Mini newsletter without writing out an entire newsletter. Awesome!

They also have gift you can make seen here.

I really like this necklace. It would make a great grandmother’s gift:

Seen here.

And here is your chance to get yourself 25 free holiday cards from Shutterfly. There are 2 ways:

1. If you are a blogger and would like a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season, register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q

2. If you are not a blogger or would just like to enter the contest, Shutterfly has provided me with codes for 25 free Holiday Cards to 3 of my readers. Please just comment on this post anytime from Monday October 17 – Monday October 24 and you will be entered. Winners will be announced Tuesday, October 25. Please also leave your email in the comment so I can email you!

That’s it! Have a look around Shutterfly and enjoy!

This post has been sponsored by Shutterfly, but all opinions are my own and are honest and true.

Faux Cupcake Christmas Ornaments & A CONTEST

2011-10-14T15:02:00.001-07:00

Hi! Long time no chat – AGAIN! I apologize for that. Sometimes life takes over and other things have to take priority. I do miss blogging though, so I will really try to make a better effort to blog more often.

I often find myself doing projects and later thinking, “I could have blogged about that”. I sometimes wonder if its something anyone would want to read about, then later realize, yes, you probably would! So I’m going to take pictures of everything (more than I do now, which is A LOT) and show you guys.

In the meantime, I’ll show you what I have been doing. There is a Holiday Craft Faire coming to my neighborhood next month. I have been waiting for something like this to hit the area so I could get a booth and create something. I immediately signed up and then couldn’t figure out what to make! LOL. I knew it had to be cupcake related, because of all the baking I have been doing. I’m become a little cupcake obsessed. It took about 4 weeks, but I ended up with these:

As you can see there is a watermark on a few because I decided to open an Etsy store which you can see HERE.

I’m very excited about this. I have been in touch with some retailers about putting a few in their shop.

Now for the contest!

My contest is simple….I would like to offer 2 of my readers a Faux Cupcake Ornament. These are made to order, so the 2 winners will be able to choose exactly how they want their cupcake to look, from the choices I provide. Each person will have multiple entries, here they are:

For the first entry: please go to our new KamNCo Facebook page and LIKE us HERE. (You don’t have to comment, but I would be overjoyed if you did.) Then please come back and comment that you did, pretty please with a cherry on top

For the second entry: please head on over to the shop HERE and let me know what style you like, from what I have listed. Then please come back and comment letting me know what style you would build.

For the third entry: I would be extremely honored if you were to let your friends know about the contest. Whether it be on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter, I would super sincerely appreciate it. Then come back and let me know that you did.

That’s it! Contest runs today, October 14th thru Monday October 24th at 10:00 pm Pacific. I will announce the winners on Tuesday October 25th, both here and on Facebook.

Stay tuned as I am building a few different cupcake stands for the Craft Faire that is coming up and will share them with you, step by step

Once things get going on Facebook, I'll be running Facebook only contests as well. I'll keep you posted!

For my readers!! Use coupon code LIFEINMYPJS for 15% off any purchases made!

What I've Been Up To

2011-09-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hello to all my bloggy friends! I have...again...not been around much. I have been quilting and I should have been posting about it. But I seem to forget to take tons of pictures because I get so excited about what I am doing. So here are a few pictures of some quilt tops that I have done. They still need to be quilted and will be soon.

This first one is my favorite. All of these are made using the Jelly Roll 1600 pattern, but this first one I added some squares between the strips, along with borders and some charm squares.

I am making a few quilts as Christmas presents. So I will be posting as they get completed. Also soon, I will be redoing my sewing table and making it more into a quilting friendly table and will post about that.

There is also a craft fair coming up in November where I live. I'm so excited to be participating. I will post the crafts I am working on for that, as well.

Comment and let me know what you have been up to!

Pajama Party #10

2011-07-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are, getting back into the swing of things with my Pajama Party.

Please link up any projects you have been working on.

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. I have all my buttons on my buttons page. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs during the week. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Life In My Pjs is now on FACEBOOK!

Pajama Party #9

2011-07-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are, getting back into the swing of things with my Pajama Party.

Please link up any projects you have been working on.

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. I have all my buttons on my buttons page. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs during the week. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Life In My Pjs is now on FACEBOOK!

iPhone Art

2011-07-13T12:26:00.001-07:00

Last night after my son fell asleep, I was looking at his hands. It’s amazing how much those little hands grow and so quickly! Just a few months ago we had done some hand imprint art and they were already bigger!

I had my iPhone with me and I snapped a few pictures. (Luckily the flash didn’t wake him). I just wanted the memory of his hand and the size. And of course, holding my finger like this:

Later on I decided I would make some art from it. I have an app called FX PhotoStudio ( one of many picture apps I happen to have) and I loaded the picture in there. I cropped the picture to my liking and then added the effect called Color Charcoal Sketch and ended up with this:

Uploaded it this morning to my computer while syncing the phone. Stuck it in Photoshop quickly to add the date and here is the finished picture ( date in very bottom right corner)

I then printed it on 4x6 photo paper and here it is:

I think it came out so beautiful! Took me about 5 minutes of my time and was free. On my next dollar store or thrift store trip, I will find the perfect frame for it. Right now I have it leaning against some candle sticks in my office. Its just the perfect picture of mama and baby (or almost 4 year old) love.

Linking to all the great parties found on my Link Party Page!

Pajama Party #8

2011-07-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here we are, getting back into the swing of things with my Pajama Party.

Please link up any projects you have been working on.

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. I have all my buttons on my buttons page. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs during the week. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Life In My Pjs is now on FACEBOOK!

Child Safety Tip

2011-07-12T17:43:00.001-07:00

This may be something you already do, but after recently watching the Primetime with Jaycee Dugard, it really got me thinking.

These days with so many smart phones out there, or phones that take pictures, its really easy to snap a picture of your child before you leave the house. God forbid they get lost or worse, no one can predict the frame of mind, as a parent. It’s very easy to say…I would do this or I would do that. However, I have learned in my life, that personally, you just never know. I said that about completely different situation years (and years and years) ago and then I found myself in said situation and reacted differently.

So recently, I have started to take a quick picture, with my phone, before my son leaves to go to any crowded place. Amusement park, the zoo, even the mall. That way you have THE most recent picture of your child and the clothing they had on that day, already with you to give to the proper people.

I hope this doesn’t seem too somber, I just think its better to be overly prepared, than not.

Weigh Loss??

2011-07-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

I need to lose some weight. I was wondering if there was anyone out there that was trying to lose weight, has been losing weight, has lost a lot of weight or just needs some motivation and support? I have a good friend that I talk to almost daily about the exercise portion. I need more support with the food portion. I notice that I eat when I am bored, or during certain times of the month. Sometimes I just want something specific so badly. The more I exercise the more I notice that the food cravings aren’t as bad, which is good. But I still need more support.

Does anyone want to be a food buddy? You can leave a comment here or email me directly at lucybeancouture@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Why I Was Gone So Long

2011-07-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

I’ve been doing a lot this past 6 months. I have a dream of opening a bakery one day. I decided that I would work on that dream. I am going to start an online bakery, next year.

For the past 6 months I have been baking like crazy. Mainly cupcakes, but as time goes on, I have tried new things like decorated cookies and mini pies. I have always loved to bake and thought…why not do something I love ALL the time? So here are a few cupcakes I have been working on:

Banana Cupcake/Peanut Butter Frosting

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cupcake/Chocolate Frosting

French Toast Cupcake/Maple Frosting

Red Velvet Cupcake/Cream Cheese Frosting

These were all sent to friends who agreed to test them for me. For taste, packaging, presentation upon arrival, etc. I still have a lot of work to do, but with each new batch, I am learning new things, especially about how to package them to arrive looking as close to how they left as possible. I think we are getting closer. It’s very exciting and a little scary too.

I’ll be opening the bakery after we move next year. I would love to move before Bubs starts kindergarten so he is settled in one school and doesn’t have to switch. I think that’s very important, at least to me it was when I was little. We moved a few times and I was always scared I would have to leave my friends. So I am waiting until we move to start this adventure.

Life In My Pjs is now on FACEBOOK!

Popsicle Stick Sewing Basket

2011-07-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a safe and Happy 4th Of July! Here is the project that got me back into the crafting swing of things:

I’m so in love with this box! It is just so cool! Starz had Burlesque on, so I listened to some Cher and Christina and went to work. I just love how it turned out! When shut, you can’t tell that it opens. Its looks like a great piece of art!

But it does open! I don’t know what I will be filling it with yet, but its going to get something special in it.

Here is a view of the inside:

One of the best parts of this box? It cost me literally $4 to make!

Here is another link to Mark’s book which should be called the Big KICK Ass Book of Crafts IMHO:

Life In My Pjs is now on FACEBOOK!

Now on Facebook!

2011-07-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

Life In My Pjs is now on FACEBOOK!

You can click the "like" button on my right sidebar or visit the link here.

I thought it would be fun to have a place to chat about crafting or ask questions that may not fit into an entire blog post.

Thanks and ENJOY!!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T09:01:00.000-07:00

We are finally feeling like summer here in California. Hooray! And just in time for some 4th of July BBQ’s and fireworks.

We are having a block party today on our cul-de-sac. Great people, good food and lots of fun! We all get together at a neighbors house and BBQ. Everyone brings something different and this year I am bringing cupcakes:

Red velvet, my favorite

How are you celebrating today? However you do, have a FANTASTIC day!!

I’m Back! And a Sneak Peek

2011-07-03T08:52:00.001-07:00

I’m back to blogging and I’m so excited. I have been doing a lot of non craft related things, but I missed this so much that I HAD to come back. Recently I picked up this book and the creativity started flowing again:

The Big-Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano. Find it here on Amazon.

I made a project from it last night and here is a sneak peek:

(I’ll blog more about this in a future post)

I didn’t know how much I missed crafting until I sat down last night and did this project. Now this book has inspired me to do so much more and I’m excited again.

Perfect Cupcake Photography Props

2011-01-24T15:10:00.001-08:00

I am SOOOOOOO excited right now. When I went to Michael’s today, it was with the intention of getting some baking supplies. I passed by their little dollar spot and saw these:

That little plate is about 3” in diameter, the little frame about 3.5”.

I started a cupcake blog called The Cupcake Challenge. Basically I’m going to be baking a new cupcake recipe every week. ( If you know of any fun, unusual or interesting flavor combos, send them my way!) (My first recipe is here) My dream is to one day own a cupcake shop. So I am trying to perfect some recipes. In the mean time, I will be blogging about the entire experience. So I needed some photo props.

When I saw the plate and the frame I thought, “that might look cute. will have to see if the cupcake will fit” and then I forgot about it while looking for my other stuff. When I came home, I took one of these little candlesticks:

(that price is for 6 from Hobby Lobby online)

Sprayed it with Satin Espresso from Rustoleum:

and stacked it all together. Please excuse my not-ironed-right-out-of-the-package pillow case, but I was just too excited to do anything else. Here is what I got:

Is that not the cutest thing ever!! Oh Em Gee!

They are NOT glued together because then I can interchange them, so it basically makes it a 3-in-1!:

Just the plate:

Just the frame:

I just can’t get over my excitement. I was planning on going out and getting some fancy plates for props and then I came across these! Tomorrow I am going back and getting every color plate they had, (I think there were 4) and then a few more frames to spray paint some neutral colors. I’ll have a big set of cupcake stands for my pictures. I’m in LURVE!!! (I’m debating spraying this frame with the Satin Espresso so it matches better. We’ll see with some better lighting)

Here it is again all stacked, just cause I can’t stop loving it!

Of course I have to get my faux Ott light out to put over the set up, but I just had to show you guys!!

(Cupcakes are Margarita and the recipe is on my new blog)

War Of The Roses

2011-01-10T17:06:00.001-08:00

No, not the movie! I have been making paper roses to be put on a new wreath to go over my faux mantle. I want something that can stay their year round, well except for the holidays. I’ve made a few roses and would like your opinion.

I would prefer to use a recycled method for this. The first rose and honestly my favorite is made from Trader Joe’s grocery bags:

These colors honestly do compliment my living room the most, however I’m wondering how many bags it would take to make enough roses. My other option would be to mix these multi colored roses with some solid color that match.

#2 on my list is a book page rose:

I like the way this one looks as well, though its much lighter. However again, mixed with some color accent colors, may work well.

My 3rd and 4th options were made by just printing a sample of sheet music and French script on my printer on regular white paper. So if any of these patterns are chosen, I would print them on a more beige-ish off white paper:

Sheet Music

French Script

I love how subtle the French script is, but I think it may be too subtle for the whole wreath.

I would love to use a recycling method (either 1 or 2) the most, but I’m open to suggestions. What do you think?

Linking to these great parties!

Finding A Good Preschool

2011-01-09T20:52:00.001-08:00

I’ve been busy for the past few weeks trying to find my son a new preschool. There is nothing wrong with his current school, but its too far away. It made sense at one point in our lives, but not any longer. So I have been on a quest to find a new school and I found one. My father and I toured a few schools and finally decided on one we liked very close to home.

I’m posting this because its scary to have to find a school or new school for your child. I’m trusting these people with my most precious everything and it’s a tough decision. The current school he attends was a referral from a trusted family friend and some parents at the daycare he initially attended, so after a tour we were sold. But this time I had to go in blind.

Something I didn’t know and learned through this search was that you can call the state licensing board to see if there are any infractions against the school. I liked the idea of being able to call and see if there had been any complaints logged about the schools that I was researching. It went back 3 years and eased my mind when I made my final decision. Another thing that sold me on the school we chose was the PE type program they offer year round. An outside group comes in once a week and for a small fee, they teach the kids different sports. My son loves sports, so this was very important to me. Also the room he will be in, is huge and shared by the next class up as well. There is plenty of room for both classes, but I like that he will be able to learn from kids a year older as well, at his own pace.

Before going to any of the schools, I wrote a list of what were important questions that I needed to know before enrolling him at the school. The child/teacher ratio, how they handle bad behavior, how easily (or not) someone can access the school or classrooms, the curriculum, types of food they serve, how often toys are washed, how easily accessible everything is for the kids, etc. I liked that most things were at the kids level and some things put aside that need teacher assistance. Kids are responsible for their own things, so they have cubbies and special hooks for their jackets. The room was clean and everything put away when we initially visited ( the kids were outside). When we took my son for his first visit, we got to see how he played with the kids outside and how he reacted in the classroom. The school is even letting us bring him once a week for a few hours ( at no charge) so he can get better acclimated with this school before officially starting.

There are also a lot of functions that I can participate in. This school has parent meetings every other month, lots of pot lucks and occasions for parents to come to the school and I cant wait for that. I’m pretty excited we found this school. Just knock on wood that it will be an easy transition for my son. He already made a friend, so it may be easier. I know he will miss his old friends and teachers, but we can still see them on occasion.

There are many resources online that are helpful in picking out schools. A lot of my questions came from this site. And other parents can sometimes point of things you may not think of. I felt a little overwhelmed at first and was grateful not to have to do this alone ( thanks Dad!). Just crossing my fingers it all works out!

Bathroom Remodel Series Part 1-Cabinets

2011-01-05T17:13:00.001-08:00

I am an ~~embarrassing~~ funny story to tell. About 8 years ago I painted my entire bathroom with a generic $5 gallon of white paint I bought at Big Lots. No joke! I didn’t know how much paint mattered and I decided I was going to change things up a bit from the wood paneling that was in there. So off to work I went.

Then, I also didn’t realize that one coat of said $5 paint was not going to be enough. But I was tired. I mean who would have thought painting would take so much work? Who would have thought it had to be so precise? Me? Never LOL

Fast forward 7 years to me discovering DIY blog land and all the amazing women that do these home improvement projects themselves. Fast forward to me feeling like I had found my people!! Fast forward to me learning that you cannot paint a bathroom and expect it to look good with one coat of $5 paint. HMPF! I can admit when I am wrong.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I decided (after reading many inspiring blogs) that I can paint this bathroom myself and make it look good. I cannot believe the difference a $15 quart of paint can do! I used Behr Premium Plus Ultra in Sweet Molasses UL-130-23. Don’t you just love that name? Here is the swatch:

Now here are my embarrassing cabinets before:

Ack, they look worse in pics that I thought. I was really in denial about that $5 paint.

Anyway, those plus this:

Equals this!!!:

Aren't they just lovely?? I love them! And it makes the bathroom look so much bigger…I was shocked! Total love. Sigh.

My little guy liked them too and helped me pick out the hardware at Home Depot. No joke, he pointed to these (he’s got the creative eye I think):

So proud of myself for accomplishing this. Have I said how much I love them??

Part 2 coming soon, my medicine cabinet transformation.

Linking this week to all of these incredible link parties!

Pajama Party #5 and Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first Pajama Party of 2011!!

I hope everyone is having a great New Year so far! I am really hoping that everyone’s dreams can come true in 2011!

Here are a few features from my last Pajama Party!

Donna from Comin Home made these fantastic Fleece Kids Sleeping Bags and I have one on my to do list!

The Creative Mommas posted these great Vinyl On Tile gifts:

Cyn over at Pink Sparkle made this great Personalized Tote!

Thanks to everyone who linked up! If you were featured, please grab a button from my buttons page!

Please link up any projects you have been working on.

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. I have all my buttons on my buttons page. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs the next party. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Tea Time With Donna

2011-01-03T21:49:00.001-08:00

My new friend Donna has a very cute blog named Comin’ Home with lots of tutorials and great conversation! Every Tuesday she has Tuesday Tea, which is a link party. For me, this will be my weekly reminder to sit down for a few minutes and reflect on life, what I love and what I need to do. Basically for me, this will be a quiet time to be happy and move forward.

Donna is a very generous soul who really loves to help people. She has a great tutorial for a kids fleece sleeping bag that I will be making this week. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity if it wasn’t for Donna. This wonderful and generous lady found the perfect fleece at a store near her home for me, since mine did not have it. She sent it to me, no questions asked, before I even had a chance to paypal her ( which I did right away, but not the point). She is a very caring, friendly and wonderful person. Just go check out her blog.

My favorite tea is Passion tea from Starbucks!

Here are my reflections for this week:

Even though I am not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, it seems that I have made a few changes since the end of last year. I posted last week that I wanted to start cleaning out my office/craft room. I’ve been doing that, along with a few other things. All of a sudden I wanted to redo my bathroom, so I got some paint from Home Depot and painted my lower cabinets! (I’ll be posting about this redo soon). I’m also redoing my bedroom and have been looking at ways to revamp the living room. So I had decided a few days ago that I was going to do a series on each room as I complete it. Pretty exciting for me!

Another thing that I have to start thinking about is switching my son’s preschool. This is very hard for me for one reason….I do not want to see him upset when he starts at another school. All the pros for switching are there..location, cost, this school goes through kindergarten, very short commute, but the one con is that it may be a tough transition for him. He did already have to transition once from daycare to preschool and he did pretty well. But I think that had something to do with 2 of his friends making the same transition to the new school at the same time. Here he won’t know anyone. I know this won’t harm him in anyway and it will actually give me more time to spend with him daily, which I love and I know he will, but I still worry.

On a funny note, this is how he looked when he left for school today:

I wear glasses and he wanted to play with them with one of his trains that has a crane. I told him he couldn't but I would give him some sunglasses that I don’t use. He hasn’t put them down! He knows the sun is in his eyes sometimes on the way to school and he wanted to wear these on the way LOL. He kept them on almost all the way there.

Here are some pictures from our New Year’s Eve night in:

Didn’t I just have the cutest date ever?!?!

Can you believe these were all taken AND edited with my phone? Apps these days are amazing and so much fun! I think I will be taking all my phone pics with this App just so I can edit them like this. All sorts of filters and borders! FUN!!

Another thing I would like to do this week is go to the thrift store and hopefully try to find some nice tea cups and saucers. I would love to be able to use a different one each week and start a collection. Something girly and pretty and maybe even….pink!

Thanks Donna for letting me a part of your Tuesday Tea!

Happy New Year & Things To Come for 2011

2010-12-31T21:46:00.001-08:00

First and foremost I wanted to wish all of you and your families and Happy and Blessed New Year!

I really hope the new year finds you all in good health and happiness and my wish for everyone is that all their dreams come true this year!

I’m excited about this new year. I’m not making any resolutions, but I am looking forward to making some changes. As far as DIY goes, the first is in my bathroom. I have been ~~threatening~~ talking about painting my bathroom for months. Finally I just decided to buy some paint and get started. So now I’m in it! Coming up soon will be the bathroom series, followed by the bedroom series (with that new duvet) and finally my office series. My office/craft room will probably take the longest, which is why it is last. I have been procrastinating cleaning out that room, as I posted before. But it is time to get rid of the clutter!I do believe that your home should be an extension of you. With everything that has been going on in my life in the last year or so, I haven’t really taken the time to make things around me pretty. Its time to really do that! I’m feeling happier and I want my home to reflect that.

I really hope everyone has a great weekend and a fantastic start to their New Year. Please remember to join me on Wednesday for my next Pajama Party!

New Inexpensive Bedding–Help!!

2010-12-25T19:17:00.001-08:00

I hope all of you had a fantastic, fabulous, loving and safe Christmas! We had so much fun. The love and happiness pouring out of my little boy is unmatched and I’m still grinning from ear to ear!

I am going strong with the momentum of Christmas decorating. I am also trying to adhere to my New Year’s Challenge of not spending a lot of money on crafting. While I clean out my craft room, I am also thinking about redecorating my bedroom. Right now its very boring, with a simple white comforter, sheets etc. I want some color. When I was little, my mom used a very simple and inexpensive method for revamping our blankets and comforters. Once I pick out the fabric I want to use on the top of my Duvet only, I will show step by step how to do this. There is sewing involved, but my mom used to do this with only a needle and thread. Its an easy way to make something old look new again.

For now, I need help deciding which fabric to use. My white comforter will show a bit in the duvet, so please keep that in mind when helping me decide the fabric. My biggest problem with any redesign, is that I like so many different things, its very hard for me to narrow it down! So, here are the fabrics that I like the most. What do you think??

I pretty much have a clean slate to work with in my room. No headboard (yet) or any specific furniture that will make a difference in this design. Let me know what you think for a duvet cover! All of these are from Joann’s ranging in price for $4.99-$7.99 before coupon and I’m going to only need 4 yards at the most. Not bad for a new duvet, especially after I use my 40% off coupon for one continuous piece!!

To 20 Christmas Songs. Do you agree?

2010-12-24T07:36:00.000-08:00

I found this on YouTube yesterday and thought I would post. Love all these songs. Merry Christmas!!

New Year Challenge

2010-12-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

I know, still 2 days till Christmas, but this has been bugging me. My craft room is a mess. A ridiculous, hoarding mess. I kid you not. I may or may not take pics of it. Right now it is the catch all room and it's awful. Plus I have so many craft items in there that I have not used yet, its a little ridiculous.

Sooooo I am going to challenge myself to:

A) clean and organize said room

B) redecorate said room

C) use the supplies I have in there

D) limit my craft spending for a while

Not that I spend a lot on crafting, but my biggest problem is that I HAVE TO make something, then I buy everything for it and never make it. Yep I do that. A LOT!

So, one of my New Year's challenges ( resolutions never work) is to use and make the things in my craft room. Maybe I'll even be able to find my sewing machine somewhere in there! ( Yes, its that bad!!)

Merry Christmas everyone!! Have a safe and Happy New Year!!

Last Minute Teachers Gift

2010-12-22T10:28:00.001-08:00

I made some pinecone ornaments for my son’s preschool teachers, but I felt they weren’t enough, once I got them into boxes. Yesterday while working, I cam across this idea and decided to make some. I had everything on hand to do this already, so it literally took 5 minutes to put together. I printed some cute free printable Christmas recipe cards that I found here and wrote out the directions. That’s what took the most time! LOL! Here are the finished cake-in-a-cup kits:

Here is the entire set of recipe cards on the site that I found.

I put the ornaments and these cups in gift bags and was done. I was in a hurry though and didn’t take pics of that part. But I think these are super cute and can be used for any occasion!

Pajama Party #4 and Merry Christmas!

2010-12-21T18:08:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Pajama Party #4! First off, I wanted to thank everyone that participated last week. It was so much fun to see all your wonderful submissions! Here are just a few:

Mandy at Sugar Bee made this gorgeous Yarn Ball Wreath:

Jenni at The Roseland Family made this wonderful Sugar Scrub:

Tricia at The Leafy Tree Top Spot gave us these yummy Meringues:

If you have been featured, please grab your button found here, on my buttons page.

I also wanted to take this opportunity and wish everyone a wonderful and Merry Christmas!! I am going to take the following week off to spend with my son, so the next Pajama Party will be on January 5th. Can’t wait to see what all of you have planned for the New Year! So here is to a safe and Happy New Year!!

Please link up any projects you have been working on.

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs the next party. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Holiday Décor–The Living Room

2010-12-15T14:07:00.001-08:00

I know I’m a bit late this year, but here are the decorations I have going on in my living room/playroom area.

Our Tree

The faux mantle:

Martha Stewart magazine tree:

My sons playroom even got a tree which he loves!

and we can't forget Santa Buddies!

We have a lot going on outside and I will taking video and pictures of that soon!

My Faux Mantle

2010-12-15T14:01:00.001-08:00

I am in awe every year at the beautiful mantles seen on blogs, in magazines and holiday movies. I haven’t had a fireplace or mantle in years. This year I decided I wanted a mantle to decorate. I had a shelf with pegs that I had purchased for a different project a few months back and hadn’t done. So I painted that a linen color, moved some furniture around and now I have a faux mantle.

I have mine, my son’s and my father’s stockings hanging. Picked those up at the Dollar Tree and used some snowflake ornaments I already had to embellish them. I also primed and painted a thrift store candlestick and plain craft frame from Michael’s with my new favorite silver spray paint.

I placed my Christmas card in the frame and voila! Instant art.

I love that I have this mantle now. I can’t wait for all the fun things I get to make for all the upcoming season. More excuses to craft!

Here it is no flash

And with the flash

I’m pretty proud of it!

Pajama Party #4

2010-12-14T17:36:00.001-08:00

Its back! My Pajama Party is back. Please link up any projects you have been working on.

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs with next weeks party. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Silver Cloche (Finally!!)

2010-12-14T16:37:00.001-08:00

I have been admiring cloches all over blogland for months. I mean months! And I have been looking for everything needed to make a cloche for months! Allison over at House of Hepworths made this beautiful cloche back in March. I have been looking at thrift store for a cheese dome ever since. I could not find anything! Finally, a while back, I found this:

Its already put together! I don’t have to glue anything. The funny part, is that my mom, who ~~was sick of hearing me talk about~~ loves me so much, bought me a cheese dome from Crate & Barrel. But I couldn’t spray paint that, I just couldn’t do it. So when I got this, I thought I would have a cool stand. But the glass dome from the Crate & Barrel cheese dome fits this perfectly!!

So after some priming and painting with my new favorite spray paint.

It looks like this:

Matching perfectly with the dollar store apothecary jars I made yesterday.

And by Christmas tree light only:

I love it!!

Red Velvet Candy Cake

2010-12-14T16:28:00.001-08:00

I volunteered to make a cake for my son’s school’s Holiday Party. Remember my Death By Chocolate Cake post here? I decided to change things up a little for the holidays. I used red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting, white chocolate Kit-Kats and holiday M&Ms. What do you think?

Dollar Store Apothecary Jars

2010-12-13T16:50:00.001-08:00

I have to tell you guys that this is by far, my favorite project to date. I found the instructions for these jars totally by accident, but am completely in love with them. Here are the original instructions. Here is a finished jar:

And here are my supplies. I changed my mind mid project, and did not end up using the birch candlesticks in the picture:

Dollar Tree vases ($1 each)
Dollar Tree bowls ( 3 for $1)
Krylon Metallics Brilliant Silver spray paint ($2.97 with tons left over)
Birch Finials ( see picture below) (3 for $1.47)
E-6000 glue (on hand, $4 at craft store. Use your coupon!)

Here are the birch finials from Hobby Lobby:

I do not have a Hobby Lobby near me. Until recently, Hobby Lobby had a policy to not have any stores more than 1000 miles from their home office. Which did not allow for California to have stores. Recently I saw that a store was going up in Cali! About 3 hours from me, but its progress. I day I will have a Hobby Lobby by me! Until then, its online shopping for me.

I ended up sawing off the bottom peg after spray painting. I decided not to saw first, so it would be easier to paint and it worked out fine. I put the end that I was going to saw off into a styrofoam block, primed and painted the finials and candlesticks.

(again ignore the small candlestick. Its too small to hold the vase properly)

I love the color of the silver. I was afraid at first that I was going to get something bright shiny silver, which I did not want. But I had to settle for this paint because my local Walmart was out of Satin Nickel. No worries, this came out soooooo purty!! I love the color. Its not as shiny as I thought and just the right amount of fabulousness!

(Yes I took the picture with my phone. I was impatient & didn’t realize the reflection would show up lol)

Next, take E-6000 and glue a large candlestick to the bottom of your vase:

Then glue a finial to the bottom of a glass bowl.

Impatiently wait for everything to dry. Then turn your bowl over and put it on the top of your vase. Voila! A beautiful $3.50 apothecary jar!!

I still have 2 more to put together, but I was so excited to get this posted that I had to take pictures of the one. I LOVE it! Now I will fill it will pretty ornaments for the holidays.

Christmas Ornament Wreath

2010-12-04T14:34:00.001-08:00

As a single mom, my holiday decorating is on a very strict budget. So you cannot understand how excited I was when I went to the Wally World Christmas department.

photo credit Thrifty Décor Chic who I LOVE btw.

My store looks very similar to this, but its backwards, meaning from the left green, then blue, etc. These ornaments are only $1 each!! Including the tubes of 4 on the bottom. The whole wall, $1 each and very sparkly & glittery, I might add.

On the other side of the aisle from these are these types.

And also larger boxes of the round ones that match the wall ornaments. So I bought a box of each color, green, red, blue and pink. Plus 6 of the $1 ornaments. 3 birds and 3 flowers, which I will show in another post. This gave me enough ornaments to decorate my tree ( I also used some white and silver that I had left over from last year) and make a wreath.

Here she is:

Its not very easy to get a good picture of this wreath. The lighting in my home is not that great right now and even with daylight, its bad. This wreath is much brighter in person. I used this wonderful tutorial from Eddie Ross I found last year, but was too intimidated to try. I just went over to my local dry cleaners, got a hanger and sat on the floor for about an hour making this. These ornaments are plastic, so I was able to skip the hot glue step, as they aren't going anywhere.

I have recently installed a faux mantel and changed some furniture around, so once it is all done and decorated, I will be posting more pictures.

Happy Holidays!

Possible Christmas Card 2

2010-11-18T21:45:00.001-08:00

Retro Christmas Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Possible Christmas Card

2010-11-18T10:58:00.001-08:00

Family Wall Noir Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Beautiful Holiday Cards From Shutterfly

2010-11-17T14:33:00.001-08:00

This Saturday, my friend Kym will be stopping by for our second annual “Christmas picture taken by Kym”. My friend Kym loves photography and will take as many pics as it takes, to get the right one. So knowing this was coming up, I was searching for the perfect card to put the pictures on. Usually I send the postcard type of cards from Walmart. But this year I felt like something fancier.

I had gotten great prints from Shutterfly before, so I decided to stop by their site and check out what they had. Oh. My. Gosh! There were so many to choose from!! I couldnt believe the choices they had. So I decided to make myself a sample using some pictures from last year and here is what I came up with:

The inside:

Isn’t it the coolest!!

The card I chose can be found HERE.

However, we are wearing grey and white in this years pictures, so there is a possibility of using this card:

Found HERE.

Or even this one (I love those colors together):

Found HERE.

I have to say that I love the thickness of the cards and the quality of the printing. It came out absolutely beautiful. I can’t wait to see what this years cards look like.

Shutterfly also has party invitations. I’m debating throwing a party just so I can use this as my invitation:

Found HERE.

They have address labels, calendars, gift tags and personalized gifts. I swear, my favorite cards to get every year are the cards with peoples pictures. It really makes me happy to see all the beautiful smiling faces. Can’t wait to see which pictures we use and which card we get this year. I know it will be great!

I'm back!!

2010-11-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! With Christmas coming up and all the crafts I want to do for the holiday, I decided that I will be coming back to my blogging. I was really enjoying it for a while and then other things kind of got in my way. But now I'm back! So to start things off, here are some pictures of jewelry I have been making for Christmas gifts:

Have you made anything for the holidays yet? Let me know!

Sorry Ive been MIA!

2010-07-01T07:59:00.001-07:00

I’ve been pretty busy this week, so I let my little piece of the internet sit for a while. I’m sorry! Anyone who came by looking for the Pajama Party, thank you for coming and I’m sorry no one was home!! I will be back next week with new projects and the next Pajama Party. Thanks for your understanding =)

Pajama Party #3

2010-06-22T15:39:00.001-07:00

Wow what a turn out we had last week!! I cannot believe it got over 100 links! Thats amazing. Thank you so much to everyone that participated. I saw some fantastic ideas. It is so hard to just choose favorites, but here are a few that really caught my eye:

Salt & Pepper shakers into candlesticks from doolittle Things

Daughter’s bedroom makeover by DIY Design Fanatic

Floral picture frame by Calamity Anne.

If you were featured, please grab a button either on my side bar or click here.

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs with next weeks party. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

This linky list is not open yet. It will open for new entries 6/22/2010 6:00:00 PM (North America - Pacific Standard Time

Get your own FREE Linky Tools

Aqua Inspiration & Blog Crush

2010-06-21T17:25:00.001-07:00

These two items tie in perfectly because I am totally crushing on House Of Turquoise. It is just a gorgeous blog. Full of beautiful decorating pictures all showing wonderful shades of aqua, truly my favorite color. I have never felt that I could decorate with that color. I have always decorated with more earth tones. But I think I am going to do something out of my comfort zone.

I was supposed to have my bathroom repainted and I had to reschedule. I am really glad I did because I think I am going to change my wall color. Here is my inspiration bathroom:

(Via House Of Turquoise)

I picked this because I still want the dark lower cabinets and soft beige trim. My wall color will be a bit more aqua than this, but it gives you an idea. My only problem in the bathroom is that my counters are an awful 70’s light yellow. BUT to the rescue comes this gorgeous shower curtain from Anthropologie:

Except its $118 and there is no way I can spend that on a shower curtain. So I have ordered fabric to make one. It will be here in about a week and then I will slowly get started on this. I hope my fabric ties in the counters and the wall color well. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

Death By Chocolate Cake

2010-06-19T21:24:00.001-07:00

Seriously, I don’t know what else to call this creation. It is not my idea, but it sure looks YUMMY!!

Really simple. Bake an 8 or 9 inch 2 layer cake. Frost as messy as you want to. “glue” each Kit Kat individually to the sides with frosting. Dump a bunch of M&M’s on the top, tie a ribbon and you’re done!

Happy Father’s Day Picture Collage

2010-06-19T21:19:00.001-07:00

First off, I wanted to wish all the dads and grandfathers out there a very Happy Father’s Day!!

(Father’s Day collage done for Kam’s Daddy.)

This was done in Picasa. I just printed the sign in Microsoft Word in a font I liked and then got my little man to pose with it. I loaded all the pics into Picasa and used their Collage feature. Super easy!! Print it off and you’re done!

I’ll stick this in a frame and mail it to Kam’s Dad. Yes we are going to be late. But its worth it!!

Linking to all the great parties on my Link Parties page!!

Happy Pink Saturday!

2010-06-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

I wanted to thank Beverly for being one of the featured blogs last week. It is very nice of her to feature participants and I love getting the comments, so here is a very big, pink

THANK YOU!!

This week I am giving you Glinda The Good Witch from one of my all time favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz:

Happy Pink Saturday!!

A Big Huge THANK YOU!!

2010-06-18T07:46:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to thank everyone that participated or stopped by for my link party. Over 100 entries for only my second party!! I am so excited. I will be commenting on all entries this week. I also have some projects in the works to share with all of you soon. So here you go…Thank You!!

Pajama Party #2

2010-06-15T09:46:00.001-07:00

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my 1st ever Pajama Party last week! It was so much fun to see all the amazing projects that were listed. I’m pretty proud of the turn out for my first ever linky party!!

It’s hard to pick just 3 favorite projects from all the great projects posted, but here are a few that really caught my eye:

This Tiered Terracotta planter by Our Life In A Click is so cool!!

I’m really into furniture and this make over really inspired me from In My Own Style:

These Alice In Wonderland costumes by Starking Crafty Party Ideas are amazing:

If you were featured, please grab a button from my right side bar. Thank you to everyone that linked up. I hope to see you all back today!!

**GIVEAWAY WINNER**

The winner is:

The Thrifty Ba!! Please email me and I can get your flower set out to you asap!!

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs with next weeks party. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Happy Pink Saturday!

2010-06-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

I love Pink Saturday. I get to post all the pretty things that I love, but I dont have because they dont match the decor in my home. One of these days I will have a pink room, I swear lol. Here are my favorite flowers, pink peonies.

Happy Pink Saturday!

Please Help Me Decide

2010-06-10T15:01:00.001-07:00

So I have narrowed my choices for my chair redo to 3 fabrics and I would love your input on what I should choose. I am leaning more towards a certain one of these three, but I will wait and see what you guys think. Here are the chairs again:

And here are my 3 semi finalists:

The wood on the chairs will have an ORB finish.

Thanks!

Linking to these great parties!

**Edited to add**
Look what the wonderful and talented Laurie-Jean of Willoughby Whimsy did for me!!

How fantastic is that?? Thank you so much Laurie-Jean. Now you can really see how the chairs will look. How exciting!! If you have a moment, go to her great blog and help her pick out some colors for her office here.

Tray Redo

2010-06-10T14:33:00.001-07:00

Recently when cleaning out our shed, we stumbled upon this tray. I got very excited because I have been seeing them all over blogland, but never had one or had found the things to make one. So when this showed up out of the blue, I was very excited:

The rustic look does not fit with my decor really, so I decided to spray paint it black. First I primed:

Then sprayed black. Which I thought for sure I had a picture of, but I don’t. I’m sure you can imagine.

So next I knew I wanted to line it with some pretty paper, but I wasn’t sure what. I wasn’t confident enough to line it with busy scrapbooking paper because I didn’t know if I would be able to match it up enough. The other day I was at the drugstore and found this wrapping paper:

And I love it! But I felt it needed more. So let me back up a minute.

Recently I found out that I will be getting 3 chairs from my mother’s previous employer (they are going out of business) and they needed someone to take the chairs. I do not have a picture of them, but they are wood, have a padded seat and back with arm rests. I saw them on my mother’s phone. She stopped by to take a picture for me to see if I wanted them. Oh Yeah! Free chairs to a DIYer…really..do you have to ask?? So I don’t know when I will be getting them, but I have already purchased the fabric:

I finally get to put some aqua in the house!! WOOHOO!! As you can see by the picture holding up the paper, I have a red wall in my living room. Directly across from that wall, I plan on putting 2 of the chairs, redone with this fabric with a red IKEA Lack table in between:

Seriously for $8, you can’t beat that. So I thought I would put the tray on the table with some knick knacks. I felt the paper on the tray needed some color. In come red and turquoise Sharpies. Then the standard Mod Podge and we have this:

Sorry these are so dark. I really tried to find a spot in the house that didn’t have toys on it and well, I didn’t luck out. But I think you get the idea. What do you think??

Linking to these wonderful parties this week!

By the Door Bag Hook, But Cuter!

2010-06-09T08:38:00.001-07:00

Now that Kam is in Preschool, there are things we need to take every so often. Like any papers that need to be signed, his freshly laundered sheet and blanket every monday, and whatever else he may need for school. He doesn’t carry a back pack yet, so we use a reusable shopping bag from Target and we usually just leave it by the door. I wanted it to have a place to hang, so I made this:

This was a wooden plaque I picked up at the Dollar Tree on a recent trip:

I sprayed with primer and then one coat of Krylon’s Blue Ocean Breeze which I have been dying to use because Aqua is one of my favorite colors. I also painted a drawer knob that used to say Princess. I traced the oval on the back of matching scrapbook paper and cut it with pinking sheers, just a tad smaller than the outlined. Mod Podged the paper, screwed in the know and viola! An insta-bag-holder.

I kept the original ribbon that was already stapled to it to hook it up. I think it needs to be screwed into the wall in case we ever need to take something heavy.

Next up is a better key hook plaque thingy-ma-bob.

I have a bunch of project I am working on and also gathering all the supplies to get started on my chairs. I cannot wait to see how those puppies turn out!

I’ll be linking to these great parties!!

Pajama Party #1 & GIVEAWAY!!

2010-06-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to welcome you to my first link party! Thank you for joining me.

I have been having so much fun participating in link parties, that I really wanted to start my own. So get your pjs on, something to drink and link up all your creative posts!

I just ask the following:

Link to a specific post NOT your main blog. This could be anything DIY related, cooking, crafts, home improvement, fiber arts, ANYTHING creative. Even great finds it ok to post, I’m flexible =)
Please try and comment on the person/people before you. The more comments the better!!
I ask that you follow my blog as well.
Please have my button somewhere on your blog. Can be in the post, on a separate page or as a link.
Have fun and come back every week!!

That’s it! I will post a few of my favs with next weeks party. Can’t wait to see what everyone has come up with!

The Giveaway
I am going to give away a set of flower clips and matching ring to one lucky subscriber!!

Please leave a comment on this post and I will choose a winner with random.org before my next party! Please let as many people you can, know about my party. If you blog about it, come back and tell me! It increases your chances of winning. Thanks!!

For $20 I got What?!? & Help!

2010-06-05T11:43:00.001-07:00

On the way home from Home Depot this morning, we decided to take a different route. Where I live, there aren’t usually many garage sales, but I decided to take a chance.

I saw the neon green sign that said “Big Big Big Garage sale <----“ so we turned left. Boy am I glad we did. For $5 a piece I found these:

A DIYers dream!! I have been meaning to get inexpensive dining room chairs to last until I possibly move. I was going to get them from IKEA for $20 a piece. Then we found these. I had to go to the ATM to take $20 out and I only needed 4. When we came back she said to take all 5 in case one had more problems or whatever. Fine! We loaded them in the car and took them home.

(don't mind the dirt outside, we are renovating outside too and have lots of bags of donations waiting for pick up)

I’m so excited!!

Some of the pads are still covered in plastic. Clearly that will be removed and new fabric put on.

Here is a chair that I have been ~~hoarding~~ keeping around for a while. It was my grandmothers chair that she used at her desk. I won’t part with it. Now I can paint and recover all six and they almost will look like a set.

Close enough for me. We have a small table that seats 4, for now. When we move I’ll get a table that matches, for 6 and be all set. I’m soooo excited.

**Now here is my dilemma. What fabric do I use?? I want a print, something nice, but nothing too bright. I’m soooooo confused on what color scheme to go with. If you have suggestions or links to great fabrics, PLEASE leave them in the comments.**

Linking up to some of these great parties!

Thanks!!

Happy Pink Saturday!

2010-06-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

In honor of Pink Saturday, I have found the most beautiful cake I have ever seen. It is from Pink Cake Box, a bakery in New Jersey. I will let it speak for itself, STUNNING!

Have a great Pink Saturday!

Leaf Mirror ~ Spray Painted

2010-06-01T16:12:00.001-07:00

I saw this cute mirror at Ikea and thought I had to do something with it:

I got 2 and I will show you my other project soon. This time I wanted to use the cuttlebug and a new leaf die I got. So I sprayed the taped off the mirror portion with painters tape and sprayed it with Krylon’s Ivy Leaf.

While that was drying, I took painters tape and wax paper and went to work. I taped over a sheet of wax paper with the painters tape, over lapping like you normally wood:

When my sheet was done I took my die:

Cut the painters tape/wax paper sheet to size and ran it through the cuttlebug and got these:

Then carefully peel the wax paper off the back and you will have stickers:

Then place the stickers all over your frame, in any random pattern. You may have some stickers that break in the peeling process. Use them anyway as a filler:

I actually really liked this color combo, but the painters tape would never stay. It wasn’t my intention anyways. So next I painted the whole thing with Krylon’s Peekaboo Blue. (I didnt take a picture of this step)

~~Impatiently~~ When dry, peel the stickers off and Voila! A very cool mirror:

Linking to these great link parties plus the CSI Project also!

Duct Tape Rose Washer Necklace

2010-06-01T14:01:00.001-07:00

I made this necklace specifically for the CSI Project Hardware Store theme challenge.

We had to use at least one item in our project from the hardware store. My items are the different sized washers, duct tape and paper paint samples.

First I made a duct tape sheet (tutorial here):

Then I die cut the same way as I would for my fabric roses:

Here is a short rose tutorial:

I also die cut circles from the free paint sample cards from home depot for the 2 small and one large washer:

Mod Podged the circles onto the washers, hot glued washers onto felt, cut around the washers, attached 2 bails, a chain and here we go:

I hope you like it. I will be linking to the CSI project as well as these fun link parties!!

Please mark your calendars for my Pajama Party starting June 9th!!

Makes My Monday (Tuesday)- Kams First Day At Preschool

2010-06-01T09:13:00.001-07:00

Kam has been going to daycare for a while, but today he started his first day of preschool! He was so excited to see 2 friends from daycare there and went straight to playing with his friends and the new toys.

Here he is at home..was not in a picture taking mood:

At the new school:

Makes My Monday hosted by Cheryl and Twinfatuation!

The Real Pink Saturday Birthday!

2010-05-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Well I goofed. I thought last week was Pink Saturday’s birthday, but its really today. BUT in my own defense, we celebrate birthdays for about a week around here, so for me its been a week long celebration!! (I know, just an excuse to eat more cupcakes ) So in more celebration, I bring you beautiful pink parties from around the web!

From Australia Entertains:

From TomKat Studios:

Have a great Pink day!!

Meaningful Jewelry Box

2010-05-26T11:55:00.001-07:00

A few posts back I told you about my husband and I separating last December and deciding in April to divorce. I have still been wearing my ring because I wasn’t ready to take it off and even if I was, I didn’t have, what I thought, was a special enough place to put it. I don’t change my jewelry often, so I haven’t really had a need for a jewelry box. I looked at different stores and thrift stores and never really found anything I loved. While at Michael’s one day, my father pointed out this unfinished box and I decided I would make my own:

With drawer open:

I didn’t take step by step pictures of the process. It was actually kind of difficult emotionally to make because I knew when it was done, I would probably put my ring in there right away, so I took my time with it.

Here is what I did:

Painted the box with Behr Ultra in Millstone, same paint as I used here. Next, I found some nice scrapbook paper in my stash and used that in the squares, the drawer and behind the glass in the lid. I also had my name cut in brown vinyl from the wonderful Shelley of Wonderfully Wordy. I placed the vinyl on top of the glass and the paper underneath. Lastly and probably most importantly, I used a monogrammed paper napkin that I found at Michael’s and cut out the C to represent my last name in the upper left corner. That is where I will put my ring, in a cute small drawstring bag. Here are the finished pictures:

I just need to put the hardware back on and its all finished and ready for a new home.

I will be linking to all these great link parties this week.

Makes My Monday – Kam Helps Again

2010-05-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have a feeling that most of my Makes My Monday posts will be about Kam. He is the light of my life, so I’m not surprised. I might throw a cupcake or two in there too lol.

This week he was all about helping again. Every time either I or my father need to do something around the house, the first thing Kam says is “ I want to help you” and he does. He is a great helper.

This week he helped grandpa hang my garage sale curtains that I purchased for $1.

Its fun to watch them doing things together =)

Make my monday is hosted by Cheryl at Twinfatuation.

Crochet Projects

2010-05-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

These are some crochet projects I did for this past Christmas. I did not have a blog at the time, so I am showing them now. I used the Serafina Pattern for the shawls using Joann’s Sensations Rainbow Boucle yarn. It was not written for this yarn, but as you can see it looks like it was. It stripes perfectly. I also did one other for my son’s daycare “mom” but I don’t have picture of it since my other hard drive crashed =(

At first it seems like a really difficult pattern. I had to make the first 7 rows with regular yarn so I could see what I was doing. After getting the hang of it, I used the boucle and it was very forgiving. And soft! I need to make one for myself one of these days. I never seem to crochet for myself lol.

Linking to these parties this week. Have a great weekend!!

Happy Birthday Pink Saturday!

2010-05-22T07:11:00.001-07:00

Pink Saturday is a wonderful collection of ladies who posts their interpretation of pink, every Saturday. That’s my favorite color! So I thought I would join in the fun. And what better day to start than Pink Saturday’s 2 year anniversary! So in honor of Pink Saturdays birthday, I give you pink cupcakes! Enjoy and happy birthday Pink Saturday!!

(these are a part of a collection of pictures I have had on my computer that I have found or have been sent to me. I do not have the sources. I do not claim them as my own)

Happy Birthday Pink Saturday!

I scored big time!

2010-05-21T10:51:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, before all the moving going on, I decided I had to get some retail therapy going. I found a local garage sale and for $3, seriously, $3 I got the following:

I’m pretty sure that bowl on the right is milk glass right? If anyone can tell me, I would be grateful. Next a crystal decanter. It has the sticker and it says its crystal, made in France. Then this great wooden box with coasters and finally a white teapot.

I also got 2 pairs of curtain panels:

See how well they match my new floor? ( that will be in another post)

I’m pretty excited and just wanted to share =)

Pizza Pan ~Into~ Magnet Board

2010-05-19T15:04:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday in the Sunday Showcase I saw this posting by the very talented Jennie of Cinnaberry Suite and I said that I had to do this. These memo boards are just so cute. So here is what I came up with:

I went to the Dollar Tree and there were NO cookie sheets. Really? None? Yes NONE. But they had Pizza Pans. AND they were 12” so I thought, ok my paper will fit using only one sheet, lets see what I can come up with. So here is what I did:

I sprayed primer along the outside edge of the pan and on 4 magnets:

Next came Ivy Green spray paint:

(Dont mind the overspray from my memo board project)

While that was drying, I used a plate to make a circle on the back of my paper. The inside of the pizza pan is 11.5” and my plate is 11.25” so I was pretty close:

That picture up there is actually of an oops. I had traced a pan that was 12” and when I cut it out, it was too big. Then I actually measured the inside of the pizza pan and redrew the circle and cut. So pretend this is right, k?

Next came the Mod Podge:

Then my perfectly fitting paper:

Next I hot glued cording to the inside edge of the pizza pan. I did not photograph this part and I have no vampire excuse this time =)

I punched out one 1” circle and mod podged it to one of the painted magnets. Then I glued a thumb tack with E6000 to the magnet part in the back to make this a pin back so I could put it up on the wall. Lastly I hot glued ribbon to the back of the board. I also cut 2 butterflies and hot glued them in the same area as my cording meeting, so you cannot see the way it sits ( Its not pretty). And voila, a hanging pizza pan turned magnet board:

That’s one of my favorite pics of Kam when he was smaller. Time flies!

I’ll be linking to these great parties found here.

I'm entering this magent board at the CSI Project.

Rose Topiary

2010-05-19T08:33:00.001-07:00

Anyone who has been reading my blog, knows that I am ~~obsessed~~ having alot of fun making my roses. Well I decided to do a little twist on them. I wanted to know if I absolutely had to use felt to make them stable enough or could I use other fabrics. I decided to try some cotton backed with Osnaburg which is a fabric with a similar texture to linen, but much less expensive, especially when you use a coupon. I got mine for $2 a yard after the coupon. So I tried and it worked. However they come out much smaller as you can see here:

Almost half the size. So it takes alot more to fill up a space than the ones backed with felt. It took be half a yard of each fabric plus Heat N Bond to make my Rose Topiary:

It was very hard to take a good picture of this in my livingroom.

Here is a picture of just a small amount of the flowers I used:

I love the print I used. Its this here. I thought it matched the new colors in my bedroom perfectly. Here is a close up of the top:

I used this tutorial for the butterfly. Then I applied some Spanish Moss from the dollar store to the bottom:

The little pot was painted with Behr’s Ultra Premium Paint and Primer in One in the color French Roast, which in my opinion is a close paint match for ORB. I had sprayed the dowel Ivy Leaf my Krylon.

This will go on the same shelf as my Live Laugh Love picture, once the shelf is finished.

Here is it again:

I will be linking to these fabulous parties starting next week. If you have a link party that is not listed on my link parties page, please leave it in the comments or email me so I can join! I love link parties!

Have a great rest of your day =)

Makes My Monday: Kam Wants To Help

2010-05-17T07:44:00.001-07:00

My son is at the age that he always wants to help everyone do everything. So he tries to help me do my crafts. I tried a new craft over the weekend ( more on that in a later post) and he wanted to help mommy with “Pod Podding” (mod podging) so I let him “paint” a little. I didn’t have the camera outside with me, unfortunately, but it was really cute.

I also have a project that I am finishing up and everytime he sees it, he brings it over and says “these flowers are for you mommy”. So here is my little man holding the project and at the same time, another sneak peek:

Make my monday is hosted by Cheryl at Twinfatuation. I thought this was a super cute idea as soon as I saw it and a great start to the week. Go check it out!

Live, Laugh, Love

2010-05-16T16:36:00.001-07:00

This is my new mantra. My husband and I separated back in December with the hopes of working things out and him coming home. We were both going to work on personal things that just were not getting the attention while being together. It didn’t happen. Last Thursday he flew back into town to get the rest of his things. He just drove out this morning. We had a good weekend today, with our son and with each other. We talked about alot of things and we know this is the best for us. We started out being friends and we are continuing to be friends, not just for our son’s sake, but for us too. We get along much better without the pressures of being in a relationship.

I have grown tremendously in the last 6 months, as a person, as a mom, as a friend and so how has. But in the long run, we know this is best and we are both sincerely fine with our decision.

So here is where this craft comes into play. I made this last week. It was a very easy project. I was super excited when I found these stickers at the dollar store:

They are repositionable stickers for the wall. I have always known this saying, but in the last few weeks it seems like it has been everywhere. That’s when I decided that I would adopted it as my mantra, to remember to do those three things to the best of my ability.

Here is my supply list:

stickers
11 x 14 canvas
paint
paint brush

The canvas I had on hand from a year or so ago when Big Lots was selling tons. The paint is a sample from Home Depot of Behr’s Premium Plus Ultra, Paint & Primer in one, in the color Millstream. It’s a really pretty light blue.

I didn’t take pictures of all the steps because I felt they were super easy and my very smart blogland friends would know right off the bat =)

Painted canvas the night before and positioned stickers the next morning when dry. Store 3 flowers from another project that will be up later this week and hot glued them to the corner of the canvas. Here is a close up of the upcoming project:

They are quite a bit smaller than the other flowers I’ve been making, but I’m totally in love with them:

And here is my finished project again. I will be putting this in my room on the wall, along with a few other things I have picked up and a shelf that I still need to paint:

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!!

Mama Mia!

2010-05-14T22:14:00.001-07:00

A little while ago, my son was invited to a birthday party for a 1 year old sweet little girl named Mia. My son goes to the junior gym with Mia’s older brother Max, but Kam is really smitten with Mia. I wanted to make her something unique for her birthday, so I came up with this personalized hooded towel:

I had appliqued the letters in a damask fabric.

I also tried my hand at some of these popular flowers floating around the net and made her some hair clips:

I think they came out pretty cute. If you would like a tutorial for the clips let me know and I will make one.

Both gifts were a hit! Mia’s mommy says she wraps herself in the towel like a blanket and won’t put it down. Yay!!

Have a great weekend!!

Flower Week Is Coming..Have you linked up?

2010-05-13T07:51:00.003-07:00

My very first feature!!

2010-05-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

I am sooooo incredibly excited!! Stephanie Lynn at Under The Table And Dreaming, featured my 3d Rose Tutorial on her blog today as part of a group from the Sunday Showcase she hosts. I am soooo extremely ecstatic right now. She has some of the most awesome ideas on her blog. I have purchased supplies just to make some of the items she has tutorials for. Watch out sweater, I bought one just to make her Sweater Covered Vase. Plus, I'm going to the dollar store today and on my list are the supplies needed for her Rose Petal Candle Holder. I'm so honored I could do cartwheels. I've never done a cartwheel!! LOL

I'm just completely over the moon, back and over the moon again!!

Repainted Memo Board and Magnets

2010-05-11T11:26:00.001-07:00

I have to tell you a funny story before getting into my project. When I first started finding all of these wonderful DIY home decor blogs, I fell in love. I thought all the creativity that I thought was out of my system was suddenly back again. I used to only sew children’s clothing or crochet. But now, I had people in blogland that loved to DIY home decor. Ahh..I was happy.

When I first heard the term ORB, I thought of a big glass egg shaped thing. Had no idea that oil rubbed bronze was all the rage. How excited I was to find out that I was already using those colors in my home, just in ready made items. So when I saw there was a spray paint in this color, I immediately went out to find it. I went to Walmart and they must have just restocked their spray paint, because there it was, among all sorts of beautiful colors. I was with my father, when I started jumping up and down and clapping my hands, he thought I had lost it. I purchased 8 different colors that day. I was so excited!! I felt like I belonged to a secret society!! HA!

Anyway, to my project. I found this at a local thrift store for $3.

I took off the hooks at the bottom, sanded, taped her up and spray painted her HW ( thats secret society talk for Heirloom White, Shhh dont tell!!):

Then I took the flowers I made in this post and used 5 to make magnets. Magnets are from Dollar Tree:

Hot glue, press and hold:

Viola! 5 easy peazy magnets:

And now they all hang out together on the wall next to my sliding glass door. I’m not sure if I should put something over the front of the slots to make it look prettier and I may be adding some small hooks to the bottom for keys. But for now, here they are:

Super simple redo and I feel officially part of DIY home decor’s secret society!!

3-D Rose Tutorial

2010-05-07T22:46:00.001-07:00

I got some questions about how to make the 3-D roses found in my Rose Wreath. So today I’m going to show you how to make them.

I promise I did not watch Vampire Diaries while making this tutorial and there are plenty of pictures!

Today we will be making these:

Supplies needed:

Fabric
Felt
Heat N Bond Lite
Iron
Felt Glue
Sizzix 3-d Flower Die
Die cut machine of your choice ( I use a Cuttlebug)

One sheet of felt, makes 9 flowers and I base all my measurements on that.Most felt sheets come in 9 x 12 inch rectangles and can be found at any craft or fabric store for about $.25. The fabric comes out to a fat eighth, if you can get that amount. Most big fabric stores won’t cut fabric that way. I usually get at least 1/2 a yard of fabric at a time anyway, so I can just cut it off of that.

Lay your felt sheet on your fabric and cut:

Then lay your felt or fabric on the Heat N Bond ( also purchased by the yard) and cut to fit:

Iron your Heat N Bond to your fabric as per manufacturer’s instructions:

Allow to cool. Peel off paper backing and iron onto felt piece:

Allow to cool again. Once cool, cut into 3x4 rectangles. I used my guillotine paper cutter and it works great. First cut your 12 inch side into 3 strips, 4 inches wide:

Then cut your strips, long way into 3 strips, 3 inches long:

This can be done with a rotary cutter or scissors. Whatever you have handy. I tried this method out one night and was super excited that it worked.

Here are your 9 squares:

Now its time to die cut! For the Cuttlebug, I sandwich a B plate, the Sizzix die, 2 rectangles over the large die and another B plate, and cut!

(Yes I’ve cut and made a ton of these already. I can’t help myself. Both my B plates look this bad lol)

This is what they look like cut and then pulled apart:

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Next we roll, just like any other rosette. This is tough to photograph because you do need both hands to roll these:

When you get to the end:

Time to glue! I use felt glue:

Put the big piece on the bottom and squish it together:

And that’s it! You’re all done. Admire your beautiful roses:

The possibilities are endless with these. I am making rings and hairclips and putting them in my Etsy store this weekend:

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3-d Flower Art & Tutorial

2010-05-07T16:20:00.001-07:00

This is my first tutorial and I’m super excited! I hope I get this right, so go easy on me, perty please!

First, I have to say that I have been mildly obsessed with making 3d roses, as seen on my Rose Wreath. Here are some others I have made recently:

I have turned some into rings and hairclips that will be in my etsy store soon:

But for now, I will be showing you how to make this little piece of 3d flower art:

You will need:

Fabric
Felt
Heat N Bond Light
Felt Glue
Jewel-It or any jewel embellishing glue
Scissors
Sizzix Lilac Flowers Die
Cuttlebug or any die cutting machine
Frame ( I picked this one up at the Dollar Tree)
4mm Bicones
Extra leaf from flower stem or you can cut out your own
Scrapbooking paper

This took me alot longer to do than was necessary because, since I like to craft with the TV on, I had Vampire Diaries on. Is there anyone else out there willing to admit that they watch this show? Is there anyone out there willing to admit that they SWOON over Damon Salvatore?? Yes, he’s very distracting. Moving on.

(not all supplies are pictured)

I found that the easiest way of doing this was to just cut a strip of fabric, felt and Heat N Bond, all the same size. First, iron your Heat N Bond to the wrong side of your fabric.

~~After about 5 minutes of drooling over Damon~~ Once this has cooled down, peel the back of the Heat N Bond paper and you will see your fabric now has a shiny side. ( this is hard to photograph, but you will know what I mean). Next place shiny side down onto felt and iron. I ~~was drooling some more and~~ forgot to take a picture of this step, for no obvious reason =)

Once this has cooled, sandwich your cutting plates, lilac die, bonded fabric/felt piece and run through your die cut machine. ( I didn’t photograph this part because alot of die cut machines will require different plates, depending on the type of machine. If you have any questions here, don’t hesitate to ask.

I cut about 8 large and 8 small of fabric/felt fusion and the same amount in just the felt.

(I’m not realizing that this is not the world’s best tutorial because I did not take enough pictures. I promise from now on not to watch Vampire Diaries when I have the intention of doing a tutorial)

Basically, the next step is to find a sheet of scrapbook paper that best compliments your fabric and cut to size. Please behind the glass and put your frame back together.

Now take your felt glue and start gluing on your leaves right on the glass. Your leaves can be cut with the same die if you want to use fabric or paper. I happened to have some leaves left over from a flower bunch and I just used those. Then start gluing your non fabric fused felt shapes down, trying to mimic the picture on the die. Glue with felt glue, again, right on the glass.

After that, layer your fabric/felt pieces on over the plain ones.

I decided to add the Swarovski bicones in the center, rather than the pearls as on the cover, because I thought it made the fabric pop. I glued them down with the Jewel-It glue.

And that’s it!

So what have I learned today?

No more watching Vampire Diaries while making something tutorial worthy
Don’t assume
~~Damon Salvatore is hot~~

Anyway, that’s how you make the 3d flower art. I hope you like it. And go easy on me, I was drooling =)

Rose Wreath

2010-04-27T22:53:00.001-07:00

I’ve been seeing alot of wreaths in blog land for quite a while and have always wanted to make one, but never could decide on exactly what I wanted to do. There are so many creative ideas out there! Then I was playing around with fabric & felt and came up with this:

Made entirely from felt and some areas of fabric and felt fused together. I LOVE it!! It was so much fun to make.

My home doesn’t really have alot of pink in it, so this one will hang in my craft room for now. My bedroom gets the next one, alot of light blue, cream and brown. Maybe one for the livingroom as well. I have alot of ideas for these fantastic roses. Thinking about also putting some OOAK in my etsy store. What do you think?

Total cost for this wreath is estimated at $3. I paid $1 for the foam wreath at the dollar store. Fabric on hand, includes 72" felt and fat eighth of fabric approximately $2 ( thats highball).

Linking this week to the blogs on my link party page.

Thanks!!

Pottery Barn Knock-Offs - Almost

2010-04-11T17:22:00.001-07:00

I’m super excited to report that I am in the process of making some really cool Pottery Barn knock-offs. I’m almost finished with them. As soon as I am, I will post the pics and a tutorial. I’ll also be posting the finished project at a few different link parties for the first time. So excited!!

Kameron’s Easter

2010-04-03T22:11:00.001-07:00

Kam had a FANTASTIC time gathering his eggs. He was so proud of them!

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Easter Cupcakes

2010-04-03T22:06:00.001-07:00

I made vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream for Easter. The buttercream tasted too much like powdered sugar. I mean it is made from powdered sugar, but that’s pretty much all I could taste. Everyone really enjoyed them, but I think I will try a different frosting recipe next time. I love the “cake” part alot. Its a great recipe!

I had purchased this printable Easter party set and made the flags out of it.

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Beautiful Jasmine & The Yard

2010-04-03T16:29:00.001-07:00

I planted the Jasmine 2 years ago and they are gorgeous! Pink Jasmine. They vine everywhere. I love how they have coiled into the bench.

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Red Velvet Cupcakes….Yummy!!

2010-03-28T14:36:00.001-07:00

I made these red velvet cupcakes from a recipe I found on the net a while back. I don’t remember where, or I would like it. The recipe was ok, the frosting a little too cream-cheesy for me. Would have preferred something different. But otherwise not bad and they did all get eaten!

Kam Having Fun!

2010-03-28T13:24:00.001-07:00

Kameron having fun. He just melts my heart everytime I look at him =)

The Necklaces

2010-03-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

I noticed that Cassidy from SimplyStatedJewelry.etsy.com showed the necklaces that I ordered as examples of the font. I'm so excited. Here is the one I got for my mom and it's listing:

Here is the one I got for me of Kameron and it's listing:

The Bubs Is Sick

2010-03-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

My poor bubbadude is sick. He has a throat infection that is apparently spreading like wildfire among kids his age. No medication, just a virus. But poor Kam is waking up every hour or so crying because it hurts. Luckily he only had a fever for 1 day, so I'm hoping this passes quickly as well. Nothing worse for a mother than seeing her child in pain. And Kam does not understand why it hurts or the fact that drinking fluids will help. I know he will be fine, it just breaks my heart. So its been a rough few days for him and us, but we will be fine!

Kam Loves The New Storage

2010-03-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

As soon as he came home today, he just looked at the new furniture and kept saying "WOW", then got super excited and was opening all the bins.

Train accessories:

His play kitchen items (he likes to make grandpa dinner):

Mother's Day Gift For My Mom

2010-03-20T18:00:00.001-07:00

I love the look of hand stamped jewelry and I thought it would make the perfect gift for my mom for Mother's Day this year. So I found SimplyStatedJewelry on etsy and have been talking to Cassidy, who is just fabulous to work with. She helped me customize a necklace for my mom and I'm getting something for myself as well, from Kam of course =) Here is a sample of what I am getting my mom, but it will have her grandkids names and birthstones on it:

Isn't it sooooo stinking perdy?? I love this stuff. Cassidy has alot of great designs, so go check her out!!

Ikea Shopping Spree And Redo

2010-03-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got a wild hair and decided I wanted prettier things in the house. So I started to think about doing some storage in Kam's new playroom. Well back in November, Ikea had some awesome 1 day deals that we passed up because frankly, who wants to stand in line on those days! So I passed up this storage bench for $99 ( its normally $250) which now, of course, I cannot find a picture of because navigating Ikea's site sometimes is frustrating. I don't remember the name of the piece. Anyway, I was thinking about putting 2 narrow coffee tables together and putting baskets underneath until I found this:

And decided to put it on its side, with these in the teal color in all 5 spaces:

It came out looking like this:

And look how great it matches the $89 table we got from Target a while back:

They are not black, but a VERY dark brown and I love them. My next step will be to change out that rug for something with brown and teal in it =)

Then I got this:

And these:

To put behind the couch, where a desk was. The desk is now in my office ( my next project) and here is the finished piece in all is loveliness:

Dont you love Kam's little wicker chair and the beautiful matching ink stain on the carpet?? Need to see about getting some Resolve for that. The unfilled frames sitting on top are these:

Which will hold 4x6 pictures that I have to print. I might wait and take updated pictures on Easter and put them in there. Next comes getting some plants and making some art for the wall that I found on Ucreate, which I'm really excited about. I'll be (hopefully) making those this coming week. The thing that is really bugging me there is the lamp, I might have to change that out because its too low with what I want to put in that area. I still have a corner in that room that I need to clean Kam's toys out of. Alot is being donated as he doesn't use it anymore. It makes me sad to get rid of his toys, but he truly is not playing with them anymore. Once all that is done, I will have an "adult" space...ahhhh. I'll post pics once its all pretty and finished.

Crochet Christmas Gifts...

2009-11-23T13:53:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting some crocheted Christmas gifts finished. I have tons I have already completed, but more are on the way.

This first one is a Queen Anne's Lace scarf I made for my dad's friend:

This shawl my mom asked me to do for her friend whose birthday is right after Christmas:

This shawl will be sent to my step mother-in-law:

Stuff from Ikea

2009-11-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow my dad is taking Kam to Ikea to pick up a few things. We are setting up a nice train set for Kam for Christmas, so they will be getting this table.

I also wanted some vases for my office for the coffee filter roses I have made, so I'll be getting these:

The pink one will look good in my office, the red one will go in the livingroom and I may give the orange one as a gift with some flowers to someone. I'll have to see what they look like in person.

Then I just need to find some boxes or bins to go in the space between the top of the table and the shelf, on the train table we are getting Kam. (Its actually a coffee table, but should work perfectly)