Favorite's of 2012

   With the end of 2012 steadily approaching, I wanted a way to salute all my favorite blogs that I have come to know and love in a short time. I started blogging because I wanted to share my craftiness and maybe someone would learn something too. Along the way I've come across other bloggers in the atmosphere that have the most awesome goodies. In honor of saying goodbye to the new year I am giving you 12 of my favorite bloggers or posts.

In no particular order



1. Oh I love me some junk and rust galore, enjoy her ideas and I am just digging in to her awesomeness.







      2. His realistic male reactions to his wife's blog or other craftiness found in blog-sphere are hilarious.






    3.She has wonderful tutorials on clothing, I particularly love the tutorial for a child's tool belt  I've made used it several times.





              

4. I learned how to Quilt by reading her Start to Finish tutorial and it's been a wonderful help as I've been working on my first.











5. I absolutely have fall head over heals for her DIY cleaners, they are great. Blessing in a bottle is my fav.









                              6. When I was looking for a chandelier that would work in our home kitchen remodel, I came across the mason jar chandelier how to. It was wonderful we did tweak a few things when we got to make ours she saved us so much.

                                                         

                                      7. One of my very first projects back at the sewing machine, I made a tutu tote bag for my daughter. I had a blast making this and simple directions to follow.

                                                                   8. Okay so I realize pinterest isn't a blog per say but it has become the international hub that lead to all the awesomeness that bloggers have and I couldn't be more excited about it.

9. I adore $1 decor and crafts, this blogger has some great tips on getting more bang for your buck when it comes to prim decor. 

10.  The small things blog has wonderful tutorials on how to make any style hair versatile.








11. Since I just tried these babies out "How the Grinch crinkled Christmas" cookies  they are so scrumptious and taste similar to gooey
butter cookies.




12.   I had to of course include my own right? I have only been
blogging a short time but I have learned a lot and can't wait to
expand my craftiness while helping others along the way.

     

A very happy new year to you and yours!

It's a keeper

Happy Friday everyone or welcome to your four day weekend for some. I must confess I have started taking down all our Chrismas decor. Everything felt so cluttered and I was ready for a change. But still in the spirit of winter I'm leaving all my snowmen out. I found this cute printable if you'd like to snag it here's your chance.

  For my kids tree we made coffee filter snowflakes so fun and easy I decided to make use of them for a little longer. I hung them up using ornament hooks they fit easily on my shelves.
So like many people I've given and received Christmas cards but what to do with them after the holiday is a big question mark. I mean do you toss 'em? No they're just to cute and someone took the time to think of you. Why not make them into a book so you could treasure them each season? So simple and it will only take a few minutes. Got your cards?

You can use plain paper or for you scrapbook junkies some Chrismtas themed if you have it though card stock is better.

   Take your cards and punch two holes near the folded edge, use one card as reference for the punched holes so they all are uniform. Once your done with the holes cut your chosen paper in half the pieces will become your front and back.


Grab some ribbon or binder rings and layer all your cards on. I printed out some lettering. Attach to your paper front and secure your ribbon. Viola, you have a card book to treasure for each Christmas.If your wondering about those adorable photo cards, all of mine worked just as well with this book and the holes didn't obscure any images. I hope you take the time to treasure all your cards you received this year, it only takes a few minutes.

 What's your latest crafting adventure?

And a very merry to you

  Greetings on the wonderful day, I am so hoping everyone had the most joyful Christmas. Ours was too good definitely a plus over last year, hubby was laid off a week before the holiday and really made us take a long look at how we were living at the moment. Any-who we all received lots of goodies, I think my gift hubs gave me topped them all....an ipad, I was so surprised it is still sinking in all the possibilities what are to come for me in my crafting adventure and beyond.

   I got so behind on my 12 days they all seemed to run together and I forgot to take final pictures of everything, but I still will share. Last we were ready for day 9 which was new pens, I know not all to exciting but we are forever searching for new ones in the house and I think that day resolved that issue, for awhile anyways. Day 10 socks conveniently come in a 10 pack since we share socks it was a very useful gift. Day 11 was 11 pieces of chocolate licorice hubs swears they are tasty but they hold no appeal for me what so ever. Day 12 was a year subscription to Men's Heath, my husband is gym rat and has been very health conscious lately so I figured why not be in the know of the latest tips and tricks out there. I am quite happy with how the days turned out and I just may have to top myself next year if I decided to participate again.

  With the end of the year just a few short days away I sat & I narrowed down the 5 key things I'd like to work on in the new year. I don't usually do resolutions mainly because I know I wouldn't do anything about them. But in order for me to further myself as a mother, wife, friend etc I need to also work on me. 

Here is my list,

   I will write down my list along with goals I'd like to reach and I know that I will see them daily and have no choice to work on them as I better myself. 

  

   Next week I will be posting about my Top 12 blogs of the year and I hope that you may find them as fabulous as I do. Until next time.....

 

Day 6-8 and an altered cigar box

Ahh wonderful Thursday only a few short days left till Christmas and I have 3 more true love days to share. Days 6-8 IOU back rubs, 7 emails with funny/love notes and 8 tootsie rolls hubby's fave candy.

  See how easy it is not all the days or any of them for that fact have to be uber pricey and it's oh so easy to plan out, its not to late to get started if you want to do the true 12 days they start on Christmas.

  With out further ado I now give you a craft, ta-da! Finally, I know I'm still diligently working on my quilt and haven't sat down to do something small to show.
  So any-who, my mother in law know how I love junk so she asked if I'd like some old boxes three of which are cigar boxes. I did some peeking around and found that altered cigar boxes are quite the to do in the scrap-booking world. I saw the cutest box made into a twilight themed box red and black with a white flower on top for a teen. But alas that wasn't what I was going for, I decided to just go with it. I had some paint, printable sheet music, some misc scrabble letters, and pieces of lace/scraps. I did have these darling wooden spools with a little bit of thread on them, I modge podged over the threads so they weren't going anywhere.

  I painted the cigar box with black acrylic paint, I love how fast it dries. I then sanded the edges, trimmed down my printed music sheet and burnt the edges. *Using a lighter over my sink filled with and inch of water just in case, I slowly burned the edges as desired. I used spray glue and the MP to adhere the paper. I added lace, a muslin flower and my letters "love always" but this has so many wonderful possibilities. 
I plan on using this beauty next to my sewing machine to hold the extra bobbins and thread for what ever project I'm working on at the time. I have two more boxes to experiment on but I am putting them on the back burner for now until my sewing is done.

  I'll be back after the holiday to share our final 12 days with you and maybe finally a finished quilt to display. Hope everyone has a steller Christmas may it be filled with joy, love and laughter with the best of friends along with loved ones. God bless!

 *I forgot to add I found this glue called goop that works well on glass, wood and just about anything but any strong contact glue should work just fine. Used to attach the spools to the box.

Picture perfect

This week crafting took a back seat as the mommy in me caught up on much needed house work. I did take some time to find my favorite photo display ideas to share with you all though.

Embroidery hoop photo display, know I've seen chandeliers out of them but not one like this very ingenious.

Oh I love wooden spools they definitely don't make them the same and so fun to craft with.

I have gobs of bottles like this I don't know why I never thought of using this idea before. Just be sure to use a copy not the original just in case.
What's your most unique photo display I'd love to see, happy weekend everyone.

Happy RAC'd day!

   Happy Monday, only 8 more days according to my daughters chain a day. As my daughter is getting older and really getting into the "gimme" mode I wanted a way to show her a different form of giving. All across pinterest I've seen so many ideas for RAC'd (Random Acts of Kindness) here's a few examples HERE,or HERE I absolutely feel in love with the idea of giving and for my children to see me do it.
So I had to sit down and see what I was capable of giving, we decided to make cookies for our mailman err person, and the trash guys along with some water bottles.

   I attached the labels on to the water bottles, today was our trash day and the last day before Christmas to give our gifts so I placed them on our trash cans in a Ziploc to protect from the drizzle today. I put the mail carriers gift in the box and lifted the red flag, he/she may be surprised when they done find any mail but a treat instead. Next I went through mcd's drive-thru for my peppermint mocha fix, I also ordered a gift card then asked the cashier to give it to the car behind us. Then after school we are going to the Dollar store and leaving a few $1 for an unsuspecting shopper on random items.
  I would have loved to do all of the ideas I have come across but I just wasn't able to, I'm hoping our gifts may inspire giving in someone else if not I hope that maybe made some one's day.

  As promised I am updating on the last few days of my hubby's 12 day's next we have day 3-5, it's shameful my sleepy self forgot to snap a photo of the last two nights so I took a picture of the notes instead. 3rd day was 3 packs of gum, 4th day 4 pack of boxer briefs and today #5 was a handwritten letter. Everything is being taken in good stride with my hubs and I think he enjoys being spoiled just a little bit.

So later on this week I may finally have a craft to share, I acquired some cigar boxes that I'm going to alter and I can't wait to get started. Have a crafty week!

*In light of the tragedy my heart goes out to all the families affected by the Sandy Hook shootings, you are in my prayers. 

On the 2nd day...my true love gave to me.

Today, is two anything that comes in doubles could be a pair of shoes, socks or clothes. I decided on a pair of pj pants. Last Christmas we had a slumber party on the day before Christmas eve, we get so busy those two days visiting our area family that we don't sit down to celebrate together. We rented a movie made (un)comfortable blanket beds on the floor and some yummo food. This year we are going to pull out our Jens mattresses so we can be more comfortable and so I don't end up on the couch again. I also wrapped a present with a new Wii game and pjs all around except for hubby's. 

I am a Star wars fan and came across darth vador set that I knew was perfect for our red and black themed for all to match.

This was a win also cause I know he will wear them, I can't wait for our slumber party with the kids, we had so much fun with it last year. We hope to keep it a tradition every year as long as the kids will still think its fun to do.

The next few days I'll will stock up on and post about day 3-6 in one post. I hope that your day is great and your weekend filled with wonderful times, stay crafty!

On the First day of Christmas...

Only 12 more days till Christmas and to my true love from me I wanted to shower him with gifts leading up to the big day. I came across several pinterest ideas that I knew would work perfectly, you can either go big or simple for this. My hubby has worked so hard on our new home and every other day as well so that I may be a stay at home mom. I'm truly blessed and wanted to show him how I felt.
First I set out making a list of gifts that I wanted to give for each day ideas found HERE I used the before link the most as reference , I also found a planning pack which I used the printable's to put on the gifts HERE. If you look at the other comments made on that blog has oodles of wonderful ideas if you are drawing a blank.

Here is the poem I used to go along with day 1's gift so hubby would know why he is getting a gift.

It is the Christmas Season
So I will use that as my reason
For showering you with love and affection
Because I want to truly celebrate our connection
But when I thought about what to get you
One gift just simply wouldn’t do
So these next few days are all about YOU
My feelings for you are deep, genuine and true
This is just a small way to say I LOVE YOU.
So be looking ahead for things coming your way
The 12 days of Christmas, from me dear, starts today!

Above is a picture of today's gift for my hubby, a new hat, awhile back he mentioned he wanted a new hat but he is always the last to get something for himself and most of the time I am hesitant to get him anything because he is so picky. I was informed this morning that I was in trouble because we had set an amount for each of us to spend on ourselves for Christmas but I couldn't just go with out getting him something from me. Hubby told me I was even more in trouble because I removed the tags and that he liked it too much.

After almost 10 years together coming up with new things to suprise him get harder but I think I hit the nail on this one. I hope you will continue to follow me along the next 12 days as I shower my true love. I think this is mostly definitely crafty and I couldn't help but share. Have a great day!

 

Home tour part 1

Hello again getting ready for some very fun things in the next week or so. As promised I wanted to share a tour of our new home, some areas are still unpacked and partially put together. I do have our living room and kitchen up to par which I'm very excited to share it with you. Home tour I am still getting the hang of all things blogger and I wanted to have a slideshow right on my page but I still haven't gotten it worked out just yet. What craftiness have I been up to? Right now I am busting out my quilt it's starting to really take shape it is all consuming right now and I just don't want to stop until the top is finished.
I am also working of organizing my craft area the best I can with what I have at hand. Hubby still has some tools stock piled in a corner from our remodel, which is pretty much done for the time being, time to put that on the honey do list. I do have a list of my own, which I better get to work on it. Stay crafty, until next time!

Making a come back

Wow I haven't posted in quite some time. It was been such a whirl wind since the beginning of last year, I originally started the blog to channel my creative juices. Then we got so busy with our new home I had to take a break. I still am not up to my regular schedule of crafting. I have barely begun to get things worked out but I am hoping to post more frequently in the coming weeks.

  We have moved in our new home things are going well. The kids are enjoying their own rooms and having a large playroom to destroy that isn't in our main living areas. Since I last posted we had Halloween, big J picked to be a bat and she thought little J would make a great batman. We by that I mean my loving husband worked his behind off getting things done at the new house. I will post a full house tour soon.
I am posting pictures of what we have been up to and some things I've made recently.

  I have done some crafty things but most of them pertained to house decor or Christmas here are a fe.

 I saw a very similar picture and knew I had a chair that I could duplicate it for myself

 Great thing about home renovations is the you have lots of scrap wood laying around just begging to be used

This is in our basement: which is the kids playroom

Found this on pinterest the original tutorial can be found HERE

I made some smelly things today, We have a old time general store they sell spices and such for good prices. I made a cinna-tree and some orange pomanders. Our house smells so delish and this are both so very easy to make. As always if you have a question feel free to ask away. I hope your December is filled with lots of love and joy this season.

Last but not least we had Christmas photos taken and I wanted to share. They are taken with a local photographer who just happens to be our new neighbors as well. If your interested in the site it can be found here- KN Photography Information