Want to get crafty?

Saturday was an all day long, all-you-can-craft day at my sister's house! It was dreamy (Lyndsey, we missed you!)! She has such an amazing art room that is usually in perfect order and tidy as can be, but this is what happens after only a few hours of us getting our craft on!

My sister, Colett, was making Christmas presents for her friends, Beehive Bazaar goods and this.....

I need to give birth to a little girl just so that I can make one of these too! I love it!

She had taken an old lampshade and removed the fabric from around it. Then she wrapped all the metal with thick green yarn. She got some twigs off her trees and placed them inside, securing them with twine and then added some silk flowers, leaves she made from felt, a nest and paper mache birds she made from old book pages.

(Isn't her daughter's room adorable?!)

As for me, I made a few things.

This being one of them:

You can get the tutorial on my craft blog H if for Handmade.

Be sure to keep checking in on my craft blog for great Christmas present ideas, wrapping ideas, or maybe just a few things you would like to make and keep for yourself!

And who knows, there may even be a GIVEAWAY in the near future!

Are you feeling lucky?

Serendipity

I know I should be blogging about my Halloween fun from last month. There are pictures to be posted, parties to rave about and events to be written of. I know I am behind on all of this. However, other exciting news has occurred that I feel free to discuss.

Today was an unusual day to say the least. This morning, I woke up and had to write a note to the lovely Beehive Bazaar ladies and inform them that I had to back out of the show. I was devastated. I was brought to tears. I was heartbroken. The bazaar was something I really wanted to be a part of and I was really looking forward to. Due to time restraints, some major repairs being done on our house and Wes working a lot of extra shifts while leaving me to survive as a single mom, there was just no way I could pull it all off and get everything done in time. I was so sad to miss out on such an amazing opportunity.

This afternoon, Wes and I were driving around looking at houses (that is another story for another day!) and decided to stop at Fashion Place Mall to walk around and let Emerson stretch his legs. While I window shopped, Wes took E to ride the quarter operated machines (Gross!). I noticed a fabulous little clothing boutique, door slightly propped open with a beautiful sign above it reading "Lucille Elaine". I peeked my head inside and asked if they were open. The nice girl behind the counter said they were not, but that I was welcome to come in and look around if I wanted to. I did want to! Of course I did! After drooling over all the amazing clothes and talking to the owner, I just blurted out, "Are you hiring part time work?" I don't know why those words escaped my mouth. I have not worked in 3 years and had no intention of working any time soon. After saying that, I thought to myself, "What are you doing!!?? Are you an IDIOT!" The Owner, Megan, replied that she did need to hire someone and she interviewed me right on the spot. Turns out I am a good fit for the position and am now an employed woman! 

When I called Wes to see where he and Emerson were at in the mall, I had to tell him that he needed to come and check out his wife's new place of employment! 

I will only work 1-2 days a week and the owner said she will let me work around Wes' shifts so that he can be home with E. 

So wonderful! 

Mom of the Year and Poor Hearing

Yesterday while doing some last minute Halloween costume shopping, I ran to Joann's Fabrics for some embellishments and ribbon. Right before I pulled into the parking lot, Little E decided to fall fast asleep and I could NOT wake him up! I had to haul him around in my arms the entire time we were there and it was getting so difficult to hold him, dig through the discount fabric bolts and tote around 3 spools of ribbon. My arms were tired and I just couldn't balance all three so this is what it resulted to:

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Not to worry, I was never more than 3-5 feet from him at all times! He got a good rest and I got the fabric I needed!

This was not the only humorous thing about this trip to the fabric store, however:

While waiting in line to get my fabric cut, there was a man and his 2 kids in front of me. The children were dressed up in costume and the woman behind the counter commented on how cute the children looked. The father was standing on his toes and looking about the store with wondering, concerned eyes and said, "I have another one running around here somewhere. He's dressed up like a Ninja!" The woman obviously misheard the man and laughed out lout and said, "A MIDGET!? That is so funny! What did you do about his arms?" (WHAAAAT!?) Then....the man who was not paying full attention to her, due to the fact that he was still searching for the child that was still roaming aimlessly around the store replied, "He just throws karate chops and punches with them!" This sent the lady into hysterics and also put wildly entertaining images in my head! Sadly the missing child made his way up to the counter in his stealth black hooded costume, naturally resolving all misunderstandings and putting an end to all my fun.

Thoughts in Fall

The fall season is very nostalgic for me. As a Utah transplant, I often get homesick and there are days that I would just rather be closer to my roots. The kind of homesick where there is a real physical pain in your gut and your heart aches. While growing up, this is the time of year that we would make several trips to northern Wyoming where both sets of my grandparents lived. Their firewood needing chopping and stacked, the leaves raked and burned, and the garden harvested and canning done. I loved our visits and being surrounded by so much family and good food! The other day I took my grandmother's orange carnival glass, that I inherited, out of our cupboard and displayed them on the shelves in our dining room. I wanted to be able to look at them every day! I love that they are now adding color to our room and also allowing my thoughts to be in a distant place where my body unfortunately cannot.

A Novel Idea

(you will need to turn the music off at the bottom of the page!"

Yes, that's right, you can go ahead and call me a genius! I had this thought the other day of how I could make little E eat his veggies. In previous battles with my son trying to get him to eat a balanced diet, I would have to say things like, "This peanut butter sandwich is made with Grandpa Wayne's special jam!" or "This is daddy's very favorite food that he eats when he works at the fire truck's house!" I found that if I use references to things that he adores when referring to his food, he eats it right up - because who wouldn't want yummy fire truck house food! So I thought if his food looked like it was fun and showed resemblance to things he favored, he may just devour it after all!

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Lucky for the world, Wal-Mart sells individually packaged veggies in the varieties of beans, corn and carrots. They also sell stickers in the shapes of lots of exciting boy-like things!

A little sticker here, a little sticker there......

And you may ask, "yeah, but does it really work?", and I will have to say, "See for yourself, you skeptic" !

Here is a little hint: Only apply the sticker to one packaged veggie (or other food container of your choice) and show your child just that one as "bait". Then prepare one that does not have a sticker on it. That way, you are not having to place a sticker on each and every piece of food you want your child to eat and the package of stickers will last longer! 

Tag! Me in the moment!

making: a bubble bath to pamper myself in! 

cooking: cream cheese-turkey bacon-broccoli stuffed chicken for dinner  

drinking: Carnation Instant Breakfast. Always.

reading: The Help by Katheryn Stockett. I cannot put it down it is so good! 

wanting: to make a T-Shirt that says "Satan is a Jackass" on it.

looking: at the stain on my shirt from last night and how it makes me want some chocolate.

playing: My Morning Jacket on iTunes

wasting: wattage. I like EVERY light on in the house so it doesn't feel so dreary!

sewing: a drawstring bag to contain all our plastic grocery sacks. So basically, a bag for bags. 

wishing: I had the money and guts to get a nose job. 

enjoying: wearing sweaters and boots for a change

waiting: for payment for all the work Wes did this summer so we can get things done on the house. 

liking: seat heaters in my car

wondering: how I can make some extra money for the holidays without having to work!

loving: Jeffery R. Holland's talk yesterday. Amazing!

hoping: that we get our new front door in before winter hits

marveling: at how my child can play with only one thing for hours! Bulldozers!

needing: new clothes. I am having a fashion identity crises. 

smelling: citrus and basil oil in my diffuser

wearing: the same clothes I have had on for 2 days straight....pajamas! 

following: Oddee. I could spend hours on this site...and do. Serious entertainment! 

noticing: How when I am the only one home, my house stays clean.

knowing: exactly what I am passionate about

thinking: how if it's going to be done, then it's up to me to do it. 

bookmarking: Nicolette Camille's Floral Design. It makes me want to get back into the floral design business!

opening: my mind to be more accepting of the female race.

giggling: at Wes lying to me about how much he spent at Cabellas. 

feeling: very grateful that I am not allergic to down bedding because I love it so much!

Good Bye August!

I think I just blinked a few times and the next thing I knew, August had come and gone! How did that happen? There are a lot of things you can say about my little family, but being idol people is not one of them. We keep busy and we like it that way! Although, it does make time fly by so quickly and I am having a really hard time accepting the fact that is almost mid September and the warm temps are leaving us all too soon. I feel like we can hardly keep up most days. A few highlights of our end of summer month that I don't want to ever forget, include:

Going to see Chicago in concert with VIP backstage passes. It helps to have band members as family members! 

Emerson getting a big new sandbox that his daddy built. I love to see his imagination at work while he is in there! 

Picnics in the backyard. The cooler evenings give us a nice break from the heat and let us enjoy some BLT's on the blanket!

Watching the sunset at the cabin with our good friends Tosha and Eric. I love that we have a little place to runaway to and escape reality for while!

Attending the Hot Air Balloon Festival. It was really amazing to see all the balloons, but the poor weather prevented them from ever taking off. 

Celebrating our 6th Anniversary! A beautiful bouquet of flowers and dinner at the Paris was exactly what I ordered! 

So long August! You were fun while you lasted!