Crazy Kitty

Little E. was given many great gifts this Christmas. This particular one I enjoyed much more than he did. It is a "Grow a Pet". I'm sure you have all seen them and understand the concept. Just simply submerse the animal in water and 72 hours later your "pet" has taken new form. That is an understatement in this kitty's case. I realize this is a useless and silly post, but watching this thing bloat about just gave me the giggles! And why I thought to document it, I have no idea!

So tiny and cute! Harmless, innocent, little kitty hanging with Mr. Lincoln. 

See you in 24 hrs. Kitty! Enjoy the swim!

OH MY GOSH - HIDE THE CHILDREN! LOCK THE DOORS! I HAVE CREATED A MONSTER! Kitty is crazy and I can see it in his googley eyes! I knew cat's didn't like water and now I know why. A mucous like film surrounds him and the water has to be changed. He remains this way for the next 48 hours.

72nd hour: Tumors have dispersed evenly throughout kitty's body. However, a larger spine is needed to carry the oversized head.

Apparently kitty now has the neccesary tools to poo out the side of his face.

Kitty complete. 

6 times larger, 6 times awesomer. If you need to talk to kitty, speak into his left ear. He can hear better in that one.

Hey Kitty - why don't you use those 4 stubby legs to walk yourself right into the toilet!

Rock the Vote!

I am asking for your help! With winter preventing us from being able to work on the outside of our home, we are now focusing our efforts on the inside. We have lived in a bare, furniture-less house for nearly 2 years and the time has come to spend a little money (and I mean it when I say "little") and buy something to sit on....finally! This summer, we bought this old table from Home Again and I was so happy because it was exactly what I was looking for, the price was fabulous and Wes even picked it out! Way to go honey! 

Now, this is what I am thinking:

I am so in love with Herman Miller/Eames Eiffel Shell Chairs! I want to put these at the ends of the table...someday.  

With that said and hopefully a pretty picture painted in your brilliant heads, here lies my dilemma:

I would really love to buy 4 metal chairs (2 on each side) but am having a hard time deciding which of these I like best. I have been staring at these pictures for over a week and am still undecided! This is where you come in.

PLEASE vote for the chair that you think I should buy! 

A

B

C

D

Thanks for participating!

The M&M Christmas Story

We received a neighbor gift last year that I thought was so different and creative, that I thought I would share it. 

They gave us a bag of Christmas colored M&M candies with the following poem attached:

As you hold these candies in your hand and turn them you will see: 

The "M" becomes a "W", an "E" and then a "3".

They tell the Christmas story, it's one I'm sure you know.

It took place in a stable a long, long time ago.

The "E" is for the East, where the star shined so bright.

The "M" is for the manger, where Jesus slept that night.

The "3" is for the Wise Men bearing gifts from where they came.

The "W" is for worship; Hallelujah! Praise His name!

So as you eat these candies, or share them with a friend, remember the true meaning.

For His story has no end! 

Crash Landing

We always eat dinner with my family on Sunday nights. It has become the "norm" for Sunday evenings. After dinner, everyone usually sits around in the living room with huge bellies full of a delicious meal made by my father,  talking, hanging out and waiting for someone to make a dessert so that we can gorge ourselves all over again! Sometimes we even play board games, have the nieces show us their latest dance moves, or when the weather is nice, we play games outside in the yard. I'm not sure how it started but, for some reason, my Brother-in-Law Matt decided it would be fun to play "airplane" on this particular day. 

*

First attempt: He started off trying to hoist Wes up in the air. Are you kidding me? They had the room laughing with hysterics! 

Failed and CRASH!

Wes and I make the second attempt. Failed and CRASH!

We discovered a new system that just might work....

I'm up and holding on...steady....keep your balance....

legs straight....

And we're off! 

Everything looks so tiny from up here!

Did anyone happen to get a good look at the moon the past few nights? The full moon this month was closer to the earth than it has been in over 20 years! It was amazing!

I took this picture the other night after coming out of the LDS Conference Center and walking through Temple Square. We had just attended the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. Since there is such a high demand for tickets to this event, you must enter your name in an online raffle a month in advance and just hope that your name is selected out of the 70+ thousand that enter. Low and behold, my mom received 4 tickets! It was such an amazing concert and I am so glad we had the opportunity to go! We were quite nervous because we were told that you had to be in your seats 30 minutes prior to the concert or your seats would be given away. I had this happen to me before at a devotional with President Hinckley and have also heard other's horror stories about loosing seats at various events held at the conference center. If you have ever tried to drive downtown during the month of December, you know what a nightmare and a headache it is! We were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for over 30 minutes, only having moved 1 block in that time! Wes, my mom and I jumped out of the car and told my dad that we would run to the conference center and claim our seats while he parked the car. We had to run 3 blocks with only 10 minutes left to get into our seats! When we got there, the line was HUGE! They were scanning each ticket, searching purses and having everyone walk through metal detectors. We finally made it in and found that our seats were right up front, only a few rows from the stage! We were so excited! Then...an usher told us that since we were not in our seats on time ( we were 7 minutes late) that they were given away and if we still wanted to see the concert, we better hurry up to the balcony where the few remaining empty seats were and that they were filling up quickly. Dad is still not in sight! We run upstairs and I tell Wes and my mom to save my seat as well - I have to find my dad since it is not reserved seating, just reserved "sections"! I run back downstairs while hearing the orchestra begin their first number. As I come to the entryway of the conference center, I see my dad entering through the metal detector and the ushers slamming the doors behind him. He was the last one they let in. Once the music starts, doors close! Hundreds of people are left outside, tickets in hand and furious! They are too late. My dad and I race back upstairs to try and find my mom and Wes in a crowd of THOUSANDS (seriously, this place holds 20,000 people)! As we race up the escalator and enter through the doors to the balcony, we happened to end up walking right next to Wes and my mom as they are looking for available seats. We find an usher and he guides all of us to 4 empty seats right away. We sit down and the choir starts to sing. Our luck was pretty good that night but the music and performances were even better! 

Next year we are taking Trax!

Christmas Party Pooper!

There are a lot of perks with Wes' job, and this is definitely one of them!

Saturday was the Park City Fire Dept. children's Christmas party. It is such a fun event so I was really looking forward to going. Wes was on shift so we drove up and met him at the church where the party was being held. It really is so nice of the Park City residents to let part of their hard earned tax dollars go towards buying a present for my child and paying for this amazing party each year! We thank them graciously!

I really thought E. was going to be entertained by all the people, the games and food.... Nope. We had such a good time watching the other children behave so well and enjoying themselves while our child climbed the stairs over and over, ran away outside and gave random hugs to all the people he happened to run into!

He really is a good boy Santa, we promise!

The party was at St. Mary's church in Park City. The weather was perfect and we found ourselves being outside more than we were inside.

Well, only if we wanted a happy child instead of a screaming child.

The festivities included a couple balloon artists making imaginative shapes for the children. All E. wanted to do was play in their stuff and make a mess.

He didn't care much about what they made for him and he just left it behind for some other kid to play with. He just wanted to be back outside!

There was also a magician who had brought a real bunny and performed some pretty cool tricks with really bad jokes!

That would be my child behind the magician. He didn't want to watch the magic show either.

Finally we gave in and left the party inside and started our own outside. We knew what was coming anyway....

Only minutes later, AirMed flew in and landed in the field next to the church! All the other kids and parents were outside by this time.

Then, Santa jumped out and surprised all the kids! It was very cool!

Wes took E. to see the helicopter and let him have a look around.

It kind of grossed me out letting him sit in here since I could see blood stains on the upholstery and thinking about how many people have suffered and died in there. Morbid, right?

It was time to sit on Santa's lap! Well, needless to say, he didn't care much about that either. Shocking.

This picture is wrong on so many levels. 

E. hates Santa, Wes is giving me the creeps and I am sick as a dog and could not be any more pale. Oh well, what childhood is complete without a bad Santa photo?

I guess Santa didn't think he was too bad since he gave him this. Well, the taxpayers did at least.

Don't Forget!!

It's that time of year again! I am so excited! Every summer and winter, the Beehive Bazaar comes alive and features the handmade work from some of the most talented and creative artists and crafters here in Utah. It is a must stop and a real treat to attend this event! Don't miss out!

So what am I making for it this year?

 These:

Although, I am not quite done with them, here is a little sneak peak. This will be a vintage book of "The Night Before Christmas". I have Modge Podge'd the pages to heavy card stock and, of course, added accents of glitter to some of the pages. 

Of course. 

They will be bound with silver ruffle ribbon - perfect for hanging on the tree, doorknob or displayed on the table for a quick bedtime story!

Also...

These.

 They are "display" plates. I can't really call them "cake" plates because I am not sure they would hold up too well with food! I think they would be perfect for the bathroom counter to hold perfumes, soaps or what I did......

I use mine next to my stove to hold the salt and pepper shakers and toothpicks.

I thought I would show some pictures of previous purchases from past Beehive Bazaar's. In no way am I trying to show off all my great stuff - that is lame, but to give you a sense of what kind of crafts to expect. This is not your average Utah craft show. There will be no glass blocks or wooden plaques with vinyl lettering on them, nothing that was just shipped from Thailand and looks like it came from Tai Pan, and no, you will not find metal magnet boards with a large wooden frames here. Not that there is anything wrong with that stuff, and if that is what you prefer, then you might want to stick to attending the Holy Cow or Blue Goose Boutiques. This show is a little more innovative and modern, and how should I say it....not so 

"Utah Culture-ish".

Here we go:

Purses by Noelle Olpin. One of the founders of the whole bazaar production. She is a busy girl! Her eclectic mix of fabrics make these a big hit at every show! She also sells aprons for adults and children alike. I have one on my wish-list this year! I can't wait to see what she has sewn up this year!

Only the cutest pin cushion in the whole wide world!

Original artwork by the one and only: Colett Yarro. Also known as "my big sister", hence the big plug! No signed and numbered prints sold here! You can check out her blog to see her latest and AMAZING work or she is also featured on the front page of the Beehive Bazaar website at the moment. If you ever find yourself in Park City, you can get up close and personal with her paintings at Paisley Pomegranate and soon to be in the Sugarhouse location, as well. So proud of you girl! Did I mention that she was featured on Design Mom with a  nice little shout out? 

Check out Kanani Hayes with Vinylicious. She also sells smaller notebooks, checkbook covers, coin purses and scripture holders. Can't make it to the bazaar? You can also find her work at Frosty Darling downtown SLC.

Not your ordinary mouse pad! A little touch of Amy Butler never hurt anybody! Not me, at least.

Pillows by Sherisa Bly with Robots are Forever. Little E loves his robot pillow and I must say that it looks pretty darn cute in his crib!

Glass votive with decoupaged tissue. I love the iridescent glow when the candle is lit!

Vintage fabric lampshade with large ball fringe. Perfect addition to my craft room....someday!

Stained glass by Stephanie Higginbothem. Another shining face behind the making of this show. However, I think she is just going to stick to making her amazingly beautiful cupcakes this year! You may have already tried them here. The frosting looks like edible lace. She is just as sweet as her baked goods, too!

Wooden magnets to help hold my recipes in place

Bobby Pin created by Miriam Sabir with Abode. You may have been to her delightful store located in the heart of Sugarhouse.

A delicious belt buckle that I attached to my father's old tooled leather cowboy belt. This can be found around my waist on a near daily basis! I heart it SO much!

Felt pin that dresses up any sweater or purse. I actually think it would be cute on a pillow too!

Jewelry by the talented Jennifer Calderon of 57 Mondays.

Do you enjoy asymmetry as much as I do?

Antique button rings by Molly Call, one of the beauties and brass behind the whole show! You can count on Molly making something unique and innovative at each show. Her taste and talents are unparalleled! How does she fit in crafting with all the planning and organizing of the show!?

Earrings by Caroline Drake with Armelle Jewelry.

Her blog is drool worthy.

*

So there you have it! Hope you can make it...it will be well worth it. Come do some Christmas shopping or to just spoil yourself!