Making Friends

I got to meet a blog friend Friday!! I have been reading Hadley's blog for some time now and she comes to visit here as well. Recently, we realized we lived in the same state and planned a visit. I was so worried that we might not hit it off. That turned out to be a waste of time!! We had a blast!! I don't think there was much of a lull in conversation. Hadley is so sweet and cute and precious in person!!
When I arrived at her home, she had written on the chalkboard, "Welcome Elise". So cute!!


Here we are. I am the one in blue.

Hadley gets an A+ for hospitality!! She had towels rolled up in a bucket with a bottle of water in there also.

My room had fresh flowers and a tray with toiletries and little gifts.

Here is a closeup of the tray. She was so thoughtful!! That night we ate at a wonderful little mom and pop restaurant. Their bar-b-que was awesome and the twice baked potatoes top any I have ever had. Saturday morning we went to their local bakery that is run by some Mennonites and had the BEST cream cheese danishes. They were awesome!! Also, there was a yard sale in front of the bakery and I got a brass chandelier for $2. Actually, Hadley bought it and wouldn't let me pay for it. She said because I let her use my scrapbook paper. Whatever...Thank you though!!

This is sometime after Hurricane Hadley and Earthquake Elise hit!! We made a BIG mess, but it was so much fun!! I think our brains quit working sometime after midnight. Did I mention we stayed up until 4am??

This was one of our little projects. We just took canvases from Wal-Mart and cut out letters from my Cricut. I think I forgot to tell y'all that I got one right after Christmas. It is awesome!! Worth every penny...

Here is a banner we made for the baby shower Hadley hosted on Saturday. I could get addicted to these...

You can see more photos on Hadley's blog.

I had so much fun meeting you, Hadley, and cannot wait for our next visit!! Thank you for your hospitality and friendship, Hadley!!

Question for you prim gals

I got an unfinished wooden candlestick at Michael's today with the idea to make a make do with it. Any ideas of how to actually do it?? How do I make{lets say a bird} actually stick on it??
Thank you in advance for all your help!!

*So, I googled prim make do's and didn't find much in the way of directions, so I emailed a prim loving girl and she said to just use hot glue. I should have figured it would be that simple!!
*A make do{at least as far as I am concerned} is basically a stuffed something{be it a bird, heart, pumpkin, etc.} connected to a base. I am using a candlestick, but I have seen wooden spools used as well.

Do glittered eggs come from glittery chicks??

I have been in the mood for Spring and decorating for the season lately. I told Jen I wanted to decoupage some eggs and she found this tutorial. I fell in love with those eggs. Here are mine. I am pleased with how they turned out. I might suggest using bigger, flakier glitter, because the Martha Stewart glitter is so fine and seems to have more coverage.
Also, I just tied on these vintage screw on earrings, but I think I am going to get wire clippers and separate the earring from the backing and glue them on.



What do you think?? Are y'all getting Spring fever yet??

Green Berets

So, whilst watching American Idol last night, I was making these cute green yo-yo's. I threw one of these to Cory and he said they looked like hats that little girls wear. Um, berets??


I was so excited last night that Danny Gokey got thru!! Actually, all three of my peeps made it last night!! I actually clapped out loud when they called the girl's name. I think Danny is going to be the first person since Chris Daughtry to make me excited again. Though, I did like David Cook last year. He's just not Chris. I would get a silly smile whenever Chris would sing. I might have had a little crush...
What about y'all, who are your faves??

Last Minute Love

Or should I have titled it "Why I stayed up until 4:30 am on February 12th"?? Yes, folks, I went to bed that late because I am nothing if not the Queen of Procrastination. I will say that I had the great idea to make the above shirt for Lilly earlier that day. Here it is in the wee hours of the morning.

Jackson and Lilly at our homeschool groups Valentine Party. Dontcha just love Jackson's smile. The boy will not hardly give me a pretty smile, though he's capable. Oh yes, we were quite late to the party due to some last minute bucket decorating. The Queen...

My hutch with all its lovely decor made by my good friend, Jen.

The Valentine Tree with half made ornies. I did make them a while ago{I was so proud of myself for making these while the Christmas tree was still up!!}, however, I never got around to fully painting all of them.

The front shot. It is sitting on a free desk from Cory's work. It will be getting its Cinderella transformation soon. Another post for another day.

Fisher's bucket. Notice the little fisherboy on there. I think he looks like a dark-haired version of my little Fishee. Jackson decided after seeing all the ribbon going on Lilly's bucket that his and Fisher's needed just a little, also. {I made these out of formula cans, might as well reuse the expensive things, right?? Just modge podged scrapbook paper on and cut out a heart and mp'd it on as well. Drilled holes, strung heavy duty wire thru and tied some ribbon on. Voila!!}

All three buckets. The kids need cute ways to collect their Valentine's, no?? Lilly's turned out cute, despite the fact that it was not behaving around midnight or so. A little ribbon hides a multitude of sins!!

Jackson said, "I really like Lilly's bucket." I replied, "I really like your's." Then Lilly said, "Momma, don't you like mine?" "Of course I do, honey." Whew!!! Don't want anyone to be left out!!

After Friday's fun, I took my kids to my mom's work and she took the two "big kids" home with her for the weekend!! Cory and I spent a very low key day at home yesterday. We just watched some movies on tv. I felt like I was wasting the day, but it was nice. Then Cory went to the part store and fixed some junk on my van. The blinkers keep going out as well as my reverse lights. So thankful my husband knows his way around a vehicle!! Saves us lots of $$. Then he cooked breakfast for dinner. Yum!! Oh, and while I was trying to teach Fisher how to say "Momma" he shouts out a definate "Dada". Hmmph...

Hope you all had a great Valentine's weekend!!

Katy, I will be mailing your bag out tomorrow. Sorry for the delay. Remember, I'm the Queen!!

Tweet, tweet

Welcome to Lilly's fourth bird-day party!! Come up the path...notice the bird wreath on the door. I am sure I am the only one that really cares about that...

A birdie mobile adds to the theme. It is a little undone, but I threw it together at the last minute so it will do. {Actually, I learned to let a lot of things go this time...}

This plate of Lilly's hospital picture and a birdcage will greet you as you walk in the front door.

Hungry?? We had pbj pockets, grapes, chicken salad with croissants, artichoke dip, salsa, and veggies with ranch.

Please help yourself...

If you're thirsty we have pink lemonade, sweet tea, Dr. Pepper, and Mountain Dew. We also have bottled water if you feel like bending down and getting it off the floor. ;)

The cake wasn't exactly how I pictured it in my head, but again, I am letting go of my inner Martha here. Jen, does that bird look familiar to you?? I couldn't find plates like I wanted so I used my 10 cent dessert{or bread and butter} plates I got from a church thrift shop.

Happy Birthday to you...wait, you're not supposed to be blowing out the candles yet!!

Lilly gets a good laugh as Dad re-lights the candles!! I love this photo!!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Lilly, happy birthday to you!!

Now, you may blow out the candles.

We did a little craft. I found a package of 12 wooden birds, had Cory drill a hole, strung twine thru, and the kids smeared peanut butter and covered them with birdseed.

Jackson is seriously concentrating here!!

Time to open gifts!! Paper's a flyin'!!



What's that?? A hummingbird feeder from Nana!! Lilly got lots of great gifts, had lots of fun with her friends, and it was great to have everyone over!!

Glad you could all come!!

Fun Mail and Crafting

Katy, from The Country Blossom, has recently learned to knit. Since I was wanting more dishcloths and I remembered she liked a tote I made, I contacted her to see if she would be interested in bartering. I just got the dishcloths yesterday. They are awesome!! So soft and have a pretty, delicate, almost lacy edging. I already used one, too!! Thank you Katy!! They are perfect!!

In crafting news...Lilly is turning 4 on Sunday. We are having a birdie party, inspired by looking at the Pottery Barn kids catalog. I have been wanting to make a mobile for some time and this party gave me just the kick I needed. Here are the birds in their in between state.

I also wanted to make a wreath for the door. I thought I might wrap the floral fabric around the grapevine wreath, but didn't care for the way it looked, so I just tied a bow with burlap and strips of the floral. That's a little better...

I thought maybe the birds might give it just what it needed. What do y'all think??

Speaking of wreaths, I just loved the one Joyfullness made. I have so many embroidery hoops that I get from Goodwill and used it. I just tied strips of fabric and ribbon around it. It is my Valentine wreath. I love the way it turned out. You can click on the picture to see it closer up. Again, my photography skills are lacking. My poor camera is so embarrassed to be seen with me.

What kind of craftiness have y'all been up to??

On my list for 2009

In random order...apparently...
Sell all the things I have been collecting for Ebay, like this Pottery Barn duvet cover with shams.

Make more family memories. With Fisher of course. And maybe pound the pavement?? Whew...

Spend more time in The Word. The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me!!

Open my Etsy shoppe to pedal my wares.

Get around to starting and finishing a project. I have been marinating on this idea above for about a year and a half. What is the deal?!?!

Spend more time with the squirrels. Hee, hee!! We have so many in our backyard and we love to watch them scamper about looking for food and jumping from tree to tree.

Oh, and I would also like to learn to embroider and knit or crochet. And paper craft more and painting.

That's my list...What's on your's??

Motley Crew of Christmas Stuff

I am sitting here posting instead of doing the million other things I should be doing. Anyone relate?? Anyhow, of course my pictures are flipped again and I cannot move them. Okay, the above photo is all my packages ready to go to a cookie/ornament exchange that my friend, Jaime, hosted. I am a firm believer that packaging is almost everything. I love to make it look fun and festive. The cookies(whose recipe I will post soon) are in my favorite fun plastic bags and I had to add a bunch of ribbon and fun bow to the basket to tote them. I even snuck in a felt deer. The ornament is in the polka dot bag and the hostess gift is in the takeout box. You can see it below.

I just took a clear glass ball from Michael's, added in some fake snow, used rub-ons to spell snow and some fun, festive ribbon completes the little gift. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the actual ornament I took for the exchange. It was cute, though!!

Lilly, very fashionable in her brother's clothes, wanted to help me cook one day, so I let her stir the pot. Gotta love those boots. Three kids later and they don't fit anymore.

Our little peppermint baby...

Another little hostess gift. Kimmy, one of the girls in our homeschool group, hosted a Mom's party and we exchanged $10 or under gifts. Oh, forgot to add that onto the post, but I will, along with the cookie recipe. Anywho, here I just put some Bob's soft candy canes in a jar(I pick these up from the thrift shops all the time) with lots of ribbon and a tag. I love inexpensive, but cute ideas.

Hope y'all have a Happy Friday!! I am off to shower and hopefully find Christmas Eve pj's. Nothing like waiting until the last minute...