Realynn

A-Line Skirt for Skirt Week

2011-06-02T17:34:00.003-04:00

Have you guys heard of Skirt Week? It's going on over at Crafterhours. Go check it out !

I made this skirt a while ago and just decided to try it on myself today. I like it for the most part. Wish it was just a tad longer. I made it with a yoga style waistband which makes it that much more comfy. It's getting hot here finally so I'll be making a few more of these for myself soon.

I have to warn you before you read any further. I'm awful at getting my picture taken. I make funny faces, blink, squint, frown. I just can't get it right. So I usually hide but to enter into the Skirt Week contest you have to have the skirt pictured on you. I hate when people cut their faces out of photos but that's just what I did with this one. Trust me you don't want to see the face I was making in that one. ;)

Oh my...look at the face..like a pucker or something. haha.

These a-line skirts with the yoga waistband are the best. You can wear it as a skirt like above or you can hike it up and wear it as a top. I think it would look A LOT better if I had boobs to fill it out but that's never going to happen. Squinty eyes any one? blah

Does it look like I have a shrunken head in this next one? I've always said I do...lol. I think my head isn't proportioned to the rest of me. Geez, I'm really complaining today.

I'm done I swear.

These are super easy to make and super quick. If you'd like a short tutorial let me know and I'll whip one up real fast.

Winner Winner Winner

2011-04-27T23:55:00.007-04:00

Sadly the Pen's lost tonight so they are out of the running for the Stanley Cup. It's ok because we will get them next year. :) That's what all losing teams say right?

This was as far as my husband got on his beard. As soon as that buzzer went off he ran to the bathroom to shave. Something about it being itchy but really there isn't much there so I think he should have kept it. I wanted to see what it would look like in full Grizzly Adams mode!

Are you ready to see who won the giveaway? There were 3 groups and everybody that commented got entered into the drawing for each group. So that was 3 chances to win!

I want to thank all of you who entered. I didn't realize it would be so hard to give away free stuff! Did you guys add it up? There was $250 worth of prizes being given away. I think that's awesome and I'm so happy for the winners.

Are you ready to see who they were?

Ok...I will put the group # and then who won it. It will coordinate with the group # in the original giveaway post here. Got it? Ok good....Here goes!

Group 1 Winner

#6 Mary

Group 2 Winner

#12 Valerie Smith

Group 3 Winner

#8 Ashlee

Congratulations you 3. I need you all to email me so I can get your prizes to you!!

I need to catch up on orders then hope to be back soon with something crafty to show you all. I miss blogging!

I Give

2011-04-23T20:56:00.002-04:00

Ok...I give. No body is donating to the Beard-A-Thon. I should have thought this out better. It's tough out there right now and I completely understand not being able to donate right now. So...I've decided to change the rules for entry. To enter all you have to do is comment on the post for the giveaway here and tell me what your hometown hockey team is :)

To keep it about the Beard-A-Thon, if you would like extra entries all you have to do is donate to my hubby's beard. Go here and click on Pledge this Beard. For every $10.00 you get an extra entry. But you already get a free entry by just leaving me a comment! So tell all your friends and lets get lots of people involved! There are some great items here to be given to 3 of you!!

Go comment now!!

Hockey Playoffs and a HUGE Giveaway!!

2011-04-19T22:22:00.007-04:00

make sure to read all the way through because there is a huge giveaway at the end! :)

Hey guys! Have you all heard of the Beard-A-Thon going on with the NHL? If you are into Hockey I'm sure you have. If you aren't a hockey fan here is a rundown. Each team that's in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup have their own page where their fans can sign up to grow their beards out until there team is out of the playoffs or WIN the Stanley Cup. Also each team that is participating choices a charity or cause to support and raises money for them!! I think that's awesome don't you?

The Pittsburgh Penguins (our hometown team) are in the playoffs! Yay! So my husband decided to join the Beard-A-Thon and grow his out. (which he never does because he says it gets itchy) Here is the fun part....you can 'Pledge a Beard'. The Pen's have chosen the Mario Lemieux Foundation as their cause to support. And what a great one it is.

(copied directly from the Pen's site)

The Mario Lemieux Foundation was created in 1993 by hockey legend Mario Lemieux and is dedicated to raising funds for cancer and neonatal research as well as Austin's Playroom Project, an initiative that creates sibling playrooms in medical facilities. The Foundation’s projects include:

• $3 million gift to the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, to establish the Mario Lemieux Center for Blood Diseases at the Hillman Cancer Center
• $5 million gift to the renowned University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, to establish the Mario Lemieux Centers for Patient Care and Research
• $2 million gift to the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh, to establish the Lemieux Family Center
• $1.6 million gift to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, to establish the Mario Lemieux Foundation Endowment for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Research and create the Lemieux Sibling Center

Additionally, Nathalie Lemieux created Austin’s Playroom Project after the Lemieux’s personal experience while caring for their premature infant son, Austin. Austin's Playroom Project seeks to benefit families and improve the quality of a child's hospital experience whether as a visitor or patient by establishing cheerful playrooms that are safe, calming and comfortable. 21 Austin’s Playrooms have been established in western Pennsylvania with six additional playrooms scheduled to open in 2011.

On the news just the other day there was a story about how the Mario Lemieux Foundation had donated a bunch of xBox's to the Children's Hospital for the kids. Which yes I know isn't as important as making them well but getting their spirits up and giving them something to get their minds off of things for a while is always a good thing, right?

This is where the giveaway comes in. I emailed a bunch of my favorite people asking if they would donate an item to be given away and I got a great response. :) The catch is you have to go Pledge my husbands beard to enter the giveaway. NONE of the money comes to us. It doesn't even come through us. It all goes directly to the Mario Lemieux Foundation and will say that in the email you receive after pledging. We are getting nothing from this at all besides knowing that we are helping raise money for the kids! The whole 'Pledge' thing is just a fun way for the fans to feel connected and have some fun.

So to enter the giveaway you must go Pledge Chris Waldrop's Beard then come back here and leave me a comment saying you did. Easy right? I know what you are thinking, having to pay something to enter a giveaway. But seriously it's for a good cause and you could win some awesome things. The giveaway will last until the Pen's are out of the running for the Stanley cup or they WIN! So hurry up and pledge so you can enter just in case we don't make it very far. This giveaway could last days or weeks. Just depends on how well we do!

You all want some pictures of the Beard I'm sure! Here is a pic of Chris on shave day. It's the evening of shave day so it's grown just a bit but you get the point.

And here is a picture at one week of no shaving. I almost didn't believe him that this was all it has done in a week but I checked the Pen's playing schedule and sure enough it's been a week.

Kinda looks like a mug shot, no? I told him I'd be posting these so if he wanted a better picture he should have taken one!

I'll be posting pictures weekly of the growth so you all can see how it's looking.

Now onto the giveaway!!!

I have divided these into 3 groups . When you comment please make sure to say which group you would like to be entered for.

GROUP 1

$25.00 to spend at Little Lizard King. I have a few of their patterns and love them!

This Fabric Bundle from the Fabric Shoppe

Tutu and Flower Headband Set from Myah Bee Boutique

A $15.00 Store Credit to Skidz Wife Creations

GROUP 2

This FQ Bundle from Sew Fresh Fabrics

Your choice of 3 patterns from V and Co. I love the ruffled scarf :)

Polka Dot Wristlet from It's Owl Right

1 Deal From Groop Dealz that is $20.00 or less. (needs to be used within 30 days of when you are notified by me that you won!)

GROUP 3

3 Patterns of your choice from Little Birdie Secrets

1 Deal from Groop Dealz that is $20.00 or less. (needs to be used within 30 days of when you are notified by me that you won!)

1 Hello Kitty Pillowcase dress in the size you chose from 12m-6 from me :)

$30.00 Gift Certificate to Zoe Girl Designs! I'm in love with her whale onesie!!

I love everything here! I wish I could enter since I did already Pledge my hubby's beard! So come on guys...go pledge and come back here and enter.

The official rules: ;)

For every $10.00 you pledge here you get 1 entry. So if you pledge $30.00 you will get 3 entries, leave 3 comments....each one with your name you used to pledge, the giveaway group you wish to enter and your email address so I can contact you if you win

For a free entry all you have to do is comment with your favorite Hockey Team and your email address!

That's 2 ways to enter but really you could have tons of entries if you donate more $

Just make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!

And again I would like to mention that I am not getting any money or products from this in no way. We just want to raise some money for a good cause and have lots of fun doing it!!!

Oh and make sure to check out the sponsors of the Beard-A-Thon tab at the top of the page!!!! Thanks so much you guys!!

Thank you, Thank you and a Video

2011-04-10T00:01:00.007-04:00

Hey Guys! First I want to thank you all for your comments and emails about my last post. I love the support that this community brings! You guys are the BEST. :)

Lucas is so much better now and after lots of tests it ended up just being Sinusitis. Thank goodness that's all it was. He was put on lots of different meds and it is clearing up nicely. The doctor put him on a steroid saying that just antibiotics wouldn't take care of it so that is making him eat tons. Which is definitely a good thing. I'll have to get a photo of him. He is finally gaining some weight and you can already see it in his face.

Thank you all again so much. :)

I'm tired and getting ready to go to bed. Up early tomorrow for the Pirates game! We'll be grilling out with bunches of friends. I can't wait. I wanted to leave you with a quick video of out-takes of pictures I took today of my sisters. They crack me up. Crap, Nevermind. I uploaded it to YouTube and 1. it looks not good and 2. they wouldn't add the music. Boo. I'll figure it out soon and post it for you all.

edit: Ok let's try this. If it doesn't work or is annoying please just ignore it. Thanks!

So yeah, I pretty much suck at uploading and posting videos. Sorry Guys. If you do watch it please sing, I'm to Sexy in your head while you do.

Maybe Temporary Post

2011-03-28T21:31:00.005-04:00

This post might be deleted in a day or two. It depends on how things go and how I feel about it then. Really, right now I just need an outlet and a place to lay out my thoughts. The past month has been a bit rough. My son, Lucas, has had migraines for years. I think it's been about 5 years he has been getting them now and he is only 9 years old. He'll be 10 in September.

The migraines would come maybe once a month for a few hours then it would be gone again for at least a month. There were times that he wouldn't have one for a few months. Our doctor was never concerned because migraines are hereditary. I have them and so does my mom and my one sister. I was just told that if a parent has migraines then the child is 50% more likely than a child with a parent who doesn't get migraines to get them.

So...within the past month his migraines have become more frequent and are lasting longer. A full day at the longest. Then they were coming everyday. He was missing tons of school or he was being sent home early. We made a doctors appt. for last Monday. It was one of his worst he has had that day. He was sent home from school and my husband had to carry him to the car just to get him to the doctors. We were given a medicine to give him nightly in hopes that would prevent the migraines from even starting. That's the goal. Our doctor also ordered a MRI because of the change in his frequency of getting the migraines. He did say again at this point he wasn't really worried about finding anything on it because of the family history. So I had a little freak out and then agreed with him. That was Monday of last week. We gave him his new medicine that night and hoped it would work super fast.

Tuesday. It was actually a good day. I really thought the medicine was a miracle medicine and he was cured..well I knew he wasn't cured but I thought it was doing its job. And honestly I credit that medicine for giving him his first migraine free day in over a week. I was so so happy to see my boy happy and playing with his sister. It was so nice. We had kept him home from school just because we were worried about the side effects of the medicine and we were to keep an eye on him. What a good day Tuesday was!!!

Wednesday. It was bad...so so bad. He had a migraine from the time he woke up and as the day went on it just got worse. We eventually decided to take him to the ER. (I forgot to mention up there that our insurance decided to be dumb and wouldn't approve the MRI right away so we are still waiting at this point to hear back from them if we can get it done or not.) Anyway, we go to the ER and they give him some medicine to help with the pain, but not pain meds, and it worked pretty fast! He had told the doctor in the ER that is pain was at a 10 when he was first examined and by the time we left it was at a 2. YAY. They did a CT Scan while we were there and we got the results pretty fast. It came back fine. They saw nothing out of the ordinary. He recommended that we take our son to the Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh to get checked out by the neurology dept. By the time we got out of there they were closed at Children's so I had to call the next morning.

Thursday. I woke up to a phone call from our doctors office saying the MRI was approved!! Thank goodness. Good News! I made the appt. for Children's and they had just had a cancellation so we were able to get in Friday morning! More Good News! Also no migraines today. He did have a few headaches but we were able to stop them before they became really bad. He has been sleeping and laying around a lot more than usual and just not my little boy. The MRI is scheduled for Monday (today).

Friday. We got up super early to head to Children's for our 8 am. appt. So glad we had it that early though because no waiting! We saw our doctor and she went over everything with us. Checked out the scans from the CT he had done at the ER and said we should definitely still have the MRI done. She also said that with the family history she wasn't worried. We got a list of foods to avoid as that is what is said to trigger most peoples migraines. Lucas got pretty upset about this as just about everything he eats is on that list. He's a pretty picky eater. We assured him that he would get used to it and we can find new favorite foods. We left there with instructions to stop taking the medicine that our family doctor gave him and start him on a new one. It was a pretty good day. He had a few headaches but again nothing really bad.

The Weekend. It was a pretty good weekend. Not much went on and Lucas was able to rest with no appts. or doctors visits. Again, a few headaches but NO migraines!!!

Monday. Today. We had Lucas' MRI at 9:45 this morning. I was a little worried about how he would do. Have you guys seen those machines? He was SO good. He stayed still the whole time. I was able to sit in the room with him and hold his leg so he knew I was there. That machine is loud! We were done 20 minutes later and we dropped him off at school. His first day back in a week. He was really happy to see his friends again and be back to normal. The results were to be sent to our family doctor and our doctor at Children's. When I had asked a nurse at our family doctor about how long we would have to wait for the results she had said probably a few days. (I googled it today and the ones I saw said 24 hours or so) At 4 pm today I got a phone call from our family doctor and they said they had gotten the results and they wanted us to make an appt. to go over them. I started to freak a little at this point because 1: at this time I thought it would be a few days to find out and being just a matter of hours I was scared 2: if the results were fine wouldn't they just say that over the phone? ....I guess there are only 2 points there. But I thought valid points. So I called my mom.

Mom's are the best right? I figured my mom would know if it was good or bad by them wanting us to make an appt. to go over results. She had gone through a lot of tests with my dad and I'm sure she had gotten the same kind of call I had got. She was able to calm me down and made me really think about it all instead of just thinking about it being bad. It could be anything. I know that. It is still a little scary but I have convinced myself that he just wants to tell us it was clear and that he wants to go over with us what more we can do to prevent these migraines. Like food and such. He didn't go over that with us in our visit, just the doctor at Children's did and he doesn't even know about Children's yet because it all happened so fast and I haven't had the chance to update him yet. So yeah, I'm sure it's fine and I'll feel silly tomorrow for being so crazy today.

I never do this but please if you could, say a prayer for my Lucas. That the results really are fine and everything is ok. If they are not, I know that we will still be ok and it WILL work out.

If you have made it this far, I want to thank you for listening to this mom's worries. I really appreciate it. Oh...I forgot. We go tomorrow. Tuesday to talk to the doctor and go over the results.

Bring on The Beatles

2011-03-15T21:11:00.002-04:00

Check out my niece. Isn't she adorable? What a little model. :)

I'm loving this Beatles dress!

It's now available in my Etsy shop.

I'm working on lots of new things so stay tuned.

Pittsburgh Irish St. Patrick's Day Dress

2011-02-26T15:02:00.004-05:00

Are you guys ready for St. Patrick's Day? We are here!

Any Pittsburghers reading? I've finally added a new item to the shop. I'm loving this one. :) I used a tee shirt I found at our local grocery store...who knew grocery stores carried tee's? Funny. Maybe I should call this our Grocery Store St. Patty's Day Dress.

I can even add a name on the back if anyone wants that. My photoshop skills still stink incase you hadn't noticed! I'm working on it.

No Sew Gnomeo and Juliet shirt Tutorial

2011-02-19T15:11:00.009-05:00

(image from here)

Have you taken your kids to see this yet? I definitely recommend it! I've been looking forward to it coming out for months. We didn't go opening weekend because I hadn't made our outfits yet. So yesterday I finally finished them up and the kids and I had a date night. I love how they turned out. :)

I don't know what's going on with his face in these pictures but these are the best I could get so there ya go!

Lucas is Gnomeo.

Reagan's dress is by far the favorite thing I've ever made. I have a thing for gnomes and when I saw this Michael Miller fabric I knew that I wanted to make Reagan a dress out of it.

I thought maybe you guys would like to make your own Gnomeo and Juliet shirts. This is my first time doing a pdf so it's not the best. Plus it's hand drawn. Enough said. Ok on to the tutorial....

First gather your supplies:

Freezer Paper

Heat n Bond

blue and white felt for Gnomeo

red and brown felt for Juliet

shirts

scissors

iron

pen/pencil

First you are going to print out the pdf of the pattern. It's down there at the bottom of the post. Cut out a piece of the freezer paper and get your pencil ready.

Now trace the gnome hat, hair and beard onto the non shiny side of the freezer paper. You will want to trace 2 hats if you are making both Gnomeo and Juliet.

Cut out your patterns and iron them shiny side down onto the right side of your felt.

Flip your felt over and apply the heat n bond according to the package directions.

Cut out along the lines on your freezer paper pattern and remove both the freezer paper and the paper of the heat n bond. For Gnomeo arrange the blue hat and the white beard onto your garment until it's just how you like it. Make sure your iron is nice and hot and iron over your pieces. I find that with felt it's better to press, lift and repeat. So I'm not rubbing my iron around, just lift it up and lay it back down and press firmly.

Make sure your felt is all stuck on there. Keep pressing until it is.

Since the felt is thicker I like to flip the shirt inside out after I've pressed it right side out and then press the inside also to help keep it secure.

You can also stitch around your felt with your sewing machine to give it extra stability but I didn't here.

Here is the final Gnomeo shirt!

Do the same thing for the Juliet shirt but when you get to the point of arranging it on your garment make sure to overlap the hat over the hair just a bit. You can kinda see in this picture what I mean.

Here is the Juliet shirt finished. I couldn't get a good picture of this one, sorry.

Here are the kids and I ready to go on our date. I had a neighbor lady take our picture because I couldn't find the tripod. I felt bad for stopping her on the street so we weren't worried about lighting or trying to get a good picture. We had her snap one and let her go home. :)

Everyone loved our outfits and it was so nice to go out with my littles on a date.

Here is the pdf. Again, not the best...hand drawing is something I'm not good at, at all. If you love it please let me know and if you make a shirt of your own I would love to see it. :)

If you hate it I can live without hearing about it. ;)

Oh and did you see over there on my sidebar I added buttons for my facebook page and twitter. I would love it if you guys "liked" me and followed me!!

gnomeoandjuliet

Stairway to 7!!

2011-02-06T01:12:00.006-05:00

I was on Facebook today and came across a link on Be Different...Act Normal's page that said she was starting to think Packer fans were craftier than Steelers fan. Ha. I think not. No...I'm just playing :) I'm sure they are just as crafty but I wanted to show you some of the Steelers things I've made in the past and present.

I have made some tissue cozies...I've been adding these in with orders from Etsy this month as a little freebie!

I love this "black and yellow" dress. It comes with a matching doll dress.

Do the Packers have 6 Super Bowl rings?

No??? I didn't think so. :)

Reagan's bear is also a Steelers fan!

Go Steelers!

What is an outfit without a matching hairband!

This is a bad picture from my phone of the matching doll dress on my American Doll Wannabe.

The Steelers Pillowcase dress has been my best seller. I've had orders from VA, SC, GA, IW, ID, CA, NV, OH and all over PA!! That's why it's called Steelers Nation. ;)

Need something fun for the kids? How about a Steelers crayon roll.

The pillowcase dress is number 1 right now in the shop. Really though I have nothing else right now in there anyway!

Steelers Key Chain

Finally something for the little boy in your life. The Tie Shirt.

(Isn't my nephew the cutest?)

And lastly, this is my personal favorite. I think Reagan looks adorable in this outfit. Especially in her Curious George rain boots. She loves those.

Three tiered skirt with a little ruffle on the shirt.

LOVE

So there you have it. Steelers gals/guys are just as crafty as the Packers fans!!!

MIA

2011-02-04T02:04:00.003-05:00

I've been MIA for a while now. I pretty much got the school time/winter blues. I'm hoping that is in the past and I can keep up with blogging once again. I have lots of projects I'm working on. None of which get finished because I find a new one everyday!

Besides working on projects I am working on getting my craft room put together. It' been a mess since we moved in here over a year ago and I've mostly done all my sewing/crafting in the dining room but the family (husband) is pretty tired of me taking up the whole downstairs. :)

I made the kids pancakes for dinner and put them in a stein! Today's pancakes colors were regular and green. They like to mix it up.

A few things...

2010-11-23T19:18:00.002-05:00

...I've been working on are some dresses and some shirts. I love the idea of re-using articles of clothing that otherwise would be thrown away and making them into something unique.

This "Ninja" Dress is my favorite of the bunch. Here Reagan is posing as a ninja. She was such a little model today. As soon as she heard the camera click she would strike a new pose and hold it until she heard it click again. I have about 60 photos just from today because she was to darn cute to make her stop.

This I think is an original. I looked online to see if anyone else had done it or something similar but couldn't find anything. It's my "I'm not a BOY!" Tee. I have a thing for mustaches right now.

And isn't my model adorable? :)

The "tie" shirt was to cute to pass up on making some. I'm loving it with some Steelers fabric. What a handsome little man.

Finally, my little Christmas dress for Reagan. It for sure needs something added but not sure exactly what I want yet so this will do for now.

I ordered some fabric to make the kids some Christmas pj's this year. As soon as I get them I will whip them up and post some pictures. I don't think I've ever had my kids in Christmas pj's...EVER. So this will be extra fun. :)

I LOVE Photoshop!

2010-11-13T07:10:00.004-05:00

I seriously do...if I could marry it I would.

I've been playing around with textures and actions. I have a lot to learn so if anybody has any advice I would appreciate it. How do you get the perfect picture?

I'm linking here again this week...the theme is 'Smile'

Reagan has the sweetest smile :)

2010-11-12T00:08:00.006-05:00

NightTime Light photo

2010-11-05T14:47:00.004-04:00

(click on photo to enlarge)

This weeks challenge is Light. I chose this photo because it's not the normal nice sun burst light, (which I can't really figure out how to get right anyway) :) but it's a dusk kinda light.

This was at the free concert at the park to see the Clarks! Love them!!

It's Fall

2010-10-21T14:21:00.004-04:00

(click picture to enlarge!)

I have been gone way to long from the blog. Life just happens and sometimes it's all you can do to keep up with day to day life here at home.

I'll be back later with some craftyness but for now here is a picture of Reagan at the pumpkin patch with her warty pumpkin.

One of Many Favorite Shots

2010-09-11T00:44:00.003-04:00

(click on photo to enlarge)

She looks so innocent here doesn't she? This is a rare thing. Not so innocent but oh so fun and funny. What a crazy little girl. She can make us all laugh in a second.

I have so many favorite shots but this is in the top 5.

Pottery Barn Knock Off

2010-08-25T21:11:00.009-04:00

This weeks theme on The CSI Project is Pottery Barn. I have been wanting to make this since I first saw it in the catalog but couldn't get my butt in gear.

That's what I love most about the CSI blog...it makes me get moving.

Here is my version. Pottery Barn calls them their Style Tiles. Each tile costs $35...crazy to me. So For my own board I went out and got a few things that I didn't have laying around and made the same thing just much less expensive.

Foam Board...I picked this up at my local Dollar Tree. I used $5.00 worth.

Cork...pack of 4 for $5.00

2 Dry Erase boards...$7.00 each

I used this Spray Adhesive to stick the fabric on the boards.

I already had this laying around.

My dry erase boards were thicker than the cork so I cut down the foam board to size and stuck them together.

I left 2 of the corks as is and then covered the other 2 with fabric.

Just cut it a few inches bigger than your cork tile and wrap it around back..the spray adhesive worked great for this.

I decided on 2 cork tiles, 2 dry erase tiles, 2 chalkboard tiles and 3 fabric tiles. For the chalkboard ones I used chalk cloth I picked up at Joann's a while ago...worked perfectly!

Lay out your tiles until you find an arrangement that you like.

If you want to waste a lot of time add stickies to the backs of all tiles and stick them up one at a time on the wall...then hate it and tear them down. :)

The smart thing to do is go get a piece of thin sheet board and hot glue your tiles onto that. The one I got was on sale for $10.00. It was a 4x8 I think so was able to get 2 full boards and some extra pieces. My cousin will be using the other board to make herself one. So less than $5.00 for backing.

I forgot to take a picture of me cutting the frame and making it but all I did was get some door framing, cut it to size and used some flat corner supports to put it all together.

I then hot glued the frame onto the edge of the tiles and it's done!

What do you think?

I really love it.

I still need to add some wall hanger things on the back and get it put up in the dining room.

We will be using ours for school things. I figure we can hang tests, pictures, schedules all over it and have an organized school year finally.

So for around $30.00 and stuff I had on hand I made something that if had gotten it made just how you like it at Pottery Barn would have cost you an arm and a leg. Seriously! (I watched a ton of Grey's Anatomy while my family was away)

Giveaway Winner and some random bits

2010-08-24T21:48:00.006-04:00

Any Steelers fans out there???

I have been so super busy this week and last week getting a ton of these dresses made for orders! I was so so excited to get the orders but they all seemed to come at once and I couldn't find the time to blog between sewing and sleeping.

My husband went out of town with the kids for a few days to visit his mom and I stayed here to finish up all the dresses so it has been nice and quiet but kinda lonely.

Good news is they are coming home tomorrow and I can't wait! Except my house is a mess and I'd really like it to be clean before they get home.

Speaking of the husband...Man, I sure did loose that bet didn't I? ha. Like his head needed to get any bigger, you guys go and convince him that he is George Clooney. Just kidding. I'm kinda digging that everyone thought so! Be jealous. haha.

I'm loving that a few of you said Quentin Tarantino. He has heard that for years and actually had that as his doppelganger on Facebook for a while. Anyway...on to the giveaway. I used the Random Number Generator and we got....

Beverly said...

i agree.. the first thing i thought when i saw the picture was he looks like george Clooney... lucky u!

Congrats Beverly. Please email me your address and I will get your prize sent out to you!!

I'm finally working on a new craft project and should have it done and posted tomorrow. Who loves Pottery Barn?

Meet my Husband and small Giveaway!

2010-08-16T14:44:00.002-04:00

The husband and I went to a wedding this weekend for one of his fraternity brothers. We had a blast. He wanted me to let you all know that being a wedding for a brother he may have had a bit to drink and the photos are a bit funny. Anyway. We were chatting with the others at our table who we didn't know before that night and a few of them said that they thought he looked like a certain celebrity.

This is the second wedding we have been to where someone told him the same thing. I don't see it and well we kinda have a bet going. So this is where you guys come in. Which celebrity (if any) do you think my husband resembles?

If at least 10 people say the right celebrity then I lose. I'm pretty sure I will win here though!

Now it brings us to the small giveaway. I want lots of comments so I can prove him wrong! So all you have to do is comment and tell me the celebrity you think the husband looks like and you will be entered into the giveaway.

The prize? I really am not sure yet. But I will pick something small but nice.

So start guessing!

Gone Camping

2010-08-09T13:13:00.000-04:00

I'll be gone for a few days. I hope everyone has a great week!

Old School

2010-08-07T22:41:00.006-04:00

I was over at my mom's today and we were going through some old boxes..check out what I found! My old Troll pin via 1991. I LOVE it and wore it all day today. It now has a home on my purse.

My sister Laura was there too going through stuff and she found a pair of her old glasses. She tried them on but I think she would beat me if I put her picture on here for you all to see. Instead here is a pic of my nephew in them.

And Reagan in them! They took up half of her face when she wore them. Awesome!

Can we say Sally Jesse Raphael! ha

We also found some old Fisher Price toys! I still remember playing with these when I was little.

I am so happy that my mom kept these.

Now my kids can play with them too!

I love that this house has a doorbell. We have a mom, a dad and twins.

Here was my Popple from the 80's. They have come back out with these. They are calling them Vintage. ugh. Does that make me vintage?!

And now for something crafty!

Ha. I'm embarrassed to even show you this last picture but I just had to. These are two Barbie outfits I designed and sewed when I was little. I don't remember how old I was but it had to have been before I was 12. Don't you just love the bathing suit? :)

I hope you all enjoyed my flashback as much as I did today.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

10 minute Skirt tutorial

2010-08-02T16:41:00.009-04:00

Want to make a quick and easy skirt for your little girl or you?

This skirt seriously took me no more than 10 minutes to make. I'll show you how I did mine.

I found a window valance at a yard sale and bought it for only .25 cents. Get out! I was so excited. I had no idea where I was going to hang it but I loved the red stitch detail so had to have it.

I decided that hanging it in a random room with not another matching valance wasn't something I wanted to do so it has been sitting here for a few months.

The other day I finally decided what I wanted to do with it. I figured it would make the perfect skirt for Reagan and it would be so easy to make because I wouldn't have to even make a waistband for the elastic. I just used the opening for the curtain rod.

So first I cut my elastic the length I needed for my daughter's waist.

Then with a safety pin I pulled the elastic through the curtain rod opening until just a tiny bit was hanging out.

I pinned the elastic in place.

And sewed that opening shut.

Here is the first side I did sewn shut.

Now continue pulling the elastic through the curtain rod opening until you have it just poking out the other side and pin in place.

Sew this side shut now.

With right sides together pin the open end of the skirt and sew.

If you have a serger serge your seam, if not just do a zig zag stitch.

Now you are all done! Flip the skirt right side out and throw it on your little one!

The valance was long enough that I could have made this skirt for me but it would have been a mini skirt and I'm not sure the world wants to see me in a mini. :)

It's a pretty full skirt so it is good for twirling and dancing!

I am planning on doing some thrift shopping this week to try to find some more cute valances and maybe I'll make myself one just to see what it would look like as an adult version.

I just love the stitched detail.

I need to head out now to find a matching red tank top to match...the white just isn't the same shade and is driving me crazy.

I hope you guys like the tutorial and if you make one please email me a picture. I would love to see them.

Scooter Purse Knock Off

2010-07-30T22:02:00.004-04:00

This weeks Knock Off is this fantastic purse. I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Noodlehead, the other day and she posted about a purse she made herself and I just had to have it.

Usually when I do a Knock Off I like to change it a little to make it my own and if not I at least use different fabric or colors but with this purse I had to have the exact one...I loved it that much.

I bought the same pattern as Anna used for the purse and made it as soon as the fabric hit my mailbox.

Isn't this the cutest fabric ever?? I LOVE it. I got mine off of Etsy but couldn't find it available in this color on there anymore so I found another place online where you can order it and make your own Knock Off. A Knock Off of a Knock off if you will. (geesh, somebody stop me)

Here is Reagan with it so you can see size wise how big the bag is. It's perfect for what I need since I keep half my house in my purse. :)

Found It!

2010-07-30T18:20:00.003-04:00

This dress was going to be her 4th of July outfit but after making it I set it aside and completely forgot where I put it.

This is my first time doing a rounded collar. I think it turned out pretty good.

I don't know if I'll be making anymore like it though.

Maybe if I used a pattern it would have been easier.

Does anyone have any tips for an easy rounded collar?

I will have my weekly knock off posted later tonight. Time to ice some cupcakes. :)

Pull my finger

2010-07-23T22:47:00.006-04:00

So I may be a little addicted to this tutorial. I absolutely love it and have made six of them in 3 days. 4 of those are for my nieces and the other 2 for Reagan. She loves them.

For Reagan's second dress I decided to keep the theme and be inappropriate once again. (the other dress is in the post below this one!)

Her dad taught her to tell people "Pull my finger" so when I was going through our (my husbands) drawers for shirts I saw this one and begged him to let me use it. I was going to do it anyway but it's nice to at least ask. :)

I will post pictures of the dresses I made my nieces after I get them to them and get some photos.

I have had Reagan picture overload here lately. Mostly because I pretty much suck at making or thinking of boy things. Especially 8 year old boy things. Any ideas?

So here are a few of my little man. He is so so tall for his age and super smart.

Love him to pieces!

Picture Overload

2010-07-21T19:01:00.006-04:00

I am awful at picking just one or two photos for a post. I couldn't decide which I liked best so there are a bunch today.

I used this tutorial over at Create and Delegate.

She has the best tutorials and they are so easy to follow and so so cute!

I let Reagan pick out her t-shirt that I would use and the bias tape.

The shirt isn't appropriate for a 4 year old I know but when I tried to talk her out of it she threw a fit so I figured I would just use it and I can cover the words up with fabric flowers or something before I let her wear it out in public. (can we say run on sentence?)

This blue and green look great together don't you think?

I'm starting to run out of things to say. :)

Oh ok good...last one!

I am making this my knock off for the week and won't be doing a linky party for a couple weeks or so.

I'll be linking up to some of the parties on my sidebar.

Faces

2010-07-19T23:31:00.007-04:00

Trendy Treehouse hosts Shutter Love Tuesdays and while I am not very good at photography I love to play around with my camera and see what I get. This weeks theme is Faces so I just had to enter this photo of my nephew. Isn't he adorable?

Can you see the cars on his sunglass lenses? (click on the picture to enlarge) I don't know how kids can wear those...I think I would go crazy or cross eyed trying to look at the pictures all day.

Knock It Off Features

2010-07-17T01:00:00.004-04:00

It is so hard to pick which Knock It Offs to feature but I picked three from last weeks link party.

I am loving this apron dress by MiaMoo Designs. Can you believe it is her first one? Her photos are amazing as well.

This headband by Sew Sara is fantastic. I love the fabrics she chose.

Sew Chatty made this Anthro Inspired Headband. I need to get me one of these!

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week and I hope you all link up your Knock Offs again this week. (the linky is on the post below this one)

Dining Room Table Rules

2010-07-16T03:46:00.005-04:00

Sorry it took so long to get the new Knock It Off project up. We have been busy around here with summer fun and tee ball. I will be post my favorites from last weeks link party soon!

So here is my Knock Off for this week. I have seen a ton of Subway Art tutorial out there lately. Go here, here and here for just a few.

This is my version. I don't know about any of you but I'm a little anal about eating etiquette and such. I go crazy when I hear people chewing loudly or talking with food in their mouth or people who crunch just to hear themselves crunch it seems. Nuts I tell you!

These are my dining room table rules. I have more but couldn't fit them on. Now some are just meant to be funny and others serious but you get the point, right?

I started by painting a canvas parakeet green. LOVE this color!

I only put one coat on because I liked the grainy look of it.

I then cut my words out of adhesive vinyl with my Cricut machine. I wish I had a Silhouette but that will have to be another day. I didn't measure or anything when putting my rules up so it's not completely straight but I don't think it's to bad.

Sorry about the flash and crappy pictures. I didn't want to wait till tomorrow to take the pictures so I could get this post up sooner. Probably a bad idea. Bad pictures=bad post. Oh well.

You can really see how not straight my words are in this picture. Arg.

Be sure to paint the edges so you get a more finished look to your art.

Now it's time to link up your Knock Offs.

Rules:

Grab a button from my sidebar and either put it in your Knock It Off post or on your blog somewhere.

Link directly to the post not to your homepage.

This isn't a rule but everyone loves comments! Go comment on as many links as you like.

Yard Sale Makeover

2010-07-14T01:12:00.004-04:00

I have shown this before but I'm linking it up to the CSI site for the new yard sale challenge so decided to write a new post for it.

I got this yellow old Samsonite suitcase at a yard sale at the beginning of the yard sale season for $1.00. So cheap! I also got one of the blue ones for 50¢ which is what I painted for this pink suitcase but forgot to get a before picture so I am posting the yellow suitcase for comparison...same thing just different starting color!

The inside isn't lining isn't the best but that's something I can fix later. :)

I taped it up so I wouldn't paint the metal and then spray painted it all with some primer then used some of my favorite pink spray paint for the overall color. I then used a screen printing sheet for the chandelier image. I used some ribbon around the the edge of the suitcase to pull it all together.

We love it!

A nice girly suitcase.

Linking up to the links on my sidebar and

I need some Ideas!!

2010-07-09T13:15:00.004-04:00

I need your help

Tomorrow is the husband and my anniversary and I still haven't bought/made him anything. I'm pretty sure I'm getting him tickets for a ball game but I'd like to make something too.

This is where you come in. I need some ideas of funny/cute things a man would like. I pretty much suck at thinking of guy things.

If you have a great idea leave me a comment with a link to the post if there is one, if not just the idea would be great!

Thanks.

I've linked up to a bunch of Follow me Fridays. If you follow me I will follow back. Here are the links. :) Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Knock It Off

2010-07-07T20:44:00.009-04:00

Here is my newest knock off. I love to look around for cute clothes from big name companies and try to make my own. I saw this dress at Old Navy and loved it but wanted it in a different print. This is what I came out with.

Adorable right? Yeah she has her eyes closed in both pics but I loved them anyway so here they are. Want to know how to make your own? This is a really easy dress to make.

Here is what you need...tank top, fabric, thread and elastic thread.

I used half a yard of fabric but ended up cutting a bit off for the shirt version, for the dress I used the whole half a yard.

I got my tank tops at Old Navy when they were 5 for $10. This would be great also if you have tank tops with stains on them.

First I serged the top of the whole width of the fabric. Selvage to selvage. If you don't have a serger you can press down 1/4 in. and then another 1/4 in. to hem it.

Now it is time to shirr it. Don't know how? I found a great tutorial here.

I sewed my first line right below my serged edge.

Then I used the edge of my presser foot lined up with the row before it for even lines.

I sewed 5 rows.

Here it is before pressing it to gather it even more.

Pressing it. Don't go back and forth on the stitches. Just press and lift and repeat. (please ignore my dirty iron)

Here it is all shirred!

Fold your fabric right sides together so the selvages are both on one side and sew that side seam.

Put your tank top in between the layers where you want the shirred part to start. I measured down 2 in. from the arm holes. I marked my fabric with a pin so I would know where to sew the side seam. Take the tank out and sew your seam. I sewed a slight A-line here.

Now you will have a tube for the skirt of the dress.

Slip the tank back into the skirt part and pin in place.

Now to sew the skirt of the dress to the tank top.

With a regular straight stitch sew all around the dress 1/4 in. from the top. Again I used my presser foot as my guide.

Almost done! Flip your dress inside out and trim your fabric to the length you want.

For this one I made a shirt so I went a little below the bottom of the tank and hemmed it up.

For the dress do all the steps above just leave it longer. You can cut your tank top bottom off if you want but I just left mine. Less work!

So there it is....My newest knock off. For those of you still waiting for the J. Crew knock off tutorial it is coming. I got frustrated and had to walk away from it for a while then kinda forgot about it. Sorry.

Now I want to see your knock offs! I will be hosting a link party each week where you can link up your knock offs. It can be clothing, decor, a favorite restaurant meal. Anything that you see somewhere else and recreate.

Please in your post give credit where credit is due. I want to see your inspiration!

My plan is to eventually have a giveaway every time I have a link party but that will have to start in a couple weeks. If you are able to donate something for a giveaway email me and we can start that sooner! I will also be giving away some of my own things too.

Rules:

Grab a button from my sidebar and either put it in your Knock It Off post or on your blog somewhere.

Link directly to the post not to your homepage.

This isn't a rule but everyone loves comments! Go comment on as many links as you like.

I'm adding a link to my J. Crew Knock Off to get it started!

Button, Makeover and a Surprise...Oh My

2010-07-07T00:24:00.002-04:00

I've been working all day on my makeover. It really was time.

I think it will stay this way for a while. I change my mind constantly so who knows.

Besides the knew background I have finally made a button.

I hope you stick one on your blog. Please let me know if you do so I can get yours and put it on mine.

Tomorrow I will have a tutorial and something new. Here is a hint.

So check back tomorrow to see what's going on.

Practice Post

2010-07-06T15:35:00.004-04:00

The Cousin Flag

2010-06-30T23:21:00.016-04:00

My entry for this weeks Red, White and Blue challenge at The CSI Project is...a flag dress. Or I guess flag dresses? I made my daughter and 2 of her cousins a dress each and had a mini photo shoot tonight. I love how they turned out.

I used this pattern from LilBlueBoo. It's the best!

The girls loved their dresses. Together they are awesome, separate I'm thinking the second two will look more like Waldo than a flag. haha.

I had to stop the car on the drive home to get a picture of this sunset! Beautiful!

Heather Ross Wall Decor

2010-06-24T11:10:00.005-04:00

Renting=Plain White Walls

I found this wall hanging at a store a few weeks ago and it's just been sitting around since waiting for me to figure out what I want to do with it. It's ok as is but not my style.

I got it for 50% off because one of the 'frames' was broken off. I fixed that with my trusty tie dye duck tape. Duck tape can fix ANYTHING.

I started by painting over all the wine decals in white.

While that was drying I cut out some of my favorite Heather Ross fabric from a template I made from one of the frames.

I attached the fabric with my trusty mod podge and then put some more Heather Ross fabric in some embroidery hoops.

I pretty much love it.

I think when I get tired of this I will put pictures of the family in there. How cute would that be?!

Surfer room Dot Art

2010-06-24T10:50:00.004-04:00

We rent. So that means plain white walls. We have been here nearly a year and well lets just say my decorating bug just isn't there. I've been trying to think of a way to decorate my daughters room and I found a small wooden sign at the dollar store that says 'Surfer Girl'. So that's what we are going with. I just started so it's not nearly done but here is what I started with.

I got some vinyl that is for the Silhouette but since I don't have one of those yet, I just used my circle punch from EK Success. I think I may be a bit crazy with this one. That was a ton of circles to cut and stick!

My kids knew what the things were as I was putting it up so I hope you all do too. It is not the best and definitely not perfect but it's something different and my kids think it's cool so that's all that matters right?

Eventually I would like to fill the whole wall with dots and get some more definition on there but this is for now. Looking at these pictures now it doesn't look like that many circles. Who wants to count them for me? haha.

Check me out at Dollar Store Crafts!

2010-06-22T12:42:00.002-04:00

I got the tutorial up for the Ruffled Umbrella and Heather from Dollar Store Crafts was kind enough to let me post it on her site. Thank you, thank you, thank you Heather!

Exciting right? I think so.

Go check it out HERE!!!

It is my first tutorial and it's a bit long and picture heavy. Let me know what you think. I think I sound like a dork so next time I will have someone other than my husband read it before I send a tutorial out there. He is to nice and says everything is perfect. :) Love him for it.

I'm working on a project for the next challenge for The CSI project. I should have it posted tonight so check back later.

Dollar Store Ruffled Umbrella

2010-06-15T01:21:00.018-04:00

Here is my dollar store challenge for this week on CSI Project. I am really loving it now..not so much the night I made it. That's probably because I stayed up ALL night working on it. The final product...a ruffled umbrella!

I had no idea what I was going to do so figured I would just walk around the dollar store and see what I could find. I didn't know the Dollar Tree carried umbrellas but there they were...navy was the only color they had. I really wish they had white or a lighter color but being the dollar store I didn't get a choice.

I chose the umbrella and a light pink tablecover. Both a buck..both from the Dollar Tree. Pretty boring if you ask me.

Start with an umbrella and a tablecover.
Cut up the tablecover, ruffle ruffle ruffle.
Some double stick tape.

Tape, tape, and tape lots more and you get a pretty ruffly umbrella.

It's so much fun to play in the rain. It even held up after getting all wet!

Here is my secret...we had to fake the rain. Like I said...so much fun!

Linking up to

and to the link parties on my sidebar.

Anyone interested in a tutorial? I have it all ready to publish but it is kinda picture heavy. Let me know and I can get it on for ya. Also the skirt tutorial is almost ready...having a little trouble making sure my measurements will be right when it is resized.

J. Crew inspired skirt

2010-06-10T17:06:00.005-04:00

Have you checked out the J. Crew shop lately? There are lots of cute things there but my goodness should a little girls skirt really cost over $30.00? I don't think so.

I fell in love with this skirt and thought to myself, I can for sure make that. It looks so easy. So here is their $32.50 version.

And here is my version. I just used an old tee that didn't fit my son anymore for the under skirt part and I bough 3 yards of tulle and already had elastic so this cost me maybe $4.00 to make. YAY for being cheap!

Reagan loves it and doesn't want to take it off. She has been dancing since she put it on for the pictures. SO so cute.

Is anyone else getting tired of seeing these same pink shoes in EVERY picture I take of her? These are her favorite shoes..I'm a little afraid of what she will do when she finally outgrows them. I need to go find another pair asap.

Front

Back

Would anyone be interested in a tutorial? It would be my first but I am working on it. Hopefully be done in a day or two. Fingers crossed.

I linked up with the parties on my sidebar!

Etsy Shop coming soon

2010-05-28T23:26:00.002-04:00

I have been sewing up a storm around here lately. Trying to get some things made to open my Etsy Store. I'm a little hesitant to open it up until I get enough made to have a good start at it. This one with the birds is a halter style tunic. It's slightly shorter than the ones below (pillowcase style).

I'm hoping it goes well. I love this Steelers one.

John Deere dress. I already have a lot of interest in this one so will be making a few more tomorrow.

I think this would have to be my favorite so far. Reagan loves the pillowcase style dress. They are so comfy and lightweight.

There will be some other things in the shop besides just girls clothing. More on that another day.

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Happy Birthday

2010-05-25T23:46:00.005-04:00

Today my baby turned 4! Every mom says this but time sure has flown by.

These are the pink cupcakes with purple frosting that Reagan took to pre-school today for snack.

And here is the banana cake she requested. I wasn't sure how I was going to do this and it isn't perfect but I love it and her expression when she first saw it was priceless. Love that little girl.

Reagan...you are the sweetest, loveliest little girl I have ever know and am so honored to be your mommy. You are always cracking us up with everything that comes out of your mouth. What a sense of humor you have...just like your daddy. I love you over the moon and back. Love mommy. :)

paint makes a big difference

2010-05-24T15:33:00.017-04:00

I love garage sales...you can find just about anything. A few weeks ago I came across an old blue Samsonite suitcase. (this yellow one is just like it that I found last weekend) It was cruddy, just like the yellow one and decided to try to paint it and make it pretty again. I forgot to take a picture of the blue before I painted, hence the yellow mustard colored picture.

With a little paint this is what I came up with. I LOVE it. First I taped up all the metal parts, primed it, painted it, screen printed the chandelier then finished it off with a can of clear sealer. I love spray paint don't you?

I also added some ribbon around the whole thing where the grooves are...there was some ugly looking plastic in there that was falling out.

I really like how this turned out. Reagan is ready to go on vacation. I have to still gut it and figure out how to clean that all up but so far so good.

(The mustard yellow one will be redone for my sister in a navy blue with silver stars..pictures when I get that one all done)

March of Dimes t-shirt refashion

2010-05-24T13:19:00.015-04:00

We signed up for the March of Dimes walk through my husband's work. We finally got the shirts Friday night for the walk Sunday. I was pretty happy with the sizes we got. I'm guessing my husband picked them but they didn't offer any little kid sizes so Reagan's shirt wouldn't fit her for another 5 or so years.

I could have just thrown it on her and let her swim in it all day or I could have left her not wear it but wanting us all to match and be comfortable I decided to alter it for her into a dress.

For some reason blogger isn't letting me post the picture I have of the front of the shirt before I cut into it. Here is the back before.

And here is the after.

I used a purple shirt I no longer wear for the top part and pockets. I think my new favorite thing is elastic thread and used that to do the shirring.

I used it for the straps too and I adore them! The hem is just surged and not hemmed. I love how the dress turned out. I got a lot of compliments on this dress yesterday at the walk and at the Pirate game that we all attended after walking. One of the management guys at my husbands work even came up and asked to take a picture of the "Hoechstetter Dress. Oh and the president of the company and his wife sat next to us at the game and both LOVED it. How cool to have the president say something to me. :)

We had a great Family Day!!

Little Drummer Boy

2010-03-01T22:54:00.003-05:00

Being the best wife ever, I got Chris a set of drums for Valentine's day. They are so so loud and I thought they were a really bad idea when I first brought them home. Within a day I decided they actually weren't that bad. They can't be played real late, being in town we don't want to disturb any of our neighbors, and they are now in the 'man cave', not the living room anymore. Thank goodness. Lucas is pretty good at them for just beginning and told me tonight that he wants to take lessons.

I think lessons might be a good idea...this is the first thing he has really shown interest in besides video games and I hate that he wants to play the games so much. (plus I told Chris if Lucas does get the lessons that means I can put Reagan into some kind of activity...I'm thinking dance or gymnastics. VERY excited! )

Forever and a day.

2010-02-28T22:43:00.006-05:00

It's been forever since I have posted anything. There isn't a whole lot to report. Reagan has played around with scissors. Not a good thing. She did it once and she gave herself a mullet. She looked just like little Joe on the movie Joe Dirt. Then she did it again a couple weeks later and all she left was a rats tail. So....

I took her to get it fixed and this is how it turned out. I hated it at first but it's slowly growing on me. I made her these dresses. I used this
tutorial for the first dress with little changes here and there. I love it!

I love this dress. I just used an adult t-shirt and altered it to fit her. It's not perfect but she loves it and demanded to wear it daily. The shoes were just plain ugly white canvas shoes that i painted pink. She LOVES them. She wears them and sings the boots song from Dora.

I promise to post again soon. I'll leave you with my new favorite picture of Reagan. I played around with a site called Picnik. I love that site.

PS...I love her hair in this picture.

2009-12-03T00:01:00.001-05:00

Fabulous K is having a giveaway day and has tons up over there. Go check it out!

what can you do with post-its?

2009-12-02T23:46:00.001-05:00

December already?

2009-12-01T23:52:00.004-05:00

It is December! WOW. I can't believe it.

I have been busy getting stuff made for Christmas. Lots to do and no time to do it. I have a feeling everything will turn out just right though, so here's hoping. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We did. Just one house to go to so it was very stressless. Always a nice thing.

Night Out

2009-11-22T02:00:00.003-05:00

My sisters and I went to see this movie tonight.

I loved it! Such a great movie. Everyone and their mother apparently wanted to see it also. The first theater we went to was sold out for the time we wanted so we decided to head to another theater with a show time just a little later. While standing in line that showtime sold out too.

So we bought tickets right then for the late show and just walked around the mall for 2 hours. It was definitely worth the wait and the running around. I'm glad we didn't settle for another movie.

Now I'm beat and getting ready to head to bed. Lots to do tomorrow!

(why won't it let me double space between paragraphs? It's driving me crazy)

Sidewalk Paint

2009-11-18T22:01:00.007-05:00

Today I made Reagan some sidewalk paint. It's so easy to make and will keep kids busy for a long time.

I started out with 2 tablespoons of corn starch, added about a tsp. of water and mixed it together. I didn't like the consistency so I added more water a few drops at a time until I got what I though was a good mix. I then added a few drops of food coloring and we had sidewalk paint!

This is what it looks like wet.

And here it is dry. Looks just like chalk!

Reagan loved it. She didn't want to come inside but it started to get cold so...

I dumped the rest out. See how pretty! She wasn't real happy with me but I'm sure we'll be making more soon.

Now..I have been busy trying to get things made for Christmas. Is anyone else doing a HomeMade Christmas? I'd love some ideas. I'm having a tough time coming up with something to make for my 8 year old son. There doesn't seem to be a lot out there in blogland for boys. So if anyone has any suggestions I'd be thrilled! Just leave me a comment.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T15:09:00.003-04:00

Marioand

Olivia

Would like to wish you all a Happy Halloween!

(I love how the bags turned out to match their costumes.)

Late Nights

2009-10-28T02:15:00.003-04:00

I've had a lot of late nights the past couple of weeks. Trying to get the kids costumes done, preparing for school parties, home get togethers and just relaxing by myself in the quiet. (The best time for that is 2 am)

I bought this Halloween fabric last week to make Reagan a skirt and forgot about it until Sunday night. So first thing Monday I got started on it. It didn't take to long at all. I love the twirl it gives when she dances! *this is the face she makes when you tell her to make a funny face. How cute is she? :)

Sneak peak at my costume. I'm sure you can probably guess what I'm going to be. Right? It is almost done, just a few holes to be cut out and I'm ready to PARTY. I can't wait. The husband and I are getting a night out without the kids Saturday.

Seeds, Pumpkins, Fall

2009-10-26T02:05:00.004-04:00

We are putting the finishing touches on our Halloween prep this week. Today we carved our pumpkins.

Lucas told Reagan that Spongebob lived in her pumpkin so she spent 10 mins with her head in all the pumpkins calling for him. He never showed. She wasn't to disappointed.

I've never tried pumpkin seeds before, not even store bought ones, but I've always wanted to try to roast them.

I love this picture because you can see the Messy Flower that I won in a giveaway! I LOVE it to pieces.

Here are our finished pumpkins. Hint...one of these is what Lucas will be for Halloween. Figure it out yet?

My roasted pumpkin seeds. I really like them. Not sure if this is how they are supposed to look but they sure do taste good.

I used some sea salt, butter and Worcestershire sauce. Kinda sounds gross but oh so tasty.

Pomegranate seeds. Yummy and so pretty. Love the colors.

Random Junk

2009-10-18T00:16:00.002-04:00

While on one of our walks this month we stumbled across a walking bridge. As I was crossing I was reading all the names that everyone had etched into the wood.

All 3 of these would work for my name, or at least me with my maiden name. I promise I didn't do this. I don't have the time to stay in one place long enough to carve these.

Still I think they are pretty cool so I had to take pictures.

The kids costumes are just about done. Reagan's is completely done and I made her stay up and try it on for me. She is so stinking cute in it. Lucas' is just about done..just a little hemming to do. I can't wait for trick or treat night. I think I'll make them try them on again tomorrow so I can take some pictures!

Sneak Peek

2009-10-16T01:17:00.005-04:00

We are getting ready for Halloween around here. This is a sneak peak of items for Reagan's costume. I still have to make it but can you guess what she is going to be? I will be adding a little bit of pink to her costume.

Here she is last year as a sweet piece of candy corn. She would not wear the little pointy hood I made but her shirt had a hood so I guess that works too.

Here is Lucas' sneak peek. Know what it is? hmmm. He loves this game.

Last year he wanted to be an alien but there was no way I was going to be able to make his outfit in time..you know since I wait till the last second to do EVERYTHING! So he settled for Captain Jack. I loved his facial makeup. (note to self: if you use woman's eye shadow make sure you have makeup remover already in the house or your child will have to go to school the next day looking like a zombie) oops. :)

Finally, I am planning on doing a HomeMade Christmas this year. This though will not be any ones gift but maybe the trashcan's. I attempted a potholder but only stuck 1 piece of the insulbrite in it and I used binding (yuck) plus not fabric I like.(for a potholder anyway..would love it for a dress for Reagan) But hey it was my first try. Next time I will pick pretty fabric, use the right amount of materials and will NOT be using binding.

Does anyone have any great tutorials or ideas that I could use for my HomeMade Christmas? Leave me a comment with a link or idea. Thanks!

Orange Poppy Necklace GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-10-11T16:17:00.000-04:00

Orange Poppy Necklace GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I am Loving this giveaway! Go check it out now!

Clothing Swap

2009-10-07T20:55:00.002-04:00

This picture has nothing to do with this post but I love it so here it is!

Today I was reading some of my favorite blogs and noticed a theme. Fall is finally here and it seems none of the kids clothes fit them anymore. I know for me this is a reoccurring problem. We buy the kids new wardrobes every fall and every spring. Thankfully the fall clothes work for winter and spring for summer. (it also helps that Reagan has a cousin just one size above hers)

I was dressing Reagan for school the other day and every pair of pants she put on were to short. So my idea, lets have a clothing swap for children. You can only swap clothing that aren't torn or stained. Obviously I have a lot to figure out to make this work but I wanted to put this out there to see if anyone would be interested.

We could sign up with sizes you have and need and I could match people swap mates. We could get items that we never would have thought to buy ourselves and turnout to love!

I'm game, is anybody else? Leave me a comment or send me an email and lets see if we can get some great "new to us" clothing!

FaMiLy 2

2009-10-05T23:35:00.006-04:00

We went out again and took some more family pictures. I think we may be addicted! We took so many and I couldn't decide which to put on here so bare with me.

Here are my boys. Such a cute picture I think.

Aww...I really love this one of the two of us. Aren't we the cutest? :)

Nope..now we are the cutest!

Lucas is getting so big. He was our photographer for half of our pictures today. He loves to be behind the camera. Not so much in front of one anymore.

Now Reagan is a whole other story. She is our wild one. We could barely get her to stand/sit still for pictures today but she loves to cheese it up and be dramatic. I will be posting some more pictures from today's shoot that won't make it on tonight. Today she went crazy! Check out her necklace. I made her and I semi matching ones last night and we just love them.

Isn't he handsome? I can't believe he is already 8 years old. I'm starting to feel old.

This is the best I could do today of the two of them together. Reagan really just wanted to run and play. Lucas was having fun.

Our biggest mishap for the day. Chris, Lucas and I all were playing with the camera and setting it up for the next shot when I turned around and found Reagan with her pants around her ankles and peeing right there on the trail. Can you believe it? Eww. I knew I took napkins for a reason. She didn't even tell us she had to pee. She's not modest at all yet.

jealous

2009-10-03T22:41:00.005-04:00

Check out my sister's kitchen. I LOVE it. I want it. She is just moving in and I went down for the first time to see it today. I could seriously move in right now just for this kitchen. To some it may not be anything special but I think it's the best!It's not even super big (bigger than mine) but this island is the best. I would love to have parties in this house.

The oven and microwave are in the wall...I think this is the greatest thing EVER. :) Plus it is all stainless steel. Plus lots of cabinet and drawer space.

My favorite part is the stove top. This is so cool. I love how it's just sitting there on the island. ahhh. I want to move in. I asked her if we could switch houses but that was a no go. Dang her! Kidding, but seriously, isn't this a great kitchen?

One day I will have this kitchen..i promise!

playing around

2009-10-01T17:57:00.004-04:00

custom

large

i think small

I am trying to figure out how to add a picture from say Photbucket so they aren't so small but not sure which size I like so I'm gonna post this just so I can see which I like best.

I changed the template to see if that worked and it did but now I don't think I like the layout of my blog?! sucks. I'll leave it for a few days and see if I get used to it.

FaMiLy

2009-09-29T22:34:00.004-04:00

A couple weeks ago we ventured out to take some family pictures. We were looking for a waterfall, after all it's called Buttermilk Falls. We drove up and down the rocky, bumpy roads but could not for the life of us find it. So we settled for this location. Its so pretty out there.

We parked the car and started to follow the trail carrying our blanket and lunch in a book bag, our camera bag, our tripod bag and sometimes the kids. They were getting tired of slipping and falling on the slimy rocks.

I think we got some good ones. Chris had set up the tripod and he was the one who would set the timer and run to make it in the picture on time. Quiet funny to see really. He slipped one time and almost took a nosedive but caught himself. We were cracking up.

Here are my 3 favorite people! I love this picture. After getting some good photos we stopped and ate lunch on a huge rock until the bees got to much and we decided to head home. It turned out to be a great family day. We need to get out and do this every year.

Blog Break

2009-09-28T20:58:00.005-04:00

The summer has turned out to be a break from blogging for me. Not like I needed the break..i barely ever posted to begin with. But with a busy summer I got lazy which meant no blogging. I of course still read all of my favorites.

So today I'll be playing catch up with some of our summer happenings.

My mom got married! These are all of her grandkids. It was like pulling teeth to get all the kids in the picture let alone everyone looking at the camera so this is the best we got. Still pretty good for so many kids I say.

Lucas started 2nd grade this year. He sure is growing up way to fast. He is getting so tall. He will surely pass me up in a few years.

Reagan and I at the playground. We love to go and she has so much fun on this slide.

Reagan started Preschool this year. This has been a little tough on me. I'm not ready for her to grow up.

We had to bribe Reagan on her first day that she could go feed the ducks if she was a big girl and went to preschool. These duck are fearless and come right up to you for their lunch and if you aren't fast enough we have learned they will just take it from you. Both Reagan and Lucas love the ducks.

I guess that's enough for tonight. I'm tired and Chris wants the computer. I think he should have got me a laptop for my birthday and we wouldn't have this problem.

Brandi if you are reading this I need an address for your blog. :)

The letter R

2009-05-22T16:22:00.003-04:00

I love tutorials. I am always looking for something new to make. One of my favorite blogs has a bandana dress tutorial and I just knew I had to make one for Reagan. It only took around 30 minutes to whip it up. It would have been so much quicker if I didn't make her try it on every 5 minutes to make sure it was looking ok.

I did the back a little different than Julie did hers. I figured if I left ribbon hanging off the back she would be pulling at them so instead I just have the shoulder straps as one long ribbon and strung it through the back loop. Does that make sense? I also added a letter R to make it personalized. I love it, she loves it, we all win.

If you haven't already checked out Julie's blog, do it now. She is awesome.

April Showers brought May Flowers

2009-05-20T15:10:00.015-04:00

My flowers are pretty, for now anyway. They don't last long. This tulip is already done and gone. It was pretty while it lasted.

These 2 flowers I'm not sure what they are but we have yellow ones and some white and purple ones. I love how they open up.

We have a few of these bushes in the yard but only one purple one. The rest are white.

The dandelions are the kids favorites. Even though these aren't the prettiest flowers they are by far the most fun to play with.

I don't know what these are either but love the red color.

I think these are begonias but not positive.

I am taking pictures today and will be starting to put stuff up in the shop. I will put on a link here when I figure out how to do it.

Busy Girls

2009-05-13T00:25:00.007-04:00

It has been crazy here this week. I have been super busy getting ready for the craft fair. I decided to switch venues and I will be at the Grace Brethren Church here in West Kittanning instead of at the Silver Canoe Campground. It is right up the street from my house so that will be nice.

Today i took some pictures of Reagan in the headbands I made. I had to bribe her with candy. She does not like to stay still for the camera. Isn't she cute? :)

In this one she was gritting her teeth saying "cheese". She was getting mad at me by this point so i didn't get a lot of shots but got what I needed. Well it's time to get back to work. I will try to post tomorrow night.

First Timer

2009-05-07T23:18:00.006-04:00

Nobody tells you how hard it is to start a blog. Really it's super easy to sign up and create one but the first post, wow. I have no idea what to say.

I love people who blog daily. I eat that up. If I could I would sit at the computer all day and just browse.

I can't do that though because my kids want and need to play with their mom. This week though has been a rough week. They have both been sick. It breaks my heart when my 2 (almost 3) year old cries out "help me". What do you do for that besides just hold hold her and lay with her until she falls asleep. Lucas is going back to school tomorrow after being home since the school called us on Monday to come get him. He is finally feeling better. Hopefully Reagan will start to feel well too.

I don't have any pictures from this week so here is Reagan looking for her eggs on Easter.

I've been busy crafting getting ready for my first craft fair. So on the 16th and 17th I will be at Silver Canoe Campground in Rural Valley, PA. It's their first year doing a fair so I thought it would be a perfect place to start. I just hope people show up.

Is it normal for it to take hours to write a post? Please let me know it's not just me. I was planning on posting once a day but if it takes this long I'm gonna have to rethink that. :)