Busy!

Well I have been super busy lately! New things since I last posted include:

• New baby
• daily homework (with my PRESCHOOLER)
• crafty projects
• back to work full time
• teaching Sunday School
• assisting/leading youth group
• Thanksgiving
• other holiday preparations

And probably loads more things that I can't remember! I have been reading from my list avidly though and have a whole list (folder actually) of things I want to create for me and the kiddos and maybe even my husband too. We even took a picture for our holiday cards last night, and let me tell you, the only one who cooperated was the baby, she did not even cry once! I hope to have some projects posted soon, though my most recent was a gift, so I cannot post until after the holiday just in case I get an influx of followers between then and now ;)

Sweater Wreath

I got bored during nap time today and have been meaning to make something. I have made a few small things since I last posted, (possibly prior to the chair post which I still have to edit and put links in) but I never got around to taking any pictures of them. I am such a slacker, I have made several cards, some homecoming sashes, a diaper cake and even done some handiwork repairing my husbands work pants, but no pictures.

I had two smallish wreath forms I picked up at yard sales this summer and wanted to do something with them. My first one became and all season sweater wreath. I have been itching to make a sweater wreath for months with the sweaters I have leftover from my Christmas stocking project. I think it turned out great what do you think?

I used a wreath for, wrapped it in scraps of quilt batting from my chair project and then hot glued the sweater scrap around that. I pinned on the decorations so I can change them as the seasons change and hung it on my front door for the time being. I don't think it is very weather proof however, so as soon as our nice days end I will bring it in the house and hang it somewhere inside.

These ribbon rosettes are my new favorite thing to make, they are so easy and the only supplies they require are a hot glue gun (with glue) and ribbon. I back.mine with felt now, but I have made them without it also!

It was made with things I had laying around so a free project for me!

Ugly Red Chair To Pretty Zebra Chair

Last week I recovered this chair for my step daughter who was off to college. She and her roommate decided that they were going to have a zebra print room. So being ambitious and wanting to try a tutorial I found (will link later) I took her nasty old computer chair and recovered it. I do not have a before picture, it was that UGLY. We used to keep a blanket over it so it was not  visible!  It only took me about 30 minutes to do, it was so easy! (that is my time minus small child distractions)
All I did was remove and destroy the old fabric with scissors and elbow grease, cut quilt batting (for cushion) and cute zebra fabric to size, and stuff both in between the plastic of the back and the seat of the chair. Easy peasy as my preschooler would say.
And here she is, isn't she a beauty now?

This might be fun!

Im going to learn to post from my phone now:) since I got a smart phone,  finally!

Family Picture

I finally got our family picture taken. We haven't done one since my 4 yr old was 9 mos. Slacker mom award of the decade for me I think. My youngest is now 18 mos, poor kid, someday she is going to think we don't love her! I even managed to get almost all of the kids smiling, the boy has this habit of ruining pictures. Want to see?

Pretty cute bunch don't you think? My hubby took it with a tripod and a timer, and it only took a few tries:)

Apothecary Jar

I seem to be getting better about posting what I am creating rather than just my thought and feelings. During nap time today I decided to be creative with one of my recent thrift finds. I got to garage saleing these last two Saturdays and I found some great stuff. My loot includes and vintage (maybe) Samsonite suitcase that has already been put to use organizing barbies and a pretty little apothecary jar each for $1! I decided my jar was too plain for my taste, see??

To make it pretty I just dug through my ribbon stash and picked out a color I am using in my bathroom and glued it on. After I glued on the striped I decided that it needed more so I made my very first ribbon flower. It isn't the most well made flower and you can see my hot glue everywhere but it will serve the purpose in my bathroom where I am the only one who will appreciate it!

It became a very cute cotton ball jar! Now I need to locate another jar to pretty up for my Q-Tips and maybe something to organize my makeup brushes :) and I have big plans for a vase that I have had laying around for ages for bathroom decor! And no the picture is not taken in my bathroom because it is a work in progress, and because we rent and cannot change the horrid walls!

Oh and my daughter decided that she needed to be involved in my jar process so here she is modeling our finished product:) (Don't mind her hair! I braided it last night and she wont let me take it out!)

Crafting

So I have been absent from posting for a while, but I have been reading. I found and fell in LUV with some decorating and DIY blogs. I think we could call it stalking (almost) with a few of them. I have found so much inspiration in the blogosphere lately. So this week I finally got my craft on and made not one but four projects. Two of them go together, but lets humor me and count them both:)

Project #1

This was so simple. I took an old wire hanger that no one had claimed for a closet and bent it around what I had lying around. Then I spray painted it pink. Finally I stuck it in the flowerbed. Easy as pie:)

Project #2

This one was very simple as well. I dug out of my scrapbook stash so cute coordinating paper and some colorful brads and made 3 pinwheels. I put them into a frame that the kiddos broke the glass out of and volia! Cute picture that matches my front room that has very little decoration.

Projects #3 & #4

I am purposely not including pics of these cuties yet. I made matching name pictures for my girls. I used old 4x6 frames I had lying around and scrapbook supplies. Paper, chipboard letters and some daisies, that's all. Very cute and personalized for my littles.

I have also started a ribbon wreath for my girls as well, but ran out of ribbon in my stash. I also have plans for sewing a dress from one of the hubby's old dress shirts for one of the girls as well just as soon as I have a place to set up my sewing machine again. I will be sure to share when these are completed!

Upcycled Sweater Dress, By Me!

I finished my dinner and I had to get my project started, I knew I would be restless until I finished it. Now I just need to find my E-Book and I will be ready to sleep tonight so I can work tomorrow, oh and clean my living room. My kids are soooooo messy!

Back to my project I started by cutting off the remaining sleeve and neck from the green turtleneck sweater from my Christmas stocking project back in December.  Then I flipped the sweater inside out and laid a dress that currently fits my preschooler on top of it so I could pin the sides in.  I also pinned around the arm holes.

I sewed around each arm and then down the sides.

Next I pinned and sewed the neckline.

Then I put the dress on my daughter and put some pleats in the neckline both front and back and sewed them in. And I ripped out the seams at the bottom of the armholes far enough to stitch in a ribbon as an empire waist.

I plan on sewing a button or finding a brooch of some kind to add to the front of the dress on the ribbon.

I also made matching leg warmers from the sleeves. I measured my daughters legs from the knee down and cut the sleeves the same length measuring from the cuff.  I hemmed them and took some of the width out of them.

I am debating sewing some elastic into them to stay up, but the with I took out seems to make them fit better and/or adding some embellishments. They are worn with the cuff at her knee.  I wanted to make them fancier, but I wasn't sure how. I am open to suggestions!

She had such a great time posing for me in her new dress!

Pretty swell for completed sewing project number 2! (I mean all by myself, my mom has helped me with a few projects in the past, but not much on my own!) What do you think?

New project!

I have been stalking Etsy for a DIY project that I might be capable of completing on my own that I have the materials for. I got an idea, remember the sweaters I used here? Well I have almost a whole green one left and it is perfect for what I have thought out. I took one of my preschoolers dresses on top of it and it is the perfect length to make a sweater dress! and I don't even have to do that much altering! I can't wait! I may get started right after dinner and document the process with pictures so I can post about it later! I was so excited I just had to get it out! I even have some thoughts for embellishments! I can't wait!

Another Anniversary

This week was my and hubs 6th anniversary. (that sentence sounds wrong, I don't know how to fix it!) I cannot imagine life without him:) Believe me it is not sunshine and roses, but I still love him. I have been  wanting to share my story about my two weddings and get it all written out somewhere for my kids. We got married twice. I'm sure people do this all the time but a lot of people get confused as to why we celebrate our anniversary twice six months apart. While I was in college I was not able to get financial aid because my parents make too much money, which isn't saying much, as I have talked about before they are business owners on the side. Their primary income is a state job and a general contractor. My dad has a head for business and my mom has been in bookkeeping for 30ish years, kind of a perfect match for that sort of situation. However this post isn't about my parents, it is about me and hubs.

So in college I couldn't get financial aid, and I couldn't find a high enough paying job to cover my tuition. My dad came up with a solution: GET MARRIED. I was already engaged, we were going to wait till the summer to have a wedding, I always wanted a summer wedding. So we called the courthouse (justice of the peace?) and set a day Jan. 26, 2005 and it was done. When I finished with my classes for the day I changed into my nicest clothes and met my parents, brother and sister, hubs, and the kids at the courthouse. Bing, Bang, Boom done. (I have always wanted to say that!) I was married; I now had two kids and a husband, deny my financial aid now Mr. Government guy who decides who is entitled to financial aid or not!

And then we resumed planning for the real wedding. It was small and simple, just like I always dreamed and it was in the summer in a church. The only down point of the entire day was the fact that it was the HOTTEST day of that year, that made for some great pictures though! If I had to do it all over I would have had my wedding at the beach. There are some fantastic beaches here in U. P. (that is Upper Peninsula of Michigan for those of you from out of state.)

And then we went to Aruba, for the best honeymoon ever!

Thats our story. It's not quite so complicated really, and something lots of college students should think of doing. It got me more in loans, but it also helped me not stress about paying for school.

I don't even currently have a digital picture to share, I will have to find my disc that I copied from my old computer :( I will look soon!

The Big D

Grrrr..... I am having a moment of pure frustration. We have a friend who just started the divorce process, and his spouse was the one who initiated it. My heart hurts about the whole situation. I want to write it all out, but that wouldn't be fair to the parties involved even though I wouldn't use names and such. I just really saddens me when problems can't or won't get worked through. It made me realize that I need to work on my communication skills. I fear divorce with all my heart and don't want to live through one of my own. I severely lack in the ability to express myself with words when I am upset/angry. I shut down because I suck myself into a spiral of irrational thoughts and comments. It usually leaves me either yelling or biting my tongue so I am not yelling. I will have to write another post on this and not publish it so I can let out my frustration. 

On an lighter side I have been working like a mad fool, or like me as a mad fool, up until recently I haven't subbed more than 2 days a week, but the last few I have been working non stop. Let me tell you the paychecks are nice. I have been working for my parents a bunch as well.

I also have been itching for a DIY project, but I can't some up with something I want to make. I did do a page in my scrapbook and I helped my daughter make a picture to send to my sister in college, but that took me only a few minutes. I love working in my scrapbook, but I need to print more pictures to work with. I want a sewing project to work on also. 

Oh and my baby turned 1 last weekend so I will share an adorable cake picture. Of course it is chocolate cake! She has gotten incredibly fun since Christmas. She has been walking for over a month now and is almost running, and is trying so hard to talk.

And I have just been informed that I will be watching The Care Bears with my daughter so I need to finish this up. Apparently this is my favorite movie (according to her).