Homemakin and Decoratin

I'm an AUNTIE!!

2012-02-16T01:47:00.000-04:00

Yep, I'm an auntie! And WOW, my little baby sister is a MOMMY! Tell me, how is this possible?! Life sure does fly by rather quickly. I've waiting all day to hear the news when I knew my sister and her hubby went to the hospital this morning. I wish so badly I could be there with everyone to take part in all this joy and happiness! I bet my mom spent alot of the evening crying! Wish I could be there to cry with them too!

Here's the photo I was texted of my new baby niece ...

Now I'm just waiting for my sister to eat something and get on skype so I can see them :)

. Phone .

2012-02-15T19:52:00.000-04:00

Day 15 - Phone

So I was trying to think creatively instead of just taking another photo of my cell phone. I actually like how this photo turned out.. I've been learning about and experimenting with my aperture setting on my camera. It's just a point and shoot camera and the aperture settings are limited, but it does have some fancy schmancy gadgets and settings to figure out :) This photo makes me feel like listening to some dreamy romantic music...

. Heart .

2012-02-14T00:44:00.000-04:00

Day 14 - Heart

Tonight we went out for Chinese food for our Valentine's dinner and then went to see a movie - The Vow. Was a cute movie, but would have preferred a different ending and less inappropriateness :) This is such a cute card from my Hubby.. love the little boy and girl.

Happy Valentine's Day to my Hubby!

. Blue .

2012-02-13T19:54:00.000-04:00

Day 13 - Blue

Brrr! This photo makes me feel cold, but a little dreamy at the same time!

I feel like it's one of those photos that could tell a story.. leaving room for imagination.

I can't wait till we can sit out on our balcony in our big blue chairs again!.. swatting at the mosquitoes! ;)

. Inside Your Closet .

2012-02-12T21:23:00.000-04:00

Day 12 - Inside Your Closet

This is as much of my closet I'm going to show! :) It needs a serious makeover! . . I've just done some purging of old, unwanted, unfitting, unflattering clothes.. I may still bump into a few things here and there that need throwing out. And some time I'll make it pretty in this big walk-in closet.. if it's possible! :)

My Replacement For Picnik.com

2012-02-12T17:29:00.000-04:00

So has everyone heard the sad news that Picnik will be shutting down in April? I know, .. I cried too! It's something about joining Google + ... I don't really know all the details, but lots of people are unhappy with the news too. Anyhow, I like to do little touch up edits and resizing to my photos before posting them on my blog or facebook, and I was wondering what I was going to use once Picnik is gone. So I did some searching..

And found this site www.befunky.com

It's actually O.K! They have your basic edits like resizing and exposure and such, they have cool effects, stickers (not as great as picnik's though), frames, and you can add text to your photos too.

Here are a few things I did to my photo using this site..

(I don't remember which effects they are, I just played around alot with them all)

Fun! :)

So I think this will be the site I use for now to do my basic photo edits.

They work fine enough for me!

Just thought I'd share my finds!

. Makes You Happy .

2012-02-11T20:15:00.000-04:00

Day 11 - Makes You Happy

Not gonna lie! Ice cream makes me a H.A.P.P.Y girl! Not particularly THIS flavor, and DEFINITELY not vanilla.. that's just a waste of calories! :)

. Self Portrait .

2012-02-10T21:49:00.002-04:00

Day 10 - Self Portrait

Hi. This is me this morning just before leaving for work.

.. And those are my couch pillows all messed up and sitting on the back of the couch! :)

If you missed my previous photos for the February photo a day challenge, see them here!

. Front Door .

2012-02-09T16:18:00.000-04:00

Day 9 - Front Door

Isn't my handmade Valentine wreath just pretty?! I found my inspiration from pinterest (where else!) and had to make one so my door would be pretty for today's photo! :)

{I'll be back later with a tutorial!}

. Sun .

2012-02-08T22:09:00.000-04:00

Day 8 - Sun

Beautiful Sun setting behind the beautiful silhouette of trees behind our apartment.

My Nuttiness Confirmed!

2012-02-08T14:54:00.000-04:00

If there has ever been any question as to whether I'm "nuts", I think we finally have the answer! Because something came in the mail for me yesterday confirming it!. . and I just had to share!

I DIED laughing when I found this in my mail box! I laughed out loud all the way up the stairs to our apartment! {FYI my last name is METS.} .. But I'm sure any of my closest and dearest friends would all agree that the name on the envelope is quite fitting :)

. Button .

2012-02-07T18:59:00.001-04:00

Day 7 - Button

These are the buttons that keep me "close" to my little sister wherever I am. She's pretty much the only one I use up my texts with.. The only reason I have texting in my phone plan :) Canada and California are a little ways apart, you know! By the way, she's three days past her due date and I should be an auntie any time now! .. Just waiting for that phone call.. How I wish I could be there :( ...

. Dinner .

2012-02-06T22:37:00.000-04:00

Day Six - Dinner

Tonight we had chalupa tacos! YUM!

A couple weeks ago I made a big crock pot full of chalupas (shredded pork roast and pinto beans, along with chili and taco seasoning) and froze a couple bags of it! .. Made me feel like such a good little house wife :)

. 10:00 am .

2012-02-05T14:24:00.002-04:00

Day 5 - 10:00 am

Praying for the offering before Sunday school

. A Stranger .

2012-02-04T19:21:00.000-04:00

Day 4 - A Stranger

Boy was today's photo challenging! I felt like a stalker as I was seeking an opportunity for a photo! I'd see a cute opportunity, but then feel completely crazy for busting out the camera and trying to hide it! When I came home from work, Hubby and I went to eat dinner at Tim Hortons in hopes I'd sneak a photo.. This is the best I could do, cause then my camera battery died!!

. Hands .

2012-02-03T20:08:00.001-04:00

Day 3 - Hands

Work today was reeeeally slow. Pretty sure I kept checking these hands on the clock about every 5 minutes! .. Like waiting for water to boil as you sit there and stare at it!

.Words.

2012-02-02T20:05:00.003-04:00

Day Two - Words

My devotions this morning. Thought this was a fitting photo, in more ways than one! ;)

I just started going through this knew book that will guide me through the Bible in 365 days in such a way that the whole big picture will be clearer to see. Having a book to follow keeps me consistent and not wondering what to do or what book to read for devotions.

February Photo A Day Challenge

2012-02-01T22:23:00.002-04:00

Lately I've been taking a photo of something every day. Nothing specific, but just something during the day to get me using my camera and taking pictures. And I've been posting the pictures on Facebook. Well, then I bumped into this photo a day challenge for the month of February...

source

I've never done a challenge before and I thought it would be fun to join the party.

So every day I will post a photo according to the list above. Should be interesting and will definitely get me thinking creatively!

The photo challenge kind of slipped my mind, and then I remembered earlier this evening. I was like, "ah man I forgot!" But then I remembered I'd taken a photo today for my "photo a day" and it just so happens to fit with #1 on the list!

Day One - My View Today

I watched my husband walk to work this morning in the crazy snow storm! It was like this all day and I had to walk back and forth in it to work as well, so I'd say this was pretty much my view today! .. kind of.

Trailer Shop Boutique?

2012-02-01T09:46:00.001-04:00

Once upon a time I was browsing through a cute blog and bumped into this picture and fell in love...

source

It is THE. MOST. ADORABLE. trailer I have EVER seen!!!

I want it!

... and my husband think it's UGLY!

I thought it would be SOOO cute and fun to have a trailer just like, color and all, take out the stove, bathroom and other parts and carry all my shop stuff in it, displayed all pretty (that is, when I make more stuff consistently and my shop grows!) and have the trailer as a little shop boutique!

... and my husband thinks I'm CRAZY!

I said I'm looking for one of these darling babies when we have our own house someday to do just all of this!

... and my husband said he'd be EMBARRASSED!

Anyway, that's my new dream :)

{... I haven't even gotten as far as reaching the goal of selling at a craft market yet! HAHA!}

.. And my husband will love me anyways. ..

Infinity Scarves In Shop!

2012-01-28T23:23:00.000-04:00

Yay! This week I've added some of my brand new shop items-- infinity scarves!!

Super excited, cause I just LOVE these scarves!

I often forget to take them off when I come back inside, they are just that comfy!

These are so fun to make too, and I want to make them in all kinds of colors! I'm seriously about to get dangerously addicted to buying every pretty colored yarn I fall in love with! I told Hubs he's gonna have to build me shelves on the wall in my craft area to hold all my yarn! :)

Anyway, come check out my scarves in the shop!

I'll have to suffice as my own model for now.. which I think wearing them for photos seems to be more appealing than hanging on a hanger.. what do you think?

Valentine Favorites on Pinterest

2012-01-27T21:19:00.002-04:00

I've been finding some fun Valentine's Day stuff on Pinterest this week, and thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you!

{Click photos for the source}

Not much into the whole crafting bit, but still want something cute on your shelf or mantel? Wrap a paper doily and heart cut out around a jar and tie with some decorative twine or string- simple! I thought about doing this and putting little candles inside!

How cute is this dress with a heart shaped cut out?!

Wear anything underneath to show up a pretty colored or designed heart!

Perfect attire for the big special day!

Or how about a love letter t-shirt?

Grab a bleach pen and t-shirt and write down a sweet little note on the shirt!

{Be sure to check out this tutorial to see some further important instructions}

If there's one thing I know my husband loves, it's BACON! I think these strips of bacon folded into hearts would really speak volumes to him for breakfast on Valentine's Day! :)

I think strands of lights hanging or dangling over something is just so cozy and romantic.

Hang strands of white Christmas lights and pop on some white paper doily hearts for a cozy, romantic valentine feeling! {I really want to do this RIGHT NOW, but I don't have white christmas lights on the white cords.. just the ugly stand-out green cords..}

Make a set of these paper heart bookmarks and gift them to a friend, maybe along with some stationary or set of cards. Super cute and looks pretty easy too!

Okay now, I just fell in love with these two gorgeous wreaths!

They are my favorite Valentine finds so far! I want to make both of them!

If I had burlap material I would have made this one already!

I just loooooove Valentine stuff! :)

Hope you enjoyed those fun finds.
{See the rest of my pinned Valentine ideas here}

What are some of YOUR favorite Valentine ideas you've bumped into recently?
Do share with us! Leave a link in the comments! :)

Until next time..

happy pinning!

Felt Heart Bookmarks

2012-01-27T01:16:00.000-04:00

Awe, I just LOOOOVE all things Valentine's Day.. I always have, even if I wasn't dating or "in loooove." It's just such a fun and sweet time. So I've been looking at Pinterest for Valentine stuff and I came across these Aaaadorable stitched felt heart bookmarks!

{those cutie cards can also be found at that link where you can print your own!}

source

. . . And I decided to make some too! Cause they're just so stinkin' cute!

And I had a brand new box of jumbo paper clips already!

So I cut out a bunch of felt hearts. Two felt hearts for each bookmark.

Made running stitches around each felt heart that would be used as the top heart on the bookmark {not every single heart}

Then plugged in my glue gun!

A dab of hot glue on top of the bottom heart for the paper clip to stick, then some more dabs of glue on the same heart, then on goes the top heart. Pressing ever so lightly so the glue doesn't squish out and so you don't get the paper clip lines showing through.

Aren't they super super cute! :)

They'd make sweet little Valentine gifts along with a card or even a book!

Awe, so cute huh?! I just love felt crafts.

Until next time...

happy valentine creativities!

Master Bedroom: Nightstands Makeover

2012-01-25T07:32:00.000-04:00

Since our master bedroom is coming along now the way I want I thought I would get started on blogging about it. Here's the project on our night stands I've been meaning to post. About a year and a half ago we bought these two used matching shelf-ish looking things that I thought would make cute nightstands.

I planned on painting them match whatever I wanted our room colors to be {which are black, white, mustard yellow, and gray}. I finally got around to giving them a paint job during this past summer.. Took them to my Hub's parents' backyard and busted out the spray paint. First I used a white spray primer which was a pain in the buns.. goodness. But the shelves were that smooth particle board stuff.. {not sure the exact name for it}, so the primer made the paint stick.

The color I used was Krylon's Bauhaus Gold

Then after seeing this post I was inspired to add some decorative wooden trim to the flat boring edges of my nightstands to give them a prettier textured look and more personality. I went to the hardware store and had them cut all my pieces to size there. This trim was actually expensive! Apparently I saw the wrong price tag on the shelf and thought it was $7 for each looong thing of trim, but it was NOT that cheap.. that's all I'll say. I felt pretty defeated after purchasing those. Oh well, took them home and spray painted them {yes, I painted the night stands before gluing on the trim.. I'm a nerd I know, but that's just how I roll cause I'm impatient to wait till I have everything at once!}

I used wood glue to fix on the trim. Not sure how long that will last.. I may have to fix them again another day when they pop off! Then I cleaned up all the little crevices with a tooth pick.. Such an annoying and time consuming little task! haha!

I kept the trim tight and flat on the nightstands with heavy books.

and here they are finished!

I think they yellow is a bit brighter than I want.

I was thinking about doing some glazing on them.. like this. Just so the trim would show up more.. cause that's really the only place glazing would work I guess.. where there's detail in the wood.

And the headboard {that's taken me forever and ever!} is actually coming along! I finished the last little paint touches on it last week and Hubs and I made our stands for it. We had already bought all the wood supplies to create the stand months ago! And I have my new white fluffy duvet I'm waiting to replace our blankets with! I'm still not completely sure if the BRIGHT yellow nightstands are the look I'm wanting with all how the room is going to turn out. I might be wanting a more softer gray and yellow look... I don't want it too bold and bright. Who knows. We will see and change up things where and when necessary.

Cut Myself Bangs..

2012-01-22T09:03:00.000-04:00

Yep, tried the bangs thing again.. Not sure why I get in those moods and actually chop them. I usually regret it later... hopefully I can learn to work with them and not get fed up and just bobby pin them back all the time!

Here's a photo before any hair destruction...

And here's the new...

It'll just take some getting used to.. :)

"Rain Shower" Baby Shower

2012-01-17T10:42:00.007-04:00

I threw my first baby shower ever a few weeks ago! My little sister is having a baby girl and my sister is one of my dearest and best friends. I wanted to make this shower so special for her to remember. I pretty much started planning for this 3 to 4 months before going out to California for Christmas. I wanted everything to be planned out and all the decorations to be ready so we wouldn't have to do so much running around and shopping, taking away our visiting time since we only had 2 weeks of vacation with my family. Alot of the things for the shower were made and put together by me, giving it a super sweet and personal touch.. I like to think so anyway!
{MONTHS ago I was inspired by this baby shower and fell in love with the idea!}

So without further ado, here are photos of the shower.

WARNING: this may be a looong post with lots of photos! :)

First things first, here are the invitations I designed on my computer and printed at home.

I thought they were just PERFECT!

The dessert table was probably the most exciting part to put together!

You can hardly see the tissue paper clouds I made with paper raindrops hanging down. To make the raindrops I just cut heart shapes and folded them in half.

All the tissue paper came from the dollar store, along with any cardstock I used too!

See the cute mini pom pom garland along the table? Found little bags of mini pom poms at the dollar store and strung them on thread and hot glued the garland right to the plastic tablecloth!

French Vanilla cupcakes with pretty blue frosting YUM. The edible pearl candies give the cupcakes such a girly touch. For the cupcake toppers I bought the paper cloud cut outs from Etsy for like $3 and taped toothpicks to the backs.

Aren't these raindrop sugar cookies the darling-est things!? I made my own cookie cutter to get the raindrop shape! (cardboard, hot glue and aluminum foil). The cookies were a HIT! {everyone keeps asking for the recipe!}

Chocolate and Spice cake balls. YUM YUM YUM my favorite!

{I seriously spent a whole 2 days baking and making the desserts! Mom helped me too}

With dollar store glass plates and thrifted milk glass vases, I made the two cake stands.

SO SIMPLE! {hot glue!} The two vases aren't matching, which is super cute.

Mom put together a super yummy nut, mint, and chocolate raisins mix.
I pretty much munched on it the whole time!

Chocolate covered pretzel sticks that I dipped myself. SO GOOD!
And they are just so pretty!

The oversized wine glasses came from the dollar store. There are two different kinds of wine glasses to vary the look a tiny bit.. which was probably not even noticeable.

The baby's name is Kyra (sounds like Kierra or Keera)
I cut out large letters from cardboard spelling out her name and wrapped them with two colors of blue yarn. Super cute, ya?!

Blue and white napkins from the dollar store, hand stamped with my umbrella stamp from Michael's dollar bins. White ink on the blue, and blue ink on the white ones! I pretty much adored this little detail!

"Baby Girl" wooden letters came from AC Moore for $.49 cents a piece.
Mom painted them pink and it added just enough pink on the table!

These silver frames used for dessert labels were from Michael's dollar bins as well.
LOVE' EM!

The pretty blue table runner came from a thrift store near my parents house. My mom and I were out one day together checking out some thrift stores for fun and I randomly found a big bundle of this fabric for $2! It was the PERFECT color! So I cut two strips from the fabric and mom sewed the ends together to make this shabby little runner.. no hemming or perfect finishing! You couldn't even tell. The table just wouldn't have been the same without that blue fabric! There was enough to use on the drink table too!

My mom had these BEAUTIFUL glass drink dispensers that we filled with lemonade and lemon slices (I hadn't put the lemon slices in yet so you can't see them!). I also made ice cubes from the lemonade so it wouldn't get watered down.

Probably the most expensive part of this shower was purchasing all the glass baby bottles. But they are the sweetest thing! Everyone just loved it. And the pretty paper straws came from Etsy!

Here's the mommy-to-be sipping from her pretty baby bottle!
Isn't she just the most adorable pregnant lady?!

The "Guest Book" was so super cute! I've seen wedding guest book ideas where people leave their thumb print to form a tree, and so I thought it would be perfect to use that same idea with a rainshower theme! The umbrella shape was just cut from cardstock and I drew the handle with a marker.

I searched for a blue or white umbrella EVERYWHERE, and couldn't find one. Finally a couple days before the shower I was standing in line to buy some things at the 99 cent store and after I bought my stuff and was about to walk away I noticed these light blue umbrellas sitting on the counter right next to me! It was the craziest thing ever I tell you!

As each guest arrived, I gave them a tiny felted diaper broach pin that I made.
This was for the Dirty Diaper game. I had a tiny piece of chocolate inside one of them.

We played the baby photo guessing game.
I had guest who brought their baby photos hang them up on a string of twine with numbered mini clothespins.

And I made these cute cards for writing down the answers.
I printed the game title and numbers on cardstock, used my corner punch, and used my umbrella stamp and heart punch to embellish.

We played "guess the mommy's tummy size" with yarn

And the game "Left, Right" where you read a story and every time your hear "right" or "left" you pass around a wrapped gift in that direction- super fun and funny too!

We also played a game called "My Water Broke!"

You freeze little plastic babies in ice cubes {which looked totally creepy by the way!} and give one to each guest in a little cup, and whoever's ice cube is completely melted {you can blow on the cube or keep your hands around the cup to warm it} and yells "my water broke" first is the winner... One of my sister's best friends who is also pregnant and due to pop any day was the winner! So when we heard her shout out "MY WATER BROKE!" .. we were a little concerned!

I set up a photo booth in a cozy little cubby hole in the kitchen
{a fridge is supposed to go there but my parents' fridge is too big}

The "Photo Booth" sign is a dollar store plastic tray that I painted with chalk board paint.

Found those little yellow rain boots at the thrift store for $1.99. So adorable!
I made the mustache, lips and heart photo props.
I found wooden heart shapes at Michael's and painted them with chalkboard paint. I love chalkboard paint. The picture frame was thrifted and we spray painted it yellow.

I just loved how the photo booth turned out.
And it was actually more of a hit than I expected it to be!

Two pregnant mommy bellies SO CUTE!

SO MUCH FUN! My favorite props were the mustaches and frame.

Here are some sweet shots of mommy and daddy-to be before the party

I love that darling little baby belly!

My sister love and me having some fun
{yes, I know.. I can't spell}

Take home favors were little baggies of lemon drops.
I bought the little ziplock baggies from the dollar store, made the labels from leftover blue cardstock paper, printed outlines of cloud shapes and cut them out, stamped with a "thank you" stamp. Then I just attached the labels to the baggies with double sided tape.

Such a super fun day!
I really enjoyed putting this shower together for my sister.
She received so many beautiful gifts for her baby girl!

I just love her!

..... Hubby and I had to get a cute shot in the booth too! ;)

Love Love

Hope you enjoyed the shower!! ;)

It's Been Awhile...

2012-01-15T15:22:00.001-04:00

Hi there! Remember me? It's been a while, hasn't it? Life has been a little busy recently with my job and the holidays. And I've been missing blogging, but I've been so unmotivated at getting into blogging about anything. Speaking of the holidays, Christmas in California was wonderful! It was so good to be home with my family for a couple of weeks. I think I'll share about our trip in another post though. But with the holidays over and no more baby shower to plan for (blog post soon coming about that!) I have more time to work on shop related things! And I'm excited to introduce a new item I will be adding to my shop. Infinity scarves! I made one for our church's Christmas gift exchange party and it was a hit! It was stolen 3 times! It gave me a feeling of pride inside!! haha! I made one for myself, one for my coworker since we drew names for Christmas, one for my sister and mom too! Everyone loved them! So I'm working on adding some of these to my shop now! I love them, and they look great with everything! I'm just having a hard time figuring out how to photograph them for my shop. Outside in the snow makes beautiful photos, but I'd probably freeze to death! No joke. Today's weather is 7 degrees farenheit!! If we live here in New Brunswick forever I may have to invest in a parka!

Here's just a little peek at my infinity scarf I wore today

Carrot colored infinity scarf I made for myself

Isn't it cute?! It's hard to see the whole thing, but it's a pretty big circle and it's wrapped around my neck twice. So comfy and cozy! Can't wait to get them in my shop!

Until next time..

happy creativities!

(haven't said that in a great long while!)

P.S.. this photo is the first photo to be posted on my blog that was taken by my new Canon point and shoot camera that Hubby got me for Christmas!!! Love it!

Yummy Hot Chocolate Stirrers

2011-12-19T08:40:00.000-04:00

Made some yummy chocolately hot chocolate stirrers with some left over melted chocolate from cake balls the other night! They turned out super cute and Y.U.M.M.Y!

I stole a handful of stirrers from McDonald's hehe!

Poked them into large marshmallows

And dipped away! Yep, I use my candle warmer to melt my chocolate!

Crush up some peppermint candy canes

And roll or sprinkle onto the dipped marshmallows

Set on a plate with wax paper

Aren't they cute and yummy looking?!

I brought a couple of these and some hot chocolate into my sunday school class this morning and me and the one teen girl I have had hot chocolate! We loved the chocolate stirrers! It made the hot chocolate so chocolatey and pepperminty! Mmmm...

Just wanted to share! Now I must get going and finish up some last minute packing. Tomorrow morning we leave for our trip to CALIFORNIA! It's been two years since I've seen my family and this year we are spending Christmas with them! So excited I don't think I'll sleep! :)

Along for the Ride Giveaway!

2011-12-07T00:16:00.000-04:00

Blueberry's Blog is having a giveaway! Laura from Along for the Ride is giving away TWO pairs of her super adorable bias tape rosebud earrings!

They are darling, aren't they?!

Head over to Blueberry's Blog and enter to win! :)

Tiered Storage for my bathroom pretties

2011-11-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, this is something I didn't exactly NEED, but I was inspired by this DIY tiered bathroom stand I found on Pinterest and thought I must try one too!

I bought two little dishes from the dollar store and the candle holder I already had.. it's one of our unity candle stands from our wedding!

I used E-6000 glue and turned the candle upside down so the larger bottom part would be glued to the smaller dish which would be the top... leaving more room in the bottom dish for stuff. I glued one dish at a time, giving each some good drying time.

I think it's pretty :)

5 Minute Scrabble Ornaments!

2011-11-23T17:12:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's that time again.. getting ready for the Christmas season! That's always fun, however this year I'm not feeling as motivated as I was last year. I just spend hours trying to rearrange my living room again.. which is always a chore! We have two big recliners that were given to us when we first started out in our apartment, and now I'm trying to get rid of one of them just to give us a little more roominess. Not sure if I'm liking the new arrangement.. wish I was a little more creative when it comes to designing a nice living room! Anyway! We pulled the tree out of the closet and I set it up this afternoon. Haven't decorated it yet. I'll wait for Hubby to get home from work tonight. But I was playing around on Pinterest and saw some cute scrabble ornaments so I had to make some for us too! This project seriously took like 5 minutes!

Get the hot glue gun, scissors, scrabble tiles and some ribbon- that's it!

Pick out your Christmas-y words and glue them together!

Then dig around in your ribbon scrap jar, cut ribbon to the length you want and glue down to the back of the ornament. -- That's It! Told you this was super simple and QUICK!

Best part about the project-- didn't cost me a penny!

Had everything in my craft room already! Love those kinds of projects :)

May you have a true peace in your hearts because of Christ's hope of eternal salvation, and may your hearts be filled with true joy because you are satisfied in Him!

Pleated Poppy Giveaway!

2011-11-21T10:17:00.000-04:00

Go check out Not Just a Housewife and enter for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to The Pleated Poppy shop! You have to check this shop out! The most darling things I tell you! I want one of her ruffly scarves!

Cloud and Raindrop Felt Mobile

2011-11-15T23:42:00.000-04:00

It was a rainy day Friday, plus my day off . . And while browsing through Pinterest I spotted this adorable mobile and just had to create one for myself!

So I began with tracing a cloud shape I found on google images. (I don't like printing out my shapes and images just for cutting out and using as stencils, so I just enlarge the photo on my computer screen to the size I like and place a white piece of paper on my screen and LIGHTLY trace the shape.) Then I cut out the cloud, pinned to the felt and traced and cut out two clouds.

Then I hand sewed the clouds together, leaving a small opening for filling with stuffing. And sewed it shut.

It's the cutest, fluffiest cloud :)

I cut out a tiny pink heart and hot glued it to the cloud-- isn't it darling?

My felt raindrops are all attached with clear fishing line. The raindrops of the inspiration mobile I found on Pinterest were actually sewn together in a line (with a sewing machine) . . which would be better, because then they would be immovable. I never know how to work with clear slick fishing line. Oh well!

No, this mobile is not for a baby. .

. . yes, I made this mobile for ME :)

It's hanging in our living room to make me smile.

I love the shadow it casts on the wall in the evening.

These would be super cute in a baby nursery and would make cute gifts too! hmm... I am going to be an auntie in February .. maybe I should add this to the Christmas list :)

I do like a romantic, cozy, rainy day. . .

Pom Pom Necklace. . and new boots!

2011-11-13T15:51:00.000-04:00

Last night I needed something to keep me busy while Hubs worked on his sermon that he's going to be preaching tonight. I just have to be doing SOMETHING. . I hate when I have idle hands. I could sit for hours looking at inspirational things online, but I hate doing that! (I love it, but I hate it .. make sense?) I just like to be busy making or doing something to make good use of my time. So I decided I would make me a pom pom necklace, just like Little Miss Momma's.

What I used to make my necklace:

Felt

Fabric

Hot glue gun

Scissors

Necklace chain

small wire cutters

First I cut 5 little 1 inch or so circles out of the felt

Then I cut out same size circles out of the fabric

Okay, this is pretty much where I forgot to continue on taking photos of the process. .

BUT you just scrunch up a fabric circle from the center, apply some hot glue to the point and glue the point right down to the middle of a felt circle. Continue that until you have a nice little pom pom as full as you'd like.

Then after all 5 of the pom poms are made up, arrange your pom poms on a sheet of felt in the arrangement you want them to be for the necklace. Glue the pom poms down right to that piece of felt, except for the top two. This is where I got my necklace chain and cut it in half with my wire cutters. Glue one end of the necklace chain to the bottom of one pom pom, and then add some more hot glue and glue that pom pom down to the felt in its spot. Repeat with the other top pom pom. Now you're ready to cut the felt around your pom pom necklace (not around each individual pom of course!).

(see LMM's tutorial for more photos of the process)

I actually glued some extra strips of felt to the backing just to make it sturdier, because it was a little flimsy and wibble wobbly with just that one layer of felt.

I love it!

I wore it to church today :)

New boots! Got them at Ardene in my mall for like $13. They really aren't going to be super great for winter and snow and wetness, but I like them anyways.

Wearing a clearance dress I got from Walmart, thrifted cardigan (had it forever), boots from Ardene, $3 clearance walmart scarf (my new favorite), pom pom necklace by me!

It's a pretty day today. . very fallish like.

.. and you know how I feel about Fall!

Dollar Store Birdie Makeover

2011-11-09T00:35:00.000-04:00

Yippee!! I finally have a project to share!

Yesterday I was at the dollar store picking up a few random things for my sister's baby shower I'm throwing next month. I spotted these sad little creatures . .

. . and decided to take them home and give them some love.

First I sanded them a tiny bit to rough them up, but it didn't really do much good. They look and feel like wood, but .. I don't know what they are. Then I painted them with acrylic craft paint. It took quite a few coats before it really starting sticking well. After I painted them I did a coat of a clear polyurethane, to make them smooth and slicker.

Prettier already!

. . but I wanted to try out the antiquing look. So I took my plain ole black acrylic paint . .

. . and brushed on a little at a time . .

. . then I wiped it away with a wet rag (old under shirt that was on its way to the trash), leaving the black in the cracks and crevices. I've read on some other major DIY blogs that regular paint won't work as an antiquing glaze, because it doesn't wipe away as nicely like glaze does. But I actually have to say this worked perfect! . . see for yourself

I found that after brushing on some black in a spot, then first rubbing it in with a DRY part of the rag before wiping away with the wet part helped to keep some of the black stuck on and not just completely wipe away. Gave it a smudgy and dirtied look. I'm super pleased with how well the acrylic paint worked as an antiquing glaze.

I love these little birdies! They're so cute and sweet now!
( I originally got the idea from here )

Love Birds . . that's us!

Aren't makeovers fun?!

Beef Stew and Dumplings

2011-11-07T23:29:00.000-04:00

OoOooHhh... this was a GREAT dinner tonight! .. seriously, I'm wanting to eat leftovers for a midnight snack! I thawed my meet cubes in the fridge over night and got it all started in the crockpot at 9 this morning.

Here's the recipe I found online, but I'll just share here what I did for mine tonight cause it's just a tad different.. not by much though.

1 carton of beef broth

1/4 - 1/2 cup of Italian dressing

1/4 - 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce

1 tsp. dried oregano leaves

1 lb. of 1-1/4 inch stewing beef cubes

1 lb. potatoes cut up in chunks

4 large carrots cut in chunks

onion chopped up (I never use a whole one for the two of us!)

little bit of chopped fresh garlic (I added that)

I put the broth, Italian dressing, BBQ sauce, and oregano together in the pot first. Then I browned the beef cubes for barely a minute in a pan on the stove and added them to the pot, along with onions and garlic. Turned the crockpot to "low." The potatoes and carrots actually didn't go in until an hour later, cause I had to run to the store to pick up some carrots. So I just decided I'd wait to put the potatoes in when I got back. The recipe said it should cook for about 8 hours on low. Mine was done probably around 6 hours, but I kept it going till Hubby got home for break. (The meat was perfect and tender!)

At around the last hour of cooking, I added a mixture of 3 Tbsp. of flour and 1/4 cup of water to the stew.. The recipe said to remove the meat, potatoes and carrots before putting those two ingredients in, and then serving it with pouring the thickened up juice over the top. But I just left everything in. It didn't really thicken up too much anyway.

I also made dumplings! Hubby's grandma made a yummy stew with stew dumplings one Sunday afternoon and I LOVED it! So I found a recipe for those too, since I'd never made them before ..(I hadn't even eaten them before till I had them at his grandma's!) These are super easy to make!

Dumplings for Stew:

1 cup of flour

2 tsp. of baking powder

2 Tbsp. of dried parsley

1/2 tsp. of salt

1 beaten egg

1/4 cup of milk

2 Tbsp. of vegetable oil

First combine the dry ingredients, and then beat together the milk, egg, and oil in separate bowl. Stir that into the flour mixture. It will be really sticky and gooey.

Just plop the dough into the crockpot by the spoonfuls, right on top of the stew.

Twenty minutes should be enough time for the dumplings, so the recipe says. Mine actually cooked for about an hour. Hubby was supposed to be home at 4, so I put the dumplings in at 3:30.. but he wasn't able to get home till around 4:30! They were still perfect and yummy!

Oh baby, it was the best meal I've had in a while! I know I just followed a simple crockpot recipe, but I'm still proud of myself for tonight's dinner. .. I'm not so great at cooking dinners.. most of the time I just don't like to.. That probably sounds terrible, but ... oh well, it's the truth :) I didn't say I "don't" make dinners. It's just not my favorite thing to do is all. Anyway, dinner was YUMMY over here! .. and I'm kind of craving some more right now! . . .

I Finally Caved In!

2011-11-04T18:38:00.001-03:00

Well, I did it folks. I finally created myself a Pinterest account. I really hadn't wanted to because I thought it would just be another thing to keep me sitting around on the computer for more hours in a day!! But I think it's such a great way to store all your ideas and be able to go right back to the source you found it. So much more convenient then saving photos in a file on the computer.. yes, that's what I was doing before.. I know. Lame. Cause I bet for more than half of the files I've saved over the past couple of years I wouldn't be able to find the source again.. even though I tried renaming the photos with the name of the blog I found it from! Anyway, enough of that, so I created a Pinterest account. Not just for the convenience of course, it's also such an inspiring place to be! Love it! But I have to admit, I sit around getting inspired from the internet way too much and not actually putting all that inspiration to work. Am I the only one??

Come find me on Pinterest and see my taste!

My Pinterest Account

I also added the "follow me" button to my right side bar --->

I love you still ...

2011-11-02T10:20:00.000-03:00

Last Monday, October 24th, was our two year anniversary. I can't believe how fast time flies! In a way it feels like our wedding day was just weeks ago, but then it also feels as if we have been together for as long as we can remember.

We both had to work on our sweet day, so we decided we'd go away on the weekend since we had Saturday off. So this past weekend we went to Saint John, just a couple hours drive away. We stayed in a nice big hotel and just relaxed :) We watched our wedding video.. always sweet memories when seeing it again.

It started to SNOW in the morning.. it was a wet yucky snowy rain. So there really wasn't much for us to go around the town and do like walking through some of the pretty parks. But we had to leave our hotel room in the afternoon, so we checked our GPS and spent a few hours just driving around seeing what was open.

Before we left for home we found out there was a Taco Bell in that city! I hadn't eaten Taco Bell since I've been home in California- that's TWO YEARS! So we definitely stopped there for lunch! YUM.

Our anniversary went by MUCH too quickly.. but I'm glad I have my husband every day. God has blessed me more than words can tell and I am so thankful for my husband. He's a good man, he's so good to me. We have grown alot in just these two years. We've had rough times that have only made us stronger and care for each other more. We realize that our marriage can never reach what it should be if are doing this without God. He is our guide as we continue on this journey.

It may only be just our two year mark, but sadly, many couples can't say even "two years" for their own marriage..

I love you Joel!

Est. October 24th 2009

Versatile Blogger Award!

2011-10-23T00:02:00.002-03:00

Guess what!? Today I was awarded the Versatile Blogger Award!

That's pretty exciting to me! It's nice to know that people find some enjoyment through my blog and what I like to do and share.

Thanks so much to Brandy over at With a Shot of Brandy for choosing to award me!

THANK YOU SO MUCH BRANDY! .. for awarding me, and for taking the time to read my blog.

Here are the rules for this reward:

* Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award

* Share 7 things about yourself

* Send the award to 10 other bloggers and let them know you have awarded them!

7 Things About Me

1. I'm a lover of many things crafty and creative :)

2. Originally from California, I met my Canadian hubby in Wisconsin during grad school.

3. Currently a waitress at a small restaurant

4. Home schooled from K-12th grade -- thank you mom!

5. Brought up in a Christian home, saved at age 5, and have a desire for the Lord and His work in my life!

6. I spend way too much time online

7. My weakness is ice cream and I can never say NO :)

And now my 10 awards go to . . .

Domestic Fashionista

Little Miss Momma

Lemon Tree Creations

A Law Student's Journey

Along for the Ride

Five Days... 5 Ways

All Things Thrifty

Two Girls Being Crafty

Amandita Designs

Christina's Adventures

All of these bloggers are my favorites and I enjoy reading each of their blogs!

Congrats!! :)

Cheap Earring Displey Holder: Craft Room

2011-10-19T22:40:00.000-03:00

Hello, it's me! ... I feel like a stranger on my own blog! Oh how I've missed blogging about crafts and projects and such.. I just don't have much to share these days. There are a few larger projects that I'm in the middle of ~~procrastinating~~ working on for our master bedroom though, and I can't wait to finish those up! So until I have those projects complete I think I all stick to some smaller projects that I can finish right away without sweat, tears and involving laziness!

This week I made myself an earring holder for some of my shop earrings.

I just bought a grease strainer thingy at the dollar store . . .

(I saw this done before online somewhere but don't remember where)

. . . and painted it with my pretty new Krylon Watermelon paint that Hubby got me for my birthday.

(I'm using it sparingly and saving most of it for something good because it's special).

Then I hot glued twine around the handle and glued on a little loop for hanging.

Filled it up with earrings and there you go!

Told you it was one of those quick projects :)

For now I like it.. until I'm inspired with a better idea for displaying my shop earrings! :)

The color looks nice and pretty next to my bright blue cork board! Oops, sorry for not photographing that though.. my camera was dying on me. But I am working on putting a few more things on my craft room wall and then I'll get some nicer pictures to show. Promise.

Crock Pot Apple Crisp

2011-10-06T22:10:00.000-03:00

I. Love. Fall.

.. I know, I've said it before.. many times, but I just really do love it! When the days start turning into fall I get this feeling in me.. The smells of fall, .. in the outdoors, in the kitchen, candles.. The chilliness, coziness, pulling out some light scarves, comfy sweaters... Yes, I'm getting to my point of this post, I'm just building it up!

Fall makes me want to bake things! Lately I'm wanting to bake all sorts of yummy sweets. I haven't jumped at every urge to bake something though, thank goodness! But I was recently inspired by one of the blogs I follow {A Law Student's Journey} to make apple crisp in the crock pot! Mmmmm. So I tried it! And boy was it gooooood. I looked online for some recipes, and I kind of followed a few different recipes.

How to make Apple Crisp in your crock pot

I peeled and sliced about 8 to 10 apples (6 cups sliced apples).

Mine were actually small apples, so you may want less apples if yours are larger. I just bought a bag of apples.

After peeling and slicing, I threw the apples into the crock pot.

Then in a small mixing bowl I added these ingredients:

1/3 cup white sugar

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mixed that up then dumped it into the pot with apples and stirred it up.

Then I added 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice and stirred that up.

{The smells were already getting to me!}

Next for the topping..

Mixed these ingredients in a bowl:

1/2 cup of flour

2/3 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 pinch of salt

{one of the recipes I was following didn't include oats, so I added oats from another recipe, and cut out half the flour. Not sure if cutting the flour is necessary.. but that's what I did}

Then I cut 1/2 cup of butter into little pieces, added that to the flour, sugar and spice mixture and squished it all up with my hands into a crumbly mixture- great fun :)

Mmmmm I love crumble toppings!

The topping mixture just goes right on top of the apples. Y.U.M.

On goes the lid, temperature set to LOW. Leave it for about 3 hours then take the lid off for about an hour so the crust topping can .. do what it's supposed to.

I couldn't wait to find out how this would turn out! I've never made an apple crisp in my life! I've actually never done these kinds of baked goods before. Apple pies, apple crisps, other fruit pies..

Here's a look at it all done and ready to be eaten up

And it was definitely eaten up! We had Hub's parents over that night to enjoy some of it with us. They loved it and said it was super yummy! I'm not really crazy about apple desserts, but this was great!

Y.U.M - Y.U.M - Y.U.M - Y.U.M - Y.U.M

This is me beaming with pride for making my first apple crisp

And this is Hub's saying to himself, "My wife is AWESOME!" :)

{Yes, I have attained the gift of reading my husband's mind.}

Enjoy, and have yourself a yummy fall treat!

Sweet Blossom Earrings Giveaway at Domestic Fashionista!

2011-10-06T10:24:00.000-03:00

Hi Friends! I feel that I've been neglecting the blogging stuff these days... I feel like there is so much I need to do and plan and plus there's the job I have now. I need to get myself more organized and disciplined! .. yeah right

Well I do have something exciting for you today!

Remember my Sweet Blossom Earrings???

Ashley from Domestic Fashionista is having a giveaway on her blog RIGHT NOW, and someone's going to win a pair of my earrings!!!

So what are you waiting for??

Get over there and enter the giveaway!!

DIY Cork Board and Thumb Tacks: Craft Room

2011-09-28T18:34:00.000-03:00

I've been turning our spare bedroom into a little craft station for myself. .. Right now it's a mess! That's my "stash everything in here" room! haha! Anyway, when I have it more set up how I want, I'll do more posts about it :) For now I'm just going to show you my pretty corkboard I put together for my wall.

I found this big wooden frame at my thrift store for $2.

The backing looks like cork but it's not. So I had to buy some sheets of cork, which I found for $2 for a pack of 2 squares at the dollar store! I picked up two packs since one wouldn't be enough.

I just hot glued the cork right to the frame backing. You can see how it hangs over the side.. so I used my little exacto knife to cut the edges off.

To cover up the obvious lines I bought a fat quarter of fabric at Walmart and glued the sides down to the back of the backing. I guess I didn't take a photo of this part, but you can just imagine this process :) Pretty simple and easy. I wanted fabric that wouldn't stand out and be distracting from the pretty blue that I painted my frame, so I picked some out that look super close to the color of cork. Here's an up close look at the fabric. You'd think it was cork from seeing it father away, which is what I was going for.

And here's my new pretty corkboard!

I just used a plain ole bottle of acrylic craft paint and painted about 3 layers on. Then painted a couple layers of a clear coating.

Ready for more F.U.N ?!

I made my own cute thumb tacks too!

I took all these little odds and end..

{buttons, tiny crochet flowers, fabric covered button,

and a glass marble that I mod podge to some fabric} and hot glued them to some plain thumb tacks I had.

cute, cute, cute! Right?!

I'm throwing my sister a baby shower when we go home to California for Christmas!

{by the way, my sister finds out today if it's a boy or girl! eek!)

It's super nice having my own little area for all my craft stuff! Usually it's ALL OVER the apartment! I'm definitely going to be working on this little area {I call it my craft station}, so there will be more posts to come!

p.s... today has been the most beautiful fall day!

... again with the romantic-y dreamy mood..

Crochet Ruffle Scarf

2011-09-28T09:02:00.000-03:00

Wow, It's like I've been avoiding blogging like the plague! ... Not really, I just haven't had anything great to blog about. I do have a bunch of projects I'm in the middle of, but it could be ages before those are done because, I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, I tend to procrastinate things. I'll try to work on that.. cause I have some things I really want to share!.. before I get gray hairs.

This week I was feeling in the mood to make a scarf. I haven't done one in a great long while, so I bought some pretty yarn. I love this color. It's called Pale Antique Rose. Isn't that a pretty name too? I was planning on just making one of my normal scalloped scarves, but I decided to try and make ruffles instead. I didn't follow any pattern for making ruffles, I basically just figured it out on my own..

Ta- da!

I like it and can't wait to wear it! .. Well, I CAN wait, .. cause really I'm not looking forward to winter gracing us with its presence again. I'm rather sad about the summer ending, but now that fall has started showing itself, I don't mind it getting a little teensy weensy bit cool. I love fall. It makes me all romantic-y and dreamy and I want to go buy pumpkins and put them everywhere in our apartment and burn yummy smelling candles all day long--(big breath for air!)

back to the ruffly scarf I made...

Lovely, right? :)

I thought I'd share the tiny little instructions on how I did the ruffles in case anyone's wondering.

So first things first, I made the foundation row 210 chain stitches long.

Then I did 3 rows of double crochets.

For the ruffles on the first side (which is the opposite side of the foundation chain stitches) I did 3 double crochets in EACH stitch all the way across.

(no skipping spaces at all).

Like this..

(the gray ovals represent the stitches you are stitching into)

For the other side of the scarf I did things a little different. I alternated between 3 double crochets in one stitch, and 2 double crochets in the next and continuing in that pattern.

Like this..

I did it this way because I was finding that the foundation stitches seemed to be a bit scrunched and closer than on the other side of the scarf.. When I was doing 3 double crochets in each stitch everything was tighter and the ruffles were smaller than the other side. So by doing it this way, to me it seemed to even them out more to look like the other side.

And yes, the ends will look a little strange too. So what I did for the ends was just add double crochets right along the ends to make them rounded. Not sure how to explain this part, but I just put double crochets anywhere on the ends to get it across and connect to the other side's end with a slip stitch.

Here's a photo of the finished ends which might help with understanding..

They aren't perfect, but they look SO much better then if I hadn't finished them this way.

So that's my ruffle scarf!

I'd love to make a few for my shop too, so we'll see that how that goes!

If you make your own ruffle scarf I'd love to see it!
Feel free to leave your a link to your own ruffle scarf blog post in a comment
if you make one!!

New Items in Shop!

2011-09-11T16:51:00.001-03:00

Hi Friends!

I have some new items that I've added to my shop! I think you'll love them- I do! :)

The Sweet Blossom Earrings come as a two pair set for $11.00.

I plan to add single pairs to the shop as well.

and also.....

Necklaces are priced at $8.00

I was really excited to finish these necklaces and add them to my shop!

I think they are so pretty!

Just had to share!

Hope you stop by my shop and have a peek!

Monochromatic Outfit

2011-09-05T00:03:00.000-03:00

One of my favorite fashion blogs that I follow has recently done a 21 day clothing challenge on her blog and I've loved seeing everyone's links for their outfits. One of the day's challenges was to put together a monochromatic outfit. HUH?? What's monochromatic you ask? .. that's okay. That was my first reaction too.

Taken from Wikipedia:

Monochromatic colors are all the colors (tints, tones, and shades) of a single hue.

I was kind of excited to learn that and thought it would be fun to try to put together an outfit following this rule... er, whatever it may be called.

So here's my monochromatic outfit I put together for church today.

Skirt thrifted- $4, shirt thrifted- $1, cardigan pretty sure thrifted, belt thrifted, shoes Bizou- $3 brand new, necklace made by me, earrings Law Students Crafts, bracelets dollar store.

How'd I do? :)

I thought the bright belt kind of brought some color life into the outfit!

Crocheting with Embroidery Floss- A bit of what I've been working on for my shop!

2011-08-31T23:21:00.000-03:00

Recently I discovered how much fun crocheting with embroidery floss is! Not only is the process of creation fun, but the results are SUPER CUTENESS!!

Look at these DARLING little crochet flower earrings I've been making!

Aren't they the sweetest ever? I am so happy with how they've turned out!

Soon they'll be going into my shop, along with some other items I'm working on!

I'm calling these

You like?

The Prettiest Little Crochet Flower Necklace!

2011-08-24T20:16:00.000-03:00

Isn't this the most adorable thing?! Last night I saw this necklace on etsy and FELL IN LOVE! Instead of paying $26 for one, I thought I'd try to make my own. And I do think it turned out quite lovely! I LOVE it! It's my new favorite necklace :)

I just used cotton crochet thread and my little tiny silver hook {US3/ 2.1MM}. I crocheted it like I was crocheting a big flower with the scallops. Formed it into a spiral and made several stitches running through the bottom to hold it together. I sewed a glass pearl bead in the middle, clipped a little "O" ring (sorry, don't know the name of them!) onto one of the petals, and strung it on a necklace chain.

EASY and ADORABLE! (if you crochet, I guess!)

I'm really loving it, can you tell??

My new pretty flower makes me happy :)

AND... I just got a job yesterday and today was my first day of training!

This makes me happy today too! I'm WAITRESSING!!

Pray for me, pleeease! I get freakishly nervous about new things!.. especially since I've never had cash register experience.. those machines scare me.. okay, so it's more like the people I'm afraid of.. afraid if I do something wrong they're going to yell at me and then I'll cry.. ya.. will you pray for me? K thanks :)

DIY business cards for my shop

2011-08-18T01:24:00.000-03:00

Exciting news! I've had 3 sales in my shop!!

I've been so excited about those sales and had way too much fun packaging the items for mailing

.. I'm just like that!

So I thought I'd make my own business cards to add along with the items!-- on the CHEAP! .. and super simple! I recently saw these DIY business cards and was inspired to make up my own too. (Her's are suuuuper cute!)

I used cardboard food boxes! Yah! It doesn't take long to have a collection of boxes.. seriously, if you had looked under my kitchen sink when I was saving these up, you would have though I hadn't taken my trash out in a month! SO I just traced business card sized card onto my cardboard and cut out all my cards!.. I pretty much have a million of them :)

Then, because I love rounded corners, I used my corner cutter to give the cards cute rounded corners.

See, much cuter already!

I L.O.V.E Michael's craft store! I found the cuuutest stamps in the dollar bins! I used this little stamp and my little ink pad which I also got from the dollar bin.

I stamped a sweet little birdie on each card and just wrote my shop name and website..

on EACH CARD!... my fingers kind of hurt. My handwriting is not the prettiest.. it depresses me. But I'm going to have a custom stamp made with my shop name and website!! :) I created what I want it to look like, font and all, and I'm just saving up to buy it (from an etsy seller).

Here's the lovely and attractive backs of my little business cards! .. I hope I don't make people hungry for pizza or whatever else I'm advertising on the back of my cards!!

And that's pretty much all there is to it!

Told ya they were super cheap and simple.

But I think they're cute and I like to put them with the orders.

100 Follower Giveaway WINNER!!

2011-08-13T10:36:00.001-03:00

Yeah! This giveaway was sooo much fun! I loved reading all your comments and finding out what accessories are a MUST for you all! Like I said, mine are earrings, and like one of you said, "I feel naked without them!" .. it's true! :)

Okay okay! On with the show here!

And the winner of my lovely little crochet flower necklace and matching hair pins is ....

{comment number 42 on Random.org}

She said...

Congrats Rachel!

Here's another necklace to add to your collection for everyday "musts" !!

I hope you love these!

Thanks everyone, for making this giveaway so fun!!

And thanks for following my blog! I like you guys :)

Sculpture of Christ's Crucifixion in Groom Texas

2011-08-10T12:39:00.002-03:00

I got an incredible email forward today and I just had to share it! This is just amazing!

There's a place called Groom, Texas where there is the most beautiful and amazing metal cross and sculptures of the crucifixion of Christ. I guess some man (Steve Thomas) was sick of all the crude and perverted billboards being displayed on the highway nearby, so in 1995 he was inspired to make this huuuge cross that could be seen for miles! The piece of property was even donated just for this!

But what I find so amazing is the life size statutes that show the progression of the crucifixion.

(I'm not sure, but I believe he made these statutes as well)

In Sunday school at church I am going through a study called "A Life Surrendered." It takes us through Christ's life as He was on earth and shows us all the areas He lived a humble and surrendered life to His Father. One area that is always on my mind now about my Jesus is that He was human like me and was terrified ("in agony") of what was to come- His death. To live and to know that this kind of death was approaching for you and to know it had to be done... I am speechless.

I think I stopped at this photo and stared at it the longest..

My Jesus was filled with such humility. And to know that he did this for me. To know that He knew He had to do this because it was His Father's will and there was no other way.

Beautiful, isn't it!

I couldn't help but feel a little moved and choked up by these photos. And that's a good thing!

(you can find more info by searching on google)

My Jesus, fair, was pierced by thorns,
By thorns grown from the fall.
Thus He who gave the curse was torn
To end that curse for all.

My Jesus, meek, was scorned by men,
By men in blasphemy.
“Father, forgive their senseless sin!”
He prayed, for them, for me

My Jesus, kind, was torn by nails,
By nails of cruel men.
And to His cross, as grace prevailed,
God pinned my wretched sin.

My Jesus, pure, was crushed by God,
By God, in judgment just.
The Father grieved, yet turned His rod
On Christ, made sin for us.

My Jesus, strong, shall come to reign,
To reign in majesty.
The Lamb arose, and death is slain.
Lord, come in victory!

O love divine, O matchless grace-
That God should die for men!
With joyful grief I lift my praise,
Abhorring all my sin,
Adoring only Him.

These are lyrics to one my favorite songs, "My Jesus Fair."

I cry every time I hear this song.

(You can listen to it here)

I hope this post has moved your heart like it has mine.

I hope it has been a great reminder too.

We should never forget the agony and pain that Christ experienced as He, in love, paid the debt for our sin.

"For Christ also hath once suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." - 1 Peter 3:18

Bella Vita Giveaway!

2011-08-08T11:37:00.000-03:00

Here's a fun giveaway going on right now!

Over at Bella Vita, TEN winners will be picked!! Saweeet!

Here are just a few of the items being given away..

A pillow..

necklace...

paintings..

And there's MORE, so go check out this giveaway and enter to win! Giveaways are so much fun!!

Which reminds me, I'm having my own giveaway too!

If you haven't joined in on the fun, now's the time!

Headband Challenge

2011-08-05T15:21:00.000-03:00

This week I decided to take the headband challenge of Little Miss Momma. And that was to wear a headband every day this week. I thought that would be simple and fun :)

So here's my week of headband wearing.

Day 1- Friday

I made this headband :) Simple and cute. Hubby and I went out with some friends from church to take some walks around some new places we hadn't seen before. Then came back to their place for a BBQ.

Day 2- Saturday
Went out to check up on a few job applications- not hiring :( Praying that the Lord opens up just the right job for me. We're planning on Christmas with my family in California, and it will be 2 years since I last saw them all! So we're hoping and praying I can find a job so we'll be able to make it out there!
I made this headband following Mandy's crochet headband tutorial. .. Mine didn't turn out as adorable as hers are!

Day 3- Sunday
I hate when my hair decides to be rebellious and unmanageable on church mornings. Is it just me, or does anyone else have bad days all starting because of their hair not cooperating?? I felt like such a grump sitting in church! Anyway..Well, guess what? I made this headband too- yesterday :) I don't really have a wide or large selection of headbands! I need LOTS more. But I found a tutorial on how to make fabric Yo Yo's. So easy and quick to dress up a little stretchy band!

Day 4- Monday
Finally I worked on my headboard makeover today! I'm such a procrastinator.. I shoved it in the car and drove the 2 minutes to Hubby's parents' to use their backyard for spray painting while they're away on vacation. It was such a beautiful day out! I hardly ever spend much time outside these days. Okay so.. I made this headband too.. months ago and never wear it. I'm running out of headbands for this challenge! .. Did I say already that I need a few more?? :) I guess I gotta get a little more creative for the rest of the week.

Day 5- Tuesday
Hubby and I went to his parents' and stole some frozen blueberries to make blueberry muffins! YUM.
I made this headband too.. last month or so, just trying out my crochet. I didn't really like it after I made it, buuuut I needed another headband to wear this week and I think it actually looks alright.

Day 6- Wednesday
Tried something new with my hair... and I'm not really sure what to think about it.
I followed this braided updo tutorial, and now that I look back at the tutorial I realize I didn't do it right! I braided ALL my hair into two braids, she only does half her hair. Oops.. After doing my hair I realized the braids kind of make a headband look, so I wore my headband at the top of my forehead which I never do. I think I look strange. Not sure if it's the hairdo or the band! (these stretchy bands are so stinking tight, they hurt!)

Day 7- Thursday
Yes, the last day of this challenge! I realize I don't wear my headbands like all the new trendy ways, and that my headband wearing is not exactly amazing, but just wearing a headband every day was a challenge and it made me feel a little more put together.
P.s... I made this headband too :)

100 Followers!! and a Giveaway!!

2011-08-03T11:08:00.000-03:00

W.O.W! 100 followers on MY blog??? I randomly glanced at my sidebar box of followers and got all excited yesterday :) I never thought my blog would get that many readers and "likers." I remember when I first started my blog and I had like up to 19 followers. Every time I noticed a new follower I'd have to run and tell my Hubby about it! (okay, so I still do that when I get new followers!)

To celebrate, I'd like to do a giveaway for you, my lovely followers!

One follower will win this pretty little necklace that I made just for the giveaway...

... and a pair of matching hair pins too!

To enter the giveaway:
1. You must be a follower of my blog :) - if you are, leave me a comment and tell me so!
And for additional entries if you'd like..
2. Tell me what accessory (any kind) you just have to wear every day (mine is earrings!)
3. What your favorite item in my shop is

So for each number, leave a separate comment on this post.
That gives you 3 chances to enter!

Leave me your email in one of those comments so I know how to contact you.
{example: mestymade(at)gmail(dot)com} - I think typing it this way publicly keeps us from getting junk emails. I hate spam!

The winner will be announced Saturday, August 13th.
I'll be using random.org to pick a winner.

Thank you to all my blog followers for taking the time to keep up with me over here in my own little corner of the world!

Blue dress and a bad hair day

2011-07-31T23:49:00.000-03:00

It was one of those mornings.. ya, the ones where the hair hates me! It's funny how it always happens on a Sunday morning.. (hmm.. Satan, are ya trying something??). Seriously. Grumpy morning.. yuck. These are the days I throw it all up and don't worry about it frizzin' or poofin' or stressin' me out. (these are also the days I'm tempted to show my hair who's boss and chop it all off! ... but I might regret it later so I ignore the temptations).

At least I felt alright about my outfit...

(once again the pictures are fuzzy, even after resizing and such. Oh well)

Yeah for fuzzy pictures... grr...

Backyard Movie Night Inspiration

2011-07-29T12:16:00.001-03:00

I'm dying to do a backyard movie night! .. okay, so we don't exactly have a backyard, but there's a perfect grassy spot out behind our apartments. It would be so much!! We could invite everyone from our church, and I even thought it would be really neat to invite other people we bump into or happen to talk to- yes strangers! And also post a little sign on the apartment bulletin board, inviting neighbors too. "Bring your lawn chairs" of course :) Ah! I am so inspired after looking through so many outdoor movie ideas online! So I thought I'd share some with you!

Isn't this set up just so perfect!?

source

Definitely gotta have some snacks if we're hosting our own little movie party!
And I love the wagon idea!

source

source

A basket of little blankets is so sweet to provide!
Ya never know, the weather might be cool in the evenings.

source

And for sure, you can't have a movie night without POPCORN!

source

So are you inspired too??
I just have to do this! I have feel like I'm letting the summer slip away from me..

Here are a couple sites that share tips on putting on a nice outdoor movie night

8 Great Backyard Movie Tips

Dessert and a Movie- Martha Steward Entertaining

DIY Movie Screen from PVC Pipe

OH And don't forget the BUG SPRAY!!!!

Fabric covered button bobby pins and a button how-to

2011-07-25T17:02:00.001-03:00

Recently I purchased some bobby pin blanks on Etsy, so the other day I made a few cute bobby pins with my fabric covered buttons.

Aren't they the cutest little things?

I've been wanting to make some of these for awhile. These ones I made up for myself, but I'd love to make some sets for my shop.

They're so easy and fun to make.

All you have to do is glue the fabric covered button right to the bobby pin blank.

{I use E6000 glue}

How to Make a Fabric Covered Button

If you've never made fabric covered buttons, you don't know what you're missing! Here's a quick how-to for making fabric covered buttons.

1. Outer button shell and the backing (there are flat backs or pronged backs for sewing onto things. If you have pronged buttons, just pull it off with some pliers)

2. Most kits come with these two pieces- the base and the little blue topper. Not sure what to call them! (you can find the kits at Walmart, or fabric stores and probably Michael's).

3. The backs of the kit boxes usually have a circle chart. Cut out the right size you need for your button. And then trace your circle onto your fabric. Your circle will be bigger than your button.

4. Place your fabric centered on top of rubber base along with the top of the button. Make sure it's centered.

5. Push the button shell down inside the base.

6. With your finger nail, tuck the fabric down inside along the button shell.

7. Place the button backing on top

8. Take the blue thing and give a good push down on the backing until you feel a little click.

Then pop out the button and there you go!

Ready for embellishing anything you want!

I LOOOOOOVE fabric covered buttons! They are so much fun!

DISCOUNT for my blog readers!

2011-07-25T12:40:00.013-03:00

I'm giving a 15% off discount to all my blog readers!

Use the code HOMEMAKIN15 at checkout to receive the discount. This applies to any item in my shop!

The discount starts today and will end August 1st.

So ya got one week!

Click photo to head over to my shop!

A skirt day

2011-07-22T00:44:00.000-03:00

Boy was today another humid day! So thankful Hubby works indoors where there's air conditioning.

Today was one of those days I felt like wearing a skirt. I never wear this skirt either. It's just a super simple outfit, but I love how I feel when I dress up a little more than my usual casual-ness. I'm starting to like randomly wearing skirts here and there during the week, not just for church.

Skirt probably from walmart, shirt walmart $3 clearance, earrings made by me

I'm always wanting to do something different with my hair besides throwing it up in a bun, but.. normally I'm not creative enough so the bun it usually is! Today I put it in a low pony tail kind of on the side, then did a topsy tail thing (flipping the pony tail up and out the top) then just wrapping it in a bun. Can't even tell the whole topsy thing!

Metsy Made on Facebook

2011-07-20T16:58:00.000-03:00

I decided to create a Facebook fan page for my shop!

If you use Facebook, be sure to visit me and like my page!! :)

Sleepy Blue Bird

2011-07-20T11:12:00.001-03:00

Thought I would share my latest baby hat I just finished.

It's my favorite hat yet. I adore those sleepy eyes!

It's the best formed hat I've made, and it's it's super soft and stretchy. I've learned to loosen up on my stitching for hats and they are turning out so much better! Before I ever attempted to make a hat I remember thinking trying a hat would be so scary and hard! But now that I've made quite of few of them, they are so easy! And with most simple hat patterns you can add anything to turn them into cute animal hats or anything else! I love it! I'm so tempted to keep this little birdie hat, but I added him to my shop. I plan to make him again.

... Oh yes, that reminds me. I have some news I never told. I'm going to be an auntie! My little sister (7 years younger) is pregnant and she had her first ultra sound a few weeks ago.

When I saw this photo I got so emotional! I started crying! Wow, this little peanut is real and it's my family... my little niece or nephew.... So amazing. And I'm so excited to make all sorts of cute things for the baby to wear!!

There are a few people telling my mom (back in California) that I really need to get a move on having kids because I'm getting old. To be honest, I'm not ready and I'm not worried either. I'm 26. I don't exactly think that's considered old yet haha! We are just waiting for awhile, and enjoying each other alone. So if you're reading this and by chance you are one of those people who are worried that I haven't rushed into having babies already, please don't ask or recommend anymore. When it's our time, you will know. Much appreciated.

Gray and Tan?

2011-07-17T16:00:00.002-03:00

Do gray and tan go together? .. and black too? .. Oh ya, and purple???

Here's my outfit for this fine sunny Sunday. I normally don't like to wear any shade of brown black or gray together. They just seem to be total opposites or something like that. Not sure how to describe it correctly. I'll I'm saying is, when I wear brown, I never wear anything black at the same time. And vice versa. But today I wore a tan shirt with a black belt and gray cardigan. Maybe I'm just silly {or paranoid} for having that "no black and brown together" rule, because I've seen the two colors pulled together beautifully on other people. So today I decided to rebel against my own rule. What do you think?

This is my husband's aunt's dog, Flynn. He's so cute and hyper! I rarely get to be around any animals these days, so I love when his aunts bring their dogs over to his grandparent's on Sundays. We go to his Nanny and Grampy's house every Sunday for lunch after church. Their backyard is gorgeous and so relaxing! I don't know how many times I said, "I love the grass!!" It's been a long time since I've stood in lush soft grass in a beautiful yard. I can't wait to someday have our own backyard....

Crochet and Felt Hair Accessories

2011-07-16T17:43:00.001-03:00

This past week I have been in this mad mood to make stuff. Do you ever just want to craft and make something, anything, but you feel stumped?? .. Does this even make sense? I get that way sometimes-- feeling stumped, not not making sense! I've been craving felt crafts, so I tried out a few little things.

Little hairbows. The three bottom ones are my favorite style that I tried. To make those, I cut little rectangle felt pieces, then another little thin strip for the middle piece, and just hot glue the little piece around after squishing the middle of the rectangle together. (The top two bows are totally different and didn't really turn out so well!)

I'd like to use the bottom ones for cute hair accessories. Like attaching them to skinny headbands or bobby pins.

I think the simplicity of these little bows make them just so cute!

I also made some little felt flowers pins too.

To make these, I cut little imperfect circles out of the felt. Then to get the slight curled edges of the petals I held each petal over the heat of the flame (not too close!). This part is really cool! The photo below shows me holding the whole flower, but that was just to take the picture :) I did the petals individually AND I used my tweezers to hold the petal while melting the edges. After the edges are done, I took some white sewing thread and sewed the petals together in the middle and then sewed on a pearl bead.

They make for simple and dainty hair accessories too :)

I cut a little circle of felt and cut a TINY little hole in it to slip the bobby pin through and then hot glued it down to the back of the clip.

I also worked on some new crochet flowers too!!

I found a new pattern that I LOVE so I made a bunch up.

I recently bought a pack of 100 fabric covered button blanks on etsy, so I made up some buttons to go with the flowers. I found a few fabric fat quarters the other day at the fabric store. I love going through the piles of fat quarters they have! I found the pink with white polka dots fabric there- I love how it looks with the white flower! These flowers are quite larger than the other little hair clips I make. About 4 inches in diameter.

I used a piece of felt for the back, by cutting a little slice in it for the top of the alligator clip to go through, then glued it down. I had to place the clip where it's at because of the type of crochet flower this is. Putting in the middle would show the clip through the petal holes, and it would also be a little too deep for the clip. If anyone has any better ideas for the placement of the clips, please share!

These big flowers could also clip onto purses, scarves or even used as brooch pins on shirts.

So this was my fun for the week!

{I also started on my headboard makeover this week, but another post specifically for that when it's finished!}

I added the large crochet flower clips to my etsy shop, along with a couple pairs of little crochet clips too!

My Recent Crochet Baby Hats

2011-07-06T20:33:00.000-03:00

I've been focusing my crochet on baby hats for the past little while. I'm trying to figure out how to make hats at the right sizes. If anyone has any tips on just the right increases or starting rounds for hats, and even tips on avoiding the dreadful visible connecting seams, please share!! I hate when I've made a hat then realized I don't like how it looks because of that ugly seam.. and then rip it all out to try again with hopes I might figure out a way to hide it!

Moving on ...

I want to share my latest baby hats with you!

Pink owl hat

I added some little ear "hairs" on this one! Love them!

Another owl hat

On one of the blogs I follow, I saw a pretty mood color board she put together for a nursery room and the colors were navy blue and pink-- I LOVED IT! So it inspired me to try something out with those colors.

Here's a random designed one I came up with. I wanted test out making a bigger sized hat with some yarn I never use, and it ended up being bigger than I wanted it to be. But I actually love how it turned out. I like those colors together.

Another hat with the same style as the other one.

A little birdie hat!! I just LOVE this one!

I think my favorite part are the little yarns at the top of his head. So cute.

These hats (except for the gray and burgundy one) are all in my etsy shop.

Have you seen my etsy shop yet??

Metsy Made

www.etsy.com/shop/MetsyMade

My Etsy shop is finally open!!

2011-06-29T23:42:00.000-03:00

I'm so excited to announce the opening of my Etsy shop! I set up my account sometime last month, but never listed items because of the Canada Post strike.. which lasted about all month! So finally this afternoon I spent much time adding a few things to the shop! It makes me kind of giddy to see my own items in a little etsy shop! Here are some of the things I have in my shop...

My crocheted baby headbands

{so far I have a preemie/newborn size and will be adding more sizes later on}

Scarves

Fridge magnets

and little crocheted hairclips ....

I still have lots more things to add to the shop. I didn't realize I had so many items until I started editing photos and listing them!

I really hope this little experience will be enjoyable. I guess I'm a little nervous about starting a shop, and wondering if my items are not going to be good enough or that something's wrong with them.. But who knows! Maybe my stuff will be liked and enjoyed! We'll see!

Come take a quick peek over at my shop

{click photo}

I'll be adding more things over the next couple of days to get it nice and full.

Oh hey, want an outfit post?

I know, I haven't really been keeping up with that, .. mostly because I haven't been in the moods to get all dressed up. ha! Ya ya, I remember why I started the whole "outfit posts" .. buuuuut.. it's been getting warmer out over this way, AND humid-- yuck!! And it doesn't really inspire me to get all cute. Okay so maybe that's really me just being plain ole lazy. Ya that seems to be it. But I guess I was feelin' it today.. but I think my hair was feelin' the humidity! You can't tell? Oh good : )

Long shorts: Walmart, yellow shirt: thrifted, pull over vest: don't even remember,

favorite belt: thrifted necklace: dollar store

Handmade gifts for baby!

2011-06-27T14:35:00.000-03:00

My best friend is having a baby, like REALLY soon! So last month I made a few sweet things for her little girl. I love how it all turned out. She's already received the package so now it's finally safe to show it all!

My second ever little owl hat! I just LOVE the little bow I added for that sweet girly touch.

{I'm planning on making owl hats to add to my Etsy shop once I get it going!}

I created a darling little print using my Microsoft Word program. I printed it out as 5x7 and framed it for her. Wasn't sure about the colors she had picked out for the room, so I used several light colors and I love how it turned out.

I also made her one of my crochet flower headbands : )

{these will also be in my Etsy shop for sure!}

{no, I didn't send the teddy bear. It's my little model!}

All packaged pretty for the happy couple!

{I totally enjoy pretty-ing up gift packages! I think I'll really enjoy that part of selling on Etsy!}

Congratulations to you my dear friends! I'm super excited for you and can't wait to see pictures!

Fun and easy fridge magnets

2011-06-21T21:49:00.001-03:00

I realize I've been a little MIA with the crafting and fun things lately, so here's a little something I just recently did on the crafty side.

Fun DIY magnets!

I picked up some clear marble/rocks at Michael's a few weeks ago, along with some E6000 {my first time using this glue!}, and some little round magnets. I traced my marble onto some scrapbook paper and then mod podged the paper right to the back of the marble. Then when that was dry I added some more mod podge over the whole back. Then when that's dry just get out the E6000 to secure the magnet to the back.

Now you have some cute little magnet friends to adorn your fridge!

.. I'm not too fond of the paper I used for the first set of magnets, but that's all I could find at the dollar store. I should have picked some cute paper up while I was at Michael's. The pink designs in the second set of magnets is actually cardboard from a kleenex box! I thought the design was so cute so I saved the box to use for something. Cool, huh? And for this set {the blue and pink one} I actually used the E6000 to adhere the paper to the back of the marble instead of mod podge. It worked perfect! I still used some mod podge on the whole back after that, but I doubt it's necessary.

And for a little sneak preview news...

I've opened up my own Etsy shop!!

I don't have anything listed yet, but I will SOON! I'll have my crocheted items and other little fun things I put my hands to! More news on this later when I add some things to the shop! :)

Hello Summer!

2011-06-21T21:24:00.001-03:00

Happy first day of summer!

The sunshine was here for a little bit this morning and afternoon so Hubby and I ate breakfast out on the balcony.. in our brand new patio chairs!!!

I've been wanting to get a couple of these super cute chairs for a while now. Sunday afternoon we went to Home Depot, where they were $18.99, to pick them up then ended up not buying them. Hubby wasn't sure if they were comfortable or not. As we were driving home I kind of regretted not getting them. So I went back Monday (yesterday) to buy them, and the price had gone down to $14.99!! Suweeet! I was a happy little shopper. But you should have seen me trying to cram these two into my little Honda! ...Yeah It was kind of embarrassing, to say the least. But they were going in whether they fit or not!

Here's my lovely attire for the first day of summer

Pssst.. look at my pretty geraniums growing away! {and two baby sunflowers!}

Hope you had a wonderful, warm and pleasant first day of summer!

My Outfits

2011-06-19T15:35:00.001-03:00

Well I felt like this half of the week I did much better about dressing!

I'm still figuring out the whole photo issue.. I've found tips online for resizing, but I'm still confused. So don't judge me on my poor quality of photos :)

Wednesday

Hubby had the day off! He usually works every Wednesday, so we were able to go to church together. Then after the service we headed over to a friend's from church to watch the Stanley Cup finale... I left with a sad hubby. I even got him a "Skor" candy bar in hopes that his favorite team would make all the scores. Not even one? Sorry Babe.

Thrifted jean skirt (just got it recently and was really needing a new one!), can't remember where the shirt came from (I hardly ever wear it!), earrings from Simple Serendipity, and my favorite little owl necklace from ebay.

Thursday

Sometimes I'm just in the mood to wear a skirt :) And a headband always distracts from a messy hair day!

{I don't think it goes as far to distract from a messy photo though..}

Walmart skirt, thrift shirt, headband and earrings made by me, thrift necklace.

Friday

Yard Sales! Hubby and I drove around a little before he had to work and we checked out a few yard sales going on. I got a heart shaped cake pan for .25 and a little wooden close rack thingy for $2 that I'm going to turn into a necklace holder. I also got a two large glass jars and a pile of home decor magazines for free!

Thrifted shirt, shorts and faux pearls necklace, bracelet from the dollar store and chevron earrings made by me! (tutorial here).

Since I'm pretty much in love and committed to thrift stores, most of my outfits contain something thrifted (in case you hadn't noticed). I know there are some people that don't do the whole thrift stores thing (and I know some personally), but I LOVE LOVE LOVE thrifting! You can really find some great clothes, you just have to LOOK and not mind searching through racks and racks.. and maybe try not to be so snooty (did I just say that out loud?) Sometimes I do feel a little silly when people (the same people maybe) ask me where I got something .. I feel like I'm always grinning and responding "the thrift store." But oh well. It's nice to only spend $4 dollars on a close-to-brand new shirt when it was probably $20 brand new in store. I'm sold :)

Anyone else a thriftaholic like me?? What are some things you really enjoy finding at thrift stores?
Do share :) (and anything else about thrifting you'd like to share!)

My OutfitsTuesday

2011-06-14T22:22:00.006-03:00

Okay, so this week I didn't do so great with my outfits. I'm kind of lazy like that sometimes. But I did take pictures of my non super comfy days :) .. they're not gonna wow ya though!

Friday

Ya, that's one spectacular outfit, huh?

T-shirt from walmart and cut-off jeans.. which are pretty raggedy.

And my super cute owl necklace came in the mail this past week!

Isn't it cute :)

Sunday

Does this outfit look familiar? Ya, I wore it last week (but with my capris).

T-shirt thrifted, black shirt from Kmart or Walmart,

skirt from salvation army, necklace from Flamingo Toes Designs

Hubby and I went driving around the city, finding new places after church in the evening. We enjoy doing that now and we always point out yards and houses we like. I'm always blabbing about what I want in a house, porch, and yard :) Then we stopped at a park to take some pictures.

Here's my handsome Hubby

{heart heart}

And my new favorite photo of us

Tuesday

{ya I told you I didn't do so great at the outfits this week..}

My comfy new favorite Walmart shorts, shirt is a hand-me-down from sister in-law,

cardigan from.. a random shop in the mall, and the belt is thrifted.

This outfit is a little funky with the colors. I never know what to wear this cardigan with, but I actually like the randomness of the colors in this outfit. So I would wear this again.

I think I like the idea of posting about my outfits every day instead of doing the whole week in one post. I doubt I'll be posting outfits every day though! haha!

Until next time...

Happy crafting, happy outfitting, happy happy happy! :)

We have a winner!!!

2011-06-11T19:34:00.000-03:00

Well, it's June 11th and time to reveal our winner!!!

And the winner is ....

.. Annie, from Sailing with bare feet!

She said...

Congratulations Annie! I hope you enjoy your new set of cute little coasters! I'll be sending you an email to get your address!!

To the rest of you, thank you so much for being a part of my very first giveaway :) It was so fun checking my email and getting your comments.

My turn at the outfit posting

2011-06-07T16:09:00.004-03:00

I really really enjoy looking through personal fashion blogs, and seeing all the cute outfits people put together. It's inspiring, and it's also challenged me to have more fun with getting dressed. I don't know about you, but I tend to have some struggles when it comes to picking out what to wear. Most days I just end up throwing on something comfy since I don't usually have plans, and I'm home all day anyway. But there are days that I do really want to look my best. I want to be well dressed during the days even when I don't have plans, because I want to look purrty for my husband :) I want him to know when he's at work or anywhere else, that he's got one good lookin' wifey at home waiting for him! (haha) But also, being well dressed during the day makes me feel productive.. even if I haven't done much at all! It still makes me feel nice, and I'm ready to go out if something comes up. And this is all why I have decided to blog about my outfits. Now, I've been a little apprehensive about blogging my outfits, wondering if people are going to think, "Ugh, she's so vain!" Showing off is not my goal here folks {like I really have much to show off.. right}. I just think this will be something fun, and it will motivate me and hopefully get me in a habit of dressing nicely and being creative too.. not just throwing something raggedy and comfy on.

Sunday for church:

Shirt, skirt and belt: thrifted, shoes: from my sister, faux pearl necklace: thrifted.

When I found this shirt at the thrift store a couple weeks ago I surprised myself when I fell in love with it! I would never have bought something like it before, but I guess my taste is changing and widening in variety.. maybe. I just LOVE the colors in the shirt. And the skirt was one of 3 really nice skirts that I picked up at salvation army for about $4 a piece! Super happy deal for me! :) One of the older ladies at church {who so does not act her age at all} whispered to me as I walked by, "Hey you pretty lady!" She's so cute. I like her. .. and yes, I liked her before she called me "pretty lady."

Tuesday's Outfit: {that's today!}

{okay, I have no idea why the photos are turning out so fuzzy. They look nice on my computer files grr..}

T-shirt, carpi shorts and belt: thrifted, black shirt: either Kmart or Walmart. Flip flops: Walmart, Necklace: Flamingo Toes- I won it from a giveaway!!

It's so nice and sunny out today! Love that! Thought I'd take the camera outside for photos.. I think I'm going to have to figure out why my pictures come out blurry and sometimes they don't.. weird. Could it be because I used the flash outside?

Oh, here's my hair today. Just a little bun :)

Can I just add that I do feel really cute today.. and productive too!

Thanks for stopping by!

MY very FIRST giveaway!!!

2011-06-03T15:22:00.000-03:00

Several months ago I made these crochet coasters and thought they were oh-so darling. Well just the other day I found a pattern for something similar! They have a waaaay cuter design. So I made a set of 4 and I think they are SO adorable! Check them out!

I LOVE the blue and yellow together as a set!
These are much sturdier than the others I made before and they lay flatter too!
I think they're so cute!

Now for my VERY OWN and VERY FIRST giveaway....

I'd like to give one of my followers a set of 4 crochet coasters made by me!

This set:

A Yellow and burgundy (or maroon?) set of 4!!

I LOVE these colors together just as much!!

You don't have to be a follower of my blog to enter the giveaway. I'm not against bloggers making that a requirement before entering giveaways, but I personally would want you to follow my blog because you like me :)

To enter,
just leave me a comment telling me what you love most about summer time.

For an extra entry,
comment and let me know which post/project on my blog is your favorite.

Leave your email address in one of the two comments so I can contact you.
I'll pick a winner using random.org on
Saturday, June 11th.

So make sure you check back here next Saturday to see if you're the winner!
.