Homemade with Love

Check out my new HOOTERS!

Aren't they cute? There are 16 of them in all and I just finished the last one about a half an hour ago. It took a long time to make 16, but if you want to make one or two, I bet it would go alot quicker. I got the idea here. I made a couple of adjustments though. Obviously, I changed the colors. I wanted to go with a more fall theme. I also sewed the feet vs. adhering them with glue. I finished them off with a little bow, because a little ribbon never hurts. When you turn the owl around, there is a little sewn pocket to hold a note or two. I haven't made the notecards yet, because I am waiting to snipe a Stampin' Up set (with a cute little owl) on eBay. The auction ends Tuesday. Wish me luck!

I have to say that even though I haven't scrapbooked in a while, I have made a few more crafty items this week (in addition to the owls). I made 12 decorated/altered giant clothespins and a couple wooden doorhangers. I am feeling pretty productive right now.

Although I am not selling any of these items, I am going to start an etsy shop soon. I am going to start offering scrapbook page kits, cards, and other handmade items. Etsy is like a craft faire meets eBay, except there is no auction involved. Each person/user sets up their own "shop." You find something you like, buy it via Paypal, and leave feedback. I have purchased a couple of page kits from etsy vendors myself.

Hailee wants to start her own etsy shop as well. She wants to make treasure balls. They are these balls of crepe paper and small trinkets and treasures that the recipient must unravel. They are pretty cool and she does a great job with them. We purchased one for her in Pacific Grove for $15. There are probably $2 worth of trinkets inside.

I'll let you all know when we open up our shops! Have a great Monday. M 

Schoolwork Storage Solution

I altered these two clipboards yesterday to help reduce the amount of stray school-related papers we have around here. The goal is that after I look at all of the homework, I put each girl's homework on her own board. Periodically, we will "weed" out some of the papers. At the end of the year, we can stick all the papers in a big envelope to keep (long-term). This will save me lots of work later on. I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I have not thrown out ONE single school paper since the girls started school. That is about NINE years worth of papers that have been stored in the shed. It has been a nightmare trying to sort them out, but I am working on it. ;)

Happy Monday

I am about to start a project for Abigail's classroom for Halloween. Since the children will more than likely have an abundance of candy, I wanted this project to be candy-free. I cut these cute little ghosts (with my QuicKutz) from bazzill white cardstock and added googly eyes. I might add a little bow too. I purchased white 3 x 5 scratch pads at Staples and I am going to cover the front with orange cardstock. I might stamp on it as well. I am going to add a pencil and maybe a box of crayons. I will put it all in a cello bag and tie it up with some cute ribbon and a tag. I will post a picture when they are done.

I also have to share a sweet story about a little girl and her Bear. Bear is no ordinary plush animal, he is special. Bear has been with us from the beginning (almost). We gave her Bear at about five months old. Since then, the two have been inseparable.

Last week, Abigail was student of the week. In addition to writing a short biography, she had to bring no more than ten special items to share with her classmates. Bear was one of those items. We needed to bring the items in on Thursday. Abby assumed that was the day of her presentation, but it turned out to be Friday morning.

When bedtime rolled around, Abby remembered that Bear was in the classroom. Alone. In the dark. Not with her. She was upset, to say the least. Mind you, this is actually Bear Two. Bear One hangs above her bed in a shadow box (he needed to be retired). Fortunately, I was able to find Bear Two on eBay (as it is not a toy that is still in distribution). I also went ahead and purchased Bear Three for my someday grandchild.

For a brief moment, the words "in case of emergency, break glass" entered my mind, as I looked at Bear One on the wall. Then, Wayne suggested we get out Bear Three. Abby was VERY hesitant at first, knowing how special Bear Three is. I agreed with Wayne and he got Bear Three out. A short while later, Abby was asleep. Early the next morning, Abby brought me Bear Three in the box and said "thank you, mama, you can put this away now." I need to write the story down and tuck it into the box with a letter to my someday grandchild, saying that this Bear is slightly used, but well-loved.

Aren't these beautiful?

Lora, Abigail's teacher, made and gave these to me last week. They are so pretty. I love them. I plan on keeping treats in them on the mantle (I still have candy leftover from Hailee's birthday!). She also loaned me the instructional DVD on how to craft these. I want to give them a try. Isn't she awesome?

This past weekend = BUSY! I am still exhausted, but it was so much fun. Saturday was non-stop. Friends started arriving at 11 a.m. (just after the slide arrived) and our last guests didn't leave until 11:30 p.m.! I don't know who had more fun, the kids or the adults. Needless to say, the girls slept in on Sunday. Wayne and I are sure feeling the effects of getting older! We were a bit sore the next day (nothing a little Advil couldn't fix). Here is a pic of the huge slide (I think it is about 14 feet tall and about 20+ feet long) and a picture of what our lawn looks like now. It is so much fun BUT it is super rough on the lawn.

On Sunday, I took my mom out for a mocha and some shopping. Then, we hung out here at our home until our guests arrived for dinner. Wayne barbecued and we had banana cream pies for dessert (my mom's favorite).

Today, Wayne and I actually started our cleaning/weeding/organizing! I feel better already. We started with our bedroom and part of our kitchen. Tomorrow, I am hoping to finish the kitchen and do the hall closet. It is insane how much stuff we have!

On a sad note, I stubbed my toe on the vacuum Wayne left out in the pathway of the bathroom. For women with large (or shall I say strong) bladders, this might not have been a big issue. But it was dark and I was headed for the bathroom at a very fast pace. Then it happened. I stubbed my toe. Not just any toe. My bad toe. My right foot, big toe. The one I have stubbed before (many times). The one that I once stubbed so forcefully (while living in Elk Grove) that I popped the entire nail off. It never fully recovered. I think it took a whole year to grow another toenail. Then, earlier this year, I stubbed it again (not sure on what) and the nail only grew back attached about half way up. But I had to grow it out for a pedicure for the wedding in June. So, I have this toenail that looks like all the others but only attached about halfway up. Now this. I don't think my toenail will ever recover. It has already gone through so much. I would take a picture, but the image is too gruesome for my blog. I am sure it is a goner. I am sad now. I must close. M

Magazine Love

I went to Barnes & Noble this morning to get Wayne and me some liquid motivation (read two grande non-fat iced white mochas-no whip). Working my way to the coffee counter, I stopped to browse the magazines. LOOK what I found. I hit the magazine lottery! Too bad I will be busy this weekend. I may not get to these for a while.

Here is our weekend forecast:

Today: Clean house-me. Yardwork-Wayne. Go to Costco-both of us. Go have lunch-together-alone-if time allows. Pick up girls. Prepare for tomorrow.

Saturday: Brace myself. Eight children over (including my two)-all day. Rented GINORMOUS waterslide. Three other families here for barbecue and fun. We are all excited about tomorrow. Fun. Fun. Fun.

Sunday: My mom's birthday. The girls and I are taking her out for a mocha and shopping. Family over in the late afternoon for dinner and banana cream pie. Happy Birthday, Mom.

Somewhere in all of this chaos and fun, I need to: read my magazines, blog, make sure the girls read, wash clothes, try to craft a little, iron for the week (it is so hard to iron three sets of clothes in the morning while trying to get ready & do three heads of hair), and relax. Have a great weekend. M

They like me, they really like me

My favorite cashier at Michael's handed me one of her "friends and family" coupons good for 25% off my entire purchase (including Martha stuff!). She is so sweet and knows my mom too. She gave me one for her and one for Hailee (to use with her birthday giftcard). Too funny.

I don't know what to use it on though. I can only use it from September 13 through 15.

Think. Think. Think.

That's right. My kid is the....

hall monitor! I even caught her whistling, as she was walking her beat. She is such a stickler for rules, that this gig is the perfect job for her. I laughed when she asked to sign up for this. I know just how serious she will take her new position. Wayne asked her if she had to write anyone up or if she smacked anyone with a ruler, to which she responded no (of course). She looked so cute. I just wanted to squeeze her. Happy Wednesday. M

I totally recommend this!

I bought this a couple of weeks ago. It is a portable hard drive and it stores up to 125GB of info. I am SO worried about losing my digital pictures. I will more than likely NEVER print them out again but at least I know where they will be. I read on another blog that cds only last about ten years and flash drives only last about three to four. However, this can fail, so what I have heard is to store pictures on a couple of external hard drives, in case one dies. Also, once your pictures are safe on a couple of different drives, it was recommended that you copy all your files to an online service to store indefinitely. Not sure how much that costs, but the hard drives (that I figure will hold about six to eight years worth of images) cost about $90 each.

I will try to be a better blogger this week. I am hoping things will start to slow down for us. Plus, allergy season has kicked in and Abby & I have been suffering miserably! This weekend was bad. I feel better today (so does Abby), but the wind has kicked up a bit and I am avoiding the outdoors as much as possible. Will post again soon. Signed, The Hermit.