Lonesome projects

While I have been a hunting widower these past few weekends, I have been busy with projects.  Mostly for myself.  Sorry, can't help myself.  I have to make sure that they turn out adorable before I make them for others, right?!

So, I was inspired by this necklace and had to take it on and make it my own in a small sort of way.

If you are interested in how to make one for yourself, or one similar....check out Mandipity for the tutorial.

I had to make mine a little more rugged or heavy with the big linked chains.  It didn't take any time at all to make the charms...the longest was letting the glue dry.  And I didn't have any varnish, so I just mod podge the paper charms and then burned the edges to make them look more antiquey.

I also worked on an up cycle from a cardigan that I bought on clearance from Target last winter for $2, but I can't seem to be able to download my photos right now.  Maybe I have a bad connection, or a slow one probably.  I'll try again later to show that.

I also worked on Sir's closet in the bonus room.  Had to install shelving and what not so that we can move all the hunting gear into its new forever home.  It didn't take me very long, once I found all my tools.  Why is it when I need something I can't seem to find it?!  Annoying!

I installed this

Purchased it from Lowe's and it was the best $70 I spent.  Wish I would have gotten another one.  I still have quite a bit of wall that could use some shelves.  And I still have a ton of stuff to store.

Here is what it looks like right now...

This also stores the kiddos hunting stuff as well.  But no guns...Those bad boys are locked up in the gun safe downstairs.  Only Sir and I know the combo...gotta be safe with babies around, even if they do know how to handle them.



Black Friday

Okay, now...don't get me wrong, I love a good bargain.  And I am super cheap....sorry, frugal.  But I just don't understand the whole concept of getting up at the butt crack of dawn to freeze my little fanny off to say a few measly bucks.  I don't comprehend...sorry no speak a the cheap-o!

And of course, I didn't see anything in the ads that would warrant me to get my warm fanny out from underneath the covers in the first place.

But, I have to tell you....I don't open the stores on black Friday, but I sure as heck can shut those puppies down!

It has been a tradition for a few years now, I think that this is the fourth year, last year we couldn't do it because I was in New Mexico with all the aliens, but my mamacita and I start shopping around 6 or so and will stay out until 12 or so that evening.  Yep, I won't get my lazy butt out of bed early, but I sure as heck can crawl into bed at all hours of the night!

Which, is a very good thing let me tell you!  I got quite a bit accomplished for my little family.  Got the big things taken care of for the kiddos...you know what I'm talking about.  Got a few things for other members, even thou they say we aren't exchanging gifts.  Why the heck not?!  If I want to buy you a gift, let me do it!  I'm not expecting anything in return!  Just want to see that smile of yours!  Plus, the shelves have all been restocked from the mayhem from the morning and the majority of the sales are still going strong.  Most stores computers still rang up the door-buster prices if you watched carefully.  Ah ha!  Sneaky sneaky!  And, it is a good time for me and my momma to just have girl time!

Granted, I couldn't go to sleep when I got home from my diet of coffee and chocolate and anything else I could put into my mouth.  But it was totally worth it!

Now, does anyone want to finish my list for me?  I'm pooped!  Plus, I have to wrap all those darn presents!  Oh well, such is life.

Gotta go get to wrapping...thanks for stopping by!  Come back soon!

Turkey day

So, I just wanted to give a little update as to what my family did for turkey day.  Besides the norm...getting like a gluttonous pig, watching football, and spending time with family.

The four of us; CX, Lil' Sis, Dearest Sir and myself, all loaded up in my husbands truck to head to big town for our festivities.  Why did the four of us load up into the truck and not into the roomy van, you ask?

Well, for starters, this is why......

This is not snow, if you were thinking that.  Oh no!  Here in middle America, we get sleet and ice!  Snow is few and far between.  So, it was in the 60's earlier this past week and then all of a sudden, dum dum dum....Sleet!  Yea!

This is my back porch looking out into our mass abyss of acreage and trees galore.  It was so pretty a week ago....wish I would have taken pictures.  I procrastinated and this is the kind of picture I end up with.  Oh well.

20 minutes later....

This is what my back porch looks like....

And it is still coming down.  Well, at least it did something wintry for a holiday around these parts.

We had no idea what the roads were like going into big town, or what it was actually doing in big town.  And since my mommy mobile has front wheel drive, we figured the ole 4 x 4 truck would be a better bet for the roads.

Little did we know, that two miles down the road it stopped sleeting and 6 miles down the road it was clear as could be on the roads.  Oh well, if we had taken the mommy mobile it would have been the other way around.  Never fails.

Needless to say, we made it safely to our destination.  Had some good fixing's and had to leave before everyone passed out from all the tryptophan in the turkey. 

When we got home, we had about an inch of solid ice on our yard and everything else for that matter.  Sure am glad it was supposed to warm up the next day.  Which it did and it was like someone turned a garden hose on on-top of my roof and just let it run down all the sides (we don't have guttering on our new roof yet!  *Slacker*).

It was nice to get together with the extended family, but it is always nice to be at home as well.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with those that you love.



Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Stay safe and warm and safe travels for everyone this holiday weekend!

All by myself....don't want to be

All by myself!

Well, that was my plans for tonight.  Little did I know that my sweet little girl was going to have a melt down and throw a wrench into my plans.  Lil' sis was going to my grandparents house to stay the night and then Dearest and CX were heading down to the farm to do some hunting this weekend. 

I was going to be all alone, again, like last weekend.  Then my bud, Aimus, called and we made plans.  Girlie plans!  Yea for me!  Nothing too terribly exciting, but we were gonna check out this new place in big town that gives free samples of there ware and then hit a movie.  I know....woo, big night...but for me, I was really looking forward to it.

So, my grandparents show up to pick up Lil' Sis after school and she proceeds to have a total melt down.  She doesn't want to go, without bubby, and she is afraid that she will miss me.  Then she finds out that mommy had plans and, I swear, if she said "I'm sorry", once, she said it a hundred times.  She was so distraught that I had to cancel my plans because of her.

No biggie...she is still blubbering when my grandparents leave, minus a great granddaughter.

I finally get her to calm down a little and ask her what in the world is going on.  I know that something more is going on in this little girls brain.  I just don't know what.

Then she proceeds to tell me that her friend, remember the bully girl, broke-up with her on the bus ride home from school today.

Great, I think to myself.  This little girl is still manipulating my daughter.  She apparently was upset with Lil' Sis because she didn't sit with her on the way home.  Really?  Really!  This is ridiculous.  I know my little one is only 5, but come on!  This stuff has got to stop!  How on earth do I do that?!

Once, I got the details out of Lil' Sis, she was calm as could be and fell asleep in my arms because she was so exhausted, emotionally and mentally.  Wowzers!  This is my life with a kindergartner...can you imagine what it is going to be like once she hits middle school?  I think I might need to talk to the doc to up my meds or something!  Hee Hee!

So, I was going to tell you all about going to this meat market and a movie with the girls, but ended up telling you about the woes of a little girl!  The duties of a mom never end, do they?

Thanks for letting me vent.  Hope to see you again soon!

Hotness

I got a text from a girl friend of mine the other day.  Her son and my Lil' Sis are in the same class in Kindergarten.  (That was information that needed to be shared for you to understand my story.)  Sorry, back on track.

So, I receive this text the other day that says, "When Mister G got into the car after school today, he said that Mister C thinks Lil' Sis is hot but don't worry mom, Lil' Sis said that she likes me."

Can we figure out what it wrong with this text?

1.  My daughter is 5 years old!  She is not hot!  No matter how adorable she is, she is not hot!  Not yet!  She's my baby and she's 5!  Did I mention she's 5?

2.  This is Kindergartners people!  How in the world do they even know what hot is?  I asked Lil' Sis about it, because I have to get the scoop and she said, "Yeah, I got hot at school today, so I took off my hoodie and just wore my t-shirt."  Oh, how adorable....she has no clue!

3.  Lil' Sis said, "Yeah, I like Mister G, but I also like Mister A and Mister M.  They are fun to play with at recess...not like the girls.  They like to play spies with me."  Okay, she is sooo clueless!  Thank goodness!  I don't want her to grow up too fast. 

4.  So, Lil' Sis, do you kinda have a crush on anyone.  "No way mom!  If I did, I would tell you!"

So, I am totally overreacting, but it kinda took me for a loop.  Don't know that I am ready for all of this stuff.  But I guess I better get ready, cause it sounds like its gonna be here before I know it.  Dang it!

Um, did I tell you?  My baby is 5!

Yo V.I.P. Let's kick it!

Ice, ice baby, too cold, too cold!

Okay, that was totally random, but every time I think about the new shirt that I made CX that's what comes to my mind.

Why, you ask?!

Well, it was Children's Book Week at school this week.  Everyday they have had something fun planned for the kiddos and today they had to wear a shirt with a word on it.  Something appropriate of course!  So, me being the smart butt came up with this idea for CX.....ready?  Really, this took me a lot of time to come up with this....so don't judge.  Mmmkay?

"Word"

I know!  You are totally stunned right?!?!  I am a creative genius and at times I even scare myself!  Anyway, my dearest thought that I needed to put something on the back of the shirt.  So I came up with....you probably figured it out already, but I'm gonna share with those of you who might not understand the intro..."To your mother".

Yeah, I know!  It's awesome, right?!

Dearest didn't think anyone would get it...and if you don't I can draw a picture, but it might just be better to let you see this...

Still don't know?  Hmmm...I didn't think I was that old, but okay, google Vanilla Ice.  Nuff bout that!

Anyway, onto the shirts that I made CX and Lil' Sis.  They wanted one of a kind shirts, so I of course, had to make them!  Can't let down my kiddos!

So, for CX we came up with "Word....Respect it" and for Lil' Sis "Statement...That's what I am".  Daddy dearest came up with those, so don't blame me.  I wanted to make a freezer paper stencil because they are sooo easy to do and I had everything on hand.  Yea for me!  Especially since my craft room is being boxed up.

I printed out the text that I wanted.

Then I traced the text out onto the matte side of the freezer paper.  Not the shiny side!



Then I set out to cut the letters out with my exacto knife.  Make sure that you cut on a cutters mat or a thick stack of paper.  Don't want to ruin that table!

Make sure to keep the insides of the letters...like my "O" and "D" from above!  You'll need those in a minute!

Next, you need to take a sheet of freezer paper and place it inside the shirt or whatever you are stenciling.  The paint will bleed a little and you don't want it to bleed all the way thru to the other side.  Then, I just took my iron and set it on the hottest setting, no steam!  And just ironed on the stencil.  Make sure the shiny side is down...otherwise your stencil will be backwards and it will stick to your iron!

Remember those little pieces from inside the letters?  Now you need to place them back where they belong and iron them on as well.  Again, make sure shiny side is down!

Next, I just used any old craft paint that I had and painted inside the stencil.  The pink on black took me about 6 coats, but the grey on orange only took about 3.  Then remove the stencil before it dries completely, otherwise the stencil may remove some of the paint from the shirt.  Not that I learned that from a previous craft or anything.  Carefully remove those little pieces as well.  Then....let it dry.

Next, I took a thin towel and ironed over the stencil to set the paint.  And viola!  Your stencil is done!

I, of course, had to jazz the shirts up just a tad.  Did you know that embroidery floss is only 35 cents and can really spice up a shirt?!  Well, you do now!

And of course, Lil' Sis's had to have some bling as well!

See the crystals around "statement" and on the shoulders!  Oh yeah! 

They looked so cute when they left for school this morning.  CX told me that he was really lucky to have such a good mom to make him things like the shirt.  AWE!  He's such a suck up!  =)

Thanks for checking me out today.  If you make a freezer paper stencil, just let me know.  I'd love to see what you did!  Hope my tutorial helped you out!

Team Peeta?!

Okay, I have to let you in on a little secret....ready?

I love reading young adult fiction.  I really enjoyed the "Twilight" Saga, but I am so over it now it isn't even funny.  So, my newest obsession is "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.

Oh My Gawsh!

If you liked Twilight, you will love this book.  And let me tell you what!  Katniss Everdeen could kick Bella Swan's a**!  Seriously!  This girl is awesome!  So strong and driven and not a woe is me type of character.  Don't get me wrong, I adore Bella, but I think she was so much stronger in the books than she is portrayed in the movies and don't even get me started on Edward.  Geesh!  Okay, that last comment probably drove a few of my readers away, but my Edward is sooooooo much better than the Edward that they cast.  I honestly don't think that there is anyone out there that could ever even compare to my Edward.

Any who, back to "The Hunger Games".  I am recommending it to all of you who enjoy a quick read and want to totally become engrossed in a book from the very first page.  Plus, if you have kiddos, you can read it fairly easily while they are running around and screaming for you.

Also, they are making this trilogy into a movie series.  They have to have something for the teeny boppers and twenty somethings to become engrossed in now that the Twilight saga is coming to an end.

I just wanted to share my two cents on this book.  I've only read the first book, "The Hunger Games", but I am asking for the other two books for Christmas.  If I can wait that long to read what happens next!

Check it out!  I don't think you will be disappointed.  If you do read it or have read it, let me know what you think.  I'm curious.  I had a total stranger come up to me at swimming lessons the other night and wanted to know what I thought about it, because she absolutely loved it!  I had to share my enthusiasm with her.  I inhaled it from the moment I opened the cover.

Thanks for stopping by.  See you tomorrow.

Help, I need somebody! Help!

I know that it has been a few days since my last entry and I just wanted to let you all know what in the world I have been up to.  Well, believe it or not, I have been boxing my craft room up.  Yep...right before the holidays and I am no longer allowed to craft due to the fact that we are remodeling the inside of our casa.  I'm so bummed!

But, I did get to talk my dearest into letting me keep my sewing machine out in the upstairs room where we will all be sleeping for who knows how long.  So, I don't have to put it all up, but the majority has to go into boxes and then into my huge 20 foot storage unit.

I think I might go into withdrawal!  Seriously!  I've been on a real creative kick here lately and now I have to box it all up!?!?!?

"Get over yourself!"  That's what dearest always says to me whenever I'm starting to feel sorry for myself.  And yes, I should be looking at the big picture, I'm getting a new house!

So, I am still going to try to do a few things here and there, but for the most part I am going to be on a crafting hiatus.  Maybe this will push me to work on my sewing skills and to finish all those unfinished projects I have going on.  Hmm....that sounds like a challenge to me.

I think that I will make it a challenge for myself to finish all those unfinished sewing projects before my house is finished with the remodel.  Which, I don't really have a time line on that, so it might work in my favor.  But then again, I will be busy with the house as well.  I'm gonna have to think on this one.  What do you all think?  Finish unfinished projects or just let them sit and collect more dust?  It's now in your hands my dear followers!  Just leave me a comment and let me know what you think I should do.  You make the decision for me.

I'll miss you all, my dear supplies and inspiration.  Until we meet again!  Then I can put you into your new home in the upstairs bonus room where I am going to be creating to my little hearts content!

Lotus Clutch

Since my Little Clutch went so well, I decided to make another one from the remnants that I bought at the leather store.  Next up was the embossed black leather. 

Ooh!

I pretty much followed the tutorial from A Lemon Squeezy Home with special guest blogger Cheri from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar.  Love her blog!

Any who, I took my leather and decided how big I wanted the clutch.  This time I wanted it to be more of a daytime one that you could carry around that would hold more stuff.  Although, the bigger the purse, the more crap I accumulate in it!  Or is that just me?!

 

Nice, this piece even has a hole in it!  I guess I should have unfolded it the whole way before purchasing.  Ah, buyer beware, I guess!

Okay, so here it is cleaned up now.  I still have quite a bit of scraps left and yet, the piece looks just as big.  Hmmm....

You just can't get the full effect of the leather.  Here, I'll take a close up of it.

Leather, now smile pretty for the people!

I think the leather showed too much teeth.  What are you gonna do?

Alright, sorry, I think I might be a little delirious from this project.  It only took me a couple of hours, but man it was a turd to get my sewing machine to cooperate with me tonight.

So, I have my rectangle now.  Next I will crease the leather to make the fold where the bottom is and then one fold for the flap.  Did I confuse you?

Then, I cut the flap so that it would look more like an envelope.  See.....

I took out my fabric stash and chose the one that I liked the most.  I was really digging the Amy Butler "lotus".  So that's what I used.  I just cut a rectangle close to the same size as the clutch.  I then ironed wonder under onto the back of it and then ironed that onto the leather for the lining.

Once I had my lining all ironed on I tried to decide what I wanted to do differently for this clutch.  I really wanted to make ruffles, but couldn't figure out how to make then without it becoming too bulky.  Then I had this idea...what if...well, you never know if you don't try, right?!?!?!

I cut three one inch strips from the leather...

Now I had to figure out how to attach them together to make one long strip without, again, causing it to bulk up.  Hmm....what if....

I butted the two ends together and just zigzagged them together.  And....it worked!  Amazing what a sewing machine can accomplish!

Here are my three strips sewn together...they totalled 44 inches which I figured would be a good length.

I then marked every 1 inch on the back of the strip with chalk.  It rubs off so easily...I really love using it instead of disappearing ink or anything else.  Then I began the ruffle making.  I sewed to the first inch mark, then I doubled over and began the sewing again and then once I was finished with that ruffle, I repeated the process until I was completely done with the ruffled strip.  Sorry, no pictures.  It was getting really late and I was pretty delirious by that point.  Must!  Get!  Sleep!

Alrighty!  Bright and sunny eyed I was in the a.m.  I then zigzagged the ruffle strip onto the edge of the flap.

Kinda cute,huh?

Then I just zigzagged across the opening and the sides.

Next I picked one of the buttons that I didn't use for the Little Clutch.  But I really didn't like it all that much black.  It needed to be a little different.

So I whipped out the old spray paint!  Gotta love some spray paint!

See....much better!

Then I took me some good old fashioned fishing line and sewed the button onto the flap.  Love it!  It's clear and pretty darn strong too!

Then I glued on Velcro for the closure.  They are self adhesive, but I like to make sure that they aren't going to go anywhere.

And it is nice and big, but not too big.  You can put your wallet in there, a pair of sunglasses, keys and some lipstick or gloss...plus you could probably put more in it if you needed too!

May I introduce you to the Lotus Clutch.

Thanks for stopping by...hope you enjoyed my newest project.

I've linked up to Whatever Goes Wednesday over at Someday Crafts.
Go check it out!   There are a ton of projects over there.  Some really talented people out in the blog-o-sphere.

November

It is finally November, my favorite month of the year.

Why, you might ask?  Well, I love the cool air, the leaves falling to the ground, the smell of hot apple cider, pulling out my cozy sweaters, slipping into my boots and.....It's when my birthday is!

Now, normally, I would be excited and thrilled to be getting older.  But I have come to the realization, that the older I get, the older my kiddos get.  Darn them!

So, I will be 35 this month and am kinda freaking a little.  I really don't know why either, but for some reason it is bothering me.  Maybe it's because I asked for a vacuum cleaner for my birthday.  Yep, a vacuum!  You know you are getting old when you want household tools for gifts.  Mine has just broke its last belt and smells really funny.  Not in a good way either!

So, as I was looking at vacuums online, I stumbled onto some other sites and found a few things on my wish list for this year.  I have no idea how I got onto these sites either, I don't recall these stores selling vacuums, but maybe I'm wrong.  I also take cash and checks as well!  =P

I'm pear shaped, so I will never buy bottoms online, but tops I don't have a problem with.  This sweater above is from anthropologie.com and it is $118.  Wow!  I love to browse that site, and just wonder how people spend that kind of money on clothing.  I could get a whole outfit for that kind of dough!  Yep, I'm cheap thrifty!

Anyhow....I'm still kicking, one more birthday under my belt.  I'll let you know if i survive!

Thanks for coming by today.  Have a wonderful fall day!