Scaling Back

Well, my family and I just got back from here:

(That's Disney World, folks)

And we had a great time. Better than I thought, actually. I sorta thought (and I KNOW my husband thought this too) that I would go into some sort of withdrawal state from not blogging all week. But you know what? Not even. By the end of the week I didn't even bother to check the 40-some-odd blogs I look at every day.

Therefore, I must conclude that even if I don't get 2 blog posts done a day (I think I should aim for more like 2 a week), that I will not spontaneously combust. I'm going to try to cut it back a bit. I'm going to focus a little bit more on DOING than blogging.

For instance, I have the mammoth task of getting this room in order (WARNING: This photo may cause brain damage to Type A Personalities):

Now some of that stuff is furniture from other parts of the house that I moved into my bedroom so that we could get the carpets cleaned. Some is going to a consignment sale next week. And finally, some is being donated next week as well. But clearly I have a lot to get done. Wish me luck!

Feature Fridaze

I have found some great things around the web this week (due mostly to the fact that I've had lots of time to search since being snowed-in). 

I love knock-offs. Check out what Jen at Scissors & Spatulas did with her Knock-Off Nursery Decor. Isn't this amazing? Such a shame that when her baby is two, he's just going to rip it all apart (oh wait, I'm thinking of my own little beastie)...

Even more than knock-offs, I love upcycling. Melissa at Bursts of Creativity did this awesome Tea Tin Makeover. The main reason this knocked my socks off is because she is a master at layering! That's not easy to do without sliding into "just junk" territory (a place I've been many times). Great job Melissa!

Next, from Ali at Away We Go... is this adorable Spice Rack Button Holder. What a great idea! And it really kills me that I just threw out my old spice rack! Argh!

Finally, there is this Mickey Mouse Birthday Balloon Wreath from Debbie at Confessions of a Plate Addict. I don't really think I need to say anything here...it's pretty obvious that it's awesome. Can you imagine showing up to a party with that on the door? You would know you are definitely in for a good time! BTW--I never thought I would be a cat person, but since getting little Indiana I have totally crossed over. And Debbie has some adorable cats herself!

Thank you so much ladies for letting me share your creations! Please grab a button!

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Tick Tock...

We are counting down the minutes until we get to leave for Disney this weekend. There isn't really anything else to do since we're living in a snowglobe right now. Just two more days! I can't wait to feel that Florida sunshine.

I'll be out for a week or so. I can't wait to catch up on all my blogs when I get back!

Counting Yellow Cars

Driving with my children has become sort of an annoyance lately. Let me amend that: driving with KIKI has been sort of an annoyance lately. If she isn't yelling for a book or dropped toy, she is INSISTING that we listen to the same song OVER and OVER and OVER again.

I try to remind myself she's only two. And it will pass. (sigh)

Anyway, naturally we decided it would be a great idea to take a week-long car trip with the children this weekend. Luckily, Stacy at Not Just a Housewife (a daily read for me) had my back. She featured Tammy from She Wears Flowers' Car Game this week! She came up with a wonderful tutorial on how to make a counting yellow cars game for your kids to play in the car. I saw it, and knew I had to make it!

I let the kids pick their fabrics from my stash (guess who's is who's!):

I switched up a couple of things from her tutorial (out of frugality--I was determined to not spend any money on this). I used yellow felt (double layer) instead of clay. Also, I didn't use interfacing to keep it stiff. It's cardboard! I sewed all three sides together, then topstitched, inserted a rectangle of cardboard, then topstitched the bottom shut! I know it sounds cheap, but I was seriously trying to work with what I had. Naturally, mine do not fold up the way Tammy's do.

I hope you click on over and check out her tutorial. It's a good one!

I {Heart} Candy

As if you need more candy inspiration right now...

Marshmallow pops! 

Strawberry marshmallows, dipped in melted chocolate bark, rolled in sprinkles...

Or coconut, or candy hearts, if that's your thing.

While your at it, dip some Nillas. You won't regret it!

Even the kids can help! (If you don't mind a little mess)

I'll be linking up to these great parties!

Soup Can Valentine

I think will officially be my last Valentine-themed craft of the year! In fact, I might even take St. Patrick's Day off (not likely).

Today the kids and I made Soup Can Valentines for my mother. This is a really fun craft, because most people don't realize that you can reuse soup cans this way.

What you need:

-empty, clean soup can with a pull-top. You need to have opened it with a can opener on the BOTTOM of the can, leaving the pull top intact.

-glue gun

-Mod Podge

-cardstock or wrapping paper

-embellishments like ribbon, flowers, doilies, etc.

First I got out my soup cans. Once again, make sure the pull top is still intact:

I wrapped up some cookies in tissue paper to go inside:

Turn your can over and put the goodies through the opened bottom of the can:

Use your glue gun to glue the bottom shut. You should probably hold it in place for a minute:

Next measure your can. Then cut your paper to your measurements:

Measure the top of your can too. Cut a circle to fit, then cut a small scoop out of it so it will fit around the pull top:

Using the Mod Podge, glue down your paper and the top circle:

Then, embellish away! I added some ribbons, a tag...

On the front, I cut some shapes out of cardstock with my Silhouette and glued on some satin flowers (did a little stamping too):

Now go leave it in someone's mailbox! I love leaving things in people's mailboxes, it's such a nice surprise after a long day at work. And this one is extra fun, because they'll wonder how you ever got that stuff in there (until they turn it over, that is).

I'll be linking up to these great parties!



Happy Birthday Cake Banner

I got this idea from a great blog called Embellishing Life. Such a cute way to top a cake!

Granny Love

Today is my Mother-in-Law's birthday. I know I've said it before, but this woman is amazingly helpful. She's always up for babysitting, taking the kids to play, or just basically anything that you suggest. She also chipped in to buy me my Silhouette for Christmas. Therefore, I try to make her things from it whenever I can now. Since I've been loving heat transfer lately, I thought I would make her a personalized Granny shirt!

(I know, I need to iron it before wrapping it up)

I did a little play on Subway Art. I think it works for Valentine's too!

I hope she likes it!

I'll be linking up to these great parties!

Feature Fridaze

So...Linky Tools has decided to start charging. I don't think that's a bad idea on their part. I mean, EVERYBODY uses it, they might as well try to make a little money, right? However, I'm just not ready to commit to buying a year's worth of service right now. So, I'm changing my Linky Fridaze to: 

I will take the best of what I've seen all week and feature it on Fridays. I am constantly blog-hopping and I love to create lists of what I like!

Now, for last week's features:

 

I LOVE this top made by Creative Mommas. I was literally trying to come up with an Eiffel Tower design for a shirt I wanted to redo when (like magic!) this appeared. It's perfect!

Next up is the adorable baby quilt from Flexible Dreams. If you've never quilted, but you've wanted to, just do it! It's so much easier than you would think. I was really intimidated for years, then a year ago I took a basic quilting class and I've been on a roll ever since! I love the colors of this quilt:



And look what FabuLESSly Crafty did with these thrifted wooden sticks! I went to Goodwill last weekend thinking I might find something as good to makeover (I might have, if I get to working on it):

And finally, Craft Goodies made this great Rolled Rosette Pillow. It's the perfect project for some jersey scraps I have:

Thanks so much ladies! Grab a button and I'm excited to start the new Feature Fridaze next week!

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Snow Daze

Blizzards kinda rock. Until you get sick of being inside all day. We are almost to that point.

Finn's really digging the snow:



Kiki not so much:

It makes a pretty awesome sunset!: