Happy Birthday NAY NAY!

When I think of sisters with flair, this jacket on my sister is what I visualize. It's taking the boring daily chores of life and doing them wearing a funky apron, a fabric flower broach, a funky ring and maybe some high heel zebra shoes. Well, maybe without the ring, you don't want to be a flair whore! This is my sister Renee, she makes AMAZING things and then humbly DOESN'T show them off. She usually wears understated clothes so she doesn't draw too much attention to herself. (hmmmm, does this sound like a complete opposite of someone else?) She just oozes talent! She's an amazing photographer, seamstress, quilter, vinyl board maker, college student, mother of 4 and entrepreneur! So when she told me she found this funky red leather jacket at a resale shop I was SHOCKED when she bought it! Understated Renee? Not anymore- this is FABULOUS Renee! Happy 28th birthday (again) Renee!

This is the final countdown!

Here is my advent calendar that I have been working on for the last couple weeks! I am so excited it's almost finished that I just had to post now! One drawback to living in a small town is that I can't find these little boxes in large quantities:) Hopefully next time I go to the big city I'll be able to find some. My friend had given me these magnet board for my birthday last year, so this was so easy. Just painted the sides, mod podged on the paper, glued magnets on the back, and put vinyl numbers on top! Love it!!! And when we have more kids, there'll be plenty of room for extra candy!

All the leaves are brown...

I was inspired by a pillow that I found online, sorry, can't remember where. I cut these leaves out about a month ago and I decided to make a wall decoration instead of a pillow. I'm not sure my husband's ready for a pink pillow in the living room. But my craft room is looking rather boring. So here it is. I just used iron-on webbing for the appliques and sewed on a border. Then I stapled it to a canvas board that I didn't like anymore- voila! Not perfect, but it was a fun little project!

Party like its your Birthday!

K is ONE! I just had to do something for his birthday. I mean, its amazing these little babies survive their adoring older siblings hugs and kisses and walking around holding them like they do their dolls! We've avoided choking on barbie shoes and falling down stairs (well only a few stairs). And I can't forget electricution, this baby is obsessed with outlets and plugs! I can't quite decide what to get him for his birthday, a garbage can filled with empty waterbottles and pop cans, a toilet with fresh water or outlets. He just loves them all, what should I do? So here's to my baby, not just turning one, but avoiding 911 and the ER for one whole year! "Mother of the year award? Oh, you're too kind!"

Party supplies brought to you by my sista's with flair. Cupcake toppers by Renee. Clothespins with vinyl for each month & Bib provided by mandycakes.

Surprise Party

M is 8!! I had so much fun throwing her a surprise American Girl Formal Dinner Party. We all dressed up in our fanciest clothes and everyone brought their favorite doll. I made pretend food for the dolls out of colored foam squares and made M's favorite dinner (China Food) as she refers to it. We had orange chicken and rice, with some side dishes and sparkling cider with goblets. We had a fashion show with the dolls and they got to walk the runway, then off to a photo shoot with their dolls. Then we made a craft, I had already made flower clips out of organza for the girls and their dolls so we made a tile with ribbon to hang their clips from. The party was a success because at the end of the night I heard M tell her little sister that "it was the best day of my whole entire life!" The best part about it was that for the first time EVER I had as much fun at the party as the girls did! 8 year old parties are WAY more fun than 5 year old parties!

Tie up my heart

So I just LOVE to dress up my little guy for church on Sunday, but the typical "church" clothes for boys is just so bor-ing! I just found the perfect solution to his lack-luster outfits- homemade ties! Hopefully he likes it a little better come Sunday morning than he did when I tried it on him yesterday. It took me just about an hour to make and I have several more fabrics ready to go for his next ties! You can add flair to a little boy's outfit without a husband's complaint! Hope you enjoy!

I'm here!

Alright, so I can't let Andrea show the rest of us up, I'm crafty too! So, our laundry room has always bugged me- when we moved in it was that over-done Martha Stewart sage green. So, as our last room in this house to paint, I decided I would follow my heart and paint it jade blue. It's a great color- in small doses. So, back to the paint store and I quickly chose a light turquoise- I love turquoise, how could I go wrong? Somehow, I did go wrong. Back for another gallon of paint, which turned out looking like some very strange skin color. Hmm, what to do, what to do? I grabbed the neutral "Sphinx" brown that is in our living room and halls- perfect! I knew I loved that color... and it only took 10 hours of painting to get to it! Ha! I had already picked out this fabric before I even started painting and I love it! These curtains just make me so happy every time I walk by them. I love making curtains this way- using those little handy clips is the way to go! I think all the curtains in my house are held up with those clips!

Here's the window!

I guess I have a little more painting to do behind the washer in dryer, my hand is still sore from painting! More pics of the laundry room to come!