when life gives you snow... make crafts!

The snow came in all it's glory, cancelling school along with the "Pure Joy" event that was planned for the weekend. Although I was disappointed we couldn't hold the event, I have to admit that I soooo love being stuck at home. It was a flury of crafts (my studio doesn't know what hit it). I got to use my Yudo machine again (for those of you who don't go to Michaels on a daily basis, it's a screen printer). I had a couple projects in minds so I got to work burning a screen. It's a simple process, but takes a little planning and patience. After my visit to Anthropologie on our girls weekend, I had been wanting to make some cool dishtowels. I had a lot of fun making them, but I think I might get a little crazy if my kids actually USED them so I will have to give them away so that I do not scar my children for life.

On to the next craft...you guessed it, American girl accessories (pictures to come). Lucy bought a white shirt for her doll at Michaels, we had to spruce that up a bit, then we needed a matching barrette. It was a little too big for Kit so it became Lucy's. Now Kit still needs a barrette and now Lucy needs a shirt to match her barrette. Do you see the viscous cycle?

We ended the day by watching Miss America. I am beginning to question my parenting skills. First Sam walks in the room during the swim suit competition. He shields his eyes and exclaims--"what are you watching!?!" Then Emma stands up and practices her pageant walk and disappears for a few minutes. She comes out with one of her Disney dress' on. I guess she doesn't feel pretty and asks if I will make her a gown like the ladies on TV--tonight, before I go to bed. Um, no. This doesn't compute in her little mind. She goes to bed thinking her mom is totally unreasonable, funny!

Meet Rebecca

After all the hoopla around Kit, Emma needed an American Girl too. Meet Rebecca--she is a lively New York girl with a flair for dramatics (when we saw that one of her accessories is a dress up trunk, we knew that she was the girl for Emma)

All the kids helped her save chips to "earn" it (I was a little more generous with the chips) Anyway, as usual, Emma does things her own way (do you sense my twitching). So, Emma wants me to make some outfits for her doll and I am more than happy to oblige. I offer some sweet pjs--no. A cute little jumper with a shirt underneath-no, I mean why pick something I've ALREADY done. No, Emma proceeds to look through the pattern book and order "this dress, only with these sleeves, oh and this little thing here.... And to top it off, she wanted it in royal blue satin (I just threw up a little in my mouth). She chose the blue satin because that was pretty much the only thing shiny in my fabric bin. I found this dress at Wal-Mart on clearance from Christmas for $5. Emma wanted to keep it as a dress up dress and still go with the blue satin, but I convinced her it was too small and would make a really cute dress for Rebecca. Here's the finished product (don't look too close) but it was perfect for Emma and Rebecca. All kidding aside, I love that Emma is so different from me and so wonderfully herself. No body is going to put her in a box, that is for sure!

American Girl Party--continued

Lucy got an American girl cookbook so we made lots of little fun food--here is lucy with her triple scoop ice cream cone.

The donuts weren't exacly picuresque so here is what you can do with multigrain Cheerios if you wanted to, we had a couple cute ones but they were eaten too quick to get a picture.

So nice the girls are old enough to do some of these things themselves! I knew it would pay off eventually.

I think the little smores were the cutest and the tastiest of all the things we tried, the girls all like the ice cream the best.

Caitlynn and Kara sporting their matching necklaces.

Tori and Lily with their necklaces and headbands.

Well, I have to admit that I think I had more fun at this party than anyone else. Now I am thinking about how I can re-create Kit's treehouse for Lucy's Christmas present (it's only 11 months away!)

A party for my American girl--part 1

Well, it's been a long time since I've blogged. I really want to blog, I'm just busy doing the stuff I want to blog about that I never get around to it. I thought I would try again, this time, with Lucy's 9th birthday celebration. She is not a girl who wants a big to-do come birthday time, just a small celebration with those she feels most comfortable with. We had the best of both worlds with 2 of her cousins and her sweet friend Caitlynn. I think this is a birthday she will always remember.

We made each doll a pj and slippers for the sleepover, and my mom made them all a little party dress. We had more crafts than time, but there is always tomorrow--here are a few of the high lights...

A funny note about the cake, Tori made Lucy an ice cream cake for her actual birthday (which was half eaten) so I had to make her a whole cake for her party...the cake is still whole. Everyone had ice cream cake. We were all singing the praises of the DQ!

Lucy got a couple of outfits from MeeMa. MeeMa is a doll lover and collector. She was quite the seamstress and made beautiful doll clothes. Lucy will treasure these!

We made mini pizzas with mini pepperonis . More mini food to come.

Personalizing mini clip boards (Lucy loves using my Slice cutter).

Caitlynn and Gwen and mod podge--
Here we are on craft #2, matching necklaces for the girls and their dolls.
The finished products...
Recipe for these cute little necklaces. So fun and easy!|

We ended the night with a movie, of course it was "Kit Kittredge, An American Girl" Tomorrow, we have a couple more crafts and some mini cooking to do.

Good night, sweet dreams!

Are you in? For anything?  A friend of mine was telling me that her little boy was wanting to have a Thomas the Train birthday party for another year--I love it! He's already showing signs at 4 years old that he has passion.  The only encouragement I could give her is that Sam has had the same party theme for 7 years (and the same halloween costume), and once I learned to embrace it, my life got a lot easier. Sam loves football, and the Razorbacks, and his newest "thing", golf.  He has passion--to put it mildly.

Our pastor recently did a series on serving titled "all in".  I realized that not everyone has found where they want to get "all in". Personally, I've found too many things.  This little piece of floor art inspired me to ask the question--R U in? This is the time to make your mark, we can all make a difference in our little corner of the world.

65 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MOM!!

Happy Birthday Mom! In honor of your 65 years, I have come up with 

65 things I love about you!

1. She's Hip
   
2. generous
3. patient
4. notices what makes each of her grandkids unique and special
5. her pies
6. she's giving
7. fun
8. she loves to shop with me
9. she will stay at the park/pool/etc.. until the KIDS are ready to leave--which could mean hours!
10. smart
11. techy
12. creative
13. encouraging
14. classy
15. her unique pronunciation of certain words gives me a good laugh
16. sense of humor
17. talented
18. always sees the best in people
19. protective
20. her dinner rolls
21. she took me to CKU--still a highlight!!
22. honest
23. patient
24. fun-loving
25. the way she and dad are caring for grandma
26. she takes on my projects
27. she's a life long learner
28. she's lookin' GOOD at 65
29. I can always count on her
30. fun to be around
31. created awesome memories
32. was a great example
33. helpful 
34. supportive
35. looks over wrongs
36. fun to be around
37. always believes in me
38. faith in God no matter the circumstance
39. life of the party
40. thoughtful
41. caring
42. good grandmother
43. incredible writer
44. EBAY--enough said :)
45. Instilled excellence in us as kids
46. goes the extra mile
47. there when I need her
48. patient
49. full of conversation
50. hard working
51. sweet 
52. encourage our learning
53. great photographer
54. gracious hostess
55. her door is always open
56. light hearted
57. soft place to land
58. did I mention she is really patient
59. her special baby blankets
60. she loves all the things I make her--even if it's ugly
61. she started children's church at Northvale Baptist
62. humble
63. accepts me for who I am
64. loves my dad
65. she's the best mom in the WORLD!!

I could have gone on and on, mom you really are one special lady--Happy Birthday, I love you!

Here is an album I created for her 60th birthday--

more about tutorials!

I may have mentioned in my last post that I really like tutorials.  Today is a good day because I found the mother ship of tutorials here!

I think I was born with the desire to create things. I remember when I was young, pilfering through my mom's desk to see what I could find so that I could "make" something.  Over the years I have spent countless hours and dollars crafting. I wish I had a photo montage of every single project.  That would be funny.  Well, I am off to look over these 100 free tutorials and decide what my next project is going to be :)