Advent calandars

I love advent calendars so it was one of the first decorations I bought for Christmas when I grew up and had kids. I keep seeing all these great ideas for making your own, so I thought I would share my favourites!









Service ideas for calendar HERE

Other ideas for calendar HERE

The Begining of a Beautiful Friendship

I eat, sleep, and breathe creativity.

It is how I define myself as a person.

If I could not create anything....I would die.

It brings me such joy to make things and to share that with people.

I have had such a great response with the tutorials that I have been posting and was thinking that I should share more with the world.

What do you guys think?

What areas would you guys be most interested in?
(example: building with wood, working with yarn, organizing children's keepsakes, sewing)

Eventually I would like to turn it into a full time thing with sponsers and advertisers, but mostly I want to just share my talents with those who can benefit from it.

Let me know your thoughts!

Toy box Tutorial

I have been looking for a way to store toys in our living room in a way that it fit a grown up style, but would hold the day to day toys. I have a system now that consists of five totes that I rotate every week so he has new toys and doesn't get bored. I have just been using the totes in the living room, but I wanted a better look. So I saw this idea and made it my own. I thought I would share my experience with you in case you wanted on too!

I started with these materials.
1 bottom: 16x24 in
2 sides: 16x14 in
6 side rails: 3/4 in thick x 3 1/2 in wide x 24 in long
2 : one foot long pieces of rope
4 coaster wheels
16: bolts with nuts size MS-112 (wal-mart)
hammer
skinny nails
sandpaper
stencil letters
black paint
masking tape
fabric for inside

Step 1
Hammer side pieces to bottom at right angles, setting the side pieces on top of bottom. I used this tote to set the bottom on and leaned the side piece against it and then hammered. You probably want to buy nails appropriate for the thickness of wood you chose. You don't want the nails poking through. I did not use wood glue, but if I had to do it again I would. This just secures the pieces more. You just apply it to the seams before hammering.

Step 2
I attached the first side rail to the bottom first(pictured on the top in this picture) and put two nails in the side and five along the bottom. Then I placed the top slat (bottom of photo) and and put two nails on each end. Then I placed the center slat evenly between the other two and nailed two in each end. Repeat this on the other side!

Step 3

Drill two holes on either side of the crates for the handles. Thread them through and unwind the rope. Staple each thread to the side to secure.

Step 4
Turn the crate over and place coaster wheels about 1 inch from each side so you don't hit the seams you just hammered. Using a drill, drill holes according to holes. Thread bolts through and tighten with nuts. Repeat with remaining wheels. I used a rotating coaster so that you can move it in any direction and not just front to back.

Step 5
This is the decorating part now! I wanted to put some writing on it, because regular shipping crates have that, so I chose our family name. Line up your stencil with the bottom of the slat and lay out the word evenly across. Tape it down one letter at a time. I just lined up the seams of the letters as my guide.

Step 6
Sponge black paint in an up and down motion, like blotting, with not a lot of paint on the sponge. You don't want it to bleed.

Step 7
Next I used the sponge and VERY LITTLE PAINT, blot before you do this, and wipe the slat to age it. Quickly rub off the paint with a rag, paper towel or wipes. When it is dried, take sandpaper and go over slats and words to make them look aged and used.

I had more photos, but camera issues happened and I don't have them for the fabric process. I just made a square bag for the inside that would fold over the top. It is very snug so the boys can't pull it down.

Good bye curls!

My little Ben has inherited my curly hair. I try and let it grow out for as long as possible, because little ringlets form at the base of his head and it is just so darn cute. The other day he went swimming and he looked ridiculous with his mullet, so today was his first hair cut in months.I started out by cutting each individual curl. He is still cute even though his curls are gone....for now:) I documented it with photos.

Indian vest how to

ummm...the cutest picture ever!

I can remember in elementary school making an Indian vest for Thanksgiving. It wasn't nearly as cute as I wanted it to be, so I took an idea from Martha Stewart which she used in making a hide table cloth and applied it to this project. I took pictures so you all can make one too!

Supplies
1 paper grocery sack
3 ft brown or tan yarn
1 big blunt needle

1. You start with a brown paper grocery sack. If you follow the top edge around you will find a seam. start pulling the seam apart. You will have to be a gentle so you don't rip a random tangent instead of a nice clean line. When you get to the bottom there will be many seams, just be gentle and pull those apart too.
2. Crumple up the garbage sack and then un-crumple. Repeat this step multiple times. Probably do this for at least ten minutes. The more crumpling you do, the softer the paper gets and the more like leather it looks. It helps to flatten the paper and then start a fresh crumple session. Be sure to catch the edges. They tend to be more rough .3. This is what it should look like. It should feel very soft and when you pick it up it falls like fabric and not a stiff paper bag.

4.Next you tear pieces off. I laid it against Ben's body and kind of got a good direction. The pieces need to overlap, so that is why they are shaped this way. It also looks more authentic if the pieces are random.

5. I used tan yarn and a big blunt needle to "sew" together the pieces. I used Ben to lay the pieces on and find exactly where to sew them (shoulders, under arm, and back).

Here is the final project on my little Indian!

I also had requests to show Ben and Tayrien's blessing outfits side-by-side to compare.
Ben=left, Tayrien=right

Here is a closeup of Tayrien's bodice
yes there is bright red lipstick on the shoulder!

We will never forget

Toaday we celebrate the men and women who have fought to keep our country free. Ben and I celebrated by going to the Veterans parade. Branson has the biggest and longest Veterans celebration in the whole country so a ton of people come to our little town every year to celebrate with us! We are very honored to have them here. Here are a few pictures from this mornings event.

Tayrien before the parade started

The Flag was the start of the parade

Ben holding his hand over his heart for the flag

Ben and Tayrien

This car was cool and the guy standing up is a John Wayne look a like

Favorite Friday

Last week I skipped favorite Friday due to the Halloween pictures, so this week is doubled up.

pumpkin dessert

Butlers cart

quesadillas

Purse made for my friend who is now cancer free and raising money

Owl garland

Cute owl cupcake

side table that looks like a spool of thread!

Baby Blessing and Grandpa

Halloween was Tayrien's baby blessing. I made Benjamen's blessing outfit and wanted to pass it on with him, so I made Tayrien his very own outfit too. The collar wasn't really that huge. The booties he is wearing are made by my Granny (Ben had his own too). The beautiful crochet blanket that he is laying on was made by Daniel's mother just for Tayrien. The Blessing was beautiful. My favorite part was that he would be a great help and support to his parents, but especially his mother! My dad came for the event from Arizona. It has been so fun having him here. We have gone out to three shows, had lots of good food, and decorated the house for Christmas. Last year I was in AZ helping my dad put up his Christmas lights, but he helped me this year!

Tayrien, 1 month

Our family on blessing day
This will probably be the only screaming picture of Ben ever.
He usually is really cooperative, but it was nap time)

My dad and Tayrien

My dad always brings new sports outfits and toys for the boys!
They are all dressed up in Phoenix Suns wear.