Saturday, November 27, 2010

There'll be pennies from heaven for you and me

My last post for this month. I have officially put away all the thanksgiving/fall decor and busted out the Christmas stuff. Before I start posting all the wonders that is Christmas I have one last fall decorating (and thanksgiving day) post to share.



My sweet little dvd cabinet that I fixed up. Notice one of my most precious mercury glass knobs is broke? Hubby did that. When he told me about it I wanted to cry. My husband of course was very sorry. It still stings when I see it missing. I will someday be able to replace it. Anyway I printed the little vintage postcard to stick in my apothecary jar and that little owl cost me .75, feather, pumpkins and leaves all fill the other jars. Free fall stuff.



The thankful banner I made with my PSA stamps. They have the most beautiful letters. I will be making another for Christmas. I love how it came out. Very easy too.

I also made the kids tic tac toe games for them to play while they waited for dinner or after.




These fall leaf picks



and this tiny Give Thanks mini mini book. All of them I used the Hello kitty stamp set from PSA.

All of it has been packed away for next Thanksgiving. We did have a pretty good day. Stressful but good. The kids loved all the food.



The turkey looks really good. Sadly I think I cooked it a little to long. It wasn't as juicy as I wanted. I don't have a meat therm so I was really just guessing. Next year I am investing in one.


Finished the feast off with a little friendly game of chess with Uncle Rob.



Oh and a tat done by my 14 (soon to be 15) year old daugher Raven.


December holds so many things. Christmas mantel is started. Ravens 15Th birthday is being planned. A little get together with a whole lot of family Christmas eve. *sigh* Of course a whole lot of Christmas craftiness. Stay tuned.

Hope you all had a wonderful (thankful) day!

♥♥♥

Thursday, November 25, 2010

I ♥ Turkey On Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!




I am so very thankful for my family, friends, & the lord above for blessing me in so many ways. I struggle everyday with being broke and barely making it that sometimes I forget that it could be worse. My fav quote ever is " I give myself very good advice, but I rarely seldom follow it." Alice said that. It is so true. I tell myself to be thankful for what I DO have. Days come that just knock you on your ass and it ends up being hard to think of anything to be thankful for.

I will try. Harder. Since today is thanks-giving I am trying extra hard. I do have so many to be thankful for. My 4 beautiful healthy children. My loving, wonderful husband. My sweet grandmother and mom. My dad who was never there but has made a tremendous effort lately. People who try to help as best they can and care for me no matter what. I will forever be thankful for all of them.

I am also thankful that I was able to go to school. I had the courage. I found a way. I took initiative and am trying my damnedest to be top of my class. I know god helped me find that way and kept that fire lit all these years. Thankful.

My heart is filled this day. Filled with joy, love, and peace. This day I can stop worrying about bills and money and tests. This day I will only be thankful. This day is special and I will cherish it always.

♥♥♥

Monday, November 22, 2010

Gobble gobble goo and gobble gobble giggle

Thanksgiving is 3 days away. I am not fully prepared. I am sure it will all be a last min thing if I ever really truly reach that finish line. Something is always left out. It is weird I usually don't do Thanksgiving so I don't decorate for it. I am always dreamin of Christmas. Since it is at my house this year I feel like I cant even look at Christmas decorations.


I have done a few more things in my house. I painted a black shelf. The black was just to harsh so white just seemed to be the appropriate fix. I distressed it a bit.


I made some more of the crepe paper rolled flowers in fall colors of course.


The vase is from the dollar tree and I just wrapped some Hambly around it. It looks lovely with a tea light in it also.

Didn't cost me anything because I had all the stuff laying around. If I didn't it would've cost me 2 bucks to make (if that).


A little more fall fun around my house.


I ♥ this little owl candle.


Bought this chalkboard up in Columbia.




I didn't get my little fall ornaments made nor a fun fall frame that I seen online. Next year. I did however manage to make a banner and tic tac toe games for the kids. I will post those wed.

Last but not least I give thanks for all my blog readers and all those kind enough to appreciate my work. Thank you for taking time out of your day to drop me some luv. :)

♥♥♥

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Oh white meat dark meat I just cant choose

Thanksgiving is only one week away! You know what I am thinking so I wont even type it. Right? Right? Moving on. I am doing Thanksgiving at my house (as I stated in a previous post) so I have been frantically searching the internet for (cheap) fall decorating ideas.




I found the acorn banner (link posted 2 posts down) and decided that is way easy (cheap) and super cute to make. I went to work.

I finally got my printer in working order after much frustration but way less money then it would've cost for new cartridges. Guess I am thankful for the frustration and saved money. Anyway printed out the acorn pattern Rachel provided. Used cardstock I had and Dollar store wood grain contact paper. VIOLA! Cute acorn banner done!



Then I searched high and low for a super easy way of making paper garland. I have a ton of scrap paper that I keep saying I am going to sell or I let the kids make birthday cards with. The pile keeps growing and growing. So the other day I thought eureka I have it! I will punch all those papers up and use them for paper garland. Hehehe smart smart me. I sat and watched a few shows and punched till my fingers hurt.


I found a site that said use wax paper to make the garland. I went to reach for my wax paper and wouldn't you know it...I was out! Grr what to do? I have a ton of tissue paper (super cheap) and decided it must work the same way and tried it..Indeed it does! I will say little bits of paper get stuck on the thread but they easily come off.



First I cut thin long strips from the tissue paper and spaced my punched circles out on the tissue paper. I used very little glue stick glue to keep them in place. I do mean very little! If you use to much the tissue paper will be stuck on your paper.

Ran it through my sewing machine just as if I was sewing a dress or shirt (haha yeah right never have done that before).



When I came to the end of one strip I just fed another through after it. Once I got all my strips sewn I then pulled off the tissue paper. It comes away easily and I only used about 2 sheets! I love paper garland and the best part is it cost me 0, nada, nothing to make! I had all the supplies already.



I also found some very sweet printables on MarthaStewart.com and used those throughout the living room. The squirrels are my very favorite.




I had the silver glittery pumpkin/gourds from halloween. They are perfect for thanksgiving too if I do say so myself.



The flower garland on the mirror is made from white cupcake liners I also purchased (you guessed it) the dollar store. I will show how to make those in the next post.

I really wish I could do more. I want a new mirror for that mantel and still have yet to find something to put above the mirror. I have the angel but its just there temporarily.

I must say it is hard to decorate on a non-exsistant budget, but possible. Hope I have inspired you to save a little money and gave you some ideas for your own thanksgiving celebration! More to come.

♥♥♥

Friday, November 12, 2010

Not afraid

I can finally share my cool scrappin news. I was asked to be the guest designer for The Girls Loft. Very honored and excited. The November kit is simply beautiful.

Will totally get your Christmas mojo flowing. I will have directions on how to make the ornaments and medallions later on in Dec.







Make sure to pick up your kit. I had so much left over I will for sure be using it for more Christmas projects this month.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Uh oh I want some more...

The first week of November has just flown by. It is pretty much a blur. I have no idea how that could've gone so fast! Having children and getting older really makes the time go. Why is that? I remember being a kid and it seemed like a a year took forever! Gah! Once 18 came the years after have literally passed me by with a vengeance. I know I am not the only one that feels this way right?

Did you set your clocks back sat? I think it is kinda neat because that is the only time we can officially travel back in time. Yeah it is only one whole hour but still it is pretty cool to get to do a whole hour of your life over again.



Finally got some of my deadlines done. I have one more to whip up. Hope to finish that today. Then I am going to make a advent calendar and some Thanksgiving things for the house. Oh did I tell you it is at my house this year? I have to make the house look super cute for that since this is my first Thanksgiving here. I mean we always have parties at the house. Usually kids birthdays but never Thanksgiving. My mommy always does it. She is moving and going through some changes as are we so it is easier if it is at my house.

I need printer ink tho. Well I should say I bought a refill kit got it just in time for this weekend and found out I need a chip resetter to make it work. I ordered that Saturday and am hoping it gets here very very soon. I want to print out some thanksgiving clip art and this sweet little acorn banner Rachel posted.



It is gonna be perfect for my house I think. She has a PDF and step by step instructions here.

I will be posting my guest spot soon and all the lovely things. For now here is a few sneaks.





Do you have any thanksgiving decorations to share? How bout inspiration? Leave me some links.

♥♥♥