Its Snowing Here!!! not sticking but snowing!

December 1st... the countdown to Christmas begins! As the days start to turn colder my calendar starts to fill quickly. My December, like many of your, becomes a guessing game of how do we fit one more thing into our schedule. We want to spend time with everyone and hate to say no to any party or celebration. (And we usually don’t say no) Christmas only comes once a year and we enjoy celebrating with our family and friends.

We have one event that has been scheduled for sometime now. And I’m anxiously looking forward to the celebration. It’s a progressive dinner with neighborhood friends. For those of you who don’t know what a progressive dinner is, it where a group of friends or families travel from home to home to admire the homeowners decorations and partake in a few delicious goodies. Our first stop will for appetizers and drinks. Then after about an hour or two we move on to the next home for soup and salad, then main dish and last but not least desserts. Spending a few hours at each home with friends will be a great treat this holiday season. My house will be the soup and salad stop. I’m looking for a spectacular soup that will WOW everyone. So if anyone has any recipes I would love to here about them. The salad will be a spring mix topped with sliced strawberry and toasted sesame seeds. All topped off by a sweet and tangy dressing with poppy seeds. We were introduced to this fantastic salad by my husbands Aunt Wendy from NC. Thanks Wendy, we loved it so much we have it all the time now!

I’m still taking orders for Christmas gifts on my Etsy shop. If there’s something you would like to order do so soon. And still get them in time for Christmas morning! Click the link on the top left sidebar to see my shop.

Decorations, I’ve been working on a few more decorations. My mantel and my chandelier in my dinning room. Here are a few of my favorite Santa ornament and other decorations that I love. Enjoy the pictures.

Showing my Christmas Spirit Entry Way Photos

As Promised, Pictures of my Christmas Decorations.These are new this year. I have Peace and Joy on the tree in the entry.

This is my entry way tree with the lights on and the overhead light off.

With Garland up the stair way.

Same Tree as above with the overhead light on and a

sweet little boy doing flips in front of it. (lower right hand corner)

This is my entryway again from a different angle. This one you can see the ledge above the doors. I have my two pencil trees on it. You can't see it but I also have a handpainted old screen with a snowman on it.

Diva Day

As per my mother in laws request I am posting more photos of the kids and less embroidery/craft pics............ today that is.

These are the "afters" of our day at our local diva dress up shop here in town. The girls got their nails, hair and makeup done. Then they made their own special lotion or body spray. Two hours later and we were out of there. (I did get some embroidery jobs while there too) Cole stayed home with dad. But he sure wanted to go. He did, however, join in on the photo session.

We did this to celebrate our last few days of summer before school starts. I wish I had taken a pic of what they looked like that night. Because you would never believe that after 2 hrs of divaing(I made that word up all by myself) these sweet little princess' were out in the heat riding bikes through the wood and in the dirt. And to top it all off they had a water balloon fight! So much for making them little ladies.....

And by the way, Ella says "Hi Grandma Kim"!

Back to School..

Yep next week its back to school for Katelyn who will be going to middle school. Where did the time go? And sweet little Keely will be in Kindergarten! It seems like just yesterday that she was a baby. Oh wait.... yesterday we played house and she was the baby! But you all know what I mean.

Take a look at miss Keely at soccer camp today. How do you like that GANG bandanna? It was so hot this morning so we wet the bandanna and this is how Keely kept cool. Now back to that kick. Just look at that form. David Beckham look out! And the pink shoes, guards and ball are too cute! You know a girls gota have her pink accessories.

Now this one is priceless! look at that air under those feet. You go Keely!

One good thing about the girls in school is that I will get to clean my house and get some embroidery work done. Cole will even be at Mothers day out two days a week.

I never knew how many people wanted things embroidered. Now, I am in no way complaining about it. In fact I love it. I do have a few things I'm working on for some of my customers right now. I love being busy. If I didn't have something to embroider or sew or scrapbook what would I do with all my EXTRA time?

Speaking of extra time and because I have so much of it I'm having a garage sale tomorrow and Friday. And with some more of my extra time.. We've been planning the next Jelly Beans Consignment Sale. And with some left over extra time from weeks ago I'm in full PTA mode for the upcoming school year. For those of you that don't know I (for some unknown reason) volunteered to be the treasurer for Keely's school PTA.





Okay, I'm off to embroider some shirts. Oh by the way I did two hats last week. Take a look.

Fun and Fireworks only 2 days away

Here is a photo from last years 4th of July Bike Parade.

The kids took a ride down FREEDOM Dr. Aren't they cute?

Family Zoo Trip

We had a fun filled day yesterday! We left for the zoo at 9am got home around 4pm!! As if that wasn't enough fun for one day, we decided to take the kids to the pool! We were there from 6:30 till 8pm! Now let me just say how easy it was to get my kids to go to bed and sleep ALL night!

Welcome Sweet Little Ella!!!

I've been a bad blogger. And I promise I will be better at posting. No excuses! I just got out of the habit of posting and didn't do it. But I'm going to start posting at least once a week. I promise.......

I'm an Aunt again!!!! Welcome sweet Ella!!

Almost.....You almost had me sweet little Ella. Almost had me convinced I needed another baby! That sweet baby face. Those cute little hands. All that beautiful dark hair. Almost... You almost had me. Those late night cuddles. Those sweet little feet. All those baby clothes. Baby stuff. All the fun things that go along with babies. Sweet little Ella you almost had me. Almost.... You almost had me longing for another baby to hold. Wanting just one more sweet little one. Almost had me. Then I remembered I have three and that sweet baby face will soon be covered with food or dirt most of the day. Those cute little hands will leave hand prints on everything they touch (including my heart) That beautiful hair will have to be washed and lovingly decorated with bows. Those late night cuddles will turn in to late night “mommy can I sleep in your bed?” (Of course you can). Those little feet wont be little long. (I have enough shoes in my house now for a small country). All the baby clothes will turn in to tons of laundry that seems to multiply by themself. (Note to self the laundry must be like those pesky gremlin that replicate when they get wet. Yes that’s how we get so many clothes. I’m not buying them! :) )And all the fun stuff that babies have will soon take over every room of the house. Almost... You almost had me convinced I needed another one sweet little Ella. But it sure was fun to think about. Almost.... You almost had me sweet little Ella. Almost....

The Girls

Here's me and my SIL's. And one of my MIL and her girls.

Favorite Find

Okay anyone who knows me knows I love a bargain.

With that said I'm an avid thrift store shopper. Not to mention garage sales and auctions. But my latest find or finds came from our local thrift store. Now.... 99% of the time I find nothing, I mean nothing, that really causes my heart to skip a beat. But that 1% when I do find that "something" that I didn't even know I was looking for. Well it's just pure and simple pleasure. I don't go in knowing what I'm looking for. (Never go to one of the above mention places looking for something specific, most of the time you'll never find it and you'll be disappointed.) So on this day I was just looking and what to my surprise did I stumble on you might ask? What could have me so excited? It must be something really great, right? Well to me they are priceless but for less than $2 I found the most beautiful vintage Christmas ornaments! Their colors are simply breath taking! The green is a green that you couldn't find today if you looked at every Christmas ornaments made. And the pink ones... oh my just delicious I tell you. For some unexplained reason they reminded me of my Grandmother. I don't recall Christmas' with her nor do I remember her decorations. She passed away when I was very young. But these are the ornaments I imagine her tree to have hanging on every branch.

I knew right away I had to have them and where they would be lovingly placed once they arrived safely and unbroken at my home. They would take up residents on my dining room table in my Grandmothers old antique wooden bread bowl. I love that bowl. I do remember my Grandmother making biscuits in it, this was something she did every morning. I love that bowl. My dad had it for many years and just a few years ago he gave it to me as a birthday gift. It was the most precious and meaningful gift I've ever received. Did I tell you how much I loved that bowl?

Once home I carefully removed the ornaments from their packages and placed them in their new home. Every time I walk by them I smile.... and sometimes a tear or two come to my eyes. Thinking of family this time of year.. how much I love all of my family and how very blessed I am. So with my walk down memory lane and a sniffle or two I remind you to share with your family how much they are loved. Today!

Teacher Gifts.

Here are the pictures of the heating pads I made as gifts. For instructions on how to make these check out Creative Outlet Designs. She has great pictures of some she made and the step by step instructions are so simple. Thanks Kim for sharing with us!

the countdown

And it begins. The countdown until the kids are out of school. The countdown until dh is off work for the Holidays. The countdown of how many days left to shop for "those" gifts that I still haven't gotten yet. The countdown until Christmas!!!! I love this week. The anticipation of it all has me so excited I cant stand it. Today I made 13 gifts for teachers, coaches, neighbors and the mailman. I'll post pictures of them tomorrow. But I'll share what I made. I'm not sure of the technical name but I call them heating pads. You know.... they're fabric filled with rice. Well mine are filled with rice and rosemary from my garden. For some reason I always have so much rosemary?? But I'm glad I do, I use it for so many things besides cooking. I use it in flower arrangements, the thick stems are perfect skewers for meat, tuck it in your drawers, in the bottom of trashcans.... oh and in my heating pads. I also went a step further and embroidered some of the heating pads with the teachers names, neighbors last names, school mascot name and some even have Merry Christmas on them. I did leave a few blank for those drop by guest that I need a quick little gift for. We packed them with bows and instruction tags and then tucked them safely under the tree. I'll pull them out tomorrow and get some photos of them. I also embroidered 2 towels and two fleece throws. And made 40+ chocolate covered marshmallows. Oh and my favorite tread... Magic Cookie Bars. So I was a bit busy today. As I sit here typing away, My girls are tucked safely in bed and my sweet little man... well he's playing with his cars at my feet. Way pasts his bed time, I know, but he's such the night owl. We have a busy day tomorrow so I'm off to get a few things done before bed.

But until then I'll leave you with another Scrapbook Obsessions December project. You can find the supply list and instructions in the December Newsletter at Scrapbook Obsessions.

Its starting to look alot like Christmas....

everywhere you go!

I am really getting into the Christmas spirit. Finally....it was 72 degrees here yesterday! Now.. if I lived in Florida or Hawaii that would be okay. But in the southeast??? We usually have some cool weather. After watching the weather this morning, they are forecasting some snow showers on Saturday. Yea!!! Even if we have a birthday party and a basketball game to go to that afternoon, I welcome any reason to wear some cool weather clothes. Its been a site to see my girls in flip flops and Capri's the last few days. But No more... Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.

Now on to the fun stuff!

There's this totally fun blog that I love to check out and I thought I would share it with you guys. Its call Today's Creative Blog. And everyday (except Wednesday) Kim shares with all of us a crafty and very talented blogger. I get so many ideas from the blogs she shares. Its like a mall of blogs!!! And I love to shop! Stop by and tell her how much you love the blogs she shares. How she finds such creative people I'll never know??? But she does just for us. You must look at the blog TIP JUNKIE there are so many cool and easy gifts for neighbors, teachers and friends. Actually I'm planning on using a few.

Now for a few pictures of my Scrapbook Obsessions December Kit projects

How about a Mitten and Stocking garland? That's what I made as one of my projects this month. And I want you to make one too!

So here's a tutorial, a supply list and a pattern so you can make your own.

Supplies

4 or 5 different pattern papers

eyelets

fabric strips

ink

embellishments - stickers, ribbon, rub ons, deco edge paper etc...

1. Trace pattern onto back of pattern paper and cut out. Cut out as many as you need to make your garland. I cut 4 of each mitten and stocking. (save scraps)

2. Use scraps to embellish the heel and toe of the stockings and the cuff of the mittens. (I free handed these)

3. Punch holes in top edges and add eyelets. (the eyelets add strength so that the fabric strips won't rip the holes)

4. Embellish Mittens and Stockings with ink, stickers, ribbon, rubons, glitter or any other embellishments.

5. Tie together with fabric strips. You can use ribbon if you wish.

6. Hang and enjoy!

Family wreath and our cookie exchange

Okay Okay here it is. This is a wreath I made for my Mother in law (and now I guess for my sister in laws too). It has pics of most of the grand kids... Emily I need a pic of Gracie. I use the fabulous kit from Scrapbook Obsessions it was their Dec Kit. You should stop by the site and pick up the January Kit. Its packed with such great papers and the embellishments this month... oh my. Let me just say they are to good to miss.

Ladies I want to see you make your own wreath.... so I've posted directions below. (I'm going to make scrappers out of all of you, Heather, Melissa, Bethany, Mary Helen)

Supplies

Foam core board

Pictures
Pop Dots

Ink (Chestnut Roan by Color box... Hobby Lobby)

4 or 5 pattern papers

Christmas theme rub ons or stickers

Ribbon

To make the wreath

1. Start by cutting a large circle from chipboard or foam core board. This can be any size you want. I used chipboard from my 12x12 paper, so mine was 12 inches. Cut the center out. This will form a ring.

2. Cut circles from pattern papers in various sizes. Mine are 2 inches to 4 inches in size.

3. Ink edges of circles.

4. Cut pictures to fit on desired circles.

5. Start by gluing larger circles to ring form. Not all of the form will be covered with the larger ones.

6. Choose a few circles and add rubons to them.

7. Using pop dots add other size circles. Noting where you want to place your photos. ( I do a test run before I glue anything down)

8. Add photos and ribbon to hang.

9. Hang and enjoy.

Also we had a fun time at the cookie exchange on Saturday. Just to tempt you to start baking here are some ever so delicious pictures of some of the wonderful and may I add too beautiful to eat cookies.

These are Hershey Candy bars that I covered with paper rubons, ribbon and
Mistletoe. I gave these to everyone at the cookie exchange.

I'm still here.....

Okay, The month of October is super busy for us. And this year it proved to be even busier! How dose that happen? Between two birthday parties, cheerleading practice, doctors appointments, cleaning the house, laundry and cooking I did I manage to get some scrapping done. I have a ton of things to post so I'll get started with highlights from October! Here's a look at my October calender.... I think there were 6 or 7 days that I had free for the hole month!

Ole Timers Day. The girls got their hair painted and then they had their picture taken with Aunt Bethany.

Face Painting after Katelyn's school fall festival. But the line was too long to wait and get their faces painted so we came home and I did them!

Katelyns 12th birthday.... two parties = twice the fun!!

Your looking at the first place pumpkin eye. Katelyn had to decorate a pumpkin without cutting it for a contest at her school. This pumpkin was well on its way to being a mummy until the night before they were due (10:30 pm to be exact) Katelyn decided that she wanted to make an eye??? WHAT??? Well this is what she came up with. And she won 1st place!!!!

Halloween!!! Oh what fun! This was our first Halloween in our new house. And I must say after 2 hours of trick or treating I was beat!

And last but not least is a picture from Katelyn's first basketball game that she cheered at. Uncle Tim, Aunt Mary Helen, Maggie & Dylan came over for Dinner before the game and then went to the game with us where we meet up with Aunt Bethany. Katelyn cheered for 3 hours Friday night and then another 3 hours on Saturday night! Boy was she tired!

Okay that takes care of the family stuff! I'll be adding lots of scrap stuff this week!