My treats!

The biggest treat for me when we go out of town is the chance to get out of the house and find variety. When I leave home here I get my choice of one chain store (the super grocery/house needs kind) and three specialty stores that are the size of my living room. I don't leave my house very often because whatever those three stores have I've seen before or I know they'll still have it next month.
At my mom's it's an entirely different story with almost every store you can think of right out her back door, well not really but so close I could walk if I were fit. I wasn't able to do much damage with the time frame I had but I did my fair share. I don't want to give the impression that all I live for is shopping, cause I don't, but I do LOVE crafting and doing something fun everyday and it's hard to do it if you don't have supplies. Anyway...

The highlight of my trip was visiting the candy shop itself- Quilt Taffy! P.S.- They're having a great sale today only so scoot on over and have some Moda! Can I tell you how excited I was, I was really excited. They have the best fabrics to choose from and she always packages them so nicely and ships them so swiftly, but this time I got to go in person and touch everything. Corrie let me crash her Christmas and I can't thank her enough, my favorite stop for sure! If I could have stayed another day I would have met them both but I'll have to meet Des another time.

This is my favorite fabric combo and I think it's going to be a cute summer dress and booties for Kennedy.

My Aunt Tina knows how much I love cupcakes and I couldn't live a day without ice cream so she gave these to me. Well actually I haven't had ice cream in over a month but I'm sad about it ;o). I'm so excited to try them out. Don't they look like fun? The book has some super cute cake and cupcake ideas I've never seen before.

I'm off to bathe and de-stinkify my 5 criminals who are all sick so we can trudge to the grocery store for some food and spread our germs. What can I say, we're givers. I don't think they'll let me cook from a can for another day without going postal on me ;o). The weather has been a bit dicey so I haven't gone to get food in quite some time. It's slush today so we're off. Have a great Monday!

Merry all around

What a Christmas! It was super fun but I have to tell you- I've had all the Merry I can stand and it's nice to be home. We were packed like sardines for a couple of days...

I cropped a few whiners out (my sisters who would rather not be blogged in their jammies- sheesh) but this was the scene all the way around. Crazy! A fun crazy though. I finished all my projects except the doll houses and clothes pin dolls (so cute, so I'm a little sad about it) and I was going to make some Molly Monkeys for the older girls. They didn't miss them though and loved every present they received. I'm so lucky to have kids who truly appreciate every gift they get. They really do, and they got just as excited about the dum dum suckers they got as they did the gifts Santa brought. I love that! They just loved being at Grandma's and having fun as a family.

Speaking of having fun with the family, Cody surprised us with a game system. Anyone who knows me knows I've been avoiding any type of game system or cable t.v. for as long as I could. Well the day has come and I have to tell you- I love it! I hope I'll be able to get things done now that I'll be spending some time brushing up on my shooting skills (balloons that is) and steering cows. I wish they had a knitting game so I could practice that before I screw up anymore yarn. The kids don't really understand what it's all about yet so I can use it as a learning tool. I'm going to try the "Pay to Play" method where they have to do chores to earn playing time. I'll let you know how that works out ;o).

And did I get any pictures of my finished projects before I gave them away... no. I'll try to drum some up and post them if I can. Oh, and before I forget, the Doll head purses are not my idea in the least. Of course I picked the fabrics and drew them up myself but they are direct copies from another blogger. I just can't seem to find her or her link right now since I saved the picture about a year ago. I'm not in the business of copying other peoples products and selling them so if I read your blog- never fear! I only copy things from other bloggers for my own personal use and I make my own original stuff to sell or give away. I always try to give credit where I can! I hope that puts a few minds at ease ;o).

Short Round- month 4

Here's an update for the family with crafty stuff below. Kennedy turned 4 months old today. She's getting so big and I'm not just saying that. She's 16 lbs and 26" and is wearing 6-12 months clothing already, such a chub! You would think I would have fabulously toned arms from hefting her around all day but alas- still flabby. She's starting to play with her toys but refuses to roll over. She just likes to lay there all day having things handed to her. My kind of girl ;o).

Speaking of really cute girls I finished 3 doll head purses, for lack of a cuter name, earlier last week. They are lined and have a pocket inside with contrasting fabric. Sorry the pictures are so dark and un-photo shopped, I'm tired and just too darn lazy to pose my finished gifts right now. I don't know how Santa's Elves do it, well I guess they don't pose the toys and blog them either. Doll head purses- check!

Next up- Fabric houses.

The great raccoon reveal

Sometimes i get a little cocky. Okay, sometimes I get really cocky. After my sheep and pillow turned out fairly well I decided I can make *anything* without a pattern. When Jeremy handed me his 3rd draft of his Christmas list and a stuffed raccoon was #1 on all 3 lists I thought to myself - "You can so make one" because stuffed raccoons that aren't made for toddlers are a little hard to find in this one horse town. After scouring the internet and having a few ideas passed my way I couldn't find anything that 1. I had the supplies to make and 2. wasn't store bought. I found a cute illustration that reminded me of a raccoon Pokemon so I went to work. From an illustration. A flat illustration. Here is where my version of the illustration comes in...

Meet Redo Raccoon, a 6 hour labor of flat snow angel posed love-

Just like when I burn food and it becomes "Cajun" I messed him up but labeled him "shabby". He and Jeremy both like snow angels so they should get along just fine. Of course that's Redo's only pose.

Other names up for consideration are Roadkill Raccoon, Reconstruct Raccoon, Rigor mortise Raccoon, My Retna Raccoon... I could go on and on. From now on I'll leave the stuffed animal from an illustration making to the professionals in Hong Kong.

Also, if you could spare a spare minute I would love it if you would follow this link and vote for my blog on Tiffany's blog The Crafty Homemaker. She so graciously put me on her blog as one of the top 10 blogs of the week and if I get the most votes I will be in the running for a fabulous prize and blog of the year in January. If you go and vote you are also in the running for a fabulous prize package. It's a win win! Just go and leave a comment on her blog to be entered to win. I'm going to have to check out a few of the other blogs myself, some of them are new to me and my feed reader has been a little slow with the posts lately.

Have a great Tuesday!

More holiday-ness

A quick share of some of things I've been up to this week. A quick pillow I made for a gift exchange for our Relief Society Christmas party. I decided very last minute to go and gave myself an hour to make this so the buttons are just glued on and the pencil marks are still there. I'm making another 2 when I have time. Ha- I just said when I have time...

And some sheep softies for Kaci and Kennedy.

Again, these are not my original idea in anyway but almost exact copies of things I've found on etsy but ran out of time to buy so I sketched and made my own. I've accomplished more than this this week, I just haven't gotten around to taking pictures ;o). Next up- Raccoon share (it's a story) and head purses.

ETA: The lamb idea is from Bit of Whimsy Dolls and she has the pattern and the dolls for sale in her shop here- http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5062394 . I didn't use her pattern so I can't endorse it but they are super cute. Stinking dial-up doesn't allow me to buy e-patterns. Love the Billie Anne dolls too.

The pillow was inspired by this amazingly talented Etsy store -http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5263751. I love the monogram pillows too!

I am on a Christmas Roll...

I've been cranking through the Christmas crafts and I am so happy with the progress I'm making. Things are getting done. Christmas is looking like it will actually happen, not by the looks of my decorations (or lack there of) but my list is getting smaller and my toy box is starting to look full. I spent a couple hours on Saturday crafting!

I should have plenty of things crossed off my Christmas to-do list this week so keep your bloggy eyes peeled. Here's one of the projects I finished Friday night. I can sew and I can scrapbook but I can not hand stitch to save my life but I think they turned out o.k. Here's the tutorial for them if you'd like to give them a go- Reindeer gift card holder.

This lucky little buck and his 3 does are for gift cards but I found the cutest kid debit cards to put in them instead. They were a 4 pack of fake debit cards that have messages on the front that say "good for a fun outdoor activity of your choice" and "One movie and popcorn party" and other fun things they can redeem them for.

Stocking stuffer deer wallet- Check!

Getting Merry

I'm not into Christmas decorations like most people, I'm a bit Grinchy about it. It's not that I don't like Christmas, I just don't like moving my regular stuff around just to put it back in a few weeks. I'm lazy and a bit OCD and when my decorations find a home they stay there all year every year. In fact if I could get away with just stringing a tree with chocolate candy on Christmas Eve and call it good I would. I would eat all the decorations Christmas eve and then put the tree away- sounds good to me!

When you have kids though they sort of expect their mom to actually decorate. I know it's already the 5th and I don't have a single decoration found yet so I thought to help me get in the mood we'd start a little seasonal fun today and decorate tomorrow. My Aunt emailed me the funnest link for all things Christmas last year and my kids absolutely loved it! It's called Northpole.com and it's ad free and kid friendly- love that. They can send an email to Santa and get a reply, make personalized Christmas books, print out fun educational worksheets, find fun recipes, even track Santa on Christmas Eve. If you've been there before then you know how fun it is for the kids. I've printed off enough fun things today that I'm sure to be humming "Deck the halls" in no time.

As soon as I wash a few big bowls (I've been making divinity, bread, and chocolate chip cookies) we're going to make Sparkly Peppermint Playdough and Gingerbread Playdough. I haven't tried the recipes out yet so I'll let you know how they turn out.

I'm not going to win awards for being the mom with the cutest Christmas house for December but my kids will have a blast while I procrastinate decorating. I think that sort of redeems me ;o).

Have a great weekend!!

Amending the list

With only about 3 weeks left until "C" Day I'm weeding a few things out of my list and adding others and tonight's project was an add on. Kaci loves 4 things in life- babies, dress-up, Barbie movies, and milk. On a perfect day she's holding a doll wearing no less than 20 rings and 10 bracelets and her pink Aurora dress watching "Barbie Nutcracker" with an ice cold sippy cup of milk and 2 left shoes.

I was thinking it would be fun to make her a completely new dress with tulle and sparkly stuff, but I'm a mom to 4 other kids too and reality hit so I came up with a new plan. A one night project tutu in her favorite Barbie movie colors. I'll add a tiara and some bling and it will be perfect for her. Amended Tutu- check!

Of sales and heel chunks.

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving, so much to be thankful for! Cody volunteered to be called out and had to work most of the morning but made it back before everyone started in on seconds so that worked out. I got my stuffing fix- yum! Kennedy looked so cute in her shirt, much cuter on.

I'm one of those crazy people who loves Black Friday. It's a yearly tradition for my mom, sister, and I. This year mom wasn't around so my sisters came along with me. It was Kira's first year with us and I have to say, she has much to learn. She was our "wing man" and she did great for a first timer. Just not Pro-wing man- yet. We'll get her in training before next year though. They're going to kill me for taking their picture with my cell phone ;o).

It's the one day a year I can understand why Cody likes hunting only Black Friday is so much better because you get to bag several things in one day and there's no clean up. I still don't understand the wood flavored gum thing though. Maybe if they made "sale" flavor or "Blitz" flavor I would.

Anyway, the shopping this year was amazing. Not so much because of the sales or the misty rain we stood in at 4:45 a.m. but because everyone was generally polite. They were even giving us donuts on the way in. We have an entrance "play" so we don't have to wait in line and it worked beautifully. Everyone was generally having a great adrenaline hopped up time. Except old heel guy, but I don't count him. He was sort of a rogue shopper, a ticking time bomb. I think he was up eating breakfast at Denny's at 5 a.m. and thought he would pick up that random tube of Bengay while he was out. Little did he know it was Black Friday! He was behind me in an isle and said "How do you get out of this gosh darn (well not that but this is a clean blog) store" and proceeded to give me a heelectomy with his cart. MAN DOWN!! I'm not one to let a little blood and hangy stuff stop me so we pressed on. That seriously compromised my fly by pallet time but we came out victorious with every item on our lists. Our hunt was a complete success! Of course living in a town that only has a Wal-Mart (I'm not even close to joking guys) really cuts back on the size of your list too. I can't wait for next year, Boise here I come and I'm wearing shin guards and high tops.

Something cute and crafty next time :o).