I'm On A Roll!

So I found another craft idea I wanted to try on Pinterest. This is a small wallet to use when you don't want to take your big one with you...like to the fair or Disneyland.

First off let me say that it must be absolutely impossible to actually cut felt in a straight line! The design called for the big piece of felt to be 8.25 X 4.5, but I ended up needed to cut it 9 inches long so I would have some extra room to trim it up and try to make it look straight. That was the only big thing I varied from the original pattern though.

I decided to use more of those felt flowers that I've used for numerous project recently. They sure have come in handy.

This is where you fold the two side in...leaving a 1 inch gap in the middle and then iron it in place.

Sewing on the closure strap.

Adhering the Velcro...unfortunately I didn't have the right kind of Velcro so this part was a bit of a pain. The Velcro I had was the stick kind that doesn't really work on fabric, but I didn't want to run to the store. So I decided to use it and stitch it on to get it to stay. The stinky part was the sticky stuff on the backing of the Velcro got all over the needle when I was pushing it through. Just a sticky mess!

This little girl LOVES to hang out with me while I do my crafting so this is the view of us at my desk. She will just hang out behind me, hugging my neck and playing with her toys. The funny thing is this is exactly what I would do with my mom when she would drive into town when I was little. Remember the days when you didn't have to put your kids in car seats....crazy huh! She said I would tuck myself behind her and hold on to her neck. It's funny how some things are just genetics.

After getting the Velcro on I did a zigzag stitch on the sides since I didn't have pinking shears like in the original design. Then I have to trim up the sides since they were not straight.

Here's the view of the inside. Two pockets for cards, it fits nicely in your pocket and best of all...it's cute!

Side Note: These pictures were brought to you by a borrowed camera....thank you Jen aka Logan's Mom!

In The Shop!

I'm bummed...my new camera is in the shop. See back when my Dad first bought it I had noticed that the lower left corner was sometimes darker. I figured it was just me getting my finger in the way of the flash since it was a new camera and I wasn't used to where I should be placing my hands. I was sure over time I would get use to it and learn to keep my fingers out of the way. Well...a month later and the dark are was still there. Then I started noticing that nothing was getting in the way and the spot was getting darker and more noticeable than before. Unfortunately Best Buy has a 14 day return policy and that was up. So I ended up taking it into the Geek Squad and they sent it out to be fixed. If it can't be fixed they will just give me a new camera since it's under the warranty. I'm just bummed I didn't take it back right away. Now I have to be without my camera for a while. Here is a picture showing the dark spot.

I know it's not super noticeable, but still when you get a new camera it should be working perfectly. I sure hope they figure out the problem quickly so I can get back to my normal picture taking ways!

Toilet Paper Wall Art!

I am in love with Pinterest!!! Seriously I feel like my crafting has exploded since getting on the bandwagon.

This year I really wanted one of the crafts at MOPS to be this toilet paper wall art I had found online, but it was quite involved. It would have required a TON of prep work on my part and the balsa wood that was needed for the framework is actually quite expensive. So that craft idea got nixed...or so I thought. Enter Pinterest...

While browsing around I found this idea and it's SUPER easy. First you just smash the the toilet paper roll, cut it into roughly half inch sections and then start hot gluing them into place. You can design them however you want. I've seen some that look like a cross or a leaf pattern. This one above took me all of 10 minutes to create and then Michael spray painted it black. I think it turned out really cute...in fact I'm planning on make two others of similar sizes so there will be a grouping of them. I love finding uses for things that would normally get thrown away!

You Know...

Your 3 year old is exhausted when he asks to lay down in the wagon in the garage...

and actually falls asleep while all the kids are screaming and playing around him and then...

stays asleep after we've all gone inside!

In fact he slept through Daddy coming home and opening the garage door. We finally had to wake him up when it was dinner time and he was not happy about it!

A BIG Surprise!

Last week my brother called me and asked if he and Stephie could stop by on Friday night to see the kids. I was a little surprised since Ella's party was on Sunday so they would be seeing them just a couple days after that. I knew that it would be nice for them to see the kids at another time since parties tend to be so crazy. Plus I love having family over! On Friday night my parents called and said they were in the area and would like to drop by...the more the merrier!

My parents got to our house first and then Ryan and Stephie came to the door. They had a big box with them that contained...a 47" flat screen TV! See about a month ago Jack was trying to get his ball from behind our old TV and he just pulled it right off the stand and crash down it went. It wasn't completely ruined, but the color in the upper right 1/4 corner of the TV was messed up.

So on Saturday while the kids were at my parents house we set about moving the furniture around to accommodate the new TV.

Here is what the living room looked like before. The black thing in the corner is the TV stand...Michael had already moved the old TV.

Here is the new layout!  I love that we were able to fit both the recliners in the living room...one used to be in the playroom.

Here's the old view of the other side of the living room...you can see Michael moving the TV out.

And here's the new view! We were thinking about mounting the TV on the wall, but I wasn't sold on it. I didn't sleep very well on Friday night thinking of how we were going to set this up. Finally it occurred to me to use the dresser that I had in the dining room. I think it worked out really well.

Now that the game cabinet and recliner are out of the playroom it truly is completely a playroom. I love it!

Since I moved the dresser out of the dining room that contained all the kids craft stuff and linens for the dining room I had to figure out where to put that stuff instead. I got to thinking it would be nice to have all the movies in the living room so I moved the movies that were in the cabinet in the dining room into the dresser under the TV. Since that cabinet was now vacant I decided to us it as a craft cabinet.

Since I'm an organizational freak this just makes me have chills! Seriously I could just stare at it! I went to IKEA and got the containers and brackets that I needed. Michael screwed the brackets into the bottom shelf so the kids can put their coloring books down there and they won't slide out. I also used hooks to hang up their painting aprons.

Here's a close up of the containers I got at IKEA. You get 3 of them for 2.99! I still haven't even shown this to the kids yet...I think I want it to stay neat for a little while. I know I'm weird!

Ryan and Steph...thank you so much for the very generous and selfless gift! You guys are wonderful!!!

Ticking Down...

Just noticed that the ticker on my sidebar shows that I'm no longer in triple digits before baby gets here...Yay!!!

Cabin Fever!!!

Last Friday the kids were finally feeling better. It had literally been a week since they had left the house so it was absolutely time to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!!! I needed to get a few more things for Ella's party at The Dollar Tree so off we went. I let he kids take $1 out of their piggy banks and told them they could pick one thing. I did end up buying them each one other thing because they did so well while we were out.

Jack used this money and got these mini dinosaurs. I also got him a replacement Donald Duck figurine since his old one got decapitated just that morning.

I love how all my kids love lining up and playing with their toys on the window sill.

Ella picked this Princess "Draw". She held it the whole time we were in the store and kept asking me to open it. I also got her a reuseable princess sports bottle since she doesn't have one and the boys both do.

Owen is always the last one to pick so we looked around at everything. I got him popscicles and then he chose this checker board.

When it came time to paying I had the boys pay for their own toys. I love seeing them get excited when they give the checker THEIR money.

Ella's 2nd Birthday Party!

On Sunday we celebrated Ella's 2nd Birthday with family and friends. It was so nice to have so many people over and get to socialize after being couped up all week.

Let's get this party started!!!

Since Ella is only two years old I didn't plan any games for her party. Instead we did a tea party theme. All my energy when into the food and drinks. For the drinks we had all different kinds of hot tea and pineapple/coconut punch. The food was scones and raspberry jam or lemon curd, lemon chicken rice soup, mini quiche, cucumber tea sandwiches, heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pigs in a blanket, fruit and lemon chex mix. It was a lot of work, but my mom helped out a bunch!

Partygoers!

Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie!

Papa Martin & Pa!

Miss Kim & Mr Micah!

Lance, Lilyann, Rick, Daddy & Uncle Ry!

For dessert I continued with the tea theme so we had mini pineapple bliss cupcakes, brownie bites and mini cheesecakes. So yummy!

Happy Birthday Ella Bean!

She blew out the first candle by blowing through her nose. Then when she tried to blow out the second one she got a little close and her nose got hot so it worried her a bit. I ended up helping her blow out the last one. Here's the video of us singing!

Present Time!

Ella was so cute opening presents. She is such a girly girl. She was giggling and almost squealing at times. It's so fun getting to experience everything from a girls point of view. I could seriously eat her up!

First Barbie Doll thanks to Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie! She also got a Mega Blocks school bus, Crayola Wonder Markers coloring set, Crayons & Coloring Books, $12, baby doll with a car seat, wings and a tutu and the apron I made her and then a tea set. The exact tea set that was on the table as the centerpiece. We ended up taking it back today and she picked out a baby doll that cries, takes a bottle and breathes! It's so cute! She also used the rest of her money to buy another baby doll with a bathtub and a cool Fisher Price phone.

Ella got a musical card from Ga-Ga & Pa and she was so curious about it she had to rip it all the way open to check it out.

Hmmm!

Then the big box barn came in and what was inside....

The cutest pony ever! Ga-Ga & Pa got this for Ella. She LOVES riding on it and it makes clip clop noises, neighs, moves its head and wags its tail.

The other kids loved the barn box...it was quite a popular item after Michael and Micah worked at cutting the doors open.

After things settled down a bit I had Ella try on her apron that we got her. Of course this is her looking for the second "pock" aka pocket. I see a little more sewing in my future.

Group shot!

Thank you everyone for coming out and celebrating our precious princess!

Postponed Valentine's Dinner!

On Valentine's Day we were all still down for the count with the flu so there was no special dinner that night. Let me tell you this stomach flu was brutal! I'm not sure if it's worse to be the one to get sick first or to be the one to watch and care for everyone else getting sick and then knowing you are screwed! Either way stinks I guess!

Anyways...by the 16th we were all feeling up to eating food with flavor so I decided to decorate the table and make it special.

I put grape juice in a nice glass carafe that I have so the kids felt like they got a special drink just like Michael and I did with our wine. Oh yes I'm one of those moms that feels it's fine to drink a glass of wine every now and then while I'm pregnant. Unfortunately both Michael and I took one drink and our still sensitve stomaches let us know that wasn't such a good idea.

The centerpiece was made of up 3 stamped candles that we just did for the MOPS craft.

Even though I decorated the table all nice the only plates I had that matched the placemats were my Americana plastic plates. It was a blending of styles!

Cheers!

Mmmmm!!

For dinner we had steak seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning, roasted asparagus and loaded baked potatoes. We also had Holendaise sauce for dipping. Yummy! Of course the kids barely ate any of it. It's maddening I swear! The funny thing is I didn't take a picture of Michael and I together. Valentine's Day with kids is just a bit different. We were all a little on edge due to the flu and being confined to the house. Cabin fever was definitely settling in!

Mops Crafts!

On Valentine's Day our MOPS craft was making stamped candles. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go to MOPS that day since I was sick with the flu. Thankfully Kim was able to take over for me and show everyone the craft. It's SUPER easy to do! Seriously...a little tissue paper, ink and stamps, wax paper and a heat gun. Ta Da! These make great gifts!!! To see a tutorial click here.

There are a couple crafts coming up that are going to require a bit more prep work on my part. Instead of trying to guess how many ladies would participate I decided to have a sign up sheet to get a better idea. Since the ladies already know about them I don't feel bad blogging about them ahead of time.

This is something I found on Pinterest....cookie sheet chalkboards. You can find cookie sheets at The Dollar Tree. They even have pizza pans if you want to make a round shaped one. Could be fun for the kiddos. In order to be able to finish these during MOPS, Michael will have to spray the chalkboard paint on them prior to the meeting. They need 2 coats and have to dry for 24 hrs in-between coats. The ladies are going to get to use my SIL Becky's Cricut to cut out sayings that they want such as, 'Menu', 'Chores', 'To Do List' or whatever they want. Next is the twine...cut it to length and then glue it on. Super easy and fun!

I've blog about these placemat purses before, but I haven't shown the one with the nicer handles. I just love these! At first I was planning on having about 3 or 4 sewing machines and teaching the ladies how to sew these on their own. Then I remembered that MOPS isn't an all day event. So I decided I'm going to sew all, but two of the placemats that I have. The first 15 ladies that sign up for these will get to take one home, but all the ladies can watch me demo how to sew the two I don't sew at home.

There you go...that's what we've been up to at MOPS and what we will be doing the next couple meetings.