Flower pins and and Hair clips

I love these flower pins that Emily with Jones Design Company made. Her blog is fantastic and she has so many tutorials!

I made these at Christmas time for little gifts to send to family in New Hampshire.  I started with just making them pins but later decided I would add a hair clip to the back as well.  This way they could be used both ways.  I  first made them using red, black and brown fabric but this summer wanted to make them a little brighter.  I  added hot pink, yellow, orange, blue and green to the mix. 

Making Bracelets

I know its been a super long time since I have blogged but here's hoping I can get back to posting on some regular basis.

We just got back from a great trip to New Hampshire and Vermont.  Thanks to my Mom for getting all of us started on making leather bead wrap bracelets.

We used this tutorial and kind of made our own adjustments as we went along.

Supplies needed

leather cord- we used black and  brown 1mm

beads- any size that a needle can pass through

needle

beading string- we started with white and as we made more we switched to black

clip board

button for closure

Merry Christmas

And the Countdown begins....

Only 6 days until I get to meet Ree Drummond of Pioneer Woman fame and I get to stay at her Lodge in Oklahoma!!

We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving here in Missouri this year.  We have traveled to Alabama the last three years to see family and friends but decided to stay here and attempt the cooking etc.

The day was beautiful and cold after some crazy weather left us with Tornado's and 70 degree weather on Wednesday to 19 degree Thanksgiving morning.  I made printed place mats and place card holders from here which was fun for all the kids.  We all went around the table telling what we were thankful for and then the grazing commenced.

I did a little Black Friday Shopping at the Mall but got there at the respectable hour of 10:00 AM, unlike Busy Dad who took Rebecca and Hayden out at 11:30 pm and got home sometime early this morning.  I think they had fun watching all the crazy people out early this morning.

Have any of you found any great Black Friday deals?

Lunch with Friends

Today I had a wonderful lunch with some very unique, insightful, and entertaining ladies.  I had a rare Friday off from subbing and I was caught up on all my orders.   Having this lunch was like the cherry on top of a long week.

I have lived in Missouri for over 5 years and have never been to Sandstone Gardens.  It only took about 20 minutes to get there and it was so pretty.

This is where I had lunch.

We all enjoyed lunch and then walked around the huge rooms of Christmas decorations.

I wish I could decorate my whole house with all their things.

I was a Winner on Pioneer Woman's Blog!!!

Yes, You heard me right.  I was one of the four lucky people that was randomly chosen out of over 40,000 comments to spend the weekend at Pioneer Woman's Lodge!!  You can read about the contest here.

There were four winners and we each get to bring a friend.  I had texted  my friend Ann the day the contest was posted and we both agreed if one of us won we would take the other person.  Who in a million years thought one of us would win? Not me that is for sure.

I can't wait to meet the other winners. Molly, Jenna and Christy.


This is a picture of the Lodge.  Looks relaxing doesn't it?

To quote Pioneer Woman " we will spend the weekend relaxing, looking at cows, sipping coffee, listening to zero traffic…and taking part in an interactive holiday baking fest.

And sleeping in.

And doing nothing. It’s what we do best here!"

I know I can't wait till Dec 3rd to get here! 

Have you ever won a contest this fantastic?  What do you want me to ask Pioneer Woman?

Bookplates

1. I was enjoying my morning of not subbing and looking through my Blogs that I love to read. Just Something I Made by Cathe Holden is one of my favorites! She always has tons of free PDF graphic files of cute things. This morning was no different.

She had found an old German Reader and scanned in some of the artwork. She came up with cute vintage animal bookplates. I am currently putting a birthday package together for an avid reader and thought this would be perfect to add to it.

I have so many crafting supplies that I didn't have to buy a thing.

Supplies needed to make it look like mine:

full sheet of sticky label

glassine bag

brown and white twine

I just printed out her PDF file onto a full size sheet of sticker paper, then cut out all the book plates. She even has a cute wrapper that you can put around your finished product and a sticker to seal the deal. Since I printed the entire sheet on sticker paper I just peeled off the wrapper and stuck it to a blank piece of paper and then cut it out and wrapped it around all the labels.

I had recently bought two different sized of glassine bags to put my Etsy shop happies in. These labels fit perfectly in the bag. I folded the flap down and used one of her stickers that she included to seal it up. Of course I had to add some twine to pull it all together.

I hope you have someone you can make these for or just for yourself. Thanks Cathe for the great bookplates!!!

First Day of Fall

Wednesday is the first day of Fall and I wish I had time to make this cute ruffle wreath for my front door.



Jones Design Company is one of my favorite blogs to read!!!


Want to make this wreath? Here is the tutorial at Jones Design Co. blog.

Back to School

All four of my children started back to school today!!!

I have a Sophomore, 7th grader, 5th grader and First grader!!!

This means a hectic and crazy time at our house!! Especially with Cross Country, Volleyball, Football and Soccer going on at the same time.

Check out my Etsy Shop for the cool Mom of Notepads!! If you write as many notes to school as I do these are a life saver!! Just check the box of the child that needs the note and all of your info is on it!!

Black Bean Salsa

This is one of the best tasting Salsa's I have had!

Thought I would share it with everyone!!


Black Bean Salsa

1 can black beans- rinse in colander first
1 can regular rotel
1 can shoepeg corn
chop a bunch of cilantro (I like lots and lots!!)
1/4 cup Paul Newman's Olive Oil and Vinegar salad dressing

Mix together in a bowl and start eating with chips! Scoops are the best because you can hold lots of the salsa in them!

Family Time

We have had a busy and fun summer so far. School starts in 21 days or so the kids just informed me. I took the kids to Vermont for two weeks by myself with Walt flying up for the long Fourth of July Weekend.

Everyone is done with their camps and now we can just sleep in and have lazy summer days. haha I think that is probably wishful thinking.

My BFF Jen drove up from Alabama this week with her two girls and while she was here we she took our family pictures. She is a talented photographer and my friends were quickly calling me setting up sittings while she was here. I got to be the lovely photographer assistant.

I think we had six sittings in 3 days. That doesn't include the quick trips to the pond with my kids throughout the day to snap some pictures or the photo studio she quickly set up in my basement to take individuals of the kids.

Can't believe they are already back in Alabama.

Here are a few of the pictures that she took. She took a real fun picture that I am saving for our Christmas card.

Camera Straps

Just started making camera strap slipcovers. These are approx. 3" wide and 23" long. Just slide over existing camera strap. These are padded and feel comfy on your neck!

Happy Birthday Katherine!!

My oldest turned 15 today! Time has flown by!! We always have a busy May with three birthday's and Mothers Day. Yesterday we celebrated Hayden's 10th birthday at Carousel Park and then after I took Katherine to some friends for a surprise party. Her friends threw together a surprise party that day and she had so much fun. After the party the kids snuck back to our house and forked our yard and wrote in chalk in the driveway. Katherine woke up this morning to balloons and forks all over the yard!

I put together a video of all the pictures from yesterday. Enjoy!

Pinewood Derby

Hayden competed in his first Pinewood Derby Race a couple of weeks ago with his Weblos 1 group. He had a great time and came in Fourth Place out of Eight cars!

( His car is the red one third from the Left)

Poor Boo

I took our 6 month old puppy Boo to the vet early Wednesday morning to be spayed. She was so upset when I left her there. I picked her up later that day and she had this lovely E-collar around her neck to help prevent her from licking her stitches. She was pretty pitiful. She has been pretty calm these last few days. She even layed out in the sun today with Abigale.

(Naptime)

Rebecca had a few friends over today and they migrated into the kitchen and began painting at the kitchen table. Boo was right behind them. She never wants to miss out on any attention that might be given to her by the girls. I went to check on them and this is what I found.

Brightly colored Converse Sneakers and a sleeping dog. It doesn't get any better than this!

Volleyball has taken over our lives! :-)

( First Place in Third Tournament!)

Its Club Volleyball time and we have spent many a Saturday watching Pool Play and Bracket Play. I am slowly learning all the Volleyball lingo. Rebecca tried out for the local Club team in November and made it. She had never played volleyball but was a quick learner. We have had 3 tournaments so far and they won First place twice and Second once! It was really quite thrilling!

(Some down time between matches)

(First Place in First Tournament)


(Maria and Rebecca)(Rebecca serving an Ace!)

Roll Tide Roll!

"The weather outside is frightful, but the dome is so delightful...tebow has no where to go, let it roll, let it roll, let it roll...." Roll Tide Baby!

I interrupted my day yesterday of all the sewing and making notepads to watch the Alabama/Florida game! It was fantastic!!

Closing the J Design Shop for the Holiday's

I have been swamped with orders and will stop taking orders Monday, December 7 at midnight. This way I will be able to finish those and spend time with my family during the holidays! Thanks for all the orders this year in the J Design Etsy Shop!

Thank you for all the orders!

Last minute advent calendar

Today is the day to start your advent calendar! I have a beautiful one that my Aunt Laura made me last year!! Just gorgeous!!

If you want to make your own, check out Skip to My Lou. She has printable's and step by step to make your own.

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