Mommiedom

I bought one of those frames from the craft  a few weeks ago when it was on sale. I had zero idea what or how I was going to decorate it but I was going through my paper tonight and well the Timeless Portrait Paper from Stampin Up just popped out at me. I started going one way in decorating  it and than flipped the one page around to see the beautiful large print of the child swinging. I instantly knew it would be perfect and dug through my photos to grab these photos that I knew worked perfectly with it.

Supplies (all supplies SU unless stated):

- 12x12 separated frame (each section is 4x6). I used the one by Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby
- The 12x12 Piece of Timeless Portrait DSP
- 2 of my most favorite photos of my kids in Sepia tones
- Baja Breeze Pleated Satin Ribbon
- Stone Slate Embossing Powder
- Versa Mark Ink
- Pendant Punch
- Butterfly Punch
- Adhesive
- Glue Dots
- Basic Black Cardstock
- White Cardstock
- Letter Stamps (I used an older set I own)
- 3 Neutral Buttons in Black



I took the 12x12 piece of paper and cut out with the side of the tree 3 4x6 pieces (each building of the print). I than used the reminder to cut a 4x6 piece out of the blue and than punched 8 of the butterflies.

Using the double sided adhesive, I placed the DSP and pictures in each of the framed areas to create the backgrounds. I than placed in real no order the butterflies attaching using the glue dots and folded the butterflies up for the flutter affect.

I than cut a 4 inch piece of ribbon and placed in the blue section of the frame. I than  punched the bottom piece of the pendant punch out of black and the top piece of the punch out of white. Using glue dots, I attached the 3 buttons using glue dots. I than  position the pendants and adhere themed down.

I just loved how this turned out. The paper spoke to me and it came to life like this. I love when something like than happens for me.

Miss O needs to have a 100 Day shirt for the 100th of school, so I went to work on it this morning and cut out 100 hearts and ironed them on the shirt. I took the fabric and ironed it on to fusible backing, cut out the hearts using the new tiny heart embosslits die from SU. Finally I took a shirt she had that had a small black ink stain on it and went to town covering the shirt front and back with all the hearts on it.

I saw this wreath over the holidays and so wanted to make it but I had no place for another wreath, so I put it in the back of my mind.  I was thinking about a Valentine's Day Wreath and this repopped into my head. It was so fun to make and you will never guess what it is made out of!!!

It is coffee filters yep good old coffee filters. I saw it on the Lowe's Creative Ideas website which has so many awesome ideas. The tree and our new bar table were both off of that site as well (they also have a magazine they deliver for free).

I folded and hot glued about 100 filters onto a quilt ring. I than punched out the hearts and glued those on as well. I added the ribbon to hang and it was done. It took me about an hour to make because of all the folding and pulling apart the filters. I have enough filters to make one more wreath so maybe I will for someone.

I a so excited because my craft area is done (except for a small minor things).  I am so happy that what I pictured in my head came out pretty much like I wanted it. I did a lot of searching for things in the room. I always wanted a sitting area to just sit and read plus I also got an awesome area to do my sewing and crafts. This is all thanks to my incredible husband Matt who did all the major stuff while still working 50 plus hours a week. He even did a ton the day after he had to be up all night for his ISS experiment.

I haven't had the time to sew like I would have but now my craft area/living room is complete. I will be adding a post all about that as well. I had this amazing idea using the new Dresden die from SU that is in the new mini that was just released. I wanted the die both as a paper artist and as a quilter. I have been using it like crazy this week.

I decided that our Daisy troop needed to have troop shirts and of course the leaders needed them as well so I went to work. I made two shirts- one for my coleader Julie (who rocks) and myself. The girls' shirts are a tad different and I will post on those next week after I let the girls decorate them with puffy paint.

I cut out ten different color petals from the die and arranged them on the shirt and added a big blue center. I think they just are so cute and even my hubby told me they were awesome.

I saw a version of this on the Stampin Up Demo site and knew I just had to make it. I also have lots of plans for this new Sizzix die and it involves my Daisy troop!!!!

I used the new Twitterpad paper in our current mini as well as the new Dresden die. I also got the Twitterpad fabric which I will be actually making a Dresden pattern out of it.

The Macaroni Kid website is a great site and if you haven't already please sign up for Lindsay's weekly Macaroni Kid email.It has LOTS of great things each week from drawings to area story times.

My column this week is all bout WAY to much television in my house. You can read it here and thanks for looking.

So I had a idea to help ease up on me making all the meals plus I figured it would instill in both Miss O and my hubby some pride in making some meals on their own. I asked both of them to pick a night and cook. I said it was open to what they wanted and to try and limit always buying or making pizza. The first week we started was last and Miss O made a pizza.

She pulled together all of the ingredients and built the pizza herself. I put it in the oven and took out. She did a good job. Half cheese and half pepperoni wasn't to bad. I think next time we need to remember to spray the pan and watch how much sauce someone pushes off the size.

This week she wants to make sub sandwiches, so I got nice hoagie rolls,  a variety of lunch meats, and some good cheeses to put on them. So she will be pulling it all together. I figure it helps her to have some stake in our meals and the household.

Now I am also working on my husband to do this as too. We all forgot about it till Miss O reminded us about it, so that is an added part of her job to remind us that he needs to cook.

I figure that we may not get gourmet meals with this but it teaches my kid to do somethings on her own. When I first brought Mr. L home, she learned real quick to either wait till I was done feeding him or to make her won sandwich. She got good at making sandwiches, so much so that most of last summer she made both herself and her brother sandwiches for lunch.

As Miss O gets bigger we will try more and more things for her to cook. We will move onto the microwave and one day the stove. I think this is going to be a fun experiment.

I so need to post a picture of the craft area in progress. My hubby was amazing and got half the cabinets stained, and almost installed. My guess is by this weekend, it will be done. I am so excited because I have all these projects I want to do but because everything is sort of upside down, it is hard.

If you know me well, you know that I have it planned out how I am planning on storing everything. I asked if I could start filing the cabinets up and he told me to wait but it is so HARD. I know though once it is done, it is going to be awesome.

Update at 3 pm- Adding the picture

My youngest turned 2 today. I have mixed feelings about it. I am so excited that he is becoming a big boy but also sad because he isn't a baby anymore. Over the last month or so, he has gotten so much bigger and his speech has just exploded. He is also doing such amazing things that I didn't see at this age with my older child.

I do miss the baby some- you know that kid who would actually cuddle with me but seeing this nice little boy who loves Cars and Mickey Mouse is so darn cute. His present this year was a big boy bike which he just needs to figure out to pedal which is only a matter of time.

He has his own opinions and thoughts now and shares them with us on a regular basis. He interacts with us and finds things both funny and sad. He was so darn cute as he opened his gifts tonight and said wow at everyone of them.

I am so looking forward to the next year as he goes through his twos even when they may be terrible. He went from being a baby this past year to a toddler. He wasn't even walking at his first birthday and now pretty much runs every where he goes.

So Happy birthday to my little man who enriches our lives every day.

Another great week with another great a column on Macaroni Kid.

http://leaguecity.macaronikid.com/article/230501/mommy-confessions#axzz1iphdt6z1

Oh I say this free project the other day when Daily Crafts posted it on Facebook.  I just needed a few minutes to actually sit down and make it. I finally had those few minutes the other day so I went to work. I did a few modifications on the project like I sewed it all up so I actually have 6 pockets for cards, and what nots. I made a second one and left it so I could actually bill paper money in it and made a tie closure for it. I think it came out really cute

Miss O finally goes back to school tomorrow after being off for over two weeks. I am so excited and so is she! This is a long time to be off for a kid. The first week was great because the grandparents were here but this past week was tough because I had been very sick. Thanks to my hubby who stayed home an extra day at the peak of the illness.

Miss O really wanted to go back and has been asking, no begging me to go back because she misses her teacher and her friends. The other thing is I got use to her not being around during the day. These past two weeks, I have had this extra person around who has lots of opinions. Mostly through the last two weeks, I let her do her own thing at home. She watched way to much t.v. and did very little in any extra school work. I watched many Barbie and Tiana fashion shows and stepped on I hope my last plastic Barbie accessory until spring break.

Don't get me wrong, the holidays are awesome and we had another amazing one this past year but there si something to be said about routine. It will be nice to get back into the routine of school, as well as my diet. This means I can start back on walking to pick Miss O up from school in the afternoon which helped so much in my weight loss in 2011.

So forward on with 2012 for Miss O and school.

My hubby so wonderfully begin work this weekend on creating my new craft space. A few years ago, he went in and redid our 4th bedroom as our office/craft room. I love the room but I am finding that I have outgrown it. Plus I REALLY want to reclaim my living room and dining room back from the kids. So we cleaned out the playroom which is actually my dining/living room and began the redo. My hubby is putting in new outlets so when the cabinets and counter top goes, I have lots of outlets to plug stuff in. Day two is almost complete and onward to day three of the it tomorrow which also includes some needed repairs else where in the house.