Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

Hello!  I have an awesome project for you today!  Let me preface this by saying that this is a gift for my little sister, who absolutely LOVES anything Tim Burton.  I make most of my gifts for her.  She is hard to buy for and it's just easier for me to make something than to think for hours on what I should buy her. 

Over the years I have made her a Nightmare Before Christmas zipper pouch. She loved it.  Jack Skellington ornaments, a Jack Skellington candle using my candle tutorial, you can find it here.

As you can see there is a pattern.  I have done all I can think of for Nightmare Before Christmas so I thought I would move on to her other favorite Tim Burton movie, Beetlejuice.  

I loved Beetlejuice when I was a kid.  I could not believe that was Michael Keaton, my Batman, as Beetlejuice.  I love the movie even more as an adult because now I can understand most of the jokes.  Ran into that with Wayne's World too.  

So, here is my project for the day.  A wooden Handbook for the Recently Deceased. 

Here are my supplies: Images ( I pulled them from Google), a wooden book ( Hobby Lobby $1.99), Modge Podge,  brown and white paint, scissors, assorted brushes, and some felt.

Start by painting your entire book the brown color and cut your felt to fit the secret compartment in the book spine.

Next, paint the "book pages" a cream color. I achieved this color by mixing a touch of the brown paint in with the white.   I don't have a great picture of that because honestly I forgot. 

Next, take your images, cut them out and using Modge Podge put them into place.  

Go over them with the Modge Podge to make sure they're on there good.  ( Just so you know, I am not the best at using Modge Podge.) Make sure to smooth out any blemishes and bubbles. 

You're done!  I love how it turned out and I know my sister is going to love it. 

Hope you all liked my tutorial.  Also, if you are my sister and you are reading this, stop by and pick this up when you can :)

j.

November!

Well folks, it's November.  We are well on our way to the Holiday Season.  I love this time of year :)

 

Last night was Halloween and thankfully it was a warm one.  I am fighting an awful cold but I still gathered up my kiddos and braved the crowds of trick-or-treaters.   I'm glad we decided to go. Miss M had such a great time and Mr. A slept the whole time. 

 

Miss M was so awesome last night.  She remembered her manners and skipped all the way up and down the street.  I love that kid :)

 

I have held true to my word and worked on some items for my upcoming craft show. I decided to crochet some infinity scarves. I think they came out pretty great and am debating on whether or not to keep the green one.

 

I used some yarn that I have had hanging around for awhile.  It's so soft and those are vintage buttons.  I love them and I think they might be a hit at the Holiday craft show in December.

 

I would also like to take this moment and say that my family's thoughts and prayers are with all our fellow Americans who are dealing with the awful effects of hurricane Sandy.  If you are able please donate blood and/or money to the American Red Cross to help. Here is their website:

http://www.redcross.org/

 

 

Well, I am going to get off here.  I have to go get my goose from school here in a few and then I wanted to go vote before Parent/Teacher conferences tonight.  Hope you all have a nice afternoon.

 

 

Party Time

Last night was our annual Halloween party and boy, was it fun!! I love having everyone over and all the kids had a great time.  Mr. A and Miss M love hanging out with their cousins and it's a good time to get together and take joy in your family.  We are a crazy bunch but full of love for each other.

I decided to order Miss M and Mr. A's Halloween costumes this year because I have too much going on to take the time to make them.  I felt bad but once I saw them in their costumes all I saw was two little cuties!

As you can see Miss M is wearing glasses.  This is a new development and one we are getting used to.  She looks so cute and when she put them on for the first time she said very slowly and sounding quite amazed, "Mom, I can see."  She is nearsighted and honestly we had no idea.  She had never stated that she couldn't see and she had always sat at the front of the class until this year.  I'm glad we now know and she is loving her new glasses. :)

Like I said we had a great party but now it's time to focus!  I have a craft show in 30 days that I am not prepared for and some Christmas shopping to do.  So I will get off here, watch the Raiders game, and make a plan for some new items to showcase at my craft show.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a safe, fabulous Halloween!

Life

Hello again!  After a long but wonderful summer we have moved, Miss M has started 1st grade, Mr. A is growing like a weed and completes our family perfectly.  We are truly blessed. 

Now it's Fall and the beginning of my favorite time of the year!  Halloween, leaves falling, Christmas preparing, and wonderful, oh so wonderful baking!! I am going to try and get some family photos done over the next couple of weeks and am working on my upcoming craft show. 

I have started on a few projects and am really liking how they are turning out. First up is my Sweet Tweet banner.  I love how this turned out and it was a hard thing to list it for sale instead of keeping it for myself.  I just want you to know that I hand stitched the birds onto the red pennants myself.  Sorry I had to toot my own horn :)

Like I said I really love how it turned out.  The red and hints of teal are adorable and just happen to be my favorite color combo right now. 

My other project has been decorating my house for Halloween.  I love Halloween and so does my little family.  Miss M. is a little frightened of scary things so I have made it my goal to do sweet, fun decorations that aren't scary.  I think I have done a pretty nice job.  I'll have some pics of my progress here in a few days.

I guess I'll get off here.  It's thundering like crazy and I need to get off my computer and try to locate my umbrella for when I go get Miss M from school in a few hours.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Big News!!!

Hello all!! Things have been going really well lately. I received my first custom order for a wedding, I am meeting some wonderful etsians, and Easter was fantastic!!

Speaking of Easter my sweet baby M has been talking about a rainbow Easter egg for over a week, thanks to Team Umizoomi. The Easter bunny ;) was able to get one for her! Made from a clay egg and crayola paint it was simple to do just a little frustrating at 2 am. I had one very happy girl on Easter morning.


So who else is excited for the royal wedding? I am!! It's my first and I love a royal love story. I made this lovely necklace in celebration of this event and inspired by the future Princess Kate's engagement ring.


Also here is another new item available at my etsy shop. It's a vintage glitter glass shaker. We all know that glitter glass in expensive and a little goes a long way so here is a nifty way to sprinkle just the right amount.


Well, I should be going so I can get to bed. Before I go I wanted to share a little treat with you. On Thursday I will be doing a special giveaway for one of my newest items so check back and be sure to enter! I am so excited about my first giveaway! I hope everyone has a great night!

Shabby Easter Banner

I have seen some amazing fabric banners around lately and I have fallen in love with them. I decided to try my hand at making one for my mom for Easter.

I used some pink muslin fabric and a cute Easter print. I made two triangle patterns that were different sizes and sewed them together at the top. I made a total of six pennets and them placed them together with a strip of the pink fabric. I added some white satin ribbon on the ends to give a little give for tying. I think it came out pretty cute even though I didn't have any pinking shears.

I also have been working a lot on my etsy shop. I re-worked some of my photos so that my items stand out a bit and there isn't too much going on in the background.




Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for stopping by. :)

Hello!! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile but I have been really busy. I have been planning Spring activities for M, trying to get her into a pre-k summer program ( I succeeded), and scrap booking. I am really behind on my scrapbooks and need to get moving. I have all the stuff to do it just not the time. Also, I have been thinking of ways to get my etsy shop to look more professional. I am working out new photo ideas to make my items appeal more to prospective buyers.

I have also been working on some new items for my shop. I decided to put more work into hand bags and have been sketching ideas for that. I made this darling owl tote for my shop but I decided to keep it for myself. I love it that much.

I used some cute blue and green spring fabric and made an owl applique. I hand stitched the owl together and used chocolate colored corduroy fabric for the basic bag.

Well, I better get off here. I have a lot to do today and I am burning daylight. I hope everyone has a great Thursday and I will try to update this weekend. I do have to make a St. Patrick's Day skirt for M for her school party and a few other crafts to do and hopefully I will get them on here for you all. :)

Handpainted Christmas Cards

This afternoon I decided to get my rear in gear and make some Christmas cards. Madi wanted to help so I decided to do some finger paint trees made by little cutie.

We used Crayola finger paints, plain white card stock, glitter, and Modge Podge. Missy used her finger tips to make a tree, following the outline I drew, a finger print star, and my finger did the tree stump. We had so much fun and it was a great craft activity to do together.



I am working on a few more things before the big day, but my progress is slow. I hope to have a few more crafts together before the weekend.

I hope everyone is having a nice week so far.

Traditions

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la, la la la laaa! It's that time of the year again! My tree went up last night, or as my friend Nikki calls it, my triangle bush. My sweet child has been begging for a Christmas tree all week. "Mom, will it be green? Will it have blue, red, and orange? Is it time yet?" So sweet. My husband on the other hand has a standing rule that the tree should not go up until Thanksgiving turkey has been digested.

Every year when we have our tree talk, with me begging to put it up the week of Thanksgiving and him telling me not until after, reminds me of our very first Christmas together. We were newly married, expecting our first baby and I had my own tree that was meticulously decorated with matching burgundy and silver ornaments. After our first Thanksgiving I went to put it up and my husband gave me a look like "huh?" He thought a tree should be decorated for a child with every color and colored lights. I couldn't disagree more. Then came the compromise. A tree for a kid but with clear lights. So off we went to get a new tree.

It was hard for me to change my ways but as I look at our tree, five years later, I am so glad he pushed his opinion. Instead of having a tree out of a magazine I have a tree that is full of so many memories. I see our first ornament we bought together, Darth Vadar, who sits at the top and is extremely heavy, the ornament that my little sissy gave us to celebrate our first Christmas together, Mad's first Christmas ornament that I love so much, and the Blue's Clues ornament that made my little girl's face light up when she saw it when she was two.

As the years go by, with a new ornament every year, I can't wait for the day that I get to hand Mad's ornaments to her to decorate her tree and then maybe just maybe my husband will let me have a tree straight out a magazine again. Then again probably not, got to think of the grandchildren.

Wow...It's Been Forever

Halloween was great. Miss M had a blast trick-or-treating and she was the cutest Cat in the Hat ever. (Ignore me, I'm biased.) It was chilly though. We only did it for about an hour before hot coffee was calling my name.


I have finished a couple of new handbags for my etsy shop. I love them. I think they are so sweet looking. I am a huge fan of pink and green and boy does it show.




So that's about it. Like I said I have been busy but with Christmas around the corner I should have more craft projects coming your way like handmade (by my kiddo) Christmas cards, handmade stockings, and a few ornaments.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week.

My Favorite Things About Fall

Autumn has arrived. This is my favorite time of the year. With the leaves changing, the days getting cooler, and the best holidays sneaking up on us; what's not to love? So I thought I would dedicate this post to all the wonderful things about fall.

Halloween

It's no secret that my family LOVES Halloween. Madi is more into it now and being more vocal about her choice of costume. This year she is going to be Cat in the Hat and ZK and I will be Thing 1&2. I can't wait!

Color Sunday

I love going up to Grand Mesa and looking at the painted landscape. You can see ruby red, bright yellow, and pumpkin orange colored leaves decorating every tree. So beautiful.

Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte

Need I say more?

Season Premier Week

No more re-runs! All your favorite shows are back. Yep, I'm a Gleek. I started watching towards the end of the season, got hooked, caught up over the summer, and I am so happy for it to start again tonight!

There are many more things I love about Fall but if I were to list them all I would be here forever. For instance, I love scarves, snow (to play in, not to drive), Thanksgiving, Black Friday, the smell of cinnamon, hot chocolate, and so on and so on.

I hope everyone is having a good week so far and if you live in Colorado get your butt up to the Grand Mesa and check out all the colors. Plus, the Cedaredge Applefest is October 1 & 2. Ah, so much to do!

Vintage Magnet Medallions

My project for the day is vintage magnet medallions. You are probably asking yourself, "What exactly is a magnet medallion?" Well, it's a name I made up and after looking at several things to try to get some ideas these came to me.

I used those clear little circle, glass medallions that you can put at the bottom of a fish tank or in a potted plant, vintage inspired clip art, modge podge, and magnets.

I think they came out pretty cute and my mom really liked them.



Speaking of my mom, she is in the process of redoing her den. She is going for a sports/shabby chic design. I think it's coming out great. I'll post some pics when she finishes.

Madi had her first school program this last Thursday and I thought it was awesome! I was so proud of my little girl. She has come such a long way and I couldn't be happier.

Also, I want to give a shout out to my fellow mommies! I hope you all had a great Mother's Day. I sure did. Roses and ZK did ALL the laundry. It was glorious!

Well, I am going to get off here because it is almost time to get Madi from school but I hope everyone has a great week!

Rooster Mailbox

A couple of weeks ago my older sister commented that she hated her drab mailbox. It was beaten up, faded, and just blah. So, my mom and I decided to make her a new one.

We started our project at Walmart to get a basic mailbox. The color didn't matter because we were going to paint it anyway. We decided on a pretty pastel green paint and got some rooster rub on transfers.

First we painted the mailbox which was quite the task considering the wind we get out here. Then we put on our transfers and numbers. Finally we applied a sealant to make sure none of our decal came off and Ta-da! A new custom mailbox.

Tara really likes it and had her husband put it out right away. They used a cedar post to hold it and it looks great.

I hope everyone is having a great afternoon.

Long Time Gone

I'm back! Sorry for the lull in posts but I have been crazy busy. With the move, working on my new store (yay, I am so excited), and my family drama I have had no time. So let's get on with it shall we?

So, my nephew Zac is the source of the family shake up here. He had a seizure last Tuesday and his dad and I had to rush him to the ER. Talk about scary. I have never drove so fast in my life. He is ok so far but they are taking him to the Denver Children's Hospital to find out what happened. The doctors are predicting that he will have another seizure in the next 6 months so we are all on watch. It's just terrifying. This little boy went through such an ordeal and he's only six. So any good thoughts or prayers you have please send them my sister's way.

I am still sifting through the rubble that was our move. I keep having to make a trips to the storage shed. I can tell you that our little shack at my mom's is filling up fast. I keep having to move stuff around to accommodate our growing pile. The bright side is that I have a roof over my head and I am here by my family, which during this time really is good for my sister. She is just a wreck and I need to be here to help keep her smiling and taking the load from her every now and then.

My mom and I officially opened our new store last night. It will take a week for the host to get all of it together and our person that we bought our layout from to get it on there but I am so stinking excited. We changed the name to "Miss Madi's Emporium." I love it. Anyway, I am working hard to make my things to put in it so I will have more info for you when that comes to pass, hopefully this next weekend.

Madi's birthday is approaching fast and I finally settled on a theme. She is digging Tinkerbell right now so we are going to go with that. I really think she will like it and there is so much Tinkerbell stuff out there that it should be one heck of a good party.

ZK's grandma and Aunt Tina came for a visit this weekend and it was nice to see them. We haven't seen them since ZK's dad passed last year. They were so excited to see Madi and they spoiled her rotten. About half way through the visit Mad warmed up to them and I got some great pics.



Well, I guess that is all for now. I will be posting my new creations throughout the week so keep an eye out. Also, look for my post about our new store. Hope everyone had a great Memorial day and have a wonderful week.

New Additions

On Monday, my little sister's Shar-Pei, Asia, gave birth to her first batch of puppies. I am not a big fan of animals (I only like a certain few)but I have to say these are some dang cute puppies. There are four of them and they are all girls. There are black twins, a brown one with some stripes on her back, and a pure white one which is very rare. They are full blooded Shar-Pei. So cute.

Anyway, I just thought this was a little exciting because Tessa has been waiting patiently for these pups to arrive. Well, I hope everyone has a great evening.