Lockets of Gloss for Sweet Little Ladies

I wanted to come up with something sweet for my nieces for Christmas. I made them hair clips last year. (yes, the link is to my company- never hurts to give yourself a little kudos eh?!)
So I scoured the net to find something fun, yet functional,  and came up with lipgloss lockets!
HELLO! What girl would not love that?

Lip Gloss Lockets:

So I found this great little tutorial  over at Beautylish. They said any locket would do so I set out to Hobby Lobby to see what I could find. Now while they have some great lockets and I was so excited- I noticed on all the locket packaging that they said "contains lead". As these were a gift for little girls I knew that anything with lead was NOT going to work. (especially seeing as it was going to have something put into it that would go onto their lips.) So I hit up two more stores with no luck. Then the light bulb went off- Etsy! Of course! Why hadn't I thought that to begin with! So to the computer I went and within 5 mins found exactly what I was looking for!

I gathered all my ingredients, which oddly enough I had all on hand! (you know when you buy stuff thinking- omg I am sooooo going to make all these things with this (like beeswax granules) and then never do- but you store it all for that 'one day'- Well luckily today was the day!)
Then I got to crafting!

 I used some rub on decals that I found in with my scrapbooking supplies and then using some of my handy dandy E6000, I glued on the rhinestones and flower charms. I (also in my supply!) found some great silver chain and added some accent chain pieces to give the necklace a more decorative touch!
I guestimated on the length, but made sure that it would be long enough so that the girls could lift up the lockets and be able to see easily how to open the locket and get to the gloss!

Here is a shot of the cooled gloss inside the locket! I used a Q tip to clean up around the edges for any spills. I also want to note here that I decorated the lockets AFTER all the gloss had hardened back up. You want to make sure that the locket can lay as flat as possible when your filling it.
I am super impressed with how these turned out! To package up I used used some cute red paper jewelry boxes that I got from Hobby Lobby and tied it up with some Christmas ribbon! (You KNOW that I probably had tons of that laying around too! hehe)

And of course, had to post this picture of just one of the cutie patooties that received a gloss locket for Xmas. She loved it! (and I love her!)

Many Blessing and Happy Crafting!

My little brother is the greatest! He is so thoughtful and caring- and I knew that I had wanted to get him something special for Christmas. He is a drummer in a punk band (The Snubs) and loves jazz and classical musics as well.  He also has a great beard! (usually untamed and very wiry!)
I searched and searched and then I came upon it, one of the perfect gifts..something unusual and musical and unique! A record bowl! I found this great tutorial at Ben Kling and set out to find supplies!

While on my thrifty hunt (cuz you know thats how I roll) I found two records, one was the war of 1812 and the other was a dean martin record. :) (I got two because what if I screwed it up? Better to be safe and have a backup right?! ;) )

Record Bowl:

The tutorial is pretty straight forward. I grabbed my metal mixing bowl (or as known in our house, the popcorn bowl) and turned on the oven. It really was super easy although did put a bit of a smell in the air. While Ben says that the record isn't too hot to work with- mine was! I didn't full on burn my fingers but it was quite hot to the touch and had to pinch, then wave my hands to cool then pinch again! It truly was such a fast process and it cools really quickly too. You just want to make sure that the base of the bowl stays flat or it will wobble once its cool. My brother love loved it! (And, he wasn't just saying that because he was a nice guy, because all my siblings told me that he raved to them about the bowl too!)
 I know your asking yourself, well was that the first or the second bowl- lol- well I am happy to report that that was the first bowl attempt! I ended up just mailing him the war of 1812 album as well because the album cover was completely fantastic and would look fantastic framed on the wall! (But that will be a project for him to do himself!)

I also found this great tutorial for beard balm. One of my brothers favorite quotes/comments is "Calm your beard". He says this when everyone is all riled up and needs to settle down.  So you know me- I labeled my finished product- the Calm your beard, beard balm!

I got all the ingredients from the Natural Grocers (well which ones I didn't already have on hand) and while she called for bourbon essential oil, i just used what I had on hand. (honestly I don't even know what the name of it is, but it was one of those where they mix up oils to find the perfect scent for you.) I also want to note that I put in less cocoa powder than they said, because well.. I didn't think my brother would want to smell like chocolate. (and let me tell you.. that raw cocoa DOES smell like that- but it is deliciously soft on your skin too!)
I found the the label guy online, he looks a bit like my brother so I thought it would work great, and just added the text type, printed on some card stock and then after it was out I ran it through my Xyron sticker maker. Done and done!

As always, Many Blessings and Happy Crafting!

Quilted with Love

You know how you plan on doing things and then life just sorta.... happens. Well that has been the last two months of the year. With four birthdays in October and then the holidays looming it was needless to say one busy season for this mama!
I decided this year to do a semi-homemade christmas! I planned my gifts out and made lists and prioritized. (I know.. ME... being so organized! I think I must have been possessed or something! haha) So now that the holidays are over I can finally reveal the gifts I made! (Originally I thought- oh man, wouldn't it be great to do a new post each week with a tutorial posting what I did, how I did it and the outcome- but alas- in my holiday rush,  I was lucky to remember to have snapped a photo before I sent the gift out! What is it they say, Best laid plans?! So I will post a picture and just tell you my thoughts or any tips or tricks that I did. Wink)

The Quilt Project:
(I apologize in advance. The photos are not the best, it was overcast and dreary (and amazingly windy) the day I took the photos. (and i took them on my phone! Shhhh don't tell my Dad!) But as I stated above- I'm just happy I remembered to take a photo!)

As you know- I've been crazy into quilt making lately. As far as I am concerned, the gift of a warm blanket hug is the greatest gift ever! I set out to find a great (and easy) pattern to follow and thanks to Pinterest I found one I loved the one over at Thimbelina's blog.(Finally getting to try out all those bazillion pins that are sitting there on my boards)
Of course, in classic me fashion, I got overly excited about my cutting and ended up cutting too many of the charms so I had to rework the pattern but I think it turned out pretty good if i do say so myself!

Here's a shot of the backing and a little closer peek at the front.

And again, I just can't ever seem to leave things as they are so I found this great tutorial on adding a magic binding! (see that ting strip of printed fabric peeking out next to the pink- thats the magic binding!) I loved how it all came together and am looking forward to getting to make another quilt like this soon!

There is nothing sweeter than seeing your finished product get used! This poor little honey was sick at Xmas but loved snuggling up with her new Quilt.

Many blessings and Happy crafting!

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb.. The Disasters of Seam Ripping.

Mom's aren't suppose to get sick!  I'm just saying.
Thursday night, after years of just sitting in a closet I decided to rip the seams out of a band blanket that I had made for Chugo. It was in the beginning of my "learning to sew" days and now that I am, well, more seasoned, it was time to rip it out and start over. It took a while to do and of course, could i find my seam ripper anywhere? Nope. small sewing scissors? nope. So i resorted to my jewelry nippers, hey, they have a sharp point and truth be told- they worked great! That is, until I got two ripped blisters on my fingers. Curses! But as usual- I persevered until the job was complete.
Fast forward to Saturday morning and I awoke to one of said fingers swollen like a sausage and purple. and man did it HURT! The front of my hand also had red lines tracing my veins up my hand to my wrist. I did the smart thing and drew a line where it ended and told myself that if the redness went beyond that line, I would go see the doctor.
By mid afternoon... it had still not crossed the line but my elbow hurt really bad and had a big red patch on it and my shoulder was sore. Yeah.. I know.. I should have just gone in that morning. (But- isn't there always a but? There was an escaped convict from the hospital that morning and police were everywhere, I was just being diligent and staying away from the area so I didn't put myself into a possible hostage situation! haha)

Cellulitis. (I thought that was just the fat layer in my your skin.) So I was like- seriously.. your calling me fat? But then I realized that was just cellulite and this was an infection in the skin. The doctor assumed it was probably caused from Staph and wrote up some antibiotics and sent me on my way with the instructions that 'it may or may not clear it up depending on if we got meds for the right bacteria- so if it gets worse come back in'.  Lovely- Thanks.

Luckily the meds worked but my arm still feels like its been punched multiple times and my finger is still swollen, while at least less purple.
My weekend of excited quilting turned quickly into resting on the couch and watching the boys play Destiny all weekend. Alas- the quilt will still be there ready and waiting once I'm feeling up to par again, but until then.. drowning my sorrows in massive amounts of water and watching Netflix with BG. Thank goodness for the crock pot!
Happy Monday All!

I'm a Quilter- Who Knew?!

I'm Quilting.

If you had told me that I would enjoy quilting 15 years ago, I would have laughed in your face. (cuz isn't that what old people do?!) My mother is a quilter. She's self taught and she's down right amazing!
My first quilt project, I made a quilt for my best friend's 30th birthday.  It was a big task but I was so proud I did it. The second was a quilt for Chugo. It was the first one I did completely on my own from start to finish, ok.. ok.. with the couple calls to my Mom for advice! (There, I admit it!)
Said quilt, is now worn out from love and multiple bus trips during marching band season.  Then I took a looooong break from quilting. (Birth of the twins, moving to TX.. ya know, just to name a few distractions) Isn't it funny how it seems that certain hobbies are either all or nothing?!

Then I got pregnant and was determined to make a 'girly' quilt for BG. It turned out great, if I do say so myself. (and then another hiatus) Fast forward two years later and I'm back at it again.
I've been bitten by the bug. It truly amazes me to see bits of scraps sewn together to make a blanket. To make something that will be used and loved. Sigh. Its fabulous.

I received a Christmas quilt from my Mom a couple years ago. (we actually use it all year around- believe it or not) The idea struck me a couple weeks ago that it would be neat to have "holiday quilts' for all the holidays. So I set out on a mission. Halloween, Fall (because it could be used longer than say just a thanksgiving quilt), Spring (same reasoning as fall), and then whatever other holidays I decided I wanted to conjure up a quilt for. :)

I chose a pattern, went to the fabric store and got started! I'll post more as the process unfolds but for now.. here's a previews of the fabric!

Aren't the colors Halloween-y and delicious? Did i mention that- I Heart Fabric!

"I Wish I Had Time For That'

"I wish I had time for that."

I hear this often from friends and even strangers who 'work for a living'.
I never understood that term. I mean, yeah maybe I don't work outside of the home to make money, but i sure as heck work pretty dang hard inside the home.  Its all about time management and priorities.

Apparently, it is thought that stay at home moms just have nothing but time on their hands. I mean after all, how hard is it to clean house, cook dinners and tend to the kids? (should I blow a gasket right here?!) So, I just wanted to clear up some misconceptions of 'my free time'. I have none.
I have 5 children, I run a business out of my home, I cook, clean, teach and chauffeur... free time is not something I have much of, if any at all.  I never get a day off or a paid holiday. Heck the holidays, while fun for the rest of the family, always end up being even more work for myself. But I digress.

So my time..
Yeah. I wake up at 4 am everyday (even on the weekends) because that is the the only time I have to 'work' my business, craft or do anything I would like to get accomplished before I have to get kids up and running for the day (like say.. pay bills).

I don't need a pat on the back or a cookie, but I do wish that sometimes people would watch how they say things. I know that they are just wishing that they 'had more time' to do the things that they love too... but like I said, It's all about time management and prioritizing!

The miracle Twins Turn 7

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY MOOSE AND BUS!

Its hard to believe that 7 years ago my miracle twins were born. I know that every year I go into the miracle that is monoamniotic monochorionic twins. And of course this year is no different.

*1 in 47 pregnancies will result in twins. Of those 1 in 250 will be identical twins, of those 1% are monoamniotic monochorionic twins, of those 1 in 3 "momo" pregnancies will survive. 25% of mono/mono pregnancies are boys. *

See what I mean! Truly God's miracle! We celebrated family style, with their favorite- fondue, and as a twist, they decided they wanted to each decorate their own cakes. (I blame this on watching too many episodes of Cake Boss on netflix- I mean, how many other 7 year olds do you know that say they would like some drop lines on their cake- not many!)

Every year all the memories of the hospital stay come back to me. (almost haunt-like) Every year I cry, and can't believe that we all made it through such a stressful time. But mostly I thank God for blessing me with two amazingly wonderful little boys who fill me with excitement and wonder every day!

(I blurred out the front of their cakes because it had their names on them.. just so you know!)