No TV????

Last Saturday our two youngest decided they weren't

going to watch TV all day (it didn't last, I'm pretty sure I

remember hearing Sponge Bob by 4:00 or so). They

had great intentions though, and made this big long

list of things they would do together. Among the

adventures was "make crayons".

HERE'S WHAT THEY DID.....

They unwrapped a bunch of broken crayons

Broke them and separated them into little condiment cups.
They then melted them in the microwave.
VERY, VERY HOT...this is a big kid or mommy job.


They started with one color, poured a little in the bottom of
each mold and let it set for a few minutes before they
poured the next color.


....and this is what they ended up with!

TV IS WAY OVERRATED!!!

Latest Trend...and a giveaway

Here in Utah we have this daytime talk show called Studio5.

It's a crafty, DIY kind of show that often highlights the latest

trends in the creative/artsy world. Last week they did a little

spot on using zippers as embellishments. I thought...."Hmmm,

that's a new one to me!" Then what do you know, just like that,

I started seeing them everywhere!

That afternoon I took Liesl to the mall to get a dress and shoes

for the Sweetheart's dance, check out the shoes she fell in love with.

Yep, zippers! As we walked out to the car we passed a kiosk

filled with leather purses that were embellished with....

yep, zipper flowers. That night I searched etsy to see what

was going on in etsyland where zippers were concerned

and sure enough.....

I found zippers!

An unbelievable statement piece at Believe In Happy

(love that shop name!)


A big beautiful zipper brooch (love the leaf) from Handcraft USA


and last, but not least, a sweet demure little
zipper flower headband from Feathered Whimsy.
So ingenious....I wonder who comes up with this stuff?

HERE COMES THE GIVEAWAY PART!

You know I'm all about giving a nod to new etsy shops
and I'm kinda partial to new etsy shops from Utah.
So....guess what? Leigh from Feathered Whimsy just
happens to be a Utah girl and her shop is brand spankin'
new. She would like to give my readers the chance to win.....

The sweet little zipper flower headband pictured above.
So, here's how to enter:

Just hop over to her shop and check out all of her cute stuff.
Come back here and leave a comment letting me know
what your favorite item at Feathered Whimsy is.

My followers (as usual) get a second chance to win,
just for being awesome!! So, leave an extra comment
if you're a follower as well.

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE AN EMAIL WHERE WE CAN REACH YOU IF YOU WIN!

GOOD LUCK!
(giveaway ends friday 2/12 at 10:00 mountain time)

Giveaway!

Thought you all might like to know that Etsy Interviews is giving something from my shop away!

Sneek Peek For Emily

Just as we suspected Emily.....ADORABLE!

It will be in the mail tomorrow.

More Family Fun!

Remember the "gotcha pillow" from Christmas time?

If not, click the link and go to the bottom of that post to see

what we did with the pillow.

Well, in honor of the holiday of love (which by the way

I think is kind of silly, shouldn't we say I love you

everyday?)..... I've resurrected the

"gimmick", as my kids call it, in another form.

Last year I made these little hearts to hang from our light during our Valentine's Day dinner. This year I gathered them up into a bunch and tied the yarn into a loop at the top so that they can hang on a doorknob.

It's pretty much the same thing,
different item, as the "gotcha pillow".

Who ever has the hearts hanging on their bedroom
doorknob has 1 day to do a kind deed for someone
else in the family. When they have done that deed
they hang the hearts on the recipients doorknob
and so we go again.

HERE'S TO LOVE!

Picture Perfect

I love it when I get to see my work all finished and hanging on an adorable little child. If this little guy doesn't "make the world a cuter place to live" then I don't know who does! This picture was sent to me by Tiffany Hix, one of Boise's premier photographers. Her work is stunning! You can check it out at tiffanyhix.com. If you are from the Boise area, make sure you click on her blog for info on photography classes. I would if I lived there!

Creative Chaos

I'm a fly by the seat of my pants, toss my scraps over my shoulder kind of gal! My creativity thrives in the middle of chaos. I try to clean my sewing room once a week (I know Mom, I should put it away right after I use it). It takes about 3 sewing sessions to have the room looking pretty much like this.....

For some odd reason I've been "nesting" lately. NO! I'm not about to give birth! It must be winter, snow, cold, I don't know...anyway, I decided that I'm going to try to create without chaos. Can it be done? I don't know, maybe this is just my way of wallowing in the middle of all the chaos, while I try to organize.

First on my "to do" list is organizing my fabric. I've separated the fabric into big pieces (1/2 yd or more), fat quarters, and scraps.



Next I made a cardstock template, the size that I want my fabric stacks to be. I fold the fabric around this template, just like the girls at AE fold shirts over their little shirt folder.

They look so nice all lined up. I just honestly don't know if I can keep them this way. Part of my sick mind sees me going berserk after a few days and tossing it all in the air. Heaven help me!

I refurbished an old cherry wood shelving system with paint, fabric and cork board. I hooked a shoe organizer on the end of the system to hold all of my fat quarts. This is still a work in progress, it will be fun to see how it all ends up!

Crossing my fingers I can keep it this way!