Super Puffy tutu for drawing winner.

Here is one of the tutu's I made for my tutu drawing on babycenter. I plan to do one over here (if I ever get any subscribers) hehe.

This one is with pale pink and blue tulle, I used 75 yards and it came out super puffy. It works for size 12 months right on up to size 5 (girls) b/c of the elastic band.

I love it and just hope my little guy never has to see that I used him to model it (haha, what?) Sometimes a photo of a tutu just doesn't do it justice unless it's on a baby:)

So here we go, I will do a tutu drawing here also, once my subscriber list hits 80.

So, subscribe, leave a comment and as soon as my list hits 80 I will use the randomizer to pick one winner at random:) Good luck:D

Happy New Year!

It's hard for me to believe 2009 is over, but in way I am kind of glad it's come to an end. It was the best of times (having Ethan, watching MiMi start pre k, all the little things in between). And the absolute worst of times, which I really don't feel like going into.

I always make new years resolutions and with the exception of one year I actually kept my resolution. (haha, pathetic, right?!)

So this year I have a few resolutions;

There's the ever popular resolution to lose weight (but I've already started and only pray I can keep up, I am sick of depression eating).

To finish at FTCC (provided I get a grant, there is no other way I can afford it).

And push myself to do things I don't think I will really like, just for the sake of saying, I DID IT!

Then there is the same one I always make, to stop letting people use me for things and walk all over me to get things (I never keep this one, because I think for the most part I am so excited to have company on any given day that I don't care that people are fake)..Well, that's pretty much over with. If I wasn't good enough for you last year, than don't expect me to come around this year.

Believe it or not all of these mini resolutions have a lot to do with my children. They will always come first. I want to be healthier for myself and for them.

I want to finish school so that I wont have to worry about finances, I want to be self sufficient and not rely on my old line of work (real estate assistant). Not that it's a bad line of work, but it's not really top dollar at all.

Right now I am in such a foul mood, but I promised not to get into all of that so I wont. I do however hope all of you have a wonderful 2010 and make the most of it.

And wish me luck w/ my resolutions, GOD knows I'll need it! LOL

MiMi's Tinkerbell/Garden Bedroom Make Over, Part I

Do you remember MiMi's room before? Lots of tinkerbell. Possibly even TOO much tinkerbell. Too much tinkerbell = commercialized and bleh.



Granted it's a lot cuter than what I had as a kid..

It still is not what I wanted MiMi's room to look like. It wasn't the cute little garden retreat with a dash of tinkerbell in it that I had envisioned sooo long ago. (Yeah I do a lot of envisioning but with no money I do a ton of budgeting and waiting to do something I want).

And so when I was at bed bath and beyond the other day, contemplating what I could get with my $75 worth of gift cards, I decided I'd rather buy a bigger item to use the 20% off coupon as opposed to a bunch of towels and not saving big.

I rumaged through comforters galore, NOTHING under 60 bucks for a single comforter. some were even 200! GAH, NO!!

Then I found the kids linens and was ecstatic to see a 16 piece full room in a bag for only 129 bucks!


no way?! It had TWO sheet sets of (fitted, flat and pillow cases). TWO gorgeous shams, ONE huge fluffy comfortable comforter, two window valances and TWO cutie pie decorative pillows. mm hmm, I so bought it!

Then today my ideas started to flow.

I took down the ugly old wooden curtain rods and settings and spray painted and distressed them in antique white.

I put up all her bedding and some lanterns.






I also took the cute tinkerbell ornament my inlaws gave mimi (it was too cute; I dare not stash it away for ONLY the tree, once a year) and I went to wal mart and found this cute bronze lantern on sale for ten bucks and put tink in it..



Tomorrow I am heading off to lowes to buy a section of picket fence and make that her headboard.

Then this weekend I am going to sand and finish a dresser I have for her. I can NOT wait to have this all done! i am in love with it!! hehe.

We have been making over our 65 rancher slowly and steadily since we purchased it in 2004..and it's been a slow process but it's almost done:)

Just a few more bows and things.

Just a quick update: We will be heading back to UNC Children's Hospital for Ethan's follow up next month. But I think Dr. Bukowski did an amazing job for Ethan. We were very lucky to have been given the time of day by him when no other pediatric urologist around would see him. To include the ONLY one in Fayetteville. He is a God Send! Right now Ethan is on a 10 day biotic for a respiratory infection. Man, this poor little guy has been through enough the last couple of months it seems..

Anyway, here are a few more bows I made from my cardstock value pack I had bought at joanne's YEARS ago..finally glad I could put them to some use;)

And here is a cute snowman family handprint ornament my daughter made. (acrylic paint and sharpie paint pen). simple and cute! I've seen way cuter ones online, but we are always so plain jane it seems.

Lastly, I just wanted so share a few of the children's ornaments that hang on our tree:

Ethan's First OrnamentMiMi's First Ornament (well one of many)
Parent's to be ornament <3 id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418149104088455586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2YDpZRQlWLXXw-ul8ncNTrdrHiaZCmkxcJulMsGTsU_J4ukSrHkKZjO389DsyUB2dzVKL4PFJ5Aiw8zazx9VjI2rSMMRLpTrHdSAniH5DsesBHcczgEQuTeZUXQ5iljUhiJuigpE-YQ/s320/q9.jpg" border="0">MiMi with the above ornament:
An ornament from her g/ma and g/pa

(we were big on carebears when she was a baby)
Her my little pony ornament:
Another carebear for the little girl who loves 'em!

Another baby's first ornament from my parents to Ethan:
Decorating the tree:

Just a random blog

I seldom blog about myself or my family..here anyway..

So why not?

Yesterday we finally put up our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Yep, the good old 6.5 foot fake tree we snagged at 75% off at Wal Mart the year of the day after my daughter's first Christmas in 05. mm hmm. I liked that kind of special!:)

She's been a kind of staple in our home every Christmas..

Wait..did I say every Christmas? Well, except for the one Christmas we had unwelcomed house guests (fleas) and we had EVERYTHING cleaned and put up during our terminix fogging. (dreaded things!)

Otherwise though she's served her purpose well, MiMi loves the fake tree, she doesn't shed, she doesn't require me to lug her to the lawn the next morning and she looks half ass decent, wouldn't ya say?

Sure I like the smell of a real tree, but nothing a good old yankee candle can't fix:) haha..seriously.

And this Christmas will be Ethan's first and I am excited about that.

Granted we are road tripping to Georgia to see Doug's family this Christmas, we still intend to do one here on the 23rd with the children and my parents. After all, I like to make first memories in my home. It's a tiny little 65 rancher and most people wouldn't give it a second look, but we've put a lot of work into her and she's becoming our home and I love it more each day (except for when things break then I curse the day we ever bought it).

So yes, procrastinator, I am but the tree is finally up and we finished the little one's Christmas presents yesterday, and surprisingly the stores were not bad like I had prepared myself for.

Thank GOD for a credit card is all I can say, but thankfully the tax return next year will pay it off.

Have a Merry Christmas // Happy Holidays everyone!! I'll share some photos sometime when we get back after the New Years:)

DIY Photo Tutorial: Card Stock Paper Gift Bows

DIY PHOTO TUTORIAL: Card Stock Paper Bows..

Materials Needed:

* Glue Gun//or//Stapler

* One piece of card stock or scrap book, etc paper

* Scissors

Step One: Cut 9 Strips of Paper Full Cardstock Length.

*Leave 3 piece the full length
* Trim off 1 inch off of 3 of the pieces
* Trim 2 inches off of 2 of the pieces
* Cut the last piece of paper so that it is only 3.5 inches long

Start by folding each strip in half:
Dab some hot glue on the back of the folded piece in the center.

Twist one end over so that it will meet the dab of hot glue, add another dab of hot glue atop that piece then twist the other end in the opposite direction and secure it.

For the smallest piece, make a circle, they should look like this when you are done prepping for your bow: Finally start layering the pieces as pictured from largest to smallest:

The final piece in the center will be the rounded piece. In the end you get a cute and textured cardstock bow:)

DIY FROSTED GLASS BABY FOOD JAR TEA LIGHT/VOTIVE CANDLE HOLDERS:

DIY Frosted Glass Baby Food Jar Tea Light/Votive Candle Holders:
I waited a few days before I posted these because I wanted to make sure they held up well. If you are like me and have TONS of baby food jars after your mini one eats, you probably like to recycle them or find some use for them besides the dumpster, right?? How about making one of these beauties??
I chose a dragonfly because I am obsessed with them (you should see my living room)..
First you will need to gather the following materials:
SEE PHOTO BELOW:

* 1 can of Valspar Frosting Spray (or another frosting spray) $4 at Lowes
* 1 (or more) empty cleaned and dry GLASS baby food jars
* 1 (or more) sheet(s) of regular old stickers (found mine for 65 cent in the greeting card isle of wal mart
* 1 tea light candle or small votive

Next Step: Place a sticker of your liking somewhere on your baby food jar, or more than one if you want or if you have a larger jar (per say a mason jar):
VERY IMPORTANT: Spray this jar facing DOWN!! You DO NOT want to get the frosting spray inside the jar (I did the first time and it was a mess cleaning it out). So spray it facing down, 1 or 2 or more coats, whatever you fancy. Let it dry a little before applying more than one coat, after your final coat of spray let it dry over night:

They will look like this:

PEEL off the stickers (carefully) if you happened to spray inside the jar (as you can see on one of mine) just clean it out with a paper down or a finger nail, or whatever gets the job done really..and the end result is a beautiful tea light / votive candle holder as seen on the top entry of my page! Since these are so itty bitty I couldn't get a good photo of them illuminating in the dark, but trust me it's CUTE:) and CHEAP and FUN! And they make a cute little stocking stuffer as well with one of your favorite scented mini candles;) Additionally if you so desire you can spray paint the lids a color of choice or wrap a ribbon around them to doll them up:)