Thank you for your patience!

Happy Sunday Everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. I am SO HAPPY with the results of the Austrailian Open...both of my faves won their respective titles: Kim Clijsters for the women and Novak Djokovic for the men! Woo Hoo!

As you can see, I changed up the look of my blog. I am just so frustrated with my computer right now, I had to accomplish SOMETHING today! I am unable to link to parties, I've lost everything that was supposed to have been saved before wiping the computer clean, and I still cannot get Windows Live Writer to run on this new set up. It is so frustrating to be computer illiterate! When I Google the problems, some very technical advice pops up...well, I am not good with computers (I just want to turn it on and have it work!), so the advice really does me no good. Anyway, I just wanted to say HI, and thank you all for you patience. I'm going to try and contact the person who changed my operating system, and see if we can't get all the problems figured out.
Until then, I am in the midst of a craft room re-do. It's a HUGE mess right now. But, I took 'before' pictures (glad I remembered this time), and cannot wait to show you the finished room. I think it will be at least another week or so...like I said, it's a HUGE mess (when you see the 'before' pictures, you'll know what I mean). I love getting in there and completely rearranging and reorganizing my space. It always takes a lot longer to get it done, but it makes me feel so good once it's good and clean! How about you? Have you been bitten by the 'organizing bug'??

I hope you had a great weekend, and thank you for stopping by...drop by again!

I'm Back (finally!)

Hi Everyone! It's so good to be back! First, I must give a big THANK YOU to my good friend Sarah, over at The Castle Diaries for letting you all know what was going on in my world (THANK YOU AGAIN SARAH!). Sadly, my computer is not the same. I cannot figure out how to run Windows Live Writer (which is why I'm using Blogger), and I've lost a bunch of stuff, but at least the virus is gone!

So, how have you been? How are the kids? What have I missed? I feel like I've been lost on a deserted island for the past couple of weeks :) Things here are much the same as ever...I've been trying to master my new Scroll Saw, but I must admit, it's harder than I thought it would be (anyone out there -hint, hint, GAIL- have any advice???please???). I have been enjoying football playoffs, even though none of my teams made it :( I love watching all the action at the Australian Open, and am ecstatic that two of my faves, Kim Clisters and Novak Djokovich (not sure on the spellings on those!), are still in it! woo hoo!! And, finally, I'm so excited for NASCAR to start up again! Lots of fun sports action going on. As for my family, we are all well, and healthy :)

So, while I was gone, I finally got to complete the Birthday Countdown Block set that my daughter had requested (in December). I love all the cute cupcake papers (and you know, cupcakes are one of my favorite things!), but with this set, I wanted it to be gender neutral, so both my boys and girls could use it. I love the colors, muted greens and aquas with some brown thrown in = gorgeous! Of course, I think I'll need to make another Birthday Countdown, because two of my boys have birthdays one day apart, and I just cannot make the littlest one get only one day to count down his birthday...so, I'm thinking on how to do that! The weather was too nasty in December to go outside and work, but we've had some beautiful days lately, and I actually got to go outside and sand and paint this set...it felt amazing! The whole time I was spray painting, I kept thinking how much I love (and missed) the smell of spray paint and wood...does that make me weird? Probably! Does anyone else feel that way??? Or am I the only one?? One of the best things about this project is that I only had to spend $3 on the paper...I had the wood and clothespin on hand. This was super simple, as I just used 2x4's that I had, sanded and painted them, then used Gorilla Glue to glue them together. I sanded and painted some left over blocks, then added scrap paper and vinyl to the blocks and bases, and used a light coat of Mod Podge to finish it all off. The clothespin was painted and I just glued a piece of one of the block papers to it, to tie it all in. I then used the Gorilla Glue to glue the clothespin onto the block bases. I thought about drilling a tiny hole and attaching the clothespin with a nail or screw, but opted for the easier way out. I'll let you know if it doesn't hold (but I'm hoping it will).
Anyway, it's good to be back, and hopefully I can get my Live Writer working again. Thank you all for your patience!
PLEASE leave me a comment and let me know you were here. I really have missed you!!

Guest Post

Hi Dear Readers of Blooming Freckles--

This is the Queen from Castle Diaries in for Kelli today. :)

Her computer has been fighting off a trojan horse virus this past week, but she has high hopes that all will be well soon! She wants you to know that she is missing all of you in Blogland, and asks that you bear with her as she tries to get her computer fixed. So frustrating!!

Check back soon, as I am absolutely positive that Kelli will be back as soon as she can, to wow us with her fab crafts, entertain us with stories of her wonderful kids, and astound us with amazing furniture re-purposing projects!!

God Bless! And thank you for your patience and understanding.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hi!  I know I’ve been naughty (good thing Christmas is over…lol) and haven’t been around much.  BUT, I’ve been focusing on my family and truly enjoying the Christmas break.  I also promised myself I’d be taking January off from crafting, but, I don’t think I can do it!  You see, although I haven’t posted a picture of it yet, my good friend got me a SCROLL SAW for Christmas!  I am so freaking out, and itching to use it…The night we opened presents, her husband and I ripped into that box, pulled the saw out, placed it squarely on the kitchen counter and played!  It was awesome! (They were humored to see my small stash of 1x8s sitting in the kitchen…but they came in handy with the saw, now didn’t they?).  :)   Anyway, I am so excited, and I am dreaming about spring, when I can get out there and cut and sand and paint to my heart’s content! To make it even better, my stocking was stuffed with various ear plugs and pink safety glasses!  SO.MUCH.FUN.  I can barely stand the wait.  Something not so fun around here right now, is the process of getting rid of the binky for my sweet 3 year old.  I know, I know, I should’ve done it sooner…but I’m such a softy, and she LOVED that thing.  The dentist gave me a deadline (which I purposely skipped…I’m stubborn that way).  But, Thursday night was her last night with a binky (or Me-Me, as she calls it).  She is so very brave, and has only cried for it once, which was last night.  It broke my heart…I almost gave it back to her (I didn’t really throw them away, like I told her,  I hid them…just in case  I couldn’t handle it  she got too upset).  I’m glad I didn’t give in, because I know it’s better for her, but like I said, I’m a softy and hate seeing my babies cry, and to make it worse, she kept saying <with pouty lips and big teary puppy dog eyes> “My MOM threw away by me-me”…over and over she said it, with tears falling…  It was awful!  So, I’ve been busy trying to distract her from the thought of it, and haven’t even been on the computer for the past 4 days or so.

I hope you had a wonderful start to your New Year.  I already blew my resolution, even though it was simple (drinking more water).  I think the stress of the binky thing has been an excuse to consume large amounts of Diet Coke!  So, we’ll try again, with the water, maybe tomorrow…  And, hopefully get school started again, and get back into our ‘normal’ routine.  I’m looking forward to it.

Thanks for stopping by, and for being patient with me!

Another Birthday Girl

December 23rd was my daughter Eliana’s 8th birthday.  She was counting down the days the entire month, and asked me to make a Birthday countdown set…which I tried to get done, but with the snow (and no garage), I just couldn’t go out and sand and paint like I needed to.  (Of course, now, we are having beautiful, sunny days.).  Anyway, I’ll be making that countdown as soon as I can get out there!  In the meantime, she had a wonderful day.  She requested home made pizza pockets for lunch and potato soup for dinner.  Pretty easy, and totally yummy.  It made me feel good, because we always take our kids out to dinner on their birthday, but she chose my potato soup instead (smile, sigh, smile again!).  For her cake, she requested a Marionberry Pie (Tillamook) Mud Pie.  It is so easy, and very tasty.  If you’ve never made one, all you need is a tub of ice cream, a tub of Cool Whip, a package of Oreos and some Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup (although, I have made it with Nutter Butters for the Crust and Caramel ice cream topping instead of the Chocolate…it all depends on your favorite flavors).  Crush the oreos and put in the bottom of a 9x13 baker.  Drizzle Chocolate over that.  Spread the softened ice cream, then spread more chocolate syrup, finally top with cool whip and freeze.  I don’t even like ice cream, but I love a mud pie! We were all skeptical about her choice of Marionberry Pie to go with the chocolate, but it was amazing! 

Eliana is sweet, gentle-spirited, forgiving, quick to offer help and always offering hugs, and loves to cook and bake with me.  She looks forward to when Zoya is a bit older and the three of us can have “girl time”.     Her name is Hebrew, and means “God has answered me”, and He truly did more than answer me…He blessed me.  Happy Birthday sweet girl!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and she LOVES to make faces…very dramatic…very much a young girl!  :)

Thanks for stopping by! 

I can’t wait to get going on some new crafts…and I can’t wait to hear from you. I love to read your comments and visit you, to see what you’ve been up to.

Subway art and Christmas Countdown Clipboard

HI!!!  I hope you all had a  wonderful Christmas… We sure did!  I’m finally getting to a couple of pictures (that should’ve been posted at the beginning of the month!).  The pink Countdown Calendar is one of my favorites…sadly it didn’t sell at the craft show.  I knew when I made it, that it would take a special person to buy that one…a very ‘girly-girl’ kind of person.  Since it didn’t sell, it became a Christmas gift for a sweet little 3 year old girl, who is friends with my sweet 3 year old…and she LOVED it! 

The Subway is a special one I made for a very special friend.  On the other side, is the “O Holy Night” (like in this post), but I wanted to personalize this side, so I put words that symbolize our relationship.  She’s a wonderful friend, a sweet woman of Christ, and is truly like a sister to me…I love her and am so thankful to be blessed with her friendship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by…tomorrow I’ll show you what my very special friend gave me for Christmas!!! (I’m still freaking out!).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Tomorrow will be a crazy, wonderful, busy, joyous family day, so I’m wishing you all blessings tonight!  Yesterday was my oldest daughter’s 8th birthday (pictures will be on Sunday or  Monday), and today was spent giving little bits of goodies to our neighbors and other special people.  It has gone so quickly!  It seems like the older I get, the quicker Christmas comes and goes…  I hope you all have a peaceful day, surrounded by those you love!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Birthday Girl

I can’t believe my baby is three!  Time really does go by too quickly…(sigh).   I spent this past week enjoying my kids and getting ready for Zoya’s big day.  It was so nice to just relax and be ‘mom’ this week, I know I needed it as much as the kids did!  Zoya is such a blessing to our family…she is funny and busy and caring and daring and silly and smart and a big bundle of love.  She still lets me rock her and snuggles in bed with me most mornings.  She brings so much joy and laughter and love to our family and I am so thankful for this little girl!

 

 

 

With her Minnie Mouse cake

 

 

 

Showing off her new tutu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Mr. Grinch (so cute!)

 

 

 

Enjoying some frosting in her new jammies.

Well, now that I’ve had a whole week off, I am going to start crafting again…finishing up some last minute Christmas gifts for my friends and family.  Thank you for stopping by!

~Kelli

(on a side note, there appears to be a bit of a mix-up with my gmail account and someone else’s account.  She has been getting my emails and comments…so if you’ve tried to contact me, and I didn’t respond…I apologize.  We’re hoping to get this fixed soon!

I survived my first Christmas Bazaar!

Yay!  I survived.  And had fun.  And met lots of nice people.  And made a bit of a profit.  It was exhausting, but so totally worth it.  I’m glad I did it, and we already have plans for next year!  This is what my part of our booth looked like (I only had one picture of Lauren’s half, and it didn’t turn out…BUT her creations were amazing.  She is so talented, and it was such a blessing to spend the day with her!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are some close ups of the subway art I made:

I love this saying.  I’ve seen it all over blogland, so I’ll try to

track down where I found it, so I can give her credit!  (***NOTE:  I searched

all over, and cannot find where I found it, or where I saw the cute

raffia idea…if it’s you,  please contact me, so I can give you credit!!).

I made these double sided…each one had a Christmas saying and on the

other side, either fall themed saying, or the “Say…” one.  I liked the idea of

being able to use them more than just at Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that’s my sharing for today. Thank you for your patience with me…it’s been a crazy 2 weeks!  Next year, I’m definitely going to start planning earlier…2 months is just not enough (when you add in 5 kids, a husband and homeschooling!).  Crazy.  anyway, it’s too much fun to give up on :)

Please leave a message and let me know you were here. 

Altered Starbucks Mocha Jars

Hi!  Long time, no see, huh?  Well…I’ve been crafting like a crazy woman and am just now getting things under control.  I’m sorry it’s been so long, but now that I’m on a roll, there will be more frequent posts.    This is one of the crafts for the Holiday Bazaar.. I saved some Mocha jars, stripped the labels, cleaned them up and then added embellishments.  Finally, just fill them with some yummy treats, and they are good to go.  I think they make a perfect teacher gift, or, in my case, the newspaper girl’s treat.  Plus this year, I’m going to surprise some special people at my favorite McDonalds.   You see, there is a McD’s right by my house, but I drive several miles away, to a different one, because they have the BEST Diet Coke  EVER!!!  It is totally worth it to drive the extra miles, just to get that perfect soda. Plus, they never (ever, ever, ever) mess up my order…and when you have 5 kids who like to alter their food, and I like extra ice, etc., mess ups tend to happen…but not at this one!   And there are a couple of the absolute sweetest gals that work the drive through in the mornings (weekdays only…weekends are another story!).  So, they, too will be getting some goodies this year.  This is such a quick and easy craft.  I hope you’ll try it too!!

I’m linking up over at House of Hepworths party…go check out all of the amazing (and inspiring) crafts!  I’m always blown away by the creativity!  http://www.houseofhepworths.com

Thank you for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment and let me know you were here!

Christmas Countdown Blocks

Here is one of the crafts I’ve been working on for the upcoming bazaar…

I first saw these on Out Of Chaos a long time ago.  They were so darn cute, I just had to try and make them myself.  I love how they turned out, and have done about 13 sets, in all different colors and papers.  They’re super easy!  You can start counting down at 32 days…just about when we do it anyway.  So, what do you think???  I really hope they go over well at the bazaar.  I have friends and family who already love them, so I’ll be making more for us.

Please leave me a comment and let me know you were here!  I’ve been so isolated (in dial-up land), and would really love to hear from you!!!

I’m hooking up at my faves (go check out all the creative genius at their sites!!!) HookingupwithHoH

Punkin Seed Productions

It’s Good to be Back!

Did you miss me?  Well, I surely missed you, and this wonderful world of modern technology.  For 2 weeks, I’ve been stuck in the past, with (gasp) dial up…can you even imagine?  Unfortunately, I didn’t have to imagine it, I was living it.  It was awful.  The first day, I tried to visit a blog I follow, and no kidding, it took 5 MINUTES from the time I clicked the link from my blog, for that blog to open up.  That was the last time I visited my blog (or any).  It was so ridiculous.  Now, just listen to me whine…I know there are many more important things in this world to complain about, but really…5 minutes?  During my self imposed (for the sake of my sanity) hiatus, I worked feverishly on Christmas crafts for the upcoming bazaar.  Later tonight, I hope to have some pictures to share…it’s hard to get back in the groove of my blog, since I’ve been gone so long!  But, thanks for waiting…I really did miss you.

I WAS FEATURED!!

ok, so I’m a bit late in announcing it, but WOO-HOO!!  I was featured at House of Hepworths (for my Frosted Mason Jars), you can see it here.  I didn’t even know until several days later, because, although she sent me a comment, it got stuck in ‘moderation’, and I never check over there (well, now I do!).  I was so excited!  Her blog is amazing.  Allison is so creative and talented, and I was just floored that she’d even look twice at my little ole crafts!!!  So, while I’ve been crazy with crafts these past weeks (sorry for the lack of posts!), I thought it was about time I shared my excitement with you!  (Yeah, I’m still like a little kid with my blog…I’m always so excited when someone leaves me a comment).  It is sometimes scary to share your passions and creativity,  in fear of rejection, but everyone has been so kind (especially with my ‘dork’ post!).  I think the last craft (ugly wreath!) kind of shook me…silly, I know, but it didn’t turn out like I wanted, and I could hear the crickets (still can), after writing that post.  I felt very alone in my failure.  Rediculous, I know…anyway, what do you do when your horse bucks you off?  That’s right, you get right back on!  So, I’ve been crafting for the Bazaar, where it’s comfortable.  I need to find another new project to shake things up again…I think I’m ready…

Thank you all for stopping by! I will be posting more crafts this week, I promise!!

Have a good night…

Thing 1 or Thing 2?

Well, as promised, I’m posting pictures of a (not so pretty) project.

  Thing 1 (as I lovingly call it) was the one I made yesterday, before checking with the actual directions.  My son (the ham) begged to be holding it in the picture (he’ll do anything for a laugh).  Plus, as a bonus, hopefully you’ll be looking at him, and not the wreath…

 

 

 

 

Thing 2  is the one I made this morning, after reading the directions again on Honey Scrap (I don’t know why they show a dark ring, it doesn’t look like that in person.  Weird).  Sadly, I must admit, this is one craft I was not meant to do (at least I only spent $1.42 on all of the supplies! woo-hoo).    I just wanted my wreath to look like hers, and I did what she did, but alas, mine doesn’t look anything like it.  I am insanely single-minded, and everything in my world has to be symmetrical, or I go nuts.  These wreaths just wouldn’t behave.  As you can see on Thing 2, I didn’t even bother to try and fluff it up or make it pretty, no bows or ribbon or anything. I think I’m pretty much done with this craft.  I absolutely love all the ones I’ve seen out there, but mine:  not so much!  That’s ok.  The stubborn side of me wants to go and try another, and keep trying until I get it perfect.  But, the practical side of me says there is a craft bazaar fast approaching, and I need to be spending my time on that.  Maybe I’ll attack this project again after Christmas, when (hopefully) there is a bunch of snow on the ground, and I can just sit in my living room with a roaring fire, and find somewhere within myself the ability to let go of the perfectionism (at least for this one project), and have fun with it.  Maybe…

Well, thanks for joining me on this disaster adventure.  It’s a bummer to have a failure, but it’s real life (at least in my world!).  Without disappointment every now and again, I guess success might not taste so sweet…

Alright,  so here’s the deal:  if you have made one and are happy with it, please share a link with me!  Please give me some tips for when I attempt this one again!   Better yet, if you want to zip on over here and have a craft night with me, I’ll bake some cookies and make you some cocoa!  Crafting is always more fun with a friend!

You know I love to read your comments, so let me know you were here, ok?

Autumn Block

Well, I seem to be a little behind everyone else in the Autumn decorating projects ( I’ve been working on Christmas ones for the Bazaar and haven’t had time!).  Today I made a Coffee Filter Wreath (pictures tomorrow, hopefully), and a cute little block.  This block was one I got from a  building site a couple of months ago.  They had a huge pile of wood out front with a FREE sign on it…so I drove by every couple of days to check it out.  This piece is damaged and I wouldn’t use it for what I’m going to sell, but for my house, it’s ok.

Cutest little Owl paper I got at Target in the dollar section!

A close up of the tag…

I spray painted the block (didn’t even sand it!), then applied the paper with Mod Podge.   It’s amazing, the Mod Podge made for paper actually works beautifully.  There were no bubbles or wrinkles or anything!  Who knew?  I didn’t even realize there was such a thing, till I went looking for a different product, and stumbled across it at Michaels.  Anyway, it works wonderfully!!!.  I then made a little tag and added the flowers, ribbon (and tag), and finished it off by distressing the edges of the block just a bit.  It’s small, but it looks cute next to my pumpkins and harvest scare crow.

The wreath is another story…I didn’t look up the instructions before I started…which is where I made the first mistake.  I just went ahead and glued and glued and glued.  It’s not too bad, but that’s not very comforting.  I’m a bit picky with my finished projects, and this one is not making me too happy.  I’ll play with it some more and post pictures tomorrow, good or bad.

So, tell me what you think??? Do you use scrap wood for impromptu projects?  Have you made a Coffee Filter Wreath?  Share the scoop…

Thanks for stopping by!  Please leave me a comment, I really appreciate them!!!

I’m linking up:   Get your craft on Thurs          http://www.houseofhepworths.com

JOIN THE PARTY!!! Be sure to check out all the amazing crafts, there is surely something there to inspire you!

I’m a Dork!

REALLY?  Did I just do that??  Ok, so I was trying to find a way to follow someone (I couldn’t find the “follow” button on her blog), but when I went to her profile, I saw a “follow” button in the upper right corner, so I clicked it, put my info. in, and figured I was good to go.  So happy to be able to follow this lady!  Then I go back to my blog, and realize that I actually clicked to follow myself!  REALLY.  I’ve tried and tried to change it, delete my picture, etc, but I cannot figure it out!  Does anyone else know how to delete a follower?  Not that you’d ever want to do that normally, but when you accidentally follow yourself, it’s a bit embarrassing!!!  Please tell me someone else out there has done this, and that I’m not the only total dork in blogland!!!????!!! 

On a crafty note, I was all ready to heave the beast (aka the miter saw) out of my hubby’s shed, so I could get some wood cutting done today. But…as soon as we finished school, it started raining.  Seriously?  (minor temper tantrum here).  So, now I don’t get to paint, cut or sand the wood, like I had planned.  I guess  I’ll have to work on some other projects today.  Hopefully tonight I can post some results for you.  Sorry it’s been so sparse, but with us starting school, I haven’t had as much time for my crafts, and even when I’m doing them, by the time I finish at night, I don’t have the energy to take/load/edit/post the pictures.  It’s taking some getting used to (school schedule, that is).  I am not a morning person (slight understatement).  I would be perfectly happy staying up til 1am every night and getting up at 9 or 10 every day.  Sadly, when I do that, it’s even harder to get school done.  So, for the sake of my sanity, I’ve been getting up around 6:30 every morning, reading a devotion, and spending some time with the Lord, preparing my heart and mind for the busy day ahead.  He is SO GOOD!  My days have been amazing (other than my complete exhaustion from lack of sleep, but hey, my attitude during school is more important at this point than a few hours of sleep, right??).

Please leave me a comment (especially if you’re a ‘dork’ like me!).  I love to read them!

Have a great day.

Frosting, anyone???

Ok, I know, that wasn’t nice…especially if you’re a sugaraholic, like me, you were probably thinking this was going to be some amazing (cupcake) frosting recipe or sugar cookies with yummy frosting…but no.  Sorry, but I couldn’t help it.  (insert mischievous laugh).  But it really does say “Frosting” on the Valspar can, so don’t be too mad at me.  Alright, I’ve gone enough off track. So, here are some more pictures of frosted glass (sorry I didn’t get them up yesterday, but school is kicking my behind right now).  I used regular votive jars, that I found at GW or another thrift store, and did the same technique as with the Mason Jars (you can see that here)  They are so cute.  They can be used for much more than just candles, too.  The ones with lids could hold “cookies in a jar” (or any other gift in a jar recipe), you could add someone’s favorite Starbucks coffee and give it with some Biscotti.  You could fill them with Reese’s Pieces, or M & M’s (or any other fave candy).  The possibilities are endless!!!  I apologize, in advance for these pictures…they aren’t the best.  I just couldn’t get a good photo of them with a lit tea light (does anyone have tips on that?  Please let me know!).  The last picture is just the jars, unlit, so you can see the shape, and that they were just plain votive jars.  I guess I should have titled this post “Hi, my name is Kelli, and I’m addicted to Frosting”.  Sadly, it’s true.  It’s so much fun!!!  Have you frosted anything lately?? 

(this one is my favorite!)

I hope you’ve been encouraged and inspired to try something new (and so easy!).  Please leave me a comment and let me know you were here (and what you’ve been up to!).

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Does it have to end???

No, I don’t mean ‘summer vacation’.  Since we homeschool, we don’t run on the typical ‘school schedule’, so I don’t worry about back to school and all that stuff.  What I really didn’t want to end was our family vacation to the Oregon Coast.  (We always go in September, to avoid the crazy summer crowds).   We just got back Friday night (I know, I know, it’s already Monday), and I’m wishing we were still there.  We spent the last week in ‘our house’, a little vacation home away from home, in Nehalem.  We took our boat, so the big boys went crabbing every day and me and the littles went to the beach.  We found a ton of agates and shells, and even some whole (intact) sand dollars.  It was fantastic!!!  Wednesday, I took all 5 kids to Seaside, to the aquarium (where we fed the cutest seals ever!), and the Carousel, and of course, to the Candy Man  for some ice cream and salt water taffy.   It really was a little slice of heaven…now, it’s back to the house, school, chores,  cleaning, blah, blah, blah.  Although, I must admit, part of me is glad to be home, but I think most of me wishes we were still at the beach.

 

 

 

Dad and Zoya

 

Nik, Sasha, Eliana and Zoya

Me with some agates (this is the very rare photo of me, I hate having them taken!)

 

 

 

 

The cutest seal at the aquarium

Dima helping Zoya on the carousel

Eliana on the carousel

Sasha on the carousel

Our family…

Before we left, I worked really hard to frost more of the jars (non-Mason types), but I just didn’t get  a chance to share them with you, so after school today, I’ll post more pictures, so you can see how other types of jars turned out!

I hope you are having a great Monday!  Thank you for stopping by.  :)

Home Depot Love

My latest trip to Home Depot was AWESOME!  I went looking for (cull bin) 1 x 4s, but found something else as well!

Oh yeah, baby…I only paid for the two pieces with green paint, so for all of this, I paid$1.02 (plus tax).   I found the 1x4s in the bottom of an empty garbage can, next to the cut station, and since everything under 12” is free, I rescued them.  They are perfect        (11 1/2”),   I’m not sure why they threw them out, but I’m happy they did.  Then, as I was walking away, I saw this huge pile of 6 x 6 (actually 5 1/2 x 5 1/2) scraps…another customer must have had a ton of wood cut up, and didn’t want these scraps.  I couldn’t believe how many there were, and even though I know the 12” rule, I felt guilty about this pile, so I went to the lumber customer service area and asked if I could have them (pretty please), just to be sure.  The nice lady said ‘absolutely’,  so I ran back to my pile and had my helper scavenge (from under the table saw) all this woody goodness.  There are 29 squares.  I left about 10 there, just in case some other crafty person would happen along.  I know, I know, I could’ve left more, but with the craft show coming up, I just saved a TON of money!  OK, as if that didn’t make my day (or week), that little ole 1 x 3 (on the left) was in the cull bin, but not marked…the cashier gave it to me for FREE.  So nice!  Now I have no excuse for sitting around…I have a bunch of projects just waiting for me!  I love you, Home Depot. 

Frosted Mason Jars

A few months ago, I saw a fantastic craft on Recaptured Charm (you can see it here).  So, I went to Michael’s, and using my 40% off coupon, I bought a can of Valspar “Frosting” paint.    I had gotten a few glass jars free from an ‘after yard sale’ sale, and figured that would be the best place to start.  Of  course, I was a bit scared to try it, so they sat, and sat, and sat.  Until now!  I used my Cricut and some Clear Contact Paper, and cut out a couple of owls, some snowflakes and a cup of cocoa (there were some ‘fails’ too, but I didn’t put pictures of them up).  After making sure the glass was clean and dry, I adhered the contact paper image to it, then sprayed the ‘frosting’ on.  I did about 7 super light coats on each jar…I think even more coats would look better, but I was too impatient to wait.  I LOVE how they turned out.  I let them dry for about 30 minutes, and then carefully (I used a toothpick) peeled the contact paper off.  I am making more of these for gifts, and for the craft show (yes, I got approved to be a vendor!  woo-hoo!!!!).  For now, I’ve tied jute around the top (like she did),  but I may change that to some cute Christmas ribbon or something, we’ll see.  I went to Goodwill yesterday and scored some more Mason Jars and other types of jars, that will work!  Unfortunately, today it is raining…maybe tomorrow I can finish those up.  It’s such a quick and easy craft, with instant gratification, that it becomes addictive.  Some crafts take hours or even days until you get to see the finished product and feel that sense of accomplishment, but not with this one.

 

So, what do you think???  I promise, this is one of the easiest crafts ever!  Oh yeah, and if you don’t have  a Cricut or other cutter, you can use stickers…

Please leave me a comment, I really look forward to reading them, and I love to visit you back and see what you’ve been up to!

I’m linking to:Get your craft on Thurs

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HookingupwithHoH