Craft Fair

I did a craft fair this last Friday and Saturday.  Here are some of the things I (I'm using "I" lightly, Jim did a lot of the work too) made for it.  We made crown molding shelves, various art and printables that we framed (Jim made all the frames and I painted them), and other little cutsey decor items.  I think we had a lot of fun stuff. 

Jim made the barn door display for me using an old door we came across, and some old barn wood.  I think it was a really cute display.  So cute in fact, it was one of the first things I sold on Saturday morning.  I had to rearrange the rest of the stuff after the door went bye-bye.

We got a good booth space with a bulletin board behind us.  We were able to hang up more stuff than we thought!

This was one of Jim's favorite creations.  I told him to make me a barn wood shelf to display some pictures in, and this was the outcome.  Cute, if I do say so myself.

Red crown molding shelf.  I love red things!

I made The Family:  A Proclamation to the World printable, and Jim made the awesome barn wood frame to put it in.

This little dity was a popular seller.

Framed printable

More stuff.

This shelf was one of the first things that sold.  

I don't know if you can tell, but there are little jingle bells in the frame.  This thing sold pretty fast too.

That's about all.

Overall, I can't say that the craft fair was a huge success.  There wasn't a whole lot of traffic coming through.  Several of the vendors were pretty bored, and I think we sold the most of our stuff to each other.  I haven't done a craft fair in several years, and I guess the market for it has changed a lot.  I talked to a lot of vendors who said they used to do 90+ craft fairs a year, and now they only choose a select few to do.  I guess I picked a not-so-great one to display my items, but it was still a fun experience.  I also have a good amount of stuff to start my Etsy shop with.  Yup, I'm going to give Etsy a try.  I like to make stuff, but I only have so much wall space, so I guess Etsy will be my crafting outlet.  Once I really get my shop up and going, I'll set up a link on the ol' blogaroo.   Until then. . . Adieu!

Child-isms

This post is mostly for Grammy Char Char who has been begging me for some new pictures of her adorable grandbabies.  She bought these little outfits for said babies, and they look super cute in them.  But wait!  These pictures are not all!  Scroll down and there are a few little Tralee and Hunter-isms I didn't want to forget about.

Tralee:

Tralee has been into wearing, "A plain long sleeved shirt without anything on it."  She thinks wearing this will make her look more like a kitty cat, because "kitties don't have stuff on their fur."  The only downside to this is that Tralee only has a few plain, long-sleeved, shirts without any designs or emblems on them.  So, we're constantly negotiating which outfits she should wear.  She's also been wearing one of my belts around her belly for the last three days.  It's her kitty tail, in case you were wondering.

Hunter:

While we were at church on Sunday Hunty climbed into my lap, gave me a squinch, and said, "You're the best mommy."  I responded, "You're the best Hunty."  He then added, "Aw!  We're both the best!" I would have to agree.

Another Hunter-ism happened the other day when I told him it was time to go brush his hair.  As I was carrying him to the bathroom he said, "We have to brush my hair so I can say, 'Ow!  Ow!  Ow!'"  I don't think it hurts when I comb through Hunty's feathery short hair.  I DO think he's observed me wrestling the tangles out of his sister's hair a time or two.  She yells"Ow!" through the whole hair-doing process.  I suppose Hunter thinks you have to say, "ow!" whenever your hair gets brushed.

The last Hunty-ism happened the other day whilst I was changing him (I know, I said I would potty train him in November. . . yeah, that didn't happen.  But it will happen soon!)  While I was changing the little stinker, he pointed to his you-know-whats and told me, "don't forget about my grapes."  GRAPES?!  We've never called them grapes before -- but now that's all we CAN call them.

Sometimes Hunter wants to get a hug.  If I go in for a kiss too, he'll pull away and say, "No!  Just hugs!"  After we're done hugging he'll look at me and command, "Now a kiss!"  After we give each other some kissies, Hunter will grab both of my cheeks in his sticky little paws, pull my face into his and tell me to, "Squish noses."  He likes to smoosh our noses together.  Sometimes that's all his wants, "No hugs!  No kisses!  Just squish noses!"  I love to squish noses with Hunter!  I highly recommend a good nose squish every now and again.

Silly kids.  Silly, cute, adorable, funny, drive-me-crazy kids!

Now I have to get back to making stuff for the craft fair I'm doing this Friday and Saturday.

Mom, I hope that helped satisfy your grandchild cravings for a few days!  Love you!

Decked a Lil' More

Hi.  I couldn't sleep the other night.  I woke up at 3am and was wide awake.  So, channeled my inner elf and worked on some Christmas crafts.  I even heard Buddy in my head saying, "I got a full forty minutes [of sleep], and still had time to make a rocking horse."  I didn't get to the rocking horse, but I did make a garland and some elf hats and Rudolph noses to decorate some pictures of my cute kids.  The elf hats were really easy and took about five minutes to throw together.  The garland took a little longer.  I saw something like it in a Pottery Barn catalog and knew I had to try making it.

I think it all turned out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.  Now I think I'll go make some snow angels for two hours, then go ice skating, then eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie Dough as fast as I can, and then I'll find those cute kids of mine and snuggle!

Skipped the Crowds and Decked the Halls

My last post was about Thanksgiving decorations.  It's only the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but it already feels like ages ago.  We spent our Turkey Day with Jim's Aunt Michelle and her family.  We also got to visit with some of Jim's other relatives.  It was a laid back day surrounded by yummy food and fun people.  My kind of day.  I made this.  Exquisite.  I mean, it was on Martha Stewart's website, so of course it would be perfection!  I mean, I'm not a chocolate person, but I LOVE French Silk Pie -- go figure.  Literally.  My figure goes just thinking about the scrumptious deliciousness of this pie.  On the way over to Jim's Aunt's house I whined, "I don't want to share this pie.  I want it all for me."  I said this whilst imagining my French-Silk-Pie-covered-face sitting on my kitchen floor, fork in mouth, empty pie pan on my lap, and a look of satisfaction smothered over my face.  Jim gave me a, "You're weird" glance, and I was reminded that it was Thanksgiving.  A day we're supposed to share our blessings with others.  So, once we arrived at Michelle's, I decided not to leave the pie in the car only to take it home later and snarf its silky, rich, satiny, chocolate, decadence all by myself, and share my bounty with others. Now the pie is gone, and I'm a little sad.

To get over my love affair with The Pie, I spent the Friday after Thanksgiving NOT fighting the deal-thirsty mobs (not a fan of crowds) and instead I stayed home with the littles tearing down our Fall decor and adorning our house for Christmas.  While we hung the ornaments with care, Nat King Cole (I could listen to his smooth voice croon Christmas Carols ALL.  DAY.  LONG) among others filled our house with Christmasy spirit.  I even completed a new craft I had been thinking of.  It was SO easy and I think it turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself.  Looky here:

I call them, Antiqued Mason Jar Lanterns  

Materials Needed:  

Mason jars (or any glass--think recycled sauce--jars)

Metallic spray paint (I used silver), 

Sand paper

Brown and/or black acrylic paint (those little .50 to .89 bottles is more than enough)

A few drops of water

Medium paint brush or small sponge brush

Vinyl letters that spell holiday-ish verbage (I cut mine using my Silhouette, but before I had this handy machine I would go to a craft store and get stickers to use for this kind of project or cut paper by hand an Modge Podge it on)

A finishing/sealing agent (I used glossy Modge Podge).

How To:  

1.  Spray paint jars.  I spray painted the jars with a silver metallic paint, then let them dry

2.  Sand Jars.  Scuff up the spray paint using sandpaper.  Just do this to your liking. Wipe down jars.

3.  Antique Glaze Jars.  Add a bit of brown/black acrylic paint to a container and water it down a bit to create a glaze.  You might have to play around with the consistency.  Paint glaze on jars to give an antiqued effect.  Use paper towel to rub off the acrylic paint if it's a little too thick in some areas.  Continue to glaze to your personal preference.  I did a few coats.  Wait for it to dry.  

4.  Place letters on.  I cut some vinyl letters using my Silhouette (you could also use stickers or modge podge paper letters/designs on).  

5.  Seal Jars.  I finished the project by painting a coat of Glossy Modge Podge over the entire surface of the jars.

6.  Decorate with jars!  I added some fun Christmas lights and, Ta-da!!, Antiqued Mason Jar Lanterns!

Here are some more of our decorations:

I took an old thrift store frame, spray painted it green, modged podged some paper onto it, and added the vinyl sleigh and letters.  I coated it with some Modge Podge (love that stuff!)

Some trees I made and some dollar store decor (love the dollar store!)

Earlier in the day the kids and I decorated our mini tree.  It's the centerpiece on our often cluttered dinning room table.

More decor.  I made the advent calendar.  Some other items are things I made mixed with dollar store finds.  The Irish Santa was a hand-me-down from Jim' mom.  We like anything Irish around here!

We decorated the Christmas Tree as a family Friday night.  I actually did send Jim out into the masses to buy us a good deal on a fake tree.  Yes, we've decided to go fake this year.  I'm still finding pine needles from last year's tree.  I was done with the mess.  I will miss the smell of a real needled tree, but I'm hoping a pine-scented candle will make up for the loss.  Also, Hunter's new favorite hiding place is under our twinkly tree.  Here are some pics from decorating:

These are the only pictures I got.  I was too busy decorating with the family to get any more.

As I was putting the finishing touches on said tree, I wondered what happened to my help, then looked over at the couch, and saw this:

Do you like Hunter's pink pull-up diaper?  It's a leftover from Tralee's days in diaperhood.  Just so you know, a real boy can pull off a pink diaper!

Melt my heart with my lovies cute selves!  The only thing that could have made our Friday better would have been a slice of French Silk Pie (I really can't get that thing out of my mind, and I refuse to make another one because I know I'll gluttonously eat all of it too much of it).  Since The Pie was gone, I had to do the next best thing.  I tucked the munchkins into their beds, snuggled up to the hubster on the couch, put on a re-run of How I Met Your Mother (love that show), and basked in the festive decor around me.

We had a great Friday after Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is (almost) Here!

I don't have much in the name of Thanksgiving decor, so I made a few things to festive the place up.

I spray painted an old thrift store frame, modged poded some fun paper to the white mat that came with the frame, and added some cute pics of the munchkins.  I cut the vinyl "blessings" word out to place above the frame.  I also printed out another printable found here, and added it to a $1Ikea frame (when o' when will Ikea come closer to me?).  Jim also cut some blocks for me, which I painted, and added the vinyl letters that spell, "give thanks."  The pumpkins were leftover from my Halloween decor, and the "Homemade Pies -- 35 cents" printable is one that I made.  I copied a sign I found online, except I think the sign online had an apple pie, and I wanted a pumpkin pie.  So, I just made my own sign with a pumpkin pie, printed it out, and popped it in an old frame. 

Happy Thanksgiving banner.

Thanksgiving printable.  Found here.

I had to throw this one in the mix.   Isn't he cute?

Snow

We had some snowy weather for a good hour yesterday.  So, of course we had to go play in it before it all disappeared.  As usual Tralee was out frolicking the longest.  Hunter and I had some good snowy fun for 10 minutes or so, while Tralee was out there for three times that.  Afterwards we all came inside, changed out of our wet clothes, and got snugly in our jammies.  

Tralee's grassy snow angels.

Interesting Turkey Craft

We had pre-school at our house yesterday.  The theme was Thanksgiving, so of course we had to do some kind of Turkey craft.  Most of the kids' turkeys turned out like this:

And then there was Hunty's.  His turned out like this:

Should I be worried?  Or is this a sign that Hunter is a creative genius who thinks outside the box?  Jim said Hunter's turkey looks like a turd on a plate covered in eyeballs (hope you weren't eating something when you read that last line).

Lovely.

I was thinking we should have made the picture of Hunter's turd-eyeball-turkey into a holiday card that said something like, "Eye hope your Thanksgiving isn't crappy!"  There just wasn't enough time to pull it off.  Oh well.  Hopefully you're not too upset you didn't get that kind of card in your mailbox this year.  Sorry if you're disappointed.  Maybe next year our little Picasso will pull off something equally fantastic.