Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day to all the folks out there working to make this world a better place, whether they get paid for it or not!

This has been my labor of love these last couple of days... a little something for Miss M's room:

It is a part of a Patti Griffin song called Kite that I fell in love with awhile ago. I thought that the words were pretty appropriate for Miss M and it would be a cherry touch with all the other fabric hoops I am decorating with. =) Thanks to the Embroidery Contest that I entered I am in love with embroidering words onto linen and really taking pleasure in song verses especially!

Oh, and I believe that I have a giveaway that I have to announce the winners for!!! Thank you to everyone for commenting and sharing in my nesting madness... the winners are:

 Amy said...

So cute! Love it.
My nesting...sadly, it hasn't started yet. BAD ME! I need it to, though. I think since I finished school and am job hunting and have NO deadlines...I have become quite lazy on the nesting. However, I do have a lot of projects in mind...

and

 kristanlynn said...

i love your idea of doing crafty things w/ your nesting energy! i need to go to Micheal's and get some things for myself.
my nesting too has started early this pregnancy. and i can't stop cleaning the kitchen or mopping the floors! =)

Congratulations and be sure to email me at mrs.conniekrebs@gmail.com with your mailing info along with how many eggs you want in your nest! (If I don't hear back in a week another winner will be chosen!)

Sock Animals are Back!

The kids and I love going to the library and picking up random books of inspiration and this week's craft book was on a familiar topic- Sock Animals! I adore my book Sock and Glove that I purchased awhile back, but since then I have gotten smart and use my sewing machine to speed (and neaten) things up. What a difference a machine and experience makes!

Well, thank goodness for the experience because the new book, Socks Appeal, is quite challenging! Aside from the usual sock bunny, there are new creatures aplenty. Hamsters, turtles, jellyfish, and so many more. I have to admit that this book gives my skills and eyes a run for their money. Teeny socks get turned into owls, making your eyes weep and begging for a magnifying glass, lol.

One of Klint's 30 Before 30 items though is to make something and I figured that this would be a great opportunity for him to make something for one of the girls and knock and item off the list, and maybe even learn a few hand sewing skills. He blogged about making Guamo, the dirty bunny, for Gabby here.

The girls had a lot of fun picking out socks from Target's $1 knee high sock selection and deciding what they wanted mommy to make them. Since I had to take my 3 hr glucose test on Sat morning (yucko!) I knew that I would have a lot of time to assemble and embellish some fun stuffies for the girls. All said and done, I ended up making 2 snakes, 1 penguin, 2 bunnies, and a skirt for AJ's bunny. Not bad! Here is the crew with the books that we used. (My bunnies are actually my own pattern, I like them bigger than glove size!)

These were so much fun to make that I am going to go grab some more socks for Miss M's sock animal collection!

The List 9.3.10

Happy Friday!!!! I am so glad that it is finally the weekend, a much needed break from the hustle of the school week, plus I got two new Etsy orders out which turned out wonderfully.... And the best part is that I am officially in the 3rd trimester! 3 more months to go unless Miss M decides to premier earlier than December 2nd. =)

Here are some things that I have spotted, tons of eye candy to make and buy!!

I am really starting to struggle with my clothes even though I have only bought two actual maternity pieces... I am thinking that I will whip up a couple of cute shirt skirts this weekend using this tutorial. I had no clue that shirring was this easy! 

My girls are already getting excited about Halloween. I plan on making some cute and creepy clips and bows for their hair, just like these.


There are a lot of things about today's parenting school of thought that I don't agree with, especially this bubble that parents put around their kids to protect them from failure, getting hurt, and exploring naturally. This article is AWESOME about 5 Mistakes Every Kid Should Be Allowed to Make!

AJ loves Disney Princesses... she loves dressing up like them, ALLLLL the movies, and plays with the dolls every day. I never thought about the messages though that these princesses send to our little girls though... this cartoon is a funny but eye opener to the real lesson that each seemingly harmless movie teaches.

I am trying to get my family to not eat out as much, no small feat since at the end of the day the last thing this mama wants to do is try to figure out what to make. Maybe this pretty Meal Planning Board will help with the process?

Every kid needs a bag of their own to carry around the important things in life: some snacks, a small book, a well loved blanket. This Japanese store on Etsy has the cutest bags for that special little one in your life!

With Miss M being a winter baby I am looking ahead to making her some cute outfits for the chilly months... this awesomely easy jean skirt tutorial by Homemade By Jill is perfect! Add some leg warmers and voila!

Finally, I discovered this store and fell utterly in love with the simplicity of the music boxes, birth boxes... basically everything there. However, the price tag was a little steep for the Birth Box that would grace Miss M's dresser. So what is a crafty girl on a budget to do? I am making my own, starting with creating this image to go on the top of the box! Pictures of the finished product to come soon...

And that is all folks! Enjoy all these fun links and have a great weekend!

Simply Waiting

I often acknowledge my cats, since they are awesome and all that,

but I have to mention how cool Spooky is.

She seriously is a Great Dane in a slightly smaller body,

never barks at passing people and dogs,

sleeps on the couches,

and is a dream to take in the car. 

I love this photo of her because this is what she does a lot of the day, 

simply waits....

Words to Live By

Love this..... (found here)....

A Nesting Giveaway

Well I am pretty sure that the whole nesting thing has begun with me. I feel like I can't get the house clean enough, I am in a decorating frenzy in Miss M's room, and I am already thinking ahead to packing my hospital bag. Lol, and I still have exactly 3 months until my due date!

So, instead of driving my hubby nuts with my cleaning and such I decided to celebrate my nesting urges with a lovely giveaway- A Sweet Little Nest Necklace!

The winner of this giveaway will receive one Sweet Little Nest Necklace with 1,2,or 3 blue eggs in it,

complete with a dainty silver chain!

(If you want different color eggs I am sure that can be arranged!)

And guess what? I am picking 2 winners this time!

To enter: Simply leave a comment about this post by Sunday, September 5th 11:59pm EST.

You can tell me about your own crazy nesting urges, cleaning frenzies, or just plain nuttiness!

Two winners will be chosen at random... 

please make sure that I have some way to get a hold of you if you win! 

Winners will be announced on Monday, September 6th! 

Embroidered Poetry

As I have mentioned a few times I am entering a contest sponsored by Melissa Crowe from Checkout Girl. It is an embroidery contest and has great prizes for the winner. I really debated on whether to write a poem or just use something from one of my favorite songwriters. In the end I decided to embroider a portion of a song I love by Ben Folds Five called The Luckiest. Here is my submission:

Seriously, this song is so romantic and pretty... listen to it here!

Anyhow, hopefully I win, but if not, I have some new art to hang on the wall,

complete with some teeny strawberries!

Coming Home

For me one of my favorite parts of getting ready for a new baby is picking out the coming home outfit. Gabby had an adorable classic Pooh set, AJ was covered in Zebra stripes thanks to Old Navy, and Miss M will be sweet as can be in strawberries, thanks to Zulily!

At only $15.99 compared to the original $34.00, this outfit is even cuter because of the price.

Did I mention that there is a matching receiving blanket? =)

And look at this pretty dress that would fit ALL my girls!

Can you hear my sigh of wanton delight?!

What did you dress your little ones in for their coming home?

Just Let Them Play and Get Dirty!

Being a parent has opened my eyes to many things that we do in our society that is really harming our kids more than helping them. I used to observe the behaviors or practices and didn't think much of it because everyone did it, right? But now, thanks to a very good friend, I see more and think more about the long term effects of what all these "modern day parenting practices" mean for kids later in life.

Klint and I take the kids to the park quite a bit. Most of the time I will sit in a place where I can see all the kids, lend a hand when needed, but just watch the kids play and interact with each other. Also, most of the time, I am the ONLY parent doing this. All the other moms are hovering over the kids, ordering their children to play a certain way ("No Liam, hold the truck like this and roll it over here"), and giving them silly rules that have no place in an outdoor play setting such as "Don't pick up that rock, it is dirty", "No running!", "Don't jump off the stair, you will break something", and my personal favorite "Don't dig in the dirt or pick up sticks".

Meanwhile, I am letting Gabby climb wayyy high up a tree, give all the little girls sticks to dog with, and even pick up a huge beetle for the kids to look at. I let them go into the woods off the path with me, pick up rocks and throw them into the stream, and even *gasp* jump over fallen tree branches.

What is the point of taking kids to the park if they can't touch anything, run or yell, and have all these rules that have no purpose? Just let the kids play for goodness sake! Let them use sticks to make fairy forts, dig for buried acorns, and pretend something is different than what it is!!

Wordless Wednesday- First Day of First Grade!

**AJ isn't going to preschool, 

she just didn't want to feel left out of the school fun! =)