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! =)

Summer Lovin' Happens So Fast

Well folks, here in NE Ohio summer break is officially over! Tomorrow the kids are back in school, parents are bustling to finish all the school shopping, and clothes are being carefully selected.

Since today was Gabby's last day of summer I let her choose the activity of the morning and not surprisingly she chose a favorite park of ours.

The girls climbed trees, took photos of nutty squirrels, and made friends with lots of other little girls. We swung on swings, played in the dirt, and found lots of interesting nuts and shells.

Summer seems like it went by so fast, but when I think about everything that we have done... I get tired thinking about it! We went to the beach more times than I can count, the zoo, library, nature center, park, waterpark, mall.... it is a long list. Not to mention all the summer crafting, water fun, tent making, popcorn creating, planting, worm digging, singing and dancing that happened every day. Whew! So yes, I am ready for fall to be here and ready to get back to a routine of earlier bedtimes and lunch packing.

And the Machine Keeps Humming!

For all you crafty types out there, does your artistic drive come and go or change methods a lot? I seriously think I have Crafter's ADD! Sometimes I sew tons of projects, my Janome hums away late into the night, and then one day I put it away and never take it out for months. In the meantime I turn to my computer for artistic outlets or my paints, or any of the other gazillion materials I have in my craft room.

Well it seems that sewing is the method to my madness, at least lately, and with the projects I have going on I doubt that it is going to change. Yesterday I made some awesome plush baby blocks for Miss M, complete with cute tags on them.

(I was thinking of doing a tutorial for them... what do you all think?)

And now when I was surfing around the web 

before I got to work on my entry for the Embroidered Poetry Contest, 

I found these.... 

Yes, indeed.... GIANT plush Strawberry Pillows!!!!!!!!

OMG, I think I am going to die with love for them! 

What's that? You want to make some for me...

the tutorial is here! 

So as soon as I finish up a few Cake Topper orders for my shop, 

you can bet your bottom that you are going to be seeing some of these gracing my home! 

If You Love Me, Don't Read This!

Lol, well ok, you can read... just don't enter this contest because if you win I don't know if we can be friends... =)

So on Craft Gossip they are giving away 3 $100 Etsy Wishlist shopping sprees... my heart skips a beat just thinking about it. I LOVE ETSY! Seriously, it is my eye candy, soul candy, and even provides a bit of extra fun money for me now and then since I actually do sell things there sometimes. I could easily buy all my clothes, toiletries, kids toys, and so much more on here and never tire of checking out the site every day.

So what would I spend $100 on if I won? Here is my Etsy Wishlist!

Three Peas in a Pod Necklace- $35.00
Antique Twig Hair Pins- $24.50
Chunky Brown Wool Hat- $38.00
Hedgehog Rubber Stamp: $2.30
TOTAL: $99.80!

See how easy it is to spend $100 on Etsy? And trust me, this list took quite a bit of time to do because my favorites list is so big... lol.

Well, here's hoping I win and have some awesome new things to wear this fall! Remember, you didn't read about this giveaway and will not spread the word... I mean, you still want to be friends right? (Just kidding, I ♥ you all!)

When Zombies Run Amuck

For Gabby's birthday I wanted to make her something really special that fits her likes 

and of course Zombies came to mind. 

Now before you go thinking that I am letting my 6 yr old watch horror movies like 28 Days Later and such, let me clarify that Gabby LOVES Scooby Doo movies.... 

see, now you know where the Halloween/Monster love comes from! 

So anyhow, since I make cake topper dolls all the time for other people I decided to make a spooky Zombie girl for Gabby. And since it turned out so well I just listed the item in my shop here.... I am excited because it is definitely something new and cute. 

This is Gabby's Zombie Girl!

The List 8.20.10

It seems like there is so much to do these days... school starts next week, dance classes to teach, and a new baby coming smack dab in the middle of the holiday season. Here are some cool things that have caught my eye in the last couple of days!

I attempted to make a pillowcase dress last week... didn't turn out so hot. May this easy tutorial will fix whatever I goofed up on last time!

With Gabby starting 1st grade this year I really want to have a first day of school tradition that doesn't involve me crying, lol. Although I am not too familiar with German traditions, the Schultuete Cone is something that is easy and will give me something to do instead of worrying!

French toast is one of my ultimate favorite breakfast foods... don't these French Toast Skewers look yummy?

As I mentioned in my post prior to this one, I am planning on filling cute cake slice boxes for my girls' birthday party favors. Since I am a DIY sort of gal I found some great tutorials on how to make these myself.... this one seriously does "take the cake", lol.

Luckily I don't have to worry too much about nap mats for my little ones, but this Nap Mat How To seems so cute and fun, I almost wish I had a reason to make one!

With planning a joint birthday party in September I don't really want to put another party on the calendar, however this Easy Shrimp Boil may make it onto the plans for October.... mmmmm.... shrimp, no utensils or plates, and lots of friends!

Finally, I just found the cutest doll house on Etsy and for once I think that I may just buy it instead of trying to make it myself.... too cute!

Well, that is about it! Hope you enjoy these links and have a GREAT weekend!

Birthday Bash Goodness

I have to admit that maybe my bunting obsession is getting out of hand.... maybe... =)

But seriously, who can resist this awesome cake topper bunting? 

Especially if there are two little birthday girl cake toppers under it? 

via here

+

via here

= Total Birthday Girl Cuteness!!!

Now that the girls' birthday bash invites have been sent out (thank you Paperless Post!) 

I am starting to gather ideas for the rest of the party.

Favors holders will be similar to these but in a fall-ish theme,

party hats like these,

with these for the take home snack! 

This is the first year that we decided to combine birthday parties for the girls,

since there is so much going on these days. 

Luckily the girls share a lot of the same friends,

they are little enough to be excited just to have a party,

and I have lots of room to be creative and thrifty! 

I am sure that there is more birthday bash goodness on the way in the next month...=)

The BEST Peach Raspberry Crisp EVER!

Ok, so remember alllll those raspberries that we picked? Well aside from eating them by the handful, freezing them and using them for smoothies, and using them as ice cream topping I decided to make a Peach Raspberry Crisp.... oh my did it turn out YUMMY!! So yummy in fact that it was pretty much all gone before I could photograph it, so this photo will have to do. =)

via here

Ok, so here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

6-8 ripe peaches

1 quart of raspberries

sugar

cinnamon

1 cup of uncooked oats

1/3 cup unsalted butter- softened

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of flour

dash of nutmeg

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Slice up all the peaches (I left the skin on) and place in your baking dish. 8x8 pan worked for me

3. Dump all the raspberries on top

4. Generously cover with some cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar

5. In a mixing bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients and sprinkle on top

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

7. Top with ice cream and enjoy!

Happy Birthday Gabby!!!

Yesterday my oldest girl turned 6 years old.... a first grader who loves sports, Halloween, and drawing me pictures of zombies. She is a daddy's girl, very sensitive, loves to read, and has a way with animals that just makes me smile.  Look how much she has grown!

Happy Birthday baby girl! 

A Berry Good Morning!

One of my favorite things about the last bit of summer into fall is all the pick your own farms that are in our area. We go apple picking, pumpkin picking, and this year we added raspberry picking to the list! The farm we went to is Rosby's Berry Farm, which is only about 15 minutes away from us. It was hot, humid, and on the brink of raining... but that didn't deter us from picking 3 HUGE quarts of yummy berries. The nice thing about this farm is that every day the owners keep the website updated to let you know if there are enough berries to pick. Since it is early in the season there are days that they need to close down to allow ripening to happen, but if you check the website before you leave you will know if they have berries or not.


Well, with all of those berries I am now looking for some delicious recipes to make.... tonight I think I will be making some peach and raspberry crisp! If you have a good recipe for using raspberries please let me know as I know we will be going back to the farm again soon. =)

(Miss Gabby- the birthday girl and queen of the berries!)

Scrappy ABC Art

Today is definitely a day for new discoveries. First I found a new craft blog (like I need more inspiration and craft ideas?!) called The Crafting Chicks. OMG do they have AWESOME ideas for everything from back to school to home crafts.... and all the tutorials are beautifully written and easy to follow.

Well, in searching the past posts I stumbled across a very cool idea for some ABC art using these girly scrappy alphabet cards from Sweet Shoppe Designs. (There is a boy version as well here!) So all I did was buy the images (all of $3.99), open a blank 16x20 document on Photoshop, and arranged the cards until everything looked nice. Viola! A one of a kind poster for Miss M's room that goes beautifully with the decor and adds some visual interest to the space....