TOO cute not to share

Ok, these look SUPER simple and so cool!  Just start off with a wooden spool (I have seen these on crafter sites for $4 for 18 or so), slap some embellishments or lace on, a simple wire twist and VOILA, a very unique photo holder!  Or business card holder, whatever.  Such a cute idea!

Please, if you make them, post and share with us!  I know I will be doing that VERY soon!  LOVE these!  Thinking a cute cute Christmas idea for sending with those little pics the kids get from school pictures.

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So are you anxiously awaiting news of my day with a 1 month old in the midst of my crazy life? NO?? Really, it isn't the first thing you wanted to know ALL about today? Ok, well FINE. Was actually a very dull day. As a first time mom who has truly never taken care of children before, my sister does things differently than I do. She holds her daughter all the time! Ok, I'm not knocking this, not at ALL. But with a houseful of kids, I was not prepared to carry a baby around all day. And the poor thing is so used to a perfectly quiet house, she startled at every noise in my loud house! Needless to say, I was pretty tired by the end of the day. She wasn't difficult at all, just us getting used to each other. So I got NOTHING productive done yesterday. I was too tired to even look at the computer! I got ZERO happy mail despite all that I ordered last week, but I'm thinking that was a good thing since I would have stayed up late with it had anything come in the mail.

So today is my Bible Study day... oh wait. Nope. After I signed up for Bible Study, hubby decided he didn't want to take care of kids so I could go. So now I am babysitting kids for the group instead of attending. So it's Bible Study day, just not for ME. I get to stay home with extra kiddos to keep quiet until my husband is ready to get out of bed. Woohoo! Okay, really need that sarcasm font. At this point, I will move on to something more interesting than a bunch of complaints. At least I hope so. I am still waiting for my Pazzles Inspiration to get better and come home. Expecting it maybe Monday? In the meantime, I have been working on other projects when I can. My 7 year old girls are the WORST about loosing earrings. They treat them as disposable. They wear them once and then loose them. How? I do not know. But I myself am guilty of taking earrings out and setting them somewhere, anywhere, and then they get knocked onto the floor, played with by a toddler (I would imagine the bottom of the toy boxes are like prize boxes for stud earrings!) sucked up by the vacuum, or disappear into the abyss with the "other" sock. So, in an attempt to corral their earrings, I had a brilliant idea! Hey, I'm entitled to my opinion! I considered plastic canvas, but then decided it breaks too easily for my rough kiddos. Sitting at my craft desk and looking around, I had an idea. I can cover a canvas (the flat kind) with some pretty paper and stuffs... and then put in a bunch of eyelets! The metal eyelets will hold up. My Big Bite (Crop a Dile II) by We R Memory Keepers can punch the holes and set the eyelets. SO I am started, though I got bored really quickly with punching holes and setting eyelets. BUT it's a good start and I know I will finish it by the weekend. Maybe I have adult ADD. Or maybe I just need a Nanny. Anyone care to apply? Doesn't pay well. Anywho, here is a picture of the started project - there is a row across the top with just holes on the left, and then the eyelets on the right. I will post more pics as I continue to work on it.
 

I tried to do a close up just to show you the holes - isn't that exciting? Hey, let's remember how secluded my life is, ok? I put the DragonFly eyelets in to string twine or maybe ribbon, still undecided, for hanging it up. I also put some pads on the corners on the back so that the earring backs won't get bent or dirtied by hitting the wall. So when it's actually hanging up, the earrings will not touch the wall. I had originally planned to use regular canvas for this reason, but found that the Big Bite was not wide enough to pass the wooden frame. Bummer!

Well for now, I will close with a few words about how much I love my Pazzles!  I haven't even been able to cut much with it, but the software is so amazing!  It is sooooo nice to make everything I want instead of looking through dozens of expensive Cricut Carts to find ONE image to cut.  If you don't have one, look into it!  You can get one as low at $99!  And the monthly craft room is TOTALLY worth it!  Please comment or email with ANY questions.  I will do my best to answer them.

 

Late Night Ramblings

So it's nearly midnight in Colorado, and my brain just won't shut off!  Is that a good thing? I recently made the move from my Cricut Expression to the Pazzles Inspiration, thanks to several other bloggers.  Shortly after I got my Pazzles (like, less than 48 hours) I had to pack it up and ship it back. SO SAD!  I can't stop playing with the software, so I will be a cutting FOOL when my baby returns.  It was just a glitch, the kind of thing that can happen with anything electronic, and I have to tell you, customer service was ASTOUNDING!  They jumped right on it and emailed a return shipping label so I could send it in to the doctor.  Now, I'm DREAMING of my Pazzles!  My December Daily is kind of STUCK until I can get my Pazzles back.  It's going to be a busy machine next week!  Anyway... It's Tuesday.  And on Tuesdays, I have our Girl Scout meeting. All day, I kept thinking about their project today, and how much my Pazzles would have helped out!  Our girls love to do crafts, and anytime I don't have one, they are so disappointed!  So I try to put some sort of craft together around the lesson.  Today, was healthy eating.  Have you seen this new MyPlate healthy eating thinga ma jobby?  What was wrong with the pyramid?  Why must we ALWAYS change things? Is it JUST to make people like me feel old?  "You know in MY day, we had a food pyramid, we didn't have MyPlate".  So needless to say, we learned it together.  I found a great site, http://www.nourishinteractive.com/ if you ever need some great information and printables, or even online games for your kids to learn about healthy eating. 

My sister has just decided I am worthy of watching her 1 month old daughter. So tomorrow I am babysitting all day.  I reminded her how many children I have taken care of as a foster parent, the fact that I have 7 children of my own, and that I have babysat since I was about 12 (do you remember when that was ok?).  Then suddenly, I began to think... Why on EARTH am I fighting for the right to WORK???  My baby is almost 3 and he's been out of diapers a few months.  WHAT WAS I THINKING???  I'm sure I will have some incredibly witty and charming stories to share after caring for my niece for 12 hours tomorrow.  So, get excited! 

On that note, I will leave you with a picture to ponder the "new" rules of healthy eating.  What are your thoughts on this?  Ok, I know it came out like 2 years ago, but I DWELL on things. But really, what do you think of this? Good, bad, indifferent? Does it make you change your eating habits? One of my Girl Scouts interpreted the Dairy Circle as a bowl of Ice Cream.  Sounds good to me!

My December Daily Album

About two weeks ago, I read about this group starting up on Facebook, for sharing ideas for December Daily. I said, December what?  I live a very secluded life - what is this?  But always looking for something new to do... so I began asking questions.  Turns out, this is like Diary meets Scrapbook done IN ADVANCE of December, to allow ease of documenting your Christmas season. Easy?  Really? I'm IN!

So I'm ready to get started, and guess what? My Pazzles looses it's marbles. So it's at the doctor and unless I want to dig out my Cricut (kinda really don't), I am roughing it with some scrapbooking. Well, as I typically have 3-4 projects going on at once, I have managed to get my cover done.  Knowing me, I will keep adding stuff to it, but I am actually really pleased with this.  Pretty simple, but I like it!  And I did an origami poinsettia since I couldn't cut one out with my Pazzles!  Gave me an excuse to by some Distress Ink and flat back pearls. Here is the link for the instructions for the poinsettia http://en.origami-club.com/flowers/poinsettia/poinsettia/index.html.  I would recommend using regular paper, or even contruction paper, instead of the cardstock I did.  Cardstock gets a little tough to fold after awhile.

This is only the beginning

And this is my second try...  I lost my first post somewhere in blogger black hole.  So, my whittiest comments are probably gone.  You will just have to settle for second best. 

Just writing a little about me. As a mom to 7 children, lazy really isn't the appropriate word... I think overwhelmed is more accurate.  But I trust this was God's plan He DOES get us through. That being said, I should explain the oddness of my family. We have two 19 year olds, Kenny, the oldest, is my son from my first marriage.  I raised him alone for ten years before I met and married Ed. Now Summer, our other 19 year old, is Ed's daughter from his first marriage.  She is exactly 4 months younger than Kenny, so the High School teen years were oh so exciting!  (where is the sarcasm font??)  Currently, Kenny is in his sophomore year at Norwich University in Northfield, VT.  It's a private military school, and he is there with a very large scholarship, but not 100% (grrr).  Summer just started college at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.  She received a few "luck of the draw" scholarships to offset expenses, but wasn't able to get academic scholarships to "go away" to college.  So, she moved out and still my husband foots the bill (ok, SORE subject, but you will probably hear more!).

I worked in Financial Managment for a number of years, and then became a "domestic goddess", or more accurately, SLAVE, 4 years ago.  This happened because we were called to become foster parents, and after just a few months of fostering, two beautiful and amazing children were presented to us as in desperate need of a forever family.  We may have wasted 2 or 3 seconds on that decision, but those two children are now Amanda and David with a birth certificate with mine and my husband's name!  Since that time, we have adopted 3 other children - Robby, Tiana, and Tommy.  As I write this, Robby is 1 week from his 3rd birthday, Tiana and Amanda are both 7, and David and Tommy are both 5.  We also have a foster daughter who has been with us just shy of 2 years, but will be moving to family on her biological father's side, next week.  After 4 1/2 years, serving more than 40 children, and 5 adoptions, my husband is ready to stop fostering.  Thus opening up a lot of time for me to blog and bore entertain, all my virtual friends!

My girls are involved in Cheer and Dance competition, Tommy and David are active in the local wrestling club, and I am a Girl Scout Troop leader.  So I don't actually sit around looking for things to do, despite what hubby thinks sometimes.  My boys are amazing and I love them and they are BOTH ADHD.  ALL my younger children were drug exposed and come with their own unique set of needs.  So I do have my hands full - but crafting and chit chat are my escapes. 

WELCOME to my world!!  Please share with your friends.  I will be sharing all the fun and mostly easy, crafts I do with and for my kids, my Girl Scout troop, and my FIRST December Daily Album!  So hang out, stay awhile, and share your inspiration too!