F4A253 Challenge

So I decided to have some ME craft time. Nothing to make for anyone in particular, just wanted to get inky and craft. I've been neglecting my stamps lately, so I headed on over to Splitcoaststampers (SCS) to see what the challenge was today. Today was a Free for all, "CASE of Admiration" (CASE= Copy And Share Everything).
Since I've been stamping, my absolute favorite stamper to follow was Faith Horfrechter, you can see the card that I CASED in her SCS gallery

What a fun challenge, I loved getting inky for it :)

Quiet book

So we had a funeral to go to last summer and it was AWFUL! Not because of the normal reasons that funerals are so hard, but because my three year old is CRAZY and doesn't sit still for nothin! Since that horrible, no good day, I decided to make a quiet book for him. Then I put it off because I have other children and a sick husband and duties and such, so it became a Christmas gift (that I finished on Christmas Eve. Yup. Burnt the midnight oil on that one!)

So this is the front of it. Someday, I'll decorate the front to make it pretty. For now, I was just glad that he could open it mere hours after it was finished and wrapped! I got tips and tricks on quiet book covers from First time mom... and losing it

This page was so tedious! I cut out the templates onto paper, then pinned to my felt, then cut out. And guess what?! The kids have been using my good scissors on who knows what- paper, orange peels, wire... my scissors now suck and it was very difficult to cut out all these super cute little pieces. I found the idea and the template for this page HERE

And the make-a-monster page. Don't think my spacing turned out how I wanted it, not sure my three year old will notice though ;)
Got the idea and info for the page at little miss stitchers

The barn page is my favorite, got the idea from A Quiet Book Blog, which is just a wealth of ideas, tips, and tricks! I got my templates from another site though, keep looking!

I am passing you the template that I used for my animals, I got it from Sunshine, Lollopops, and Rainbows. Her template for the barn is also there :)

A couple of learning pages, one on counting and the other on number recognition, practicing using the phone (NO, that is not a real number!! But in his book, they are real so he can learn grandmas, grandpas, and our home info). I got the idea and template for the phone page from Thread Riding Hood. As you can see, I did mine a bit different, mainly due to only being able to use what supplies I had on hand. Not too shabby for making due with what I had, though :)
I got the idea for the beaded counting page from Sugar Bee Crafts

So that's my sons quiet book. And next to a new little bike, it didn't stand a chance. Oh well. I have several other pages that I'd like to still make and add. Maybe I'll update this post if/when I complete them.
Maybe.
"If".
I have lots of great ideas on my "quiet book" pinterest page, feel free to take a peek and pin away!
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!

Handmade soap

So this year for Christmas, we're all about homemade. We're trying to get back to what the reason for the season really is: Christ. As a family, we made some gifts for our family and friends that we thought would be useful and fun, and we enjoyed making them :) One of our gifts is homemade soap. I made a new friend that has an old trick- soap making! Once hearing our goal of a total DIY Christmas, she offered to teach me her ways

I fear that I couldn't do it again if my life depended on it! My crazy kids couldn't leave me alone or not need to go potty or behave with each other long enough for me to do anything! I watched some of the process, stirred, and got to wear some pretty cool looking safety gear. The outcome? Lovely Cocoa-Peppermint soap. Smells SOOOOOO good!!

Ugly sweater time!

It's that time of year again... time to go in public in the most hideous, gaudy, most disgustingly ugly sweater that you can possibly buy (or in this case, make). Ahhh, Christmas. With it's many perks, lovelies, decor, and traditions. We made ugly sweaters a few years ago, however due to mold issues in our home (gotta love the Pacific Northwest!!) they were burnt earlier this year. Once the invitation arrived for our church's ugly sweater contest/Christmas party, I made a trip to the thrift store! Now I prefer the hole-in-the-wall shops over the Goodwill. Most of them have lower prices and support a local cause. Sometimes you can even barter with them! Since I consider myself the queen of frugality, cheaper is better! Step 1- Purchase sweater. I opted for a cardigan style, just a plain green thing.

Step 2- Gather your decorations. I bought two bags of misc. Christmas stuff at the thrift store. My bags had everything from tinsel to stockings, stockings to candle holders, bows to bulbs. A "plethora" of decorations, if you will (wanna play name that movie? "If you do not know what a plethora means, then why do you say I have a plethora of gifts?")

Step 3- Start hot glueing anything (and everything) on. Last time we decorated sweaters, I sewed most of it on. I busted both sweaters out in two evenings. Love the convenience of a glue gun! Note: With using hot glue on a sweater, might want to place something in between the layers of material (I used a cut up cereal box) to prevent glueing the front to the back

Step 4- Glue more on. There's always room for more.

Step 5- Add more decorations. Elbow pads, shoulder pads, trim, collar.... what else could we add?

The finished product, front ^ and back v.

The start of hubby's sweater (just the sweater is seriously so ugly. It reminds me of Fozzy bear)

Made a tree out of the leaves from the poinsettias on my sweater. Wreath on one shoulder, dove on the other. Hubby needs a birdy on his shoulder, like a Christmas pirate!

Decorate the tree!

Hubby's finished sweater from the back

Hubby's finished sweater from the front. Yes, that's tinsel chest and armpit hair. I know. Super gross (but totally hilarious!!)

Our finished products. Yes, I'm wearing a tree skirt. It seemed fitting. Yes,we won the ugly sweater contest. Yes, one of my daughters also made one. Yes, my little boys are both in Christmas sweaters (not quite ugly though), and one of them has a thing for Power Rangers currently). And yes, my oldest daughter is too cool to play along.

Thanks for visiting! If you make ugly Christmas sweaters, I'd love for you to share them with me!

Lip & body balm

Yay for homemade products!

I got the idea/recipe from: http://teacupsandpearls.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/frankincense-and-cinnamon-winter-balm/

In her recipe she didn't specify amounts... I used 1/4 cup of cocoa butter, 1/4 cup beeswax,  1/2 cup of coconut oil, and 7 drops of EO.

Excited to hear the reviews on them! 

Baby quilt (only a year late)

So I had the top of this quilt done the day before I went into labor (last Labor Day, ha ha ha), then I had a baby, life got crazy, and it sat in a drawer. FOR A YEAR!!
Grandparents took the littles for the day so i looked for a way to be productive. BAM! Quilt time :)
This little triangles were time consuming puppies, I tell ya! I really wanted them on there though, my grandma put them on mine & I remember sucking and chewing on them till I was like 10 or something. Yeah, probably younger than that, but you get the picture.
Love, love, love that fluffy backing I found for it, so cozy! My daughter felt it and reminded me that I still owe a quilt.... and she'd like the back to be just. like. that.
Guess you know what I'll be working on for Christmas, eh?
Any who, love the way this quilt top was put together. TRIANGLES! Lots of triangles put together to make a chevron pattern. Genius.

EO on baby with a fever

So my 13 month old must be getting another tooth (about time, he only has 6 1/2!), he started with a low fever yesterday afternoon. He quickly decided his tummy hurt, followed by diarrhea. I put peppermint oil (1 drop, mixed with coconut oil) onto his tummy. Within 10 minutes he stopped crying and acting like it hurt. No more diarrhea either!
After bath time (which includes a few drops of lavender in the water) I rubbed lavender & thieves on the bottom of his feet, then reapplied the peppermint to his tummy and rubbed down his spine.
That boy slept for  N I N E  straight hours!! And woke up with NO fever!!
I'm lovin' these oils!

Young Living starter kit

Got my starter kit, got all started!
I've been busy whipping up batches of all sorts of cool stuff! Can't wait to try them out & let you know how they turned out!

Young Living Essential Oils

I'm so excited to begin this journey, and so glad that I get to share it with you! I was introduced to the healing powers of essential oils a few years ago, but didn't have a desire to use them until quite a bit later. I decided about a year ago that I wanted to get involved with Young Living essential oils, however, circumstance after circumstance occurred, keeping me from taking the plunge. With my husband's health deteriorating rapidly (much more on that topic in future posts), having two hormonal teenage girls, my three year old being a crazy monster (seriously, he's the poster child for ADHD), and my 13 month old never needing sleep-- I. NEEDED. HELP. My baby sister was to the rescue! She's an "Oily Sista" and knew that my family could greatly benefit from the use of oils. A couple days later, here we are! I got my starter kit yesterday and have been all OVER pinterest getting recipes to try! I can't wait to have some awesome stories to tell you about how these oils have changed my life, Thanks again for joining me! Let the adventure begin!
jenn*

Painted pumpkins

We decided to take a different route with our pumpkins this year. PAINT!!

Ever since I saw painted gourds on Pinterest (link here)

I was obsessed. 

SOOOOO......

Here's my chicken!

The kids made quite a mess, I was smart enough to set up outside, with all surfaces covered with butcher paper.

Altered book

We were recently blessed at our local library by receiving over 100 books FOR FREE! Since we are homeschooling now, extra super special! I have been wanting to do an altered art journal with the girls as an art project, but didn't have any books laying around that we could "destroy" for it. Grabbed a couple of extra books at the library (FOR FREE!) to do with this project. The girls had a blast with this! We painted, drew, colored, melted crayons, sew pages together, mod podged collage on pages, made pockets, used buttons, flowers.... This is just one page from my book. I'm looking forward to working in our art journals at least once a month :)