Happy Holidays!

40.14

Rob and I before heading out to 

my party...

yep....ended up having another party

at our neighborhood clubhouse.

Shared the birthday celebration with

Christy....a great lady.

We had a great time...

air band and all.

Rob is attempting to be a Beatle

& I am rocker girl. HA!

40.15
Ava & I headed out to the Charlotte Symphony to see
The Magic of Christmas!
It was a wonderful girl day and evening.
Symphony, to the Ritz to see the giant gingerbread house,
pizza at Brixxs, and doughnuts on the way home!

40.16

I love my mantle.
This year I added starfish that I glittered!

 40.17

Lendy, named by Ava, our Christmas elf
has returned!

HOPE WE ARE ALL ENJOYING THE SEASON!

 

 

catching up...

So I am catching up...

I am still taking a picture every day, 

the hard part has been uploading every day.

So many things to do this time of year.

40.4 is a pic of flowers my girlfriend gave me at the beach when we were chillin'.

Looking at them reminds me of my good friends

and how blessed I am to have

such good friends.

40.5

Ava did this for me....love it!

  40.6...loving our tree!

 40.8

my girl hanging in the tree...

missed a day taking photos..

so I took two pics of each little ones.

  my lil man...

they love playing outside!

 40.9

the kids going outside to collect 

pine cones to glitter.

40.10


Our entry...lovely  (I think :)

 40.11

I actually took this picture the next day,

because this is where I was for two days.

Hammering out my health policy and politics paper.

 40.12...messing with Guinness...our crazy dog.

40.13

My little man checking out what gifts he wants for Christmas!

 Ok....all caught up.

Will do better....

hehehehe!
Happy Holidays!

forty and fab...

 So I am now forty.  I am actually very happy...

and never thought about being "this age."

((My mom passed away at 45))

I am really embracing this new decade for me.

I feel as though I have learned so much...

about what is really important in life.

As part of my first year in my forties...

I am going to take a picture each day to document
what my life is all about.

The pictures might be very random,

but I think rather interesting.

I might share a glimpse into what I have been creating,

what I have been cooking or eating,

or what my family and I are up to.

I will share the first three days of 40 below.

((Yes...I meant to start on the actual day, but I got busy...

and since I make my rules :)

I will try to post each day...but might not.

***The pictures will be taken on the actual day***

Day one.....says it all.  Feet in the sand, watching/listening to the ocean.....

Day two.  Back to my home routines.  Thinking of the fall and 

the scents of pumpkin spice.

Day three.  Tis' the season for kid crafts.  Beck brought this home 

and I set it out for display. 

 I had a wonderful time ringing in my fortieth.

I was blessed to have special friends to join me in my favorite place...by the ocean.

(any place by the ocean is my favorite place)

God blessed us with absolutely beautiful weather.

I must say I have not laughed that hard in a long time.

Some of my girls are hilarious.

Looking forward to an awesome year!

All about owls...

whooo....whoooo....

The school year started and Fall is here.
It seems as if the summer just flew by in the blink of an eye.
I am happy to see Fall and the cooler temps (finally) are refreshing.

I have still been crafting and creating....

one of my latest (and one of my favorites)
is this cute little upcycled dress for A.
I bought 3 XXL tees at a thrift store and
using Lil Blue Boo's Sienna dress pattern...
this is what I created.

Ava loves it...and so do I.
I freezer paper stenciled (one of my new techniques I am loving)
the owl with fabric paint.

so comfy! :)

I was seeing lots of funky, folksy kinda owls all over the blog world,
and decided to make my own.
I used this pattern.

lil boy adopted the one below...the one I made.

Lil A made the one below...picking out the fabric and
even doing some of the stitching.

awwww....cute.

Then staying with the owl theme,
I found an owl in one of A's coloring books.
I traced and colored with permanent markers on shrinky dink film.
I really like how quirky and cute it turned out.

I put the lil owl on a necklace with wooden beads....

Happy Fall !!!

more things...

Wow...
the summer is flying by.
But doesn't it always.
I have enjoyed it as much as possible.
My children keep me smiling
and drinking....he he he!

I have been creating as much as I can.
So, I will share here.

I tried making a shirt.
This was my first attempt at darts and
pin pleats (I think that is what they are called...
At first the fit was funky,
so I used matching fabric scraps
(leftover from teacher's gifts and bag)
and now it fits better.

I like it!!

Remember this photo from last post?
Random, too small clothes...

I freezer stenciled the word Dance...

and all together made this:

Not bad for my first try with this pattern.

I have figured out where to improve....so the next dress will be even cuter ;)

My lil man wanted to pose too.
So he is showing off one the tie dye creations we have made.
This was a fun project for all. Especially when we got to "reveal" the results.

Not only do I create, but so do my children...

aren't they cute?

~~~ Happy Wednesday! ~~~
off to the beach :)

Have plenty other projects to share when I return.

Making me happy...

I just seem to feel happy being creative and creating things.
Especially reusing items and making things spending little money.
I am a very visual person and creating anything (even cooking food)
is very relaxing for me.
Some people listen to music...
I create.

Last post I showed off my beach towel/cover up I created.
Well, one of my friends asked me if I would make her one.
(yes, I was very flattered)
So I did.....and even used the extra bit of towel to make a little skirt for her girl.

from what I hear, they like.
(which I am so happy because I have never sewed anything for anyone...
other than family)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I saw several tutorials on hand stamping on metal washer jewelry.
So I thought I would try it out.
Especially since the material was cheap. The washers are from the local hardware store and the alphabet stamps were from Harbor Freight.

So I played around and this is what I made:

Ava's with an elastic cord so she can easily take on and off.

This one is my sister's...she is so close to finally finishing college. (yippee!)

A mommy necklace. For my friend who has a boy Ava's age and a set of twins (boy/girl).
They are soooo cute!

For my friend Sarah.

ummmm...this could be addicting. Might have to stamp out some more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Look below to see what I pulled out of the "not fitting anymore" stash.
Ava's shirts and leggings and one of my old maternity tees.
I made a cute halter dress for Ava.
Now...as soon as Ava cooperates, I will post a pic.

Happy Sunday!

bags and such...

I was very pleased with my latest attempt at making my own bag.
I wanted something lively and colorful and light for the summer...not too big.
I found a great tutorial and this is what I made.
I embellished with a flower.

Then I found this idea
for a beach towel dress/coverup.
Not only did I use her tutorial...but when I went to Target
I found the same towel she used...
and since I loved the blue dots...mine looks like hers.
Although I tie mine like a halter and I made a slit on the side.

It is really comfortable. And it really is not that hard to make.

with the leftover from the towel I made Ava a drawstring bag for the pool.
((take note...Ava cut her own hair...decided to add some side swept bangs...
not too bad)) :)

I have been thinking of making an easy pillowcase dress for Ava.
So when I found this "not so pretty" pillowcase in my closet
(no idea where it came from)
I knew it would make a comfy nightie.

Ava loves it.

pardon the morning hair and wrinkles...she wore it the night before.thought I would share some kid pics from the weekend..

happy hump day!