Welcome to my World

Don't you love the sense of accomplishment you feel after you complete a project or task that took some effort?  I am feeling pretty good about myself right now because I just accomplished the project of making laundry soap!  I saw this idea and recipe on Twila's blog and thought "I really need to try this!"  It was really simple to do but it feels good knowing that I saved some money and I can't wait to see how it works for me!  Another sense of accomplishment comes from the painting of this chest of drawers.  I have been needing to replace the old chest of drawers that I kept in the kitchen to hold cookbooks, stationery, tools, batteries, etc.  It was so bad it was giving me splinters!  So I found this vintage beauty at GW for a steal, only it was a speckled light green!  Straight form the 70's!  So my dear husband spray-painted it for me.  Can't believe how nice it turned out.  I am considering painting a design on it like the...

  On any random day, if you open my freezer, you might find something like THIS: Not sure why it's so fun to freeze random toys in water!  But it sure makes life interesting!  Gotta love my kids...

So here are some more inspirations from Pinterest  I was looking for some simple but pretty snack ideas for a party I was having, so I skedaddled over to Pinterest and found these cuties!  What a great idea for Valentine's Day, but also could be modified for other holidays/occasions!   I decided to make them with a Fall theme...They were so cute and Yummy!  I made them with a brownie mix in a mini-muffin pan.  Then I bought white icing and added food coloring.  This was very simple and inexpensive.  I could have made it from scratch, but I was looking for a quick and easy idea.  The next idea I found on Pinterest was this cute mini veggie cup n dip.  I just HAD to try this!   Unfortunately, I couldn't find the clear cups in the mini size, so I did white ones.  It was so fun and handy!   The food was fun and pretty, and the only negative part of the party was that not enough people came to enjoy it!

I have been getting all kinds of fantastic craft ideas on Pinterest.com  It's a virtual Bulletin Board where you can post your ideas and things you find all over the web.  And you can  also look at what others post.  Great stuff.  So I found this little notebook cover thing for a child and I decided to try to make one for Joanna to take to church, restaurants, or anywhere she has to sit for very long.   I started with a quilted pillow sham that I picked up at Goodwill and hadn't found a good use for, and some scrap fabric from a dress I had made for Joanna.    I cut off a section of the pillow sham and sewed on the pockets, trying to only sew through the lining, and not the quilted cover.  I cut a slit in the lining where the tablet could slide through, and sewed a ribbon around the slit so it wouldn't tear any more.   I sewed ribbons on to close it, and Ta-Da!  A very fast and easy project.  Oh, and she adores i...

After having three boys and having my fair share of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails, having a daughter has been DELIGHTFUL for this mommy.  She has brought a lot of SUGAR and SPICE into our lives (if you know what I mean)!  I have been dreaming for the last few months about having a princess birthday party for my little princess.  I decided to try doing everything the most economical way possible.  I started with handmade party favors.  The wands above were made of felt that I had lying around.  I hot glued two pieces together with a bit of cotton and a dowel rod and ribbons stuck inside.  Then I unearthed the sequin trim that was waiting in some dark corner of my craft supplies for this exact project!  That got hot glued to one side  of the wand. The only thing I bought for this project, was a  pack of dowel rods for $.97.  The jewels I had gotten earlier for a different project and the ribbon I had on hand as well....

 So this is our School Room...Really it's a corner of our bedroom that we use for school this year.  I found that at the kitchen table there were way too many distractions.  This has been working out pretty well.  The two that are not in the school room at the time are supposed to play very NICELY together and not interrupt!  Surprisingly it's going very well...  I'm actually having more trouble with the DOG!  He can't quite understand why he's not allowed to join us!  Sam is doing First Grade work this year and Joanna is doing some preschool stuff to keep her busy.  She just wants to be involved too.  They are really loving it so far.  Sam says, "Are we done ALREADY?" This year JJ and Ben are studying Countries and Cultures, and this week we were supposed to make a globe cake...It was really mommy who did most of it, but it was kinda fun.  We are studying maps and globes right now and this is a good hands-on project.  (...

One Summer I visited my Grandma Lydia Gingerich in Middlebury, IN and I remember her showing me her Friendship Quilt that she had made the year before she was married.  She would have been around 23 when the quilt was made.  I was fascinated by this quilt and all the work that was put into it, but also the memories of the sweet friends and family who so lovingly took time to embroider a square for her quilt.    When my Grandma died last year, I knew that of all of my Grandma's things, I wanted that quilt the most!  It was connected to memories of spending time with my Grandma and the creativity that was passed down from her to all her daughters(five of them!) and granddaughters(all two of us!)  On my last trip I picked up the quilt and brought it home with me...I am so happy to have a piece of my Grandma!  I miss her still!  Enjoy these snapshots of the quilt...(click on the picture to see up close)   I have thought that making a qu...