Joni's paper passion

Elves

2010-11-20T22:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the boys video. If you know us, maybe don't mention to Marty that there is a video of him on here :)

and here is us girls. Enjoy and

Happy Holidays!

Where does the time go?

2010-11-05T14:04:00.001-06:00

Today, November 5th, my sweet baby turns 15. I have no idea where the time has gone. Brittanie, when you where little and we had all of you and your younger brothers and sisters running around, people would tell me how quickly you would grow-up. I didn't listen! Now you are 15 and it all happened so quickly. The time has literally just slipped away. I wish I would have realized on November 5, 1995...

That this darling little girl would turn into........

This stunning young woman over night.

I am so grateful to have you in our family. You are so much fun to be around,

so smart,

I love that you have a testimony of your Heavenly Father, and that you will share that testimony with others.

You are an excellent example to your friends and family.

Your brothers and sisters love you so much and look up to you. I know that being "The Oldest" can be a huge burden for you at times, but you have handled it well. As your Mother I am thankful to you for the great example that you have set.

I want you to know how very proud I am of you. I watch you strive to be the best you can be. I see your struggles and your successes. As your Mother I have cried at night for you, I have worried about you and prayed for you. But I can sincerely say that you have become an amazing person and I am very proud to have you call me Mom.

Happy Bithday Brittanie

I Love You so very much!

Halloween costume

2010-10-30T22:13:00.001-06:00

Sad Update: I will NOT be participating in the Storybook Parade. I guess someone's granddaughter was dressed up as The Hatter for Halloween and "she looked really cute. So we are going to go with her instead." Sad day :(

Well, here it is. I finished my costume the night before Halloween. Well, technically 2 nights before Halloween, because Halloween fell on a Sunday, most of us in Utah celebrated the day on Saturday. Anyway, It turned out great (if I do say so myself). You can double click the pictures and see more detail.

     I told how I made the hat HERE. The entire costume was handmade by me. I have known for a while (since the movie came out in March) that this would be my costume this year. So I started early looking for items at thrift stores so I could keep the cost of this costume down. After finding all the items that I needed I started on the embellishments. Every piece either needed to be painted or tailored or sew from some random piece of fabric. But when it was all said and done, I think it all worked out. In the end I did purchase the wig. I tried and tried to figure out a way to make it and do it as inexpensive as possible but I just never could come up with something that fit my criteria. So the wig was my one "already made" purchase.
     I wore this to the kids school carnival and got a great response. People of all ages commented and complimented. Tons of people stopped me to take pictures. Kids would stop and talk to me like I really was from Wonderland. One little girl, about 4, would not leave my side. She was so cute. Her Mom would take her away to play games but when her Mom would turn away she would run off and come back to sit by me. Lol, She was so cute.
      Later that night I was invited to participate in a local costume contest for which I took 1st Place. Woo Hoo!! It was really fun. A little outside by box, but I had a blast. The winner was chosen by audience applause, I was pretty nervous because I was at the end of the line and all the other costumes were really getting the crowd to clap and yell quite a bit. When they finally got to me, I figured it was any bodies game, but when the announcer said "The Mad Hatter!" and the audience went CRAZY! What a great feeling.
    Tonight for trick-or-treating we went to a Ladies house that is in charge of a large parade that is done here in town every year and she asked me to participate in the parade. Yipee! (I love parades too. I know, I know. I am a freak, what can I say :) So it looks like they will be working out some kind of float/car something especially for me in the parade.
      Several people have taken my picture over the last 2-3 days, so if any of you come across any of them online I would love to see them. Please let me know where you find them at. Lots of people asked me if they could post them on Facebook. So many of them will end up there.
     Well, sorry for all the rambling. Halloween was a blast. I have to get all the pics of the kids off another camera, so when I do I will post them cuz the kids looked great too. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all had a safe and FUN Halloween!

Halloween

2010-10-26T11:01:00.000-06:00

I am still putting the final touches on the Halloween costumes. They have kept me pretty busy this year. I thought I better post my Halloween decor before I have to take it all down in a couple of days. Enjoy!

I LOVE this little sign. I found it at a local thrift store and I laughed out loud when I saw it. I immediately knew I had to have it.

Happy Halloween!!

Be safe everyone :)

The making of THE HAT

2010-10-20T21:20:00.008-06:00

Wow! It has really been a while since I have been on here. I started a part time job that ended up taking way more time then I thought a "part-time" job would take. But anyway, I have been able to do a little bit of decorating, thrift store shopping and painting. So hopefully over the next couple of days I can show you what I have been doing. But first I want to show you a hat.

Not just any hat.

A hat inspired by this guy.

I saw Alice in Wonderland in 3D when it first came out and thought it was

AMAZING!!!!

I know there are many, MANY people who didn't enjoy this show. However I am NOT one of them.

I LOVED IT!!!

The other thing I LOVE???

Dressing up for HALLOWEEN

I know, I am probably a freak, but seriously, I have so much fun doing it.

So when I saw this movie I knew exactly who I would be dressing up for this year.

The Hatter, of course.

So the search was on. My budget is ALWAYS very small. So of course I knew this would involve several trips to thrift stores to make it possible to pull off this costume.

Also I am ~~VERY ANAL~~ a little picky about what my costume is going to look like. I say if you are going to do it, DO IT RIGHT.

know what I'm sayin??

I almost have the entire costume finished but this post is all about

The Hat!!!

I debated on how, exactly, I was going to make the form for this hat. It has such a unique shape and with this costume the hat is everything.
It had to be

JUST RIGHT!

I told you, anal, right?

One night my mom and her husband came over and I started explaining this costume I wanted to make, but was unsure how to get the hat just right. To which my mom's husband started measuring my head and doing a bunch of math problems.

Then says "I can figure this out for you. I will make the hat."

Me: "Um, you really don't have to. It's not that big of deal. It's just a costume."
(What am I saying, "Just a costume" HHuuu whatever.)

Him: "No really I will do it for you."

Me: "Sweet, Thanks!"

A couple of weeks later I get 'THE CALL'.

"Hey Jo, We've got your hat ready. Come pick it up."

Me: "Woo Hoo!!!"

When I got the hat, this is what I had to work with.

I was so excited. It fit perfect and the shape was almost dead on.

So the search for fabric to cover the hat began.

Remember it had to be perfect :)

The closest matching fabric was found in Las Vegas, NV.

Thanks again to my Mom's husband and his family.

Mom's husband not only made me the hat, he also gave me extra pieces for "pattern pieces". So the fabric would fit perfectly.

FANTASTIC!!

So I cut out the fabric...

Then I just started hot gluing it all on to the hat form.

I also decided, to get the shape just right, I wanted to add a slightly larger circle to the top of the hat. That way I was able to form the top and make it look right.

I don't have a picture of it but to finish the edge around the top of the hat and the brim, I made piping out of the same fabric and some small cording and attached it between the two layers of fabric. (you can kind of see it in the pic below)

I think it just gave it a finished look.

After a little embellishing, here is where I am at with THE HAT.

I am still looking for my other two hat pins. I bought two packages of two, but have misplaced one set so I am going to have to find another package somewhere.

Well, what do you think?

I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Thank you to everyone who has helped me with this costume this year. I REALLY appreciate it. This is the most help I think I have EVER had with a costume.

Thank you!

I plan on posting about the entire costume as soon as I:

1) Have if completely finished

2) Get someone to take a good picture of it.

Thank you all for looking. I would love to know what you think about my hat. It has been really fun putting this costume together. I hope it ends up being an excellent tribute of...

The Mad Hatter

The amazing costume design in this movie was done by Colleen Atwood.

"Costumes are the first impression that you have of the character before they open their mouth-it really does establish who they are." Colleen Atwood

Bathroom reveal I-SPY style

2010-08-31T14:58:00.009-06:00

I am done with the bathroom (just in time too, the hubs come home tomorrow...I think). This room re-decor (is that a word?) was on a budget. The total for everything (including the new towels which were my splurg) was less then $30.

Yep, 30 Bucks!

Let me warn you. First this room has no natural light AT. ALL. So the pics are terrible. Second, this room is TI. NY. Soooo small. You can not shut the door unless you are ALL THE WAY in the room. Don't even think about opening the door if you are standing at the sink. It's terrible. But I am glad I don't have to share MY bathroom with the kids :) So on with the make over.

This is the bathroom Before pics..... (remember I warned you)

For these last 2 pics, I had to stand as far back in the shower as I could to get them. TI. NY!

So, I told you I was ~~a little low on funds~~ completely broke for this project, right? So I had to do some serious thrifting to ~~not spend everything I had in the bank~~ stay on budget.

Here is where the I-SPY comes in...
These are the awesome finds that I found over the last several weeks. (sometimes the thifting Gods smile down on us... I love those days). See if you can see where I incorporated them into my new bathroom decor.

Before pics of the thrifting finds...

P.S. The star fish was a dirty rose pink color. I forgot the before pic of that. My bad :)

Plus, remember this item.

I LOOOOOOVE how it turned out.

Now for the reveal. Drum roll please...........

There are still a few more things I would do if money permitted (either replace or at least paint the ugly peachy/pink counter tops blah!)

Plus I still plan on adding a frame around the mirror out of old barn wood (the same kind I made the towel holder thingy out of). I just haven't had a chance to go pick it up yet.

But all in all I am very happy with how it turned out.

Heck I may even let visitors use the bathroom now hee hee

Please, Please, Please let me know what you think. My one debate is the canvases over the toilet....are they to much???? Let me know.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Linking to:

Get Your Craft on Tuesday
All Things Related
Twice Owned Tuesday
Blue Cricket Design
Me and My Bucket
Someday Crafts
House of Hepworth
Tatertots and Jello
Madigan Made: Weekend Word Search
C.R.A.F.T.
I made it without my Hubby

Project fail (maybe?)

2010-08-26T14:27:00.001-06:00

I have wanted to redo the kids bathroom for a while but funds have been ~~low~~ non-existent. I am tired of waiting to be able to do it. So this is my attempt to redecorate their bathroom as inexpensively as possible.

It has not started off well...

I am changing the decor from Mickey Mouse to a beachy theme.

Color scheme desired...

Turquois

Black

Grey/Silver

First ~~pieces of junk I found~~ project on the list

A board left over from this project (free) and a little wood bowl ( .75c)

First thing I ~~did~~ attempted was to cut the bowl in half.

after realizing the scroll saw wouldn't cut that deep, out came the hand saw.

I know, my tools are pathetic. I keep asking for better ones, but it is always that same funding problem as before :(

This is where the almost fail began. As soon as the saw cut all the way through the dumb bowl fell off the tail gate of my truck (which pretends to be my saw horse sometimes)

Out came the glue and tape... UGH!

Once that was fixed I nailed it (it won't hold much weight so nails should work OK. Right???) to the front of the board about in the middle... sort of.

I mean really. Let's not make things to difficult. Look at the damage I have already managed to do with out all the technical measuring stuff.

After this point I ~~slapped on some stinkin paint~~ carefully painted the whole thing white and then distressed it.

This post is call project fail. I am not sure I am loving how this turned out. But I have decided to wait until the whole room is done to see if it works the way I am picturing it in my head.

That is all I am going to show you for know. I am working on the bathroom so when I get that done I will show you all the little projects in the room reveal.

Thanks for stoppin by!!!!

P.S. Here is a sneak peek of the next project on my bathroom list.

I Won... part 2

2010-08-13T17:59:00.001-06:00

So yesterday I told you that I had won a prize out there in blogland. I wanted to show you what I won and introduce you to the awesome blog that I won it from (if you haven't already discovered it).

Controlling My Chaos was having a giveaway where we had to tell about a much neglected room in our house.

So I left a comment and mine was picked. Woo Hoo!

My much neglected room is definetly my craft room. Bummer huh?

So first I want to introduce you to Jill at Controlling My Chaos. I stumbled on to this blog by accident one day and I have never laughed so hard in all my life. She is the most entertaining writer ever.

This is my favorite post. Hilarious!!!

Read about her challenges with her dog also. So sad yet so funny. We can all relate.

So back to my prize. She sent me this cute frame which I am in love with.

The thing I love about this frame is that nothing has to be permanent. It is a magnet board and then the ribbon has tiny clothes pins.

SOOOOO Cute!!!

I will definitely be changing the contents of this frame A LOT. I just threw this pic of Miss K on there so it had something on it to show you (looking a little boring, I know) but I have big plans. But you all need to go check out this blog. It will definitely make you smile.

And if you see a giveaway...give it a shot. You never know what you will win.

Thanks Jill! :)

I won a prize

2010-08-12T21:48:00.000-06:00

It is late here but I was pretty excited. I won a prize from blogland a while back and it came in the mail today.

Woo Hoo!

I will post more details tomorrow. Check back cuz the blog I won the prize from you have got to see.

Good Night z z z z z z z z z z

7

2010-08-06T20:53:00.000-06:00

Today the baby of the family is turning 7. Not really a baby anymore. Spud is such an amazing kid. He is the life of our family. We are so grateful to have him in our home. He is so loving and kind. He is hillariously funny, he always keeps us laughing.

He's not ever the one in trouble, he is so good to just do what he needs to do. Spud, we love you very much and hope you have a wonderful day. Your Mom and Dad and brothers and sisters love you very much.

Vintage Bottle Cap Necklaces By: Shay

2010-07-18T18:42:00.005-06:00

Hi! I'm Shay. I'm Joni's daughter. All of my crafty ideas come from her. One day when we where out shopping we stopped at a little antique store on the way home. We where just walking around and we didn't really see anything we where absolutely dying to have. On the way out mom saw a scale that would go perfectly in her kitchen. While she was buying that I noticed a dish on the counter that was filled with old, vintage bottle caps. I fell in love when I first saw them. If you've ever seen the movie Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, you've seen the bottle cap necklace I've been dying for. They ended up being 6 for a dollar so I bought a bunch. My first set is made up of fun summer colors that go with most outfits. It's bright and it definitely makes a statement.

This is so simple and so inexpensive. 6 bottle caps is the perfect amount to cover the front of your neck. Along with these fun things you will need some type of thick chain that will be easy to take apart. I got mine for 2 dollars at Wal-Mart. You can get them at pretty much any craft store. I tried these little jump rings to link them together and they just didn't work.

So now that you have everything, you need to punch the holes. I used a hammer and punch set my mom got me. You need to put your holes on the curved edge of the bottle cap. Punch your holes on the inside of the cap where there's that little crevice, and your punch should just fit right in there. Use a Sharpie to make marks (on the inside of course) so that you know where to punch your holes. Try to make the smallest hole you can that will still allow the jump ring to go through.

(Ignore the little jump rings they didn't work.) Next you want to make your necklace a comfortable size. Get a necklace you already have that is a good length and lay it out straight on the table. Under that lay your chain and adjust it so it's the same size as your other necklace.

Then under your chain lay out you bottle caps so they are centered on the chain. Using pliers separate the links that are directly above the hole you made in the cap. Do this on both of the outside bottle caps. Put the open links through the holes and hook then onto the bottle cap closing them with the pliers. Save the links from the middle. You will need them in the next step.

Using the extra links you took off the middle, take one off at a time and use those to link together your bottle caps. This is a lot cheaper than buying jump rings because then you don't have a random chain laying around. It may take two pairs of pliers if your chain is really strong.

Close that link and move on to the next one. Eventually they should all link together to form a necklace. Make sure the links are closed tightly so they don't slip off of the cap easily. I know it doesn't sound like they will come off but they definitely will. If you want to put a dab of hot glue on the hole to secure the link then go ahead. When it's done it should look like this.

There are so many ways you can arrange these caps. Just be creative and think of a unique way to place them. Another way I did mine is in a "V" shape. Just do the chain the same but use the little jump rings this time to hook the bottle caps together in the center of the necklace. They allow your necklace to have a little movement and not be so stiff. It will take 2 or 3 in some places because of the small size.

These will need a little hot glue on the holes because these rings aren't all that strong. Again, using a sharpie to mark where your holes will be punched really helps. This makes it so you can line up the caps and they won't be crooked and out of place. These necklaces can be made in whatever shape you want. I have another design but I'll post it later once I have some pictures. Everyone asks me if it's scratchy or if it hurts and it really doesn't. Another good tip is to take clear nail polish and put a coat over the chain so it doesn't tarnish and the silver will last longer. Leave comments cause I want to know what people think of this idea. Bye! :)

Linking to:
Hookin up with HoH #12
A few of my favorite things
Funky Junk Interiors
Tatortots and Jello
The DIY show off: Project Parade

Photo shoot

2010-06-07T17:07:00.002-06:00

Since the time I took the older girls out and took there pictures (remember THIS post), Little Miss K has been begging me to take her out and take her picture. Well yesterday was finally the day. As I was taking her picture I couldn't believe how grown up she has become. I know I am bias, but I have some gorgeous kids. Anyway, We just went to the park by our home, it was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. So here are a few (I took 127 pictures :) of Miss K's pictures.

Well, 3 down, 3 to go. I really want to take the boys out and get pics of them next. I have some fun ideas I want to try with them. Thanks for looking.

I want to show you a couple of thrift store lamps that I have redone recently. Hopefully tomorrow. We are still trying to get into the swing of summer so I have not been able to get on here much lately. So check back :)

One more sign

2010-05-19T20:32:00.002-06:00

I had to make one more sign. These are so simple and fun to make. This one is for Little Miss K's room. I made it the same as I did in THIS tutorial.

This sign was done on the same kind of old grey wood. Painted white with some black crackling. I made the stencil using the cricut machine and the SCAL program. I LOOOOOVE this program. If you have a Cricut machine you have. to. get. this. program! You will not regret it. It is awesome.

This picture has wonky lighting, but it shows the wood detail and also how it is sanded to look distressed. Well thanks for taking the time to look. This probably won't be the last sign you see here :) I love these things.
P.S. See the scalloped shelf? I totally made that. Cute Huh!?! I know! I know! The curtains DEFINITELY need to be replaced.

I am linking to House of Hepworth and Frugal and Fabulous so go check out all the great craftiness.

Sign tutorial

2010-05-16T16:13:00.000-06:00

This weather has been fantastic. I have been outside spray painting something every day this week. I LOVE IT!!! I promised I would do a mini tutorial for you, so here it is.

I have wanted an "Old sign" over my kitchen sink as a window treatment for a while now but have not been lucky enough to find one. So I set out to make one. V and Co. has a great tutorial HERE of how to recreate these signs. So starting with that info, I went ahead and tweaked it a little.

First thing, my sweet hubby brought home some old wood. After picking the perfect piece, I cut it to a size to fit the window. Mine measures about 9 1/2" X 50".

My wood was a really great old Grey color so I didn't want to mess with the color to much. I did dry brush some thin white paint over the front of the wood.

Then I cut my design out of vinyl using my Cricut Machine (I didn't get any pics of this process sorry, you gotta use your imagination).

Next, using the NEGATIVE part of your image, decide on your placement and adhere the vinyl to the front of the wood.

Next, using the vinyl as a stencil, I brushed on a dark brown for the wording (I used a metallic vinyl which is why there is such a bad glare in the photo)

Once the paint is dry peel off the vinyl. Then, using the stencil brush and the same dark brown paint, I added some "distressing". I just "dirtied it up" where ever it would be dirty or worn, around the edges and in the cracks of the wood. When I got the paint where I like it I took it outside and started to sand it. I didn't want to lose the natural Grey weathering on the wood so I didn't sand very hard. Just enough to take off the top couple of paint layers.

I continued to sand and add paint until I got the look that I wanted. That is it! This was a very simple project and I love the results. To hang it I just screwed through the wood right into the wall (my husband will love that :) Here are the final pictures of it all hung up. Sorry about the bad lighting :( The dark areas are where I added the brown paint then sanded it off a little. I like how it brings out the detail of the wood.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you like it. I love it, and by the way it says 'the house of chocolate' hee hee Love it! It makes me smile every time I go in there.

Some things I have been working on

2010-05-13T20:12:00.003-06:00

I could spend my entire day creating and fixing things up. I wish I could make a living doing it. That really would be my dream job. Anyway, I have had a couple of projects that I have wanted to get finished and with the good weather (FINALLY!) I have been able to grab the spray paint and head outside. My first project I didn't get any before pictures. I was so excited to get started that I totally forgot.

This is my headboard bench. As you can see it is not quite finished (I need to add the arm rests) but I think it turned out pretty good. Ignore the ugly hose, pretend there is a beautiful pot filled with flowers right there :)

For my next projects, this is what I had to work with.

I've decided I really like other peoples junk. I love to change it and make it look good again. The burlap I ended up making into a pillow that now has a home on my new bench, so scroll back up and take a peek.

As for that big brown blah thingy.....

This is what it looks like now. Pretty good, Huh?!? I haven't decided where this is going to go yet, but I know I will find somewhere good.

Finally, and probably my favorite, the candle stick and the cheese dome. I have seen this project all over blogland and was finally lucky enough to find a cheese dome at the DI the other day Woo Hoo!

DRUMROLL......

I LOOOOOOVE how this turned out. I am sure I will be filling this full of all sorts of crap all year long.

So that is a few of the things I have been working on. I have some more that I will post soon. In fact stop back by tomorrow. I have a mini tutorial on a project I finished for my kitchen. Thanks for stopping by!

I am linking these projects to House of Hepworth.

The Lord needs Us... (and a funny story)

2010-04-30T12:58:00.003-06:00

"If there ever were a time when the Lord needed righteous, determined women who can distinguish between the adversary's deceptions and the voice of the Lord, it is now. If there were ever a time when the Lord needed women of integrity and purity who live in the world but rise above it, it is now. If there is ever a time when the Lord needed His daughters to be alert to what is happening in society and to defend the sanctity of the home and family, it is now. If there were ever a time when the Lord needed us to have a clear vision of who we are, where we are, and what is important, it is now."

Sheri Dew

A bishop was walking down the street one day when he noticed a young primary boy in his ward trying to press the doorbell of a home on the street. The boy was very small and the doorbell was too high for him to reach it, so the Bishop decided to help him by pressing the doorbell. Crouching down to the child's level, the Bishop smiled benevolently and asked, "And now what, young brother?" To which the boy replied, "Now we run!"

(Both the quote and the story were found at latterdaychatter.blogspot.com )

"Sue"

2010-03-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

Today is 'Middle name appreciation day'! Did you know that? Well I am here to announce my middle name and the story behind how I got it (psst...I wasn't born with it).
I was born October 27, 19XX to Patty and Larry who decided to name me Joni Maughan.

As most of you know that is not my maiden name. So the story goes something like this. My dad's mom got a divorce when my dad was a kid. His mom then changed his last name to her NEW last name, no apotion ever happened. I guess back then you didn't need to do much to change your name????? Anyway, he lived most of his life with his step-father's last name. Now fast forward to when I was about 3 or 4 yrs. old, my dad decided once and for all that he wanted to have his fathers last name and not the step-father's anymore. Was that confusing? It seems like it is as I am typing. Ok, back to the story. We went as a family to the court to get the last name changed, but as we had been talking about it before hand I told my mom that I wanted to have a middle name. She asked what I wanted it to be. I, of course, wanted what most 3 yr olds would want, I wanted my middle name to be the same as my mom's. So when we went to court, my parents were talking to the judge and I remember the judge looking down at me from what seemed like the biggest desk in all the world. Then he said something like "I heard you wanted to ask me something?" To which I said that "I wanted a middle name because I didn't have one." He asked me "What do you want your middle name to be?" Quietly I said "Sue". "Why do you want that name?" I said "Because that is my mom's middle name." He then sat back in his chair with a smile on his face. He leaned over to the side and acted as though he opened his desk drawer and said "I think I have one of those right here in my drawer."

And that is it. From then on I had a new middle and last name. So for "Middle name appreciation day' I am proud to announce that my middle name is SUE!! Thanks Mom!

"Mom, I found a snail outside!"

2010-02-21T16:40:00.004-07:00

As I was getting ready for church today, Laith came downstairs and says "Mom come see what i found."
Of course this was at the busiest time of the morning that he wants me to drop everything.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You just have to come see."

So I say"Laith I am trying to get everything done right now. Just tell me what it is please."

To which he says "I found a snail out side and I want you to see it. It's huge."

This is where I am thinking 'Great some gross bug, probably squished on the sidewalk.'

"Laith please not now, I am trying to hurry."

"But I want you to see it before it is gone."

"Laith it is so cold out there that if you found a snail it is dead and not going anywhere any time soon."

"MOOOOMMMM PLEEEEEAAASE!!!!"

"Ok FINE! Let's go."

And this is what I saw.....

Isn't he cute! Laith had gone outside while I was getting everyone ready and made this cute snail for me. How cute and how sweet of him. It made me smile. I totally forgot about "everything that needed to be done" and spent the next 5 or 10 minute taking picture of this cute little creature.
I love the creativity of my kids. I love that they have such great imaginations and that they are willing to share them. Next time he asks me to come and see I will think twice about being "to busy".

Craftiness

2010-01-15T14:16:00.001-07:00

Shaleigh is very crafty! When situations come up in her life she is sure that creating something amazing will make it even better. (I wonder where she gets that from Hee Hee) So, she is on the student council at school. Remember this post. Today they are taking their pictures for the yearbook. So, of course, Shaleigh needed a new accessory. She and I headed down to the beloved craft room ( I really don't get to spend enough time down there) and proceeded to CREATE. This is what we came up with. The flowers are made of gray stretch knit and liquid fabric starch. She then wanted to add some sparkle so out came the brads. We glued it to a cheap-o Dollar Tree headband and Wallah (is that how you spell that??) a headband is born. It was really fun to spend time with her doing what we both love so much. Of course I will remember these moments long after the headband is gone. I just hope Shaleigh remembers too.

Out with the Old...In with the New

2010-01-13T13:16:00.005-07:00

Today, January 13, 2010, is the day I finally got all the Christmas decorations down. Hooray!. I don't know what my problem was this year, but I could not get into Christmas. I tried everything that usually helps. I baked, I decorated, I played the beautiful Christmas music. Nothing worked. That is not like me at all. I LOVE holidays, all of them (ok most of them), but Christmas this year was a real downer. It didn't help that I got bronchitis and sinusitis the week of Christmas. I was literally flat in bed all week. Luckily Marty was home and a HUGE help. He was so great to take on all the kids so I could rest. He brought me goldfish crackers and water the whole time (Yum, goldfish). He brought in a little bowl of them, and when ever it was empty he would fill it up. Then at one point I woke up and the whole box of crackers was just sitting on the bed with me hahaha. He must have got sick of bringing them in, I don't know. But, I have never been so ready to take down the decorations, which honestly, makes me sad to feel that way. I wish I knew why it was like that this year. I hope it's not that way next year also.

The kids did look way cute in their matching Christmas jammies though, which I actually found time to make myself this year. (another attempt to get in the spirit). Sorry about the dark picture. It was Christmas eve and the sun had gone down.

I got out what little bit of Valentine decorations that I have. I swapped out the pine garland with some spring greenery. I LOVE it. I do this to myself every year though. I think some how if I decorate with spring stuff, spring will come sooner, and it never does. I think spring should come as soon as Christmas is over. What is the purpose of winter after Christmas anyway??? I know water, drought, blah blah blah. Well, I am hoping this fresh decor will left my spirits a little and I can get out of this funk I have been stuck in for a while.

I also added my favorite quote to a wall downstairs in the family room. I really like how it turned out. Now I just need to do the touch up paint on the wall and it will be finished.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Pictures

2009-11-21T19:41:00.008-07:00

I took the girls out to get some fun pictures today. We had so much fun. I was only going to post a few, but there are so many that I just love. I have the cutest girls ever!!!!! :) I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them. TFL!

Don't they look like rock stars????

Randomness

2009-11-15T18:25:00.003-07:00

Hi everyone. This is a random post. I redid my hall wall with vinyl and really like how it turned out. But I can't get the pics to post on the message board of the craft site where they are usually posted. So I am posting them here and linking everyone to them. Weird post, I know but thanks for looking anyway.

Crazy hair day and Halloween

2009-11-07T15:48:00.009-07:00

October was pretty crazy, but in a fun way. There were lots of activities to keep the kids busy.

First thing was Red Ribbon Week at school. One of the activities was Crazy hair day.

This is the back of Kade's hair.

Kade and Brock had just gotten their hair cut so there wasn't a lot we could do besides colored hair spray. They still thought it was pretty cool and fun.

Laith's turned out way crazy. He had missed Saturday hair cuts so he still a). had a lot of hair to work with and b). needed a hair cut. Probably the craziest hair we have done for crazy hair day.

Now Kelcie was my favorite. She is such a great sport. She wanted the "cup ponies" and here they are!! HILARIOUS!!

I love Halloween. Usually I really get into it and make costumes and I even dress-up, usually. This year I just couldn't get into it. But of course the kids were way excited and we all ended up having a lot of fun.

Kade was the Red Power Ranger.Laith

Brock as the Mummy
Kelcie wanted to be a dead cheerleader, which was really convenient being that Shaleigh's old cheerleading uniform fit her perfectly this year.

I love this picture!

This is Shaleigh's creation for halloween this year. Love those socks!
All-in-all we had a great October. We didn't end up with any pictures of Britt (anybody notice that that is usually the case with her. I never realized how hard it would be to get a teenagers picture taken Grrrr!) Anyway she was Minnie Mouse again this year and she looked great and had a great time trick-or-treating with her friends.
Well thanks for stopping by to check up on us. Check back and see how our November goes. Four birthdays this month
AAAGGGHHH!!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-22T15:29:00.002-06:00

Recently we went as a family to the Pumpkin Patch. It was fun to watch the kids run around looking for the Perfect pumpkin. TFL

It's so Exciting!

2009-10-06T15:23:00.006-06:00

Our house is full of much excitement today. Shaleigh has been running in the campaign at school for the last month. Constantly talking to people and working on her speech. Well today was the day, and I am happy to say.....She made it!!!! Woo Hoo!!! Shaleigh was voted in as House Representative in the student council for the 7th grade. I am so proud of her. She is so enthusiastic and fun to be around. She is determined and responsible. I know that her school and her peers will greatly benefit from having her represent them this year.

GREAT JOB SHALEIGH!!!!!

Yummy gift card holders

2009-09-25T08:36:00.004-06:00

It has been a really long time since I have been able to spend any time in my craft room. Boo Hoo. But now I have to plan a Super Saturday so I am forced (hee hee) to go down there and create. I wanted to show you these super cute cupcake/gift card holders, or just a card holder. The one that shows the insert is just a Happy Birthday card, the "chocolate" cupcake has an actual gift card in it. I have wanted to try making one for some time now but haven't had a chance. The idea comes from thestampgoddess She has such a great blog, go check it out. They were pretty simple and I am thinking of suggesting them for the Super Saturday. Everybody gives someone a gift card at Christmas right? So these could be perfect. Anyway, leave me a comment and TFL :)!

2nd Grade Field Trip

2009-09-21T09:53:00.004-06:00

East elementary took the entire 2nd grade on a field trip to Cedar Breaks, and Kelcie's teacher asked me to help out. It was freezing when we got there first thing in the morning but the weather quickly warmed and it turned into the perfect day for a hike.

I finally got her

2009-08-24T13:42:00.003-06:00

No more sprinklers or long stays in front of the mirror this morning. I finally got some new school year pics of Shaleigh. Not first day of school, but pretty close. Thanks for looking.

Britt's pics

2009-08-21T09:21:00.004-06:00

I was able to get some pics of Brittanie today. She was a good sport. There were kids out at the bus stop already so I know she was embarrassed. But I appreciate her letting me get a couple. As for Shaleigh....as you can see no Shaleigh pics. When I finally got her out from behind the mirror, as soon as I got her out were I wanted to take her picture, the stinkin sprinklers went off. So she screams and takes off running........... Oh well! Maybe tomorrow. :)

1st Day of School

2009-08-20T15:56:00.003-06:00

So, today was the first day back to school. Woo Hoo! The kids were so sick of summer they really couldn't wait for this day. I can't believe that all the kids are in all day school. FINALLY! I swore this day would never come. We had babies for so long. But now the day is here and I can't believe how grown up they all are. As I was making these collages, it made me a little sad to see how they have all grown.

I am so very proud of all of them. I am so lucky that they are all healthy and smart and funny and happy. I am glad that all my kids look forward to going to school. They all have that desire learn and experience. It makes me so happy.
K, well, sorry I was getting a little mushy, not sure why. But I need to tell you that I totally forgot to get 1st day of school pics of the Brittanie and Shaleigh. Not sure how that happened. They have to get on the bus at like 7:20 am, so I guess I just wasn't in photog mode yet. But tomorrow I will post again with Britt and Shay's 2nd day of school pics. :)
Thanks for taking the time to check up on our little family. We love all of you and wish you well.

Pictures of the girls

2009-06-28T16:19:00.004-06:00

While we were on vacation I had a chance to take some fun pictures of the girls. Thanks for looking!
P.S. remember you can click on am image to view it bigger.

Vacation.....Finally!!!!

2009-06-28T15:14:00.009-06:00

The kids and I got to go on vacation this last week. I haven't been on a vacation in years. We just went to Salt Lake, but we saw family and stayed with some friends for the week. The first thing we did was go tot he zoo. I LOVE the ZOO! I don't know about the kids but I had a great time.

Day 2 was all about the WATER. What a fun day. We all went home a little redder then we then when we showed up but it was well worth it.

The third day was great. Marty had been working all week but ended up in Salt Lake in time to go to the Oquirrah Mountain Temple with us. It was beautiful, but I left my camera in the car so I have no pics of it. Then after that we headed down to Manti, UT to the Mormon Miracle Pageant. I had never been before so I was really excited. It was really awesome to watch, but about 20 minutes in it started to rain, and it rained on us the rest of the night :( I still don't know how those performers didn't slide down that hill!?!?! They had booths there to look at and they had one with my favorite thing......Twisted Tators! If you haven't ever tryed these I highly recommend them. They are sooooo good.

Ok, so last but not least, the next day on our way home Marty suggested we stop at this place that he sees on the side of the road all the time but has never stopped. I know I thaught the same thing....weird! But it was the Fremont Indian state park. It was very cool. Ity had trails to hike that takes you through the mountains were the Fremonts lived. So you get to see all the petroglyphs and pictographs that they left behind. It was really cool.
A little bit down the road they had a camp ground that had a huge teepee at it. The kids had a lot
of fun in that thing.

We had a super fun week. Thanks to everyone we shared it with. We love you and are soooo glad we got to spend time with you this year.

Scrapbook pages

2009-05-13T13:41:00.006-06:00

So I have been trying REALLY hard to get caught up on my scrapbooks. My kids love to look at them and my youngest was so sad because he was not in any of the books yet. (He is 5 yrs old now, whoops) I am happy to report he has made it into the scrapbooks now. :) So anyway here are a few of the pages that I have gotten done lately. TFL.

P.S. You can click on the image to veiw it larger to see the detail.

Thank you note

2009-05-13T13:35:00.002-06:00

I wanted to make a Thank you note for a sweet lady who helped with a church activity. When I saw this paper I fell in love with it. Sooooo cute. The owl is adorable, and I love the colors.

Manti Temple

2009-02-19T21:47:00.004-07:00

This Valentine's Day is one I will never forget. First on Friday night my hubby took me for a night out, dinner, movie the whole thing. Then he got me a dozen red roses, a dozen white roses and a dozen and a half pink roses. They were beautiful. But Saturday was the best. Marty and I drove up to Manti to go to the sealing of my Uncle and his wife and son. It was amazing. There were so many family members there that I hadn't seen for so long. And that temple was AMAZING!!! It was the first time I had been to that particular temple , and the spirit was so strong. All I could think was that we are so lucky to have the true Gospel in our lives. We are so blessed. I have posted some pics. You can see when we got there that morning it was stormy and overcast. But by the time we were done with the sealing the storm had left and the gorgeous blue sky was the perfect back drop for this beautiful temple.

It's been awhile!!!

2009-02-18T14:01:00.004-07:00

So it really has been a while since I have posted ANYTHING. Then as I am looking it has been a REALLY long time since I have posted anything other then a kwerner color challenge. I just wanted to touch base with everyone and say that I will be trying harder to post more often and i am also going to add more about the fam. thanks for everyone who comes to check on us. We love you all.

Kwerner Color Inspiration #37

2009-01-10T17:02:00.009-07:00

It has been a while since I have been able to do a Kristina color challenge. But I locked myself in my craft room (and my kids and husband out) and got this one done in the nick of time. As most of you know I am WAY behind on my scrapbooks, so I have been doing pages for these challanges instead of cards. This is my oldest daughter Brittanie, and she just turned 13. AAAGGGHHH a teenager! So I wanted to do a page that highlighted her personality. So for the names of the colors we were suppose to use head over HERE. I am leaving to go see a movie with my hubby so thanks for looking. I hope you enjoy!

P.S. leave me a comment :)

P.P.S. Don't you just love these flowers? I made them myself!! Here is the link to learn how.

Kwerner color inspiration #33

2008-12-04T09:52:00.002-07:00

Time for another color inspiration. Colors this week are chocolate chip, pumpkin pie, taken with teal, certainly celery and whisper white.
So you can see the chocolate chip background, certainly celery mat behind my image. This is one of my favorite stamps, she is a Hanna Stamp. I used the technique for the stamp that I believe is the paper doll technique. Anyway you stamp your image on several different papers then cut out each area and paste to the image that is stamped on whisper white. I hope that makes since hahaha. Well here is my submission, I hope you like it.

Color Inspiration #31

2008-11-18T12:43:00.012-07:00

Time again for another kwerner color inspiration. I decided this week to do a scrapbook page because I am sooooo behind on them. This is a page about my little Brock. Yes the same Brock that turned 8 last week. Hahahaha, he is like 2 in these pics, yep that's how behind I am. Anyway I am glad I am 1 page less behind now. I am pleased with how this turned out, and pretty proud of my self that I was able to get Elegant Eggplant on a cowboy page. So here is the break down, the background paper is so saffron, the mat and the fringe are close to cocoa. There is pumpkin pie on the rub on cowboy and the 'cowboy up' chip board and also the stitches on the side of the main pic. Ribbon is whisper white with elegant eggplant x's and also an elegant eggplant mat on the main pic. I think that is all of it, and as always, Thanks for visiting!
P.S. You can see the colors and accents tons better if you click on the picture and view it really big.

kwerner.com Color Inspiration #30

2008-11-12T17:25:00.002-07:00

Just a quick post for the color challenge. I am not going into detail it is Brock's 8th Birthday so I am making it quick tonight. This is a very simple card, so for the colors used visit http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/. Thanks for visiting. :)

kwernerdesign.com Color Inspiration #29

2008-11-05T13:56:00.006-07:00

Is it just me, or do these colors get harder every week?
Maybe I need to take a week off, I don't know. Anyway the colors for this week are Pacific Point which is the dotted lines and the star brads. Taken with Teal, lined paper. By the way all of these are paper pieces that where together on a 12 x 12 by Cosmo Cricut. OK next was Elegant Eggplant which is the ribbon. Pumpkin Pie is on the 'You Are' words and mat. And last was whisper white which you can see is all over. It ended up being a very simple card, no stamping or ink involved at all, just paper, ribbon and some dimensionals. ENJOY!

Color Inspiration #28

2008-10-30T14:07:00.004-06:00

So this is one of those cards that takes on a life of it's own. These colors were a challenge for me, and I am not hugely happy about how it turned out. But I got it done in time to post, so here it is.

Thank you!

2008-10-28T18:39:00.003-06:00

So it was my birthday yesterday and I made my thank you cards today for everyone. And I loved the way this one turned out so I wanted to post it. I am hoping the person I sent it to doesn't come to the blog before she gets it. But I love this card because of this new stamp. Guess where I got it........at the Dollar Store! Can you believe it. So I stamped it twice on white card stock with black ink and then embossed it in clear. Then colored both with the watercolor technique. Then just cut them out and adhered one completely to the front of the card, the second one is attached on top of the other but only at the body, so I could get the dimension. I'm sure it is pretty self explanatory from the picture, I am just excited it turned out so good.

2008-10-23T14:56:00.010-06:00

Here is my card for kwerner's color inspiration. The only limit this week was to use any member of the RED family as your main color. I LOVE RED! I think it is my mom's fault LOL. When I was growing up, everytime I would wear anything red she would tell me how good it looked :). Anyway I got this new Sarah Kay stamp from sweetnsassystamps.com and I couldn't wait to use her. Isn't she cute. To color her I just used my water pen, so simple, and then it is hard to see in this photo but I used dimensionals to elevated the girl. I stamped the 'Happy Hoildays' in a dark red and then embossed it with irradesent glitter. That's about it. Hope you like it.

2008-10-17T13:29:00.002-06:00

Here is my entry for the kwerner color inspiration #26. It is very simple this week. Hubby has been off work so not alot of me time. Background is So Saffron with the Wild Wasabi band that I punched with the corner rounder and a 1/8 inch hole punch. Ribbon is Bashful Blue. Flower is Red Rose with a Whisper White button. Like I said nothing to fancy this week.

2008-10-17T12:52:00.006-06:00

I'm Dreaming of a white Christmas......... BUT NOT IN OCTOBER! This is what we woke up to Saturday morning (Oct. 11). Luckly it really didn't last long, it was mostly melted by the afternoon. Except for the GIANT snow ball that Laith had rolled. It was about 3 1/2 feet tall.

2008-10-10T11:10:00.003-06:00

Here is another Color Inspiration From Kwerner. The bird is water colored in Ballet Blue, the sentiment is stamped in Ruby Red and matted with So Saffron. The ribbon in also Ruby Red, and the flourishes are stamped in Certainly Celery. The card was made from a clear transparency cut at 4 X 8 1/2 and scored at 4 1/4.

2008-10-02T20:13:00.003-06:00

O.K. so this is my very first color challenge so go easy on me. I really liked working with these colors. And if I am honest the thought of Kristina Werner possibly visiting MY blog is sooo exciting (and it kinda freaks me out a little too LOL). Anyway I hope you like my card it is very simple as you can see. It is a standard size card in the chocolate chip with the kiwi kiss torn along the bottom, the flourish is stamped in kiwi kiss and embossed clear. The little pumpkin (in pumkin pie) was cut out with my cricut, using the doodle charms cart, cut at 2 1/2". The scollop at the top is my new Martha Stewart border punch, I LOVE IT! That is punched in the very vanilla. K so there it is everyone wish me luck on my first attempt. :)

2008-10-02T19:44:00.003-06:00

This is a tri-fold card. Here is the link to Dawn's video with instructions and dimensions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHsq8Jbl-68 The other pictures show the cards close up and the inside of the cupcake card. These are so simple and quick to make. Enjoy!

2008-09-29T12:41:00.003-06:00

OK So these little boxes are so cute and so easy I made another one this morning and wanted to share it. The paper is Bo Bunny, Daisy Bucket Designs and Basic Grey. The stamp set is Hero Arts.
The cards are 3x3. Thanks for stopping by.

2008-09-25T10:23:00.002-06:00

These cards turned out so cute. I wish the picture would have turned out better. The cards are 3x3 and then I made this little box for the cards to store in.

2008-09-25T10:16:00.002-06:00

I found this CUTE little notebooks at the dollar store. they were in packages of 4 so you get 4 for a dollar. These would make cute and easy teacher gifts. Anyway I just wrapped the designer paper all the way around the notebook and then decorated the front. You can see the notebook in the middle is how they come from the store. On the red one I did stamp a thank you message inside the cover.

2008-09-25T10:08:00.003-06:00

Kristina Werner-- http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog did this technique that I used on the hearts of this card. You stamp your image in versamark and using a dauber you color over the versamark with different colors of ink. I will add the link at the bottom of this post for the video that she uses it on....very cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0DDwKrrPLw

2008-09-25T09:58:00.004-06:00

This is my version of dawns pop up card. I made it for a friend (happy B-Day Jenn). Here is the link to Dawns video with the instructions of how to make it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA44EZ5z_Tg

2008-09-25T09:53:00.002-06:00

This is a card I made that was similar to the MACM on youtube. I started with black card stock and embossed the dots with white powder. I also clear embossed the "enjoys" on the green. The stickers are the felt letters and they started out white so I used a dauber and orange ink to change the color.