Creating

After not crafting or creating anything in the entire month of January, I finally got some creative juices flowing and worked on a couple projects. Above is a simple Valentine decoration I made from a felt sticker, some scrapbook paper and a black frame. I don't do a lot of decorating for Valentine's Day, but this looks cute up on our mantel in the family room.

The other thing I did was make a new bucket for a baby gift. Our neighbors behind us have two boys and she is due any day now with a baby girl. I found the cutest onsies and receiving blanket at Target with a cowgirl theme (she is also their first Texas baby) that are inside the bucket. I really have a lot of fun decorating these. I think they make great gift containers, and they satisfy my need to play with scrapbooking supplies without having to keep up with my actual scrapbooks!

While working on these little projects, I watched Gilmore Girls on dvd. Meghan owns the entire series and I am working my way through season 4. Such a cute show. SO well written and so full of dialogue that it's perfect for watching while crafting because you don't have to watch it constantly to know what's going on. And who would not want to live in Stars Hollow? Sigh.

OK....hopefully the next post or two will include some quilting. I have several projects started that I need to finish and some fabrics (this and this) just waiting patiently for me to play with them!

Baking & Making

This is my very favorite day of the holiday season. The girls' last day of school was yesterday and, while a Saturday, it is nevertheless, the first day of Christmas vacation. The girls are blissfully sleeping in. I love the anticipation of two glorious weeks of late night movie watching followed by mornings of pajama-wearing until noon. It doesn't get any better than that.

This past week I was busy making teacher's gifts for Claire and Anna's teachers. Their classes did group gift cards which is so nice for the teachers. But the girls like to bring in something of their own too to give on that last day. So, we baked some goodies: peanut butter blossoms, rolo pretzel bites (topped with either a big yummy pecan to make turtles or an M&M which is the more kid-pleasing), and this new-to-me recipe for Chocolate Peppermint Ritz Crackers. Holy Girl Scout cookie! These do really resemble Thin Mints and are so easy to make!

Here are the Rolo treats. Also an easy, but oh so good recipe.

They look like little soldiers ready to be baked to yummy, gooey goodness:

And I finally got around to making some Christmas buckets to put all of these goodies in. I am so happy with how these turned out and I had so much fun making them. The girls each selected two and we filled them to the brim with cookies, treats, hot cocoa mix and candy canes. The packaging is everything, isn't it?

So fun to make, and it made the ordinary "cookie plate" seem a lot more special.

I will post again soon. With school out, things should be a lot less hectic around here. Having said that, it's time to get ready for football, basketball & volleyball (all Claire) and a birthday party (Anna's friend) ......all today! And how scary is this.......Meghan is going to the mall with Natalie today, and I (gulp) gave her my credit card. Maybe not the best move?

Another Craft Post

My mom came to Houston for Mother's Day last weekend and we spent the day making these cute totes. I used the Swell line from Urban Chiks (love them!) and my mom used Chez Moi's line called Posh. I still need to sew the straps on mine......in the meantime, my mom has started her second one. Sheesh......overachiever! :)

Also, I am posting pictures of my latest hobby.....paint cans decorated to use as gift receptacles (think gift bags, but you know... paint cans.) I am loving this and thinking about doing it as a little business. It offers the same kind of thrill as quilting (have you seen the scrapbooking papers these days? Designs and patterns to rival the best Moda fabric, I tell you) only with more immediate gratification than quilting. Definitely a hobby I could get absorbed in!!

Someone turned 7 today!

Someone very special turned 7 today. I made a banner to hang in her honor.

And nothing but the finest for this special girl. In Texas, that means Blue Bell ice cream. Oh yeah, and chocolate birthday cake trimmed with Oreos.
Throw in five friends, a trip to Build-A-Bear and a sleepover with those five friends (plus some new furry friends), and you have a birthday party fit for this sweet and spunky girl! Happy Birthday Anna! We love you!

When given birthday money from her grandparents earlier this month, Anna decided to spend it on two Webkinz pets. That is until she woke up early one morning and cuddled on my lap while I visited some crafty blog sites I have bookmarked. I came to the Raggedy Old Annies shop where the talented Nicole lists her handmade dolls. Anna was mesmerized and decided right away she wanted a Raggedy Annie instead of a Webkinz. She carefully selected a doll, gave me her money and then faithfully checked the USPS tracking service each day to see where her Annie was. Last Wednesday, Annie arrived at our home and Anna was thrilled! She is very cute and I am so impressed that Anna chose a unique, handmade doll over the mass-produced Webkinz pets. She is a chip off her mother's block, I tell you. Good girl.