Valentine's on my mind....

I'm already thinking about Valentine's Day. Is that some kind of sickness? Do I need to take some time in between holidays instead of just rushing on to the next one?

Regardless, I have a work in progress and I'm really liking the way it's turning out.

But, yesterday I got up earlier than anyone else in my house so I snuck out to my craft room.

I say 'snuck' because if anyone knows I'm going out there, they can't stay away. I've asked more than  once if there is some kind of alarm that goes off in the house when my butt hits the chair in my craft room. They keep telling me there isn't one, but I'm not convinced yet.

Anyway, I spent some time out there tinkering and came away with this:

It's always so exciting to sit down and work on something and actually come away with a finished product.

We all need a quick project thrown in every now and then.

It's even better that I already had all of the items on hand. I used jump rings to make the chain and the hearts are buttons. It makes me want to get in there and make more, which my girls have all asked for anyway. :0)

It's a new year........

Welcome to the new year.


Like many other bloggers, I like the idea of a word to guide me for the new year.


It took me quite awhile to settle on just one word. I really kept going back to some of the words I've used in the past. I guess maybe I didn't get the ideas associated with them as fully developed as I'd hoped. Whatever the case may be, it took more consideration this year than it has in the past. But I finally settled on

I chose thrift because this year we have decided to make a real push (and the associated sacrifices) to get all of our debts paid off, both in our business and at home.  I've already made a big step in that direction by changing our insurance coverages on our vehicles and our home. I saved over $2000 for the year!!!! Can you believe that? I didn't think it was really possible, so I was shocked........and a little sickened that I've wasted that much money for who knows how many years.

Anyway, I'm hoping to not buy so many new project supplies and work my way through using up some of the things that I already have. It will not only save me money, but will also help to clean things up a little.

Last year I chose two words, one of which was calm. I gave it the good-old-college-try, but because of the actions of others in my extended family, it turned out to be a year with a lot of hurt feelings for my husband and anything but 'calm'. Fortunately, the offending family members don't live near us so we were able to block much of it our from our daily lives. And, since I really try to be a peacemaker, I offered advice that would have solved the whole issue early on, but was (in a round about way) told to mind my own business. So be it. The issues still haven't been resolved, but my husband is at peace with it, and really, he's the one that matters to me.

But, after all of that, I can say that I didn't even consider 'calm' as a word for this year. lol I'm just hoping that 'thrift' won't have the same opposite effect that calm did last year.

Do you chose a word for the year? If so, what did you chose and why? (if you don't mind sharing)

I hope that everyone has a year blessed with love, happiness, and abundance.

Cookies, cookies, and more cookies

Each year I make a box of cookies for some of our monthly bookkeeping clients.

Let me tell you, it's a major undertaking.

I spend about two weeks making test cookies for the family to taste until I settle on the 6 or 7 diffent kinds that will will be in the boxes.

I usually make about a dozen of each kind and do this for about 10-15 different clients.


I know, right?

Here are the cookies I chose this year.

From left to right: Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies, S'mores Cookies, Melting Moments cookies

Chocolate Raspberry Bars, Snow Balls, Cinnamon Cookies

It's always a lot of fun trying all the new cookies in order to make a decision, but, honestly, I'm sick of cookies for awhile.

Christmas Stocking

I'm so excited!!!

I started a Christmas stocking for my daughter Kirsten this year.

And, I actually finished it THIS YEAR!

AND, in time for Christmas!!

(if you can believe that)

It is a redwork pattern that I ordered from Bird Brain Designs earlier in the year. She's got some really cute stuff. Go check it out.

I finished the back of the stocking with leftover fabric from the sleeve of the Santa Claus sweater that I made into a pillow. (I had to really keep my eye on that pillow on Christmas day because my mother-in-law kept trying to sneak out of the house with it. lol)

To market, to market......

With all of the felt food that I've made for my niece I figured she should have something to carry it in, so I made a market bag for her also.


I just used fabric that I had on hand and made up the design as I went.

I used burlap for the outside. But, since that's kind of itchy, I lined the inside and added some little handles.


This whole project was just so much fun. I've never worked with felt before and I didn't have patterns for any of the things I did. It is so far off from my norm for me to do things without a pattern and directions. It was really freeing. And honestly, trying something with no pattern and having it turn out the way I envisioned really gave me a boost of confidence to keep going. It really has helped me to even begin to think about branching out more on my own and looking at things in a whole new way. Give it a try yourself!!

Felt Food Installment.....

Well, this is the last installment for the felt food project for my niece's  Christmas present.


I made a bunch of little tea bags.

I used wedding tulle for the actual tea bags and put sequince leaves inside.

It's really been a lot of fun doing this. I suppose that the possibilities are unlimited. All kinds of foods could be made.

There are some that I attempted which were total fails. I'll need to practice up on those a little more. :0)

Oh my!

Oh my!!! How time does fly when we're busy.


I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted or that I left the picture of my ugly pantry up for so long. What was I thinking?!


Actually, this is the busiest time of the year for us. My babies turned twelve last month. I still can't believe it!! I am a little more than scared at the prospect of teenagers next year.


I have been busy on a big project so you'll have to wait a little longer to see pictures of it. It was a huge undertaking and a totally new undertaking. But, more on that later. (Call me a tease, it won't bother me.)


I did stop into my studio for a few minutes on Saturday and whipped up this Christmas pillow.

I made it from a sweater I bought at Goodwill last year. I think I paid $1.00 for it.

I stitched it up so that I could still unzip the zipper to take the pillow form out to use for a different season. That also helps to save so much room on storage space.

I was absolutely thrilled with how it turned out. And, seriously, it only took a few minutes to make. Just some zig-zag stitching and then cuttin off the excess and I was done.

Now you know to be on the look out for those holiday sweaters. There are bound to be tons of cute things to be made from them.