Top 5 Posts of 2010

Wow...can you believe we're wrapping up 2010!! Amazing how fast each year goes by, it really does seem like time speeds up the older we become.

Looking back on the last year, I've been so excited to meet many new people in "blogdom" and have also enjoyed sharing my ideas with you all. I've gone through my postings from the past year and compiled my "Top 5" postings, based on comments received. Here is a re-cap of them, look forward to seeing what new creations I come up with for 2011!!

Number 5

Skewer Sunburst Mirror

Number 4 (tie)

Footprint Fun Tees

Cabinet Door Plaque

Number 3

Glass Shade Lantern

Number 2

Spangled Barn Star Re-do

Number 1

Soda Bottle Cloche

So many great projects this year, excited to see what creativity 2011 holds! Thank you to each of you who read my blog, I truly appreciate your kind words and your presence. It's so wonderful to have this ability to share our creativity and ideas with one another and I know that this year has been more full of ideas and inspiration because of what I've read and seen from fellow bloggers like yourself. Hope that the new year hold more of the same for us all.

Intentional Intelligent Design

So looking back on the year, I was reminded of a woman's tea I went to earlier this year. The hostess asked us to come with a word that described our previous year and another word that we wanted to represent our intentions for the year ahead.

My word that described the year before was "chaos", because honestly it described the year perfectly. Overcomitted, overwhelmed, overstressed and overworked I was and my life felt chaotic.

In thinking of a word that I wanted to represent the upcoming year, I wanted a word that would force me to think things through before making decisions. Decisions I make as a mother, a wife, a friend, a ministry worker. Intentional was the word I chose.

I also saw other things happen as I started being more intentional. I began to see God differently. I started to notice small things I've never really payed attention to before. For starters, I began seeing His creation with a whole new appreciation.

Why would anyone doubt the existence of a creator when you look at His creation? His beauty is astounding, His fingerprint is on everything he has made if you take the time to look for it.

I have found my walk with God deepening over this past year in ways it never has before. I believe in part because I have been intentional in seeking Him and quieting myself to see and hear what He has to say to me.

I found that I've seen Him more in his creation than I ever have before. I've found myself seeking out His word more as I've been inspired by his handiwork. I feel myself praying more after being convicted by his fingerprints on creation.

Try looking for his fingerprints, look for how He shows himself to us in unexpected and intentional ways.

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Christmas Memories 2010

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and made many new memories amid flying wrapping paper and stuffed bellies. We had a great day, it really was one of the least stressful Christmases we've had since the kids came.

Here is Hubby and I looking waaaaaaaaaaaaaay tired, because we were. Oldest was up at 4, yes 4 am. It was so much fun trying to keep him in bed until we opened gifts at 6:30. I heard him up and stirring, worried he might be trying to sneak into gifts I got up and found him in the hallway rubbing his hands together going, "Hee hee hee". It was cute, even at four in the morning.

The kids really enjoyed opening their gifts. We buy three gifts for each of our kids, just as baby Jesus received three gifts from the wise men. We've also decided this year will mark the first year of no more "wish lists" for presents. Each child will receive whatever is bought for them, and honestly it helped to cut down on the gimme gimme's.

I explained to them that since Christmas isn't just about gifts, we need to be thankful for whatever we receive just as we are thankful for the gift of salvation that we've received. I know it's a hard sell to tell kids it's not just about the presents, and by not letting them make a list I think it's a way to downplay the whole present aspect of things.

On Christmas eve we went on a long neighborhood walk and saw a huge flock of wild turkeys walking around. I've never seen such a large group before, usually just one or two at a time. The kids were excited, and starting running down the street trying to chase them. The turkeys weren't impressed and took off.

We tuckered them out and on the way home they all found a bench and proceeded to park it and whine, "We're tired!" Mission accomplished for Mommy! I really wanted to wear them out somewhat since they all were bouncing off the walls with it being Christmas eve. I really enjoyed our walk, that might become a new Christmas eve tradition for us.

Hoping your enjoying these last few days of 2010. Can you believe 2011 is around the corner? Amazing.

Sharing our Christmas memories today at:

Remember...

Take time to be still during the busyness of getting ready for Christmas.

"He says, 'Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.'" Psalm 46:10

Dino Playboard and...

So, awhile back I was blown away by this awesome dino playland that Kaleen from At Second Street made. You can see it here. When we bought youngest some dinos for Christmas I wanted to make something to go along with it and I thought of her idea. However a suitcase was too big (and I didn't have one to use), so I decided to use a board instead.

I used a wooden board and made a smaller, easier to store version and here it is. Yes, it's not nearly as fancy as the one that Kaleen made but it'll work and it was made completely with stuff I had on hand.

I covered the board in grout left over from a bathroom project, and once dried I painted it. I sprinkled sand and painted over it to add some texture. I took a few rocks from the kids stash and hot glued them to the end, sticking some spanish moss in between the stones.

To make the "mountain" area I glopped up some grout and made a mound of it. I then hot glued some sand to the top once painted. I used green to make grass, and some grey and brown to vary it a bit. Very simple, but it'll work and I think that he'll enjoy this area to use for dino play.

On another note, I know I said I was done making ornaments but I couldn't resist showing this one. He's Frosty, isn't he super cute? I took three foam balls, covered them with hot glue and then stuck on quilt batting. His hat is made from black stacked buttons and his nose and arms are a twig from the backyard. I tied on a scrap of fabric and used white ric-rac for his hanging loop. I think he's perfect.

I was also drooling over some mercury glass ornaments I saw on a website. I love how aged and imperfect they are, and an idea popped up. I grabbed a plain gold glass bulb and took some sandpaper to it. The finish started coming off and it took on a great aged look. It's hard to tell in the picture, but if you click on it to enlarge you'll get an idea. This would really work with a darker ornament (like red, green or blue). Not mercury glass, but it's an improvement.

Please click on "Linky Parties I Love" to see where I'll be sharing.

Four days until the birthday celebration...are you remembering to include the birthday boy in your thoughts and preparations?

Hot Chocolate and Gingerbread Smiles

So, we're getting close to the birthday celebration...are you ready? Today, in a little over three hours I hit eight, yes, eight stores! I am realllly hoping that I didn't forget anything and I can officially say I will not be leaving the house until after Christmas.

We've been enjoying LoTs of hot chocolate and tea.

We've made gingerbread cookies (both regular and GFCF), and they were gone in two days. Oh the work of baking just to have it all gobbled up. Well, at least it tastes good enough to eat I guess.

I love to stay close to home as Christmas nears. It's easier for me to keep calm and more focused. I have a ton of work to do here, but staying away from the hustle and bustle is so nice.

Take the time to enjoy small moments as you're getting ready, don't forget the blessings that are right in front of you.

Sharing my thoughts today at:

Frugal Framed Fabric Art

First off...the lighting on these pics is pretty crummy. We've had three straight days of rain, the house has zero natural light and I can't go outside. So, enjoy the lovely yellowish haze.

This is a gift that I made for my MIL. She is crazy for all things quilts, and has a wall of fabric art and quilt squares in her living room. I was going to make something else for her, but after losing part of it (ggrrrr) I had to come up with something else and this is it.

I took a vinyl removable wall decal and placed it in the middle of the frame, on the outside of the glass. I then took a piece of fabric and sandwiched it between the glass and went to town with the embellishments.

The flowers are circles of fabric that are rubber banded around a button. I needed a easy, no-sew option for me and this worked well. I used those mini plastic rubber bands that you find in the beauty section of the dollar store.

I then took some linen and vintage ribbon and edged the outside of the frame. The decal gives the glass a pretty, frosted look but since it didn't cover the entire front I wanted to cover the plain glass so that there wasn't a visible line. So I layered the ribbon and the linen and it worked well, I hot glued them directly to the glass.

I then took some trim and buttons and glued it on top of the linen, just to cute it up a bit.

All in all, pretty easy and very inexpensive. Everything I used was stuff I already had on hand, with the exception of the frame which my Momma gave me.

Please click on "Linky Parties I Love" to see where I'll be sharing. Happy Handmade Christmas!

Fabric Scraps Wreath

Since my "Happy Handmade Christmas" workshop is in full swing, here are a few things I made for some gals on my list. All materials used are items I already had on hand, my goal this year is to use up as much of my stash as possible when crafting gifts.

This is a wreath I made from fabric scraps, some ribbon, some quilt batting and a foam wreath. I took the quilt batting and wrapped a single layer around the wreath form to bulk it up a bit. Then I cut fabric scraps, approx 1 inch wide by 5 inches long. I just wrapped them and tied them off.

I took some woven ribbon and tied off the top, pretty simple. I was going for the country/folk/rustic look, I think it'll pass. I'm hoping my Hubby's aunt likes it, 'cause I love it and it's hard to part with!

I made the jewelry holder above for my Hubby's cousin's wife. I just hot glued various types of ribbon/trim to the back of the frame and hot glued a few eyescrews to the top and ran some pink tulle though to make a hanger.

I've made a jewelry holder for myself before, you can see it here . I wanted this one to be different though, I like how it turned out. I think I'm going to tweak this idea a bit to make a barrette holder for a friend expecting a baby.

So a few more gifts to check of the list, yay!! Please click on "Linky Parties I Love" to see where I'll be sharing. Happy Handmade Christmas!

Girls Rule, Boys ...

Daughter and I having cuddle time in Daddy's chair this morning.

Going through pictures lately, I've discovered that I don't have as many pictures of just her and I together as I do with the boys. Not sure why, but I'm on the mission to remedy that.

However, someone just couldn't handle not being in the picture....

So he made sure that it happened. Maybe this has something to do with my lack of Mommy/Daughter shots?

On another note, have you read about my Christmas project of writing letters to our kids? If not, click here for more info.

Sharing my morning with:

"Vintage" Train Signage

I needed to make a gift for my FIL and my Hubby's uncle. They both are really into trains. I had already framed a neat vintage train photo for each of them, but wanted to do something else. I got the idea to make a sign, this is the end result. I absolutely love how they turned out!

I started with a wooden slat, from IKEA to be exact. I had bought a slatted bed base that we didn't end up needing, so I cut it up and used one of the wooden slats as my base. Totally free wood, precut and sanded. Score!

I took black wrapping paper and Mod Podged it to the wood. After it dried, I took sand paper and distressed it really well.

I had a stencil for the letters. I took white and grey acrylic paint, mixed it and dry brushed it on. I wanted it to be spotty and faded looking and it turned out just the way I thought it would.

The railroad logos I found on the internet and printed them off on cardstock. I picked ones that would be meaningful to the recipients, there are so many to choose from that it's easy to do. I Mod Podged them to the sign, and then distressed them with a pencil eraser and went over them lightly with black ink from a stamp pad to "age" them.

The whole thing was then coated with some matte acrylic spray varnish and I was done. If I could do anything differently, I would have covered the sides with paper and distressed as well.

My hubby actually said, "Wow honey" when I showed him my finished product. That was a first for me, so I'm hoping that the recipients will like them too!

Please click on "Linky Parties I Love" to see where I'll be sharing. Happy Handmade Christmas!