i heart burlap.

so. my mantel has been bugging me for quite. some. time.

as in - since we moved in and put the t.v. above it.

in our old little shoebox duplex {which i love & miss} that had so much character, i loved my mantel. it was heavy & chunky. even though it was a fake fireplace. it still fit. and i loved decorating it with everything i could come up with.

but ever since we moved into this house... a huge answer to prayer about two years ago, i might add... we had to put our t.v. above the mantel according to the hubby.

so this severely limits my decorating capability.

plus we have a two story space - so it makes it hugely out of proportion and the space above the t.v. drives me bonkers. literally.

and i know the hubbs gets a kick out of me trying something new up there almost every week. i don't know about you - but i have to live with something for a few days to decide if i really like it or not.

anyway, i digress.

so - a few weeks ago - through pinterest {do you know what pinterest is?!?} i discovered an awesome blog - that i think i was probably the last to discover.

whipperberry.

even the name is cool.

and when i saw this set up - i had to try it.

so i followed her tutorial on the burlap garland. mine was WAY smaller... and i used THREE yards of burlap. it did only take an hour or so to cute/thread/put up the garland - which is SO my kind of project.

i LOVE how the burlap turned out. i do, i do. i promise.

but i don't know about the mantel as a whole.

i love the look in her picture... and i tend to be a 'bigger is better' personaltity {that's what she said - sorry, it was just too good} but is it too much for my dinky mantel? maybe i need to add that braided garland in there to offset? hmm.....

anyway. i wish i could find MORE uses for burlap. other than the itch that comes with it... i LOVED working with it - and LOVED how it twisted on this twine!!!

bag makeover.

it is no secret that i love these bags.

i've even gushed about them on this blog.

i think they. are. fabulous. 

they are the perfect diaper bag.

pockets for bottles, sippy cups, rattles, diapers, etc. etc.

they're canvas so they are super durable {and even though it says not to, i've stuck mine in the washer and let it air dry}.

i love them.

so.... when i saw this, i knew that my already-so-cute bags needed a little makeover to put them over the top. 

what do you think?

and you want to know the best thing? 

it's 98% new sew. 

for my first one {an old bag of brady's that i don't use anymore} i made a ruffle - and i did sew to make the ruffle. 

but the flowers i made were all scissors and hot glue.

and i just discovered button cover kits. so - instead of burning the ends of my fingers until i say words that are not appropriate, i can use this! i found them at joann for $2 and they are EASY PEASY.

was your monday happy? 

mine was. i hung out with a new old friend and her little muffin. 

love. her.

see you tomorrow!

catepillars.

sunday, i used the last of my eggs.

we were having breakfast for dinner - do you ever do that?

it's probably my favorite - except for frozen hamburger pizza, of course.

and i had just so happened to see this a few days earlier.

so, i cut the top off of the egg carton, and cut it down the middle.

drew a face on the front with a sharpie...

and let him go at it.

with markers.

a very special treat at our house.

and we put hats on.

{i thought i had pipe cleaners for atennas but couldn't find them... hmm...}

 

yes, that is a thanksgiving place mat.

it's the only laminated {a.k.a. wipeable} ones we have.

despite my intentions to make new ones with coloring sheets.

oh well.

momma made one too.

i love crafting. can you tell?

i tried to read from this devotional book to b. while we were coloring.

it's a beautifully written book {it was a gift from my bible study leader} but it's a little 'above' b. still.

yesterday was about letting the lord be lord of your life.

a good lesson for me - but i'm not quite sure b. quite got it.

and a picture of our little lady after her morning nap.

b. was still coloring.

bless his heart, he was all about those markers.

 

i.

heart.

 her.

v.day treats.

when we were iced in, i decided we should use that time to make our valentines.

i had originally planned on making your basic sugar cookie. no shame in that, right? right.

but then, while blog stalking, i stumbled upon this.

i had mini candy canes, left over from christmas. i had the little candy sticks with the intention of making cake pops a while back. i even had almond bark from good intentions back at christmas time. perfect-o!

b. started out 'helping momma'. he was in charge of the candy sticks.

it's real simple. make a heart out of two candy canes and put a 'lollipop' stick in the middle.  lay them on a cookie sheet with wax paper.

and then - the bug ended up doing this:

and this:

so, i ended up finishing them at naptime. he was uninterested in being 'neat'... and the candy canes moved around really easy, so.... yeah.  if you're really set on your kids making the valentine - then this isn't the valentine for you. {but they turn out real cute!}

the recipe calls for 'white chocolate' but i had vanilla flavored almond bark. so that's what i used. it was 'free'.

melted it in the microwave...

i poured my melted white chocolate into a ziplock bag and cut a tiny corner off so i could 'pipe' it into the 'molds' of the candy canes. {it really isn't thick enough to pipe like icing, so it more dripped.} but it didn't make near as much of a mess as i thought it would if i tried spooning it.

by the second batch, i realized that it would look best if i smoothed out the melted almond bark before putting the sprinkles on. much better. {i was going to use some crushed peppermint - but a lot of kids don't like peppermints. mine not included, so i just used sprinkles. but i think that would be VERY cute.}

i wrapped up in little treat bags and tied with some tulle and a red construction paper heart. voila! instant valentine!

on another note. i finally finished my valentine's wreath. don't worry that valentine's day is like, tomorrow. it will stay up through the end of february. i worked too hard on it for it to only be up for a few days. it took way more time to wind the yarn onto all of those styrofoam balls but it was mindless, therefore therapeutic, so i didn't mind.

i love it. except for the top. i need a ginormous red/white polka dot bow. but with all of the snow and ice, i just haven't gotten to the store for that. it'll do. until next year, and then i'll add it. {please tell me that you have things that "will do for now" too??? nope? i'm the only one? awesome.}

happy friday. our friday is busy - preparing for a busy weekend. but it's good. hoping to get a lot done today {as i sit here at my computer procrastinating....}

FROZEN in time.

this is getting ridiculous, folks.

we've had snow day after snow day after snow day after snow day.

it's beautiful, but i'm going crazy. i was doing great the first two & 1/2 days. but by thursday, around lunch time, i started feeling a little claustrophobic. i ALMOST got out of the house last night but when i went to look at our driveway, i decided it wasn't worth it.

so jeff went out for me. to joann's fabric. for glue sticks. and felt. and thread.

i love my husband.

needless to say, i will not be getting out yet again today.

because it looks like this:

so. i've been doing a lot of sewing. organizing. crafting. cleaning. laundry.

there will be another post on operation total home organization, but i can now safely say that the upstairs is done. now onto the hard part. {ah, save the best for last, right??} junk drawers {i have three, much more for any sane, organized person}. cleaning out my dresser drawers. oh - and the DREADED toy closet. does anyone have any suggestions for organizing toys? please oh please share. i need help. my closet needs help. and if the hubby opens it one more time to have a stick horse fall on his big toe, i think brady may have a new vocabulary word that we won't be proud of.

we are ready for the superbowl to be over. are you? i'm so ready to watch the actual today show and not news about snowmageddon, or whatever they're calling it, and the super bowl. i mean, why are we already concerned that the weather here has ruined our chances to host another super bowl? aren't we in the middle of hosting this one? maybe we should finish this one first and see if we want another one. right????

i made lil' miss this dress for sunday night. actually, it's eventually going to have a "BU" on it - in preparation for march madness - but i won't put it on until after sunday.

i also made her this little rosette flower. it didn't turn out quite like i wanted... so i am going to work on some more. but for now, this will do. {PS i wasn't meant to match her jammies! i was just trying it on her!}

big man b. is ready for sunday night too.

a few years ago i went on a business trip to sheboygan, wisconsin. we actually flew out of green bay {30 minutes away} and i brought him back this cheesehead. he has made me swear that this is a one time thing... rooting for the packers.... but we shall see. {i may or may not have said i wanted to steelers to win because i like mike tomlin - the coach - and jeff may or may not have made a 'family decision' to root for the packers...}

regardless. i'm exhausted. not physically, of course, we haven't done ANYTHING. but i'm dying for fresh air that doesn't burn my lungs because it's so cold. {yes i'm a native texan}. yes, my kids nap at the same time for an hour or so... but that's still not enough time for the noise in my head to stop! oh - and what about that constant dripping of the faucets?! lovely!

of course... i do have this little muffin to play dress up with.

i have several crafts lined up on my 'docket' for this weekend. my goal is to do a post on them. but we will see....... i haven't exactly been living up to my goals 100% of the time lately. regardless, they're fun for ME to enjoy... right?

stay warm. thank goodness for coffee!

calling all crafters. {or even wannabe crafters, like me!}

many of you know that my very favorite blog to read EVER is written by meg from whatever.

i love her. for so many reasons... but one at the top of my list is her seemingly endless creative spirit. {with five kids in tow, none the less!}

so - you can imagine how good this NEW blog must be if i'm going to say that it rivals hers {creatively, at least!} meg guest-posted and that's the ONLY way i found it. 

let's just say, i've been so inspired and i can't wait for the lil miss to get here so we can spend some time with peppermint mochas, the bouncy seat and the sewing machine!! 

so.... without further ado... i will introduce you to EDIE's BLOG. she is doing a series called 12 days of handmade christmas. the best thing is that it's not ALL christmas crafts... they're things you can make to GIVE for christmas! {and just plain fun and easy!} 

you need to scroll through the posts from last year too. they're awe.some. 

so have at it.... and enjoy being creative!!!

fall craftiness.

when i was getting out my fall decor, i opened a box with these plastic pumpkins in them. they're 5 years old and a little tattered and torn... so i was thinking of throwing them away.



then my mom suggested a little revamping.

all it took was some extra fall 'foliage'



and a glue gun.



and presto-chango - a centerpiece for my dining room table!