Felt Hair Bows

I bought a few felt bows for Lola's hair at the Junk in the Trunk sale a while back for $6 each.  I love the idea of them and just how adorable they look in Lola's hair, but I didn't love the price {only because I knew they could be made for next to nothing}.  I had full intentions of making my own right away, but how most things go, I put it off and put it off, and Lola continued to wear her three that I originally purchased for her!  

Well, with a shopping spree last weekend {or was it two?!} and new clothes for the kids, she needed more colors, so I got to work this past weekend and started cranking them out, because really they are going to make great Christmas gifts or future birthday presents!  

They really do not take long at all.  I referenced both Ruffles and Stuff and Lines Across My Face {both have great tutorials, click on their blog name, who knows, their tutorial might be way easier to understand than mine!} and one of the bows I previously purchase for Lola to help me out!

Grab your favorite colored piece of felt and lets get started!

Start out with an 8.5x11 sheet of felt {so many colors/patterns to chose from these days}.

Oh yeah, I do have a desk in my craft room, but somehow I always end up on the floor!  It is so much more comfortable!

 Then, cut strips approximately 8.5"x1.5" strips.  I just measure once and then laid the cut strip on top of the uncut piece of felt and make the next cut.  I made 5 strips this length {you could probably do one more, but I did make another type of felt bow, so I wanted the extra left over for that!}.  I cut about 2" off of the original strip.  I didn't want the bow that big.  Adjust it as you see fit!

 Using hot glue, I folded the two ends over, creating the bow shape, and sealed.

You will need a piece of felt approximately 8.5"x0.5" to wrap around the pinched bow.  I wrapped it around twice once I had the bow shaped how I liked it and glued it on the backside.

Just slip in an alligator clip and you are all set!  No real need to hot glue the alligator clip in, although you could if you wanted to.  If you don't you can use on clip for all of the different colors that you make!

 And just to show you how cute they really look in the hair, check out Lola!  She loves her bows and was happy to show one off for you!

I want to make so many more colors for her and plan to take full advantage of my 5 day weekend crafting my little heart out and getting some of the homemade Christmas presents on my list checked off!!!

 Linking up with some of my favorite party people this week!

Lucky Day!

It has been less than a year since you got to take a peek into my pantry and view it at its worst (click here in case you forgot what hoarders we were on our way to becoming)!  While it was no where near as messy this time around, with family coming over this year for the holidays, I felt like I needed to get in there and spruce it back to life!

We are very fortunate that our pantry is so big.  Here is a look inside!  I didn't change too much from last time {kept the kids station over on the left and middle, so that the things they eat could be easily reached}, kept the cleaning supplies over on the top right!  A few new things that I did was hang the lunch bags on the inside of the pantry door using command strips and put all of the canned goods into the basket over on the left.  I moved the cookbooks just a smidge and put all of the prescriptions/basic medicines in a little green plastic tray.  I keep a box for each kid that holds all of their school paper work/artwork for the year.  I put it inside the pantry now that there is room instead of on the counter!

Ok, so I know you are thinking, the title of this post is lucky day...how does that even make sense?!

Well, that braided basket that now holds all of the canned foods used to be a place where I kept piles of "stuff"!  While cleaning it out today, and realizing that I needed about 3 of the 25 things that were in it, I discovered these two gift cards!  My husband always wins gift cards at work, worth $25 each and he usually sets them aside or spends them.  Well, two of them must have got mixed into the basket shuffle {sometime last year?!}, so when I pulled them out, I was so excited to have $50 to spend!  EXCEPT, one of the cards wasn't the usual $25 gift card, it was worth a whopping $200! Holla!  I definitely looked at more than once to make sure!  It came just in time for Thanksgiving dinner shopping!  I am so thankful that I took on the cleaning of the pantry before I went to the store today!  I was able to buy everything we needed with the lucky cards!

I feel so much better when my life is cleaner!  And it sure was nice to not have to spend a single penny at the grocery store today too!  I need to get crackin' on the rest of the house, who knows what I'll find!

Just in Case!

We were supposed to get family pictures taken on Friday, but my poor sister-in-law came down with that stomach bug that left her feeling down and out.  With our weekends very busy {baseball on Saturdays, photo shoots on Sundays, you know...just life in general} until the middle of December, I wasn't sure if we were going to find time to squeeze in our own family pictures to send out Christmas cards this year, so the next best thing was to get my kiddos dressed up and snap some of them to put on a card, just in case!  I may or may not have bribed them with Whataburger {again!  This time for cheeseburgers and french fries! 

Think I did enough talkin' on my last post, this time I will let the pictures do it for me!

 We took the pictures by the tree at the very end.  The sprinklers turning on and scaring the absolute crap out of Lola sealed the deal that the photo shoot was over!

 Oh, these hats!  Along with a stop to Whataburger, I promised Kyan that we could take pictures in their knew hats!  Kinda glad I did, that one below happens to be one of my favorites!

And that one below is my FAVORITE from the day {I think}!  If we don't get family photos done, I am pretty positive this is the one I'll be using for the Christmas card this year!

 I think I like it in color more, because I love the different colors in Lola's outfit, but thought I would throw in the black/white for fun!

Ugh, maybe that one on the right is my favorite?  So hard to choose!

I can't wait to get some of them hung and thinking I need a canvas or two {or three or four}!

Still keeping fingers crossed for a family shoot soon, but very excited Kyan and Lola's pictures turned so good!  

Really BIG love those cutie pies and lucky to call them mine!

More than you ever wanted to know...

So this blog started out as a way to keep up with family, you know, update those that are far away with pictures of what we have been up to recently.  Then, I sprinkled in a craft or two.  Even a recipe!  Over time, it has become my scrapbook/journal.  It is the place that I record pretty much everything that has been happening with us.

Mostly, I have shared good times here, because I want this to be a positive place for me and my family to come to remember. Not that we don't have hard times, because believe me, we have our fair share.  I get personal, but not too personal, because...well, I don't know?!
 
That being said, I am about to get personal.  I am going to give you more information on me that really you ever probably wanted to know, so really feel free to skip this post if you want!  I just want to have a place to write stuff down so that I can remember one day, oh yeah, that happened to me.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

About a month ago, I went if for my annual female exam.  No big deal, but I did want to discuss why my period felt like it did way back when I was like 14 years old and pre-birth control {I have been on it since I was like 15, I went on accutane, went off when I tried to get pregnant with each kid and then finally off when the hubs took care of business after Lola was born}.  There was concern enough for my doctor to order a pelvic ultrasound to see if something was causing the crazy bleeding {6 day period then it will stop for a day or so, then start up for another day, then stop again}.  The ultra sound showed a structure near my right ovary.  When the nurse called me with the results she asked if I was pregnant and immediately referred me to my obgyn.  Ugh, pregnant?  Sweat started dripping out of every pore in my body, then I cried, then panicked.  NOT.  POSSIBLE.  Peed on a stick, negative.  Why were they asking if I was pregnant?  Did they see something down there when they were doing that special ultra sound?  I called the obgyn and asked them to review the results and call me back asap.  It took them two days {my appointment was on the third day} and they said that they would talk to me about my options tomorrow.  What did that even mean?!  Thursday could not come any faster.  When I had my consultation, my doctor explained to me why they asked about the pregnancy.  Where the structure is located is very similar to where a tubal pregnancy might be.  But, he reassured me that I wasn't pregnant if in fact I got a negative result.  Huge sigh of relief.  So then what is the structure and what are my options?
~more birth control pills {I have migraines that they think are related to hormonal changes, so it would help those and control heavy bleeding}.  I feel like I have been on birth control my whole life, for some reason I am emotional about this one and do not want to go back on it.  I already take two pills each night {for high blood pressure and migraine prevention, really, what is one more pill?}.  With this they would repeat the ultra sound to make sure that whatever the structure is doesn't get bigger.
~IUD.  This will possibly help control/reduce the bleeding and make me more regular.  Again, repeat the ultra sound to make sure that whatever the structure is doesn't get bigger.
~Operative Hysteroscopy {the link will explain it better than me}, but if you don't want to read it, know it is very similar to a d&c.  This option goes in and gets out whatever it might be that is inside me, cleans you out.  No guessing or waiting to see what that structure might be or grow into.  Could just be a cyst, very normal in any woman's body, this I learned or could be a polyp or something else.  The what is it is what bothers me.  This procedure you do have to go under for.

So, after a few tears and questioning what I should do, I opted for the latter. They called me yesterday and scheduled me for the day before Thanksgiving {did I mention we are hosting a HUGE get together this year?!}.  Should be interesting.  

Hoping that once everything is out I will sleep a little bit easier and things will be back to normal.

See.  Told you.  Much more than you ever wanted to know about me. 

 PS-Of course my doctor could get me scheduled to do the surgery the day before Thanksgiving, but the surgery center itself could not, so I will be having the procedure done on December 28th.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to me!
 

The BIG One.

I have been waiting a year for this sale.  No joke.  The countdown has been on since last year where I found the most incredible headboard on the entire planet (and lots of other stuff too)!  Only this time I was going to help work at the sale Friday, spend the night with Donna at Grandpa and Grandma Shipe's house, wake up early Saturday and pick up my mama at the airport, then get in line for the "special rooms", and work a little more after we finished shopping!

So, with a planned day off of work, bags packed, you can imagine my excitement Thursday night as I anticipated Friday and my day/night with in-laws, shopping my little heart out!

Yeah?!  

NOT.  SO.  MUCH.

Friday morning I woke up with a sore throat and...well, lets just call it an upset stomach and these crazy pains in my chest that feel like I am having a heart attack {happened about two weeks ago while on a photo shoot and I thought maybe because I always bend all crazy that I tweaked something in my sternum and then again Friday morning}.  They leave me breathless and it takes sometimes 20 minutes to get my breathing right.  Off to Urgent Care I went, just in case I had strep.  While I was going to go, sick or not, to the sale, I wanted to have meds if I needed them!  The doctor took one look at my throat, and said nothing was wrong.  But when I started to tell him about the pains I was having in my chest, he thought that I was probably having esophageal spasms and that they could have everything to do with my throat hurting.  Esopha-whacha-go-gul?  Yeah, I had never heard of it, but he explained it to me and sent me on my way with some Zantac, for acid reflux.  A quick stop to pick up the prescription and the medicine of my choice for upset bellies, Pepto-Bismol, I was off to pick up Donna. 

When we arrived at Grandpa and Grandma's, it was lunch time {we were supposed to get there earlier than this to start helping}.  While I ate nothing, we had a nice visit at lunch...that was until I heard my phone ring. 

It couldn't be?

It was.

The school nurse at my children's school.  I knew someone was sick and that they were calling me to come and get them.  Kyan as a matter of fact.  He was puking, can you come?

Panic, tears, saddness.  But not by my son, by me!  

This was supposed to be my day and night away?  How was I going to make this work?

I did the only thing there was to do.  

I called my husband and crossed my fingers that he could/would leave work to go get our puking boy.

And do you know what?  He did.

Chad gets the best husband/daddy award ever!  He knew how much I had been anticipating this weekend and he made it work so that I could stay.  I owe him, BIG!

It was at that point that I could finally relax {but still not eat} and really enjoy my time!

We shopped and we helped out the rest of the afternoon {including covering as much of the furniture outside as we possibly could in plastic as the dust storm rolled in}!  Then we headed back to Grandpa and Grandma's for a quite evening at home.  Grandma made a spaghetti and meatball dinner {that smelled delicious, but that I still couldn't eat, only the salad and some strawberries were okay for me} and then we watched a little TV before we all went to bed at 8pm!  It was glorious!  I read for just a few minutes, but the stress of the day and the not feeling well, put me right to bed!

My mama flew in to spend some time with us too {and to see what all of the fuss was about}.  My Aunt Heidi picked her up at the airport {lifesaver} and they met up this morning!  They were line cutters and managed to sneak into the "special" room with us first!  They took off after they browsed for about an hour, while Donna and I got back to work until about 10:30, when we decided to call it quits.  We settled up and headed home with a truck full of goodies!

I didn't need anything major this year and was on the hunt for two particular things:

1.  White Dishes for our Supper Club Parties

2.  Scrabble Pieces {after seeing my Aunt's collection, I wanted my own}

Check.  And check.

I was able to score the White Dishes with place settings for 8 {perfect for our dinners} for $7!   There were actually about 16 large white dishes in the box, so double score!  And I found four scrabble games, including boards and pieces for $1 a piece!  

Have you seen all of the cool projects you can do with them?  I have a few saved onto my pinterest board already!  Are you on pinterest?  I am, right here:  

If you are not on it and need an invite, let me know, I'll send you one!   Just leave me your email!

Other things I found this weekend and took home with me included:

zippers {@ 2/$0.25 how does one not grab six, or seven, or eight?}

3 baggies full of buttons

assorted thread x3 in plastic containers, $1 each {the containers were worth so much more!}

fabric

needles

2 small red decorative Christmas trees

bells

2 Nativity Sets {for my friend, Angela}

2 pine cone wreaths

box full of vintage holiday to:/from: stickers to put on presents

giant chalkboard {as big as the bed of my truck} for $5.  I had big dreams for that one, but sadly it got warped in the rain.  I am thinking of still using it for photo shoots?!

candy jar

picture frames {I don't think I can go to any junk sale without buying a few!}

condiments serving dish thingy

Phew!  I am sure there are things that I left off, but that is it in a nutshell!

While it wasn't the weekend that I had planned, I didn't do too bad!

Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Shipe for being so good to me, always.

To Donna, for being the best mother-in-law a girl could ask for.

To the hubs for taking care of the kids, especially one who happened to be sick, so that I could have a night off.

To my mama, for flying down to spend time with me this weekend.  Sometimes mamas just know when they are needed and when a ticket went on sale, my wonderful dad bought it for her first chance he got, so yes, thanks to him too.

To Aunt Heidi, for being the coolest, I love getting ideas from you!

Halloween Rewind

Oh wow, what a busy Halloween weekend we had!  

So, going to push the rewind button...NOW!

 FRIDAY:

Met up with our Grandma Donna, Auntie Rae and the cousins to do a little Trunk-or Treating at church!

The kids look forward to this event every year!  Yummy food, carnival games, costume parade, dancing {new this year and was a BIG hit, especially with Lola! Girlfriend shook her booty until the very end}, and then getting candy out of the trunks of cars/trucks!  

Kyan wanted to play every game, while Lola played one or two!  She was a LOT afraid of one particular costume that happened to be at every game we were at!  

However, she managed to dance the night away and convinced her brother to eventually join her!

After dancing, the kids marched in the costume parade with the help of our favorite girl Alyssa!

And then it was candy time!

SATURDAY:

Spent the morning traveling to Kyan's baseball game approximately 40 minutes away from the house, then chillaxin' at home until Kyan did Friday all over again with his friend from school!!  Lola spend the evening with Celeste, while Chad and I enjoyed a nice dinner out with friends!

SUNDAY:

Pumpkin carving time!!!!  Here is how it works in our house; daddy cuts opening of the pumpkins, the kids and I gut the pumpkins and prep the seeds for baking, kids draw faces for daddy to cut while I get seeds ready to pop in the oven, daddy cuts the pumpkins!  Everyone is happy and it all works out in the end, when we are popping freshly baked pumpkin seeds in our mouth!

MONDAY:

Go to school.  Go to Target after school and pick up candy {I know, last minute right?!}.  Come home. Eat dinner.  Get on costumes, again.  Trick-or-Treat around the neighborhood {that happened to be hoppin' this year more so than last year}!

 Poor Lola's hair looks like a hot mess!  She insisted on keeping her french braid that Mrs. Ashbey, one of her teachers, did for her earlier in the day!  To be fair, it looked adorable from the back {you can kinda see in the picture below}, but by the end of the night, most of it came loose!  Oh well, I still think she was the prettiest princess on the block!

 Kyan and Lola made it all around the neighborhood this year!  Towards the end however, Lola needed a ride on daddy's shoulders in between stops!  He also protected her at the scary houses!  When she was walking and we came upon a house that looked a little spooky or had on scary music, she would push us forward and scream at us to go!  I just kept laughing at her, but she really was terrified of some of the houses and had no problems vocalizing that to us!

 When we got back home, we were greeted by our cutie pie neighbor kids, who helped pass out candy!  This was the kids favorite part last year, and by the looks and sounds of it last night, it seemed like it was the highlight again last night!

My favorite picture of the night!  

Love the relationship that they have.

Love them.

 We were busy, but this Halloween weekend was a blast!  Hope yours was too!