Weekend Surprise: Craft Day

Yesterday was craft day at Laurel's. It's our second one. If you don't remember or weren't reading you can read about our first one here. It was so much fun!! We always have a blast and learn a lot about how to make the next one even better. We made lots of cute stuff of course. Tried new things. And just had fun. And ate of course. Micki's two aunts-in-law came down from Utah and were a huge help getting ready. We couldn't have done it without them!!! And our mom got to come to this one (since she lives by Micki now)!! Of course Teri drove the eight hours down for the occassion (but this time she planned on staying a few days instead of a few hours). Mom didn't think she would get her stuff done but she did and helped us!!! Here is some picture (only sneek peeks though cuz we are going to feature the crafts)

Who thought sewing with this many people was a good idea? But just wait until you see the cute project!!!


Teri and Mom

Are you jealous we could craft outside?

Smile...you *ARE* having fun!

Only part of the herd....

Yummy homemade lasagna! Thanks Laurel!!!

Takin' a lunch break...

More outdoor crafts...just to taunt you....sorry!

Who says you have to move the crafts while setting up the buffet?

2sisters 2gether!

Mom & Laurel....Micki's other mom.

This project was Teri's test!

*CHEESE*

Laurel (right) and her sister Kay (who was enjoying not being in the snow).

We can't wait to get some of the projects posted. We have missed all you guys and can't wait to get our craft on again!!!

Weekend Surprise: Finally Broke Out My Christmas Present (Teri)

For Christmas I was given money to buy my own present, I bought myself a Cricut Expressions machine. I know, I know, how could I wait this long to use it…..I’ll sum it up for you in two words overwhelming intimidation. I was scared to use it, not because I didn’t know if I could figure it out, but because there are so many things to do with it, and frankly I didn’t know where to start.

Let me start my story by telling you what a fabulous deal I got on my Cricut. I went shopping with my wonderful Mom, the day after Thanksgiving. Walmart had it in their ad for $188 including two cartridges. What an awesome deal, since the machine normally retails for about $350, and the cartridges that came with mine retail for about $25 each. I figured Walmart would be a zoo, and I probably wouldn’t get a machine, but a local craft store had them for $199 with two cartridges, so I decided to go there. Better yet, when I got there the lines weren’t horrible, and they met Wally’s price, $188! Aren’t you turning green with envy at what an awesome steal I got?

I decided that I would start with something really simple, and cheap so as to limit the intimidation factor. I don’t have any Valentine’s decorations at all, so I thought I’d make me one. I had this frame on hand and so I cut this cute heart out of scrapbook paper I already had, and mounted it on more paper I already had using Mod Podge, I let that dry and coated the whole thing again with Mod Podge, let it dry and put it in the frame and voile there you have my first Valentine’s Day Decor (and the world's longest run on sentence). For free!!! Can’t beat that. If any of you have any fabulous suggestions about overcoming my intimidation and overwhelmedness (I know it’s a made up word, but it perfectly describes how I feel) with my Cricut, please give them to me!

Looking at these pictures I realize that my wall hanging needs some work. I am going to put a colored ribbon on the tall ivory candle, any other suggestions?

This post linked to the Frugalicious Friday party at Finding Fabulous and Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff and Motivated Monday at Shimmer and Tulle and Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog

Also linked at:

Teri's Doin' The Happy Dance

I have read on several blogs about the good deals people have gotten at the Habitat for Humanity ReStores. I live in a relatively small town, and didn't think in a million years that we would have one. I did the happy dance on Friday night when I discovered that we do indeed have one, and I mae the hubs go there bright and early Saturday morning. I managed to score some wood for more of these for cheap. We also came out with some tile for a project and some moulding to make some picture frames with. It was a great trip!

A Question

We promise we have some fun pictures and a post to share about our fun marathon craft, but we have been a little crazy (like driving 6 1/2 hours to craft for a day and drive 6 1/2 hours home again). We promise we will be back by Monday (hopefully).

Now the question.....does anyone use bloggled. I use it to back up my family blog and to hopefully one day have it printed into a book. They recently switched from a free system to a small fee. I have renewed my subscription and paid the dang fee. I tried to log into it tonight and Internet Explorer popped up an error message that said the site's Security Certificate had expired. It said not to trust the sight, so I closed the window as it advised. Help!!! I don't want my info on a non trustable site, but I also want to be able to back up my blog and print it into a book. If anyone can help this technologically challenged girl I know my bloggy friends can. Help, suggestions and advise deeply appreciated. (as a side note, I did check the date and time on my computer to make sure that wasn't the problem. Help!!!

Weekend Surprise: Kiddos Halloween Costumes

Just for fun, we thought that we’d post pictures of our kids in their Halloween Costumes. Hope you enjoy!

Teri’s kids: yes I made these costumes, more about that in a future post.

Micki’s kids: yes that is my DAUGHTER dressed as the hammerhead pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean.

We are linked to DIY Show Off’s costume party (at the very end of the Fall Festival post). Will edit if we join anymore parties.

Weekend Surprise: Teri’s Fabulous Finds

My sister-in-law and I went shopping the other day to my favorite store, Target (we fondly call it Tar-zhay). We just happened to be walking by as the employee was marking all the special back to college stuff down to 75% off. Here’s what I purchased (doesn’t that sound so much fancier than here’s I what I done bought):

The rolled up things are 1 1/2 inch thick twin sized memory foam mattresses (2 for my bed, 2 for the guest bed, and one I’m going to make a cover for to take camping), 2 sets of full sized sheets, 1 set of queen sized sheets, 2 drapery panels.

Total cost:

$55.06

Can you believe it? It was a little much to spend, but now I have a comfy place for people to stay.

Do you like the patchwork quilt under all my stuff? It is on my guest bed. It was made by our darling Grandma who we miss very much (she passes away 8 years ago).

I am linking up to Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous and Frugal Friday at the Shabby Nest.

Insomnia

Okay, while that may seem like a strange title for a post on a craft blog, let me explain. I (Teri) am an insomniac. This is a result of many things. I am a Registered Nurse who works night shifts, which has altered my sleeping cycles dramatically. I am also by nature a bit of a night owl anyway. So, while I had the best of intentions of going to bed early, fate has conspired against me, and I just can’t make my mind stop with the ideas (and I worked last night, and slept all day, so now I’m having trouble falling asleep). While this may seem completely unrelated to the blog, I am getting to the point.

I was laying in bed, trying valiantly to go to sleep, when I started thinking about what would help organize this blog and make it easier for us to post. Micki calls this my blog, because I had the idea to start it, but really I think she is catching my enthusiasm, and so hopefully this will make it easier for both of us to post.

Each day of the week is going to be themed. I have seen this done on other blogs, and I like it. So here are the daily themes we have come up with, and hopefully it will help us make this a fun place to spend a little time.

Mystery Monday: This day will be for things that are a mystery to us and to you. In other words, we will post our questions for you. Sometimes we have a piece we love but don’t know what to do with or we don’t know how to do a project we want to. So, we will post our questions for you to help us with. You can either email us the answer, or leave it in the comments. In return, you can post questions for us (again either in email or comments) and we will answer them as best we can. Hopefully it will work so that we can post the answers on the following Mystery Monday, or via return email.

Tadpole Tuesday: This day will be dedicated to two things. It will give you a sneak peek at some of our “tadpole projects”, which are projects we are just starting, or will soon be featuring. It will also be a day where we showcase projects by “tadpole crafters” aka beginning crafters (probably usually our kids).

Whatever Goes Wednesday: This day will be for featuring a variety of projects by us or others. It’s for things that we can’t wait for another day to post, or for things that don’t fit into another “theme”

Guest Day Thursday: This will be a day when we can feature crafts by other people. It will also be a day when, hopefully, we can have guest bloggers.

Feature Friday: This will be a day to feature all of our favorite things that start with F. Fabric, Furniture, Favorite Finds, Fashion, Frugality, Food, Friends….. You get the idea.

Weekend Surprise: The weekends will be a surprise (mostly it will be a surprise if we can post this many days a week).

Sorry for the novel, but I had to get this down, so that hopefully I can get some sleep! Please leave us some feedback about this idea. Would you like it, or would it be too “cutesy”?