Thing-a-Day 2012: #17 Felt Dahlia Pins

#17 Felt Dahlia Pins

Another felt craft from my huge stash. These are 4" pins, 3 layers of leaves with 2 small 4 or 5 petal flowers in the center covered with small beads.  I didn't have any pin backs in my stash so when I go to the craft store again, I'll pick some up so I can finish these. Only one of these is mine. The other will be used as a gift package decoration. I plan on making another one in purple and possibly one in yellow. I haven't quite decided. I think they are really pretty and they were super easy to make.

Thing-a-Day 2012 - #12 Nail Paint

#12 - Nail Paint

It's been a long while since I've bothered to paint my nails. The Girl got this nail art kit for Christmas and I thought today would be the perfect day to give it a try. So I painted my base in a lovely Vintage Blue from Avon and I did the designs in Blue Me Away by Sallen Hansen Xtreme. There is definitely a learning curve. I couldn't get the entire design to transfer, and by the time I figured out what I was doing wrong, I was on my next-to-last fingernail. Ah, well. Until next time!

Spring Ball

Baseball season is fully underway, and with both kids playing this spring, our schedules are overly packed. We've had a game or practice 6 days out of 7 for the last 3 weeks! Sometimes, the kids have games on the same day, which means Dad takes Little Man and I take The Girl. Plus, The Mr. is a Coach this year so he really needs to be at every game even if Little Man isn't playing that day.


It's difficult for me to get photos of Little Man since I often do the scorebook. So I'm going to have to take a game off here and there so I can get some more pictures of him in action.

This is The Girl's first year playing on a team. Because they offer a girls softball league here, they wouldn't let her play baseball. She was not happy. And the coaches are having a hard time retraining her! She doesn't throw like a girl :)

And she loves to slide! Here I caught her stealing home. Which she does quite often. She's also managed to get pretty banged up while doing it. That's my Girl :)

New Polish Color

"Flat Iron Green" by NYC In a New York Color Minute, Quick Dry Nail Polish

Okay, so I saw this color in a magazine and immediately fell in love with it. In the light it's very green, but without the benefit of UV, it's an almost black color! I just had to find it! So, I scoured the shelves until I found it on the very bottom of the display at the local Wally-World. I thought for sure this would become my new favorite polish. But I was completely unprepared for this. I expected, with it being one of those 60-seconds-to-dry type polishes, that it would also be a one-coat polish. WRONG! It took 4 coats total. And it dries so fast, sometimes I couldn't get the entire nail painted before the drying kicked in. Lots of streaking going on.

On the up side, it didn't chip right away like most polishes. A couple days after applying it, I trimmed my nails and gave them another coat. And now it's the color, and coverage, I want! While not technically a "spring" color, it does a good job of playing with spring. This probably won't be one of my go-to polishes since it takes so many coats before it's looking pretty, but when I have the time for multiple coats, it'll be right up there at the top of my list.

The Knitwit Files Vol 5: Bold Stripes

Just before Christmas I had found some acrylic "fun yarn" at a local discount store. I planned on using it to practice different stitches, but when The Girl saw the purple she immediately claimed it for her next scarf. So I went back and picked up enough black to make a nice long scarf for her. I also picked up a little extra black for an animiguri project that I'm still working on.

The scarf is knitted in straight stitch. It went fairly quickly. The hardest part of the whole project was weaving in all the ends left from switching colors. One of these days I'll figure out how to carry the yarns up the side. I don't care for the texture of this yarn at all. It kept snagging on my bamboo needles. Cheap acrylic yarn is NOT pleasant to work with. I'm glad I only have a couple more skeins of this stuff. I may just use it for the cores of my Japanese Temari balls (see here) that I make and skip the frustrations and unpleasantness of knitting with it.

New Nail Colors!

I am in love with these new(ish - I actually got these last October) nail colors from Avon! From Left to Right: Violetta and Grey Cement (both matte finish), Jade and Vintage Blue (both from the Nailwear Pro line). I love the look of the matte colors, unfortunately, they chip rather quickly. The Violetta even leaves a bit of color behind when it's removed. The Jade is soft and luscious and the Vintage Blue makes my heart beat just a little faster. eeek!

I think I may be a little bit addicted...I want to try some new colors!

Family Day Activities

Yesterday Chad took most of the day off of work so we could have a family day before his trip to Atlanta next week. We decided to surprise the kids with a trip to Strikes and Spares in Mishawaka. They had wanted to go bowling so we thought we'd give them a little bonus. We had so much fun!


The indoor go karts were definitely a big hit! We spent most of our time cruising the track and perfecting our "drifting".


We only played one round of black-light mini-golf. Some of the holes were a challenge, but most of them were fairly easy. I'm sure that's because it's only 9 holes and it has to be little-kid friendly. Apparently, my camera (little point-and-shoot Cybershot) doesn't care for black-light. Oh well.

Then we did some bowling. Chad and Little Man played one round and then went back to the go kart track. The Girl and I bowled a second round and then went to join them.



By the time we'd used up our 3-hour wristband, we were quite worn out. Strikes and Spares is at the top of our Activities list!

On the hunt for...

THE PERFECT BEACH TOWEL!!!

Find the tutorial here
Because I want to make this! A couple years ago I had a lovely pink striped beach towel. But it joined the group going to the water park one fine day and became lost in lounger land. Sadly, it's never been replaced. But now the hunt is on. I need a nice big, thin pile beach towel to turn into this amazing swimsuit cover-up dress. I figure if I make my beach towel into a dress, it's unlikely anyone in my family will want to borrow it! *crossing my fingers!*

Thrifty Finds!

It has been far too long since I've enjoyed a trip to the thrift shops. I only hit one this time around, mostly because I'd spent my budget! Too many great deals :) I went with the intention of finding some skirts and dresses and hopefully some workout shorts/gear. And after trying on at least 20lbs of possibilities, I walked away with one dress.

This purple dress! I can't wait to get it washed and start wearing it! Best part - it was brand new. What a deal. On my way to checkout I remembered that I wanted to look for a bag to convert to a camera bag. And wouldn't you just know it; I totally lucked out!

When I spotted this bag I actually squealed a little and started hopping up and down in pure joy! Not only is it the perfect shape and depth, it's the most beautiful color. I love it! And then I just happened to spot another sweet bag, one that I've been craving for some time now...

The perfect straw bag! The lining is in desperate need of replacement, but that's okay because I got this bag for a song! At this point I decided to get in line, but then I happened to glance over at the "new" stuff shelves and I couldn't believe my eyes! A brand new pair of galoshes!

I saw all the pretty galoshes on the Target website and instantly fell in love. I never did get to order a pair. This colorway wouldn't have been what I ordered, but it was on my top 5. And while I was still glowing with happiness over the boots, I glanced up and saw these

beautiful ribbony things! The birthday ribbons will go right into my scrapbooking box. The green plastic wire is very interesting. It's a foam/plastic wrapped wire made for use in the garden. I can't wait to play with it. And I'm wondering if I'll be able to find any more of that stuff.

It was a pretty good thrift day, even if I didn't find skirts. Maybe next time!

Fun New Top

So I went shopping at the local thrift store recently. I found this top and immediately felt a connection to it. Normally I only wear solid colors, in T-shirt style cuts,  so this print (and style) is really pushing me outside my comfort zone. I carried it around the store for a while, thinking it over, trying to envision myself wearing it and with what would I pare it? and then I got myself all frustrated so I put everything back and left. Which is usually what happens when I go shopping for clothing. :(

A couple days later I was still thinking about "that" shirt, so I went back for it. I thought about shortening it but then I wore it around the house for a bit and got used to the length. I did have to wear a shirt underneath as this top has an insane V-neck! I will need to find some camis in the near future.

Bathing Beauty

I love this get-up! Talk about stylin'. This is beachwear :)

Now that the weather is warmer we'll be spending some time by the pool. I wish today's swimwear had a bit more swagger, character and class. Four triangles of fabric just doesn't cut it. Where's the creativity? Where's the mystery? Where's the modesty?!

And I'm not just saying this because I'm not a size 2. I believe there is something to be said for maintaining some modesty in our attire, whether it be swimwear or everyday wear. We need to have more respect for ourselves and for those around us. We need to understand that we are more than a pretty face and hot body. We should treat ourselves as more than a commodity on the exchange.

We are more than meets the eye! :)

Girly Stuff!

Look at these fun new nail colors I picked up!

I found a new line of nail polish to try out. Lots of color choices and easy on the pocket.

For my first trial I chose Taxi Yellow Creme, Times Square Tangerine Creme, Greenwich Village (the pink), and Purple Pizzazz Frost all from N.Y.C.

Now...which one to try first???

Alice has nothing on me...

I took K shopping so she could spend all her money on new clothes and accessories. It didn't take her long. We broke up the shopping in 2 days: one day at Target and the other day at the Mall. Her favorite purchase of all: the Cheshire Cat reversible hoodie. I have to admit, I'd sport that cat!

All the goodies: shoes, belts, gloves, neckaces, bracelets, jeans, shirts, socks, glasses, rings, and suspenders! She really went all out on the color choices too. No more all black!

Project 365: Week 9

WEEK #9

Sunday, February 21, 2010  Grocery shopping. It takes at least 2 and sometimes a little more than 3 hours to do all the grocery shopping. It's very difficult when we have such a small amount of storage space, so I have to really pay attention to my meal planning to make it all work. The only thing I run for during the week is milk and bread as we need it :)

Monday, February 22, 2010  We went to the library today and did some work on some reports. K chose to do giraffes and J chose some monkey that the library has only one reference book about! When it was time to go they each grabbed a zillion movies...well, not really a zillion, but way more than we'll watch in a week.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010  Out on my walk today I found this bike for sale. I've been wanting one of these forever now, and it was just plain luck that I ran across this one. Picked it up for $20! I love it!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010  I had the RV to myself since Chad was at work and the kids were at their friend's house. Since it was just me, I pulled out some paper and crafted these pretty napkin rings.

Thursday, February 25, 2010  We had a special treat tonight - ice cream! J is always entertaining to watch when eating ice cream. He really gets into it!

Friday, February 26, 2010  It's been cold again. We busted out some hot cocoa. We only have 4 coffee mugs with us in the RV and 2 of them have to do with getting older! ha...

Saturday, February 27, 2010  K and I spent the day together doing some shopping. We hit the local thrift shop where I picked up this lovely red jewelry box, which I will use as a purse. Later at Target we were looking through the accessories and I found this huge ring! I love statement rings! yay me!

Project 365: Week 6

WEEK #6

Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010  Jeremy and his friends set up a little tent with his sleeping bag so they could stay out of the amazingly cold wind and play their video games.

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010  I made a batch of brownies and tried cutting them with the heart cutters. I sprinkled them with a little bit of powdered sugar. yummy :)

Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010  Chad's checkerboard scarf is all finished!

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010  Blue Me Away nail polish. Love it, love it, love it!

Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010  Working on scanning pictures from MY childhood. I've started my Journaling Me Project and I'll need some of these photos to go with the journaling.

Friday, Feb. 5, 2010  Birthday cupcakes. I played around with my food colorings and used some pretty ribbon to make my cupcakes look like balloons! I used my pretty liners but they don't show up very well.

Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010  J had baseball camp today, so I spent my birthday working in the concession stand at the little league fields. It was a nice day, but very cold, very strong winds again. Glad we had hot cocoa!

Darling Daughter's New 'Do

Before & After

Isn't she adorable?!

We went to a local salon and I was lucky enough to find someone comfortable cutting a "scene" hairstyle. The stylist was super excited to do something so edgy and fun and K was super excited to finally get her hair done. She's been wanting this hair for ages! I like that she wants to spend more time taking care of her hair now. Big change from last year :)

New Favorite Color for Spring!

Blue Me Away by Sally Hansen has got to be the best new color of the season! I picked it up as soon as I found it and K polished her nails as soon as I showed her the shiny blue bottle!