Christmas Time

i love these bloggers that are so on the ball with getting all their Christmas decor up and photographed before Halloween (i kid). it is inspiring though. it makes me wish i was better at planning though!!

here are a few pics from our holidays.

have a safe and wonderful new year!!

Goodwill Gone Bad

we have all seen the craziness at thrift stores - plaid polyester pants, moo-moos, splatter painted shirts with fringe and pony beads (yes, i owned one!), but this take the cake!!

you can thank me later.

i'm thinking its for a new native american smutty novel series - Dances with Open Shirts.
and what a deal - only $3.00!

Our Latest Project

As if we don't have enough going on we decided to gut and renovate my old sewing room (soon to be Ella's new room). 

Now granted....this is a 90 + year old home and nothing is square or plumb or flush or insulated. 

We had no idea when we tore up the old restaurant carpet and paneling that there was NO drywall OR insulation. No wonder it's like an iceberg in there.

Pic 1. Renovation begins. Lots and lots of paneling, spline ceilings, restaurant carpet, and bad light fixtures.

Pic 2. Gutted and discovered no insulation on the North wall.

Pic 3. Raised the ceiling from 7' to 8' 6", bumped out walls 2', relocated closet into unused space in eave, and opened up old closet for more living space.

More pics to come....

Right Now...

stole this idea from meg :

right now i am…

watching: just finished up Tudors and starting Friday Night Lights. I listen to it while I sew; my production suffers a little when it's good. 

eating:  munched on a sugar cookie by our local bakery. they are hands down the best ever. i craved them when I was pregnant with ella. 

drinking:  coffee (VIA by starbucks!! caramel is my fave), water & True Lemon Raspberry Lemonade mixes. i get bored with water and the true lemon mix is awesome!!

wearing: a tie-dye shirt from my son's field trip 2 years ago, yoga pants, and a 10 year old Kansas University sweatshirt. oh and...my moccasins to keep my cold feet warm.

avoiding:  laundry and dishes. it's all to easy to walk past them or bribe the kids to do it all with a video game. too much sewing going on to really care right now.

feeling:  worn out. like i'm playing catch up all the time. one more show is what i keep chanting in my head then i can enjoy the season.

missing:  my grandma in Kansas. 

thankful:  for speed dry top coat nail polish and girlfriends that that can obsess with me about nail art on pinterest and don't judge me. lol and my husband, and kids - that ol' chestnut. ;)

weather:  low tonight is 17 freakin' degrees. ugh! 

praying:  for a friend at church that found out she has stage 4 cancer. it sucks. 

needing:  a maid, chef, physical trainer, chauffer, nanny, oh and clone. eyelash extensions would be nice too. 

thinking: about how to share with the kids the real meaning of Christmas. It's easy to talk about it, but showing it is another thing. 

loving:  the sound of my husband playing his new guitar. 

and you?  what are you up to?

Christmas Goodness

The tree has been up with lights sans ornaments for 10 days. It's totally unlike me to do this. I am the person that thinks about decorating for Christmas ALL YEAR LONG. sigh....

So to put me in the spirit and get me motivated to finish my tree and alcoves I had to make a little Peppermint Mocha

delish peppermint mocha

Peppermint Mocha Recipe

Recipe:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract (i made it twice and used 1/2 the second time)
3 tablespoons powdered cocoa
3 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup hot espresso
1 1/2 cups hot milk

Stir the water and sugar in a saucepan until sugar dissolves and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and add peppermint extract. Allow mixture to simmer for 20 minutes.

Mix cocoa and water in a mag until paste forms. Add espresso and 1 1/2 teaspoon of the peppermint syrup. Finally, add the milk and serve hot.

After two of those babies I could have repainted the whole house. :)

the tree finished

3rd Annual Holiday Open House

I survived!
We moved up the annual Open House to November this year and they were a HUGE success!! I am still tickled over the support from family, old friends, new friends, guests, neighbors.....everyone!!

Children's boutique clothing from Sweet Petunias

Jewelry by Beth Williams

Jewelry by Beth Williams

AMAZING quilts by Mary Claire at Splendorfalls Sews

My purses Pink Posie Designs

more great stuff by Mary Claire at Splendorfalls Sews

GORGEOUS knitted wares by MC's mom, Mary G. swoon!!

DARLING baby wares from A Little Lively

More Sweet Petunia goodness

Sunglass Cases by Pink Posie Designs

Now...off to sew some orders and get ready for another show at Pere Marquette 12/11!! Come check it out the Winter Craft Show!!

Exciting News

Waaay back in March I was contacted by Sew it All magazine. They saw a wreath in my etsy store and asked if I could create one for an article feature in their Winter issue. 

Guess what arrived in the mail Saturday? My magazine, and they sent the wreath back as well. :)

Go check it out!! There have been some great articles and sewing projects in each issue. A subscription would make a lovely Christmas gift, too. 

8lb 6oz baby Jesus

This is the long over due story of why I carry around a blue washcloth in a ball secured with a Live Strong band.

It's because of Baby Jesus. 8lb, 6oz Baby Jesus wrapped in golden fleece diapers layin' in a manger.

It all started at Bunco night. The hostess had A MANGER scene out on display. It was July. For those of you that know me I have a bit...of...an ornery side. just a little. ;)
I had to steal it. well..... "borrow" it.

See...we were leaving for a camping trip the next week and wanted to "steal" Baby Jesus and photograph him all over the place like Flat Stanley and the famous Gnomes. In my mind it was funny.....

And that is the explanation behind the photos

Baby Jesus getting coffee at Starbucks

Metropolis gas station.  Home of Superman!

some random church on the side of the road in KY

at The Dip in Dover, TN

at Ft Donelson in Dover, TN (civil war memorial)

My husband thinks that I crossed the line with the confederate flag. His reply was "we all know Jesus was a Yankee!" ;) That topic is for a totally different post. 

I will say that as soon as I took the picture of Baby Jesus with the Rebel flag I was in trouble. Little did I know that I set Him down on the counter at the memorial while my boys were becoming "certified Junior Park Rangers" and LEFT HIM THERE! TWO HOURS AWAY FROM OUR CAMPSITE!!!!!

Imagine my horror when I called the park the next day and asked if they had a blue washcloth with a Live Strong band on it. Awesome. It didn't fit the bill of a suspicious package at all. nope. And to top it off a summer intern that was young enough to be my son was running the desk when I got there. He totally thought I was a nut job asking for my crystal Baby Jesus wrapped in an old blue washcloth wrapped securely with the promise of Lance Armstrong and Live Strong. sigh.....

Needless to say my husband was so sweet about driving FOUR hours out of our way home to retrieve it.  He was so sweet that on top of that he sat in the car with the kids for an hour while I shopped in Hancock's of Paducah. Mommy like!

enjoying the loot from Hancock's of Paducah 

*in no way to i condone stealing or making fun of Jesus. We just figured He would get a kick out of coming along on our journey. ;)

IKEA

so the basement is just about finished.....i'll post pics when it's actually clean! ;)

we *had* to make a run to Ikea for some great goodies for the basement.

Veggie chili & a salad

bringing the loot home!

Sadly, these are the only 2 photos of the trip. Despite the fact that we were childless for the weekend it was still a whirlwind. 

Pulling up to Schaumburg Ikea was like pulling up to a stadium. Seriously! We parked in D-4. Need I say more?

Some of the loot we brought back was a couch

Ektorp Sofa in Light Brown

8 of these Billy Bookcases.  It was so much cheaper to buy them and have them modified than building built-ins from scratch

and 2 of these for the living room to flank the North windows. 

BJURSTA Dining Table - PERFECT for our combined Dining/Living Room

And 6 of these bad boys - the HENRIKSDAL chair in Linneryd

And finally, the ADUM Rug for under the couch. 

Wasn't my first choice, but it was the softest option on tile. 

(not to mention an ENTIRE entertainment center for a friend)

Here's a progress picture of the floors...

the walls and floor really don't look like urine. promise. 

Something Happy

this one is for all you (muppet) lovers out there.

ENJOY!! :)