a few ideas

thank you for your comments and suggestions yesterday!
i really appreciate it

i scoured my "make it" pinterest board 

for my favorite ideas yesterday and here's where i'm at

i love this idea to monogram basic totes using a doily for girls/women

and maybe these chalkboard composition notebooks for nephews?

there is still the option of making and personalizing these pencil pouches

or i could make everyone personalized ornaments

have you heard of the caravanshoppe?

you buy the digital download and can use it as many times as you want

(for personal use only, of course)

i just won $14 credit there from a blog giveaway so i may go that route, too

they have lots of cute ideas like these olliblocks

i made my first gift yesterday

an infinity scarf using some remnant fabric from joanns

it was really easy so maybe that'll be a good gift for the ladies in our lives

if you want to make one and not wing it

here's a tutorial to use 

so that's where i'm at

as far as handmade Christmas gifts

although this may all change after my trip to hobby lobby later today

but maybe these ideas will help some of you?

unmotivated

every year i try to make handmade gifts 

i especially like to make them for our nieces and nephews

there are around 25 of them between the two of us but i want them to know

i remember them and love them

one year i made these black apple dolls 

another year i made all the kids super hero capes

another year i made all the women in our lives

moms, grandmas, sisters and sisters in law aprons

and last year i made our nieces flowers for their hair

and our nephews signs for their rooms

this year...i've got nothing

no ideas and no motivation

any suggestions?

valentine's decorations

i made a couple of easy valentine's decorations

that i can toss afterward if i feel like it

since we don't really have room to store anything extra

first i cut different sized hearts out of pink and red scrapbook paper

with pinking shears

and sewed them together with red thread

 and hung them above our family pictures in the living room

then i used my letter stamps
and stamped l o v e over and over again
on white card stock
put it in a red frame i already had
and then hung it with a black ribbon by the front door

next i'm going to work on a festive wreath for the front door

and valentines for noah to take to school

christmas presents for the nephews

i made each boy a print for their wall

the oldest boys got "i hope they call me on a mission"

the second oldest got "choose the right"

and the youngest boys got "i am a child of God"

thanks to my mom for the wood from her barn

and to michael's dad for cutting the wood for us

 i sanded and stained them, then

i modpodged the printed pictures from this website

we got everything mailed out on saturday

so hopefully everyone gets their packages soon 

my day

hazel and i peeled all the broken crayons

and melted them in a mini muffin tin

so the kids have new round crayons

rather than lots of itty bitty pieces

 we all went grocery shopping

michael went to the doctor

(he has a medication that seems to help, yay!)

then hazel got ready for ballet

in her recital costume

 her recital is next week

but they took pictures today so she got to be all dressed up

we're excited for her performance!!

 sickie took me on a date to teriyaki 

and shopping at the mall

it was so nice to be out with michael

can you tell he's lost like 15 pounds in less than two weeks?

poor boy

love him!

christmas presents for our nieces

we have a lot of nieces

12 between the two of us

so i made some felt hair clips

as Christmas presents

two for each girl

 and i used old cereal and fruit snack boxes

to put them on

with the name of each girl stamped on top

 they were free (meaning i already had everything)

other than the stamps

(which i've been wanting anyway)

and fun to make

we don't really do gifts for everyone in my family

but every year i tend to

last year i did the dolls

and the year before capes

just because i want my nieces and nephews

to know that i love them

hopefully they like them

now on to the nephew presents....

those will be a little more work

i've been sewing...and crafting

i made a spring wreath for our front door

i wrapped a styrofoam wreath in burlap

and added a felt flower

using hot glue

here's a summer shirt for olive

it's a little wonky because i used a bunch of scraps

but i like it anyway

front

 back

and a flower clip for her hair 

  i made the kids church bags 

is it so wrong to expect them to lug their own junk?

ok, not olive..

easter decor

better late than never, right?

here's a little bunting in our living room

made from scrapbook paper

stencil letters onto black paper

and

sewn to some bias tape

and a peep wreath 

layered on my mirror above the kitchen sink

 all it took was a dollar store gigantic wreath

nine packages of peeps

and a hot glue gun

confession: 

the only reason i made either of these

is so they can double as decor

for the stake primary

easter activity

Noah's 5th birthday

for noah's birthday we went bowling

and had a blast

this is noah's just-got-a-strike pose

 proud mommy of a 5 year old

 after bowling we offered to do whatever he wanted

but he just wanted to go home

i'm glad he likes home so much

so we picked up lunch and a few things for his party

and went home to get things ready

here are some pics of the decor

 noah wanted a thomas the train party

so i played off the fact that thomas is his middle name

and the theme was Noah Thomas (the train)  is 5

 here are hazel and olive sporting the hats i made

 and little thomas appliques on their shirts

 we cleared everything except the dresser out of olive's room

and made a train room

so kids could play with trains and watch thomas

we're really glad we set this up, it really helped

having a separate place for kids to be 

in our small apartment

 we had some pizza

 a pinata, opened presents

and sang to the birthday boy

it was such a fun day

and i was glad we went all out

 to celebrate noah's 5th birthday 

all love

the name olive is funny

i love it, don't get me wrong

but until you've said it a lot

you don't realize that it sounds a lot like

all love

all of

and all live

anyway

i made our sweet girl some new leggings

out of a pair of mine that had a small hole

 of course they needed some bum ruffles

 isn't she the cutest?

all love for this girl

pillow love

i love pillows

they are so cute

and can give such personality to a room

but i can't afford new pillows all the time

so instead of browsing etsy for a pillow

i decided to recover one myself this time

we are saving up for a van, after all

i just made a new cover for a pier 1 pillow i already had

i used this freezer paper tutorial

and some stencils i owned

to spell LOVE

and a vintage orange zipper i owned

not bad for a free new pillow, right?

Christmas decor

i love Christmas

i am so excited for it this year

and every year..

i decorate within a day or two of thanksgiving

this year we wanted a real tree

even though we'd held onto our fake one all year

we're glad we got a real one

it smells so good

 our living room

don't mind the pile of stockings on the far chair yet to be hung

 i found some free printable Christmas art

on here

that is fun and festive

 a little Christmas spirit for our fish 

 above the stove now says

"Christmas time is Family time"

 and last but not least

our gingerbread house

Christmas is so much fun with kids

this year we've decided to have Christmas at home

i can't wait