Holiday Pretty!

I saw this post at Infarrantly Creative about a necklace she made that was inspired by an Anthropology's necklace (which, as all things Anthropology, is WAY over priced!) She did such a great job on hers that I had to try it! I have never made jewelry before (I know, WHAT?!) I guess I just never thought I could make anything cute and all the things I did make were things from a church function and were never anything I would wear. But here is my finished product!

The only difference with my necklace is I did roses. I only had regular tule, not the shiny or organza, so I just cut my tule into strips and twisted them and wrapped it. I started from the center and wrapped around and around. I then stitched the rosettes so they stayed in place and then stitched the pearls in the center. What do you think?!

Christmas Craft

During our "Ladies Craft Day," as payment for the men going camping, my sister-in-law started making one of these:

Its just Jute Twine and a Styrofoam cone. I just thought it was so cute and rustic yet modern (or so I think any ways) that I had to make one myself. However the problem was is that it was too small and too lonely!

So I made it some friends! Just take your glue gun and wrap the twine around the cones. You don't have to glue every single row. As long as you are making them tight and close together you can do it about every 4 rows.

Just Had to Share This!

I took this yesterday and it just cracked me up! This is my 10 month old little guy during lunch, right before nap. He was so dang tired, but was still shoveling food in his mouth! Don't mind the cough at the end though, it is getting better. Yup, my kids are sick once again.

**Update: Sorry, the video didn't load correctly when I first posted it. Sorry!

Gift for Under $5.00 Part V

These were inspired by many sites. I have wanted to make some fun, vintage looking cards for some time now, but never thought I could make them. So I searched and searched and I finally got up the nerve to make them!! These are by far the easiest things to make and they are dirt cheap! I used blogs such as The Vintage Moth and The Graphics Fairy to print off FREE vintage photos! How great is that?! Then I just cut out my card stock (extremely cheap) and glued these pictures onto the cards. I really like how they turned out.

(I think this one is my favorite! I love the old post card!)

A couple of the sites I used for inspiration is from this post at Bushel and a Peck and this post at Ruffles and Stuff These ladies are truly amazing to me and I wish I could be as COOL as they are!

Learning Our Colors

For the past few weeks I have been focusing on doing a little lesson with my 2 year old a few times a week. We have started working on our colors and identifying them out in the "world."

One day we did green. We went through my craft box and found all the green things we could find, pom poms, stickers, foam letters. You name it we found it. Then we went through some of my recent magazines (my Ballards, Pottery Barn and Parenting magazine. Lol Its all I had on hand!) We then cut out all the pictures we could find of green things. She really enjoyed it and we had about a half hour of fun with it! Here is the finished product. Pretty fun right?

So the next day, because the "Green Day" was such a success, I thought we would try it again, only with Red. Now, the thing about 2 year olds is that they have the attention span of a gnat, and if they have already sat with one thing, they need something different the next time. Lesson learned for mom! We started off doing the same thing, finding all the red things in the magazines, but she was NOT interested. Thinking quick on my feet, I quick grabbed two toilet paper rolls that I had just thrown out (don't worry, they weren't dirty) and we used them as our "Pirate Telescopes." I had her wander around the house and find as many red things as she could find and put them on the coffee table. She was so funny finding all her red things and "looking like a pirate," she kept telling me. She found some red ribbon and 2 red beads that I quickly turned into a necklace, as you can see below. She wore it proudly for her daddy that night.

Here is her collection of Red things. She did pretty good!

I guess the thing I am getting at with this post is that it doesn't take any money or any skills to teach your child something. The best part about these activities was that we got to be silly, spend time with one another and explore, even if it was around the house. I have really come to cherish those small moments lately. Things have been nuts around here with family gatherings, trips to the doctor, starting Christmas projects, and pretty much anything under the sun. But I have started to slow down a bit, take in these wonderful little moments, and really savor them. Its been nice and I am thankful that I am one of the lucky few that gets to stay home and teach and learn from my kids. Best job in the world really.

Italian Beef Sandwiches

I don't know if I have expressed my profound love for my crock pot to you all. My husband got it for me for my birthday last year and received many jabs about it. Who wants an appliance for their birthday? I mean really? ME!!!! Not only do I love it, but its red, my favorite color. As a stay at home mom of 2 little ones, dinner seems like such a difficult task. I don't know about you, but by about 4:00 I am running out of steam and need to lock myself in a closet. So dinner is usually as easy and quick as I can make it. So my crock pot has become my best friend.

This recipe was sent about a year ago from a friend of my sister-in-law's, so I don't know where she got it, but whoever created it needs to be given an award! Its by far the best dang sandwich I have ever had!!! Here goes:

Italian Beef Sandwich:

2 cans beef broth

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dried parsley (optional)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 .7 oz packages of dry Italian salad dressing mix

3 to 5 lb chuck roast

Combine all ingredients except roast in a saucepan. Stir well and bring to a boil

Place roast in crock pot and pour mixture over the meat. Cover and cook on low

for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours (depending on your crockpot). About

30 minutes before serving, take meat out and shred with a fork, return to juices in

crock pot and let it get hot before serving.

To serve:

for sandwiches I take hoagie rolls, butter lightly and toast under a low broiler

for just a few minutes till bread is lightly brown....add meat and top with a slice of

provolone or mozzarella cheese and return to broiler just till cheese begins to melt.

You can add sauteed mushrooms and or onions, peppers...whatever floats your boat!

This meat mixture is also excellent served with mashed potatoes..but just don't shred

the meat...serve it like you would a roast.

*Can be a tad salty so if you want use low sodium beef broth.

Let me just reiterate how delicious this is!!!! You will not be disappointed in any way! (Sorry for no pictures, we ate them too fast. Lol)

Gift for Under $5.00 Part IV

A few weeks ago was birthday week. My birthday is October 20th and my mother-in-law is on the 19th. It always turns into a week long celebration... which I don't think anyone minds being showered with affection and gifts for a week. The gift that I decided to make for my mother-in-law and myself (just because I wanted to wear something pretty on my birthday) was this flower pin. This is a completely NO SEW PROJECT!!!! I get a lot of comments about how you don't know how to sew! This is so easy! I used this tutorial (the Giveaway is closed on this page, but read through the directions.) It was so easy, fast, a little painful (but only because I was crazy tired when I was making them and kept burning my fingers with the hot glue gun!) And, I used extra fabric that I had, but you could use an old pillow case, a fat quarter from the fabric store. The cheaper the better!I have been all about flower pins lately and I can't get enough of them! Here is another great link for a whole bunch of flower ideas!