Wordless Wednesday

(And no, I didn't do this to her.)

Cupcakes for World Peace

Today is one of those days. You know those days, stayed up all night with sick kids, kids get up and are fighting with one another, coffee isn't keeping you awake, house is a mess, kids still fighting, barely took a shower (amazing that that happened at all), and there is no end in sight. I put the kids in their swim gear and sent them outside with the sprinkler on so they can get their wiggles out and give me a moment to clean up.

Well, last night my in-laws came over for dinner, which was so fun, and my mother-in-law made some mini cupcakes for the kids. They each got two. My daughter ate hers... more like inhaled them, while my son licked his for a while and then when he dropped it on the deck he picked it back up and ate it (don't judge, I can't stop the kid from eating off the floor, he's like a puppy!) Now, my son (18 months) gets distracted easily and forgot about his other cupcake, so I put it in the fridge so he could have it today.

After this day's dramatic and chaotic tone I was feeling like I needed something to pick me up. I knew that a third cup of coffee would be a VERY bad idea, so I went hunting, as all good mom's do. The kids' Shrek GoGurts didn't look appealing, the peanut butter was a possibility, and the strawberries had fuzz on them. Then I saw it. The little mini cupcake. This cute and sweet cupcake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles. It seemed to emanate its own light, like a wonderful halo beaconing to me. I stood there with the fridge wide open as I thought long and hard about this delicate bundle of sweetness's fate. If I gave this single cupcake to one child, the fit from the other would be monumental, and quite frankly I didn't think my brain could handle anymore screaming.

After lots of deep and profound things inside my brain (Madagascar, love that King Jullian), I took that luscious little ray of sunshine in my hand and took it upon myself to alleviate any more contention between my children and sacrificed my thighs to its empty caloric goodness. Something wonderful happened. My attitude changed completely. I went into a happy place of thrift stores with every single thing I wanted, money to buy it, a clean house, happy children in clean clothing, with clean faces and hands, giggling, not screaming. It was heavenly and has continued!

So here's my thoughts: Why don't we just give cupcakes to anyone in a bad mood? It would make us all so much happier! Don't you agree?

Inexpensive Night Shirts

I have been a busy bee lately! I have lots of projects to show you of all the things I've made lately. But here is one that has been in my brain for a while, just needed to be made (shouldn't it count if you just thought of it?)

Well, with it being so hot out, my daughter doesn't sleep well, can you blame her? So I went to the old Walmart and got a package of men's undershirts, size Small (didn't take a picture of them as I figured we all know what they look like.) I then used the same technique as I did with her Dinosaur Shirt and cut the sleeves and cut the collar off. The only difference I made was I didn't use my serger along the outside hem, nor did I use the bias tape. I simply folded the hem and put the elastic through. It was super easy! I made 5 of them in a night. The hardest part is getting her to wear something other than these shirts! She loves them! And they are so comfy for her!

These were the best pictures I could take as she was being her typical stubborn self and wouldn't sit nice for me. Its like herding cats!

Don't you just love her mad scientist hair? Lol

Wordless Wednesday

Decorating on a Shoe String Budget Part III

A few posts ago I talked about how I got some cool garage sale "Cast Offs." They were free to me, but the fact that no one bought them was shocking to me as I would have scooped them up instantly! This is one of the two sets of wooden shudders I got from my mother-in-law. They were marked at $2.00!!!!! Why no one got these was crazy, but their loss is my gain!

Now the paper bag wreath I made looked a little lost on the wall I hung it on. It needed a little something extra. So I took my handy-dandy spray paint and painted it pink.

Then I sanded it down and made it look old and wonderful!

And finally I hung the wreath on the shudder! Now that looks better, don't you think?

Decorating on a Shoe String Budget Part II

Remember the canvases I did for my son's room? Here's the Tutorial if you missed it, but I had one canvas left over. So I had my creative juices going, changing my mind several times in what direction I wanted, then taking the plunge and made this little ditty!

Here's what you need:

*Canvas, whatever size you want

*Paint for the canvas (I spray painted mine with a soft pink called "Ballet Slipper")

*Picture of birds (I found mine from my favorite vintage picture website Graphics Fairy and here is the picture I used)

*Fabric or Paper

*Branch

*Glue Gun

*Modge Podge

*Little Silk Flower (Optional)

Step 1: Paint Canvas. Then cut out your birds using your picture as your stencil. I used Fabric for mine, but you can use paper as well. Then Modge Podge the back of your paper/fabric and stick to your painted canvas.

Step 2: Glue your branch onto your canvas, making it look like your birds are perched on the branch. Now, I thought that the canvas looked a little bland, so I glued little flowers and leaves from a stem of flowers I had from our wedding 7 years ago. Kind of makes me happy to use those flowers for things for my daughter.

And Ta da! A simple, sweet picture. I love it and catch myself stopping just to look at it.

Decorating on a Shoe String Budget Part I

I guess, technically, this should be Part II with the canvases for my son's room being the first installment. However, this one was almost so cheap it was silly! I found this tutorial on making a wreath with paper lunch bags. I loved it! However I didn't have the fun paper cutter that she had, I had to get a little creative in what I used. I took the lid to my Crystal Light and traced it, then cut out the circles. I layed each bag out and stacked them, so I could cut out many at a time. Now she says to use 8-10 paper bags, I, on the other hand, used about 30. I guess I figure that if you do something, might as well go big! Lol I also used the Dollar Store wreath like she did and her template for the butterflies. This project cost me... (drum roll)... $0.00!!!!!! I already had everything that I needed! SWEET!!!!! Hope it inspired you!

My next post will be about our "wonderful" carpet experience. And by "wonderful" I mean holy smokes of a nightmare! That's why I haven't been posting lately. When I am in a bad mood, I stay away from blogging because I tend to be really negative, and who wants to read anything from a crabby mom? Not I!!!! Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far!