Hi, My Name Is Kelsee...

And I'm a Crochet-Aholic. I had to post something as I've been a little MIA lately. Sorry about that. Between getting myself organized, exercising, cleaning the snot out of my house and trying to keep the laundry situation under control, crafting has been put on hold for a bit. However, I have found my new favorite thing to do in the evenings. CROCHET! I have been wanting a cute hat for some time now with a brim and those cute straps across the brim, but I could not find a pattern I liked for free. So I caved and went into "Etsy-Land" and found the BEST pattern ever! Here is the link to Beth's Shop. It was so easy (if you have more talent than me, it took me a few "Mulligan's to get it right.) But the product has turned out so nice. Here are a few of my finished products. And I say a few, because this isn't all of the ones that I've made. Yeah, I have made at least 3 others. Once you get it down, its super easy and fast!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying their new year!

Baby Boy's 1st Birthday

So, my little man turned 1 last week. *Sniff* And he's walking. *Gulp!* So I had to do a special little birthday party for him. I decided months ago to do a "Construction Theme" party. There was nothing that I could find locally that was construction themed, so I had to get a little creative. Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I wrapped the doors and windows in "CAUTION" tape that you can find at Lowes. I also made signs that said: "CAUTION SUGAR OVERLOAD OCCURRING" and "DANGER STICKY FINGERS" and "CAUTION KIDS AT WORK". It was pretty cute. I also wanted to make these fun cakes that I found from Parenting.com, the same site that I used to make the purse cake. Here's the link for all 31 fun cakes!

The recipe for both called for frozen pound cakes, but as I don't like pound cakes I just used yellow cake mixes that I already had. I had to alter the directions a bit, but not too much. Just the size was off. The dump truck was supposed to be red... but it turned out brown. Here's a fun little story for you. I can laugh about it now but last week I was a little ticked off at myself! Lol I had red food coloring and vanilla frosting. So I added the red coloring to the frosting and it turned pink. No problem, I thought, I'll just add more. Well after that ENTIRE bottle was empty, and it was still pink, I then thought, well I have yellow so I can just make orange frosting. That would work? Right? After that ENTIRE bottle of yellow the frosting was a wonderful shade of salmon. I CAN'T have a SALMON cake for my little BOYS BIRTHDAY!!!!!! That is one of those things that will seriously damage him! (Which he really wouldn't have cared, I think I was just a little frantic and didn't have enough stuff to make more.) So I freaked out and sent the hubs to the store at 10:30 at night. I told him to look for frosting pigment, the paste that makes the deeper colors. What does he bring? Food coloring. Well, I just had to make it work. So I added the second bottle of red and the other new bottle of yellow only making it a more rich color of salmon. At this point I am... well pissed off! Sorry for the language, but it was a disaster and I knew I wouldn't be able to con my husband into another trip to the store to get me more frosting so I could start over. After a few "mad scientist" concoctions, I ended up with a purply- brown that you could only tell if you had it under a really bright light. Deep breaths. Just thinking about it is making my blood pressure rise! So the moral of this story is to get the paste stuff FIRST, then proceed with the directions!

Here is the purple-brown dump truck and the personal sized bulldozer.

The back view with the Oreo and pretzel back. Yeah, it was yummy!

The bulldozer. By far my favorite one.

The fruits of my labor... literally.

New Year, New Me!

Hello ladies! I hope you all had a great holiday, I know I did. We spent a "quiet" day home and enjoyed all our new goodies. But with little ones, "quiet" doesn't happen often. Haha.

Well, it is now 2010. Its crazy to think about! Why aren't we driving in flying cars yet?! Ok, yeah, I've been watching too much sci-fi lately. However, with each new year comes new goals and a new beginning. I usually don't make resolutions and if I do I usually break them within a week or I make them as a joke. But this year is different. I have resolved to do a New Year, New Me! What does this mean? No, I'm not changing everything, because let's face it, why tamper with perfection? Lol. That was for my husband who is reading over my shoulder as I type. But I think we all have room for improvement. I figure the more people that know about my goals, the more I am kept in line to keep them. Here is my resolution for 2010:

1. Lose 80lbs! WHAT?! Yeah, all the baby weight from the first and second child is still resting ever so nicely on my butt, hips and stomach... well every where I guess. So I am losing all of that weight, plus all the weight I gained since I got married almost 7 years ago. I know that its hard to do and I am looking for support wherever I can. I am thinking about starting a blog for moms/women to come and support each other and unload all their emotional struggles with one another, but I think it might just be white noise because I'm sure there are lots of those kinds of blogs around. Still need to think on that and maybe get your input.

2. For Christmas my husband asked for me to not cut my hair for a year. I agreed but only on the rules that I can trim it and thin it (as I have the thickest hair known to man, my family calls it the beast. True story.) So I am taking it one step further. I don't want to cut any length off until I have lost all the weight that I want to lose. As I have had short hair (no longer than my shoulder) since high school! This is going to be interesting!!!

3. Be more organized! One would think that having been home for over a year with my kids that I would have a system down and my house would be clean more often. However, that is SO not the case! It is a little victory for me if I get a shower in, so the dishes will have to wait. But this year, I am working on that.

4. Start an Etsy shop with some of the things that I make. Now, this is something that has been in the research stage for months and will hopefully be something that happens by late spring. I have really found my niche in making things and I find it extremely fulfilling. Any other job that I have had I was selling someone else's products. I want to start doing it for myself and help out with the bills.

5. Last but not least, I want us to be financially stable. In this economy its a closer to being just a dream than a reality. I really want us to be ok, which means I need to take more initiative in being thrifty and saving every penny we can. So all of my posts will be for cheap ideas for your house, children, menu ideas and crafts. I know I usually do that any ways, but I really want to focus on spending as little as possible.

Whew! That was a long list, but its time to make the change! What are your resolutions?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! May your hearts be full, your tree be beautiful and your pants be stretchy! Hope you all have a very safe and wonderful Christmas!

Santa's Workshop is Almost Closed...

Almost! I still have two more gifts to make. I do my best work under pressure, but I am hopeful that I can get them done tonight so tomorrow will be reserved for baking and eating myself silly!

Here are my latest gems!

I had this on my list of things I wanted to make my mom for about 4 years now, but never got around to it. So this year I knew I wanted to make it, but Disney over at Ruffles n Stuff beat me to it. She did an awesome tutorial here. You can also find the original idea that I got it from on Country Home here.

The second is for my daughter's dress up box. She is getting several things in this, several tutus, a pirate hat, patch, lots of play jewelry, a Tinker Bell costume, ect. So to add to it I made her a "Zoe" cape! I think she will like it. She saw one on a kid a few weeks ago and asked if she could have one too. It was already on my list of things to make, so I knew it was a go! I did an appliqué of a "Z" on it and made it a little more girlie with a ruffle on the bottom, but its cute!

This is my version of the Restoration Hardware Kids catalog. I saw this:

And this is what I came out with. Not the same, mine looks like a pregnant Lock Ness monster, but I think its cute anyways. What do you think?

A Sweet Christmas Story

This all happened last week and I have been meaning to post about it. I just wanted to make sure I had the right words before doing so as this will be a memory I will never forget.

Zoe has been talking about Santa for months now. She has been so enamored with the thought of some jolly old man that is going to bring her a present as long as she is a good girl. She has also been talking about what she is going to ask him for Christmas, blue ice cream and a Mudgy doll. So this year we decided to get all the grandbabies dressed up and venture into River Park Square so the kids can sit on Santa's lap and get pictures taken. I explained to Zoe for about a week what we were going to do and she was so excited she could hardly sit still. The day that we were going, I put on her very pretty dress, did her hair extra special, got Cooper all dressed up and the excitement in the house was almost palpable. Zoe talked almost the whole way there about asking him for her ice cream and doll and that she was going to give him a big hug and sit on his lap! She talked about it so much that the excitement got the better of her and she fell asleep. When we got there she practically ran, not knowing where she was going, but she knew she was seeing Santa, so her world would be so right.

We got off the elevator and came around the corner, and there he was! Her eyes lit up with excitement in a way I have never seen before. We got all the kids ready and took off their coats and the weight of what was about to happen began to sink into her little heart. As she walked up with her grandma, holding her hand, her little grip started to get tighter and tighter. Her cousin went first and he screamed the whole time. She waited and watched as her cousin's trauma unfolded in front of her. She became nervous, but she walked right up there when it was her turn.

To my astonishment she froze. She sat on his lap, but wouldn't look at him, wouldn't smile for her pictures, wouldn't speak. The pictures ended up looking like mug shots with Santa instead of a wonderful moment captured on film. When Santa turned to her and asked what she wanted for Christmas she froze again. Didn't speak, didn't move. It looked like she was in shock a little, her sweet little body would not let her do what she had talked for weeks about doing. Finally, Santa said, "How about I bring you a dolly and this little guy a truck? Is that ok?" She moved for the first time in a little nod. Had you blinked, you would have missed it. Then it came time to get down and she some how found her voice. She said quickly and a little louder than normal, "Merry Christmas Santa! I love you Santa!" then rushed away.
The relief in her eyes was so apparent. She had made it through. You could see the wheels in her head turning so fast that she stood in a daze for a few minutes. Then as we walked away, headed to go eat lunch, her grandma asked if she had asked Santa what she wanted for Christmas, and her ivory skin went even more pale. Her eyes became wide and she stopped in her tracks. The light bulb had just gone on that she had not asked him! There was a mix of terror that she wouldn't get what she wanted, embarrassment that she had forgotten and shame that she didn't have the courage to do it. By the time this all came flooding into her little mind, we were too far away to go back at that time. So we told her that we would go back and see him after lunch.

She sat, not so patiently, as everyone ate, but not for long. Unable to sit still, she paced back and forth waiting for us to finish. Finally, when we were done, she ran out of the restaurant, as fast as her little legs would carry her. We got back onto the elevator and she was wiggling with anticipation, she had a plan! She darted off the elevator and we came around the corner again. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw his chair. It was empty. Santa was gone. Where he had sat before was a note saying that Santa had to take a break to feed his reindeer. She was devastated. She stood at the edge of carpet, looking at this empty chair. In her little eyes, she had lost her chance. Santa would never know what she wanted for Christmas, all was lost. We walked back to the car, a little slower this time with a definite somberness to her stride.

As we drove away, she burst into tears. "We have to see Santa! We are leaving Santa!" she cried. It was heart wrenching for me. Had the babies not been fussy, I would have stayed with her there, I would have made this experience so wonderful for her. I then told her that we would come back and see Santa another day. I had to! She needed to overcome her fear and she needed to tell him.

A few days later, we packed up and went into the Valley Mall. This time, we weren't dressed up, just had on our regular clothes, but she was determined. We waited in line for what seemed like an eternity. All the kids ahead of us were dressed up, their mother's fawning over them, combing their hair. But not me. I stood with the most patient little girl in the world. She stood, not able to see Santa at that time, waiting, knowing that she would get a second chance.

There was a boy ahead of us that was autistic. He was there with his mother and was so excited he could hardly stand still. When it came time for his turn, he marched right up there and handed Santa a page from a catalog. I couldn't see what it was for, but he was explaining to Santa in great detail about what he wanted, here was a picture, and here is my address. Yes, I heard him say, "I wrote it on there in case you got lost." He gave Santa a high five and walked away, but as he walked away, he turned for one last look at the man that would make his Christmas wish come true. There was that light in his eyes that I had seen in Zoe's a few days before. I got a little teary eyed when I saw it. It was so innocent and there it was, the true wonder of Christmas.

It was Zoe's turn now. She walked right up to this jolly soul. Her grip had not changed on my hand, which let me know that she was ready. She let go, and stood right in front of him. He was so kind and told her that her hat was fun because it had a ball on it like his. Then came the moment that we all had waited for, the culmination of her little being at that very moment. "What can I bring for you on Christmas, little one?" he asked. And she proudly said, "Ice cream." Santa giggled, his tummy shaking like in all the stories, and made sure he heard her correctly. She said, "Yup! Ice cream and a Mudgy doll." He looked lovingly at her and said, "Well if you are a good girl, I'll see what I can do, ok?" She said ok. He gave her a high five and she started to walk away, holding my hand once again. She then let go and ran back to him and gave him a big hug and said, "Merry Christmas Santa!" Then she ran back to me. I had tears in my eyes. The pride I had in my heart at that time was overpowering. This is why I had children. This is why I stay home. To experience the wonder, love, joy and faith of my children.

I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. It is truly one that I will remember for all time. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and that you remember the joy and innocences you had as a child during this time of year. Never lose it. Cherish it and share it with your children.

Santa's Workshop

Man, I feel like I've been running a marathon lately! I have been working for weeks on Christmas gifts and I don't feel like I have accomplished anything. I hate that feeling. But I wanted to give you a view of the gifts that I have been making. The best part about all of these gifts is that they cost less than $2.00 for all of them! Yep, all of these gifts were things that I had already in my pile o' crafty things and I only had to get some felt. So here goes!

This is my daughter modeling all 10 of the head bands I made for her cousins. If she likes them then I know they will too!

This is a vintage looking sign that I made out of an old piece of wood, some paint pens, transfer paper and my hand sander. I got the idea from V. and Co. on this post I just did mine with banner I printed off the computer, put the transfer paper under the banner and traced the outside with a pen. I then took my paint pens and painted on the sign with my "stencils". I then sanded it to make it look old. I love it so much that I will be sad to give it away.

Here are my cowboy sock monkeys. They don't have eyes yet, as I don't have the right buttons, but I had a few people want pictures of them, so here they are!

And here are two of our new stockings I have been making. These are my daughter's and mine. I made them look girly with tule flowers and pearl centers. The main fabric is burlap and then just some Christmas fabric. I don't know if I love them yet, but I am still working on them.

Ok, so there is just the tip of the iceberg so far. I have a few more gifts which include a book turned into a clock, some dress up clothes for my daughter and Restoration Hardware Kids inspired Dinosaurs! I will post them as soon as I finish them. Burning the midnight oil once again. Thank goodness for coffee in the morning!!