Rory's Birthday Was A Hoot!

Yes, yes, Rory's birthday was way back in December, I just never got around to posting the pictures from it. As you may have guessed, it was a handmade celebration. I didn't get the chance to take pictures of everything so this is just a taste of things.

The Preparations

mini hairpins for the little girls

 i made big ones for us big girls too :0)

favor bags for the kiddies

stuffed owls for the boys, made some for the girls too but didn't get to take pictures

felt crowns for all of our little guests

owl crayons, these came out terrible but i spent so much time making them that i still included them in the favor bags.

I made a trillion (okay a bit of an exaggeration) paper pom poms and put them everywhere!

pom poms and yards and yards of bunting.

owl love :0)

 

we were really trying to keep rory's bday separate from xmass since they are so close so instead of xmass decorations, we went with a simple strand of felt that i threw together about 5 minutes before the party started.

The Party

Rory's crown stayed on for maybe a whole 3 seconds

we had lots of yummy treats

cake for everyone, made by my amazing friend ashley

cake for rory (she got her own so that the rest of us didn't have to eat drool)

simply exhausted and surrounded by a million new toys

 

just us girls hanging out on rory's birthday a few days after the party. daddy was out of town :0(

Oh, I'm so glad to finally get this posted! It has been on my mind for two months now. Rory's party was so much fun, and I had a blast making all of the decorations and treats for it. I had planned a mushy post going on about how I just can't believe that she is one and where did the time go. I still feel mushy and I truly can't believe that she is one (well 14 months now) but I will spare you my sappy feelings on this subject. Any mother out there already knows what it feels like...sad and beautiful and amazing and crazy and so many other things.

Next up, a homemade valentine's day and some sharing of a valentine's day card swap I took part in. This will be posted promptly...well, before easter anyway. hehe just kiddin!

Quick Share

Here are a few beautiful treasuries that my jewelry has been featured in recently. You should take a peak at each and everyone of these, there are some truly beautiful items available! Warning, the following images will cause you to have spring fever (if you don't already)!

Fresh Cut Grass

Secrets Are Safe

sprout

sprout

Fly Away With Me

Okay, now I truly have spring fever!

I'll be back soon with a real post! Promise!

My To Do List

Okay, I'm back, new computer and all! Though I have some catching up to do before I can give my blog the attention it deserves, I have many posts acoming. Right now I am trying to tackle my never-ending-to-do-list which I will share a bit of so that someone can hold me to it :0)

-take pictures of all my new jewelry (lots of it!) borrowed a camera
-buy a camera first cause mine has finally died (long story, new camera, owner too cheap to purchase warranty)
-continue work on my new-old project (more too come on this)
-start working on Valentine's Day projects
-make Rory some lunch
-clean off my desk
-post about Rory's bday party (yes, it was over a month ago)
-post about my new project
-post about 10 trillion other things that I have done/thought of over the last two months that I haven't been blogging
-make time for a friend
-clean my house, it is scary in here!
-make Valentine's Day present for TJ (you know me and my handmade holidays)
-make one for Rory too!
-finish my sisters housewarming gift
-start my sisters housewarming gift :0)
-buy a scratch ticket and win a million dollars
-start applying for spring craft fairs

Okay, I'll stop boring you. That list could go on for days!

Really I just wanted to say hello...hi!


oh, so sorry there aren't any pictures, most were lost when my computer died :0(

A History Lesson

Several years ago I purchased my very  first computer, a Dell. Five years ago I started dating my now husband and he brought two computers to our relationship, both Dells. Four years ago he purchased another computer because his both died, a Dell. My computer died and so he got us another one about two years ago, it was a Dell. In August I bought a new computer, a Dell. In August our desktop died. Not to be fixed. In September my new computer died. Dell fixed it. In November my new computer died, again. Dell fixed it. In December my new computer died, again. Dell fixed it...twice. In December TJ's computer died. Dell fixed it. In December my computer died again. Dell is sending me a new one next week. In January I sat and wondered why the hell we keep buying Dell computers!

I'll be back with all the posts I have promised, and more, when I get me new computer...assuming that it works.

Our Holiday

Here are a few pictures from our holiday. I know your thinking Christmas is soo over but I have a few aunties waiting to see some pictures.

Merry (belated) Christmas

I just took a look at my last post and cannot believe that it was on Dec. 6!!!!!! I had sooooo much to share with you, holiday DIY, party DIY, decorating tips, gift ideas, pictures from Rory's birthday party and so so much more. Sadly, two days before Rory's party my computer decided to take the holiday off. Yup, my 4 month old computer died....again. It took several attempts by Dell support to fix it but finally, 22 days later, my computer is working again. You may be wondering why I didn't just use TJ's computer, we are a two computer family, well because his died too! Luckily I can check my email on my phone so I wasn't completely shut off from the world ( I would have gone crazy otherwise) but was limited to short emails and only the basics as it is a huge pain in the ass to do much more than that from a little cell phone.

So now that it is all better, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. I will be putting the holiday DIY projects on file to share with you next year. In the next week or two I will try and post a few party projects and pictures from Rory's birthday. For now I want to thank the following people for including my jewelry in their holiday treasuries which can still be viewed if you find something you like.  Tomorrow I will share some of our holiday photos.

Twelve Beautiful Days of Christmas by Shaprink

Punctuation by The Pottery Syndicate

Twelve Days of Christmas a la Handmade by Gabsbags

Pretty Little Packages

I certainly love pretty little packages and this is what my holiday packages look like. I just got some new holiday tape in and can't wait to use it. I'll share when I have the chance to wrap up a few more items.

Twelve Days of Christmas Reinvented

Thank you and best holiday wishes to JuniperHouseStudio for including my "Two Turtle Doves" necklace in this lovely holiday treasury!

Twelve Days of Christmas Reinvented

Another big thank you to Cesart64 for including my "Scarlet" ring in this lovely treasury!

Two Turtle Doves...

Thank you, thank you to Stoutdg2 for including my "Two Turtle Doves" necklace in her wonderful holiday treasury!

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Someone buy these...

cause I can't! As I was shopping for Rory's Christmas outfit I came across these goodies that either do not fit her or are just a little too much at this time. So someone buy them cause they are adorable!!!

Vintage FW Fischer Wool Coat from BluebirdLucys

Vintage Marshall Fields Crocheted Sweater Dress from fuzzymama

 

I know it's not Christmas but it is sooo cute! Vintage Polly Flinders Yellow Polka Dot Dress by BluebirdLucys

girls polka dot dress from lishyloo

Cable Knit Sweater Dress by Baby Gap

Oh my goodness I looooove this pea coat from Baby Gap. It is on my list of must buys!

This is what we got for her Christmas Day outfit. Yes, I am totally into sweater dresses. This dress is from baby gap with these cute red tights and her Uggs and there you have an adorable Christmas outfit that can also be worn all winter long. 



A Little bit of Holiday DIY

Well, we made it through another holiday. I hope yours was wonderful and yummy! Ours was very nice. It was great to see family and just relax for a couple of days. Rory and I were a little under the weather so it was helpful to have a few extra hands around to take care of the both of us.

We extended our holiday visit with family an extra day to hold a craft day together. It was a nice break from all of the birthday crafting maddness I have been surrounded by lately. So I will extend the birthday interuption to you and share a little holiday diy project we worked on. I tried taking pictures as we went along but it was nighttime and they just didn't come out. So I will explain the process the best I can. It was very simple and very affordable.

Semi-Homemade Advent Calendar

(please excuse the poor quality of the photos)

What you will need:

-1 1/4 yard of wool felt for the backing

-2 - 1/4 yards of wool felt in two different colors for the pockets

-felt decals to decorate each pocket

-glitter fabric paint (i used two different colors)

-embroidery thread

-1/2 inch thick wooden dowel

-2 yards of fabric cord of your liking

-glue gun

-sewing machine

Please keep in mind that the measurements I provide are rather large, many that I found online have much smaller pockets. It was sized this way so that we can fit gifts big enough for a baby in each pocket. Feel free to adjust measurments as you see fit.

Step 1

Cut the large piece of felt to size, 46 inches long by 28 inches wide (I did not cut the width but simply folded the yardage in half so that it was stronger once gifts were inserted). Sew a 1/4 inch seem around the entire rectangle. Fold the top 3 - 4 inches over to the back and sew to create a sleeve for the wooden dowel to slide through.

Step 2

Cut 24 - 5 x 5 inch squares. 12 in one color and 12 in the other. I chose blue and green cause I don't really like red all that much and snowflakes can be blue right!?

After cutting your squares go ahead and decorate them. I thought about sewing them on first but then i was worried that I would make a mistake while decorating and have to rip it off, so do what you please but I decorated first.

This is the semi-homemade part. We found these felt decorations in the $1 bin at JoAnn Fabrics. We grabbed 4 bags of them (we still have a ton left over) and I glued them on to each pocket. You can use fabric glue for this part or just use the glue gun since you already have that out. I used the glitter fabric paint (also got these in the $1 bin) to write on the numbers and add a little sparkle to each of the felt cutouts.

Step 3

Sew the pockets on to your backing. Don't forget to leave the top of each pocket open! hehe!

Step 4

This step is totally optional. I used embroidery thread to add a lovely stitch along the border of the calendar. I think it looks nice with or without it.

Step 5

Before you add your dowel make sure that it isn't too long. Mine is, I forgot to shorten it while I was at my family's and I don't own a saw. Take your cord and glue it to the dowel. I wrapped it around the dowel twice and then sprialed it up the loose peice of cord for a little prettiness.

Slip the dowel through the sleeve in the calendar and glue the cord to the other end the same way you did the first one.

Step 6

Add all of the presents and surprise a special little person (or a big person, adults can have advent calendars too!!).

I think we spent less than $30 on this project and we have enough supplies leftover to make another one when our family grows again.

Happy crafting!

A Little Thanksgiving Treat

With so many things that I am thankful for this year a list would simply be too long for me to write. But I must do a few shout outs.

I am most thankful for my sweet Rory coming into my life. We are celebrating our very first thanksgiving together and I have never had more to be thankful for, ever. She is my greatest joy, my greatest love and she gives the greatest meaning to my life.

TJ is a wonderful husband and works so hard that I must thank him for taking such great care of his family. We love him so very much and life would not be so easy and wholesome if it weren't for him. He takes very good care of us! Thank you for that and for putting up with all of my chaos.

To my readers and my customers, I am so very thankful that you read my musings. I truly enjoy having a creative outlet and when in doubt of what I do, I find solace in each and every one of your comments and emails. Thank you. My  customers, thank you so very much! You are the reason that I am able to stay home with my baby and watch her grow. You are also the reason I can be home and keep my creative needs satisfied. Making the jewelry that you love so much gives me great pleasure and provides me with a personal outlet. I love caring for Rory, but I need to have something to do for myself and making jewelry and other crafts fully satisfies that need. Thank you.

So as a thank you to everyone out there, I am offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders from now until Tuesday Nov. 30. And as a special thank you for those of you who read this I offer a 15% discount plus free shipping on your entire purchase just enter coupon code LOVELIES15 at checkout.

I hope you all have an amazing holiday and have as much to be thankful for as I do.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

the admirable ampersand

I totally meant to post this a couple of days ago..ooops. Rory and I have been a little bit under the weather, first her and now me and with my mind wrapped around her party and the holidays I'm just all over the place and stuck in bed.

Anyway, a big thank you to RameOttone for featuring my dainty ampersand necklace in this totally cool treasury!

I don't know why but I totally have a thing for ampersands! I even have a small collection of letterpress pieces, prints and a few others.