SOCIAL MEDIA

Pretty Floral Headbands

10.25.2010
Floral Headbands - Multi Colored

I spent the morning with some friends who all have little girls in Zoey's grade, we had fun making some pretty floral headbands for them while chatting and enjoying some baked goods.  This was my first time making headbands this way and I have to say that I am hooked!  They are so easy and fun and you can make them super fast...something that is a bonus in my book!  You can use any kind of fabric flower that you wish (I found lots at my local dollar store) but the majority of the ones pictured here are flowers that I used that are by Petaloo, International (from the Chantilly collection).  I LOVE them and now want them in every single color that they make them in. 

Floral Headband - Brown

I thought the red would be perfect for upcoming holiday gatherings and parties...

Floral Headbands - Multi Colored

All you need to make these are some pretty fabric flowers, coordinating ribbon, some cheap dollar store headbands and a hot glue gun.  You start by trimming some little rectangular pieces for both ends of your headband and glue them over the bottom tips.  You then start wrapping your ribbon from one end to the other using your hot glue gun here and there as needed.

Floral Headband - Purple

Here is a close-up of the ribbon wrapped around the headband.

Close-Up of Ribbon Wrapping

This is one that I made using one of my cheap-o flowers found at the dollar store and some fun polka-dot ribbon.

Daisy Polka Dot Headband

These would make for some super cute Christmas gifts for the girlie girls in your life!  I'm pretty sure that Zoey's gonna love them!

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Here They Are...

10.24.2010
Last week one day after school Zoey and I carved our jack 'o lanterns...she helped me scoop out all the insides of the pumpkins and gave some artistic instruction on what kind of faces they should have and then promptly left me to go ride bike while I finished up. This is what we ended up with when (I) finished.  Just so you know too, by the time I got to the last one (on the far right) I was tired and cold and feeling a wee bit annoyed that I was the only one taking part in this activity...hence the very simplistic features.  I shared with Zoey that I had intended for that one to be a ghost and she was satisfied.

Jack-o-lantern's for 2010

Also last week I started volunteering in Zoey's classroom and had lots of fun.  I'll be helping out with issuing the weekly spelling test's with another mom for the rest of the year.  It's nice to have Zoey want me to be there and to also get a feel of what it is that her day looks like for the other day's when I am away.  I'm realizing that I need to take advantage of all these little things that she still needs and wants me around for while I still have the chance.  She is growing up way too fast these days.

This weekend was a lazy one here...we all three stayed home and were cozy for the most part.  We played lots of board games, like Pengoloo, Hi-Ho Cherry-O and The Uncle Wiggly Game.  Zoey and I also played school and made some special Halloween cupcakes complete with lots and lots of sprinkles.  We also made a trip to the bookstore where I picked up Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindgvist and The View From Mount Joy by Lorna Landvik.  Zoey picked out the second in the series of Ivy and Bean books.  Ethan and I rented and watched the movie Leaves of Grass and were pleased to have spent the time watching something that turned out to be so genuinely thoughtful.  We had some nice conversation afterwords which always feels good too.  I also started working on some of my Christmas list items.  I'm getting excited about starting to think of what to get Zoey this year and today I started in on my December Daily album (that Ali Edwards does every year).  I missed creating mine last year and was bummed that I didn't take/have the time to create it so wanted to make it a priority this year.  I'm using some fun new papers that I got while I was visiting my in-laws in Appleton.  It was a great weekend and I'm ready to gear up for the busy week ahead now because of it. 

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Some "Spooky" Fun!

10.18.2010
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This past weekend we visited Ethan's family and while there we attended a fun Zoo Boo event that was held in a neighboring city. We all had a blast, Zoey most of all.  She dressed up as Strawberry Shortcake and was the only one that we saw...and according to her grandma, was the cutest of all those attending! :)  I think Zoey's favorite part of the costume was getting to have freckles!

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The weather was absolutely perfect for the event...in the past for our local Zoo Boo we've had snow flurries and much cooler temperatures.  It was nice to not have that as a concern this year.

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There were some spooky displays throughout the zoo which was fun.

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Ethan's mom dressed up...I just added some cat ears.  I'm thinking though that I'll dress up more for Halloween this year.


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This guy made me smile...do you think he's under-fed?

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Zoey probably had the most fun playing in the playground area because they had some swinging monkey bars...which is something we don't have around here at our playgrounds.

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While we were leaving the zoo we were surprised by the swamp monster...

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and then there was some bouncing in the bounce house!
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Such a super fun weekend!  Thanks Ann and Ken for a wonderful weekend!

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Fall Wreath Project for Kids

10.12.2010
Fall Decorative Wreath Supplies

The other day while hiking I had the idea to collect some things for a project to do with a group of preschool age kids. That meant essentially that I called on Ethan and Zoey to be my helpers and they wonderfully agreed to collecting the above baskets of fall goods. :)

I then picked up some cheap paper plates and cut circles in the centers of all of them (I used my handy dandy Martha Stewart Circle Cutter which I love to pieces for this part).  

Fall Decorative Wreath

Next I took my paper plates outside and painted them (with some help from Zoey) with a neutral color (I chose buttercup) so that they would be ready for my group of preschoolers to start right in on.  If you were doing this with a smaller group of kids you could definitely let them do this part too.  I was just thinking of convenience.

Fall Decorative Wreath

Once the paint is dry, let the kids arrange and glue their fall treasures to their plates.  Punch a hole on the top of the plate's rim and string some ribbon or yarn through so that they can hang their beautiful fall wreath.  It's a pretty quick and easy project, something that's perfect for the attention span of a preschool age child and the bonus is that you get to tie it into a hike and get to collect leaves, pine cones and other treasures. It's a perfect opportunity to talk about the change in seasons and what that means to our plant life and our trees, etc.

Fall Decorative Wreath

They will feel proud too I am sure taking it home to mom and dad!

Fall Decorative Wreath

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On My Mind

10.11.2010
My Beauty

I am so proud of Zoey and how hard she is working every day on her spelling words for her first grade spelling tests. Her enthusiasm for practicing each and every night makes me hopeful that we are setting her up for a successful learning environment and her attitude so far would suggest just that. We have incorporated so many resources to ensure that it's fun to study and that it's varied. I have made flashcard puzzles so she can "build" the word with letter chunks, Ethan's downloaded several app's onto his iPod for her to use, her favorites being Word World and Montessori Crosswords (love this one!).  I also plug her spelling list onto Spelling City's website and from there we can play games using her spelling words, learn the words and their meanings and get tested all online while getting keyboarding practice as well.  You also have the option for several of the activities to print out a worksheet which is just another way to learn.  I found this site just the other night and was tickled!  Who knew learning could be so much fun!

I am humbled by people's kindness over and over again.  The other day we stopped at Walgreen's for a little treat for Zoey to pick out (a little reward for a great spelling test) and a woman walked down the aisle and asked if  we could use a $3 off coupon on our purchase...she wasn't going to use it and wanted to share it with us!  Such a nice little gesture of kindness.  Then while standing in line at a bakery over the weekend with my hands full and Zoey in tow, a man let us go ahead of him and his family at the beginning of the line, just because.  Then yesterday at church an older woman came up to me and told me that I was "just beautiful" which made my heart smile and added a little bounce to my step for the rest of the day.  All those little things have served as reminders to me to try to pass along the goodness in similar small ways so that I can hopefully touch someone else and make a difference in their day.

I am struck with thankfulness when I look at my relationships with friends.  I am blessed to have a handful of really true blue friends that come through for me when it's needed and I hope that they know that I truly value them and what they contribute to my life and well-being.  Being a mom means supporting others more often than not but it also means being supported by others and sometimes that latter part gets pushed to the side.  Just am thankful this week for those friends that have lifted me up when I've needed it.

I'm really appreciating my new job and the schedule that I have because of it.  I am free to spend time with my family on the weekends now and it's made such a big difference in everyone it seems!  Ethan is more relaxed, Zoey is happier to have me home when she is home and I am loving getting to be there for my family and for getting some time away to work and feel validated outside of the home for a bit at the same time.  It's been a really good change for all of us so far.  And so far I've been able to keep up with my creative endeavors as well which makes me feel good too.  I've struck a balance that's working it seems, which for me I've found is so very important to strive for.

I'm now gearing up for some holiday creating and planning...it's crazy how fast it sneaks up on me.  I'm determined to get ahead of the game and start in on things early this year.  Or at least plan out some things in advance.  We'll see how it goes! 

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Some Layouts to Share

10.10.2010
The weekend started out right with getting my Cocoa Daisy kit in the mail on Saturday so I was hoping that I might end up with a bit of free time this weekend at some point to play with it and I was in luck! Today after church and bible school and a quick little trip to the grocery store I was able to create these two layouts below. It was fun scrapping just for me as lately it seems I've been creating mostly for assignments.

Jumping in the Leaves

May You Reach

Now I'm off to help Zoey clean up her bedroom...it looks as though a tornado hit because she's been busy playing with her dress-up clothes and has probably dressed up as every single thing possible that her dress-up trunk would allow for!

Wishing you a blessed end to the weekend! 

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Another Apple Orchard Weekend...

10.09.2010
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I think it's safe to say that we may have enjoyed the last warm fall weekend of the season together here...it was actually unseasonably warm today and upon the suggestion of some friends we headed out to check out Helene's Hilltop Apple Orchard in Merrill, Wisconsin. Once there we tackled the corn maze (thought it fitting that we do that first in case it took us awhile). We lucked out and Ethan got us through in a jiffy. After that we played in the play area which was a fun and unique arrangement of old farm equipment that was made into playground things for the kids. Then Zoey and I had a fun time riding through the corn fields on a little cow train pulled by a tractor. After our "train" ride it was time for picking apples! We filled a 10 pound bag and while the apples aren't as good as those that we picked while in Bayfield they are good enough to have made the trip worthwhile and I'm sure I'll be able to do quite a bit of baking with them if nothing else. Quite a fun place to go with family...would recommend it to others with small children for sure.


Thankful for such beautiful weather and for the time to be able to make these little outings happen.

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October Mosh Posh Projects

10.08.2010
Here they are...this kit was a favorite of mine just due to the colors alone! Be sure to check out the design team's gallery here to see what everyone else came up with this month.

fall fun

I loved the clear doilies by Maya Road the most I think...

so much

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Pick up your kit soon as I'm sure this one will be going fast! Also, be sure to check in on the Mosh Posh blog now and again, we'll be sharing a fun post on guest designer Lisa Dickinson's scrapbook room! I don't know about you but I love getting to take a peak into someone's creative space!

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October Mosh Posh Kit : Tiny Treasures

10.04.2010
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I loved getting to play with this month's kit 'Tiny Treasures' from Mosh Posh.  There were so many fun little embellishments included in this month's kit hence the name of the kit I am guessing!  I am loving those corrugated alphas from Jillibean Soup too...was tickled to discover that I would be getting to play with them some more when I opened up my box.  Pictured here are some peaks of my layouts...be sure to check out the gallery this Friday which is our reveal day.  It will be amazing I am sure as the lovely Lisa Dickinson will be sharing her craftiness with us as well as our guest designer for the month of October. 
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Weekend Gratitudes

10.03.2010
Since the weather was amazing this weekend (with a few sprinkles thrown in here and there for good measure) we spent most of it outdoors. We hiked a new trail along the Willow Flowage and while we got lost trying to find the actual trail it was fun taking a drive and getting to see the fall colors,  once finding the trail we enjoyed a good 6 mile hike.  Some other things that we enjoyed over the weekend would include my baking some Cranberry Oatmeal bars (a new recipe) and even getting in some crafty time this evening.  The Packers won the football game today...and Zoey jumped in her first leaf pile of the season.  Zoey woke up this morning and it was the first thing that was on her "to-do" list for the day!  We headed out to the backyard and she started in with some raking...

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I actually did most all of it but she posed quite nicely with the rake don't you think?  :)  We're going to have to try and find a child sized rake for her one of these days.

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After the pile was complete it was time to test it out.

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The joy that is found in these little moments is absolutely what it's all about.

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Zoey was thrilled to discover that their was a little friend in the back woods watching her while she was jumping in the leaves.

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I love that we can see all this beauty right in our backyard.  This season is my absolute favorite for so many reasons. 

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After enjoying all this fresh air it's now time for some relaxing and perhaps some sampling of my Cranberry Bars that I baked earlier today!  What a wonderful and full weekend.

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