Thriftin’ on Thursday!

Ok, so I didn’t actually go thriftin’ today, but I thought I’d tell you about our adventures! Last weekend we were supposed to have our family pictures taken in Tacoma. So we headed out and then found out, on the way there (it’s about 45 minutes or so from here), that our photographer didn’t actually put us in his calendar. Even though he gave the date, etc… Anyway…. We ended up having a great time together after all!

As we were turning around we decided to check out the Antique Row in downtown Tacoma. Our first little find was the Graffiti Garage. We love some graffiti… I’ll admit it, we do like it! It’s probably not the best thing to teach our child, but hey! I love the colors with the pink and yellow one above. Unknown Artist…  It was pretty inspiring to me. My husband and I hatched a plan of me making a quilt and then he adds a stencil to it!

And the guys posing in front of more….

Then we headed to some shops! My son kept getting the good deals. Free bracelets (those that he’s holding in the picture above), discounted butterflies, a free stained glass picture…. He’s cute! What can I say?

This one store had all these fairy tale figures from an old playground at one of Tacoma’s parks. They were sooooo cool! But so out of our price range. oh, well…. They were even inspiring and my husband and I were thinking of ways to make our own! MAybe a tutorial one day?? Who knows! (don’t hold your breath though!)

And here’s all of our loot! The stained glass piece is kinda cool. Especially for free. It does have a little broken part. but maybe we can fix it. Or it just becomes backyard art and we’re fine with the flaw.

The print of the nativity is pretty cool. The lady said it was from the early 1900′s. Who knows. I just liked it! If you know anything about it, please let me know.

Some cool books that I can ‘t wait to read. The kid doesn’t seem so interested!

But the superhero’s on the other hand. They are a hit.

And check out Invisible Girl! Can you see her? Isn’t she cool!

Then my son found these butterflies and HAD TO HAVE THEM. He wants to make a butterfly quilt. hmmm… A small one he said. So these are the ones he picked out.

Then the next shop we went into had this beautiful butterfly quilt! I figured, hey, let’s just buy a butterfly quilt… But alas, it needed a LOT of work and was out of my price range, so I left it there and came home with my son’s butterflies instead! But how funny.  Right after the kiddo comes up with the butterfly quilt idea, we find one!

We had a good day and found some fun stuff. We’re going back in June to actually have our pictures taken! I’ll keep posted on that.. ha!

Did you get out and about and do anything fun this past weekend? Or are you doing anything this weekend? It’s supposed to be beautiful here in Seattle! 80 degrees! YEA! For 2 days! YEA!

Goodbye Google Reader, Hello Blog Lovin’ and Feedly

How do you follow blogs? I follow by email… Which really fills up my inbox, for sure. No clue how many blogs I actually follow! But I know most people follow through RSS feed and readers, like Google Reader…

I don’t know why, but readers have always confused me! I can do a lot online and with my blog. But for some reason, it’s just been easier for me to follow by email.

I’m sure you’ve seen that Google Reader, one of the biggest online readers is going away as of July 1st. But I do hope that if you do follow this blog via Google Reader that you are finding a new reader that you can keep track of my craziness! The two readers that I’ve been seeing the most of lately is Bloglovin’ and Feedly.

I seem to prefer bloglovin’. To me, who like I said, finds these readers a bit confusing, this one is super easy to set up and get going. When I set up my account, the blogs I do follow in Google were right there.

And then the other one that most people seem to like is Feedly. But to me, it was more confusing…. But to those of you out there up on the whole reader thing, it might be perfectly clear!

Good Luck finding a new reader, but remember to follow me in whichever one you end up with!

There are new buttons to both of these readers in the Follow me section on the right hand side.

 

Thanks again for reading my blog!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with family and friends! I know we did!

I had planned a bunch of crafty Easter posts, but that didn’t happen. At all. My poor crafty kid missed out on Easter crafts this year. Recovering from this surgery has taken much longer than I was expecting. I’m doing well and moving around, but my moving around is pretty slow going.

One of the Easter crafts I had planned was decorating super hero Easter eggs. But the planning fizzled and we ended up with the regular ‘ole dying technique. Then one day I came home and looky who I found in the Easter basket! Spider Man!

A couple of funnies from our day…

I don’t know what possessed me to buy Peeps this year. I don’t know if I ever have, actually. I think I was curious to see if my son would like them. He found them in his Easter basket and his first response was, ‘Hey! We can make a garland out of these!’ I love the craftiness in this kid!

The sun has been shining in Seattle. When the sun starts to shine and temps rise, the city breaks out into thinking it’s summer. Most of us forget that it won’t last for long and the rain will be back, but we enjoy it just the same. So needless to say that since we don’t see it so much, we forget what it does. As in keeping things warm. The chocolate bunny got put away ’til later… in the sun…. Oops!

OK, obviously you know that super hero’s are a big thing at our house… Well, Look what the Easter bunny brought to Momma! We needed a little girl super power going on here and especially one that has her own invisible jet! I’ve ALWAYS wants an invisible jet. And now I have one! YES!!!! And so what if the box says it’s only for 1 to 4 year olds. hmph!

We had a lot of good times this weekend. And it ended with an another Easter egg hunt with our good friends (and their crafty mom.. check out the bunny bags she had them make), good food, sun and just enjoying our families! Hope you had the same kind of weekend!

A Christmas Curtain marked off the To Do List

ok, so this project isn’t very exciting, but it does have a kinda funny story. And it’s another thing to mark off my To Do List (which I was just reading and I can’t remember what a couple of the things are….)

For Christmas I made quite a few of my presents! And since back into blogging since the holidays, I haven’t had a chance to show them to you, so one and off over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing them with you! This project/gift was to my husband.

Curtains for our coat closet window. Why this closet even has a window is beyond me. Bad idea really…. But it’s there and it’s never had a curtain. We’ve put art in there, a stained glass window that didn’t really fit and I think there was even a piece of wood or something in there at one point. Yes, we do live in Seattle, and the sun doesn’t shine all that often, but when it does, I  don’t want it fading our coats. Also seeing them hanging in there isn’t beautiful to see from the backyard….

So this is what it looked like for the last little while. oh, and it’s not insulated, another bad design decision the designers had back in the day when the closet was added. for months I thought my husband had hung one of my son’s sheets in the window. Then when I took it down I realized it was actual yardage of the fabric that his sheets were made from! Not cheap fabric…. ergh!

My husband has only been asking for a curtain for this window for years. Not kidding. Years. And I’ve had the fabric for years. Seriously. The curtain took me an hour or so to make, but years to actually do it. WHY??? I used the same process that I showed you in the Curtains are so Easy Tutorial. The funny thing is, I bought the fabric years ago when I saw it at the store and realized it matched our picnic table umbrella PERFECTLY! The stripes are a bit different, but the colors were exact. Notice I said WERE…. Here they are together now….

And the curtain installed! The picture isn’t great (at all, I couldn’t get a good angle without reflections of the bright pink slide in the backyard), but doesn’t it look nicer??

Needless to say, my husband was happy! If I hadn’t bought the fabric a few years back, I would have done the proportions of the fabrics a little bit different. Coulda Sholda Woulda. But it’s done and we’re all happy!

To Do List- More Marked Off the List!

Three more  projects that I can mark off my To Do List! It’s exciting me to me, but might not be all that exciting to you…

The pirate party thank you’s have been written, finally…. And the party pieces are getting posted on Etsy! There’s still more to go, but it’s getting there. A lot of editing of pictures! ergh… Do any of you have etsy shops??

And.. I finally got caught up on my 365 photo project!!! Is anyone else doing this? I decided to do it this year and the subject is my son. So every day, I take a picture of my son. Some days it’s with the big fancy camera, but most days it’s a cell phone picture!

And then each week I set up this image of the week’s photos and wrote a little note about them. It will be fun to put them all in a book one day!

I’ve done this every week all year! A lot of work.. Debating on doing it again this coming year. I’m thinking no.. Except that now my son wants his picture taken every day now…

Alright, next post, Christmas!!

Ahoy Matey! It’s a Pirate’s Party for Me!

I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it’s been 4 years! But I can believe that my kiddo had an AWESOME pirate birthday party! He had great props (as usual) made by Daddy, a bunch of pretty details by Momma and most importantly… He was surrounded by loving family and friends on a beautiful sunny day for his Pirate party!

My son and I had a great time getting ready for the party. He helped me with everything! The invites, the favors, pretty much everything! For the invites we decided to hand deliver them in glass bottles!  The day I was going to deliver the invites, Max had the opportunity to have a play date instead of driving around town. But he said, ‘No, I have to help give everyone their invitations!’ I did do all the burnt edges, no 4 year olds helped in the burning process!

The pirate ship was a huge hit! There was a kid in it at all times. We had a couple of cap-sizing moments, but we got it back up and going pretty quick! Daddy wasn’t originally going to add the Captain’s Quarters, but as he was building it he realized that he needed it. And it was perfect!

It was great watching all the kids run around with their party favor pirate gear! Some wore it all, other just wore pieces. We made, sashes, hats, eye patches and they all got a sword.

I really loved our portrait of my son’s Great Great Grandfather Pirate Pete. My mom had an idea of dressing up an old photo like a pirate. I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, but I ran with what I thought she was talking about. And the portrait is really my son’s Great Great Grandfather, but his name wasn’t Pete and he wasn’t a pirate! We added all the 3d pirate gear!

I designed everything! My husband was out-of-town when I came up with the birthday party Jolly Roger icon. I was so excited about it, but didn’t have anyone to show it to! I was on pins and needles waiting for him to read his email and see my design. And when he did, HE LIKED IT too!! Yea!! So off I went turning it into invitations, tags, food and drink labels, goodie bags, pirate hats and pirate booty bags! I used a combo of stamping and freezer papers stencils for all the printing.

And who doesn’t love cake??? I am not the best with cake decorating! Last year, I didn’t even show a picture of the cake… But this year I was very excited about the cake turning out much better than last year. It’s still not super professional, but I’m getting better and better! Yea!

I know! It’s a lot of pictures, I know! But I hope you enjoyed it. Want to have one just like it? I’ve started posting it on etsy !

Shared with these Link Parties!

Etsy and Instagram and Facebook, Oh, my!

Are you flashing back to The Wizard of Oz??? I am… Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh, my! Ok, maybe it’s just me…

So many updates today!

First, Etsy…

Do these cards look familiar to anyone? I designed them all last year for a free printable. Well, this year, I’ve updated them all and they are available in my Etsy shop! You don’t have to hassle around with the files. I’ll do it for you! You purchase and send me your pictures. I’ll set the whole thing up for you and send it back to ya! Easy!!!! So if you haven’t already ordered your Holiday cards, check out mine! Each card come with a PDF of corresponding address labels and envelope liner paper! What do you think??

Next, Instagram….

My Instagram account has been private for the last couple of years that I’ve been using it. Until today… I’ve opened it up to be public. I’m a little hesitant… But I want to get to know you. I’ve been writing to you for the last couple of years, but I feel like I haven’t gotten to know too many of the people who read my blog… And I’m coming to a blogging place that feels very alone. I didn’t start this blog to be alone! I started it to make friends out there that I would otherwise not know. So I thought I’d try this out and see. You can now follow me on instagram! I’ve started taking pictures of my crafty projects and fun things I see out there. Not just my son… There will still be pictures of him, just a warning! He’s cute though, right?!

You can click here, the image above or the same image on the right hand side over there!

(I’m kinda excited about my little instagram image I just made!)

And Lastly, Facebook…

If you follow any other blogs, you’ve probably already seen this…. But Facebook has made some changes and you don’t actually get updates for every page that you like… So, if you can do me a favor, I’ll let you know how to be sure to not miss a FB update!

Go to my FB page by clicking here. Then mouse over the blue LIKED button and you see the drop down menu in the image above. Make sure that you have checked ‘Show in News Feed’. This was you’ll never miss a post and if you comment, or like or anything else, probably, other friends will see it and so on and so on!

Big sigh….

That was a lot of information!

I’m so glad to have you and look forward to getting to know you even better with these little changes I’ve made and hope too see more of you on FB and Instagram!

Ahhhh!!! My To Do List

The To Do List is way to long!!

You’d think that since I’m unemployed, I’d have plenty of time and my to do list would be getting shorter and shorter… But for some reason, it’s longer than ever! And I pin things all the time. and some times I get them done. But lately I keep getting sidetracked and doing projects that I see online or just random things that I want to do. But I have got to finish my To Do List.

So I’m writing it down here….

Here it goes….

Make the volcano

Design more Dr Seuss Food Labels

Finish the 2 year old wedding quilt

John Smith Halloween Costume

My Halloween Costume

Dad’s Halloween Costume

Curtain for back window

Cover for the electrical panel

Doggy quilt

Swap quilt

Swap Magnets

2nd Swap quilt

Acorn pants

Finish jeans

My coat

Skull and Crossbones Sweatshirt

Halloween quilt

Memory quilt

Thank you notes

FInish editing 365 pictures

List Pirate party on Etsy

Christmas pot holders

Sort through pictures that need to be scanned

Catch up on Scrapbooks for the last 6 years!

Make my husband a quilt

Make and stage more parties to sell

Get Continuing Education credits for LEED and Licensing

Make my tank pattern and more tanks for me

Alter my dress into a shirt

Make Max’s Pea Coat from the pattern I’ve had for years now

Make a hoodie scarf

Refurbish our dining room chairs

Ok, here it goes! I’m hoping to stay on track! I’m sure that I’ll be adding to it here and there, but I’m seriously going to try to stay on track!

And here’s what I need you to do… Help me stay on track!

It’s My Birthday!! And a Giveaway for You!

Wohoo! It’s my birthday!!

I came home today and my son and Mom had made this beautiful cake for me and picked me two bouquets! One of up stairs and one for next to my bed. So as Max says, ‘You can see it at night and then you can see it when you wake up in the morning!’ Then he took me on a tour of the back yard showing me where all the flowers had come from! I love that the cake only has three candles. Does that mean I’m thirty again?? Yes! I’ll go with that!

So I’m taking a break from blogging today, but since it’s my birthday I thought I’d share a little something with ya! In the spirit of Sew Ready to Play month,  One lucky reader will get their very own handmade Memory game, made by yours truly!

This giveaway is for my blog followers! If you are a follower, just leave a comment telling me what you like to do on your birthday!

And if you’re not a follower, You’re welcome to follow along now and leave a comment telling me that you did! There are buttons to the right that let you subsricbe via RSS feed or email!

And for an extra entry:

Become a fan of Feelin’ Crafty on Facebook. And leave a comment letting me know you did!

Winner will be chosen on Wednesday, October 13, 2012.

Winner will be chosen using random.org.

 

Weekend Whims- The Water Blob and Ice Cube Paints

Did y’all have an awesome 4th of July?? We did for sure! And part of that fun was thanks to Pinterest. We filled up the kiddie wading pool like we usually do during the summer, but we also tried out a couple of pinterest fun ideas I’d found.

The first one that was a ton of fun was the Water Blob! Ends up I’d pinned this twice… So obviously I’d been wanting to try it out! The first pin was from Go Kid Yourself and the second from Clumsy Crafter. Both tutorials were the same, duct tape a really large sheet of plastic sheeting together with a the hose sticking inside and turn on the water! Super easy! And great fun! I used 4 mil plastic sheeting, not the super thin stuff you find on the painting aisle of Lowes. This stuff was on another aisle, but kinda by itself…

And yes, it leaked. Especially the corners. Just keep the duct tape handy. Once you see a squirter, just add more duct tape. At first I was trying to fix every leak I saw. But I ended up only hitting the big ones. And the leaks just added more fun! When they jumped on it, there was more splash!

We added food coloring and gummy worms and fish. the first day I filled it up so that it was about 3 inches thick. the next day some of the water had evaporated out and some had leaked, so it needed to be refilled. I kinda forgot I had the water running and it ended up being closer to 6 inches thick and, man, it was soooo much MORE fun!!! So go for thick!

Then we made Ice Cube Paints! Ok, here’s the scary thing…. I don’t think I made this up… I thought I’d seen it on pinterest, but I can’t find it again… I should be too young for senior moments like this… Right??? (This is where you nod nad say Yes, Louise, You’re too young to be having ‘senior moments’) So, I’m not linking to the inspiration ’cause I can’t find it, not because I’m trying to call this my own idea. But at this point, I don’t even remember, maybe it just came to me…. Who knows at this point!

Anyway, the important thing is that we made them and had fun with them!

We just added food coloring to an ice-cube tray and very carefully added the water. I then covered the tray with aluminum foil and added the sticks (cake pop sticks in our case). Freeze, remove and paint! Then freeze again!

Perfect summer fun for the 4th of July!