whew (thanksgiving weekend)

Wow. That was a crazy weekend. I started it out with a great thanksgiving. We had some family over. Even though it was slightly hectic, it was a lot of fun. At midnight I headed over to Kohls for their Black Friday sales. Boy, I'm crazy. There were people running all over the place and screaming. It was crazy. We went to Target afterwards. The line was HUGE, but of course we decided we needed something there and had to stand in it. I got home around 3 in the morning and zonked out. I was exhausted. I woke up around 11. We decided to get our Chirstmas tree. It is still standing, undecorated, in our family room. We've been too busy to decorate it.

Although my weekend was crazy, I'm glad that I have so much to be thankful for. Amongst all of the hectictness, I realized I am very blessed. I'm glad that I have time to give thanks.

So, how was your Thanksgiving? Any crazy Black Friday stories? I hope you had a great weekend!

my dream vacation (europe)

I have always wanted to go to Europe. It looks amazing. I want to go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower, eat in a little cafe, buy fresh crepes, eat baguettes, visit the museums. Ahhhhh......

Bracelets (para chord)

I have been making some para chord bracelets lately. This morning I made a turquoise one. Love it! They're pretty easy to make too. I'll try to post a tutorial on how to make them. I ordered my para chord off line. It wasn't too expensive. I ordered the buckles from there too. Anyway, we're having family over tomorrow for Thanksgiving. We're planning on having all of the kids make one, so I had to make sure I remembered how to make them. Have fun eating turkey and watching football tomorrow!

My top three (movies)

I like a lot of old movies. I watch them all the time. My top two old movies are "Singing in the Rain" and "What's up Doc?" I have both of them pretty much memorized. Another one of my favorite movies is "Johnny English." It is halarious. I just saw the second one, but I  don't like it as much as the first. It's not as funny, it's more serious. Anyway, if you're ever looking for a good movie, I would suggest these three.

Happy Sunday!

My Crafters Toolbox (the essentials)

I thought I'd share my crafting toolbox with you. All of my essentials and then a few extras. These are the items I couldn't live without. I use them all the time. You can pick all of these up at your local craft store.

 I use scissors all the time. I'm always cutting or snipping something. I would die without my scissors. I also use my fabric scissors a lot. If you don't have any fabric scissors, I would suggest purchasing some.  You can get fabric scissors at your local fabric store.

This is my crafting tool kit. I use it a lot. I mainly use the hammer, the tool that cuts holes for eyelets, and the tool that helps install eyelets. It's really useful to have around.

 

 Here is a very small collection of my eyelets and brads. I use them quite a bit. They add a little something to whatever you're making. I have a lot of brads and eyelets and I'm using them all the time.

 Here are my hole punches. I have a regular sized one and then one that's quite a bit smaller. The smaller one is nice for brads.

 Ribbon. I use it all the time. This is the tip of the iceberg. I have A LOT of ribbon. I tie it onto everything. If you don't have ribbon, you NEED some. I use it ALL THE TIME. (Sorry about all of the capitalized letters. I just wanted to get my point across.)

 I use my vintage trim all the time. I've used it on a ton of crafts. You're really supposed to dye it, but I was too lazy and I liked the color it already was.

 I have a ton of rub on letters and I use them a lot. They're handy to have around. I also have rub on flowers and thank you's.

 My hot glue gun. Use it all the time. I go through a lot of hot glue. I use it on every craft I do. Seriously. If you do not have one, you are really missing out. You need one. They come in handy all the time.

 I have a lot of punches, but one of my favorites is my corner rounder. It adds a finished look to my crafts. It's also nice for pictures when I'm scrap booking.

My other punches that I love are my flower punches. I have the small and the big one. I like stacking them and putting a brad on.

 Surprisingly, I use shipping tags quite a bit. They have a fun vintage look. You can get them at your local office supply store. They come in handy quite often.

 I love this thing! I'm not sure what it's called, but it's practically two sided adhesive that you can just roll on. It's super easy to use. I attach everything with this stuff. It's really handy and useful. When our local craft store went out of business we bought several refills. Sadly, the refills don't fit out case. We found that we can unroll it, stick the adhesive on, and tear the paper off the back. It's a little bit harder, but I still use it all the time. That's how much I love this stuff.

 I use a ton of markers and pens. They're useful to have around to write on gift tags or thank you notes with.

I use modge-podge a lot. I decorate a lot of notebooks with this stuff. It's very useful. I love this stuff. It's amazing!

 And of course, my paper cutter. I use this thing all the time. It's crazy. I used to have this little wimpy paper cutter, but then I got this. I'm so glad that I did. I love it!

I also use scrap book paper and stickers a lot. Other than that, these are my crafting "essentials." If you don't have any of these items, I would suggest you get some. You'll probably fall in love with them as quickly as I did.

So, do you have any crafting essentials? Am I missing out on any wonderful crafting supplies? If so, please fill me in.

Best of My Days (notepad)

I love keeping journals and writing down what happens to me everyday. I decided to make a "Best of My Days" journal/notepad. I got the idea from Under the Sycamore Tree. (click here to see the post) Each day I'm going to write down the best part of my day. It can be anything from having some chocolate, being with my family or accomplishing a craft. I'm excited to get started. You're supposed to start at the beginning of the year, but I was too excited so I had it start this month. Anyway, I'm excited to get started.

pssttt.... I have some new projects that I'm working on. I'll update you soon.

diy (thankful tree)

For the past several years, we've had a thankful jar. I decided I wanted to change things up a bit. I decided to make a thankful tree. I had some branches, so I just trimmed them to fit in a small jar. Then I cut out a lot of leaves and tied ribbons onto them. We try to fill out a leaf every day. Our tree is slowly filling up.



My New Journal

I finished my every day journal yesterday and I was in the need of a new one. I didn't want to go out and spend $10 on a new one, so I decided to make one. I just got an notebook that was lying around and decorated it. I actually got the tree off of a wedding invitation. I fell in love with it and knew I had to use it for something. I just cut the paper to fit and modge podged it on. I love modge podge! It's amazing. I use it for everything.

Oh and by the way, Happy 11-11-11!

I LOVE bread!

I decided to make another loaf of bread today. Yum! I wanted to get all of the dry ingredients together for another loaf. I just put them all in and put it in a Tupperware. Now all I have to do is add the wet ingredients and wah-la! Fresh bread! I put a sticky note on the top telling how much of the wet ingredients to put in. I also left the yeast out. Another thing you might want to do is tell how big the loaf is so you know how long to cook it for.

Anyway, happy Sunday!

A Girl Can Never Have Too Many.... Part 1

I love journals. They come in so many cute designs and you can even decorate your own. I have a lot of journals. Some of them I use on a daily basis, some I use once a month. I even have some that don’t have a use at the moment except looking cute on my desk.

These are my every day journals. I’ve finished the Mary Engelbreit (on the top), but I’m still working on the one that I decorated (on the bottom). I try to write in this journal every day, though I probably only write in it every 2 to 3 days.

This is my affirmation book. We made them all as a family. Whenever I come upon a good quote or saying that I like, I just jot in down inside. It’s great to look back on when I’m having a bad day.

I call this journal my 1000+ gifts journal. I write some of my gifts inside. It helps me realize what I have and to be thankful for it.

 

In this journal I just jot down idea. For my blog, a craft, decorating, or pretty much anything else that comes to mind. It’s great to get those ideas down so I can refer to them later on.

I keep this small journal inside my purse. When I see something I like or a cute idea, I just write down a few words so I can remember. I write about crafts, furniture, clothing, hair, or decorating.  I also write down things that inspire me.

In this notebook I write down ideas for my house. What my dream home would be, how it would be designed, and what kind of furniture and decorations it would have. It helps me bring those ideas into my current home.

October In Review

Okay, sorry that I'm a little behind. I forgot about doing a month in review until right now. October has seemed to flash by and I'm taken by surprise that it's already over. I looked down at the calendar and realized that it was already November. Oh how time flies. It's crazy.
So here we go, October in review. I hope you enjoy!

Project most likely to use an ice pick:
DIY Photo Board!

Most Likely to be on my Christmas Wishlist:
These adorable pendant lights from Ikea. Or if I have enough time I'll try one of the DIY pendants.

Place I'll be when I get a Vacation:
Up at my cousin's cabin. It's so relaxing and fun up there. The view up there is gorgeous and it's a blast in the winter with all the snow.

Most Likely to Inspire Me:
This awesome crayon art. I want to try it really bad. It looks like a lot of fun.

Most Likely to get up at 6:30 on a Sunday Morning to Make Bread:
Um, yeah, that would be me. It was worth it though. My family and I quickly polished it off. Delish! (Click here to see post.)

So that's October in review. I hope that November will be just as great if not better. Have a happy month!

Just An Old Desk

We've had this old desk in our basement for a long time. I've been wanting to do something with it. I saw a chair that looked like it was part of this desk on Under the Sycamore Tree. It inspired me to finally do something with the desk. I lugged it upstairs and put it in the corner of my bedroom. I'm not sure if I'll keep it or not, but I think it's cute. It's a lot smaller than my original desk, so I don't have enough storage for all of my things now. I think I might paint an old dresser and use that, but I haven't decided yet. But for now, here's some pictures.

Have a happy Thursday!