Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Replicas

Over the Holiday's I made myself a few replica necklaces....found the original designs on etsy and on pinterest. Who doesn't LOVE Pinterest!!! I made these for myself, not for selling....

 I made these Bird nest necklaces. One for myself and one for a girlfriend of mine (and one as a spare...lol). She bought several other little trinkets from me this Christmas so I thought I would make her one of these as a Thank You gift.
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I saw a similar necklace on etsy that was a Lump of CoaL necklace. I loved the idea of it so I made myself one using a vintage glass button. I thought it was great for when I had to go Christmas shopping....

The kids are home for Christmas break and we have been making so many fun things! I found this tutorial on Pinterest about making lip gloss....did this today with one of my high school girlfriends. 

We MIGHT have used a bit too much Kool-Aid and it MIGHT have been a bit "tart". We laughed and laughed making this stuff! I am going to try again! 

After the kids head back to school I will recap all our handmade gifts. The kids really did a great job this year! I was SO impressed with their level of creating! My one son even learned to solder...and he did a great job with it! My youngest daughter is SO creative for a 5 year old! She made her gifts and wrapped her gifts with barely any guidance from me! She knew exactly what she wanted to do! Very impressive!!! My other son made these beautiful ornaments without any creative input from me...and then together he made some lovely body scrub! 

More on that in a few days!!

Hope you had a WONDERFUL Christmas with your family and I wish you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011

7 days

I might or might not have been working this "Crazy Eye" elf look today! I have been creating Christmas magic morning-noon-night for the past 2 weeks. It is getting down to the wire!

I hope everyone else is having as much fun as me! I can't wait to show you!! 
Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Handmade Holidays and Decorating 2011

Once again we are taking the pledge to participate in a Handmade Christmas Holiday. This is not our first year and it won't be the last! Of course there are a few items that I can't make, you know the electronic variety, but Santa usually brings those in his sleigh!

I read a really interesting blog post about taking the Handmade Pledge for gift buying, and I really wish I could find it! I would love to share it with you. I can summarize that the blog post talked about how it can be difficult to really follow through with this type of pledge, but to do the best you can. I am sure I didn't do the post justice with that summarizing...but, you get the point!

On to Christmas decorating....
The day before Thanksgiving the girls and I spent a few hours in The Glitter Lounge (my craft room) and made a few fun little things! I gave them their choice of plates or cake stands and then let them loose in the boxes and cabinets to make their own little Christmas scene. It was fun to see them get all glittery and covered in glue.




Then the day after Thanksgiving, we rearranged furniture and set the tree up. Fun stuff!! Ordered pizza, jammed to the Christmas music, etc. As you can see, Lily is giving her best to the Christmas music!

Trees (2) done and the mantel before calling it quits for the evening! I have a little left to do, but the big stuff is done!


More Holiday fun to come tomorrow!
Monday, November 28, 2011

Etsy Shop Update...My Fancy Finds


Handmade Holidays 2011!


Sterling Silver soldered keepsake necklace.
2 Charms, 24" beaded chain.


 Simple, Sterling Silver soldered 1" charm on chain.



Sterling Silver Soldered 1" photo pendant on a beaded 18" chain!


All purchases come gift boxed!

Cyber Monday special....
FREE coordinating earrings with each purchase.
Friday, November 25, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving was a nice LOW-KEY holiday for us this year! We had much to be thankful for! Healthy families, good friends, beautiful weather, delicious food!

I was not the hostess this year for Thanksgiving dinner, our wonderful friends hosted Thanksgiving and we will host Christmas dinner. This was the first year that we broke tradition and followed our hearts to make Thanksgiving not just about our immediate family but also our close friends.  We have hosted Christmas dinner in this tradition for the past 3 years....and it has been so much fun!


Dinner was lovely and delicious! I was in charge of appetizers, a few sides and a dessert! The boys made a delicious Apple pie, I made my favorite roasted brussels sprouts with bacon and red onions and 2 different types of sweet potatoes (actually 3, but who is counting). I had some great helpers in the kitchen! Even after peeling 10lbs of potatoes, Hayden still had a sense of humor and broke out his creative side!

I did end up having to come up with an additional sweet potatoes dish because this was the result of 5lbs of potatoes! Not enough for 10 people!!!

So...I ran out on Thanksgiving morning and picked up 5 more lbs of sweet potatoes and whipped up a delicious side of mashed sweet potatoes! MY favorite!!! However, those roasted potatoes were like little bits of candy! Incredible!!!

Because my Thanksgiving responsibilities were not as great as they usually are, I decided to try out a great tutorial by "My Cotton Creations" I found on Pinterest. It was for PJ pants, but I decided to use it to make Lil' Beansie some pants to wear on Thanksgiving! And, because she can be somewhat of a fickle girl (plus the tute seemed SO easy) I decided to make her 2 pairs! That way she had options! lol...

We spent today (Friday) at home in our PJ's - NOT out frantically purchasing gifts! I will be honest in saying that I did get lured into JoAnne's this afternoon for $1.49 snuggle flannel. I couldn't resist the opportunity to make Christmas PJ pants for the entire family for less than $20.00!! However I did buy a few more yards than I had planned to make a few extra Christmas gifts.

We will be participating a handmade Christmas again this year! After watching the news this evening and hearing horror stories of people being Pepper sprayed and robbed during the chaos of Black Friday shopping, I couldn't be happier or feel stronger about my decision  to continue this tradition!
I wish I could remember where I found this image! Online somewhere...
Monday, November 21, 2011

Etsy Shop Update...My Fancy Finds

I have been a busy little bee working all hours of the day in The Glitter Lounge! I have a few new creations listed on Etsy. I thought I would share them with you....


Both, my original design and creation! Both, available for purchase!! 
I hope you love them as much as I do!!! 

XOXO~Heather
Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Life is Precious

Last week I received one of the most stunning phone calls I have had in a long time. My very dear friend lost her husband, in an instant. It was sudden....He was only 38 years old! They have two little boys and my heart just breaks for them. There are some trials and challenges in life that nothing will prepare you for. This is definitely one of them.

This is not my story to tell, it is hers, and I hope that she will continue to pass on her loving memories. I encouraged her to set up a blog so that she could write her thoughts and memories, and so that others could share their memories of her wonderful husband. I hope that it will also be a place for her boys to read stories of their dad that they might not have heard otherwise.

I am sharing this with you on my blog to remind myself in the future how precious life really is...it truly can change in an instant.  I cherish my children and my husbands love, but some days I get wrapped up in the ridiculous little things that irritate me and forget how quickly it could all change. My girlfriend and her husband were away celebrating their 10 year wedding anniversary, so she will have wonderful memories of their last moments together. I shared with her how lucky I felt she was to have had that time just before his passing. I know "lucky" doesn't seem like the right word, but it could have been one of those ugly mornings where someone forgot to take out the trash (this would be my house) or some other trivial situation.

They have beautiful pictures of one another from the week spent together. So nice... Their boys will be able to look at these pictures and see the love that their mom and dad had for one another. Their dad was a good man who cherished - adored - their mom. I am sure that they will remember that every time they see those pictures.

I doubt that I am going to stop being annoyed by the bowl of sunflower seed shells that are left behind every night, or the socks that never seem to make it from the side of the bed to the laundry basket. But, I am sure that the morning I wake up and they aren't there, I will miss them terribly.

This was also a BIG wake up call to get my plans in order. I don't want my children to have to make decisions that they shouldn't. I also hope and pray that someone would step up for my husband and help with all the little things...there are so many little things that go into the final moments of someones life. Gathering pictures, picking out their clothes, what music they want, what prayers/poems/blessings they would want. These are things that a grieving spouse or loved one really needs support with.

Go LOVE on someone you LOVE.

If you would like to hear more about this great man and his loving family, you can check them out here.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011

My Fancy Finds

I have been working on some lovely new creations! I am in the process of selling some in a local jewelry store and also listing a few on Etsy. I am trying my hand at both.....

Please pop over to my other little blog and let me know what you think!

Click the little birdie to visit....My Fancy Finds.

It is like a little birdie told you...lol...I crack myself up sometimes!

XOXO~ Heather

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Fall Decor

A little post about Fall Door Decor...try saying that 5 times fast! Ha!

Little DIY project I was able to complete this week. I really like the way it turned out! My front door is glass so I did the best I could with the pictures!





I love Fall decorating...can't wait to do some more!
Friday, September 30, 2011

All Grown Up

Homecoming was this past weekend.... I have always loved Homecoming - probably because it and all of its activities take place in my absolute favorite time of year, Fall!!

Our Homecoming was early this year..much earlier than I ever remember it being. It rained so long and so hard the day of the football game (actually for days prior too) I thought I was going to need an ark to get home. Put a damper on the festivities..no pun intended. The day of the dance, the sun finally came out!

I was so happy that my daughter wouldn't be a soggy mess going to the dance, and I am pretty sure that she was happy too! I still can't get over how grown up and BEAUTIFUL she has become!

I love this picture of her and her Dad. We feel it best for him to start wearing his uniform 24/7...you know, keep the boys away ....
I also fell in love with the way her hair turned out...I took so many pictures of it. She has the most beautiful hair to start with, but the side french braid into a bun looked gorgeous on her!

My baby is growing up...I must have cried 10 times that day just looking at how beautiful she is - INSIDE and OUT!


PS: on a Lily note....Lily is adjusting so much better to school. We still have a "moment" here or there, but they are becoming less frequent. I am so glad she is starting to enjoy herself more!!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Week 2

We have moved into the 2nd week of school and the tears have not stopped. They were just as bad this morning as they were last week. I am really hoping that by the end of this week the tears will be gone!!! Lets keep our fingers crossed!!!

I have been trying to keep myself busy in The Glitter Lounge while Lily has been at school. I have made many-a-accessory prior to the start of school...Lily has her very own Accessory line! I will be showing that to you next week!!!

Today I want to show you a little something I made for one of my favorite girlfriends! It was for her Birthday, and I LOVE the way it turned out! Love it!!

Using Vintage Mother of Pearl buttons and a little velvet ribbon, pearl chain and a few little rhinestones...I made this little beauty! I love the way it turned out!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011

School...and all the Tears...


This week is the first long week of school....between staggered entrance for Kindergarten, Earthquakes and Hurricanes it has been a little tough completing a week of school.

Yesterday I put Lily on the bus - she was in total hysterics - I was in a cold sweat and on the verge of tears....This was NO picture perfect moment!

As soon as I loosened her grip on my rain coat and exited the bus, I busted out in tears. It was horrible, and still feels horrible....just thinking about it makes me tear up. I have never had a child go through this before. I know she has an issue with separation anxiety....but I prayed this wouldn't happen! I prayed that she wouldn't feel the anxiety each day....but it is happening. Most people don't believe me when I tell them she has a bit of a "separation" issue. They usually look at me as if I am crazy... right up to the moment when they see her white knuckles attached to my clothing! She is such a happy little girl, so funny and full of excitement! But only after she gets comfortable with her surroundings....and usually only if there is a "familiar" face with her.

I don't negotiate when it comes to situations like this. I have to stand firm....while my knees are weak and my stomach is flopping around like a fish out of water....I can't give in. They (all the professionals...) tell me it is the wrong thing to do....so, I just cry all day thinking about it! I can't help but worry if she is feeling sad or scared. It is causing me just as much anxiety as it is causing her!

I fretted all day...worried about how she was feeling. When she finally came home, she was just as happy to see me as I was to see her. Her sweet little face was priceless coming off that bus. She still was pretty unhappy about her ride to school...and about having to stay there all day...but she was very happy to be home. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she had to go back tomorrow....


I pray tomorrow goes better.....praying.....really - really hard!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Good BYE Irene

I know traditionally the saying is "Goodnight Irene" but this week - after the lovely Hurricane Irene was here to visit...it is a big FAT GOOD BYE!!!

She wasn't too horrible to us...mostly wind damage and power outages. We did a lot of "House Camping"...not the most fun end of the summer but we made the best of it!

I am very happy to have our power fully restored - and some nice yummy food in the refrigerator! I did hear a tiny rumor that there is another hurricane brewing, but I am pretending to not hear it...

The morning after the hurricane we headed down to my grandfathers. He is only 5 miles away from us and right on the tip of a little peninsula....needless to say he didn't have any power and there was a tiny bit of flooding in his basement. We made it a family affair!

After a mile long walk to his house...we couldn't get anywhere closer because of downed trees and branches...and power lines!! It was kind of scary....we did our chores and then the kids took off to collect bottles and whatever else they could pull from the creek bed while the tide was so far out.

They really had a great time and found a really cool collection of bottles. They even came across a snake...NOBODY was very happy about that! They all scattered...including my husband! lol...



 If you notice, Lily has her ears covered the entire time we were there because of the wind. She is so sensitive to the "noise" the wind makes.
This is ONE of the trees that prevented our ability to drive down the road. I felt horrible for the people who live in this house...they were very lucky to have had no injury to themselves. This tree was HUGE!!!

And here is our oldest standing on a HUGE tree...one of 6 that fell like dominoes in our back yard. I personally did not take or condone this picture....in fact I freaked out when I saw her up there and started screaming like a maniac for her to get down.....they all thought I was crazy! ...I am, but that is besides the point!!
Friday, August 26, 2011

Little "Pre" School project

In preparation for Kindergarten we needed to work on our sight words so we didn't fall behind!! Lily and I turned the "work" into a little crafty project!!

Everyone else might have just plain little pieces of paper with some black letters...but not mine! We have vintage playing cards with our sight words stuck to them!!!


We ran them through the Xyron to make them all nice and sticky...

 And stuck them to the cards! I was a little sad to cover up the cute little snoopy, but the other side was just as cute...maybe cuter...so snoopy is now a sight word!

I punched a hole in the top corner and attached them to a ring - WhaLa...sight words! Now I can just add more words to the ring! when I need to!



The lighting is horrible in The Glitter Lounge right now ( it has a new location ), I need to find an electrician! Another project to add to the "After kids return to school - To Do - list"!
Thursday, August 25, 2011

Today...was the day

Today was the day that Lily "Officially" started Kindergarten......my heart hurts! I cried..... She did pretty good....me on the hand, I had to leave the bus stop as soon as she boarded.... I was crying.
 I am pretty sure I saw the bus driver give some instruction to the other Kindergarten parent but I couldn't go back..


She was Adorable of course in one of her new school outfits! This morning I asked her what she was most excited about for her new school...she said..."wearing all my new clothes!".

That's my girl!



Every day will be a little different now...NONE of my kids are home with me during the day now. For the past 15 years I have had a small person by my side for all or most part of my day. There have of course been some "Ugly" days along the way where you can't believe that this is what you have signed up for...but I have NEVER been one of those Mom's who was ready for all my kids to be in school so I could do my "own thing". I actually heard a mom say that the other day and I thought to myself...Wow..that is not at ALL how I am feeling!

Not judging someone Else's feelings, those are just not the feelings I have about my kids all being gone.

Life just keeps going...faster and faster each day.

My oldest is in the 10th grade...that means only 2 more years before she will leave me and go to College!!! AGGHHH...

My boys are in Middle school together...voices are changing, their getting bigger..taking on more grownup features.
I can't take it...thank goodness they still tell me they love me and give me hugs and kisses!!!

And, now...my baby is in school...ALL DAY LONG!!!

Guess, I better find something to do with myself in The Glitter Lounge!
Monday, August 8, 2011

Long ago and Far Away..

I used to visit my little blog almost every day...then my crazy life got in the way!!

So much has been happening - so much that I wish I had written down! 

Spring sports, Promotion from Elementary School to Middle School, Pre-School Graduations
Blueberry Picking, Garden Harvesting, Festivals, Summer Sunburns, Birthdays, Summer Sundays....and the list goes on!

Way too much to detail...here is a little recap in pictures

Pre-School Graduation

My soon to be Kindergartener....where has my time gone!

5th Grade Promotion

Strawberry Festival
The ONLY two strawberries I was able to get from my plants...the others were consumed by my puppies, my Lily and the squirrels....



 Summer Sunday's...






I hope everyone is having a Fabulous Summer!!!