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Fall Traditions

October 13, 2015 By: Amandacomment

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One of the things that really excited me about our new school district when we moved 5 years ago was the calendar. Our school does a modified year round calendar.

That means a shorter Summer break, but longer breaks in the Fall & Spring.

Which means we get a chance to really enjoy Arizona when it’s pleasant in Arizona. It also means we can travel & not stress about rushing back.

This year we really didn’t travel, but we did what we do when we have the chance… We crammed as much fun in as possible. We went to multiple parks, we met friends at the Science Center, we ate out a million times, we did a day at Amazing Jake’s and a night at Dave & Busters, we slept over & hosted friends, we watched movies at home and at the theater.

As I am typing, we are on the road home from a couple quick days away. Heading home for one of the traditions that I hope my kids will fondly remember. For the last few years we have always had one craft day in the Fall. The last couple have been with our Girl Scout troop, but we had them before our troop, too.

We will make soap and Christmas decorations.. Possibly candles. 

Wish me luck!
Results:

  
Cupcake Ornaments

 
An army of handmade soaps!

  
Jars halfway on their way to being transformed into snowman luminaries.

  
And a part of the cleanup 😉 Dishes, glitter & soap is now coating my kitchen.
But, I think they all had fun!

‘Merica

July 3, 2014 By: Amandacomment

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Are you ready?

I love Pinterest! It’s sort of an obsession… However, you’d never know it based on my pins. I mostly just scroll and scroll. But, I do absorb some ideas.

And to get ready for the 4th we tried a couple 🙂

20140703-195902-71942840.jpg

This is the little dude’s shirt. I will attempt a photo of the kids with theirs tomorrow. It was a really easy project & I thought the results were cute.

Then tonight, Bean & I baked cupcakes..

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What are you doing to celebrate?

Tomorrow we will avoid the crowds & likely just relax at home, but we’ll have cute shirts on 😉

Does it Spread?

June 30, 2014 By: Amandacomment

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Could organizing my day have caused more organizing…?

Once again, Pinterest inspired me to tackle my fabric hoard pile. I have uhlot of fabric. I think that if you want to be a crafter of any sort, you have to be a bit of a hoarder. And it comes in handy… My stash is where I found the fabric that I used as the background for my organizer 🙂 It also has tons of memories, scraps from hundreds of prior projects.

Anyhow, I think it’s much more manageable now! And I ended up with an empty bin! This is only a fraction of what I have, but look at how pretty it looks now…

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My Wisdom for the Day

February 17, 2011 By: Amandacomment

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So, as I’ve started into this craft thing, one of the big problems that I’m having is focus. So, I *could* have a little ADD… But, what’s more of the issue is that it’s fun to learn new stuff. I’d much rather spend my time trying out new things than actually making the things that I’ve perfected. And, the least amount of fun is posting those items and selling them. I’d much rather be a crafter (and, yes, I do know that that’s not a real word)  than a seller. And I’d rather be experimenting than duplicating.

As I was pondering that, it came to mind that that’s kinda how a lot of things are. Once we really know what we’re doing, it’s time to move on… I have joked that the problem with planning a wedding is that you only get to do it once. It takes you that whole time to figure out what you’re doing, then you don’t get to practice it at all. The same kinda happens with parenting. You finally become an expert at the newborn thing, then they become infants and there’s another world to learn. You master the bottle or the breast or whatever, then it’s time to start talking about solids. You finally get the hang of packing a diaper-bag just right, then it’s time to start potty training.

I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t mind potty training. That age of kiddo (1.5 to 3) is about my favorite age, although, I do adore babies.. and it’s pretty fun having actual conversations. Anyhow, I’d gladly potty train kids for a living. I think that I’m pretty good at it. But, alas, that time is done at our house. Just this last week or so my “babies” have decided that they’re done with pull ups at night and neither has had a wet bed since.  Like I said, you figure it out, get good at it and then you need a new skill.

My newer challenge is figuring out what to do about the little stalker friend that D has made at school. She’s nice, but I can’t figure out how to get through to her that he can’t play after school every.single.day.

But, as I was pondering all of this, I was also thinking about posting on my blog. And that’s when the wisdom came in… (about time, right?!?) That’s what this whole blog thing is about. Now, I don’t blog to be a leader or a teacher or whatever. I am certainly not a parenting expert (although, I am a potty training expert!).  But, the cool thing is that I do have things to share. There are some things that I do know about. There are experiences that I’ve had that I can guide someone through. And, there are other blogs out there that can do the same for me.

As our society has changed, in many ways we’ve grown apart as people. We don’t know our neighbors as much as we used to (even though we live closer together). Not all of us have the safety net of family close by. But, through this magical Internet, we can all be a little closer, too. There are other moms who are out there who are posting about their challenges and successes and lives each day. And I can learn through them.

So, there is help out there. I think I might just have to do a search for kiddo stalker blogs (that’s a joke!). But, I will remember that there are others out there who I can turn to.

I just need to stay far, far away from the craft blogs! Craft time needs to be for creating, not dreaming up new visions.

What are your favorite blogs?

More Goodies to Show

October 19, 2010 By: Amanda1 Comment

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So, it turns out that just making something doesn’t really mean you give it to someone… You have to find something to ship it in, address the thing, and then actually get to the post office. It’s these last couple of steps that trip me up every time!

However, I did succeed last week.

And, as I heard via text, at least one item actually made it to the recipient!

It’s way more fun to make stuff than to actually get it sent out.

But, I wanted to show off what I sent out…

For the newest member of my family, my cousin’s son…

 

And for my youngest nephew…

 

I also started making my first reusable sandwich baggies this weekend. Daniel has even asked to learn how to sew, so he helped me with these. Photos will have to follow.

And yesterday I made a few more lovies. My craft room is starting to get very crowded, as is Brian’s garage (sorry, baby-baby).

Only a couple more weeks until our first show! This weekend Brian and I will be going to see a concert, then there’s Halloween, then Financial Fest… then the show. So, pretty much I’m down to no weekends left to prep, only weekdays.

New Beginnings…

October 8, 2010 By: Amanda2 Comments

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So, we are at the end of a chapter of our lives.

We’re done with foster care. At least for awhile…

And it’s hard for me to say that.. it’s even hard for me to type that.

But, ending a chapter means beginning a new one!

For me, that means actually taking the leap and selling a few crafts. For Brian… who knows? I think enjoying the kids, helping me on my next venture and having more engergy for work.

There are other new beginnings around us, too. My cousin just gave birth to her first son (total doll!). And I have a good friend and sorority sister who just wed her wife a couple weeks ago (right after we adopted V). And, they, too, will have a new baby shortly.

I am working on something for my cousin’s little guy still.

But, I finished a gift for my girlfriend’s baby-to-be today and I want to share it before I send it out. Mostly because I think it’s stinkin’ cute!

A little taggie & onesie for little one…
The back side.. little ruffled bum..
If you want one of these, I can personalize it for you, too!

Another Sneak Peak…

October 5, 2010 By: Amandacomment

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Cute enough to eat! Back and front of this sweet onesie design...

Isn't this ruffle adorable? On the front it says, "Love Bug"...

Great for all budding math geeks... Again, I'll be offering this as an iron on alone or already in place on a shirt or onesie

This is an iron on or sew on applique.. I have a lightening bolt to go along with it. And I'll be selling the applique alone or already sewn onto a shirt or onesies.

More of what I’ve been working on…

There’s tons more, but I still haven’t figured out how to get great photos yet and I need to save *something* for the site roll out. If you have any questions, requests, or want anything specific please ask me!

What to do…

September 29, 2010 By: Amandacomment

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So, if you’ve thought about me in the past week or so, I’m sure you’ve been wondering, “What is Amanda up to these days? Surely she’s bored… After all, she only has 4 kids now, the adoption is done, school routines are in place…”

Boring!

So, now that I have no other distractions to take me away from cleaning, I’ve had to make up a few!  Like I said in a couple previous posts, I’ve been crafting & crafting.

And I wanted to show one of the shirts I finished today.

 

Know any cute pirates-in-training? If so, I’d love to make one for her!

What I’ve Been Stealing

September 26, 2010 By: Amandacomment

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I am using this tutorial to make a few t’s and dresses:

http://www.rookiemoms.com/boy-hand-me-down-for-girl/comment-page-1/#comment-130478

I’ve been making some baby onesies… and, honestly, there was no need to steal the ideas, but here’s the type of personalization I’m doing…

http://www.craftyminx.com/2010/06/appliqued-onesies.html#comment-6a00e5536eb0a388330133f4996a15970b

I’ve also been doing a few like these…

http://www.sanaeishida.com/weblog/archives/000245.html

(But, it should be no shock that mine are more cheeky than pretty)

The other thing that I’ve been making is taggies… I don’t know where I stole this idea from, but here’s a tutorial for you.

http://craftblog.com.au/2008/07/04/appliqued-ribbon-blanket-tutorial/

(It should be noted that mine are not nearly as fancy as the ones in this link. And I’ve never done a personalized version. But, they’re still soft, cuddly & have a variety of textures for baby.)

Next time, I’ll share a few of my own photos…

But, this way maybe you can be inspired to make a little something on your own!

Quicky Craft Time

January 27, 2010 By: Amanda3 Comments

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So, I have a friend who’s started a blog about her crafting ( http://twelvecraftstillchristmas.blogspot.com/).

I have to say that I like to craft, but I kinda do things the cheater way…

So, here’s my version of the crayon roll that I’ve seen all over the place.

I start with a place-mat–you can find them for around $1 and they always have them at the $1 store! I just fold it in thirds… I use a crayon to measure where the folds should be…

Then I sew a ribbon in one of the ends.

Next, sew the pockets for the crayons–again, I use a crayon to check to make sure that they’ll fit. And my method of making this *way* easy is that I pick lined placemats. I don’t have to measure anything & I can actually sew in a straight line!

Afterwards, put the crayons in, roll it up and it’s ready to give.

How easy is that?

It took me under 30 min & that included time to dig out the materials and trim all of the strings, find some crayons and take photos.

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