A Little Sneak Peak

I thought I would give you all a little peak at one of the finished Christmas gifts.

I'm putting a pattern and short tutorial together for the ladybug and I'll share that with you tomorrow.

Did you all know there are only 37 days left 'til Christmas?!

Microcrafts Book Review

Not too long ago, I received a package.  One that literally made me squeal and do a little jig in my front yard - causing my kids (and maybe a few neighbors) to give me some strange looks.

The above book, Microcrafts: Tiny Treasures to Make and Share , was the reason.  Not only did I have a new craft book, but it was one a friend, Larissa Holland, helped author!  

Okay, down to the nitty-gritty.  The main premise of this book is crafting tiny crafts - all smaller than a spool of thread.  {Clicking on any of the pictures that follow will bring it up in a new window for a better look.}

A few of the projects available:

Tiny little cats

Bottle-cap pendants

Button Earrings

Felt Pendant

Tiny Greetings

Cute Little Bugs

Monsters With Accessories

Bears and Beds

Authors

This book is full of step-by-step instructions and patterns for over 25 crafts.  Don't limit yourself with these projects, either.  While all of these are cute in miniature form, many of the patterns can be enlarged on a copy machine to any size.  Plus, I'm sure there are many creative ways to use the projects between these covers.  My second daughter can't get enough of this book.  She quickly went through the book and told me all the crafts that could be turned into earrings and then looked at me full of hope that one would end up in a birthday package.  (Something I should get busy on.)

This book is great and its amazing the creativity of these authors!  

Christmas is coming up, people!  Wouldn't this be super as a gift?!

Craft Fair

Those of you who follow me on Facebook know I visited a craft fair this weekend.  It was hosted by our local high school which is only a few minutes from our home.  A perfect excuse for me to get out of the house, do something fun and maybe get a few ideas for Christmas.

 There were several booths (around 200 probably) with all kinds of goodies ranging from original art, jewelry, kids' boutique items, Thanksgiving decor and of course Christmas decor.

 I was able too look through everything in no time at all.  But, I must admit, I did go around for a second look just to extend my time out.

One purchase was made.

Yep, I really splurged!  {Heavy sarcasm intended}  I'm a sucker for snowmen, though.

We have some rainy weather today.  Several loads of laundry have already been done, so the rest of my day is devoted to Christmas gift production.  I'm excited and a bit scattered in my thinking, right now.  Sounds like a perfectly good excuse for something sweet and a hot beverage to take some time and get my ideas on paper before I start sewing.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

What Now?

Halloween is over and my life is no longer consumed with costumes and candy - well, at least the costumes are out of the picture.

Pirate, Lanie (AG), Cinderella, Dora and Special Forces

The kids had a blast and everyone was pleased with the final costume.  (A huge relief for a stressed out momma.)  The candy haul was extreme this year, too.  We have some of the most wonderful and generous neighbors!  Although, I'm trying to decide if I need to remind the kids or the husband that trash goes in the trash can.  Hmmmm........

So, now I'm on to crafting and sewing whatever I want, right?  Definitely true - to an extent.  I have Christmas on the brain and that makes it hard to think of much else.  'What about Thanksgiving?', you ask?  I really enjoy Thanksgiving, but I don't feel the need to DO anything for that holiday.  Thanksgiving is just a great time of the year in which I know I get to spend a lot of special time with family.  Christmas is family time and stress time.

Now that you all know where my mind is, you know where this blog is headed for the next couple of months.  (Really - 53 days?!)  I've got some new ideas of my own and lots of ideas rounded up from other places I'm hoping to share with you during this time.  {If you are family, don't read this for the next month or so if want to be surprised.}

I've already started.  Here's a sneak peak at one Christmas project/gift idea I'll be sharing with you all very soon.

If you haven't yet, now is a good time to like This Too! on Facebook.  I'll be on there quite a bit adding little snippets and comments (or questions!) as the time goes by.  Feel free to post any of your own links, pictures, questions and comments, too.  Just please keep it craft related and G rated.  Maybe we can help each other make it to the end of the season with our crafts all wrapped and ready to give!

Halloween Decor

Truth be told, I'm not big on decorating for Halloween.  There is just such a short amount of display time in which some of those decorations are acceptable.  It just isn't worth the effort to me.  On the other hand - I love how some people just go all out to let everyone know how much they love the holiday.

My kids have been pestering me to get into the spirit.  {And to finish their costumes.}  After doing some thinking and coming across these ideas here and here, I came up with this cute, inexpensive and really quick idea.

 Cute, right?  Now, I know they don't look like much.  But, turn off the lights and they glow! (Ahahaha!  Couldn't resist!)

Wanna make one - or a couple dozen?

Here's what you will need:

* Large canning jar
* Tissue paper
* Ribbon  (about 23" to tie a bow)
* Construction Paper
* Tape
* Flameless candle
* Scissors

First thing to do is cut out a face from the constrution paper.  I chose to use black, but any dark color would work, I'm sure.  Need some help figuring out a cute face?  Check out some of these or these.

If you have double stick tape, that would be easier.  If you are like me and are doing good to find any tape at all, it still works.

 Roll your tape and stick it on the backs of your face shapes.

 Place the shapes on the outside of your canning jar.

 Now, find the middle of your sheet of tissue paper.  (Eyeball it.)  Gather the edges up around the mouth of the jar

 Tie the tissue paper in place with a length of ribbon.

 Turn on a candle and put it in the jar.

Turn off the lights and enjoy!

 Would you like to make a friend for your pumpkin?  Use white tissue paper and make a ghost.

 He really shows up in the dark!

Do you want to take the really easy way?  Just skip making a face and wrap the jar in some decorative tissue paper.

 This one looks cute in the dark, too!  See the pumpkins all lit up?

Go ahead and make several to light the way to your front door.

How many of you out there decorate for Halloween?  All out or just a little?  Or does the 'Autumn' decor cover your bases for Halloween?


*Linked to Skip To My Lou's Made by You Mondays

The Zoo Called Yesterday

We (meaning I) decided we needed a break from the norm yesterday.  Saint Louis has a lot of free or nearly free attractions, and the zoo was our destination.

Two things on our list were the Children's Zoo and the zebras.  The Children's zoo has a petting area full of goats.  Kid #3 and Kid #5 really enjoyed themselves.  Little Boy kept chasing the poor animals around yelling 'puppy!' and loving every minute.

 Kid #4 tried to climb up my leg as soon as we entered the pin.  Here I'm trying to just get her hand out to touch the back of a goat.  She was having none of it.  Try running after a 20 month old with a 34 lb 3 yr old on your hip.  I'm sure we were quite the sight.

 Can't really blame her when all she sees is something like this in her face.

 After we left the goats and Kid #4 realized that all the other animals were 'stuck' in their different cages, all was good.

The weather was perfect for the outing, too, bringing a lot of the animals out for easy viewing.

 We only spent a couple of hours there, but that was long enough with three little ones.  While I was getting the stroller and cooler loaded up in the vehicle, I told the kids to go run in the grassy area of the park.

 Only two had the energy to go play.  Liv decided she just wanted to get in the car and rest.

We had such a good time!  I'm so glad I was impulsive and just went instead of worrying about all the stuff that was put on hold for the day.  Now, I need to find some good indoor activities to get us through the cooler months coming up.  Any suggestions on free activities in the area for little kids?

Early Reveal - Big Girls' Room

I'm not completely finished with this project, but I HAVE to take a break.  I'm about to get burned out.  Plus, Halloween is right around the corner and I have 5 little kids to get ready.  Can't let them down!

So.  I decided to do an early reveal and let you all in on the current project sucking the life out of me.  :)

Background:
Our home is a new construction.  Another family built the house and then had complications at closing making them unable to finalize the purchase.  {We found it when we came to the Saint Louis area on a house hunting trip 3 years ago.  (Hard to believe that much time has passed!)}  While it is a beautiful home and has lots of space for our family, there are somethings we would have done differently had we been the ones to build it.

Here is a view of our upstairs floor plan.

 Lots of space, as you can see, it just isn't in the best place for us to function well.  So we decided to change it up a bit to help us right now and in the future.

We don't use the 'his closet' other than for storage.  {Here is one of it's transformations.}  Our 2 oldest girls share 'bedroom 2' which has the largest floor space and smallest closet.  A closet that is already full and not functioning well.  Just imagine what it will be like when there are two teenagers using the space!  What else is there to do but reconfigure and punch a hole in a wall?  At least that's my solution, and fortunately my husband was willing to go along with my idea.

Our floor plan now looks like this:

Unfortunately, there is no getting rid of that black rectangle in the middle of the wall - HVAC lines are way out of our jurisdiction.

Wanna see it in 'Before and After' format?  Of course you do! :)

Before:

Only picture I can find, so ignore the mess.

After:

Where closet use to be.

Inside.  See where the door to Master was?

View into closet from girls' room.

As you can see, I have still have some finishing to do.  However, the kids are now back in their room and the closet can be used.  We do need to get a step stool for Girl #2 so she can reach her clothes, poor thing.

Last things to be finished up.
-Paint
-Wall decor
-Bed reveal
-Closet shelving reconfigured

We'll get there.  Any suggestions on closet configuration?

**Linked to Somewhat Simple, Sawdust and Paperscraps