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2 Little Hooligans

Christmas, New Years and Chineese Chopsticks

I’m going to miss the Holiday season and all the excitement that comes along with it. Looking for Reindeer in the garden is much more fun at Christmas time while being dressed in Santa suits.

And I’m going to miss watching the kids act out scenes from The Grinch. But really, if I have to play Max one more time I just may burst. Why can’t I ever be the Grinch?!
The tree after Santa came.
Santa couldn’t find his tractor that digs on two sides, but instead brought a chainsaw and weed whacker. We wondered what would happen Christmas morning but were not expecting what we got when we walked downstairs. Immediately he screamed “Oh, just what I always wanted a weed whacker and chainsaw! Santa couldn’t find my tractor so he brought these instead!” Yes, that was the best way to have Santa introduced in this house. Santa brought the girls a doll highchair that was purchased this summer for a mere $3. All it needed was a little love and lots of spray paint. Their best finds in their stockings were definitely the electric toothbrushes and the Bug Juice. We learned fast that it doesn’t take much to make these kids happy. Hope that never changes.
The girls got their first doll house from Grammy, while our little guy got his first set of Lego’s.
We even added a few new “ornaments” to the tree. This one reminds us of some relatives that were visiting this summer and all the fun we had together. Mary, I thought you would get a chuckle out of that one. But really, these two dog toys have been a hit!
Plus they even match my tree decor. Yes, I’m that crazy.
I’m sad to see it go, but the tree must come down this weekend.
It is shedding everywhere.


We rang in the New Year with Chinese food and some chopsticks. Ok, maybe it was more like daytime then night, but who is counting when you have 3 little ones.
It was fun trying to use the chopsticks. Our little guy came up with a great technique for using the chopsticks and ended up using them the whole meal.
Whereas this little one decided to use what God gave her instead.
I have to admit it is much faster that way.
It was fun to try and they do make great drumming sticks once your done.
So… farewell 2011 and hello 2012!

embrace the camera {Resolutions}



I make a New Years Resolution every year. Very rarely do I keep them, but I make them nonetheless. However two of my resolutions I am determined to keep this year are to lose weight and to keep up with embrace the camera. Documenting our lives together is so important to me, but for some reason I haven’t been good about taking pictures of myself with the kiddo’s lately. The truth is, seeing this big ole’ body of mine plastered all over my blog makes me cringe. For some reason my camera has decided to add an extra 30 pounds to every picture instead of the normal 10. But really, shame on me! That is not what this is all about. Documenting our lives together is what is important, not how we look in our photo’s. So here we are, back to embracing the camera every week. So sorry, but you are going to be seeing a lot of me again…along with these extra 30 pounds. We spent the morning painting the hallway and mudroom. This picture really does make me chuckle. I thought I was looking pretty bad and then I took a closer look at my little girl. What is up with that hair? And really, don’t you think my kids could actually get dressed once in awhile? Maybe my New Year’s Resolution should be to get the kids dressed daily… NAHH! Even if I do get them dressed in about 10 minutes they are back in their J’s or running around the house naked. Its just a loosing battle.
How many of you make New Year’s Resolutions?

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Top 11 crafts from 2011

Here are the top 11 most visited crafts from 2011.

How to make ice cream in a baggie

Organizing Tote Basket

How to make butter in a canning jar

Shopping List and Coupon Organizer

Baby Basket Cake

Round Nesting Baskets

Beach Comber Bag

Ruffled Wristlet

Baby Doll Diapers and Wipes Case

Homemade cupcake liners

Ruffled Maxi Skirt

And my most favorite craft in 2011 was definitely these one eyed one horned flying purple people eater costumes that I made for each of the kiddo’s.

Thanks to all, of my readers, I have reached a huge milestone with this blog. I have now had over 1,500,000 visits. WOW, how in the world did that happen?! I have been featured on some amazing blogs this year and even made it to the blog of Glamour Magazine (screech!). I’m so honored to have people enjoying my crafts and ideas as much I love sharing them.
I hope this year brings more crafty ideas to share with all of you and Fat Quarter Fridays makes an appearance again some time really soon. I have missed my quick little sewing projects.

How to make a big kids sippy cup from a canning jar.

You all know my love for canning jars by now, so it is probably not much of a surprise that I came up with another use for our beloved canning jars. A few years ago we started using canning jars as our regular everyday drinking glasses. They are strong, hold up well and we always have a ton of them around. So it was a no brainer when I was in need of some sippy cups the other day to turn our canning jars into sippy cups for the kids.

I know some of you are thinking that I am totally nuts for giving my kids glasses to drink out of but in all reality they have been drinking out of canning jars whenever we ran out of sippy cups anyways and they have yet to have one break. (I hope I didn’t just jinx myself there by saying that.)

As you can see they are super easy to make. All you need is some canning jars, Ball plastic storage caps and some straws. I purchase my plastic storage caps in with the regular canning supplies at Walmart but they can be purchased on-line too. They come in wide mouth and regular mouth sizes, so they will fit whatever size you have on hand.

Once you have all of your supplies, just take a drill and drill a hole into the lid close to the edge or in the middle of the lid. Then take a knife and cut off the little plastic remains if you have any. If your lid splits try turning them upside down and place on top of a scrap piece of wood. Then drill the holes. This should help keep the lids from cracking. Of course don’t forget to wash the lids before using. Then plop in a straw and let the kids enjoy.

The lids are dishwasher safe and are easy to clean. The kids love using the different colored straws and are now fighting over who gets what straw instead of who gets what sippy cup…some things just never change. If you wanted to, you could even use some of those super cute paper straws or some reusable straws. I just happened to have the plastic throw away ones on hand. Of course these sippy cups are not spill proof and may not work for everyone, but they are working great for us and hopefully will work for some of you. I already have a bunch of canning jar cozies on my to do list. They will give the jars a little added protection just in case and will add a little fun for the kids.

I know I have been MIA a bit these past few weeks, sorry. We are doing well and yes the house got finished in time for Christmas. But now I am repainting all of the rooms we had been cramming into before. They are in need of a new paint job and a lot of patching. Plus, those rooms were never fully finished in the first place. Luckily these are little jobs that I can do without the hubby’s help. He needs a break from working on this house and deserves it without a doubt. I still cannot believe how he ever did all of this having never done something like this before. I’m one lucky girl to have such a handyman! Slowly I will be posting pictures of the renovation along with the details. A lot of you were curious on my color choices, accessories and such. But for now, I still have a lot of work to get done and cannot fully rest until it is done. I’m hoping to have it all done and organized in the few weeks and cannot wait to get started on that long list of crafting and sewing to do’s.

Letter to Santa

This is the year Santa has been discovered.

I have never really pushed the subject before and really they were just too young to understand it. But this year, this little guy gets it and he really wants Santa to bring him something special. See, he has been holding out for his birthday to go to the “tractor store” to pick out his birthday present, but now that he knows Santa will bring him a gift, he is asking for that green tractor he has been wanting for so long.

He sat there for over an hour writing his letter.
I have never seen him be so picky about his letters before. But I guess when you are asking for a green tractor you make sure those letters are perfect. He was so excited once he finally finished his letter.
I read his letter back to him and he quickly realized that he needed to add in that it “digs with 2 sides”. He is very particular about such things. After all, he has been wanting that tractor for 10 months now.
I just hope “Santa” knows which tractor he wants and that the “tractor store” still has it.

Just a few more days to be nice!

**I used this printable from sandy toes & popsicles.**

We have a tree!

I still cannot believe my eyes…we have a Christmas tree in our living room. Oh and we actually have a living room! I’m not sure which one I am more excited about.
Since we had very few Christmas ornaments I had to buy some at the good old Walmart. Next year we will add a bunch of handmade ones to the mix, but this year we are using store bought ones, which I have to say I love. I was so excited to see purple ones when I was scouring the shelves one day. I’m one of those people that likes to match their Christmas decorations to the rooms that they are being displayed in. I always remember my gram having the most beautiful pink Christmas tree that matched their living room. I just loved it and the nontraditional colors. I guess that is where I get it from.
So its purple and green decorations for this girl with a mixture of purple wrappings under the tree to match. Thank you TJ Maxx for the cute wrapping paper.
My tree skirt is actually a few yards of fabric just bunch up underneath the tree covering the stand. It is nothing fancy, but it works.
They may not be handmade or from Christmases past, but these ornaments are already loved by all.
It was so fun watching the kiddo’s decorate.
My son took his time picking out the best place for each ornament and carefully placed each one onto the tree.

Whereas the girls place all of their favorite ornaments all in one spot.
And continue to redecorate on a daily…or hourly basis. You can tell which ones are their favorites by where they are placed on the tree. They are always at the bottom of the tree all on the same branch.
And all of them just happen to be from a pretty special auntie and uncle.

How many of you have nontraditional Christmas trees? I know I am not the only one out there. How many of you saw this post over at tatertots and jello? I want that whimsical candy tree…adorable!!

Home renovation updates

So apparently some of you are curious as to what things are looking like around here. So the living room is pretty much done except for installing the sliding barn doors onto the kids playroom and the doorway to the cold cellar. As you can see the hardwood floors are covered in cardboard for protection from little boys with hammers and to keep from tracking in too much snow and sawdust onto them. I am so tempted to pull that stuff up and see what it looks like. Nonetheless I wait…impatiently. One of the many chairs sitting waiting to be reupholstered. I never liked the style of wing back chair but for $5 I couldn’t pass it up. Plus these chairs are dang comfy! My hubby has already claimed this one to be his along with this spot, but the designer may have other ideas for this area already. Shh, we’ll keep that one between us until he finishes the house.
The playroom is finished and as you can see I couldn’t resist laying that rug down. I’m still searching for the best way to design this room that will fit our storage needs without looking too crowded. There are a lot of great inspirations out there I just need the time to sit down and organize them all.
The kiddo’s room is finished and is just waiting to be filled.
The bathroom is still needing a second coat of paint along with all of the joints and nail holes need caulking, but by tomorrow it should be finished. I just need one more late night up there. Hopefully this time I wont spill my glass of wine all over the floor while painting. And that is why we still have cardboard protecting the floors. The tub and sink have been sandblasted and painted…orange. They will be installed this weekend and hopefully by the end of the weekend this room will be completely finished.
Our last big project will be to install all of the stair treads and risers. Then trim out the stairway, caulk, paint, and do minor touch ups.
It’s becoming more real now that we can actually see into the other side of the house. I cannot wait to take down that gate and let the kiddos run free and I cannot wait to decorate…the fun part is coming soon!

The Lorax.

Anyone else obsessed with the book, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss?

We received the book last year for Christmas and it quickly became the kids (and our) most favorite book to read. You know that one book that you can resight word for word…well this is the book in our house. I have said countless times that I wished they would make a movie, so you can only imagine the excitement we all had when we heard that they made The Lorax into a movie and it will be in theatres March 2012.

We have already watched the trailer more times then I’m willing to admit. I think I’m just as excited (if not more) then the kids are.

So are you counting down the days like we are? This will actually be the first time for any of our kids seeing a movie in a theater and I’m so glad it will be to see this movie!

P.S. The fabric scraps are spoken for, sorry!

Today was a sewing day.

Sewing days only happen about four times a year and only when I really need to get something accomplished. I let the kiddos run around like wild animals dumping out every single toy while making the biggest mess you have ever seen. They can snack when they want, play play-doh all day and just do whatever they want just as long as I get to sit and sew. Sometimes these days are a complete disaster and it leaves me wondering why I even attempted to do such a thing in the first place. But today wasn’t one of those days, the only thing that ended up being a complete disaster was my house. Surprisingly they played well together and we spent most of the day listening to Christmas music while I sat and sewed and they well…made a BIG MESS!

But it was worth it because I managed to make 7 skirts, 4 dresses and a few pairs of leggings. I made a huge dent in my Christmas list! I try to make all of my gifts, or at least the ones that I can make for. Guys are always a tough one for me. When making my list I always have a back-up store bought option just in case. For me, I would rather be up late frantically sewing then running around the stores frantically looking for something to buy. By no means are my gifts extravagant, but they have been made with love and I always put a lot of thought into them. For some Christmas shopping is the best choice, but for me Christmas crafting is the best choice…or maybe its just the best excuse to make the ones I love most a gift. Anyone interested in a bunch of ruffled fabric scraps with a few knits thrown in? I have a bag full already and I’m sure there will be more to come. Just send me an email if your interested. No cost for the fabric, just pay the shipping.
Any of you have “sewing days”? What do you do to keep the kiddo’s entertained?