Finally, Shelves (169:365)

Watch out, this is scary!



I finally put up some shelves in my crafty area.

Now I can breath and create without stuff all over me.

Ahhh...

Cast Iron Rice Krispie Treats (168:365)

Santa brought momma this little beauty for Christmas. 

(No, it's not a Le Creuset, but a Lodge Logic.)

 Image from amazon.com

I tried it out for the first time today, making what I what I bought it for - 

Rice Krispie Treats! Is that silly? There are a thousand things I can think of to use the pot for, but Rice Krispie Treats were number one on the list.

I am always burning them in my other big pots, so it was really nice to not burn this last batch. I'm sure my consumers agree.

Name Plaques for the Little Ladies (167:365)

At a Young Women's church activity tonight, I made a couple of really cute name plaques for my sweet babies that say their names, and then say "is a daughter of God". 

I'm really excited about them because they are cute!

Baby Boy Blowout (166:365)

Scott watched my friend Heather's little baby boy today while she and I took someone out to lunch. (He volunteered to do it without my asking! - He's the best honey around!)

Our kids don't really have blowout diapers, but this little one does, so Scott had a lovely surprise after we left, yet handled it well. Poor little baby, he ended up in girl clothes for the ride home!

Cool Free Vintage Church Prints (165:365)

Our church is doing a cleaning of all old library supplies. Anything they didn't want anymore was free game, so I snagged a couple of sweet vintage prints that I'm excited to frame and hang around the house. One is of a family in the fifties, praying around a dinner table, another is from the fifties showing kids playing in a playground. They are really cute and retro and I'm really excited because they were free!

Now I need some free frames...

Goose's First Christmas! (164:365)

The first Christmas for each kid is so sweet and special.

Goose didn't really understand it at all, but it was cute to see her react to the toys once they were opened. Santa brought a Rody, a rubber bouncy horse, for the girls.

 Goose is very afraid of Rody. I taught her how to sign "dog" a couple of weeks ago. We were all in the kitchen except Goose, she was in the living room, and I heard her whining. I came to see what was going on and found her sitting, staring at Rody, afraid to crawl by him to join us in the kitchen. She was sitting, staring at him, signing "dog", making a sad scared noise. 

It was so cute! And sad, but so cute. And, I was so proud of her signing "dog" for the first time, and doing it all by herself!

Our Christmas had other fun moments, but that was the cutest.

 How was your Christmas?

Cookies for Santa (163:365)

Dee and I made cookies for Santa tonight.

We had fun rolling out the dough and stamping shapes.

Dee loves to make cookies and it was fun to do as a new Christmas Eve tradition.

Decluttering (162:365)

You all know we got a garage yesterday. Well, today we started filling it up! Our house is becoming more zen-like. I can breath a little easier. We aren't done yet, but we cleared out a lot of stuff so far. I can already imagine all the space we are going to have and how we will be rearranging furniture and toys. 

Scott did all of the grunt work, carrying everything out like a mad man. He was so into it though! We are both really excited about having a more comfortable and inviting home. 

Hooray for calmer and cleaner spaces!

Garage, Garage, We are Getting a Garage! (161:365)

We thought this would never happen, but it has!

We need a place to store our stuff like we need more junk, but still,

it will be awesome to empty out our house a bit so we can breath (and move around)

better (and put the car in I guess...).

Yippee!

And it's our 6th Anniversary today. Hooray!

Love you Scotty.

Dunk, Dunk, Goose and Dee's First School Performance (160:365)

We all went swimming today and I dunked little Goose.

I want her to take the Float 4 Life classes next month, like Dee has done,

so I decided to try and see how she does with her face in the water.

We splashed around for a while, she was have lots of fun, and then

I blew in her face and dunked her quickly, and she came up surprised, but smiling!

We did this a few times and it went well. I think we have fish #2!

Dee had her first school performance today. The kids were all lined up in a row, while all the parents were sitting in tiny chairs facing the kids. They all sang silly songs like "Hannah Hiccup" and something about Santa's Hat. It was really cute. Dee had an "itchy" nose, a problem with the button on her pants, and an insatiable need to keep lifting her shirt up a little, but so did all the other kids, which just made it all so much more adorable. I can't believe how big our little girl is!



Watching the show.

Giant Adult Slippers and a Christmas Card Garland (159:365)

We have lots of Christmas cards from friends this year just stacking up
 around the house.
Solution: a garland! Just hung up some cute ribbon and clothes pinned all the cards to it.
Way cute, quick and festive!

Also, made some for someone as a gift today.

Pretty cute with poofy flowers on the toes.

Handmade Christmas is awesome!

What have you made for someone this year?

Goosey Shoes (158:365)

I made Goose some ADORABLE shoes, if I do say so myself.

Since this is a later update of this day, one of the shoes has since 

gone missing and I'm in mourning.

...Sigh...

I blame other parent, since it went missing after "they" had Goose at church today,

not that it matters. I'm just saying...

So the shoe (s) is reversible. Black on one side, awesomely cute with 

green and flowers on the other. And they have suede bottoms so they

don't slip, and a little rosette clip to cuten them up.

Yes, cuten is a word. At least on my blog it is.

Anyway, I hope we find that missing shoe so that I can post a picture of their adorableness for you.

Goose's First BYU Football Game (157:365)

We all went to a BYU football game party at a friends house.

Goose sat through it really well, and Dee ran in circles for a couple of hours.

No, I'm not making that up.

Circles.

Hours.

Sleepover and Thai Soup (156:365)

Tonight I got to party at a YW sleepover at my friend Heather's house. 

Sleeping over, it was me, my friend Heather, another friend Lorena, 

and 8 teenage girls. It wasn't too bad! I had fun playing games,

watching movies, and freezing bras...just kidding.

It was fun though, can't wait for girls camp!

I brought my own dinner to the slumber party and I snagged

a yummy frozen thai soup from Trader Joe's (my grocery bff). 

It was sooo good! Can't wait to buy it again.

Goose's First Movie in the Theater (155:365)

Today we tried something new.

All four of us went to a movie in the theater.

I was a little bit worried about how well Goose would do, but she's a snuggler, so she did very well considering her age. Dee is the one that ran around the theater. She was on her seat edge for the first half, then slowly her patience ran out and she ran off.

Overall it was a good experience and we all enjoyed Tangled. 

Even Scott. 

He laughed it up!

We'll have to try it again soon!

First Etsy Sales! (154:365)

I shipped my first tower of etsy sales today. It was very exciting!

 

I am so grateful to Nie Nie and her awesome blog for bringing people to my humble little etsy shop.

Hooray!

I Made It onto Nie Nie Dialogues! (153:365)

I took a shot in the dark a week ago and sent some of my etsy shop stuff to Stephanie Nielson's awesome blog NieNie Dialogues when she did a call for a homemade Christmas.

She received HUNDREDS of submissions and kept posting that she'd only be able to show off SOME of the items she received...

...drum roll please....

And she picked me as one of the luckies!!!

Check it out here.

Photographing Stuff (152:365)

My friend Jesa helped me out today and took some sweet pics

of some of my stuff for my etsy shop today.
Thanks Jesa!

Vintage Cerulean Blue Flower Earrings

Mod Daisy Earrings

Vintage Cameo Earrings

Mod Black and White Hair Tie

Preppy Pink Bird Hair Tie

Dead President's Club Bookmarks

Victorian Hairpin Trio

Raspberry Mum's The Word Earrings

To check out some of my latest listings in etsy, click here.

Pot Roast (151:365)

This morning before church I actually had a little free time.

A first.

So, I threw a pot roast into the crockpot.

Potatoes

Onions

Carrots

Cream of Mushroom soup

Roast

Packet of Onion Soup Mix

Cooked it up while we were gone and, voilà!, a delicious meal.

I also noticed the missionaries didn't have a meal for tonight, and, knowing I already had a delicious meal ready at home, I was able to have them come right over.

Planning ahead is awesome! 

I need to do this more.

Lesson learned.

Bobbin' for Problems (150:365)

I tried to make a ruffly scarf today with a cheapy cute knit scarf from Target, similar to this one here.

Turns out I have to adjust my bobbin casing because I have a Brother sewing machine which does not like to be adjusted.

I pulled it out and followed these directions here trying to make it work properly.

My little painted green screw wouldn't budge.

Argh!

Well, turns out it's a good thing, because I then googled around some more and found this little bit of information here:

Caution

Do not adjust the bobbin case with green marking. If a green marked bobbin case is adjusted, it may be broken and cannot be used anymore.

  

Ah! Thank goodness it wouldn't budge for me! Now, I just need to get another bobbin casing that is adjustable for shirring projects. 

Lame.

Goose Meets Santa (149:365)

We had a church Christmas party tonight, 

and Santa made an appearance. 

Dee actually sat on his lap and hugged him tight! Last year she was terrified, so I'm excited with her progress.

Goose sat on his lap for about 10 second before she lost it.

My friend Anna was taking pictures so I let her cry for a minute because it was so cute. Is that bad? She'll thank me later for the cute pictures.

Husker Gear (148:365)

Show was a bust, but I had fun with my crafty friends.

Thanks to Julie, Ashley, Jesa, and Cheryl
for your friendship and goofiness. 

Red Ranch.

I made some husker lovelies today for the craft show.

Cute button rings and hair ties (pony tail holders).

(Those are not "z's", but "N's" for UNL yo! It comes out backwards in photo booth.)

Sorry about the awful pics, I just don't have it in me to be fancy today.

Goose's First Swim (147:365)

Me and the little ladies went swimming today.

Dee is a fish. She's taken a swimming survival type class

(see here) and can just kick around and jump off the edge just fine. Sometimes her lack of fear is scary, but I'm so glad she loves the water.

It was Goose's first time ever.

She clung to me like a baby monkey for the first 

10 minutes (which was adorable!).

Then I started saying, "Ready, go!", and then 

dunking us to our shoulders.

She started to smile a bit.

Then I crossed the pool, back and forth, laying her on her back, kind of swaying her side to side. She kept one little bug-feeler leg up in the air for a while, then eventually relaxed and just enjoyed gliding around on her back. 

It was so cute!

Hopefully she'll turn out to be a little fish 

just like her big sister.

Then, while we were showering off, she kept poking Dee in the belly button. She'd take her right pointer and zoom it into Dee's button with a totally straight face, like she was a serious belly button scientist, while Dee and I just laughed and laughed because 

it was so strange.

I've got me a couple of goof balls. 

I sure love my babies!


BTW - Don't forget about the Holiday Craft Fair tomorrow (Thursday) from 5pm - 9pm at Scott Middle School. Hope to see you there!

Etsy and aprikot designs Blog (146:365)

If anyone is interested, I do have some things in my etsy shop ready to view and purchase!

That's what I did at 1am this morning, create a cute banner for my shop and aprikot designs blog and get some more things up for viewing and purchase in etsy.

Here is the link to my shop:

aprikotdesigns.etsy.com

And here is the link to the blog:

aprikotdesigns.blogspot.com

If you happen to want something that isn't in my etsy shop yet, just send me a message and I'll make it for you!

And don't forget that I'll be at the Scott Middle School Holiday Craft Show this Thursday from 4-9pm. Hope to see you there!

Getting the Word Out (145:365)

The Nie Nie Dialogues had a call for homemade Christmas gifts and I decided to send her some of my stuff hoping she will like it enough to share it on her blog!

Here are all of the things I sent (it is a huge opportunity!), hoping that she'll find something that she'll love enough to want to share it with all her readers.

Wish me luck!

My Latest Favorites


I've got another craft show coming up at Scott Middle School this Thursday from 4-9 pm.
Come check out my booth and see the cute stuff my friends make too! From children's super hero capes, to beautiful hair flower clips, to baby headbands and cute beanies, you are likely to find something for all the ladies on your holiday list!

Felt Flower Headband and a Photoshoot (144:365)

I got to take a nap yesterday (thanks honey!) 

so I was a bit wired last night.

While wired, I made this at 1am.

I think it turned out pretty cute!

I used organza ribbon to wrap the headband, securing it with my new favorite thing, "Fabri-tac" (thanks Jesa!).

Then I cut out 3 circles for each flower and sewed them like this.

Then I attached vintage buttons I found at an estate sale and some fun orange feathers from Hobby Lobby. On the back of the flower/feather piece, I made loops so I can slide it off and on from my headband, making it interchangeable! Because the worst part of making a headband is covering it. Boo.

I also got to help out on a photoshoot for my friends the D family, with my friend Jesa the photographer. She is really great and was generous to give me many tips!

I had a lot of fun trying to help freezing kids smile ('cuz it was like 17 degrees outside!) and to reflect light back onto those smiling faces.

It was my first time and I learned a lot. Thanks for letting me tag along!

Coffee Table into Shelves and Other Things, Part 1 (143:365)

With the help of my friends Sara and Jacob, I was able to do a little wood repurposing today.

We have a coffee table that was cracked along the bottom support, and which takes up too much room for our newly arranged living room, yet it felt wasteful to just toss out. I knew it still had some life in it somewhere. 

I needed shelves for my out of control fabric stash and crafting zone...

I needed to get a new piece of wood to fix our rocking ottoman that someone manly sat on and broke in two...

To the rescue come Sara and Jacob!

They have a circular saw, and they are super cool and nice, so they let me bring my table over and saw it up into tiny little usable bits!

There was a high of 32° today, but I'm sure it was more like 17° while we were outside sawing up the table. It was so cold, my face went numb, and while I was carrying wood back to my car my hands felt like they were flash frozen! I can't believe how nice my friends were to cut up my wood and do it all out in the frigid weather while their kids were jealous of me taking them away. 

Thanks you guys! I owe you one!

Trader Joe's Baby! (142:365)

Our humble little town has finally been graced with the presence of a Trader Joe's! 

I am in love with that store. 

My friend Heather and I went the minute it opened up this morning to make sure we got all the good stuff before everyone bought it all up. Scott was kind enough to watch our girls and Heather's son so we could battle the crowd childless.

So much food, too little of a stomach.

Today I experienced the grace that is Peppermint Joe Joe's, fresh cooked wild salmon, Goddess dressing, kettle fried pineapple and much more.

For dinner we are either having giant noodles or bulgogi Korean BBQ ribs.

...salivating...

Here we are with our spoils. It was a good day at TJ's.

Goose's First Mac & Cheese (141:365)

Today we went to a local restaurant called Fireworks to celebrate Scott being ABD.

ABD means All But Dissertation, which basically means he can officially start applying for jobs even though he still needs to write his dissertation. So, it's a really big and exciting time for us!

At the restaurant Goose ate her first Mac & Cheese and LOVED it.

She kept wanted more and getting frustrated with my slow feeding abilities.

It was super cute.

Also, Dee found a book I bought about teaching your baby to swim and she was looking at it while I was getting ready to go out. She started yelling fratically for me. I ran out and she showed me a picture of a baby swimming underwater and said, "It's adorable!". She's such a little sweetheart. She is always surprising us with how smart and grown up she seems.

ABD Baby! (140:365)

All But Dissertation.

That's what my hot man is.

Booya!

He passed his comprehensive exams and defended them with flying colors!

Congratulations honey!

We love you and are so proud of your smart brains.

Thank you for working so hard to support your family.

xxoxo