Not Exactly

You those times when you have the bug to make something....but you really don't know what. I had that happen a few days ago. So I wandered into the magic the messy craft room and started to look around. What I came up with was a linen tea towel and a foam craft wreath and an over abundance of fall ribbon. Wreath!! Ok...in my head there was a picture like this...
or this.....
or even this....
But, let's face it....my flower arranging skills are limited and I hate trips out in the 95* (plus 95% humidity!) heat.....so I tend to use the stuff I have on hand. I took the tea towel and cut off the edges and then tore it into strips. The foam wreath base is green and not so pretty...so I used the towel to cover the green.
I wrapped the strips around the wreath and fastened them with hot glue.
Then I hung it on the wall and took a picture. Ok...obvious...I know. Sorry.
Now for the ribbon. I got a bunch of ribbon for 75% off at Hobby Lobby last year and needed to use it. I cut something like 2 feet off of each spool and started wrapping it around the beautified wreath base.
And then I hung it....oh...you get it....It was missing something and the bows I was making didn't seem to fit. In my purge to get ready to move I must have rid myself of a lot of fabric as I couldn't find any fall fabric to make flowers. So I cut into some stray fall bunches I had lying around and hot glued them on the ribbon.
This isn't quite how it looked in my head...not exactly. It is different...I guess that is good. Still not what I expected. I guess that all can't be winners.
Here's hoping your crafting adventures prove more fruitful!

Check out this link party and find some great ideas!!

How Does She Know?

I have a friend. In the grand scheme of things...we haven't known each other very long. But she is always there at just the moment I need her. It's like she can read my thoughts...from miles away. Once on my Mom's birthday (she didn't realize it was a tough day for me) she invited me out for lunch. She said she just felt like I might need a minute out of the house. When I told her what day it was...she was thankful (as I was) that she followed the small prompting she'd received that morning. On Mother's Day she showed up to my house with a huge basket of Gerbera Daisies. They are a favorite of my sweet Mom and I love them as well. She knew (without being told) that I struggle on Mother's Day and was prompted (yet again) to show me she was thinking about me. She does these things all the time. I will admit to being terrible at asking for help. I tend to suffer in silence. I withdraw into my safety zone and camp there until I feel well enough to come out again. This woman has the ability to see into that hidey-hole and send me some sunshine. Just this morning I was feeling lonesome and scared (about my upcoming race). I feel totally unprepared and was contemplating giving up....when I received a most welcome text message. It was a simple message telling me how much she loves me and thinks of me often. I wrote back and told her briefly of my fears for the race. She gently reminded me that all I could do is my best and that my Mom will be there with me no matter how fast or slow I run. Through my tears I thanked God for this woman who always knows what to say to make me face my unrealistic expectations and get real. She is amazing. I hope everyone who reads this blog has someone in their life who helps them get real. I hope all of you follow those little promptings (no matter how small they seem) and send some sunshine to those you love. It may just be that life preserver that will pull them out of the sea of doubt....or loneliness....or whatever demons are pulling them down. I thank my friend. I love her. I have been blessed with the most amazing (selfless) friends. I do believe that one of the biggest blessings of moving 1100 miles away from everyone that I knew and loved was finding new sisters to add to my life. Thanks for the rope...the waters are calming and I can see the shore.

Camping....My Favorite

I have been in Idaho with the family for the last two weeks. We had some very memorable moments. My Dad and his siblings had their bi-annual family reunion. Five days and four nights of camping in Heise Idaho. At first the thought of tent camping for that long brought a tear to my eye and a cramp to my back. Then Kim found us a camper to use and we were set....sort of. We still had to endure five days of camping. But in the end and looking back (now that I'm clean and rested) it was a fun trip and I'm glad we went. For three days before we left for the reunion....I was sick. It was miserable. So of course the first two days camping....my beautiful daughter was sick. She was so not loving the camping experience. Bridger woke up one morning and puked...but then ate two bowls of cereal and two pancakes and a scrambled egg. He was cured!
I do love the fire. Every night we would gather around it and visit. Other than smelling like smoke for days afterward....campfire is perfect.
Tin foil dinners....yum. We liked this meal. Everyone can add what they want and none of the veggies they won't eat.
My sisters were thoughtful enough to thank my Dad for bringing us to this camping Utopia...and I thanked him for putting up with my whining.
We sat around and did some family bonding. Cooper got to hang with Tyler which is something he doesn't get much. There is Jo on day two of being sick. Doesn't she look happy? At least she was no longer crying....begging me to take her home.
Michelle cooked a marshmallow for Coop. I'd say he liked it. After he ate it he got this sugar induced manic wild craziness going on. It was hilarious.
Dad borrowed a 4-wheeler train from a friend of his. The kids loved it. Travis sat in the back and was "The Boss O' the Barrels".
Around in circles until we were dizzy watching them.
This car was Bridger and Denver's favorite. With the wheel in the center they could spin the barrel as fast as they could take it!
Lacey and Cylie liked it a bit slower.
Brook and Cooper rode it many times...usually with Cooper up front with Grandpa.
Cylie was Grandpa's best helper. She helped to unload the wood and stack it neatly.
When she needs help with something she'll ask "I help you?" How can you not help her with whatever she needs. She is the funniest kid EVER!!
Brook and Bridger climbed and explored all around the campground.
Can you spot our hikers at the top of the hill?
There are four of our favorite people on top of the rocky hill.
Brook, Uncle Matt, Bridger and Denver went to the top to see the view....or to escape the whining below. Who really knows?
Cylie discovered the joy of throwing rocks with Uncle Travis. He is her buddy and instead of calling for Uncle Travis when he walked by, she calls out..."Hey, Buddy!" She was always asking "Where's Buddy?"
Bridger, Brook and Denver managed to go the entire week without falling on the rocks or having one drop on their heads.
Coop and Cy with their Buddy. Travis could barely walk across camp without one of them in his arms. They love him so much....and so do we.
Jo, Lacey and Tyler....I told them that they might as well smile for me because I was taking their pic and posting it regardless of how they looked in it.
One of the many PB&J's Michelle made for the kids. Better than a hot dog for sure!
One of the things Cy thinks is so funny (and indeed it is) is picking her nose (for real or pretend) and asking some unknowing passerby if "you wanna boogie?"
Michelle brought up a little pool for those times we didn't want to pay and arm and a leg to go to the pools. Cy enjoyed it a couple of times.
My toes....in terrible need of a pedicure.
Filling up the pool. She splashed and sprayed herself quite happily as it was 90* in the hot sun.
We did a lot of napping as well. It was a great way to pas time.
Brook was so tired that she grabbed the bug jar she had decorated and was just going to sit on the cooler for a minute and wait for a bug to come her way. I think she might have missed it.
Cooper and his Dad really knew how to snooze. They were the champions of nap time.
Kim got to share her bed with Cylie. I do think the little peanut is taking a bit more than her share of the bed.
Good morning Michelle!! My, aren't you bright eyed and bushy tailed....where did that saying come from anyway. Huh....Well, it did take us a couple of minutes to fully wake up.
Baby Blue Eyes. He is just beautiful
And finally, for one dinner, our fantastic camp chef (Matt) was MIA. So Kim and I had to pitch in and figure things out. We did campfire nachos.....tasty and a recipe that we will save for next time.....if we are ever crazy enough for there to be a next time.
So that was part of my trip to Idaho. Sorry for the length of it...but really....after living it....that was the condensed version for sure! I have SO much more to show you about the other nine days I was there. I do have a couple of projects I'm working on as well. So for now....PEACE!

A Clearance Aisle Craft

I have been so preoccupied getting my house set up, hanging pictures and unpacking boxes that I've not done a lot of crafting lately. When I stumbled onto this project....I knew I had to try it. But what to use the pretty little flowers for? I needed a Red, White and Blue wreath for my front door and so the hunt began. I looked in the Target "Hey I'm a Dollar" bin and found some cute patriotic socks for $.50 a pair. Not too bad. They also had 4 handkerchiefs left in the same colors...so I snatched them up too.
I cut one red and one blue handkerchief into strips. Those of you who have ever crafted with me knows I didn't measure them. I just started cutting.
For the remaining 2 I cut them into wider strips.
Since the fabric was so short I tied some of them together so I could have bigger flowers. Instead of gluing them on felt I just glued it onto itself as I twisted. I'm not going to lie and tell you that I didn't burn the crap out of my fingers and let a few expletives fly....cause I did. But I will tell you that it was worth it. Then I glued a button (from the giant jar of buttons that I inherited from my Grandma) into the center of each one.
I took a coupon to Michael's Crafts and bought a foam wreath base and cut an opening in it. (You can see the cut I made in the upper left-hand corner of the pic.) I took the socks and cut the toe and the heel off them and decided on a pattern.....I'm not very good with random.
I then slipped the sock ring over the slit in the foam ring and squooshed them together. When I had all that would fit...about 15 pairs of short socks....I glued the rosettes on the top.
I have this many left for another day!!
This was what my front door looked like before. Since moving in I painted the door black and added the vinyl Welcome. I moved this wreath inside (because I love it!!) and tied a piece of twine on my sock wreath to hang it with.
Here it is. Not too shabby....for socks. You could use any cute socks you wanted. I have seen so many color combos I'd like to try.
You should try this one. It was easy....and it's stinkin' cute!!
I am linking up with Susan at BNOTP. Check out her party. I love this one!!

First Holiday

This was our first holiday in Omaha. We like the 4th of July as much as the next guy. We enjoy watching the fireworks and having picnics and family time. What we didn't know was how much Nebraskans love it too. I don't know if it is a military thing (we are 10 miles from Offutt Air Force Base) or if it is a middle of he country thing....but it was crazy. On the night of the 3rd there was a fireworks display in our own subdivision that rivaled my small hometown in Idaho....not to mention across the entire valley. We sat on our deck and watched a better fireworks show than we have ever seen before....bar none.In the sub-division across from ours they had more fireworks than I would have thought possible. Then on the night of the 4th they had even more. It was a bit hazy when everyone got their pyrotechnics started....and it only got worse. I can only imagine, but in all of the war movies I have watched....our neighborhood turned into a scene from a war movie. It was loud and had bright flashes of light and the smoke was so thick it was burning our eyes.Those are not mountains in the distance. They are the houses just behind the houses in the front of the pic. That is how thick the haze was. Hubby's parents agreed that is was the most impressive fireworks they had ever seen. In the morning when we went outside, our front yard was covered with cardboard that had rained down from the exploding shells that housed the colorful fire in the sky.Usually we have a great view of the whole valley. The night of the 4th we could barely see across the street.The loudness of having so many HUGE fireworks going off was deafening. It really started out as impressive and ended as over-stimulating. I do hope that next year (now that we know what to expect) my sisters (including HH and Nae) will come to experience it with us.I hope you all have had a safe and family-filled 4th of July. God bless America!