sweet nothings

New curtains

I finally finished these silly things! Let me just say...I hate making curtains! But now I've learned I hate making striped curtains even more!

When we started doing the living room project (new floors, furniture, paint etc) I found these curtains on a blog called the Yellow Cape Cod.  (this is her picture and her blog is linked below)

http://www.theyellowcapecod.com/2011/01/bold-striped-diy-drapes.html

I loved the curtains the moment I saw them! She posted instructions on how she did hers...I did mine a bit differently. First of all I went to IKEA and bought inexpensive white panels. Another difference is that my stripes are 13.5 inches wide versus her 14 (not that big of a deal i'm just saying what mine are!)

Another thing I did...I pinned my stripes down( i was real technical with my measurements...ha! ) and then I did a basting stitch with the sewing machine. I think she chose to use the heat and bond so that she could remove the stripes later...but since I used inexpensive curtains that I wouldn't hang without the stripes, I wasn't concerned about removing the stripes later. The basting stitch just made it easy for me to iron on the ribbon to cover the unfinished stripe edge.

She uses her tabs to hang her curtains and I chose not to. I already had rings with clips and I wanted to hang my curtains that way. So i cut the tabs off. Then I took black quilt binding and covered the unfinished edge. I hemmed the bottom stripe with heat and bond.

These weren't hard to do. They were just time consuming and I'm not good at keeping things straight so that was a challenge! :D

Anyway, here is a pick of them at night since I finished them late last night. I need to get a pick of them in the daylight. I really love how the turned out! 

Plus I like this picture since it includes my pretty Christmas tree!

until next time...S

 

 

Peace Bunting/Banner

I got a crafty itch this weekend...I had purchased on a whim a jar of tinsel glitter. I wanted a banner for the dining room hutch but I didn't want it to have any color but instead to match the rest of the dining rooms major accent color - black but still look Christmas-y.

This is what I came up with...

i think it turned out so cute! I used chipboard triangles. I covered them with some old Christmas sheet music. I also covered the chipboard stars in the same.

I stamped the letters on with foam stamps. I glued around the edges and dipped in the tinsel glitter. Tinsel glitter is not for the faint of heart. It's very clingy even more so than glitter. It was every where! I think everything in my craft room will have tinsel glitter for a while...

I attached the stars with those double sided sticky foam thingies...you know what i'm talking about right? the sticky things for scrapbooking! :D

Anyway. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out!

until next time...

S

Headboard Bench

Two years ago I found this headboard at a yard sale for $5.

Much to my husband's unhappiness it's been just one more thing cluttering his side of the garage for way too long. Sunday after Thanksgiving was a perfect day to do something about that sad little headboard...

I dug through our scrap wood and other than going to lowe's for two front legs and the decorative wood piece on the front ($15 total at lowe's)...I bought nothing new! With a little paint and some light sanding...I have a lovely bench for our front porch! Grand total $20 (sorry in advance for the yucky pics. it's rainy and cold here in Texas)

The pillows I made this weekend...Burlap and red/white ticking. (just a side note...i don't like burlap. i know it's a hot craft staple but it's dusty and not straight and just bleh! this is probably the last burlap project i'll ever do! :D ) I stenciled the "merry" and "christmas" on the fronts of both pillows. The "christmas" was actually white but after the rain it's looking a little pink...oh well. As for the pot. I spray painted a clay pot red. With a 1 3/4" inch punch and some white contact paper it's now a polka dotted pot! And i won't even lie...that's a $4 fake poinsettia. I kill the real ones so I figured if I put a fake one out there it'd last a bit longer! :D

I think the bench and the pillows (pot too) turned out pretty festive! The bench will be fun to change up for different holidays and seasons!

until next time...

S

 

 

 

Brownies with Salted Caramel Frosting

There are tons of recipes for salted caramel frosting. There are also recipes for just salted caramel. I spent two hours this morning reading and comparing recipes. I found a recipe on a blog for salted caramel brownies. I made the brownies last night and did not like them so I didn't even go forward with her frosting.

SO...since I had a box of brownie mix in the pantry I got started making my own version!

I mixed up a batch of Duncan Hines chewy fudge brownies using 2 eggs instead of three. Then in mini cupcake tins I put a teaspoon of batter then half of a Werther's Original Caramelts. Then I added one more teaspoon of batter. Bake as directed on the box...about 24 minutes on 350.

In my double boiler I melted about 15 Kraft Caramels. Added about 4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. Melted together with about a teaspoon or so of sea salt. Once that is melted I took it off of the stove and let it cool and added 1 tsp of vanilla...while it was cooling I beat two sticks of salted butter with 2 cups of confectioners sugar. 

Once the caramal was cooler...slightly warm. I drizzled it into the butter/sugar and beat it again. Then added about 2 more cups of confectioners sugar.

Back in the double boiler I melted more caramels and whipping cream. 

I used the extra caramel as drizzle.

...Make some and Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Taylor Swift with my Nora

A few months ago when the tickets went on sale, I bought Nora and I tickets to see Taylor Swift. I didn't tell Nora at the time because I figured it'd be better mentally not to have her ask about it every other day and plus I thought it'd be a fun surprise.

The week of Nora's birthday (september) we were listening to the Speak Now cd in the car and Nora said "can we please listen to something else?" I was a little surprised because she loves TS. Well, I asked her why she wanted it turned off and she said it was just she wanted to listen to something else. I asked if she could go see TS in concert would she want to do that and she said...No.

oh. wow. well. alrighty then.

Total heartbreak for me and disappointment.

So I told her that I had tickets for us to go see TS in October and would she want to go...she said "um no find somebody else. maybe you could take miss emily"

awww. ok...sniff sniff.

I said that was fine and ok no problem i'd find somebody else to take with me.

As the weeks have passed we have talked about the concert and who I might take. Two weeks before the concert Nora started listening to her TS cds a lot. Like daily. That's when I decided to go ahead and ask one more time if she wanted to go...this time she said YES!

The day of the concert we went to Justice and bought Nora a new outfit. Picked up take out to eat with Tim and Maddie and then off we went to the concert. 

IT WAS AMAZING! Taylor Swift is awesome. Her band is awesome. Her dancers are great too! The opening bands/singers were good too. It was just a great show!!

We left home at 5:30. We were at Cowboys Stadium and in our seats by 6:40.  Her face was so cute when Taylor came on stage!

Towards the end of the show Nora's excitement started to slip.

She leaned her head against me and dozed off for a couple of songs. 

She woke up for another couple of songs and then she said her tummy was hurting. Might have something to do with her eating like 2 bags of skittles.

I gave her half of an immodium and her tummy was still hurting...so by the next to last song she was flat out crying so we left. I wanted to stay for the final song Love Story but oh well. :D

We did miss all the traffic by leaving a bit early. Nora was sound asleep within two minutes of buckling into her seat.

I look forward to many more concerts! Nora and I have gone to some great shows like Cirque de Soleil OVO and Mary Poppins (totally amazing!) and the Wiggles (with my mom) and Disney on Ice...but this was the most exciting so far...I think...

anyway, I can't wait until we go to another one! Wicked (tim and i must go see that) and the Lion King are coming next year for the Dallas Summer Musicals and I'm for sure taking Nora to the Lion King. Maybe even Maddie. We'll see.

until next time...Stacey

**Don't forget to vote for me in the kitchen contest...you can vote daily! GO HERE***

 

kitchen remodel on the brain...

One of the reasons we haven't remodeled our kitchen up until this point is I'm a very indecisive person. I change my mind A LOT. 

I usually don't finish a project because I'm already onto the next one or I've changed my mind and want to do it differently...perfect example. our bedroom remodel we started a year ago is only partially finished because i want to repaint the room and change things up...so it is therefore done in that the trim, new flooring, bed etc are all done just the final project isn't complete because i've refused to hang the curtains or anything on the walls because i will probably repaint the room...one day.

maybe i have ADD or OCD or who knows...i'm wishy washy. not a good trait to have! trust me.

I've tried very hard to pin my kitchen plan down...no matter the end results of the kitchen contest I posted about yesterday (which by the way you can go here and read about and you can also vote every day until the 20th!!)

Here are my ideas and what will more than likely happen in the spring come hell or high waters! It's time and we've put it off long enough. The pictures were all found on www.Pinterest.com

I want white cabinets for sure...but I wouldn't mind having black on the bottom (again it's another can't make up my mind thing)

 

I want glass front doors on the cabinets that hold stemware and white dishes.

Def want an apron sink.

and I def want to change out the window above my sink.

I really love the idea of black matte (no shine) tiles.  A friend of mine has black tiles with white insets in her entryway and I love it!

I really like the idea of sealed butcher block counters but I want a white marble island...not sure that combo would work. 

I have a thing for concrete counters...not sure why I can't just pick some granite and be happy but it just doesn't appeal to me.

I want either bead board for the back splash or subway tiles...really LOVE the subway tiles.

I also love this island from ikea...something like this with a marble top because I want to be able to roll out breads and doughs on the bare counter...

I think this island could have any top I want but I love the stainless shelves. paired with 2 bar stools on the other side for the girls...

(ballard designs)

My pantry isn't like a little closet. It's along one wall of the kitchen and is very long and very narrow. It's currently open with no doors. I like seeing all the jars and baskets and cookbooks but i'm thinking i want sliding doors like this...

Not necessarily that farm door style more of something like...Not the old door per se but a solid door painted with chalkboard paint for grocery lists and the girls entertainment. I also think some old salvaged doors would be cute.

 

Wow...It looks like I actually have ideas that could be put together and work...hmmm. Anyway. Just thought I'd share my kitchen ideas! 

until next time...

S

A new kitchen...PLEASE!!! (i need your votes)

Yeah that would be totally awesome! (i'll explain shortly why i need your votes and where you can go to vote!)

See, when we bought this house a few months after we got married we didn't think we'd still be here 8 years later. We bought this 1969 house to fix it up and move on...have I ever mentioned that we moved in here in Sept '03 and had Nora Sept '04? 

Well, see this is how it went...we bought the house and since then we've gutted bathrooms, replaced the a/c, furnace, roof, windows and doors, new flooring, pool repairs, plumbing problems, tree removals, enclosing the sunporch...but we've always left the kitchen at the bottom of the list. We replaced the dishwasher and we bought a new fridge when we moved in but otherwise our microwave, oven and cook top are all original. (they are even that faded mustard yellow)

I've always kept photos of the kitchen cropped and limited when I posted because it is the most wretched little room. It still has the original linoleum floors. The original owners(we are third owners) had it wallpapered from floor to ceiling in brown paper with hummingbirds.(i might be able to wrangle a picture of those dandy hummingbirds) It was hideous! Why would you wallpaper the ceiling and into the skylight????

Anyway, my mom and I removed the wallpaper and textured the walls and ceiling. I painted the room a buttery yellow. Mom and I removed the cabinet doors and started painting the brown cabinets. Let's see...mom has been gone for 3 years and we probably started that project a year before that. The cabinet doors are still in the garage unfinished. so no cabinet doors and unfinished cabinets for 4+ years...nice.

*sigh*

I finally started working on the kitchen again and I ended up pregnant with Maddie. So once again that project went on hold. Recently after doing the floors in the living room and dining room we started discussing the kitchen. Once again refinish cabinets, new appliances, new floor, coutertops and sink...

again we just tossed ideas. and then the usual "ok we'll talk about it after the holidays."

Flipping channels on the radio station the other day, Mix 102.9 was promoting a $16,000 Viking kitchen contest. hmmm...I need a new kitchen! The deadline to enter was Sunday at midnight.

I tossed the idea around and decided that I would enter...then no I wouldn't because I didn't want everybody to see my kitchen (not that it really matters because the people closest to us have seen our kitchen and it didn't much make a difference since good times were had by all - ugly kitchen or not!).

About 9pm Sunday I set it up...made some cookie dough, stuck rollers in my hair, girls got themselves dressed (maddie wanted a roller in her hair too) and set to work to get a picture...The funny thing is that while I was trying to do a "creative" picture...I really captured what it's like when we are trying to cook dinner and back cookies. The girls are always at the kitchen table. The dog under my feet (you can't see her in the pic) a sink full of dishes, etc. It's usually very chaotic in my kitchen.

I got the girls to bed and climbed in our bed with the laptop. I kept trying to describe why I'm a real housewife in 102 words or less. I kept reading what I'd write to Tim and he'd make suggestions or laugh. I deleted it all. Finally I shut the laptop off and decided to just forget it.

Around 10:30 or 11 I opened the laptop back up and submitted my entry writing the first thing that came to mind and submitting so i couldn't change my mind.

So now the entries (there are 29) are posted on the website and it's up the listeners to vote. The top 10 will be put before a panel of staff members and the winner chosen. 

Here is where you come in...I need your votes! I do. I want those pretty shiny new appliances. I want an oven that works and isn't the size of a postage stamp. I want that stove top that has 4 working burners. 

Here is my entry...go vote! This is the direct link to me  http://www.mix1029.com/cc-common/gallery/photos.html?album_id=297140&p=18011080#/23/18011080

Copy that, paste it in an email to all your friends and ask them to vote for this crazy woman in Dallas whose blog you read! She needs a new stove! Her kids need a pretty new oven to bake their cookies and cupcakes! :D

Thank you! The winner will be announced on the 23rd. My birthday is the 25th...now wouldn't that be a super wonderful birthday gift? See, all the more reason for you to go vote! please! :D

until next time...

Stacey

 

 

 

 

a small vent...

There are tons and tons of patterns, tutorials, etc on the internet. There are idea magazines, craft books and blogs to find inspiration. I try to link to the book or blog where I find ideas. And if I find something that I want to make or do that is similar to something somebody else has done, then I usually try to change it up and make it my own.

But I have never walked up to somebody's child, looked at the shirt and skirt they are wearing and said..."hmmm let's have a look and see how mama did this!"

That is exactly what a woman in JoAnn's did today. She went on and on to her grown daugther about what I had made (she asked if i had made nora's outfit) and then walked over to touch the skirt Nora was wearing. I was in a rush to check out and keep Maddie out of the candy so I wasn't really paying too close attention. And by the time I could've said something the lady had moved to the other cash register. I pulled out a business card and was handing it to her but she put her hand up and said, "oh honey i don't need that I sew myself!"

um seriously?

is it me or was that just this side of tacky and rude?

I was taken aback that I had no response except a weak "oh" and I turned and walked off noticing in my haste to get out of there that everybody (10-12 people) were standing there with their mouthes hanging open...

Really...I'll be the first to admit that I've replicated and made things I've seen before...no doubt there are some brilliant people out there. but to look at what I made in front of me and then refuse my business card was just flat out rude. Take the card and throw it away when I leave but don't blatantly turn your nose up after you'd spent a minute or two ogling what I had made and how she could remake it.

I shop on etsy and I buy from local crafters. I buy tons of the patterns I use to make my Etsy stuff from Etsy pattern makers! I support the craft shows around here whenever I can whether I have a booth or not. It's happened that I've spent more at a craft show than I made before! :D

But I've never blatantly been so rude to somebody before. Shame on your lady! (and FYI...she was wearing an aggie shirt! this is the second time I've had an aggie be so horribly rude! what is up with y'all I'm totally kidding but it was too fun to pass up that dig)

I don't like to be negative on my blog but this really bothered me! So when you see something you like and want to make...at least be nice to the maker! Give credit where credit it due!

that's all...gripe over! :D 

Nora and I went to Talyor Swift Saturday night so I'll be posting those pics and Rainbow birthday party pics in the next day or two! Yay!

until next time..S

 

 

 

Dear Mom...

1095 days or 36 months or 3 years...any way you call it...it's been a long time since I've seen you,

answered the phone to hear your voice,

called you for advice,

sat at the table and scrap booked with you,

laughed together over things nora said,

argued with you,

sang along with a cheesy song in the car,

bought craft supplies together we didn't need,

sat on the back porch having a coke and talking,

watched beaches or pretty woman,

hugged you

...so many things that I miss.

The olympics will be back around next year and you aren't here to watch with us. Seems silly that when I think of the olympics I get sad but it's not the same without you. So many things aren't the same without you.

Birthdays and holidays and first days of school, the loss of a tooth, or first words or any silly achievements... it's not the same without you.

Sometimes days or weeks can pass and I don't cry or get sad or let myself think about you because I don't want to feel that ache that absolutely painful feeling of knowing you aren't here of knowing I can't pick up the phone and hear your voice or your laugh or your stern words when I've done something wrong...

and so I block it out and just try to not think about you.

It's probably wrong to do that...but it makes it not hurt. I don't go long without thinking about you because your sweet Nora talks about you still. She picks things that are green because "that was Memee's favorite color" or she'll tell Maddie something that Memee did or said. There is a picture of you hanging in the hall next to their bathroom...Sometimes Maddie will notice it when we pass and she'll say "look it's Memee" and my heart breaks...Because I with you were here to hold her and laugh with her and read to her and teach her silly things...you'd love her so much and she would feel just like nora...you hung the moon!

I wish one day we'd all wake up and you'd be here and cancer would never have happened to our family. Because it did happen to all of us. It stole you from us and I hate it. Nora asked me the other day how old you are now...I told her that you would be 59. So young. You should be here with us.

But you're not. So we will keep on and we will talk about you and miss you and point out character traits that our kids have that they got from you and we'll tell stories and always always keep you with us...even if only in spirit.

You are so loved and so missed. j'taime encour!

 

Maddie's First Day of preschool

I am a bad mama. I never shared pictures from Maddie's first day of school. So here they are...

She refused to take her paci out before we left...

I walked her the same as I did for Nora on her first day. Maddie helped Mrs. G put her things away. We had to put together a photo collage that will be laminated and maddie will use as her little placemat at school.  

Mrs. G asked maddie to put her paci in her bag. She did with no fuss! (and on a side note...when i drop maddie off at school, she gives me her paci while we sit in the carpool line waiting to drop her off. of course when she gets in the car after school the first thing she asks for is her paci!) Have I mentioned Maddie has Mrs Griffths who was also Nora's first teacher? She's awesome!

just because it's fun to look back...here was nora's first day

Awww...look how little my nora is in that picture! She had just turned 3.

Anyway...Maddie is doing really well with school. She seems to enjoy it! Tim thinks the little monkey is in his words "ready to be housebroken" so I guess that means that we need to get going on potty training. yuck. we also want to be rid of the paci by the end of the year. lots of work ahead of us. she loves that paci! she also is LOVING dance class. She is doing really well. I'll have to try to get a video of her next class! 

Maddie was into some paper and scissors the other day. She is not supposed ot have scissors because she keeps cutting her hair. Well, I told her that she needed to give me the scissors and she said..."just shut up!" excellent. my 2.5 year old is telling me to shut up. I don't tell people to shut up in anger but I do say "shut up!" when I'm surprise at something! Nora on the other hand occasionally tells Maddie to shut up so I'm pretty certain that's where it came from...not cool. Tim found it funny...again. not cool.

Maddie is pretty entertaining. While we were waiting for Tim at the airport she decided she wanted her picture taken and she wanted to pose...

10 facts about Maddie...

1) she always wants her hair fixed when we leave the house but immediately takes it out in the car or as soon as we get home

2) she always wants to wear shoes whether they are her shoes or not

3) she likes alligators

4) she would live on sweets and snacks only

5) she loves to drink the last little bit of coffee in my cup

6) she is bossy and funny

7) she likes to sleep on nora's bed for her nap

8) her favorite movies are despicable me, megamind and barbie fashion secret

9) she calls nora "honey" sometimes and it makes nora VERY mad!

10) maddie sings all the time...makes up songs and half the time you can't understand what she's saying but occasionally  she'll toss in "you make me feel like i'm a teen age dream" or "baby baby oooooh" 

All caught up on Maddie for the moment...

until next time...S