Wonderful Resolution List for 2014...

I recently stumbled across this amazing list at Pink Lemonade Co.'s blog, and I loved it so much that I have decided to adopt it as my New Year's Resolution list. Care to join me in making the world, (and our individual lives), a little bit better by incorporating the "26 Things" on this list s part of your every day living as well?? Why not print this fabulous list and tape it to your bathroom mirror to read each morning as a reminder for the day?

Wishing you a blessed 2014, friends! Thank you for continuing to read my blog and for being a part of my little world!

Hugs!

Altered Jar Candles

Happy Monday, All! Thought I'd share a quick post with you today to show you how I altered a couple of really cute jar candles that I picked up at Target. I was drawn to the jars when I saw them on the store shelf, and I knew that I could "cutsie" them up to give as gifts. (Sorry, but I forgot to take a photo of the jars before I decorated them...they had labels on the fronts describing the candle scents - one is vanilla cupcake and the other is blueberry muffin.) Anyhoo...I carefully peeled off the labels and added burlap, lace, twine, buttons and a little silver key to each jar. TA-DAH!! - here's how they turned out:

Since Christmas is over, now is the perfect time to start watching for jar candles, burlap, etc. to go on sale so you can whip up cute gifts for next year!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today...hope you have a SUPER week!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

(Photo found on the Internet)

So funny! Love the expression on the dog's face - LOL!

Enjoy your weekend!

Merry Christmas!!

 

From our home to yours, we wish you a VERY Merry Christmas! May your holiday be filled with much love, laughter and joy as we join together to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Blessings,

An Ice Storm; A Simple Gift Idea; and Festive Gift Wrap...

Hi, friends! The weekend brought an ice storm to a large part of NE Oklahoma, so the hubs and I just enjoyed a couple of quiet days at home! Here are a few icy pics from my yard that I thought I'd share with you:

BRRR!!! Thankfully we didn't lose power - several areas of Tulsa and the surrounding area lost electricity due to the ice buildup on the trees falling onto the power lines and causing them to snap.

Can you believe that Christmas Eve is tomorrow?? If you are still in need of a simple and useful gift for the gals in your life, then consider giving them a purchased fleece headband that you've added a hand stitched felt flower to, like the ones shown here that I gave to 3 of my friends at work:

I purchased 3 black, fleece headbands and then simply stitched up some simple flowers from felt. I added a cute button to the center of each flower, and then stitched the flower to the front of the headband. So cute and easy too! These come together in a matter of minutes, and would make FANTASTIC stocking stuffers!

I love wrapping packages...presentation is everything! I wrapped up the fleece headbands in simple, red bags that I'd added a paper doily, a candy cane, and white satin ribbon to:

Thanks for dropping by today! Be safe tomorrow if you are out and about doing some last minute Christmas shopping!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

On this last shopping Saturday before Christmas, be safe and have fun!!

Altered Window Frame Card Showcase

Hi, friends! Can you believe that there are only 9 more days until Christmas??? Where has the month gone? I have been working on the final touches on the gifts that I've been making...more to come on those in the next few days!

Today I'd like to share with you a fun holiday project that I made for my best bud Jamie. Her hubby works for a window company, so when he finds neat, old windows that he thinks I can use for a project, he nabs them for me! Recently he found 2 old windows that had been painted green, and I immediately knew that I could do something Christmas-related with them!

For starters, my sweetie removed the glass from the window panes. (It was stuck in there pretty good, so he had to muscle the glass out!) Next, using a staple gun, he attached chicken wire to the back of the window. Then the fun started for me!

Last fall I found several rolls of GORGEOUS red organza wired ribbon in the clearance bin at Hobby Lobby. You'll never guess how much I paid for them?? $.79 per roll - yup, you read that right...only $.79 per roll! I scooped up all they had because I love beautiful ribbon on packages and crafty projects! (I am kind of a ribbon junkie...I should probably find a 12-step program for my ribbon addiction - lol!)

Anyhoo...I used the ribbon to tie red and white berry stems to the wooden cross bars of the window, as you see in this photo:

I purchased a package of wooden clothespins for $1.00 at my local Dollar Tree, and painted 20 of them with barn red acrylic paint. I attached a glittery snowflake to each clothespin using a dot of Tacky Glue. Once the glue had dried, I clipped the clothespins to the chicken wire to hold the Christmas cards:

Oh! Just for reference, here's a photo of the bag of snowflakes that I bought at Hobby Lobby. They were located in the Christmas craft section and were half-price, so I only paid $1.00 for each bag of 15. (I bought 2 bags - which gave me a total of 30 snowflakes.)

Lastly, at the top of the window frame I added the phrase "Seasons Greetings" using black alphabet stickers. I then glued snowflakes to the top and the bottom of the frame:

Now, for a photo of the finished project...I just LOVE how it turned out and I can hardly wait to give it to Jamie tomorrow!!

Thanks for dropping by today! Enjoy the rest of the week!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

Red Bird Winter Wreath (Say that fast 3 times...ha! ha! ha!)

Good morning! It's reeeeally cold here in Oklahoma - the temps are in the teens and are expected to drop into the single digits - BRRRR! We received about 5" of snow last Thursday and Friday, with a thick layer of ice under that. The icy roads have made traveling difficult, so school was closed last Friday and today as well. (I watched a neighbor through my front window this morning trying to navigate his SUV down my street, which is covered in a 1" layer of ice - YIKES!! He was slipping, sliding, and spinning all the way to the end!)

A lot of folks get "cabin fever" when they are home for several days...but I am NOT one of those folks - LOL! I LOOOOVE being home! I bake bread and muffins and make pots of soup to carry us through the cold week ahead! I even made a home-made pizza yesterday - delicious! (You can click HERE to get my recipe for home-made pizza sauce and pizza...so much better than anything you can carry out or have delivered!)

I've been working on several craft projects, but I can't post them yet because I am giving many of them away as Christmas gifts and I want them to be a surprise to the recipients. Photos of these projects will be coming in the near future...but for now I can share a pic with you of a pretty winter wreath that I made for my friend Megan F.:

I really love how bright and festive it turned out! The little red birds that I wired to the wreath, along with the white and red berries and the white letter "F" really pop against the evergreen wreath. I'll be giving it to her this week...hope she likes it! (I think that I am going to have to make a winter wreath like this for my front door too...except with a letter "B", of course!)

Thanks for dropping by my little blog today! Stay safe and warm if you are in an area that has been hit by this winter blast!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

(Photo found on the internet)

Have a fun weekend, friends!

Button Bracelet for a Little Girl...

With Christmas right around the corner you may be thinking about unique gifts for the girls in your life. If you are looking for a cute stocking stuffer for a little girl, why not make her a pretty button bracelet? (Or, better yet, if you have a little girl in your life, why not teacher her how to make button bracelets to give to her friends?)

Button bracelets are easy to make, and come together quickly! I made the pastel button bracelet shown above from the comfort of my recliner, while watching a movie, yesterday afternoon. For a complete, step-by-step tutorial, please click HERE to go to one of my previous posts which details how to make one of these pretties!

Thanks for dropping by today! Have a wonderful week!

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

(Photo found on the Internet)

WOW! Now those are some crazy, high-maintenance mustaches!!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we pause to count our blessings and spend time with loved ones today, please take a moment to lift up a little a prayer for those around the world who are hungry, struggling and downcast.

Wishing you a VERY Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Hugs!

I'm BAAAAACK!!! A Little This; a Little That; and a Crafty Project Tutorial...

Hello, friends! I know, I know, it has been waaaay too long since I've written a post, and I've missed sharing crafty projects, recipes and tidbits of my Oklahoma life with you all. So sorry that I've been out of the blogging loop lately...I've just been SUPER BUSY with work and family, so I haven't had time to work on anything crafty or even cook anything spectacular. I haven't even had the time to read many of my favorite blogs...but I am now getting back into the swing of things!

As many of you know, my son Justin purchased his first home last month. Mike and I are so excited and proud of him! He is now officially moved in and really enjoying being a homeowner at last. I've had a blast helping him organize and decorate his new home. It's consumed a lot of my time and creative energy these past few weeks...and I have LOVED every minute of it!

Last Saturday was the opening morning of deer (rifle) season here in OK, so my hubby spent a cold afternoon sitting in a deer stand waiting for a buck. He was very fortunate to harvest a 180 lb., 9 point buck just before the sun went down! Here's a photo of my happy hunter and his buck:

While Mike was hunting on Saturday, I decided to carve out a little time to make something for my dear friend Megan F. She is a SUPER sweet gal, always doing nice things for those around her and willing to go the extra mile to lend a helping hand. Friends like her don't come along very often, and I am very blessed to have her in my life!

Megan is a very family oriented gal, so I decided to make a project for her using photocopies of some family pics that I lifted from her FB page. Here's what I came up with:

I started out with a wooden letter F that was painted black. I then printed black and white photos of Megan's family onto regular copy paper:

I then trimmed the photos to fit onto the letter F and applied the photos to the F using a generous amount of Mod Podge:

Once the Mod Podge dried, I then dry brushed a little Wicker White acrylic paint around the outer edges of the F:

Once the paint dried, I used some tacky glue to attach the F to a round, wooden frame with a burlap background that I purchased at Hobby Lobby. I then added some fun elements to the burlap background, such as a little bird's nest with 3 little blue speckled eggs which represent Megan's 3 kiddos. I also added a little paper heart, flower, button, key, lace, and leaves. I attached tiny typewriter key letters to spell their last name, "Fitzpatrick", and then topped it off with an organza ribbon and a black metal plate stand to display it. Here's another look at how it turned out:

Although I purchased this frame, which already had the burlap background, I really think that a wooden embroidery hoop could be painted to create a similar look. It would be pretty easy to attach burlap to the hoop, simply by spraying a piece of cardboard that has been cut to the right size with adhesive and then attaching burlap. The burlap circle could then be glued to the back of the hoop, and then decorated to your liking.

Thanks so much for dropping by today! I'll be working on some fun things while I'm on Thanksgiving break this week...so be sure to check back to see what I'm up to! :)

Wishing you a blessed day,