Diamonds and a drill bit?

My second craft for our ACD (annual craft day) was a lighted wine bottle. I got the idea because of a pretty bottle with a B molded into the glass that we had. Monograms are huge right now and I knew my friend Jacy, who has a wine themed kitchen and a last name that starts with B would love a pretty bottle. But what to do with it? I searched the web and came across wine bottle lamps and wine bottles with lights inside. The second option was cute, inexpensive and quick, so I went with that. Off to my local big orange box for a diamond drill bit so I could drill through glass. They didn't have one....but the other chain in town did. Expensive drill bit, I'm going to have to make a lot of lighted wine bottles to justify it, or maybe I'll make this.

Armed with my new bit, The Misters cordless drill, a spray bottle, protective eye wear, gloves and a vice, I set to work trying to drill a hole through the bottle. Let me first say, it was really hard to get the bit to start a hole on a round, slick surface. So, I resorted to spraying the water while The Mister drilled the holes. For the record, he thought it was difficult too.

One set of mini lights shoved through the hole in the back of the bottle...

And this is what you get...

This isn't the pretty bottle with the monogram but a bottle that we've kept around for a number of years because the label fits us. It sits on my kitchen counter right now and I love the soft glow that comes from it when the rest of the lights are off.

*No wine was spilled during the making of this craft, and none was consumed until after the drill was put away.

Kidisms

The 9 year old - "Mom, it's like you know everything."

The first and probably last time I will hear those words come out of his mouth. At least until he's 30 or so.

Little Miss - "Eli is my favorite boy, I think we should keep him."

Ummm, glad you like him and yes we will be keeping him.

Little Miss - "Mom, why do fish swim?"

Me - "I don't know, why?"

LM - "Because they're silly...bwahhahahahahaha...that was a joke...bwahahahahahahaha"

3.5 and already telling jokes. Is she destined to be the class clown?

Giving Thanks - Day 10 & 11

Missed a day of posting my thankfulness here, but did get it on facebook. Yesterday I was thankful for a perfect fall day, one that encouraged lots of outdoor play after school. Also thankful for the backyard full of grass to play on, thanks to The Mister and his determination.

Today I'm thankful for all the people who have given their service and lives for our country. Especially thankful to my dad, FIL, Grandfather, all my BIL's and my uncle who lost his life in Vietnam.

Wordless Wednesday (with a title)

The Budding Decorator Strikes Again

Tuesday Twelve & Giving Thanks

1. Day 9 of my month of giving thanks. Today I'm thankful for fabulous friends, old and new. They know me and love me and make me feel better when I'm being too hard on myself. They support me and offer words of encouragement. They make me laugh and let me cry. They join me in making great memories. I get so much from my friends, I can only hope they feel the same.

2. I had a brainstorm a few days ago. It involves my desire for a pantry, built in cabinets and a window seat. I can picture it all in my head. It will be gorgeous. One day.

3. Brand new house and I'm already thinking of ways to change it. I have a problem.

4. The kids and I went for a great walk yesterday afternoon, it ended with me riding down the street on a princess scooter while Eli yelled at me to "GO!!!". Little Miss and I were in a race. She won...wink wink.

5. Love the beautiful fall days, which allow for said walks.

6. Eli's favorite word is bus. We counted 9 on the way to and from school this morning.

7. I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before now, guess it speaks to my lack of blogging, Ryan got straight A's on his report card and is now reading at a 5th grade level. Proud mommy.

8. It's the 9th of November and I haven't even thought about what we'll be doing for any of the holidays this year. Then we have two birthdays right after. Time to start planning.

9. I love my house. Love having enough space for all of us, and love dreaming about all the decorating potential. I've never been a fan of unused space, and this house is big, but with 5 family members, we really do use it all almost daily. The dining room is the only exception and it's been home to my crafting for the last week. Love having more space.

10. Don't love cleaning it though.

11. Already thinking about Black Friday shopping. I got some great deals last year and had a lot of fun in the process. I'm glad my shopping buddy will be in town. Maybe a few more will join us too!

12. Eli has been called a girl a lot lately. I really need to stop postponing it and get his hair cut. I love his curls so much, but with less humidity it's looking pretty big. A Baby Nick Nolte after his nap. Can't cut it until I get a picture.

Giving Thanks - Day 8

A quarter of the way through the month, and no lack of things to be thankful for. Most days there are so many I have trouble picking just one. Today I'm thankful to be finding joy in blogging again. Finding the time and inspiration can be rough, but I love the outlet it provides. I also love being able to go back and read about our life. Regarding that, I really wish I'd been blogging through our IVF's. For a while I was so knowledgeable about the process and meds, I almost sounded like I was in the medical profession when I talked about. Now that we're 4.5 years out, I've forgotten a lot. In all honesty, I probably don't want to remember a lot of it, those weren't fun times. It's a shame though because an acquaintance is in the beginning stages of IVF and I wish I had more to offer her. What do you wish you'd written down for future reference?

Feeling Crafty?

What do you get from 3x3 wooden cubes, a piece of a 2x4, numerous srapbook papers, some Mod Podge, a little spray paint, sand paper, elbow grease, vinyl and a Cricut? (Can you find my little helpers?)

Lots of Mod Podge and a few hours of dry time later, you have these.....

Countdown to Christmas Blocks!

I've been wanting to make them since I saw them on a few crafty blogs last year. (Wish I could remember which blogs so I could give credit.) ACD (Annual Craft Day) inspired me to get off my butt and dowit! I went with a red and aqua theme because mine are sitting on a table between two aqua lamps. Everyone else at craft day had more Christmas inspired paper, and they all looked sooo cute. I can't wait to make more.

By request, a basic tutorial...

Supplies:

2 3x3 cubes. (I've seen 3x3x~30 at the big orange box. They cut the piece of wood into cubes for me at no charge.)

1 2x4 cut to 7"pieces for the base

6 t0 13 coordinating papers

Mod Podge

Sand Paper

Spray Paint or acrylic paint in your chosen color

Sand the pieces getting rid of sharp and splintered edges. Wipe clean with a wet paper towel and paint. I used spray paint, flat white, but you could use acrylic paint too. Cut your papers for the front of the base and all sides of the blocks. Paint the back of the paper with Mod Podge as well as the block and apply to all sides. Once dry, you'll add the block numbers and then another coat of Mod Podge.

Details:

Block 1: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Block 2: 0, 1, 2, 6, 7, 8

(make sure the 6 can double as a 9)

I cut my block paper to 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 and the base was 1 1/4 x 6 3/4

I used Alphalicious font on my Cricut and vinyl for the letters and numbers. Numbers were cut at 2" and letters were 3/4".

To add character, you could use paper for letters and numbers, distress the paper, add finishing nails at the corners, etc.

Giving Thanks - Day 7

Today I'm thankful for the scent of baking pumpkin loaf filling my house. And thankful I bought the big can of pumpkin puree so I could make a double batch! I look forward to delivering some mini loaves to friends and still having some left over for the freezer.

Giving Thanks: Day 6

Thankful for ACD...not to be confused with OCD. ACD = Annual Craft Day and is one of my favorite days of the year. Better than my birthday, almost as good as Christmas. Seriously. ACD is a group of crafty friends coming together, each bringing a craft, and each walking away at the end of the day with a number of completed projects. There's food and fun and laughter but the day is about the love of crafting. I planned to take pictures, unfortunately my camera never left my purse. Distracted by the crafting I guess....and the suh-weet book wreath I saw the minute I walked through the door. Have I mentioned how much I love this day?

Giving Thanks: Day 5

Today I'm thankful for a husband that is always willing to help me when I need it. I had a great idea for a craft project and but didn't have the strength or maybe the skill with power tools needed to make it a reality. He helped me without question and despite being tired after a long day at work. Love that man.

Giving Thanks: Day 4

Today I'm thankful for TV...sad but true. The Mister and I watch a couple shows on Thursday night that we really enjoy. They pull us out of our lives and allow us a couple hours of mindless enjoyment. To piggy back on that, I'm also thankful for DVR. Often the shows we enjoy are not kid friendly yet are shown during the munchkins waking hours or bedtime routine. DVR is the best of both worlds...mindless enjoyment, when we want it, without commercials. Full of win!

In other news...

While at the grocery store today, I came across dark chocolate covered pretzels with York Peppermint Patty in the center. Two words. Diets. Suck.

Giving Thanks - Day 3

Today I'm thankful for the cute pink rain boots I bought on clearance last summer. They've kept my feet warm and dry on a cold and rainy day. Plus they're bright and fun on a dreary day.

An Anniversary

Yesterday was my mom and stepdad's 25th wedding anniversary. They celebrated it by flying to the other side of the world. Literally the other side of the globe, people. It's safe to say, this is not a trip I would have done well with. I'm more of a beach, umbrella drink, take in the sites and eat yummy local delights kind of girl. I must have been adopted. Anyway, the Rents and Hot Brother will be camping their way through rural villages on a continent far far away for a bit. While it's not my thing, I'm so impressed by their desire to know the world and learn about it by visiting the good, the bad and the ugly. So without further ado...Happy Anniversary to M&G! May their travels be plentiful, their packs be light, their tummies unaffected, their shoes unstolen, their pictures beautiful and thought provoking, their stories interesting, their soundtracks evolving and their love enduring.

LYBMTYK

Giving Thanks: Day 2

Today I'm thankful for Democracy and the chance for our voices to be heard.

Tuesday Twelve

1. Basketball starts for Ryan this week. Much less time intensive than baseball and a sport he really enjoys. I hope his coach is good and Ryan enjoys the season since this will be his first time playing organized basketball. I'm not particularly excited about his teams practice time....6 pm, Friday night, across town. Ahh, the joys of parenting.

2. I'm amazed at how much I can check off my list when I'm not toting kids with me. In preparation for our annual craft day I went to Target, Dollar Tree, Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart and Hobby Lobby, along with lunch at Panera, Grocery shopping and unloading today. All within the 5 hours the younger two were at MDO. I felt so accomplished.

3. Speaking of craft day, this week I'll be prepping wine bottles and wood for two different crafts. Can't wait to see how they turn out.

4. The Mister and I actually had a dress up, adults only Halloween party to attend this year. I knew people attending the party would be bringing their A game for costumes so I spent some time trying to figure out what we would be and then shopping for the pieces to pull it together. We ended up going as Peace and Quiet. The Mister is a very believable Hippie. Me as a mime, not so much. I started talking about 3 minutes after walking in the door.

5. The kids had a great time TOTing. Eli wore a costume that Ryan wore when he was just over a year old. <3

In his Tigger costume and eating candy before we even made it to the end of our street.

Makenna who was running and stopped on dime to pose for this picture.

Ryan with our neighbor Mitchell. We ran into them while we were out and spent the rest of the night walking and chatting.

Enough with the pictures, Mom! Can we go now?!

6. I love my first Halloween Mantel in our new house. It's pretty sparce but the cotton was picked at a neighboring farm. Wish I had video of the Mister pulling it for me. I turned the pumpkins around today since Halloween is over.

7. I love the look of all white pumpkins. They're all over the place again this year. Trying to decide if I want to paint mine or keep them orange. For now I'm leaning towards orange, all the fall colors may not match my decor but I love the feelings they inspire.

8. This is the first year I've really had to rake leaves, our house is surrounded by tons of trees. So pretty in the spring and summer but a mess during the fall. We need to hire someone to come clean out the gutters because we can't get on top of the roof with our extension ladder. Annoying, but the kids have had so much fun playing in the big piles and I've enjoyed raking them up. I'm weird.

9. I pile. Papers, clothes, kids things. I put things in piles. Horrible trait but I can't seem to break it. Was just going through one of my said piles and realized the tags expired on my car. In September. Oopsie.

10. I started singing Christmas Carols yesterday. I know, The Mister wanted to pull out the duct tape too.

11. I heard a statistic today. For every piece of Halloween candy that your child eats, you'll eat two. Fabulous.

12. I'm in lust. I look from afar and wonder what it would feel like to act on that lust. I dream about the object of my lust. I've spoken openly with The Mister about my lust. I may need to join a twelve step program. I'm in lust.....with. a. sofa.

Giving Thanks: Day 1

Today I'm so thankful for a fantastic Mother's Day Out program where my kids feel safe, happy and loved. We couldn't have asked for better teachers or a better program. Both kids are blossoming socially and learning new things every time they go to school. All that, and it's only about 5 minutes from the house. Good stuff.

Sadness

I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor the size of a tennis ball. To make matters worse, no medical insurance due to the economy and job loss. If you're the praying type, Margie could sure use a few prayers right now and so could her husband and son.

Thank you friends and family.

15 Minutes

A couple girlfriends and I were in the online section of our local newpaper a few weeks ago. That plus mine and Ryan's TV interview at a local event might just be my 15 minutes of fame.

http://boroparty.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=D4&Dato=20100830&Kategori=BOROPARTY08&Lopenr=8300809&Ref=PH

For some reason the link takes you to the beginning of the photo gallery. We're picture 31.

Budding Artist

Makenna is getting so big! She loves to color and paint and recently she's begun drawing her own masterpieces. She started with faces about a week ago and then added body parts this week. This is her first self portrait. A friend said she's reaching for the stars.

Another Bento

I'm having so much fun with the kids lunches this year. Not only is it instant gratification and fun to create something cute, I'm getting lots of external motivation from kids and teachers alike! Eli's teacher told me today that she can't wait for lunch time to open his box and see what cute lunch I've packed that day. Ryan's picked lunch from home over school lunch all but a couple times this year and Makenna oohs and ahhhs over her lunch every time I pack one for her. Fun, a quick creative outlet for me, helps the kids eat healthier, probably cheaper and definitely less wasteful. It's a win/win for all involved, yay!

By the way, the lunch above has a turkey and cheese butterfly sandwich on whole grain bread, ants on a log, grapes and blueberries, homemade zucchini lemon mini muffin and on the right a flower composed of a pickle stem, green pepper leaves and silicone flower cup filled with cheddar bunnies. I needed something to keep the wet fruit away from dry sandwich and muffin so a piece of parchment paper did the trick.