Bubblegum Mice....

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. We had a nice quiet one at home. I made homemade cranberry sauce for the first time and it came out fantastic! No more canned stuff here.

My house is almost completely decorated for Christmas, did it in a little over one day before Thanksgiving, a record for me :) Of course there is still some tweaking to do.

My 15 year old daughter is getting very crafty and when she saw a gumball snowglobe on pinterest she just had to make one.... well five!  She was collecting gumball machines for awhile, but for the past year they were just sitting in her closet. So she put them to use, along with some of my craft supplies :)

Aren't they adorable?  The silver one was my favorite.

 Each one had a little velveteen mouse in it.

 The biggest one had button snowflakes hanging...

 And she is a little entrepreneur... she sold them all to two local shops. So if you want one, check them out at The Mustard House in Buxton or Tinsel Bright in Gorham.  She is a very happy camper with a little extra cash in her pocket for Christmas shopping.

And speaking of happy campers... this is more of a full and content camper... Mason after Thanksgiving dinner.... he was stuffed!

Tis the season....

Tiff

Crocheting and Baking...

Our church's Christmas fair is this coming Saturday, so I've been busy helping set things up and making things for it.  You already saw the baby hats I was making and here are 20+ apple cozies I've made.  If you have never used an apple cozy, I highly recommend you get one.  My daughter and my hubby use them in their lunches everyday and they keep their apples safe a bruise free :)

 I've been baking too... things for the fair(pumpkin coffee cakes and apple walnut breakfast cakes)... but these 28 baby apple pies are for my 2nd grade son's Thanksgiving feast in school tomorrow.

And on a funny note... I was in Joann's a couple of weeks ago and saw this fabric in the Christmas section. (ya, I had to take a picture of it!) Who on earth would buy this?  and what would you make with it?  Ok, maybe a joke gift. But come on, I can't believe they actually printed this and that Joann's is carrying it.

Oh, and I finally painted the hutch I moved in the family room, it took a lot of paint!  Now I need to decorate it and then I will show you it.

Have a grand day,

Tiff

Invitations are in the Mail...

The invitations for my Gingerbread House Party went in the mail this morning. I invited 8 friends this time, would have liked to have invited more but I don't have the room.  With keeping with my house diet thing, I decided to totally handmake the invites, the only thing it cost me were the stamps.  Our printer died(and I'm not buying a new one this time of year, too many other expenses) so I had to hand write everything, not the prettiest things, but hey, they get the point across, right?

Here are the fronts...

 The backs had another layer of construction paper where I wrote the details...

 I even made my own envelopes out of construction paper :)

 And the post office had the perfect stamps for the occasion... gingerbread houses!!!

Lots of work to do before the party on December 8th, but I'm looking forward to it!

Tiff

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Today we officially added another teenager to our house.... my 4th baby turned 13.   He is a very sweet, kind hearted, and likable boy who stills likes to talk to his mother ;)  He's not so little any more though, he is taller than my hubby, myself, and even his 20 yr old brother!  We know Gavin has a very bright future ahead of him and can't wait to see what he will become.  Happy Birthday Goobs(nickname)! We love you!!!

And Happy Veteran's Day! Thank you to all who have served and our serving. May God Bless you and your families.

Tiff

Going on a House Diet....

I managed to have enough self discipline and will power to lose most of my extra weight(still 10 lbs to go), now I just need to apply that to shopping and the house.  And so, I have decided to go on a house diet.  I really do not Need anything, it's all just wants. And with a basement busting at the seems(Salvation Army is going to get a call for a large pick up in the next couple weeks), I realized that I need to stop.  All the stuff is just cluttering my house and my mind.  I'm not going modern or minimalistic  with the house, I'm just going to declutter, not shop or thrift store hunt, make do with what I have(and redo things for other purposes),  and most certainly not add to the collection with new things.  Plus, it will save money.  

So with that in mind, here is something I did recently in my mudroom.  After the family room, this is the next room I struggle with the most.  I want it to be neat, organized, and pretty to the eye all while being functional for the kids(backpacks, shoes, coats, winter gear, etc).

I had this wood cubby hole thing that used to sit on top of another piece of furniture(you probably saw it many years ago in my family room holding dvds or toys). Anyway, it had been in the older boys' room and they didn't need it anymore, so it came down stairs.  After sitting in the way in the family room for over a week, I finally figured out what to do with it.

I gave it a new coat of black paint, turned vertical, and added my 4 Target baskets that I got about a year ago(that had been floating around the house without finding the spot that was just right for them, until now).  The baskets were a perfect fit, with just enough room at the top to reach in and out of  without having to pull the whole thing out.  Two now hold mittens and gloves and the other two hold hats and scarves.  A perfect functional and attractive storage solution for our winter gear.

Not sure why I didn't think of it before :)

 And here is the coat, shoe, and gear corner of the mudroom.  Ya, the look of all the coats and such does bother me a bit. But we LIVE here, it's part of life and everything can't look like a magazine all the time.  And most of all, everything has its place and a place for everything.

Will power.... I don't need more junk just like I don't need that cupcake! I can do this :)

Tiff

Oh the Family Room...

For the 2nd time in three days, the family room has been rearranged. If you have been reading here long, you know that is not very shocking.  This room gets rearranged A LOT!!  Why?  you ask. Mainly, because the room is so long and narrow, with a fireplace on one end and windows on the other, plus two doorways... not to mention one very huge sectional sofa.  So this leads to a lot of rearranging to get it just right, where there isn't awkwardness or wasted space. 

And this time of year, you add in one large Christmas tree, the poor family room becomes a moving sea of furniture!!  But don't worry. I think I finally found a good layout for the next couple of months.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I added a big hutch to the room!...

Ya, it looks really sad at the moment, but over the next few days it will be brought back to life.  I have to fix the trim on the top, fill in some holes, and repaint the whole thing(and the drawers aren't missing, they just aren't in it right now).

  Where did it come from?  I have had it for about 15 years and it is has seen many uses and many coats of paint.  It was originally bought for our dining room and had a matching table. Since then, it has been a tv stand, a lego cupboard, and the top was even turned into a play kitchen(see here). It was actually really cute as a kitchen, but it wasn't being used much anymore and just taking up space in the boys' room. So back it came to be used as a hutch(and one more surface to decorate!).

I cleared out this corner by the fireplace for the Christmas tree. I know the emptiness will bother me until the tree goes up, but I will get over it.

  I'm still working on the room and will take some pictures when it's done and before the Christmas decor goes up.

One last picture of the banner I hand painted this past week.  It's for a fundraising event.

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

And It All Came Down...

I don't have a crochet project to share with you because I haven't been working on anything this week. I've been busy making a huge banner for a neighbor(for a local event) and rearranging the family room(again).

After I finished up the banner this morning(yay!), I decided it was time for the Fall stuff to come down.  With Thanksgiving being so late this year and since we aren't having anyone over anyway, I thought it was better to get the house cleaned and ready for the Christmas decor.... and my 2nd annual Gingerbread house party that will be on December 8th.  I want to make Christmas curtains for the kitchen and some little fun things for my party.... so sorry to Fall but you have to go!

  And yes, this is how I do it.... take it all down and pile it on the kitchen table and then box it all up to reside in the basement until next year.

I'm now heading outside to clean up the pumpkins and the porch.

Have a great day,

Tiff