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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Look Who's Two!!!

My baby boy is TWO today!! On one hand I feel like he was just born yesterday, but on the other it feels like he has always been here. He is definitely one well loved and spoiled(in a good way) little boy.

I made him a birthday outfit for his special day. The pants were made from a old pair of maternity pants that were a super soft thin brown corduroy and the blue is a cotton men's button down shirt. They are totally reversible and super easy to make. If you want the tutorial it is here... http://bloomsnbugs.blogspot.com/2011/09/bottoms-up-part-2-reversible-pants.html

And cute inspiration is here.... http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2012/01/sewingthesedays.html

Here is the reversible side. If you look at the left of the pants you can see that I incorporated the shirt pocket and it became a back pocket for the pants.
And here is the birthday boy in his new outfit....


My little baby.... 2 hours old.....
And now 2 years old.... time goes by way too fast.

We are having a small family party for him this evening with cupcakes and presents(I hope he likes his new baby doll, every time he sees a real baby, on tv or real life, he asks me for one).



Have a wonderful day,



Tiff



PS, Thank you for all the comments on the curtains. I'm going to do what some of suggested and leave the short ones up for the rest of the winter and then switch to the longer ones for summer.

Monday, February 6, 2012

New Curtains, Which ones?....

At one of my last ventures to Goodwill I came across these curtains. There were 6 valances for $5.99 and 5 cafe length ones for $5.99, I couldn't pass up those prices, $12 for all those curtains!

I really wasn't sure where I was going to hang them, but after I washed and dried them I brought them into the family room and decided they might look nice in there. I have 4 large windows and two small windows in that room. But what curtains do you think I should use? Long or short?

Here is the cafe length... it provides a bit more coverage and privacy, but do you think the length looks odd?
And here is the the short valance, sorry for the dark pictures(I even had all the lights on and it is sunny out but my camera reads dark inside).
Long.....
Short.....

Both....

Or do you think they are just too outdated? Opinions please(and Thank you!)


Have a marvelous Monday,

Tiff

Sunday, February 5, 2012

WW Weigh in....

I've really been good and trying(no cheating) for the past 11 days on Weight Watchers. Wow, 11 days, that alone is a milestone for me, I don't think I have ever lasted that long on a diet!LOL! Anyway, they gave me my weigh in day as Sunday, but being that I signed up on a Wednesday night, I chose to wait until this Sunday to weigh in(hence the 11 days), but from here on out it will just be 7 day check ins.

Ok, so here we go... I'm down 3.6 lbs, not a huge amount in poundage, but at least it is something. On a bigger note, I took my measurements again, and after 11 days here are my stats.... Chest - 2", Waist - 2", Hips - 1.5", Thigh same, Arm -.5" !!!! So those are some good results!! I've been exercising and building up the muscle, so I'm sure that is just toning and not from 3.6lbs weight loss, but I'll still take it!!


Hopefully by summer, I will have a noticeable change in my clothes and will be halfway to my goal.


Have a lovely Sunday and GO PATS!!!(not that I will be watching, I'm organizing my craft area,


Tiff

Friday, February 3, 2012

Quick Fix...

Your comments proved to me once again why I LOVE blogging!!! I searched and searched the house yesterday for something solid to put under that basket, never once thinking of a fabric item, until reading your comments yesterday. I think it really needs an old quilt, but for now I put two old wool army blanket underneath and I like the look much better. So a Big Thank You to you all!!
'Have a great weekend(Go Pats!!!),

Tiff

Thursday, February 2, 2012

New Sideboard...

Remember the sideboard I told you about? The one I got from Craigslist for $60 !! Well, I finally figured out where to put it. Ideally, I would like it in a dining room with my collection of Wexford Crystal on it, but since the dining room has been turned into my 11yr old's new bedroom it will have to live in the family room for now. It is just perfect as a tv cupboard.
I hate the look of all those electric and cable cords, so I put a basket underneath to contain them. But it wasn't tall enough, thus the books underneath. I'm going to have to find some big older ones that will look better(trip to GW for some vintage encyclopedias maybe), but it works for the moment.
It has a mirror that stretches the whole length of the top, you can just get a glimpse of there on the right next to the Wii.
Of course, moving this in here required a complete, and I mean Complete rearrange of the family room. I moved the location of the tv, the couch, the roll top desk, the hoosier, and the doll house. As soon as I'm done with it all, I'll take some finished pictures.
Have a lovely day,
Tiff

Monday, January 30, 2012

Silhouette Goat and Bean Pots...

  1. I got inspired by three silhouette animals I saw on pinterest, one of which was a goat. But instead of doing it out of paper or even paint, I thought I would try it with cross stitch. So while I watch tv in the evening I have been working on my little billy goat. I drew the pattern myself from the inspiration picture and when I get him done, I may add a cow and sheep for him. I hope to find some oval frames to finish off the trio. BTW, I forgot how long cross stitch takes.
And here is pic of my bean pot collection, I moved them from the fireplace mantel into the front foyer.
Have a beautiful day,

Tiff(ps, I have no idea why that #1 is there, it wouldn't let me take it out in the editing either, strange)

Saturday, January 28, 2012

I've Got You Covered

Yes, I'm coming out about my baby blanket hoarding :) I love baby blankets and actually use them all when my babies are babies.
Mason is going to be TWO in less than 2 weeks(can you believe that?!) so I was sorting out his closet and decided it was time to pack the baby blankets away :( The two stacks above contain 63 blankets! The stack on the right is all Gymboree ones(yes, I had a problem there for awhile, but ended a few years back). These don't even include the girl baby blankets stored in the basement. I did keep out about 6 large toddler size blankets for him, so he won't be without. But these are all in a tub now headed for storage in the basement. Mind you, I didn't buy this many with each baby, this is an accumulation of 7 babies, and some of those blankets in there are from my oldest who is 18 years old now(carters blankest last).

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I no longer need all these, hopefully there is one more baby in our future.


Have a cozy Saturday, we are off to buy a new vacuum,

Tiff

Friday, January 27, 2012

Heart to Heart Swap...

I participated in Sarah's(Makin Projiks ) Heart to Heart Swap again this year. I always have these brilliant ideas in my head, then when I go to make them they never turn out the way I want(I think I have perfectionist problems). So after several fails, I finally came up with these girls. Not quite what I had in mind, but they are cute and festive for Valentine's day. I needed to make 15 of these gals, and let me just say, they took much longer than expected.... I hope the recipients like them and I can't wait to see all the lovelies that I get in return :)


Thank you for all the encouragement about joining WW :) I had no idea how much I was really eating until my first full day yesterday using the points. Holy Cow! Know wonder I am fat!!! Anyway, I made it through day 1 and onto day 2 with no cheating, Yay! Thank goodness fruit and veggies are zero points, otherwise I would feel hungry. And just in time for my weight loss journey, my favorite oranges(Cara Cara) are in season!!! I stocked up on these this morning at the grocery store. The one thing I am finding hard, is trying to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day, I only made it to 5 yesterday. I'm just not that thirsty. Of course I was up 3 times to use the bathroom last night from it. Maybe I've been dehydrated for years and didn't even know it.
Have a marvelous weekend!!,

Tiff

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Here I go...

Well, I did it last night. I signed up for Weight Watchers online. I couldn't do it by myself, I needed guidance and rules to follow, plus if I'm paying for it, I'm more likely to stick with it :) I'm tired of being tired, I need to lose weight and get in shape. I don't expect to be tiny, I never have been, but I don't want to be this big anymore. My long term goal is 70lbs, but right now my tiny goal is 12lbs.

I hate having my picture taken, so hopefully that will go away once I feel better about how I look. No more hiding behind babies when the camera clicks!(though I don't mind babies and would really LOVE one more(sending that hint up to Heaven!)).

Here are two before pictures, and these are the only ones I'm willing to share right now! The others make me shudder.


In a few months, I'll update with a more recent picture and keep that up until I reach my goal. I really think I can do it this time because I NEED to do it.


Have a lovely day,


Tiff

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Do You Like PaperWhites?...

I walked into my kitchen this morning from the family room and noticed an awful smell as I passed the kitchen table. It reminded me of an old wet diaper, sorry, I know that is gross but that is the best way I could describe it. I looked around and found nothing. Then I noticed this in the corner, just beginning to bloom.....
Ah! I found the culprit! How could such a sweet little flower smell so bad? Is it just me or does anyone else think they stink?
The last time I grew paperwhites was about 10 years ago, and at the time I told myself never again because I had about 20 of them and the house stunk! But lately I have been reading blogs and everyone had paperwhites(this was just before Christmas) and were commenting on how they love them so and they smell so sweet. I thought, "huh, maybe I just had a bad batch". So a few weeks ago when I was at a floral shop, I picked a 6 bulbs up and thought I would give them a second chance. Well, I tried, and still the same result, YUCK!!! They are pretty, but I'm going to have to move them out of the kitchen so I can eat dinner at the table, as the little high chair they sit on is right next to my seat!!


So what do you think? Do you like the smell of paperwhites?



Have a great day,


Tiff

Monday, January 23, 2012

Revisiting Fall...

I'm sitting here today with a bad backache from shoveling a ton of snow on Friday and falling on the ice while doing it. The only thing that seems to relieve some of the pain is a heating pad my youngest daughter made me(she sewed a two pieces of fleece together and stuffed with rice, pop in the microwave for a minute and it lasts for at least an hour). So I've been looking through old pictures that my dear hubby transferred from my old lap top to my new one(thank you dear!) and came across this past Fall's decor. I realized I never shared it on here so I thought why not do that today :)


I was inspired by a photo on pinterest for my wheelbarrow display... I think it came out pretty nice...

Here is a shot of the front porch. I made Martha's paper silhouette mice into weatherproof wood ones for outside...
The other front door..
And I was inspired by another blogger, Misi over at 1890 gablehouse musings. She had a witch and crow silhouettes by a white out building(her store I think) and I just fell in love with the crows. So I drafted my own and cut them out of plywood and spray painted them black. I just perched them on the fence but you could put them on sticks too so they stick in the ground.


Here is Mason enjoying an apple after a day of apple picking. I found the old wall paper ladder this past summer at a yard sale for $5. The pumpkins on it were grown by my youngest daughter.
And here are two dolls that I made for a doll swap this past fall.
I hope you enjoyed revisiting Fall :)


Have a fantastic day,


Tiff

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Want to hook up on Pinterest?


I gave up Facebook(don't need to be big brothered) so I can't look up pinterest friends that easily. So I thought I would make a post and share my pinterest address and if you want to share yours for other prim bloggers, leave it in the comments.




Have fun pinning,


Tiff

Saturday, January 21, 2012

50th Anniversary Red Work Quilt

Remember the red work quilt I was making for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary? I DID actually finish it!! They did get it a few days after their anniversary back in September, but I don't think they minded that it was late.


It consisted of redwork blocks with their birth dates and places, their children's, and their grandchildren's, along with all the states they have lived in. It was many hours of time stitching, but I think the finished product is pretty nice.
This is the center square...
If you look at the red squares below the bird, you will see two set of angel wings and halos, those are for lost babies.

Each person's square had some sort of picture that could be associated with that person. This one happens to be my mom's, a ball of filet crochet thread and a hook.


I think it will be awhile before I tackle another one of these, but maybe someday.


Have a love weekend,


Tiff

Friday, January 20, 2012

Make your own Blue Canning Jars...

I can't take credit for this idea, I found it through pinterest. There are quite a few fails on pinterest, but I wanted to give this one a try and was happily surprised with the results. I apologize for the crappy photos, I just can't win lately when it comes to taking pics, but hopefully you can get how great this project is despite the bad photos.


It seems like around here, blue canning jars are getting harder to find and when you do find them they are pricey. I have plenty of old clear canning jars that I use for decor or craft storage, so why not turn them blue! First off, no, these are NOT food safe and you can't fill with water to use as a vase. But you can use them for decoration and craft storage.
It was hit or miss with the recipe, I added too much water to the batch so I had to keep finding more glassware to turn blue. How much modg podge you need depends on how many things you want to create. For one or two jars, take about 2tblspoons modge podge and add just a few drops of water, just to make it a bit more runny. Then add blue, green, and a tiny bit of yellow food coloring to the mix. I only had gel food coloring on hand, but any kind will work. I mixed the ingredients right in one of the jars I was turning blue.

Mix the ingredients well, adjusting the food coloring to the blue green color that you want. Then swirl the mixture all over the jar(hold a lid on with a wash cloth over it, because this can get messy. Wipe off drips that get on the outside. Dump out the excess mixture into the next jar and repeat. When you are done, dump the remaining mixture out. You don't want a big pool of it at the bottom of the jar. The jars will look like this....
When dry they look like this!.... now at this point you can bake them at a low heat for an hour or so, but I really don't see the need for this because it will NOT make them waterproof. I'm not really sure what it would do, but that was in the original instructions. The photo does not do them justice, they really look authentic in real life and I am so pleased with the results.
Now, while we are on the subject of blue canning jars. I want to warn you that their are reproductions out there posing as the old thing. The one woman on pinterest has a set of these reproductions I'm afraid, but she doesn't realize it. About 10 or 12 years Walmart sold a line of blue canning jars that had the glass top and wire bail. There were 3 different sizes I think. The color is a bit darker than the old ones, and they have "Ball" across the front and an eagle on the back. I had several sets of these myself(not sure where they all went!). THere is nothing wrong with these and I don't mind reproductions, BUT I just wanted to warn you all so you don't pay big bucks for what you think is an antique. Here is one of the walmart ones, I have it filled with mini pinecones.
Here is a true antique one... notice the lighter color.
And here are all three side by side... reproduction, my creation with an old jar, and the original old blue jar.

I like the color they add to the upper cupboards...

And they are pretty in the window.
If you have any questions, just leave a comment and I will come back and answer them in the comments.


Have a lovely day,


Tiff