Pretty Paper Flowers

Just a reminder before we start.  Today is the last day to take advantage of the Silhouette promo.  Use the code ROAR to get the Cameo and a starter kit for $299.
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I know it's Halloween, but once Halloween is over I start thinking about Christmas.  Today I'm sharing a few fun embellishments to make your presents look pretty.

Sunshine Sunday - my Rex

See this little guy?  He seems little and innocent, but don't be fooled.  He's growing up fast.  Sometimes too fast.  Sometimes not fast enough.  He's calling me on my bluffs.  He's learning to work the system.  He's learning to push his mom to the limit.  I'm not sure when it all happened.  

I made him promise to stop growing a couple of years ago.  That didn't work.  I'll probably blink and he'll be heading off to college as I sob uncontrollably.  But for now he's mine and he's teaching me a lot.  

Silhouette Cameo WINNER!

Alright...the moment you've all been waiting for.  It's time to announce the winner of the Silhouette Cameo.  I wish I was as loaded as Oprah so I could say, "Everyone's going home with one!"  And then you would all cry and I would run around giving you all high-fives.  (I don't know if Oprah did the high-five thing, but I would :)

Our winner is:

If you didn't win you can take advantage of the PROMO until Monday (October 31st).  Remember?

$299 gets you a brand new Silhouette Cameo with a starter kit of your choice.  Use the code "ROAR" to receive the promo.  There is a limited number of this promo bundles available (meaning this batch of Cameos will sell out) so you might want to act quickly.  The promo runs from today until the 31st.

Also, if you checked yesterday's post during the first half of the day, then you missed a fun sign I just made, using an Ikea table as a canvas.  Check it out HERE.

Thanks for joining in on our Silhouette Made Simple week.

Caparelli Olive Oil

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carapelli Olive Oil for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We try our best to have a vegetable at dinner time around here.  My personal favorite (and the kid's as well) is when we saute our fresh vegetables in a little olive oil and add a bit of salt or parmesan cheese.  I love zucchini or yellow squash that way.  Yum.  We are big fans of cooking our vegetables in olive oil because it's a lot healthier than butter.

This week I got to learn a lot about olive oil and even sample some different types.  I was sent a beautifully wrapped package of Carapelli olive oil.  Carapelli is Italy's #1 Virgin Olive Oil and they've been in business since 1893.  They really know olive oil and you can even find it at your local grocery store.

Silhouette Made Simple - Final Day

We're coming to the end of our series on the Silhouette.  If you missed it, you can go back to Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3....and enter the giveaway.  There will definitely be more Silhouette projects in the future, but today is the last day of our series and hopefully after watching all the videos you feel like a Silhouette expert.

Today we're making this sign and I'm showing you a round up of all the things I've made in the past with my Silhouette.

Silhouette Made Simple - Day 3

Today is the third day of Silhouette fun.  If you're just tuning in you might want to go back to view Day 1 and Day 2.  (Day 1 also has the giveaway on it.)

Today we're going to play with the Silhouette adhesive cardstock and regular vinyl.  Today's projects are decorative gift wrapping.....

....and these pantry labels.

Silhouette Made Simple - Day 2

Today is day 2 of our Silhouette Week and we have some fun projects to do.  If you missed yesterday, you might want to go back to watch the first set of how-to videos and to enter the giveaway HERE.

Today we'll be making this fun "and" pillow using the Silhouette to cut the fabric.....

.....and we'll be making this framed art with the Silhouette sketch pens.

Silhouette Made Simple - Day 1

Welcome to the first day of Silhouette Made Simple.  Today is a big day.  We have a GIVEAWAY, a Silhouette promotion, AND a few tutorials.  Woo-hoo!  Let's get rolling.

First off, let me explain it all.  Give me less than 2 minutes to tell you what this week is all about.

Today I wanted to start with a really basic tour of the Silhouette software.  I will explain what all the buttons do and how to do all the basics.  This is a great place to start.  (To see the video more clearly, you might want to click on You Tube and then click on expand screen or full screen.)

Now it's on to the projects.  Today I'm showing you how I created this "Ask me about my secret identity" t-shirt.  

Thor Costume (for DailyBuzz Moms 9x9)

If you're dropping in from DailyBuzz Moms, then welcome!  A couple of weeks ago I finished a funny viking Halloween costume for my youngest son, Baden.  You can see it HERE.  Ever since then, my oldest son Rex has been dying for me to make his costume.  He chose Thor.

Ridiculously good looking, incredibly strong, and a cool hammer?  What's not to love?  The store bought option was pretty lame, so I got thinking and working.  We made the costume on Saturday and I had to beg him to take it off for church yesterday.  Here he is in all his masculine glory.....Thor.

Sunshine Sunday - family hikes, the smoulder, and calzones

At the beginning of the week we went on a little family hike so we could see all the changing colors.  Wow.  It was incredible.  I know I've seen it before, but it really amazes me each time.

Christmas Cards at Shutterfly

After we got our family photos back I was really excited to print some and decide what to do with them.  Next up - Christmas cards.  I played on Shutterfly the other day, trying out our photos in their fun designs.  I lowered it down to these.  They have some really beautiful designs.

Soapbox Saturday - Kara's Party Ideas

Do you have an upcoming party to plan?  A baby shower?  A birthday party? Any type of festivity?  Today I'm going to introduce you to a blog you will fall in love with.  It's Kara's Party Ideas.  Oh. my. goodness.  Talk about a plethora of amazing ideas!  

Kara's blog has a gigantic list of just about any type of themed party you ever even thought of throwing.  Check out this Ice Cream Social.  There are a thousand additional gorgeous pictures of it on her original post HERE.

Things to Come....

Yesterday I had some fun with my sisters instead of working on today's post.  It was really great and exactly what I needed.  We ate a yummy lunch, shopped a little, and then we got wild and crazy and dyed each other's hair :)

So I don't have a Feature Friday for today, but I do want to tell you about a few upcoming things on the blog here that I'm super excited about.  You know how I love to have things to look forward to.  I have been planning and working out details for a few special things.

How to Sew a Basic Clutch

Quite a while ago when I posted this Beaded Clutch a lot of you requested a tutorial for a basic clutch.  Well, today is the day, baby.

Now I'm actually making this scripture case today, but the concept is exactly the same.

Wake Up Wednesday

Last week's challenge was to do a little cleaning for someone else.  We didn't really end up doing it how I intended to, but we did clean up an outside area of a restaurant a bit after we ate there.  Rex is getting the hang of the cleaning up thing.  He's been spotting trash on the ground and asking me if he can pick it up.  I love it.

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Peacock Tee

Before we get started today, here are the Gramma Allie pattern winners:

And if you didn't win, the patterns are really inexpensive and you can find them in her etsy shop HERE.

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A few weeks ago I had a niece stay over night.  She has a major obsession with peacocks, so we decided to make her a peacock t-shirt.  Here's how it turned out.

A Few Things You May Not Know About Pinterest

I'm sure that by now almost all of you have heard about Pinterest.  If not, it's an online pin board for you to organize inspiration.  It's seriously cool and I think it will continue to grow exponentially.

I started creating a few boards a few months ago.  You can find me HERE.  (It might be time for me to update that picture.  Ha!)

Sunshine Sunday - music, puzzles, and my husband

I've got to be honest.  This was a really tough week for me.  There were a lot things I had been looking forward to that kind of collapsed.  I was struggling to stay positive.  However, the other day I turned on some upbeat music.  Sometimes I forget how happy music can make me.  Music is so great at helping change my mood.  My little guys have some hilarious dance moves that can always make me smile.

Soapbox Saturday - A Year of Sugar Scrubs

I'm pretty sure all of us have that one person on our Christmas list that truly perplexes us.  There's that one sweet family member who is so hard to come up with a gift for.  Well, today Erin from In Between Laundry is going to solve your problems with her cool eBook "A Year of Sugar Scrubs."

My Mom's Second Pattern and GIVEAWAY!!!

As  mentioned yesterday, my mom is releasing her second pattern today!  It's super cute and clever.  She actually used to make something similar for us when we were little for carrying around our Cabbage Patch dolls.  Here's her new Baby Backpack PDF pattern.

Halloween Treats

I wanted to share this little idea with you while we still have a couple of weeks till Halloween.  While there's no way I'd sew enough for all the trick or treaters, these little treats would be fun for a child to bring to school and share.

Wake Up Wednesday

I wanted to take a minute to say thanks for your support of Wake Up Wednesdays.  I started them at the beginning of this year and while I felt it was something I really needed to do myself, I wasn't sure how you readers would react.  I was worried that a lot of you would be bummed that there was one less day of crafting.  However, you have cheered me on.  Many of you have participated and have had experiences that have brought me to tears.  So, thank you.  Thank you for joining in.  Thank you for sharing your experiences.  Thank you for your efforts and your encouragement.  I feel like I'm on a great team here.

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Five Fall Tutorials

There are several projects I did last year during the fall and I thought it would be fun to repost some of them for those of you who weren't around then.  A couple were guest posts that were never published here.  So, here are a few fun projects for this time of year.

1) $5 Fall Wreath.  This one was easy and quick.  You can see the full tutorial HERE.

Monogrammed Pumpkin

I saw a really pretty pumpkin HERE the other day on Pinterest.  I took inspiration from it and made this one.

Sunshine Sunday - family photos and fall

This week we got our family photos back and I was SO excited to see them.  (You can see a ton of them on yesterday's post.  Katie rocked it.)  We haven't had pictures taken in a long time and it makes me so happy to have them.  I'm a big fan of family photos.  I know it can be a bit of work to convince a husband and coordinate clothing, but it's so worth it.  Here's a picture I didn't show yesterday.  My men.

Soapbox Saturday - Katie Dudley Photography

I am seriously giddy about today's post.  I get to introduce you to an amazing photographer who just took our family portraits - Katie Dudley.  I can't say enough good about her.  Wow.  First off, she's an amazing photographer.  (Obviously.)  Secondly, she was SO good with our boys who - despite sweet pictures of them on this blog - can be quite a handful.  She totally knew how to work with the boys.  She's a mother herself and I felt like she "got" us.

Okay, want to see some of my favorites?  Here we go.  She let the kids jump around and play while she shot some candids.   I love these because they really capture what my kids are like.

Feature Friday - stenciled rug

A couple of months ago Jen and Shelley stenciled some rugs from Ikea.  They were really cute and when the rug in my kitchen recently died, I thought I'd give it a try myself.

I used a houndstooth stencil (from Cutting Edge Stencils) and a can of spray paint.  I thought that if I only painted it white (and left the neutral color) that it would match.....

Batman Sweatshirt (Gap Knock-Off)

Let's announce some winners before we get rolling today.

The $50 Petite Lemon gift card goes to Jennyroo who said:  So great! Would love to win!

The 2 winners of the T.G.I. Friday's coupons are Leslie who said: You had some great ideas for when to use them. I think I could really use one right now, as I'm eating leftover over-cooked pasta, with no sauce. Blah. Thanks for the chance to win!

and Kathy - mom of many who said: The first occasion I thought of was BABYSITTER!

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I was strolling through Gap Kids the other day and I saw this sweatshirt.  It was really cute and very Rex. However, it was pricey and I felt quite confident that I could make it myself.  So, I did.  Here's the Gap one.

Here's mine:

Wake Up Wednesday - Super Heroes of Service

Today is our first official Super Heroes of Service Challenge.  I was THRILLED to read a lot of your comments on last week's post saying that you're going to join in.  I think this will be really cool.

Boy Scouts of America

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Boy Scouts of America for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I found out I was having a boy I started to think about all the things he would do.  I pictured brothers wrestling.  I pictured him wearing a little tie and going to church.  I pictured him learning to play baseball in the backyard.  AND, I always pictured my boys being Boy Scouts.  Boy Scouts of America is an organization I definitely plan to have my boys be a part of.

Fun With Face Painting

In preparation for Halloween, I told my nieces and nephews I would bring all my face painting stuff to a family dinner so we could practice.  I found out I'm definitely not a face painting pro, but we all had some serious fun.  

Each child took a turn, requesting any random thing he or she could think of for me to paint.  I was really excited to try out my Tulip Body Art supplies.

Here's our work:

Viking Costume

So, as I mentioned, Baden is going to be a Viking for Halloween.  I was trying to think of a cheap way to make a costume for him as I roamed through the aisles of Target.  They had some sweet faux-fur vests in the girl department that would have been awesome, but they were $25 and I didn't plan on spending that much on the entire costume.

So I kept roaming until....I found it.  There were fluffy toilet seat covers on clearance for $3 and I figured I could cut a hole in the middle and made it a caplet-kind of thing.  I was laughing my head off....all by myself as I threw them in the cart.  I kind of wanted the cashier to ask me about them so I could announce, "I'm going to make a sweet Viking costume with these babies!"  She didn't ask though :)  

Toilet seat covers are a funny thing to me.  You just can't hide a toilet.  I know they aren't pretty, but we all need them.  It's not like when you have a cover on your toilet people say, "Wow, how nice!  I hardly even noticed there was a toilet in this bathroom!"  Okay, I'm on a tangent here.  Back to the costume.

So, here's the completed costume with Rex modeling it, since he was the cooperative one yesterday.

And here's how it went down.  I bought two of the toilet seat covers.

Sunshine Sunday - getting around

We have one bike we keep inside the house which means the boys often fight over it.  However, lately they've found ways to make it work.  They make me laugh.  I love their ingenuity.

Method #1: Baden does most of the work, but Rex pushes with his feet for a power boost.  When he does they get moving fast enough to make me nervous.

Method #2: Baden stands on the back and Rex resembles a sled dog.  Maybe I should teach Baden to yell "Mush!  Mush!"