New Blog Design

Well, this is the new look for my blog. 

It was time for a much needed facelift.  

I was ready to look at something else on here.
It's almost like wearing the same outfit everyday.

Well this is a short post for today.
Just wanted to pop on here and post something with the new and improved look.
Here's a quick pic of the kids on Kameron's Bday.
It was last week and I was so busy going to his school with donuts and
such that I didn't make a Bday post.
Shame on me!!
I will apparently miss the "Mother of the Year" award.
I always do a Bday post!
The kids all look a little tattered,  I do too, that's why I am behind the camera :))
They were all at school, then we ate dinner(one of Kam's favs, Homemade Chicken Pot Pie), then we went to the movies(his choice) for his day.
We are working on a party for him in the next couple weeks.

For now, here's a quick pic...

(Brooklin takes this opportunity to make a funny face for the camera)

That's it for today.
Come back tomorrow, I will have my latest layout for Tiffany.

Have a great Monday!!!

Til next Time with T!!

Kameron's Room Decor

Not sure about anyone else, but I am in Spring cleaning mode these days.
I am cleaning out closets including toys, clothes and anything else that we do not absolutely love. Depending on how much I find lurking around here, I will either donate it all or have a dreaded yard sale. I love to go to yard sales but sure hate dealing with them. I guess the saying is true,
"One person's trash is another person's treasure".
That's why we all love antiques, right?

As I was cleaning out my son's closet, getting rid of toys and clothes and getting rid of any extras to help keep things simple.
I realized I had not posted pictures of his completed room decor.

When I was pregnant with Coco, Kameron was in the larger room between him and Brooklin. We knew Brooklin and Coco(the newbie) would be sharing a room, which meant a move for Kameron to the smaller room.
I felt guilt doing this because he is older and he wasn't real happy about the switch. Especially at that time, because he knew we were having a girl not a boy. So a double whammy for him. I finally told him that if he would move rooms happily, I would be sure to finish, or start in this case, his room decor before we started decorating the girls room and before his baby sis made her entrance into the world and our home.

I already had the majority of his stuff to decorate his room for quite awhile. I kept it all in his room behind the door while I needed to still get a few things. My mom always taught us, don't ever start a room decor project without having everything to do it, for the most part. That way you're not tired of the comforter or whatever else it is that you "put" out before you get the rest.
Sometimes it takes some searching for the little extras. So that's why I waited.

Many times prior to this he kept saying, "Mom, are we ever going to put that stuff out?"
So this little bit of encouragement I was offering, put a smile on his face.
Well, almost.
So when my mom came out for her visit to help me with the new baby, we got started on Kameron's room first thing.
We had a camping theme in mind for his room. I knew exactly what I wanted. I had researched and written notes and selected most of the items/projects I wanted to use.
It was the perfect fit since he loves outdoors, camping, fishing, hunting, shooting, and any of the other male stuff that boys, big and small do while their ladies are inside crafting, cooking, and being creative.
Here are some pictures of the results.....

My hubby made his bed. It was exactly what I wanted. So I can put a tent under his bed. We did have a tent to go on top of the bed but after we put it on, we realized his bed would never be made, it got hot inside there and I couldn't really see him when I went in to tell him goodnight. So we changed that.

The curtain rod is a stick that I sent my husband out searching for. I told him what is was for and away he went. It was even better than I had asked for.
I love the character the extra branch on top gives.
It was the perfect stick for a curtain rod.
The little trees were from my Christmas decor.
The ice chest is not just for decor. I use it to hold his Lego's, and yes, it's full.
He loves them. It was the perfect storage for them all. It has a lid and it's on wheels so he can roll them out to play wherever he wants.
The little logs under the chair is actually a lap table, he can use in his chair or inside his tent, to read or write.
The light in the window sill, actually works. It holds a night light bulb.

This is inside of his tent. Guess what? He has only slept in his bed a couple times. Originally, the tent was meant for him to just hang out in there to read, play a game, pretend or whatever, but he decided he wanted to sleep in there.
Him and Brooklin had a camp out in there the first night. They loved it. They even did flashlight animals on the tent wall with their hands.
The little square pillows were exactly what I wanted to have as extras in there.

My hubby made the little oars shelf. It was also something I had planned for months. He is an awesome woodworker. He does very clean work and always knows how to make it great quality. I have never been disappointed in his work.
I will need to take some pictures of some other things he has made for our home. I always have these big, bright ideas and he makes them for me.
He did such a great job on this. I really love it.
The pine cones are an inexpensive bag from Michael's.

My husband didn't make this shelf but he was going to make me a second one. Then we decided we didn't need one. The log and bottles is a target shooting toy.
The deer horns are from a deer my husband shot while hunting a couple years ago. It was the perfect addition to this room. There's another one on the other wall above the bathroom door, he shot that one another year of hunting.

His little dresser with a cute lamp and a bear with some pine cones.
The little pine cone tree on the floor, I found at Home Goods forever ago. Love that place. I don't go there too often cause I get in trouble finding too much.

We didn't let Kameron go in the room at all while the transformation was taking place.
Finally, when we let him in, he was so surprised and very happy that he switched rooms with his little sister. He is very happy in this room and loves his decor.
He says it's was worth the wait.
One last thing, Thanks to my mom for implementing all my plans for this room.
I might add, I was in the stage of my pregnancy that I was at the end, and very cranky.
I had the thoughts on what I wanted and I thought she was going to throw me out the window. My Aunt Betty was here visiting as well during that time. So she kept us both straight and safe from the other one. haha!! Just kidding. Well, almost!
Thanks again Mom for your help with this project.
I love you and appreciate the gift you have given me as your daughter, however, sometimes I think you created a monster!
I love you!! I have the best mom in the world!!
xoxoxo
ps..Now that the rooms are done and I am back to my pre-pregnancy state of niceness come back to stay with us for a month or so. :)))

I will be posting pictures of the girls room soon.
That was the next one that I had plans for and my poor mom.
However, it turned out great and exactly how I pictured it.

This is a long post and I didn't mean to.
Thanks for stopping by. Share your thoughts. I would love to read your comments.

Til next Time with T!!

Scrap Tiffany Metal Challenge

This week's challenge at Scrap Tiffany was metal.

I love metal so this would be easy right?
Well yes, if it wasn't for all those Valentines. ;)))
I got a little behind this week with everything else, but I did get it done.
Here's what I did...

A closer look...
Supplies used:
Patterned papers:
Blue/white Dot-Tim Holtz-Vintage Shabby,
News Print:7Gypsies-Avignon-Annonce,
Black: Pink Paislee-Hollow Moon
Striped: Pink Paislee-Vintage Moon-Moonrakers
Gaffer Tape: 7Gypsies
Metals: Tim Holtz-Clocks/Parts/Corners/Bookplate
Metal Strip: Ten Second Studio
Mask: Tim Holtz-Clocks
Mist: Shimmerz-Licorice
Labels: Dymo Labeler


Am I the only one that seems to always scrap my children? That is great, I love it and they have plenty of events to scrap, but sometimes it's nice to see something else for a change, so I decided to create a layout of me and my hubby.
Then I started searching for a picture of us and it seems that I'm (we) are not in the pictures very much. So I had a hard time finding one of us.
I am changing that right now. Each time there is a camera present, I will be taking more pictures of me and my hubby. It actually made me mad at myself for a minute.
How terrible of me. Well, it's common but it is also fixable.
So get ready to see more of the two of us. ;))

Back to the layout, when I hear metal, I hear Tim Holtz. Don't you?
I love his stuff. My sis sent me a gigantic box not too long ago. A huge stack of his patterned papers, metals, tags and even an idea book on how to use his products(Ideaology). That was a super fun box to open.
Thanks Sis. You're the best!!
This was the first pile of stuff I pulled out for this challenge.

This was a great challenge. Why don't you give it a try?
If you do, send it over to Tiffany we would love to see what you do.
We all have creative inspiration to share.
Check out the rest of the Tiffany team for this challenge. It's always great

Thanks for stopping by.
Have a great day!!
Til next Time with T!!

More Valentines and Breakfast.

We finally finished this year's Valentines.
Shine wanted to take some to her class too.
So we tried to do something a little more sophisticated than the normal paper SpongeBob Valentines, considering her age.
So here's what we did...
Here are all of our supplies.
Take all this...

and this cutie pie....

Put these on a cookie sheet just like this..
(don't forget some parchment paper underneath the candy)
I added it after this picture.

Put them in a 300 degree oven for about 5 minutes.
You will see them turn a little flat. Then you will know it's time to get them out.
Let them cool for only about 1 min max.
Then get 4-inch sucker sticks and put them in the bottom.
You have to smoosh the two ends together onto the stick.
I used a couple butter knives so I didn't burn my fingers.
You have to work kind of fast because they harden pretty quick.

Don't think you're seeing things, I used two different candy canes.

Here they all are in one big pile. About 30.
That makes 90 Valentines this year between all the kids.
When Coco gets a little bigger we will be about 120 per year.
What are we a factory or something?
Stay focused!!!(self talk)

Here is a closeup! We placed each one in a cellophane bag and tied with ribbon.
She did not want a cute tag. Ouch! That hurt but ok, I had to choose my battles. At least she was still taking Valentine's at 15, right?

Well, that's the last of the Valentines for this year.

On to breakfast.
I decided since the kids all had school on Valentines Day,
I would make their special breakfast on Sunday instead.
Take a peek into our morning...
This is the table all set up. I didn't buy a thing.
Everything was in my house. I like those types of projects.

Well, here's the menu breakdown.
These are heart shaped egg scrambles with cheese.
Cresent rolls cut into heart shapes, with a little scrambled eggs and cheese stuffed inside, then cooked according to the package.

Chocolate Chip heart shaped pancakes. Completely from a mix.
No molds here, just took a medium sized spoon and formed half the heart and then scooped up some more batter and formed the other side.
After making a couple you will have it down to a science.
Trust me on this one folks!

These are cinnamon sugar hearts.
This is just the left over dough from the cresent rolls, cut out in a smaller heart shape, then rolled in cinnamon sugar. These were a big hit!

This is Strawberry Syrup. Which my family loves better than maple.
It's just some berries, strawberry jam and some strawberry ice cream syrup.
They all LOVED it! A little more naughty than my homemade strawberry syrup but it's a special sundae!!! :))

Then the real kicker for them all was Berry smoothies, or
Brooklin called them "LOVE POTION".

So don't throw me out the window b/c they were not organic.
Next time for sure!! Well, maybe.
Some berries, milk, strawberry syrup and strawberry ice cream.
Did you hear that static in the air?
I hope you didn't miss any ingredients!! :))))
Mix in a blender til smooth.
Top with a dollop of Cool Whip or whipped cream and some
Valentine sprinkles.
Wow! Did you hear that static again?
What is that? ;)))
Everyone got a big glass, glass. Even Brooklin.
She was very excited to have a big girl glass.
She said it was just like at Ashley's Bridal Luncheon.
This was the table setting.
Guess what the placemats are?
A pink piece of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock. Told you it was all in my stash.

This was my hubby's place setting.
He doesn't eat chocolate chip pancakes, so I gave him his fav, blueberry pancakes.
He was most happy to have his own stash of pancakes.

This is what it looks like on the plate.
You can do a lot with a few heart shaped cookie cutters.

Yes, that is peanut butter on the pancake. We have eaten it like that since we were children. It's best with hot maple syrup over the top. Try it, you won't be sorry.
Trust me, I didn't get these hips at the mall.

On each place setting I put a little red heart with each person's name on it. On the other side, I wrote something special to them, just from mom.
Then as we sat at the table, they each read them aloud.
Sometimes it's hard to say those things about ourselves,
but it's good every now and then.
Then, each person said one thing they loved about each person at the table.
It was so fun to hear some of the things each of my family members shared.
They were so cute.
I think they all said they loved that mom was so creative and cooked good for them.
It was great for us all to share a little love for each other.

I must say one last thing. My kids and hubby were so appreciative of this special "Love" breakfast.
Kameron kept saying "Wow! Mom this is the best breakfast ever!!", he also said, "Mom, if the Next Food Network Star show was here they would see the breakfast and make you the "Next Food Network Star!" More than once,
Brooklin said "Mom, you are the bestest chef mommy ever!! I'm going to Valentine you on Valentines Day!"
Shine said, "Mom, you did a really good job on breakfast."
On and on they went!!
It really didn't take too much longer than a normal breakfast.
And the extra time it did take, was FAR worth it to see how happy this little fun food made my family. They were very impressed!!
We can spend so much time on trying to impress everyone else in the world and the most important ones are sitting right in front of us everyday. Those are the ones that really matter most because they will remember it the longest!!

This post was much longer than I anticipated. Sorry about that.
I hope you found something on here that you can use for the ones you love.
Don't let today go by without telling and more important showing the ones you love just exactly how much you love them.
A little love goes a LONG way!!

Happy Valentines Day!!
Til next Time with T!!

Valentine ideas.

Everyone ready for Valentines day? If not, here are a couple ideas for your kids Valentines at school. I love making their Valentines with them every year.
I look forward to it.

What do you get when you take all this....

And mix it with one of these(one of my cutie patooties)...

You end up with this...


A little scoop of love for Love Day.
With a note that says,
"I Dig You!"

Those were for Brooklin's class. When I look at them, they seem to fit her personality.
Super easy too. A little sand shovel, I picked up at an online party store for super cheap, clear cellophane bags, ribbon, cute tags, and of course candy.
I think the rest is self explanatory.
Brooklin loved sharing them with her class.
She was very proud of our hard work.

On to child # 2 Valentines.
Again, what do you get when you take all this....

A couple of these....
(we did Coco's hair to match big brothers, he's proud)

Then do this...

make these...

And Viola!!! You get this...

Then you wrap it in a cellophane bag with a cute tag and you're done!

These were for Kameron's class. All his classmates got an iLove iPod.
Kameron says these are his favorite Valentines we have ever made.
Here's how to make them...
Wrap a box of candy hearts in red cardstock, tape the white headphone string to 2 mini Reese's cups, wrap with foil, print a playlist and scroll wheel, make a cute "U Rock!" tag, put in cellophane with a ribbon and you're done.
Super cute!
Kameron did most of the work on his.
He did the earphones including foil, and taping to the box, and cut out all the scroll wheels and tags with a circle cutter and helped tie the tags on the bags.
It's good for the kids to help with these things. He realized how much work it is to make them and I think he appreciated them even more as he passed them out to his class(more on that in my next post).

So I hope the Valentine's I made with my children this year, help you to get yours done for your children.
Sometimes the hardest part is coming up with what you want to make.
I will be working on my 3rd child's this weekend. She will be sharing with her friends on Monday, the actual Valentine's Day.
I will post those later after we get them done.

Most of all, enjoy the time with your children.
It's so rewarding to see their smiling proud faces when they share with their friends.

Hope you have a great weekend.
Now go get all those Valentine's done.

Til next Time with T!!

Chocolate..latest color added to the color wheel.

Well...it's almost that time.
I love Valentine's Day. It's becoming one of my favorite holidays.
Ever think about the colors of Valentines day?
I mean after Christmas, the holiday with the most red, then we turn around and have another one with a ton of red too.
It's ok with me, I happen to love red.
And at least we can throw in pink, white and brown(chocolate).
Chocolate is a color you know. I heard they added it to the color wheel.

This picture shows what my work table has looked like for the past week.
We have been working on Valentines for the kids class parties.
We don't get to make for just one class of 30, oh no!!
Our total this year is about 75 Valentines.
I know you want to ask, so go ahead....
That is because I have 3 children that give them out.
In just a couple short years, our little Coco will put us well over 100 homemade Valentines. That's a lot of Valentine creations. And not one of them wanted the same one.
That sounds crazy for one house.
Kameron-30, Brooklin-31, Shine-15
I need to hire me an Alice, like the Brady Bunch had. Really, I do.
Now I really know why they had her, and I know why Carol always was so calm and happy to see Mike Brady when he came home from work.

Oh geeez!! What happened to my sweet Valentine post.
Ok focus!!
So in the next few days, I will be posting the kids
Valentines that we made this year.
We had a lot of fun, and they like them more this year than last,
especially Kameron. He says these are his favorite of all time.

Just wanted to post quick, been busy with all those Valentines.

Headed to the Peach Blossom tomorrow.
Kameron's class made it to the district finals.
He says they're really good this year.
So I will go to see for myself.

Hope you all have a great day.
Get those Valentine's done, you only have until Monday.
Or if you are us, our school parties are tomorrow.
So I am all done. Whew!!

Til next Time with T!!

Scrap Tiffany Gray & Yellow Color Challenge

The challenge this week at Scrap Tiffany is a color combo,
Gray and Yellow. Two of my favorites.
Gray is the new black right? Yellow is so the opposite of that.

I love color challenges. They really help to get us out of our box.
Color is my favorite. It really can set the mood of a room, party or even in our clothing it can be an expression of how we are feeling that day.
Maybe we should do a color challenge in our clothing.
Mix a couple new colors in your closet that you have never mixed before or maybe didn't think of.
You never know what you would come up with.
Well, back to the Tiffany challenge.
I chose to use a picture of my girls.
I love this picture. It was taken at my middle daughter's
Christmas program just last month.
It seems so funny that these three are sisters at such a wide range of ages, but ya know, they really do love each other a lot.
I can't wait to see what their relationships grow into over the years.
Ok, I'll shut up...here's my layout.

A couple closeups.

Supplies used:
Patterned paper: Yellow-Basic Gray-New Wheat;
Yellow Dot-Crate Paper-"Fireflies";
Scallop Stripe-7Gypsies
Transparency: Hambly-Doily Decor
Date Circle/Camera Circle: Pink Paislee
Gaffer Tape: 7 Gypsies
Brad: Karen Foster Designs
Glitter Letters: Michaels
Metal Strip: Making Memories
Misc: Jumbo paper clip, Gray t-shirt fabric, yellow Ric Rac,
Dymo Labeler, Dictionary paper

There you have it folks. I really enjoyed this layout not just because of the colors, but it was quite fun to think I didn't have anything gray or yellow.

All I pulled out gray was 1 pc of gray cardstock that I ended up not even using. I pulled out my bolt of gray tshirt fabric, I previously purchased at Walmart for $5.00 clearance and away I went on the machine, making my ruffles and flower.
Then I found 1 gray transparency hidden between some papers.
As I searched, I found a lot of the gray and yellow that I didn't know I had.

So don't always assume you need to go out and buy something to create the pages you want or need to create.
Most of the time us scrappers/crafters/sewers, don't even realize what we have in our stash. Although it is quite fun to go buy more, you don't always have to.

So see what you can create using this color combo. If it's a scrap page or card, send it to Tiffany. Don't tell her I told you but she loves to see what you create out there.
If you take the challenge of finding this color combo in your closet and make a "new" outfit, send me a picture. I would love to see.

Til next Time with T!!