24 Days of Christmas: Day 3

What a busy day!! I had about a million and one errands to run today, and even more phone calls to make. It was nice to get out of the house after being cooped up since Tuesday Morning. I cashed my first check from Michaels today... I now have enough to pay for gas for the next two weeks. I am 100% thankful that my husband makes enough for me to work only part time. Especially in this economy. I am so much happier where I am right now.

While I was running errands today I stopped at the quilted bear and while perusing the isles I saw a simple cute vinyl saying that would go perfect on a board that I had waiting at home. I bought three of them, and now after this I am going to go back and get 7 more. At $2.75 a saying, they will be a great neighbor gift.

I linked up to the following:

Frou Frou Decor

Boost My Blog Friday

Southern In My Heart

24 Days of Christmas: Day 2

Ever have one of those days where you wake up in the morning, and you just have nothing in you creatively speaking?? Well guess what... That was my day today. I woke up to a phone call of bad news, and it was down hill from there. Yesterday I had all the ambition in the world. It was hard for me to just do one project. I wish now that I would have started on the second.

With all that said, I did want to show you a perfectly cute advent calendar, that I would very much like to make

It is found at Just Something I Made. It's vintage, it's creative, and I have not seen another advent Calendar like it. She took vintage spools and put clues on the paper that wraps around the spools. Each Calendar leads you to a gift that is $1.00 or less. It is such a cute idea!!

Let's hope that tomorrow goes a lot better.

24 Days of Chritsmas: Day One

I made a goal that I would blog about one Christmas decoration a day until Christmas day. So today I am starting with the wreath that I made this morning. I have to say, I kind of love it!

I feel accomplished for day one. The wreath came together really quick, and I am excited to hang it in my home.
Up next for tomorrow, I am making a special type of Advent calender for my Hubby. I can't wait!!

Linking up @:

Tea Rose Home

Some Day Crafts

The Trendy Tree House

First day on the Job

For the past eight years I have been stuck behind a desk working the days away. Subsequently for the past eight years I have felt like there was something else I wanted to do. I started college at 19 and studied information systems. That didn't last. I went to study the culinary arts last year, and a $52,000 that didn't even start. So my desk job was all I had to fall back on. That job, and era of my life is over now. Last Friday was the last day I would sit in a cubicle.
Let me rewind a little though... This past June was a big month for me. It had many very low down in the dumps days, days that I thought I just wanted to walk away from a lot of things. Then one night, I decided that I didn't want to stay at my work anymore, and I needed something else to do. I created DaisyCakes! I had the name rolling around in my head for some time before then, but now I really had an idea of what I wanted DaisyCakes to be. I want to make simple but beautiful items for the home. I also wanted to make simple but delicious treats for the tummy. So far things have been going well. I had a couples of months of planning and trial and error. The month of September I work my fingers off to put together enough items for a craft fair I did in October. I am happy to report that it was a very successful day! Not only did I sell most of the pillows I made, but I had a TON of great feedback on all my items.
Fast forward to two weeks ago. I had been talking to my husband and sharing my feelings about wanting more for myself other than a desk job. I prayed about it, and told him I was going to find another job, one that would make me happy. I went online, and ended up at the Michael's craft store website. They were hiring. I applied, and I got the job! Everyone, ok well most everyone has been really supportive about the move. Even though it's like a 6.oo pay cut, and I am working part time. I could not be happier! My husband has been right there beside me this whole way, and is my biggest support in this decision. He wants me to find myself again, and to take the time I need as a part time employee, and build my DaisyCakes. I totally love him for that!!
Friday was my first night. Half way through my shift, I started to wonder what in the world I had gotten myself into. It was hard!! A lot harder than I had imagined. My feet hurt, my knees hurt, my back hurt, and I felt so lost. I had been in the store about a million times, but every time a customer asked where something was I felt like a fool, and a failure. But, by the end of the night I felt accomplished. I was doing what I wanted. Yesterday was my second shift, and I found that I loved it even more. I had a little more direction, and my feet didn't hurt as much thank you to Dr Schols!
I am so grateful that I can take a step back from a desk and get to experience the wonderful world of retail, so that I can gain further knowledge, and push DaisyCakes out into the world.

I sit here this afternoon, and I wonder to myself, what do I do with my first day off? We are headed out of town for Thanksgiving tomorrow, I think I will make cookies!! Simple enough.

Let's bake!!
(By the way, I am making my full proof chocolate chip cookie recipe, and going a step further, I am dipping them in chocolate!!)

Coasters

Saturday I needed to make a quick run to Home Depot for some molding to make a quick fall project. When we got there, I fully intended on buying only the molding. (BTW this never happens! I am a bad impulse buyer...)

First of all, I just have to say that one of my most favorite smells is the lumber section of Home Depot. If I could bottle that smell, I would! My husband thinks I am crazy! When we arrive, I parked on the opposite side of the store than I needed. This is where I went wrong. When we first walked in we were greeted by the tile department in all it's glorious splendor! I "just wanted to look." Down the isle we went, and I saw these little 4 inch marble cuties. Some were tan, some were taupe, they came in packages of 9. I bought three packages. I looked at my husband and said, Ok now besides these and the molding, I am not buying anything else.

Rushing to the lumber section so that I could not get distracted by further crafting possibilities, I got my one piece of molding, and then headed to the register. I was so proud that I only wavered from my plan a little.

Let me just add this, My husband is very understanding when it comes to my impulse buying. He just tells me that as long as I am happy he does not care. Plus, he knows that I never buy at full price!

When I got home I totally set aside the molding, and got to work making some coasters that I had been eyeing on other blogs for a while now. I wanted a set of my own!

Here they are!

Cherry Blossom Pillow

Can you tell what has been going on in my craft room lately?

PILLOWS! I am swimming in a sea of throw pillows and I love them! Here is a sneak peek at my newest pillow. I made the flowers from felt, and I cut the circles out of light brown, then i cut each petal from both a cream felt, and a crimson felt. Then I glued them together with hot glue, and sewed them to the "tree branch." I really enjoy the simplicity of the pillow. (I realize this is totally out of season, but I just started cutting and this is what came out!)

I linked up to the following parties:

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Sew Can Do

Mad in Crafts

C.R.A.F.T.

It's so very Cheri

Skip to my Lou

Until Wednesday Calls

What started out as a recipe post, has turned into a confessional

While this post is a result of a recent web search, I have been struggling with this for the past two years. This post while helpful for me, is at the same time VERY emotional for me to sit down and put into words. So please excuse me if I start to ramble.

Have you ever known something about yourself, but almost refused to accept or see it? If you have answered yes, you are not alone. In January of 2009 I was diagnosed with PCOS. What the Heck is that? PCOS is a term that has forever changed my life. It means Poly Csytic Ovarian Syndrome. PCOS is commonly linked to infirtility. Which is what led to the diagnosis I received.

My husband and I were married in August of 2007. He and I both wanted children right away. Through various pre-marriage discussions we decided to take a leap of faith and not use any kind of birth control. That December I took my first pregnancy test. It was negative. January came and went as normal. February, I took my second, third, fourth and fifth pregnancy tests. I ended up being 20 days late!!! This has never before happened! Never!! March came and went. Nothing. April... May... Nothing! June came as a shock, I was finally "normal" again. I had started to get pretty worried at this point, but had been reading on the Internet that stress, and a few other factors in my life were probably the reasons for my recent monthly changes. July came and was almost over when I started to get a weird and quite uncomfortable ache in my stomach. I was nauseous, and tired. I was also, well to say cranky would be putting it mildly. My husband and I both began to feel hopeful that things were finally happening for us. So, again with the home pregnancy tests. ALL NEGATIVE! ALL OF THEM!! Not that I took that many. Maybe 4 or 5... The point was, it that I was only making my self more crazy with each test. Each month after that, I grew increasingly sad, and then frustrated. I kept wondering what was wrong, but didn't want to believe that something could have actually been wrong. My husband finally convinced me to see a doctor and at least get some peace of mind.

I went to the Dr.

He ran all kinds of test based on the story and information that I had given him. Before leaving his office, he had explained that it could be a syndrome where cysts form on a woman's ovaries causing them not to ovulate, therefore making it almost impossible have any sort of normal life, for those who are trying to get pregnant. Before he could confirm that I had this syndrome he had to run a few specific tests. He took blood, and sent me off site to get an ultrasound done. By the way, and I have no idea of this at the time, not all ultrasounds are external. Especially when your grandma wants to come along with you to give you moral support. How was I supposed to know. 'Nuff said!!

Three days later I get a call saying my results are in, and that I need to make and appt to have my Dr read me the results. As I sat in the pretty room looking at my ovaries on a monitor, I found an answer to what was going on. I had two 6cm cysts on my left ovary. The rest of the visit was pretty much a blur, I could not take my eyes off the monitor and the two cysts that stood between me and motherhood. By the way, this condition affects only 5-10% of women in the world . And is a main cause of infertility in those women. I walked slowly to my car, holding pamphlets that were supposed to reassure me that I was not alone, and that there was hope. Yeah Right... I sat in my car and just cried. I have since January 2009 cried every single month, when the dream of being a mother has slipped further and further away. I am angry. My poor sweet husband has sat with me and cried, and sat with me while I have yelled, and have thrown fits of utter frustration.

Some days I only get through the day because I KNOW that there is hope. I just have moments when I choose to not believe it. Because of this syndrome, I have not been able to maintain a healthy weight. And because of my weight, I have not been able to treat the syndrome properly. So, for months I have ignored it. February of this year, I started to work out harder than I have since I tot married. I was working out 4 to 5 times a week. I worked out like this until June. Skipping workout sessions for a week at a time was not unheard of, but I really felt like I was giving it a proper effort. Those around me who were working out just like I was, were starting to lose, but not me. I DID NOT LOSE ONE FREAKING POUND! Not a one. I have not been back to the gym since June. Thankfully, I have not gained anymore weight, but I most certainly have not lost any either.

Ok, so now that I have vented I am coming to a resolution. My husband is away on a hunt this week, and I am all alone. For some reason this evening, tonight I came home and felt the need to once again to research how I can lose weight, and hopefully eliminate the effects of my PCOS. I want to not only become physically healthy, but I want to become emotionally healthy again. I have a little more hope today for the future than I did yesterday.

I knew that becuase of the PCOS my body creates an insulin resistance. I thought I knew what foods to eat, and stay away from, but before tonight, I didnt REALLY understand them. Or at least I have not been as receptive of this information. I guess I was really ready receive the information.

I am starting a new lifestyle tomorrow. Starting with this simple breakfast. And you know what? It happens to be one of my favorite breakfast meals!!

Here is to Hoping again!!

What is in my purse

While playing around in blog land this afternoon, I came across a post that caught my eye. It was entitled "What's in your bag?" It's no secret to those who see me on a regular basis that I love purses! L-O-V-E them! And, over the years my purses have progressively gotten bigger and bigger. Until this year that is. I've learned that bigger is not always better. Don't get my wrong, I still have a soft spot for the big bold statement bags, but I have recently taken to smaller more manageable bags.


When seen with my huge bags I get the same question a lot. "What do you have in there!?"

Here it is, this is what it is my bag today! please excuse the pictures, as they are taken from my phone since I am at work right now. (psst, don't judge)

Contents:

1-Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion

2-I-pod Nano

3-Floral note pad

4-Pen

5-Wallet

6-Keys

7-headphones

8-flower earrings

9-tweezers

10-hair ties

11-bobby pins

12-mani/pedi on the go set

13-Cool Water perfume

14-Twelve different types/shades of lip gloss and lipstick (Another obsession...)

15- Cell phone (not pictured)

And there we have it. That is what I keep in my purse.

Jump on over to Nice Girl Notes and see what others have been carrying in their purses!

I am in LOVE with this throw pillow.

Let begin by saying, that for the last three weeks I have been up to my ears in throw pillows, reclaimed barn wood, paint, and fabric! A month from today I will be setting up shop in a booth to show the world, or at least a small part of the world, what I have been up to.


Which leads me to this post, and my very first tutorial! So let's get down to business.



I am super in love with very natural fabrics for the last few months. I love the raw simplicity.

I started out with two 16"x 16" squares of this fabric.

I have been using this twine on a lot of my projects lately. I just let the twine to the job for me on this one. I cut a piece and let it lay on the fabric. Once I got the effect I wanted, I used some tacking glue, and put a small dab in a few places to hold it down.
From there, I cut out a few more small strips and made some smaller branches. Again, I used the glue to just keep them in place.

Once the glue was dry, I took a needle and thread and secured the branches to the fabric. (This took a LONG time!)

I knew that I had wanted to do this branch pillow last week, so I went ahead and cut out some leaves from some green burlap and a scrap piece of green fabric I had. So I don't have a picture of that.

I placed the leaves where I felt they looked best, and pinned them down. Let me just say that I have NEVER done any type of applique before, and I was really nervous at how this would turn out. Especially since I wanted it to work so bad!

Personally I think it turned out great!! It was much easier that I thought it was going to be. Once I sewed on all the leaves. It was time to sew the pillow together.




An here is my finished project! Minus the stuffing, because I am out of that at the moment.

I love how it turned out!! I am going to have to make a few more so that I can have some at my home as well as in my craft booth.

I have linked this post to the following: (The links are on my left sidebar! Click and see what others have made!!)
Fabric Fun Thursday
Strut your Stuff Thursday at some what simple
Get your craft on Thursday at Life with Lori
It's sew stinking Cute
Tea Rose Home

Bed Envy

I am totally in love!!!

Established

In just about a month, I will be celebrating my third anniversary with my husband, and I could not be more excited!! It has been a wonderful three years!

I have been playing with these rosettes the last couple weeks. Some have been really pretty, and others, well not so much... This one is kind of in the middle...

Recently I acquired a substantial amount of old barn wood planks. From little, to big! My office is now filled with hundreds of new possibilities! As per my daily routine of blog hopping I found quite the plethora of ideas. Here are a few that I will for sure be putting my own twist on.

First I found this quaint Boston Rug Store sign at Nancy Fishelson

I already started this project!! I am uber excited for it to be finished!

I found this one on Google

These are my very favorite!! They were found at BoxBrownie Trading

!

Hope

After a very long and frustrating day at work I needed to come home and get away from the world. In my office with a small piece of wood, some paint, ribbon and fabric I found solace.

My "Hope"

Black and white and Blue all over

Since we are renting our home right now, there is not much that I can do to change up our kitchen. The cupboards are bright white, the counter is a 1970's blueish color and the walls are white as well. What to do? Can't paint... Can't replace the counter top... Can't replace the cabinets...

This morning I woke up bright and early and went yard sale-ing. Oh, how I love waking up with the sun and driving around unknown neighborhoods trying to find the perfect sale! Today was the FIRST big score that I have ever made.

We moved into our house in March and the kitchen was the first thing that I unpacked. However, I have not decided how I wanted it decorated. Until now. I have decided to use black, baby blue, and white as my mediums. Here is what I have done so far.

Before

After

The plate in the corner was a red charger plate that I bought for a 1.50 at big lots, years ago. The white mile glass grave boat, I bought this morning at a yard sale. The glass jar I bought a while back at Ross. There was some water deposit on it, so I painted the inside blue and then painted the decal on the outside. I bought the pewter bowl this morning for a quarter! The black frame was an unsightly gold speckle color and I spray painted that black and then added some tuille fabric in the middle. The mirror was bought at a yard sale earlier this year and it was brass in color. I spray painted it white. (If you see the post below it was that mirror). The hanging clock I bought this morning, it was a pretty red color, but I wanted it for this project so it had to be either black or white. I liked the black better. The wicker basket use to be a cherry wood color and I spray painted it black. I left the slip cover white. The wood cut out in the corner used to be plain white, but I wanted to add some blue to it. I took some normal blue paint and watered it down quite a bit. Then I brushed it all over and with a damp rag wiped off the excess. I am not too sure I am happy with the new look... The jury is still out on the subject. The black wire bread basket used to be green, I spray painted it black today. The last picture frame was also purchased at a yard sale and was a cute pink color, but not what I wanted. I painted it blue, then white. Distressed it a little and then I put a pretty blue and white tuille in the middle. The very last thing is an old iron. I am not sure how old it is, but it looks cute. I don't think it goes in the kitchen but for right now, until I can find something to fill the space, it will do. I still have a whole other set of cabinets to decorate, but I am out of stuff... Not to worry, another Saturday and another Yard sale and it will be complete soon enough.

Making the old new again

What do these three things have in common?

Feeling a little crafting block

I started to make this block yesterday as well,

When I first started this project, I planned on making a cute St Patty's day hanging. Much like the one for Valentines with the marbles. I bought gold colored marbles intending on displaying the word LUCK. I saw this paper at Micheals, and bought it before I really thought about the project as a whole. After painting my block and applying the paper, I felt it was much to fancy for a St Patty's day project. I didn't want to take it down in a month to be hidden for a year to come. So I took some white gauze like fabric and made two little flowers to go in the corner.




The block currently sits on my desk waiting to be finished. I want to put some cute saying on it, and display it above my desk so that I can be inspired while I work. But, I am stumped as to what I want on it. So, it will probably sit for a couple weeks, until I get some spark of genius and wonder why I had not thought about it before.
Of course, today I am open to suggestions.

St Patrick's Day Wreath

I made this wreath yesterday while I was stuck home sick from work. I had been planning on making it for a while, but have not had the time to do so. Since our move, I have been totally out of sorts! I still cannot find the cord for my camera, so I have resorted to take pictures with my phone. I hate the quality of the pictures, but I'll move on...
Anyway, I was home with a stomach bug yesterday, and as I was sitting on the couch curled up, I got an awful feeling of cabin fever. To calm myself I wen to my fabric tote and pulled out my burlap and some cute green fabric that I had bought just for this project. I got lost in the job of cutting circle after circle. This job seemed to make the hurt in my tummy subside, and I was happy to be doing something productive. I am very happy with the result, and am almost happy for my stomach ache as well!

We Moved!

Sorry for the lack of posting! I have been working on quite a few projects this last couple of weeks. The major one being unpacking my new home! It's been almost two weeks since My husband and I moved, and I feel like I have been living in a sea of boxes, bubble wrap, and complete bedroom/kitchen/living room devastation! We moved in on a Saturday. The first thing to be unpacked was of course my kitchen! I can not live with my kitchen completely packed away. Since we have moved, I have made two very big cooking projects. As soon as I can locate the box with my camera cord, I can post about them. Last night, I finished opening and unpacking all the boxes in my living room. WHAT A MESS!! Do you have a room that is completely decorator unfriendly? I do, it is my living room. It is a big rectangle mess! Normally, this would be just fine, but we the main walk way is down the middle of the room, and one of the main walls has a very large and unremarkable window taking up ALL the room! It was a challenge, but I think I got it pretty good. Half the room is dedicated to my Husband and all his Trophies. By trophies, I mean DEER! Thankfully the ceilings are pretty tall. We hung up all the deer, and elk paraphernalia, and stepped back to take a look at our work, when the full deer head fell from the tallest point on our wall no less fell and landed on my brand new ultra expensive beautiful coffee table! WHAT!!! Words to express my disappointment escape me right now, but I am not happy! There are two very deep holes, and one VERY large gouge on the table top. I would say scratch, but lets face it, that would be like calling a Lion, a kitty cat. After a considerable amount of stressing, and cursing. I moved the table, and we put the deer back up. This time, jumping in place, and making as much ruckus as possible to insure the soundness of the hanging. Feeling somber but confident the job was done, we went back to work. I pointed out where I wanted other things hung, got our couch in place, and had the mantle coming along quite well. What I tell you now, leaves me speechless. The deer FELL AGAIN!! Ugh! This time, there was no table to fall on. The deer, somehow defied physics and fell towards my mantle taking out two of my favorite candy Dishes. At this, I walked away head down and heart broken. The only gratitude I take away from the whole ordeal, is that the dumb deer head had a broken point, and should feel pretty stupid for deciding to fall on my things and break them.
Moving on... It's now 11:00 pm, and I feel like I can take a minute to stop and sleep for the night. There is not one unopened box in my living room. I still need to make quite a few adjustments and buy some new things, but I am pretty happy about how the room turned out. Next up on my list is our bedroom. We just bought new bedding, and I want to change my whole room to match it. I have been a fan of dark sultry room decor, but now find myself wanting light and airy decor. This room will no doubt take the longest to complete.

New Button! Well, almost...

I am in the process of making the button for my blog! But, here is what it is starting to look like. What do you think?

Madison Reese Giveaway

Tater Tots and Jello is hosting a fabulous giveaway! I normally don't like to participate in these, but I love this necklace! It is so simple and feminine!
Visit tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com to enter!


How Beautiful is this necklace!
Head on over to MadisonReeseDesigns.etsy.com to order!

New Love!

Quite often I find myself sitting and wishing that I was born in the time of Jane Austin, and her beloved Elizabeth Bennet. I love how speaking was a love affair, rather than a simple mean of communication. It is not just the language that has me mesmerized; I am also completely enamored with the clothing. They long, complicated dresses. Elbow length white gloves. And, hats! Lets not for get the hats! Today, I am focused on the hats! Here is my new fascination.

Headbans How do I Love thee!

I LOVE headbands! I am Love everything that you can do with them! I love that even on your worst hair day, a headband makes it all better! I love to embellish them and make them my own.