Favorite paper of the week

I usually go to either Michaels or Joann's at least once a week. I always bring my 40% off coupons with me, I hate to pay full price for almost anything. On my trips there I always seem to find a new pack of paper that I really like. Last week, was no exception! I love double sided paper!

I promise I am going to leave these birds behind at sometime and move on to something new. But they are so easy to do and well, I really like paper birds. Especially paper birds that have crowns!


I already have a few more in progress. However, it is getting late in the morning and there are so many fun household chores to take care of and I am still in my pajamas. I always want to spend the day in my pajamas. That only happens during a bad snowstorm when I am stuck at home and I know that no one will be coming over. Unfortunately, I do not see a snowstorm in the forecast.


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Love those little boxes

Last night I finished the apple thank you cards. My daughter really liked them. She is going to be a teacher, she better get used to apples. I already had a little mess going and the glue gun was hot, why not make something else?

I saved a lot of small boxes from Christmas. I like covering the box tops. They do not take much time to do and I can use my scraps. I was going to stop with just the brown flower but I decided to add a few green leaves. Any way I arranged the leaves, it just did not look all that great. Then I surrounded the entire flower with leaves. If I would of known that it would of looked this cute I would of used a color other than green and made them look like flower pedals. But all in all, not a bad way to spend a Thursday night. Especially since the roads turned really icy last night and there were many accidents in town!

The button in the center of the flower is from this cute little bag. It did not photograph that well but there are a lot of pretty buttons in there. $1.00 that is a bargain! I forgot I had them. I bought the bag at a "barn sale" two years ago. I really liked going, I missed it last year. I am going to make sure I get there this year. It is held on Memorial Day Weekend. That can be a busy weekend for me. Note to self, make the time!

The finished project. I wish all my projects were as easy as this one.

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Work in progress

Last night my daughter asked me if I had any thank you cards. My answer was no. How could that be, I did not have a thank you card. Birthday cards, yes. Get well cards, yes. Thinking of you, again yes. But not a thank you card in the bunch.

Now I am working on a few thank you cards for her. Can you guess what she is going to be after she graduates in May? Do the apple thank you cards give it away? She is student teaching at a local elementary school. To make a long story short, she did not see the kids at Christmas time and a few of them gave her presents yesterday. I like that she is taking the time to thank them. Good manners never go out of style!

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Short but oh so sweet!

Last year was the first year I really became aware of clementines. I always thought they would taste like an orange. I am not a big fan of oranges. Silly me, I just did not know a clementine would be so much better. They are so sweet and very easy to peel. One big drawback, they have such a short season!

Now, the only thing better than a clementine is a chocolate covered clementine! I made quite a few batches of these last year. It has been on my list of thngs to do, but somehow I just got around to making these this morning.

The stars of the show!

The only time chocolate may take the backseat to any other food! They are so easy to make. I heat the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until chocolate is smooth. I dip half of the clementine in the chocolate, I think it looks prettier that way. Then place the clementine on parchment paper. It does not take long for them to set and be ready to eat.

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Laundry Basket

A few weeks ago, one of my favorite bloggers had a post about covering a laundry basket with fabric. I own a few of those ordinary plastic laundry baskets. I will admit they are an awful shade of bright turquoise green. I decided I needed one of these very pretty baskets, my laundry deserved of an upgrade. No more plastic baskets!

Last week while browsing at Homegoods I noticed a very pretty fabric covered laundry basket. But did I really need it? I left without it. When I got home I found this basket in the back of a closet. Looks like a laundry basket. I have leftover fabric, I could make one.

It did not take me very long to find enough leftover fabric to make the cover. I had to buy the pom-pom fringe, I still love pom-fringe.


It is funny because I went to the blog that I thought had the original laundry basket. I like to give credit, when credit is do. I went back as far as November and did not find the basket. Now, I have no idea where I found it. The other funny thing is that I am trying very hard to put our clothes away as soon as they come out of the dryer. Now, the basket has been sitting on the floor empty. But, I did enjoy making it.

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A little frills can't hurt!

When I was almost finished decorating our bedroom I began to fear that I may have taken the western idea a little too far. The room was getting darker than I had planned. It needed a little frilly do-dads. What would be better than flowers and jewelry. A small silver vase with a bunch of purple flowers. Purple is frilly!

I always take my jewelry off at night and leave it on the bureau. Why leave it out for some much needed color?

A concrete bird and a little glitter.

A few photographs and more jewelry and I am headed in the right direction.
I can see it all coming together.

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I just want to be done!

I can't believe it has been a week since I posted something new. I really wanted to concentrate on improving my blog this year and I start off the year by neglecting it! I haven't really been feeling that creative either! What I have been doing is trying to get my house in order. That means cleaning, organizing and finishing all the projects that I started. The picture of my new dining room furniture is a great example of things that need to be finished! I have been deciding on chairs, since Thanksgiving. We eat at the kitchen bar, so there is no real hurry. I think I have made a decision on what chairs to keep. I will post a picture of my new finished dining room next week!

Another unfinished room, is our bedroom! I painted the walls a pretty dark tan/gold color in late fall. This is a look at the bedroom door. My husband thought it would be nice to make it look like a barn door. I agreed, the other side that faces the hallway is red.

Still working on the pillows for the bed. They are smaller in real life. I will say they also look better in real life. I do not see a future in photography! I love the front two pillows! I not sure what to call the look I am going for, I want it to have a western feel, like Colorado or Montana. I have no idea why, I just want it to have a comfy fell that both my husband and I would like. Not that it really matters to him. He has always let me do the decorating.

This is the top of a tall chest. I put a wreath down and put these two large candle holders inside. I love the blue beads against the tan walls. I was going to throw the glass beads out and buy red ones, but the blue is very pretty. This is what I have been doing. Finishing all the decorating projects that I have been neglecting since fall. One day, I will say my house is done! I will be done looking for curtains, rugs, lamps and more lamps! Another problem is that I buy something take it home look at it for a few days and decide it is now quite what I wanted. That means back to the store and start again. Professional decorators earn their money! I can not wait until I am done! Then I can sit down and finish that book I got for Christmas!

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CD Holder

I am working on a fun little project to hold a few of my favorite CDs.

It all started on Tuesday morning. I had not left my house in four days, a record for me! It might be the weather, it is cold outside! So, Tuesday I head out to return a few Christmas presents while I still have the receipts! I ventured into Michael's to see if they had any leftover Christmas crafts. Sorry to say, but they were pretty much picked over. I did find this cute bunch of five circle chipboards.

It was only $1.00 I thought I could do something with it. When I got into my car, I put in a CD my daughter made for me. Maybe I could make something out of the chipboard circles to hold my CDs.

That is what I did as soon as I got home. Okay, not right when I got home. But, after making supper and doing the dishes.

Each circle has a little pocket to hold one CD.

I found a few little quotes on the Internet. I agree with this one. The music I listen to is really influenced by the way I am feeling at that moment in time. Sad day and the music is low key. Happy day and the music is more upbeat. Now that I think about it, maybe on the sad days I should be listening to the more upbeat music. I wish I had a better word than upbeat, but right now that is all I have.

I must admit this has been one of my favorite projects.

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Small Market Bag

This is my little sewing project, a small market bag. I like using reusable grocery bags, but they are way too big if I am just running to the store for a few things. I can easily fold this bag and put it into my everyday pocketbook. I do plan to make more. My daughter said she would like one. Hopefully, I will have a few more by the end of the month.

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Sew More!

I am working on a little sewing project, I hope I like it! I already know I love the colors. I love red and blue together. I said I wanted to do more sewing this year. Looks like I am on the right path.

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Gifts

A little look at the gifts, I finally finished for my friend's birthday.

A little notebook my friend can throw into her purse .

This is a simple flower card, that I really like.

It is easy to make, always a plus.

Maybe that is why she is getting six of them.

Another little note card. I am still in love with the birds.
I really do love this new paper. But, I know that the next time I visit one of the local craft stores I will fall in love with another stack of pretty papers. It happens everytme!


I am not that happy with the picture quality. But, I always wait until it is night time to take most of my pictures. You can see that I had to use a flash for this picture. I covered a white paper bag from J Crew with paper to match all the little gifts that I made. It can easily to used again since I added the words "Just for You" instead of Happy Birthday.

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Pretty Little Doo-Dads!

A friend's birthday is less than a week away. We don't exchange gifts, but I need an excuse to make something cute. I will find any small reason to put off organizing my kitchen. Who am I kidding, I need a professional to come in and organize my house. But, that will never happen. I have better ways to spend money. I now know that I need more pretty do-dads for my paper crafts.
I recovered a small recipe box that I bought in the $1.00 bin at Michael's. Hopefully, tonight I will have time to make a few cards and notebooks to put in the box. What fun would it be to get an empty box for a gift?


These are the do-dads that I mentioned before. They are so pretty. So unlike me, I usually like everything to be distressed. But, it is not always about what I like. My friend likes bright, clean and tailored. I like distressed, dark and tattered!


I bought a small stack of this pretty paper at Jo Ann's . My first craft purchase of the year. I was going to try and use what I already have in my cluttered craft cabinet. But, the paper was so pretty and it was on sale! Which meant I could use my Jo Ann's coupon on something else. Crazy how a crafter's mind work. Or, is it?

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First Project 2010

The first project of the year. Nothing exciting, I wanted a new journal for the new year. I started keeping a journal last year, I was faithful at writing in it every day for three months. Then I missed a day, then another and then I never opened it again.

I bought a stamp set of the alphabet last year. I used it once. It is much easier to just use my own handwriting.

I love how the tree looks. Just circles cut into different sizes. I like the layered look.
Oh, yes that is an owl you see.

Moments in time.

Remember!
That is why I am going to be faithful to this journal. I can not remember the little things quite as well as I use to. Like, where did I put that journal?
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Janurary 1, 2010

I am lucky that I always get a few books for Christmas presents. This book was surprisingly bought by my husband. I love altered art. I would really like to take an art class. Maybe, this will be the year.The book is full of so many fun ideas. I have a few New Year's resolutions. I won't bore you with them all, but I am going to be more creative this year! A few of my friends want to get together a few times a month to make things. That should help make the winter a lot more bearable for me. Snowstorms and frigid temperatures can get old very fast and a girl can only do so much shopping. Did I say that? Really, I think the stores will survive without me.

2010 The Year to be more creative!

Happy New Year

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