Ladder Quilt Rack

I have so many projects I want to get started on, but I am still having to wait on the doctor's approval to start lifting heavy items. I am reminded several times a day that where once was a gallbladder, now resides a slight tinge of pain when I try to over-do it.. I am not a patient person. If the mind is willing, so should be the body, is my thought;o) 

So I have been piddling around the house, trying to clean things out and make things a little more organized.

I love to organize.

 I cleaned out a closet this morning that had tons of junk in it...it was the hubs' junk closet...shhhhh! Don't tell him I threw away a ton of boxes that had absolutely no purpose what-so-ever;o)

He's never been one to throw away boxes that electronics come in. Some of the boxes have been hanging out in that closet since before we moved here...mind blowing, right?;o) 

That last statement is absolutely impossible since we are the only owners of this house;o) A slight exaggeration. 

So anyway, here is another way I have been organizing.

I found this cute ladder (1/2 a ladder to be precise), on a Facebook yard sale page.  I have been able to find so many great deals on our local site. If you guys aren't apart of one, I highly recommend it; from a buyer and seller standpoint. 

It's so much easier than having to get up at O-dark-30 every Saturday morning. 

This little ladder has been a great way to store our blankets in the living room, and it's super cute. And guess what?!? I only paid $10 for it. Awesome, I know.

Now to teach the kids and the hubs how to properly fold the blankets and re-hang them...one can dream, right?

New Chore Charts

Now that summer break is here, I decided it was time to reinstate the chore responsibilities for the kiddos. Last year, I made a chore list, and my intentions were to teach E and S.R. responsibility and the value of hard work, but my system was truly broken and our excitement for it lasted all of one week. 

Expecting my kids to do the same things over and over again day after day was just expecting too much. I certainly don't do the same things day after day. We all need a little variety, right?

So to fix my broken system, I searched on line for age appropriate chores. 

It's truly amazing what little ones can do...we really don't give them enough credit. If you check my Pinterest board, you can visit the sites where I found my ideas...

This particular idea came from the Martha Stewart website.

 Thankfully this little project was mostly free to me. I had one sheet of magnet paper left. I printed the kids' pictures and the chores with the money value on them(in 25 cent increments). I had blue card stock, and cut it down to size and put the kids' pictures on top and made little button magnets to hold the bottom in place. 

The paycheck pad is something made on publisher. I used Vistaprint to print the notepad. Once it arrived in the mail, I attached magnets to the back.

We are now on week three and still going strong. The kids get to pick some of the chores to do and I delegate some as well. Saturdays are for make up work because sometimes we are gone and they don't get the chance to really make any money those days.

It is amazing how much cleaner my house is now. If you haven't started making your kids do chores, you are truly missing out....and so are they!

2012 Highlights

As I have been looking back at everything I have crafted in 2012, it's amazing how one can forget how much can happen in a span of just 365 days. I am amazed by how much the kids have changed in just a year's time. 

I have been blessed beyond measure this year. 

I want to thank you all for following along on my little journey. I appreciate all the kind words and encouragement you give me. It's nice to know that people like what I do:o)

So I thought I would share my 12 favorite crafts from this year. 

It was hard to choose, but I was able to narrow them down:o)

My first pick would be the dresser re-vamp I did for E. I was quite proud of this because it was the first piece of big furniture that I had worked on completely by myself. 

The hubs was quite impressed:o)

I loved our family movie nights that we had this year. They started to spread out when school started, but the kids seemed to have so much fun with them:o) 

They really had a ball with the Drive-In Movie Night.

The birthdays were a total blast this year. I always enjoy putting the kids parties together, and this year's themes were so much fun to work on.

S.R. made a sweet little Dorthy in her Wizard of Oz party.

My, how this little one has changed! 

E's party was so much fun as well. I didn't dive into it like I normally do, only because I am totally not a Star Wars fan, but thankfully there were so many awesome ideas on the internet.  

Love these sweet faces!!

I did a lot more sewing this year than I have in years past, and I love that my kids get excited about the things I make them. It hasn't always been that way unfortunately. I have finally figured out what they actually like, so that there isn't any disappointments on either end:o)

Here are a few of my favorites for S.R 

This dress is my absolute favorite:o) The flower girl dress. She looked like a little princess! 

We were stopped by so many people in church and at the grocery store a few weeks later saying how beautiful her dress was...I might have been a little proud;o)

Here are my sewn favorites for E.

 This little ottoman was super simple to put together, and E absolutely loves it. He lugs it around all over the place to sit on it. Definitely a score for his mommy!

This little vest and bow tie were absolutely 

adorable on him as well:o)

              

My biggest project of the year wasn't even in my own house. A very dear friend asked me to completely over haul her house and give it an updated look. I won't lie and say I loved every minute of it. It was exhausting, and with only one good hand during the process, there were times when I wanted to throw in the towel. But it turned out great and she loved it so much that she did the HGTV cry..you can't get a better response than that:o)

The before and afters are really something.

And the last of my favorites for 2012 would definitely have to be the "Famerican" Girl doll bed and bedding.

I wish you all could have seen how sweet S.R. was on Christmas morning when she saw the bed. I asked her if she new who made the bed. She said Santa..I told her that her Daddy had made it. She said,

 "Wow! He did a really good job." 

Such a sweet heart!

So those are my favorites for this year. I've got some big projects lined up for this next year and I can't wait to get started on them...just don't tell the hubs;o) 

Have a great New Year. I'll be back here next week to share with you all a new dress for S.R. and a Tooth Fairy Monster I made for E(it's ugly and he loves it:o))