Easter Projects

Ok, I decided to back track and post my Easter projects.

Pillowcase, I even added yellow piping to the pink border.

 Close up of the fabric. Again I was trying to walk the line between boyish and girly.

The colors are way to bright for my taste, but I was running out of time.

Inside of card. I put stickers in the basket for a little extra treat.

Lollipop/sucker holder.

May is Martian Month

I bet you didn't know that May is "Martian Month."

Last October I started making pillowcases to send my four adorable grandchildren each month along with a fun card. The first few months were easy: October- Halloween, November- Thanksgiving, December-Christmas. I dropped the ball in January. February-Valentine's Day, March-Saint Patrick's Day, April- Easter. Then came May. hhhmmm There's Mother's day, but that doesn't lend itself to a fun kids card and pillowcase. So I went in search of a theme. We don't have a fabric shop in out little town and nothing "inspired" me at Walmart so that meant a road trip to a larger town nearby to a REAL fabric store. As I wandered the isles in a fabric induced daze, tossing bolts of fabric into my cart with reckless abandon, I saw "IT" The perfect fabric for my May projects. Cute enough for the boys but not "girly". I have three grandsons and one granddaughter so there is a fine line to be walked between boyish and girly. This fabric fit all the requirements, at least to a desperate grandma. The fabric has cute little aliens, spaceships and rockets on a light blue background. I knew there was the perfect Martian on the Everyday Paper Doll Cricut cartridge that would coordinate with the fabric and make a fun card. So TA DA "May is Martian Month" was created. I think I will lobby to have it declared a national holiday. You know to further intergalactic relations.

Anyone interested in seeing pictures of my creations? It doesn't matter, I'm going to show you anyway. If I get enough comments I may even post directions.



See, isn't that fabric soooo cute.

I love the dark blue border.



Blast off!! See my cute little Martian in the window.





Inside of card with close up of the Martian.

Ok, let's see if I get any requests for directions.

FUNNY FUNNY MOTHER

FUNNY, FUNNY MOTHER


See mother. See mother laugh. Mother is happy.

Mother is happy about Christmas.


Mother has many plans. Mother has many plans for Christmas.

Mother is organized. Mother smiles all the time.

Funny, funny, mother.



See mother. See mother smile. Mother is happy.

The shopping is all done.

See the children watch TV. Watch children, watch.

See the children change their minds. See them ask Santa for different toys.



Look, look. Mother is not smiling.

Funny, funny, mother.



See mother. See mother sew.

Mother will make dresses. Mother will make robes.

Mother will make skirts.

Sew, mother, sew.

Look. See mother put the zipper in wrong.

See mother sew the dress on the wrong side.

See mother cut the skirt too short.

See mother put the material away until January.

Look, look. See mother take a tranquilizer.

Funny, funny, mother.



See mother. See mother buy raisins and nuts.

See mother buy candied pineapple and powdered sugar.

See mother buy flour and chocolate chips and pecans and brown sugar.

Look, look. Mother is mixing everything together.



See the children press out cookies. See the flour on their elbows.

See the children frost and decorate the cookies.

See the children make a horrible mess.

See the children pull taffy.

See mother pull her hair.

See mother clean the kitchen with the garden hose.

Funny, funny, mother.



See father smile. Father is happy. Smile, father, smile.



See mother. See mother wrap presents.

See mother look for the end of the scotch tape roll.

See mother wrap and wrap and wrap!

See mother bite her fingernails.



See mother go.

See mother go to the store twelve times in one hour.

Go mother, go.

See mother go faster. Run, mother run.



See mother trim the tree.

See mother have a party.

See mother make caramel popcorn.

See mother scrub the rug.



See mother forget the gift for Uncle Harold.

See mother tear up the organized plan.

See mother get the hives.

So, mother, go.



See the faraway look in mother's eyes.

Mother is disorganized. Mother is disoriented.

Funny, funny, mother.



It is finally Christmas morning.

See the happy family.

Father loves fruit cake. Father loves Christmas pudding.

See the children's toys. Santa was very good to the children.

The children will remember this Christmas.



See mother. Mother is slumped in a chair.

Mother has ugly dark circles under her bloodshot eyes.

Everyone helps mother to bed.

Mother sleeps quietly under heavy sedation.

See mother smile.



Funny, funny, mother!

Essentially Creative

I have come to the astounding conclusion that I "MUST do something creative every single day.
Housework, while a necessary evil, is in no way creative.
In order to feed my soul, nourish my mind and preserve my sanity I need to be creative in even some small way EVERY day.
It doesn't matter if it is sewing, crochet, quilting or making cards and scrapbooks.
It doesn't have to consume the entire day or even most of it.
It can just be a few stolen minutes to do something, "anything" that feels creative.
If I take those few moments I am better able to face this crazy life and its challenges.
So my advice to every one is to find that creative outlet that feeds your soul and never let life's mundane problems rob you of its life sustaining nourishment.
Everyone has the spark of creativity within them.
P.S.
Yes, sometimes I can be serious.

OREO TRUFFLES

This is for my facebook friends
Bryan says these are "scrumdelicious". (scrumptious + delicious)
All I know is they are very rich and soooo good.

Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz) Oreo cookies, finely crushed

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate, Melted

Mix 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended.
Shape into about 42 - 1 inch balls.

Dip balls in melted chocolate; place on wax paper-covered baking sheet.
Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm
Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

ENJOY!!!
Just don't eat too many.
YUM!!!

Making Lists

I like to make lists.
It makes me feel in control when in reality I know that I'm not.
I even make lists of my lists as you can tell from my last post.
I have made progress in my list making though.
I now have the following lists on my computer instead of in a small notebook or on random post it notes which usually gets lost.

My lists for Christmas organization are:
1. Christmas cards
2. Christmas goodies to make
3. Christmas gifts to make
4. Christmas project ideas
5. Christmas gifts to buy

So, you see, I am getting organized and ready for Christmas.
I have listed people to send card to, but not their addresses.
I have listed goodies to make,
but of course it is a bit early to start cooking.
I have listed a few projects and gifts that I want to make and
even bought some of the required materials.

Now for the amazing part.
I have actually finished two gifts.
Yes you heard me right, two gifts are completely finished.
Not only that but, another is in progress.
I know that is hard to believe, but it is true.
Now all of this craftiness is completely top secret
so I can't provide further details,
but all will be revealed in just 93 days.
Yep, that is how long until Christmas.

I will continue to give updates on how little time we have to prepare so that you can become more stressed as time gets shorter.
I however will remain calm, because after all, I have my lists.

100 Days Until Christmas

I belong to a group called "100 Days Til Christmas. They promise that if I follow their guidelines and use the planning list that I will have an organized and stress free holiday season. Now I certainly believe in miracles but I think maybe that is too much to ask. Everyone knows that me and organization mix about as well as oil and water. I mean if you look up the definition of organized you will not see a picture of me. I have my system and it works for me, most of the time. I know which pile of papers are the bills and which pile is the recipes I want to try someday. I usually know which room a certain article resides in unless I have been cleaning and then all bets are off. I have been working on this lately, but it is still a work in progress and progress is slooooow.

Back to that 100 days till Christmas thing. I will not panic yet. I will be more organized. After all having a goal is good, right? I'll start with making lists. I am VERY good at making lists, just not so good at actually accomplishing the things on my lists. But I have to start somewhere.

These will be my lists;
1. Christmas Cards
2. Goodies to Make
3. Gifts to Buy
4. Gifts to Make

Yeah, that looks like a good plan. (Pat myself on the back)

Ok it is probably to early to do anything about the first two and I don't have the faintest idea what to buy anyone so I guess I'll work on number four. Oh, but first I need to make a "list" of the projects I want to create. Hey, this means another list. I think I'm going to be good at this organization stuff after all. I just have to keep making lists.