DIY Knock Off Jewelry

Okay, so about a month (maybe two) ago, I was thumbing through a Rachael Ray magazine. She has a few pages in there with pictures of her faves. I love looking at them and getting inspiration for my own wardrobe and life, however, I can rarely afford them and/or the prices shock me and I think I could make that myself!
So, like I said, i was thumbing through and I came across this cute necklace called The Trinity. But it's $128 for three pearls on a leather strap and I think to myself: I could absolutely make that myself!!! And I go to the website listed in the magazine. Allison Craft Designs

I found out that she actually has a lot of her stuff in shops on the beach about 30 minutes from here. So, just looking at these beautiful pieces made me want my own, but not at those prices! Are you kidding me? So, that's what I did. I made my own. I didn't even go to the store for this one. I had everything on hand. (Yes, I'm a craft hoarder.) I didn't use leather because it comes in short supply here locally. I used hemp instead. What do you think?

These are just the photos of a few of the creations that were spawned from viewing her website. The necklace isn't for sale on line, but it is in the slide-show at the top of the page. I made the trinity and the strands, but I haven't taken any photos of them yet. I think I'm going to make some more in different colors. I had a ton of these green bead leftover from a previous project and so I picked them for my experiment. Really all this jewelry boils down to is knots, leather or in this case hemp, and beads or pearls...

Rain Check!

It's been raining a lot all summer. It rains everyday for a little while at least. So, today after the lightning and thunder there was a steady drizzle. It reminded me of when I was a kid in Kentucky. My parents would let us run through the rain in our swim suits. I have fond memories of doing that so when Jenna asked me if she could run in the rain today, I said yes. And since Jenna was out there you know Shiloh just had to be there too! But Shiloh was the only one who stuck around long enough for her close up!

Favorite things

One of my favorite things is to watch my kids explore their environment. I love seeing the excitement in their eyes and the smiles on their faces as they discover something that I see as ordinary for the first time. Or when they understand something that I've known for years. each day bring a little bit of magic. Today Shiloh said, "Side! Mama!" Which always means that she wants to go outside. So, I took her out on the front porch where she saw one of her favorite things. Mr. Fluffybottoms. She LOVES Ashton's cat. And my favorite thing is to watch her with the cat. And take endless photos of the whole ordeal, of course!

Brownie Points

So, today has been a very successful day! I went shopping and got a weeks worth of groceries and got a good deal on hamburger meat. Came home and put up everything--including making the ground beef into 33 patties! So, I was feeling like I earned super brownie points today. While I was in the kitchen, I asked Ashton to take some cream cheese down to Debbie's house. It was taking him awhile and just as I was going to check out the door, he came back. He looked absolutely beat. (I can't blame him...I can't stand the heat, especially while running) So, he comes in and says, "Hey mom, I ran around Grammy's house and I tried all the windows and doors and nobody is home and I couldn't reach the spare key, so I just left it sitting on her porch." To which I say, "Ashton your so awesome for doing that for me, but we can't leave it out there in the heat, could you go back and get it?" So, he jumps up and runs down there and brings it back to me. He flops in the chair like he was just worn slap out. Then sits up and says, "So, what do I get for it?" "You get brownie points!"
So, then he wanted to know what brownie points were and I explained it to him and then followed a battery of questions in which he wanted to know what he could trade his brownie points for. Today, I let him trade them for a handful of toffee bits. But, then of course it was how many he had and then how could Jenna earn brownie points. (At that point I got her to do a load of laundry....) But, the whole thing got me thinking... I could really use this to teach them responsibility and initiative. So, I made another chart for the fridge:

On each of theirs, I put their name on it in the center and I made it transparent, but this one I just left blank so you could personalize it for your young-uns. And I'm going to put them in sheet protectors. I was thinking that I could track each of their points for the day and the week. Then, they could be turned in for something personal, ie: time with mom/dad, special reading time, and extra board game...

P.S.- You can download this one, too!

Family Food

Okay, so I've been really lame in the "staying on a food budget" category for awhile now. But in an effort to change my ways and have more money than month, I put together a weekly menu board for my fridge. See? I think it's prettiness will increase the likelihood that I'll actually use it...


So, I just printed it and I'm going to slip it into a sheet protector and then tape it on the fridge and then it will be easy to write on with dry erase markers. I'll fill in what I'm going to cook this week and then next week it will be easy to change (because I need change and variety in my life...). I'm also hoping that it will ease the "What's for dinner mom?(honey?)" question every night, too.

P.S.- You're free to download and use it, too! Happy cooking!

That's intrinsting...

Ashton has this quirk. He likes to ask me questions, but then frequently will answer them before I get the chance to do it. Today, I was in the kitchen and feeling kinda sluggish when he started pummeling me with all kinds of questions. He asked me about what I was making and my mouth opened and all that came out was a mumbled grunt. He then answered his own question using his classic, "you mean..." and then he says, "Mom, I just took the words out of your lips!" (BTW: intrinsting is how he pronounces interesting) I love that boy! He can always brighten my day which I totally needed.

Jenna is 4 years older than Shiloh. So, I had completely gotten out of the habit of living with a toddler and I think Shiloh knows it! Today, she climbed on the dinning table, where Ashton was painting glow-in-the-dark fangs on his latest sock creature. She grabbed the little fella and stuffs him face first in her mouth, freshly painted fangs and all. She spit him out and threw him down and bawls and spits and coughs and chokes. I run. I get her cleaned up and give her some love and send her on her way. I turn my attention to the sock creature. While I perform surgery to repair the fangs....SHILOH runs into the living room and standing on tip toes, reaches up and gets the acrylic paint that I had just poured out to paint my latest art piece. Grabs the brush dips it in the cobalt blue paint and begins painting the front of the fireplace! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!?

I'm glad Randall came home a few minutes ago. I need some sort of distraction...some adult conversation.

OMG!

I've got my fingers crossed! I'm hoping that I'm the lucky new owner of this fabulous new machine! I can do everything and it's been on my list of things I want really badly for awhile now. It's called a Silhouette and it's awesome! Anyway, if you want to enter this fabulous giveaway, just visit Sugardoodle and get on the bandwagon of followers!