Tonight was a Martha Night

Ok, so my camera is dead which makes me sad. I know my charger is somewhere around this place...but I'm not quite sure where! Which means,pictures will be posted shortly. In the mean time, I finished a few different projects and am super excited to share.

1. My first deco-whatever clipboard
2. Deco-again letters for baby Derek's room
3. A keepsake shadow box for Connor
4. A really good idea for Connor (but again, just an idea)
5. A cleared off scrapbook desk, waiting to be messied up again

*pics to come.

First Birthday

I have successfully mailed just about all Connor's first birthday invites. Yeah! I was pretty happy with the outcome too (which makes it more exciting). Each invite is a different colored cupcake with a glittery, sprinkled top complete with a candle. I found the cutest glitter paper that I used to cut out frosted tops, candles and then hole punched and glued(thanks for the idea and help mom) each individual sprinkle!
Inside are the details for Connor's Sweet Celebration!Complete with a map on the back.

I have now moved on to the actual planning stages and realize this stuff is tough! From food to deserts, games to favors... there is plenty to do.

Idea Theif

I am in love with this project:

I found it here.

I think I may have to try this for Connor's room...time to dig through my mounds of scrapbook paper! Thanks for the idea and thanks for the comment.

I LOVE BLOGGING!

Yeah for ME

Do you not LOVE my new blog??? cause I DO! Check out the link to the left for Leelou blogs and pick one for yourself. THEY ARE FREE. (Do you not love that word too?)

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah for FREE (and for Leelou too!)

Bed Time is MY Time

MY time starts when Connor heads to bed, and this is the outcome: Her Birthday outfit is ready! My mom embroidered this cute lil' onesie with the cupcake saying 1st birthday, and I added the rest. I am a new #1 fan of rick rack and am about to start adding it to anything and everything around the house... Andres better hide his tighty whities!

I can't wait to try it on her in the morning. I had to sneak in and measure her waist for the tutu and really have NO idea if it will look like I pictured, but it's another first and I'm excited either way.

My advice...

NEVER buy an Audi...or a used car...or anything from Carmax! Our car is BACK in the shop to replace the AXLE! Argh...then they have the nerve to call back and tell me the 'coolant temp. sensor' is out also?!? This makes me crazy.

The mother load of contests

Check out THIS contest! Now I know I mentioned doing a small giveaway to generate traffic, but I can't touch this giveaway. Check it out and enter, good luck!

My first tutorial...

Ok, so I am no pro at this sewing thing so I figured I would share the quick and simple steps I took while making these cute pillowcase dresses. *please note I am still in the learning stage of sewing and thank my mom for answering my many, silly questions. I am sure she could whip one of these things out in under 10 minutes...she is turbo like that.

My first step was to measure what width and length I wanted the dress to be. Remember, it gathers at the top, so it's ok to make it a bit too wide. I then stitched up the side to make a seam on the right side of the fabric. (when cutting the dress out, place the fold along the side of the dress so only one side needs to be sewn) * I am lovin my superb fabric trimming skills...look at that straight line down the left side.

I then turned the fabric inside out and stitched up the side again. I don't have a serger so this is an easy way to hide the ugly seam. And my third side stitch is done by turning that 2nd seam to the side, and stitching one more time. It looks similar to the seam on your jeans.

This is what the 3 step seam will look like on the side, not too shabby. My mom told me about this seam one time and I have no clue if I did what she was trying to explain, I think she said it was french. Sorry mom, I think I may have dozed off half through your lesson on hems.I then folded that fabric in half to cut the arm holes. Make sure you cut the holes deep enough so you have room to stitch a seam for the ribbon to run through.I used bias tape to clean up the arm holes. I am not a bias tape pro either so I added a few pics to show you how simple it really is after you get the hang of it. I stitch the tape to the right side of the fabric and the fold it in and stitch again, close to the edge.

After the arm holes, I fold the top over twice and press. Then stitch it close to make the pathway for the ribbon. *I am sure you have noticed by now that my seamstress lingo is not up to par. Corrections are welcome in the comment section.After the top is done I press the hem down, twice, to hide the rough edges. I love the rickrack I added along the bottom. Such a simple, inexpensive touch that adds so much...did I mention how cute this fabric is. My sister Heidi pointed it out and I agree, it's cute.

After I finished Connor's dress, I did one for her cousin Hannah too!
So that's my long, badly narrated tutorial. I am sure they will get better, assuming I tackle another project I want to share. I am open to suggestions, corrections and words of _________ .

And then This now equals This

I caught the new fridge lock being put to the test today...

And this was the response...

Sharing of Ideas

As I've been blog hopping these last couple days, I find that I love seeing people's ideas and creations. Therefore I am ready to share mine. Here is the invite I made for Marisa and baby Derek's shower. She is a huge Yankees fan and was very specific on wanting EVERYTHING to be baseball.

I found these photo baseball stickers on sale at Michaels so I bought all they had (and Andres cleaned out Wal Mart too!).

This prego girl diecut was an ebay find. When I ordered it, I had another invite idea in mind but scratched that when I saw the size. Therefore she became the direction accessorie because I felt obligated to include her somewhere. Isn't she cute, showing us to turn right...

This equals This

Someone found the cookies!










So someone else had to make some changes. I think weight watchers makes something like this because these locks are not easy to get past.

Secrets of a Good Blog

Ok, so I have been spending lots of time blog surfing... and I love it! There are so many giveaways out there that it's insane. I wonder if I do a couple give aways, I would get more readers... or maybe more commenters at least! I hear lots of people read my blog (well, lots being more the the usual 3 or 4 that comment) but no one comments. My dad says it's too dificult and unless you have a username, you can't. Well, Pooh on that I say! He comments on Heidi's and it requires the same amount of work.

I also notice that they blog daily... that one is a lot to ask. But it does keep readers coming back regularly and their content is fun. From crafting ideas, to tours of their homes, to tips on good sales...I like the content.

So, I am thinking about trying a few of their tricks but wonder if anyone agrees that it may work. So I ask you this; if I offer contests and prizes just for commenting on my blog, would you? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. If there are no comments... I will know the answer. Let's see if this works...