A December to remember

December is always a busy month, and I usually enjoy the hustle and bustle, but could of done with a little less this year.

The month didn't start off that great: the car needed new tires, the roof had a big leak, and the washing machine died.

Not the type of purchases you want to be making right before Christmas!  On the bright side I feel safe driving around, I can enjoy the Washington rain again, and I found an awesome deal on a LG front loading washing machine.  The washing machine even plays a happy tune when it has finished - laundry was never so much fun!

I was so busy getting ready for Christmas I did not get a chance to post any of my favorite craft projects.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is making home-made gifts.

My favorite project was making these hand-painted Toms for Jadyn of her favorite boy bands.

I found fake Toms in solid black and at Rite Aid for $10. 

For the fronts I copied and cut out the logos for One Direction and Justin Bieber on contact paper and stuck it on the shoes, and then carefully painted them on.

For the back I stuck on alphabet stickers and painted over them, and removed stickers once paint was dry.

I think they turned out great and my daughter LOVED them.

For my next project I really got carried away making these fun frilly scarves.  Each scarf was made from a XL men's T-shirts.  I also made matching flower clips out of the left over scraps.

For the scarves I followed the directions on this video from Studio 5.

My favorite ones were those made from sports t-shirts.  I am surprised that we have any t-shirts left in the house :)

I also had fun working with some of my co-workers decorating for our work Holiday party.  My favorite was crafting cone trees and Christmas Crackers.

 I must of made at least 50 cone trees (inspired by The Creativity Exchange) in all different sizes.  

With the close of the year, I look forward to 2013 and the opportunity to re-dedicate myself to improve.

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Working on a new look for blog

Trying out a new template for my blog and adding pictures for the sliders.

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Merry Christmas!

The best Christmas present ever!  

Everyone was willing to indulge me and take a family picture, priceless!

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Oooops!

I have been feeling a little glum with what seems to be a sudden realization that I am no longer a mother of 4 kids, but a mother of 4 young adults, and rapidly growing close to an empty nest.  Christmas is a little different with teenagers, as they tend not to show the same enthusiasm as they did just a few years prior.  

As I was putting up the Christmas tree I was feeling a little "grinchy", no-one wanted to participate, not even  Jadyn who for the last couple of years has put up the tree before I got home from my Black Friday shopping (although I should give her a break as she was not feeling well).

I was getting out the ornaments and I came across a box of hand-painted glass ornaments that I had purchased several years back. I had never hung these ornaments as I purchased them for the kids with a plan to add an ornament for each of them each year, and give them to them when they start a family of their own.  I went back and forth on the idea, but finally decided that since my kids are all acting so grown-up this year, why not have a grown-up tree with beautiful glass ornaments.  Jadyn finally joined in and helped me hang some of the ornaments and it was not too long before "Oooops!"

One of the large Nativity ornaments fell and broke on the floor.  I think I would usually of been quite mad and would have chastised her for not being careful.  However, this time it made me laugh, giving me the pick me up I needed, and a reminder that I do still have "kids."  

Plus I think it now shows a great view of the wise men who are on the back.

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Good-bye Sugar

No this is not a diet post, Sugar is a large golden brown stuffed dog.

Several years ago Sugar accompanied Jadyn everywhere she went, and held a prominent place on her bed at night.  A couple of months ago Jadyn became a teenager, and over this last year I have definitely seen her blossom from a child to a young woman.  Jadyn is the youngest of the family so it has been bittersweet to see this change.  Last year her room was stuffed with toys, books, games etc. and was often quite messy. Gradually she has purged her room of her childhood toys.  Posters of Tinkerbell have been replaced with Justin Bieber and 1D.  

Recently Jadyn completed another big purge, and this one included Sugar.  I don't know why it was so hard for me to see Sugar in the donate pile, as she had no monetary value, she was a 25 cent Yard Sale gift from Gran ma Nancy.  

When my kids were all young it seemed like they would never reach an age of independence.  

Now it is here and I am sad that it came too fast.

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Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Christmas Tree Cones made from card stock, scrapbook paper, and sequins

The stores, radio, and even the church organist have been displaying and playing the Christmas spirit for quite some time now, so although it is not yet Thanksgiving I feel like I am behind.

This Christmas feels a little bittersweet as it will be the last one we spend altogether as a family for at least the next two years, as all 3 boys plan on leaving for their 2 year missions this next year.

As much as it is exciting to see them grow up and be able to head out on their own it is still hard letting go. 

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Enjoying the sun while it lasts - another diy skirt

Summer seemed to take forever to get here this year, but it was definitely worth the wait.  Once the sun finally decided to come out it stayed for a long time, and is still shining.  This is very unusual for Western Washington, but I am definitely not complaining.  As a result I have been wearing a lot more skirts to work.  I wish I had kept count, but I think I have probably worn a skirt to work everyday for almost 2 months, which is a record for me.

Wearing skirts frequently inspired another up-cycle project. I love bringing new life to old things that are ready to be tossed out.  Also, if the project doesn't work out as planned it is not a big loss, as you were planning on getting rid of it anyway.

I was going through my closet and found this shirt I have not worn in a long time, I think it is a yard sale find from a couple of years ago. I loved it's pattern, but did not care for how the neckline looked on me. My last DIY skirt was so quick and easy I thought I would try another one.  For the waistband I used fabric from a pair of very large skorts in a Lycra material that I found at a yard sale for 50 cents.  I used the same technique as in my previous post DIY skirt from a dress and used a skirt from my closet as a guide to cut the fabric. Using the existing hemline from the shirt, I only had to hem the sides and a sew on the waistband.

Clothes in my closet beware!

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Proud mamma of an Eagle Scout!

This past Sunday we finally held Jordan's Eagle Court of Honor.  He had earned his Eagle award a couple of months ago, but as usual time slipped by with summer activities, Girls camp, Scout camp, vacations, work, life, etc. You know how it is!

I think the hardest part was setting a date, once that was done I was able to get to work on preparing for the event ......well, more like work really hard the couple of days prior, I do best under pressure :)

I had a great trip down memory lane going through old photos to create a slide show for the event. 

Where did all the time go?  It does not seem that it was that long ago that I was one of his den leaders in Cub Scouts. Yes he looks all sweet and innocent, but I remember him being quite a terror whenever it was my turn to be in charge of the pack meetings activity. 

I had so much fun with the food and was also able to complete some "pinspired" projects.
Gotta love it when you put those inspirations into action.

 Campfire cake

My version: Cake from Costco, Pirouline wafer sticks from Dollar Tree for logs,
Fruit roll-ups for flames (plastic knife sandwiched between 2 fruit roll-ups and cut in flame shape)
(inspiration found via sixinthesuburbsblog, originally posted by Anam Cara)

Water bottle label wrappers inspired by Need to Create - Recipes

  On Pinterest I saw lots of beautifully decorated cupcakes iced in the form of merit badges, which was way out of my league, as well as would take waaaaay more time than I had. 

My solution - I photocopied Jordan's merit badge sash, and cut out the merit badges. Glued 2 merit badges together, sandwiching a tooth-pick in the middle.  I thought it was a fun way to display the merit badges he had earned. 

I am so proud of his great accomplishment!

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I ran 10 miles!

You may have noticed I have been running a lot lately.  After my recent 5K I was browsing the internet for other potential events and came across the Over the Narrows 10 mile run.  It looked like a lot of fun to run over a big bridge and back, plus it cost only $23.  It was a last minute decision, and I signed up just days before the event.  I had recently completed a 8 mile run and felt this would be a great next step in my training if I want to complete a half marathon in the near future.  I was a little nervous as I have not run a competitive long distance run since Cross Country in High school.  The night before I found out my friend Amy (#632) was also running the event and invited me to carpool drive her and her friends to the event.  They are all avid runners, but were running for fun and treating it as training run so we ended up running as a group.

Running with a group definitely made this a very positive experience and I learned some important things.

(Over the bridge the first time - mile 4 "feeling good")

#1 -  Practice drinking and running.  At the first water station I grabbed my cup and kept running just like everyone else.  After nearly choking to death I learned a very important tip of how to drink and run by pinching the top of the cup so the water is not forced down your throat. 

(Back over the bridge - mile 6  "Still smiling")

#2 - Have Fun! - How can you not have anything but fun when running with someone like this.  It was great conversing with others, it really helped keep me relaxed and my mind distracted, making the miles go by much quicker.

(Finished the run "Still standing")

3.  Support each other - Running with others provided me with a personal cheer-leading squad, giving me the needed motivation to keep going even if my legs felt like jello (notice I am not attempting any jumps in the above pictures).  The encouraging words of others really made this a great experience, helping me to perform well and meet my goal of completing this run in 1 1/2 hrs.

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Run for Virtue

Virtue Run August 25, 2012

As you may have noticed I have taken a recent interest in running.  I have always been active in sports, but  I have not ran on a regular basis in years.  Back in May we challenged the Young Women in our Stake to participate in a “Run for Virtue” to prove that they can do hard things both physically and spiritually.  Their Young Women leaders and mothers were also invited participate, and I being both a leader and a mother of one of the participants had no excuses.

Each participant was given 2 training plans, one to prepare them physically, and the other to prepare them spiritually. 

The spiritual plan was adapted from Elaine Dalton’s book “Return to Virtue” where she invites the readers to do four things daily that will strengthen ones faith and power to obey.

The PROS spiritual training plan requires daily participation in;

P - Prayers

R - Reading the Book of Mormon at least 5 minutes a day

O - Obeying the standards as taught in the For Strength of Youth pamphlet

S - Smile 

Sister Dalton goes on to say that “these four things will strengthen you and enable you to run your race of life successfully!”

I really have enjoyed the opportunity to train for the runs with my daughter.  She does not share my same passion for sports and on many of the earlier runs she would tell me how much she hated running, but she stuck with it and didn't give up, what an example she has been to me.  Now the event is over we have continued running and although I know she won't admit it I think she is finding that it is not so bad after all.

This event was a huge success and as you can see from the picture they definitely have the 4^th step down, smiling :)

Photos by Jennifer Jackson

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DIY skirt - made from a dress

This last week I have been on vacation and had a lot of fun with the family with trips to a water park and the beach, but I wanted to finish at least one project before I returned back to work. So around 8pm Sunday night I decided to start a long overdue sewing project.

Like the scar on my knee, for some reason on a recent hike I thought it was a good idea to crawl under a fallen tree that was covering the trail with my big hiking pack on my back instead of going around.  I was already halfway under the tree before I realized that this was probably not my best idea. It reminded me of the times when I was 8-9 months pregnant and thinking I could squeeze past people or through tight areas, and then get my belly wedged.

Anyway, I had a dress that I bought over a year ago at a Yard Sale for $1, but it was too small, but I loved the graphic print, so I thought I would try and up-cycle it into a new skirt, and I think it turned out pretty cute.

I used an existing pencil skirt made out of a jersey fabric as my template. I used one of the existing seams of the dress for my guide. In doing this I decided I would make the hem line asymmetrical, and use the existing hem-line of the dress (less sewing).  The waistband of the skirt is folded down as I will be making this in a separate step.

I made a yoga style waistband for the skirt, and again used the waist band of my existing skirt as a guide.  I folded the fabric so it is quadruple thick to account for front and back of waistband and for the double thickness needed for the waist band.  This waistband once completed is only about 4 inches wide, but if you do not have an existing skirt to use as a template check out the waist band instructions at sew mama sew it gives good instructions on how to determine measurements for a waistband.

Here is what my waistband looked like once I cut it out. I cut out the fabric using an existing seam for one side

Fold fabric in half, wrong sides together and sew the left seam. You will now have approx. an 8 inch wide circle. Fold wrong sides together to make circle double thickness - this is your waistband.

Slip waistband over the body of the skirt and pin the unfinished seams together (you will have 3 thicknesses of the fabric to sew together). Sew together using a stretch stitch.

This was a very quick and easy project and as I used existing seams of the old dress I only had to sew 3 seams ( 1 side of skirt, 1 side of waist band and then attach waist band to skirt). This project was finished well under an hour.

The length of the skirt can be adjustable by a couple of inches depending in if you want to fold over the waist band or not.

Guess what I wore back to work on Monday?

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Happy Feet

I have been trying to get back into running again with the goal of running a half marathon, and maybe eventually a marathon.

I remember running track back in high school, I started off competing in the 3000 m, but gradually reduced my distance, finding myself quite happy with the 400m. Once around the track was quite enough for me.



Back then I would never have considered a marathon.

So what has changed? A desire to challenge myself? Mid-life crisis maybe?

Anyway, I started running again, but my progress has been inhibited by significant toe pain when attempting to run anything further than 4-5 miles. (Side note: the distance I was running has become quite a joke between me and my husband. I was using my phone to track my runs, and thought I was running these awesome times and distances, but come to find out my GPS is quite inaccurate, so now when we talk distance he always questions was that 5 miles or 5 "jemma-miles", but the fact was that I was having a lot of pain.)

I have always had toe pain/cramps when playing sports for any extended periods of time, but usually able to make it through the game of B-ball, Soccer, etc. I tend to run high on the ball of my foot, which puts a lot of stress on my toes. After much research my self-diagnosis is Mortons Neuroma (don't you just love the internet!).

As you can see I have really funky ugly toes. To illustrate how bad they look I remember being at the ER as a teenager for a badly sprained ankle and was messing around in the wheelchair and the ice-pack on my ankle fell onto the floor. A passing doctor picked up the ice-pack for me and looked at my foot to determine where to place the pack and placed the pack on my toes instead of my ankle, that's how bad my toes look. No wonder they always hurt.

So I have been on the hunt for new running shoes that might alleviate some of my foot pain and came across the barefoot shoes by Merrell.

Merrell Shoes

They have a wide toe-box that allows my funky toes the room they need to spread out. Also the low profile promotes a natural "barefoot" running style, landing more on the mid-foot, taking pressure off my toes. I have been gradually acclimating to these new shoes, and this running style, and so far it is going well.

Today I completed 6 pain-free miles Yeah!!! (half-way to my half-marathon)

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Clutter Clearing Challenge - Mission impossible?

(Google images)

When working full time and living in a family of 6 tackling clutter can feel like a losing battle.

I find it hard parting with my stuff, because most of the stuff I have in my home I probably bought or loved at some point in time. However, clutter really bogs me down, and I feel unproductive and hard to focus.

I have read many articles and watched videos for inspiration and tips on how to tackle this task.  Many share the same approach of when tackling a cluttered area you need to decide if each item either; 1. stays, 2. donate/sell, or 3. trash.  For me this is definitely easier said than done. I always tend to be a little ADD when going through this step and unable to stick to one area as recommended, and instead tend to move randomly throughout the house chipping away a bit her and a bit there.  Definitely not the most efficient method, but sometimes I just can't make that decision at the moment and taking a break and working on another area helps me refresh and then I am able to come back and chip away at it again at a later time.

This last week I had the week off work and went on a clutter clearing frenzy and it felt soooooo good.  Maybe not everyone's idea of a fun vacation (ask the hubby), but for me it feels so good and helps me feel back in control.  Having a week off I was really able to focus and easily rid my home of the remaining bags of clutter from the 40 bags in 40 days challenge - Mission completed!
What I learned?  Clutter can be like weeds growing in your garden, and if left unattended will takes over.  Schedule time regularly to address clutter so the task does not seem so overwhelming.

Anyone planning on visiting? Now would probably be a good time.

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Sod-Top Gardening

It's hard to believe it is almost June, and I am so behind in my gardening.  As always I have such good intentions to get started earlier each year, but here it is the end of May (I should of probably named my blog The Happy Procrastinator). 

Grass grows especially well in my garden area, and to get it all turned over and ready to plant is definitely not the fun part, and so I didn't even get around to getting the garden prepped or planted at all last year. 

I read somewhere that turning over the garden just stirs up the dormant weeds, which must be true as my garden is thick with weeds, and especially gives me a good excuse not to do that task anymore. To have minimal weeds the article recommended laying down layers of newspaper and covering with a thick layer of dirt.  

Martha Stewart has instructions and video on how to create a Sod-Top Garden.  

I had planned to do this task in the Fall, so my garden would be nice and ready for Spring, but ..... here it is the end of May! 

I don't get the newspaper so I am trying a different paper method. The hubby scored me a large end role of 7 foot wide heavy duty paper, which made quick work of covering the grass.  The paper was then soaked down with a hose, and then covered in a thick layer of compost.

Ta da! no more grass in the garden.  

In Martha's video it talks about being able to plant right away, so we'll see how it works out.

As you can see painting the arbor and fence is definitely on my to-do list.

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Flower Power

I was thrilled when all 3 of my boys decided to attend a church prom. I had so much fun preparing for the event; shopping for outfits, making props for a planned photo shoot, and making corsages for their dates. 

I had never made a corsage before so I spent many hours searching the net for inspirations and instructions on how to construct one. I really liked the techniques shown on You Tube by Flower School http://www.youtube.com/user/FlowerSchool

where you can find instructions for several wrist corsages. 

I didn't copy any of her designs, but found they really helped me understand the concept of putting a corsage together, and I especially loved her cold glue technique.

To make the corsages extra special I bought a variety of sparkly beaded stretchy bracelets to attach the corsages to, so the girls could have a memento after the flowers are gone. 

On this one I use blue thick floral wire, and painted the edges of the orange roses with silver glitter glue. (Wire and glue found at the Dollar Store)

I found a glass beaded necklace on clearance for a $1 at Walmart which I cut apart for the beads.  I then strung the beads on floral wire double looping through the bead to space them out and hold the beads in place.

On this one I glued the beads to the end of piece of wire and then corkscrewed the wire stems.

I left this project until the night before the event, and I was really getting nervous wondering if I was going to be able to pull it off since I had never tried something like this before.  Once I started I found it was a great creative outlet, and with pretty flowers how can you not succeed.  

Thinking back on it now the hardest part was probably picking out the flowers.

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