Luck O' the Irish

St. Patty's Day is only a few weeks away and I can't wait to have all my friends and family over to celebrate our Irish heritage.

I have been slowly turning my house green!

I will be making lots of yummy Irish recipes too. I will share them with you soon...I think my favorite is the Guinness jello shots and bubble & squeak...so yummy!

I painted the sign, then distressed it using Jim Holtz stain. I love that stuff!

I used 2 different shades of green tulle and candy coins. I may replace those with plastic ones so we can eat the chocolate. :D

I cut the shamrocks with my cricut then punched holes and stung them on a ribbon. I also inked the edges with Jim Holtz stain.  So easy!

I even hung them from the curtains. Found the foam shamrocks at the Dollar Tree.

I also found the green flowers and flags at the Dollar tree. Love that place! The leprechauns are made with sculpey clay. I still need to attach their feet.

Milk glass from my collection laced with Dollar Tree ribbon. I found the felt shamrocks their too.

There is still much more to come. I have found lots of ideas on pinterest I want to try for the party.  Find them here. http://pinterest.com/mrselmore/luck-o-the-irish/

I painted the sign, but if you don't want to go to the trouble I created a free printable for you!

shamrock 8x10

Happy St. Pat's day!

The green eyed monster...

The pregnancy wave has taken over. 2 of my cousins, 2 of my best friends, and 2 ladies at work are all pregnant. I want to be happy for them...I really do...but every time I hear about a new pregnancy and the complaints they have I want to punch them in the face. I want so bad to be pregnant. :(   How do you get over the jealousy?

Everyone says "I haven't been married very long and just wait it will come" but we have been actively trying for 6 months, and haven't not been trying. (no b/c or preventative methods) for almost a year. I'm almost 30 (only a few months shy) &  have PCOS. Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome.  My doctors have always told me that it would be tough to get pregnant, but they didn't warn me how hard it would be to watch everyone else get pregnant with such ease. When my friend said it only took 3 times for her and was all excited; I went home and cried.

I know I torture myself. I have my baby's room picked out on Pinterest and even designed my perfect fabric for a baby quilt on spoonflower.

laybabylay.com

I know that there is nothing wrong with feeling upset about not being a parent yet because when the time finally does come for us we will appreciate it that much more. It is human nature to feel jealous of others that have something that is such a major part of life when you want it so badly. I just wish my pregnant friends would understand that sometimes I just don't want to hear about it.

Anyone going through this?  Any thoughts?

Great ways to save money

Being a very poor teacher...apparently teaching art is only worth a 1/3 of a classroom teachers pay....I am always on the lookout for freebies and ways to save money. I figured I might share a few I have found with you.

Coupons & Promo Codes

I always always use coupons. I signed up for the local paper to be delivered on Sundays only. It's cheaper than buying it, and always clip only the coupons I need. I find if I cut extra, I'll buy extra. I also make sure to add coupons to my kroger card online.

Some of my favorite coupon sites are:

http://www.retailmenot.com   for great promo codes for online shopping
http://www.mycoupons.com   is also a great site for promo codes & grocery coupons

But my favorite is swag bucks. You must check this out!  Beware...it's addictive.... Swag bucks has some great printable coupons and you also earn points for using them. You earn points for playing games, taking polls, and searching the web. I have already earned quite a few freebies! Things like gift cards to amazon.com, t-shirts, board games, appliances, video games and more!

 You can sign up here:




Freebies:

I just love freebies...well who doesn't love getting free things in the mail? One of the best places I found was itsallfreeonline.com. The website updates daily with new places to get freebies and good coupons.

Also, did you know target.com offered samples?  It's best to check here daily and I get the best results early in the morning. They also offer free printable coupons.

Eating out

We love to eat out, but it is expensive!!  My mom turned me on to Restaurant.com a few years ago and it is a lifesaver. You can buy $25 gift cards for $2 & $3. Be careful of the fine print though. Some aren't good on weekends or for alcohol and some have minimum food sales prices. It is very hard to spend $50 for 2 people at a mexican restaurant.

Vacations

A few tips I have for cheap vacations:
         *  let the timeshare companies pay for it.
                    - if you don't mind sitting through a few hour presentation these are the best trips. We went on our honeymoon and they paid for the first 3 nights in a super nice hotel for free!  And we got $100 in bass pro shop gift cards.  Just remember to say no. Don't get sucked into buying!
         *  Check Livingsocial.com & Groupon.com  for the city you will be traveling to. If you sign up a few months in advance you often find tours, restaurants, and other attractions for up to 90% off. We took a horse & carriage ride we bought from groupon in Charleston and it was our favorite part of the trip.


Hope that helps!  Happy Saving!
 

Craft room redo

I can never let furniture sit in the same place for too long. My craft room was making me crazy. It was not usable and I found I was always doing my crafts in the living room, making my husband crazy! So we have undertaking a massive redo. I love the grey walls, but really want some color (pink??) to make it pop!

We will be removing the closet door. (I keep smashing my fingers between the hall & closet door)
Adding some pretty curtain rods.
Moving the hutch off my desk (makes a great bookcase)
Moving the TV
Hanging shelves
Painting my desk
and generally just cleaning it up

This is what it looks like now...

Can you spot my husband?

We had actually moved a few things into the spare bedroom..it was a mess!

And this is what I want it to look like. I envy these ladies!

gorgeous boxes..already have the photo boxes...

Lttle tags and paper to hide the uglies

This wall is beautiful

Love the scallops on the shelves

I need to incorporate this fabric somewhere..maybe a cricut cover?

Stay tuned for the reveal....should be done this week!

Sewing disaster...or a blessing

It's been awhile since I broke out the sewing machine for anything other than scrapbooking so I was a bit rusty. We have been cleaning and reorganizing the craft room and I found a box of patterns & fabric that a friend had given me. I had never even opened it.

There was the cutest Amy Butler pattern & fabric inside. The pattern is the frenchy bag

I love her fabric line, but had never sewed one of the patterns before. They are ridiculously simple to follow. Everything is spelled out and defined. There are plenty of detailed pictures as well. They are a bit expensive, around $13, but so worth it for a beginner or casual sewer.

But I digress...on to my disaster.

In the middle of sewing the bag my sewing machine totally locked up. All the lights came on, the needle froze and it started clanging. I turned it off, but the damage had been done. The bobbin case cracked and it stripped the gears. Pretty crazy! No pics of the damage..but here is my old machine.

I was determined to finish it so I pulled out the ancient sewing machine from the table I found at goodwill for $20! I had bought it because I liked the table and never intended to keep the machine. I'm glad I did though. The stitches are straighter and more even then they had been in a long time with my newer machine...and better yet...I can sew anything with this machine! It's a beast. I even fixed a leather shoe! Sewing through 3 layers of leather...check! The only bad thing is there is no zipper foot or buttonhole setting. I am still on the hunt for a new machine, but I will be keeping this one.

Any thoughts on the best machine under $300??

Here are a few pics of the new machine. It's a singer fashion mate 237. I looked it up and it seems to be made around 1967. I love the look of it! So vintage.

And here is my new purse!

It's almost here......

I love Valentine's Day! I love all the happy hearts and lace; and best of all it's an excuse to drape your house in PINK! If it were up to me my whole house would be pink, but sometimes you have to include the hubby in the decor plans. Boo on his anti-pink attitude!

Just thought I would share some of my decor. It has been an evolving effort to find the perfect mantle decorations, but I love it now.

The bunting was so easy to make. I cut out the hearts with my cricut. The paper is from a pack I bought at Michaels. It has about 10 sheets for each month. I used the October paper to make gifts for my boo friends. After the hearts were cut out, I inked the edges and just ran then threw my sewing machine. If you do this, make sure you have it set on the longest stitch length. It keeps the paper from ripping.

Valentine's Day has also migrated into my kitchen...

and into my dining room area...

I got my little chicken at the thrift store...he's an AnnaLee...for $1.00. The volunteer said that an old lady donated 1,000 of them. Some of the characters are very creepy looking (especially the 3 foot tall ones), but I fell in love with this guy. He was supposed to be for Easter but I have a feeling I may find a place for him every holiday. He is soooooo cute!

Oh how I love Michael's

I have been drooling over the gorgeous ornate vintage frames like this these:

and this one from ikea:

but after many unsuccessful thrift store trips and the high price tags at antique stores I had given up hope. Even the $30 Ikea frame was out of our non-existent budget to redecorate and reorganize our craft/office room. (pics to come soon!)

Today I found these beauties at Michael's craft stores

They are laser cut wood frames. I bought the biggest, the opening measures 11x14 for a whopping $4.24 ($6.99) after my coupon. There are many sizes available, starting as low as 99 cents. So excited!!!! It will look perfect on the wall above my desk. I plan on using cup hooks to hang some of my most used tools in the opening and painting it HOT pink.

Thinking of an arrangement something like this:

So excited to share this awesome find...may have to go pick up some more.