Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays

It's been awhile since I have posted. Not sure where time goes but I am one of the many procrastinators and have spent the past few weeks trying to get all of my shopping done. I am happy to say that I am done! Now I just have to finish wrapping them all. I received an award that I will be posting and passing on to 5 others in the next day or two. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

I've been tagged

I was tagged by SimplyJacy and have to post a pic of myself at this very moment. You asked for it so here it is...

Here are the rules:

1. Take a picture of yourself right NOW!
2. DON’T change your clothes, DON’T fix your hair… Just take a picture.
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instruction with your picture.
5. Tag 10 people to do this..

It’s my turn to catch my friends on the spot. I’m tagging: Diana, Hip2bmom, Scrappymommy,Robin's Nest,Blessie, Cheryl, ECL, Grandmotherwren, Tialey and Contrariwise.

Thanksgiving in NY

Here are pics of hubby, kids and grandma having fun in the snow.

Here is hubby, doesn't he look cold!!!



Here is hubby pulling our youngest on a tube tied to the 4wheeler















Here's hubby's mom on the kids sled















Here is our oldest at the beginning of his wipe out on his snowboard















Here is the youngest wiping out

Playing in the snow

We made it to NY yesterday morning. It was a long ride and then my kids were excited because there was lot's of snow to play in. First thing they did was bundle up and head outside.

Yuck! Snow!

We are headed to upstate NY for Thanksgiving. I love to go home to visit but I really hate the snow. You would think after growing up where 4 foot of snow(maybe a slight exaggeration) in a few days or a week is nothing and that I would be used to it but, I absolutely hate to be cold and wet. It is pretty to look at just not to go out in. Go over to my husbands blog and check out the latest pics of my in-laws place to see what I am in for, Electricians Notes.

Here is the latest scarf I made for my Mom. I am not thrilled with how it turned out but she will love it anyway.

Frustrated

I am extremely frustrated tonight. I love to crochet but lately I have been trying to find additional crafts to add to my list of "Accomplishments". I just recently taught myself to sew and made new kitchen curtains and they turned out really nice (cheesing).
Here's where the frustration starts. I was not happy with just crocheting and learning to sew, I decided I needed to teach myself to knit as well. Mind you I am a very determined person and I am somebody who is determined to master anything I set my mind to. Well......I picked up a learning to knit kit at Walmart and started to teach myself. After 2 days I am just not getting it. Being the type of person that I am I will keep trying until I learn it but I am not a patient person. I want to master it now, not later. I guess maybe this is my lesson in patience....this should be an interesting learning experience.

This is how I am feeling right about now:

Yeah....candy!

You just have to check out Passion For Crafts blog. Look through the adorable cards and be sure to enter the drawing for her wonderful candy!!!

Winter scarves

My Mom had a car accident a few months ago and broke her neck. Ever since she complains that any little bit of cold air on the back of her neck makes her neck throb. I decided I would make her a few scarves to keep her warm this winter. Here is the first one that I just finished. I just did a basic scarf with a shell boarder. I also found a wonderful site with crochet patterns. There are so many patterns on this site you won't even know where to begin. I have posted it at the bottom of this post.
















Incredible crochet pattern link:

Crochet Poet's Pattern Collection

How is Your Day Going?

I received this in an email at work today and I thought it was one of the cutest emails I have gotten in awhile. I wanted to share it with everyone and considering I can't email it to everyone that visits my blog I thought I would just post it here for everyone to enjoy!


How is YOUR day going?

1 - First you had trouble getting out of bed















2 - You had a stiff neck

















3 - You washed your hair and couldn't do a thing with it














4 - You felt like you had a hangover and you weren't

even drinking last night















5 - Your new diet really doesn't seem to be working out



















6 - You pulled a muscle when you tried to exercise












7 - Your new hat looked better on you at the store
















8 - You keep losing things












9 - The boss chewed you out at work












10 - You got caught in the rain at lunchtime




















11 - Then the lunch you had didn't seem to agree with you




















12 - You feel trapped















13 - Uninvited guests showed up at dinnertime















14 - On top of that you think you're coming down with the flu




















15 - And finally, you're alone in the house at night when you think you
hear a noise in the basement.















MAYBE TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER!!


And then

Thought for the Day
















Handle every stressful situation like a dog.

If you can't eat it or play with it, Just pee on it and walk away.






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Holiday Time

With the holidays nearing I figure it is time to post some new links for some fun craft projects:

Thanksgiving:

http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/thanksgiving/
http://rats2u.com/thanksgiving/thanksgiving_crafts.htm
Thanksgiving at HGTV
Familyfun.go.com

Christmas:

Craftbits.com
Christmascrafts.com
Makingfriends.com
http://www.make-stuff.com/hollidays/christmas.html
Country Crafts Christmas

Gingerbread House

My youngest son and I went to the grocery store today and he decided he wanted a gingerbread house that he could do by himself. So, I bought him one of those kits. With no help from me here is how it turned out. I asked him why he didn't use more frosting and he told me because the snow was melting. I had all I could do to keep from laughing. You just have to love em'

Award time

I received an award today from Craftymug at craftythisandthat :

Thank you Craftymug!















1. Put the logo on your blog
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you
3. Nominate 10 other blogs for this award
4. Add links to those blogs
5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs
6. Give a reason why you consider their blogs cool

I've chosen 10 blogs to receive this award simply because their blogs deserve this award, they are creative, interesting and very cool!

I'm passing this award on to the following:

Daisy the curly cat
Scrap out loud
3scrapbookingladies
Hip to be Mom
Reveries of Simply Jacy
The Modern Mom
Indie Sista's
Five O'Clock Somewhere
Jael's Jewels
My Beautiful Creations

Sad Week!

This has been a sad week. With the economy in the state that it is in we have had a rough few months at work. I work for a background screening company and with all of the hiring freezes right now we haven't had a whole lot of work. Well because of this slow down we had to do a RIF (Reduction in Force) yesterday. I can tell you that this is really hard when you are part of the leadership team that has to choose who goes. We had to choose people on our team that were low performers and in reality the 2 people that we chose were not going to make it even if it were not a RIF but this does not make the decision any easier. Considering it is holiday time, the job market is not great and the economy is in a slump that just makes it that much sadder. This was my very first time being involved in this type of procedure and I realized that this is something that I will never get used to.
In the end I hope everything works out for them and I wish them all the best of luck!

USA

I thought today would be a good day to post my baby in his first official uniform. I can't believe how fast they grow up. Seems like yesterday he was 5 and now he is 14 (I am not liking the fact that I have to look up to him now that he is about 2 or 3 inches taller than me). He joined the AFJROTC at his high school. This is so funny because over the summer he was my skater boy with long hair and all and now he is military with military style hair. Wow! what a difference.

Before














Now

Daylight Savings already!

Can't believe it's that time of year already!

Here is my newest addition to my photo albums:

Trick or Treat

I used to love the preparation of getting costumes together and getting ready to go trick-or-treating. My boys are too old for that now and I miss it. I still get to watch my niece and nephew enjoy it though.

This is them at a Halloween party last night:

This is them with the couple that had the Halloween party.

Yuck!!

I am originally from upstate NY and my mother-in-law still lives there. She hates the weather as much as I do. She decided she would share the wonderful pic of the first snow storm in upstate NY yesterday! I am SO glad I am not there! Unfortunately, we are going up for Thanksgiving and I am wishing on every star that the snow is gone (I think I will be wishing for a long time as having no snow in NY would be like birds flying with no wings).

It's a girl!

My niece was born on 10/02. I haven't been able to see her yet but I have finally got pics. I just have to share:

This is Jaiden





















This is both of my nieces "Jaiden and Alyssa"

Thanks

Thanks to everyone that left me a comment or emailed me with great advice for craft shows. I wanted everyone to know it is greatly appreciated!

I can sew

Okay this is funny. I love crafts but there is one thing I have never really tried my hand at. That is sewing!! I can crochet, draw, scrapbook, paint and many other things but I have never really gave much thought to sewing. I am not saying that I have never sewed because I could do the basics. Well I decided to buy a sewing machine this week and expand my horizons. I bought some material today and decided to try making some curtains for my kitchen. I surprised myself because they actually didn't turn out half bad for my first try. I got two windows done and have two more to go. I did notice that the second set were much better than the first set.

This is not a great pic but the sun was still slightly shining

Craft show

Well my mother-in-law and I have decided to do our very first craft show next year. So my post today is asking your advice. Any tips or tricks we need to know? Any "what not to do" advice?

For so many years I have gone to craft show after craft show and walked around thinking I should sell the things that I have made. Well now I am finally going to do it instead of just thinking about it. I am asking for all the help I can get to make our first experience as successful as possible.

Cauldron

This was a really cool idea for a Halloween centerpiece.

Witches Cauldron

The combination of dry ice and water in a witch's cauldron is an inexpensive way to create an air of other-worldly magic.

What to Do
To create the spooky scene, purchase dry ice from your local grocery store's seafood department or ice supplier. Using tongs or thick gloves, place the dry ice in a watertight container; cover with water. Warm water will create more smoke, but it will disappear quickly. Cooler water will produce less dense smoke but it will last longer. If the amount of smoke decreases during you party, add more dry ice and water.


These were the most adorable little cats:

Halloween Cats

Guard your windowsill with a Cat Patrol of acorn squash. All you need is some black paint, cardboard scraps, felt markers, and glitter glue. Children will love to make their own. You could also arrange them on a mantel or scatter them around the house in unexpected places -- peering out of a cupboard, looking down from atop a bureau, behind a door, or even on a coat closet shelf.

You Will Need
Acorn squash in assorted sizes
Black acrylic paint
Medium-sized paintbrush
Scraps of cardboard for ears, eyes, mouths, and whiskers
Glitter glue for whiskers and mouths
Colored markers: yellow, green, blue, and black
Tacky glue or a glue gun to attach ears, whiskers, etc.
Scissors
Pencil
Optional: Scraps of foil to line inside of ears (we used purple)

What to Do
1. Paint each squash black and allow to dry thoroughly. It may take two or three coats.

2. Turn the squash so the stem end becomes the nose.

3. From cardboard, draw and cut the following shapes for each: two elongated triangles for ears; two elliptical ovals for eyes; two small ovals for the center of each eye; optional small circles or strips to fit with eye centers as shown in photo; four whiskers, approximately 3 inches x 1/8 inch; an anchor-like shape for the mouth.

4. With markers, color ears black and other features blue, green, yellow or black as desired.

5. Add glitter glue to the whiskers and mouths.

6. Optional: Cut two smaller triangles for each ear (to fit inside the first pair) from purple foil and glue in place.

7. Secure all features to the painted squash with tacky glue or a glue gun.

Glowing Ghosts

To set up this suitably spooky scene for partygoers or trick-or-treaters, invite a few of our fiendishly clever spirits. They're easy to make ... glow sticks power these unique ghouls for up to 8 hours, so there's no need for power cords. And they go together in only three short steps ... almost as fast as you can say, "Boo!"

All you need are round, white balloons, cheesecloth cut to lengths of about a yard, and glow sticks. We used green, 4-inch glow sticks, found in party supply stores or on-line.

What to Do
1. Activate a glow stick and insert it into a balloon.

2. Position the knot at the top of the balloon, and use an indelible black marker to draw the eyes and a mouth. .

3. Drape the cheesecloth over the balloon, cut a small hole and push the knot through the fabric. Secure with string and hang in the breeze.