I've been working on a project.

Sorry I've been away for so long.  I have been busy working on a project that has caused my house to look like this...

I can't stand a messy house for too long.  I will post my finished project soon.

Carol

the anderson crew: embrace the camera.

the anderson crew: embrace the camera.

'da Mug

Tell me, does anyone have a similar relationship with self portraits? (the kind with little else in the picture)

First it's shocking. I think, "wow my brows are quite bold' or 'do I always look that awkward?' etc Then I avoid looking at it .. hopefully don't delete all of them.. until I see them later to think .. hey it's not so bad.. and

eventually I kind of appreciate it..

I think to varying degrees most of us have that initial insecu

rity.. and for those who are thinking.. 'Yeah, that's not me..' -Awesome! Keep it up!

Yesterday I treated myself to an entire 10 minutes of The Anderson Crew's blog.. mainly her post 'Mamarazzi' caught my interest.. and I took her challenge. -Take a few pics of yourself with and without your kid.. cuz someday you'll wish you had.. They'll love seeing the pictures.. it's a great post I recommend reading it and trying it.. especially if you're a little shy for the camera like me : )

I love seeing pictures of my parents and family.. and I want Chloe to have lots of great pictures to look back on.

"Craftivism" Day

I follow a blog call CraftHope.  This organization was started by Jade Sims out of Austin Texas.  CraftHope inspires others to use crafting as a way to spread hope and love to others in a way that only a handmade gift can. 

 I love to sew and craft!  There...I said it.  When I was younger, I was embarrassed by this part of me.  I thought if I wasn't some famous fashion designer, my love for sewing was kind of dorky!  I have long outgrown that embarrasment, thank goodness.  I also love to share this passion with others, so I started having "craft days" at my house every couple of months.  I found the crafthope website and my craft days soon turned into "craftivism days".  So when we gather together as friends to craft and hangout, we add in the component of helping others.   This month we made baby deliver kits for Haiti.  It is amazing to me that only a few items can make the difference between a safe and unsafe delivery for someone without access to medical care. 

We made 50 kits which included a piece of plastic, medical gloves, hand sanitizer, soap, string and alcohol wipes.

For the craft part of our kits, we made receiving blankets and a cute bag to put everything in.  We started off making our bags out of dish towels I picked up at Ikea.

 We adorned them with miscellaneous decorations that I had on hand. 

 It was so fun to watch everyones creativity come out.

We also had our worker bees that cut and cut and sewed and sewed.

Even Chloe wanted to help!

We ran out of bags about 1/2 way through so we made cute little bags out of some extra fabric I had on hand.  

They were all packaged up and sent off yesterday.  I am so happy that 50 mommies and babies will receive a little bit of love all the way from California!

Bailey Button

Today is my 3rd daughter, 4th childs birthday.  Her name is Bailey.  When she was little we called her Bailey Button and she always thought her belly button was called a Bailey Button (so cute).  She is one of the sweetest people I know.  She looks the most like I did at her age and she and I love a lot of the same things.  We share our love of vintage, sewing, design and crafting.  I love you so much Bailey.  Happy Birthday!  Love Mom

Chocolate Milk with Papa!

 Became a snow bunny early on!

Can't help it.  Dad loves the snow!

Fun with Friends!

Fun Travels!

New York City

 Probably the most used gift ever!

 I love that you aren't afraid to be goofy!

Antiquing!

 Hawaii!

 Beautiful!

Chalkboard wall DIY

I have seen so many chalkboard walls, dressers and random items, that I just had to have one.  I thought  it might take some convincing Tom to let me paint a wall black, but he actually was totally okay with it.  So I didn't waste any time.  I found the perfect wall to paint in my kitchen. 

I ran to the paint store and within a few hours, I had the first coat on.  The directions suggested 3 coats of paint.  

And then wait 3 days before writing on it.

The third day happened to be my birthday and I came downstairs to this. 

I absolutley love this wall. 

When friends come over, they love to write notes or draw fun pictures.  Kids love to write on the wall.  My family writes things they love, funny things, notes, reminders to me.  Some messages are random, some are sweet, some are goofy.  No matter what is written on the wall, I love it.  It is a snapshot of our life as a family.  I highly recommend putting a chalkboard wall somewhere in your house.