I've been featured!

I have a lot of catching up to do, but first things first. It has come to my attention (thanks Debbie!) that I've been featured on a couple sites. Remember Jonah's Cowboy Carnival birthday party back in June? (If you don't, click here.) It's been featured on the following sites:

30 Handmade Days

Kara's Party Ideas

Whimsy & Wise

And mentioned, but not featured here & here & here.

Just thought I'd share 'cause its exciting to me :)

Bob the Builder Move on Over!

I just came across this site that I wanted to share with you all and I think its rad (yes I still like to throw around the word "rad" every now and then when its applicable)! Its called Knock Off Wood. Ana White is a stay-at-home mom who had expensive taste in furniture, but didn't quite have the funds to back it up. So she taught herself a little carpentry skills and got to work making her own furniture knock-offs. I think she does a pretty stinkin' good job of it too! Some of her stuff even looks better than the original stuff she's knocking off! She's included plans for tons of different things - mainly Pottery Barn furniture. My favorites are her "Grace's Town," Kitchen set, the play washer and dryer, and the entryway shelf and bench. Now all I need are some tools and a load of wood, right?

Sneak Peak

For those of you interested....here's a sneak peak of the new studio.

(that's my dad, David, and my dad's childhood friend, Guy, jamming)

It's been a LONG road, but we are finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. There's still a lot of work to be done, but the main room of the studio is for the most part complete. Woo Hoo!!! Whenever I get my rear in gear, I'll post before and after picts!

Crafting!

It seems I've been super busy this past week. You wouldn't really know it by looking at my house...or maybe you would, I don't know. Anyway, the point is my house is a mess, but for a perfectly good reason. Since Jonah is gone all day now, I can't believe how much time I have to get things done! I clean the house and it actually stays clean...wow! So this post is a total rambling on my part, so feel free to move on to the next post if you want...I won't feel bad. This is basically so I can get my thoughts down (If I put it on paper I'll lose it for sure!).

Ok, so this is totally random, but Jonah just asked me, "Mom, what animal does a chicken nugget come from?"...Um, really? Really? Think about that one.

So back to my ramblings. I've been finally working on really getting my house organized. Why does everything cost money? And who says money can't buy happiness? :) Don't answer that. I decided to rearrange our mudroom/craft room/playroom. I wish I would have taken before picks, but I didn't. But I will show you what my children were doing (Jonah was obviously home from school here) while I was in the other room cleaning, organizing, and rearranging.

Nice, huh? Jonah decided to do a little rearranging of his own (I was not amuze).

As for the mudroom, I moved all the toys into my craft cupboards, took my big-ol'-huge shelf from the laundry room that I was using as pantry shelves and moved them to my new craft corner (where the toys used to be), and eventually (after I pay rent at least) I'll get a new shelf for my pantry (in the meantime all of my food storage is on my dining room table-hence the messy house), then slid my desk over.

So here's what I've got so far. I've still got work to do (this is just from 1 day). Here's the craft shelf (yes, I've got lots of crap...I mean craft stuff...mostly fabric). I still need to replace the black basket on top with a white one to match the others.

Heres the kids craft area. I still need to move my ribbons and get some kiddy chairs, but all in due time.

To the right of the map is the toy cupboard, but its just a big white thing, so its nothing too exciting to picture.

Now for my desk...oh my desk. It isn't a desk at all, but a table. It stinks. It does the job, but its ugly and small. I want this desk, but I don't want to spend the bucks. So eventually I'm gonna make my own...eventually.

Then there's this thing. I got it from my Aunt Sue. Its an old bottle box (I don't know the real name) and I love it. But I need to paint it. I love the warn look, but the colors are all wrong. You can't tell by the picture, but its orangy and grey-blue. I want more of a red and turquoisey blue. And it needs cool jars. I have yet to find ones I like that fit though.

I love this shirt. My mom made it for me when I was a wee one. My older sister had a matching one (with her name & brown hair of course). It matches my motif and since I don't have a daughter yet (I'm being optimistic), I've got to show it off some how. Now I just need to get a cute vintage kid hanger or frame it or something.

Enough of my craft room and on with my crafting. I've actually been working on stuff this week - amazing! First off, I've FINALLY finished these recipe books for my mom's side of the family. I think they turned out cute (can you tell I love red & turquoise? I'm a little obsessed).

A couple years ago my totally awesome sister-in-law Sara made me this R. It is super cute.

So I decided to copy her and make some holiday themed ones. So now I can have an R up all year long and be festive too!

Patriotic

Fall

& Christmas

This ones my least favorite. I like the print, but hate the ribbons. I have to wait until its a little closer to Christmas, then maybe I can find some cute ribbon to match. I like the fatter ribbon anyway.

Well thats it for now. Sorry for the super, marathon post!

The Garden

Tuesday night we went down to the garden again.  Jonah loves the garden...can't you tell?  And Jax loves the cows, so its never hard to get my kids down there.

David had a good ol' time harvesting artichokes.  His "harvest" was a LOT (more than we can eat, I'm sure of that), but that was probably only 1 plant worth and we've got like 20...anyone want artichokes?

Jonah did a great job chopping the big weeds up, but soon he discovered what Jaxon was doing and decided to join in.  Jax found raspberries and decided to do his own harvesting.  Yup, our raspberries are starting to grow in...woo hoo!

After a while the boys were restless, so David took them home to cook up some artichokes and I stayed behind to weed.  Let me just say that I worked my tail off...hopefully literally!  I weeded for a couple hours and it was hard work!  We've got at least 2 dozen tomato plants that needed some major TLC.  I really enjoy working out in the garden.  It is lots of work and my hands hurt and my thighs are still sore, but it was very enjoyable.  Its very calming being amongst nature all by myself with only my thoughts.  

So when I was finally done (or rather couldn't do any more), I headed down to check out the blackberry plants.  I found what I've been waiting for...our blackberries are blooming - YAY!!!  They look so beautiful.  It's only a matter of weeks now before they start popping out...oh I can't wait!

The cows were down by the berries, so I decided to say hello.  I love having cows (have I mentioned that before?)  I never did post about our newest addition.  About a week after our last 2 calves were born, another one popped out.  We were all surprised, because we thought all the cows had already given birth, but I guess not.  She is So stinkin' precious!  I think she is the most curious of all the calves we've had.  She didn't come up to me like the other cows, but she did get close.  She was very curious as to who I was and what I was doing.  I love that all the calves hang out together.  Other than feeding time, at pretty much any given moment you'll find the calves all hanging out by each other.  It really is cute!

Speaking of calves, this is our oldest calf.  He was born about a week before we moved here.  So he is about 10 months old.  He has certainly gotten big!  He is now as big as some of the cows and almost as big as the others.  I think he is in like teenage mode right now.  He's too old to be with the other calves, but too young to hang with the adults.  BUT he has a girlfriend.  Yes, cows can have girlfriends too.  He has this one cow that he totally follows all around (no, it's not his mom!) and he keeps lovin' on her (ok, well he rubs his nose on her like he's kissin' her or something and leans his head on her back).  There's another cow who's totally trying to get his affection (the black and white one behind him), but he and the girlfriend keep snubbin' her away.  It's really funny to watch.  Oh, first loves!

The boys and I planted some seeds of our own...sunflowers, corn, watermelon, pickling cucumbers, and basil.  We planted them a little late, so these may just end up as being an educational moment for my kids (watching seeds grow and all), but we're really enjoying watching their progress.  This is what they looked like about 5 days after they were planted.  Now (about 2 weeks later), they're really growing high!  The corn is at least 4 or 5 inches high now.  It's really fun to watch!

Oh how I love Spring and Summer!

Projects, More Projects, & Even More Projects

I've been busy (to say the least) these past few weeks.  Birthdays, moving the studio, sick baby, church stuff, feeling sick myself, school, life.  But I do have to say I actually have something to show for all of this busy-ness.  First of all the theater is completely moved and cleaned out as of yesterday (which I can't take most of the credit for, but I did a LOT of work on). My house is (other than my bedroom) actually looking decently clean today (no stacks of dishes, minimum laundry, and a clean mud/playroom).  And best of all I have new stuff!

Well not really, but it looks new.  I've been doing lots of painting...it only took like 2 weeks to finish a 2 day job, but its finally done!  I've been hating my hand-me-down Kmart table & chairs for quite some time now, so since I can't afford to buy a new set right now, I thought I'd just spice up my old one.  I painted the chairs black (yes, there's one missing, I still have to do it) and the table completely white.

I got this old cabinet thing from my parents a while back.  The thing is ugly and huge and old, but it holds all my craft stuff (yes, I've got LOTS of craft stuff, but I DO actually use it all!), so in that sense I love it.  So I painted it white as well.  It looks SO much better!  Its still big and ugly, but at least it looks clean and newer now.  

Next I made myself a cute little cake platter thing.  It looks great on my "new" dining set.  I found a $2 clearance candle holder and a $1 plate, glued them together and voile!  Easy peasy and cheap cheap cheap!

I also took this old nasty brown fake wood bookshelf, spray painted it superhero blue, and made a little display for Jonah's superheroes (if you haven't guessed already his room theme is superheroes - if I get around to it maybe I'll post about it later).  I love the blue!

Lastly (I think) I made myself a lightbox today for photographing stuff.  I haven't played with it much (since I just finished it an hour ago), but I'm really excited about it.  Then maybe I can actually take decent picts for my food blog.  I'm hoping to open a shop on Etsy soon, so this will really come in handy for posting picts of my stuff (I used it to take the platter picture above).  If you want to make one yourself, I got the directions here or you can try this one or this one too.  I love do-it-yourself stuff like this!

Oh, and one last thing I forgot about, I'm a weirdo and I plan stuff way ahead (but then of course end up procrastinating on actually doing it and always end up having to do things last minute), so Jonah and I have been planning his birthday party (which yes, isn't until June) and we've been having SO much fun with it!  I won't show you details yet, but I will say that it is going to be a "Cowboy Carnival" with games and food and prizes and so much fun.  I've made an invite already that I just LOVE and we've got stuff for games and prizes and such.  We can't wait!  Jonah's got some great ideas...that a boy!

Okay, that's all of my craftiness for now.  Hopefully I can do more fun stuff if I can ever actually finish getting my house organized!

Party Freebies & Goodbyes

Per Sandy's request, I posted my recipe for Marshmallow Fondant here.  Thanks for all your nice comments on Jaxon's party.  I have a little too much fun with this stuff.  If I had enough friends who lived close and I actually had money to spend (oh, and a maid to clean up afterwards), I'd throw parties all the time!  So if any of you want to throw a Pixar Party too, I'd love it if you copied my ideas...I'd even be more than happy to send you the files for the place cards and invites (with your names of course).

On a sadder note, we said goodbye to an old friend today...the Royal Theater.

David & my dad have housed their business at the good ol' Royal Theater for the last 3 years and it has been a lot of fun.  There's nothing like having your own movie theater ALL to yourself!  After lots of contemplation, negotiations, and such, they decided to move to another building down the street.  So long ol' girl...we had so many good times there and we'll miss you!

Back on a happy note though, we're moving to a much bigger building with much more useable space.  It's an old merchantile shop built in 1894 that's been everything from a merchantile shop to a discotech and roller rink (in the 70's).  It'll be a lot of work, but well worth it in the end...we're very excited!  Pictures are soon to come!