It’s Coming!! Can you feel it?

Fall- Autumn– SNOW!!—– The snow part is what has me outside everyday trying to get all the outside projects done before it flies- because it’s coming!! AHHHH- I’m not ready!

While I’m excited for pumpkins and fall and spices and being stuck inside getting to read by the fire- I have a lot of unfinished outside projects that I want-ha- NEED to get done! 🙂

Project Uno-
Our Garden Shed—it’s been fondly named “The Bloody Garden Shed” {must be said with a nice british accent} since I may have made the doors look like someone was shot and killed there while I was trying to figure out what red paint to use— yes the Garden Shed needs painting— hey we only built it 2 years ago– 2 years is a reasonable amount of time to finally getting around to painting it right– ugh I feel so shameful right now 🙂

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Dos-
Our Garden Fence— It looks so pretty right! 🙂 I love it– that is until I walk around to the backside– the side I just never quite got around to painting yet—- I am beginning to think I might have a problem with painting our outside projects

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and Tres-
The Coop–aka the Never ending coop Project- So far the coop has been one of those– step by step just barely managing what we need to get done so the chickens are good- kind of projects. Our last step was to build the run because we had quite the case of wondering Chickens- Our other free range chickens always stayed in our yard and mostly in our backyard trees– these well I think we made them too friendly:) They loved my front porch and I quite often came home to them hanging out with our dog just chilling on the porch?! and then they thought it was so fun to visit all our neighbors- I said hey we are running a “neighborhood insect removal special” but when cars started having to stop to let the herd of chickens across the street 🙂 well it was time to teach them where home is. 

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The Neighborhood Bug Exterminators 🙂 
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I can do this- I can beat the Snow- maybe– hopefully– well at least I’m trying! What projects are you guys working on trying to beat the snow?

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I had my old blog Bits of Bliss for 7 years and I loved it but it was messy!  Messy messy messy and drove me nuts! — I had posts on it with quizzes and some that had lost their pictures because of the great delete clean up I mistakenly did {don’t delete pictures off of your google account {ever never ever} they are directly connected to your blogger blog- it will make you cry and be so sad 🙂 but ya and it just had a lot of stuff that was silly and than it mainly became just a way to keep family updated on our life and kids and not so much fun projects and well being OCD like I am- it really was driving me nuts. All that stuff and I didn’t know how to make it all clean and new–

So here we are!  A new beautiful blog with a new name and pretty branding that I had fun designing.  I’m bringing over our projects posts from my other blog but that’s pretty much it.

Ahh the smell of new, clean, and fresh- I love it!

I plan on this being my little place in the world– I have a passion for projects and doing them seriously makes me giddy! I also love to take photos for no other reason than to just take a beautiful photo- and well being a mom who spends 99% of her day at home cleaning up messes and taking care of little ones- sometimes I need an outlet that I can make pretty, {I love designing stuff} and that I can say hey look I did something today that hopefully will last for more than 5min {you know what I’m talking about- right?!} While I hope to post stuff that you can use,{ ideas, tutorials, recipes}-This will also a mommy blog so I know I will post things that are for me too – photos of of my kids, fun family things we do, opinions or thoughts that I have and It’ll probably become a place to keep me accountable with somethings I’d like to improve on. Overall I’m just excited to start blogging again- I’ve missed it, and I’ve missed getting to share a side of myself not many people see {the curse of being socially shy} and getting to meet and have friends from all over the world through my blog. Here’s to new beginnings! Happy new blog day!

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For my last child I put my foot down and said ” I am going to decorate a nursery!” The other kids we have either had to have share a room, or we’ve been in the middle of moving homes, not the last one though- I finally got to put together a nursery.

I loved putting things together for sweet Millie’s room, sewing her quilt and making all the headbands and just getting ready for her. I wish I could have done more but pregnancy’s always slow me down and with each child they’ve seemed to get more difficult. bleh. Anyways

One of my favorite quick and easy projects for her room was making the pom pom mobile- and I think it turned out so cute!

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I used fabric scraps I had left over from making her quilt so it was all matchy matchy and cute 🙂

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Supplies that you need are:
Scissors,
String,
Hot glue gun,
1/2 of an Embroidery hoop{not pictured}
Fabric Circles {about 16-18 circles of each, and I used different varieties of fabric and cut them all to different sizes they are forgiving just have fun with it }
and a scrap fabric to use as a base- cotton, felt –whatever works–

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Step one is to cut your strings to about the length you want them to hang- I made sure I had plenty
{I also used a vintage string that Dave’s Grandmother used to crochet with-since she had passed away recently it was kinda my special way of bringing her memory to the room}
Than you just want to glue the string to the center scrap fabric circles you are using as the base

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Step two is the make the fabric circles  – fold in half, and than fold in half again- and than glue to the circle- if you have fabric that is only printed on one side you may want to reverse which side is showing on each layer

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Glue two rows of layers and than one in the middle to pop outward and make the poof 🙂

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Turn over and repeat.

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Repeat | Repeat | Repeat |
until you have as many cute little pom poms as you want for your mobile

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Than just tie your strings to an the embroidery hoop- we looped them around a bit until they were at the height I wanted each to be at.
Than we tied four strings for the top to hang down and tied them together at the top, and since we are super classy and high tech {not} we hung it to the ceiling with a push pin- hey it worked and  this mobile is super light, you don’t need anything too fancy- just make sure it’s high enough not to be messed with

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And Wallah- it’s done!

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For the rest of Millies Nursery I added a doily banner with embroidery hoop art,

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and pretty painted frames as headband holders
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Overall pretty simple, bright and clean- just the way I like it!

 

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This post shall also be known as — Ali’s adventures in learning how to garden -and boy are they going to be adventurous- adventurous in mistakes that is

I really do want to know how to garden and grow pretty flowers but honestly my attempts so far have been well…… sad {weedy, not pretty, a lot of giving up and a lot of dead, water deprived plants involved }
It is just not something that comes naturally to me. Being my stubborn self the only way I am going to learn how to really do this and remember how to do it is to just figure out on my own what works for me! And If I’m going to try something I want it to be beautiful– and functional– but mainly beautiful.  I like to do things when it involves making something pretty and organized.

So step number one for me- Making a garden I actually wanted to be out in weeding and maintaining.

The first step is you have to go out and stand in your yard for long periods at a time- just standing and staring- until the neighbors come to their windows and start staring at you too- than it’s probably time to go inside, or get a kid outside to make it look like your doing something

Next you want to start laying boards out in random patterns- {that will really get your neighbors wondering- the brave ones will even come ask if everything is alright, and your cat will think all the flags are brilliant new toys to play with}

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Than eventually you build the beautiful boxes- we just used 2×6’s for the boxes since we were going to be doing something similar to < Square foot Gardening  { Loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to start gardening without feeling like your making a farm that you will never be able to maintain!} I also wanted something pretty for the plants to climb up so we built the small arbor with 4×4 posts for the legs, 2×6 boards on the top with just a rough drawn design cut out on them and 1×2’s spaced along the top-

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Since I wanted my plants to actually survive and one of the main reasons my other gardens had failed was watering- {hey I would just forget for a day, or maybe a week or possibly a month- come on plants you gotta be strong, adaptable  } So in went a little watering system- which looked way complicated but in the end was really pretty simple {pretty much a hose with little hoses coming off of it in each box}

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See the lovely pipe in the Rocks- it goes around the garden like a little maze…..this was when I had a slight lapse of remembrance that weeds love rocks and thought “Hey, we can just use the leftover pile of rocks we got” love learning by mistakes- well no, not really but I seem to learn best that way

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Eventually we got the water in, built the fence { posts with wire and 1×4’s} stained the boxes and painted the fence and arbor,put up the netting for the arbor {we used a similar local product to this Trellis Netting} and my favorite part –we were able to use a beautiful old gate that my Uncle let us have that was left on their property when they bought their home…

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Did I mention how much I love the gate– Just Love it

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And Wallah- My pretty garden- that I love!  It still needs work, and I have plans for rose bushes to be climbing up that fence and a old brick path through the arbor, but Slow and Steady- and Squirrel {look at this other project to do} yup that’s about how we roll – someday though…..

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But I  have had lots of fun so far with my garden produce– so much prettiness! 

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I ain’t gonna lie — I had so much FUN getting to help put together a baby shower for one of my friends!
You see given that I don’t have any sisters 🙁 and my one sister-in-law has many sisters) I was feeling like my chances of getting to help put together a baby shower was pretty slim- {you know how it goes- mom and grandma and sisters and sister-in-laws all have first dibs- I mean who doesn’t love to throw a party?! 🙂 }
But I got lucky- due to circumstances us friends got to throw her shower– okay okay I’ll come clean here really Kaytee who is amazing at putting parties together was gonna throw her shower- but I jumped all over that bandwagon and squirmed myself in and jumped up and down and said “pick me, pick me, Let me help! Let me help!” and so Kaytee (who I’m sure was frightened of my enthusiasm for this) let me join in on the fun.
We split up tasks and I was in charge of the invitations and decorating for the party, while Kaytee was gonna handle games and food {she’s amazing at food!}
The invites-
I was in a hurry- I kinda got late on board on this so I just printed them off at Sams and once again I have to say I hate how they slaughter the colors- the original of this was a pretty light grey- they printed it practically black.  Ya. just ya.  anyhow for them I cut out some little mustaches from felt and hot glued them on and Dave carved out of an eraser a mustache stamp for me {sounds long and time consuming but it seriously was easy and fast}
 Tried to have a fun ice breaker with guests writing funny sayings for mom and dad on babies diaper.
 I had bought a pack of onesizes to give as part of my gift and use as decor- and than just made some iron on of the mustache and tie and than made a snap button bowtie for the other one– I loved how cute they were– And I have to admit getting to do all the fun boy stuff was fun since I’m gonna be having a girl and haven’t had a baby boy for a long time.

Drinks station-

I had a fun time making a newspaper garland and just decorating away 🙂
Little mustaches on the cups- Kaytee had found these and they were so cute!
Designed a quick art print to sit on my typewriter

The Table-

Kaytee of course made the yummiest snacks/food for it– the cupcakes we’re orange creamsicle- and so heavenly! Blueberry parfaits {yum!} and so soft and chewy 3 chip cookies! Makes my mouth water typing this.
I made some fun little bowties out of napkins for it
and I used some scrap fabric for the fun little bowtie flags
And a simple diaper cake for momma to take home– cuz we all know how many diapers those little one’s go through!
It was so fun to get to be involved and get to do fun little boy stuff for a change! I felt it turned out good , Jen got cute gifts and I got to help with a shower- “Squeal!” Fun day!
*** Here’s a big disclaimer– I am gonna get a little opinionated here***
So I try not to get my itty bitty feelings hurt but sometimes I do- and this has happened more than once to me so I want to get it off my chest.  So to understand you have to understand that I live in a small town with pretty practical people that are down to earth and work hard and are pretty dang thrifty, and I love it here! But what I don’t love and what ruffles my feathers is when “people judge” and say silly things like- “They spent a fortune I’m sure”- with the added tone of what a waste clipped on, “Or I’m sure they could have done without that.” clearly the thoughts of wasted money on their minds.
Drives me nuts! Really it does!
 I mean really anyone who’s been on pinterest or blogs knows how extravagant of parties you could throw- and ours would look like a shabby piece of cloth held up to some of them- but why do they feel it is such a waste to make things pretty and let alone why do they feel the need to say negative things?
Hurts feelings ya know. 🙂
 I guess really why it really hurts my feelings the most is I work very hard to be thrifty and I get creative to save money- I understand their mindsets, I have goals and priorities and really treasure being a stay at home mom, so I work to keep costs low and to not put to much added pressure on my husband with supporting our family, but I also know that you can be cheap and still make things pretty.
So to prove this to those- here is my cost breakdown of Jenni’s babyshower–
Invites- $8
    I designed myself on my computer was .35 a card w/free envelope I ordered 20   $7.60 +.25 for the one sheet of black felt
Bow tie Flags- Free
    I used scrap fabric that I had and hot glue I also had the small dowels that I just broke in half- but I know the dowels at the porters are $1 or so for about 60 of them, and who doesn’t have scrap fabric? For the flag I cut up one piece of Cardstock {I buy my white cardstock at walmart and get a ream for about $5}
*Bow tie napkins-$3 {but you would have to buy this no matter what kind of party you threw} so I guess it doesn’t count.
   I bought a set of 25 black napkins at walmart $1 and a box of clear silverware $2 for the wraps
 
Scrapbook Paper-$1
    I bought 5 scrapbook papers that were on clearance at Porters for 5 for $1– I used these all around, for the bowties, on the cake, on the onesie garland.
Bag of oranges- $3
   Found them for .38 a lb on sale
Bunting- Free
 newspaper- free, one piece of orange paper- stole from my kids stash- and twine-had- I have a big roll I bought from Walmart that I use for everything- I think it was $4 seriously had it for years now
Print- Pretty much Free
    I made on my computer and just printed at home on a piece of my white card stock  I used ink from my printer which who knows how to calculate that and I’m not even gonna try cuz I don’t care.
Mustaches on sticks- Free
 I had from a previous photoshoot but could have made more I mean we already have the sticks and black felt at this point.
Balloons- $1
   I bought a bag of balloons that I hung from the ceiling and put mustaches on that I didn’t take a picture of– bag of balloons $1 and the mustaches I traced and cut out about 10 mustaches from my roll of vinyl that I have {you can buy a roll at walmart that has lasted me forever- I don’t know the exact price but I know under $10} I used probably 3″ of the vinyl, and I put them all around- on the bowl, on the drink stand ect.
The other things I bought just as much for decorating as for a gift that I could give her.
Letter O- $2.50
 I got at porters for $2.50 using a 50% off coupon, was going to finish it for her but ran out of time- {the other thing on the mantle that was orange was something of Kaytee’s for Jenni}
The onesie’s -$5
I bought a three pack for $5 and used scrap fabric and scrap fusible iron stuff I had to make them
Diaper Cake– $6
I bought a $1 bandanna and a pack of newborn diapers which we also used to write on $5
Misc.- Free
On the table I rolled out some of my craft paper that I have– ya know the stuff you buy in the mailing section at Walmart that’s cheap– Ya I have one of those and after we were done I rolled it back up and will probably use it on some other project. I also used some sheets out of my old book that I bought for my book wreath that I made a while back {the book was $3 at D.I} and than I cut some circles out of the newspaper that I got to tie it in with the banner.
Everything else I used was stuff that was around my house- crates that I had and Kaytee had- my thrifted blue typewriter that I found that I use to decorate with, cake stands that I made with thrifted plates and candlestands, square plates I had found at D.I for $1 a plate forever ago.
{And most stuff that I used any crafter would have- they’re most of the basics and stuff you use over and over}

So I spent $13 on invites and Decor for the party and $12.50 for my gift to her

 
I really shouldn’t care right 🙂 I know I know– and for the most part I don’t but occasionally I want to speak my mind and say  “Hello- you can make things pretty and not spend outrageous amounts of money it just takes a bit of time and creativity”  and things get made pretty – and pretty things make me happy! 🙂

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  • The Special K's(0: - So cool! That turned out awesome! And sing it sister! We’ve been instructed to beauty the earth. Pretty is a lot more important than people realize. Scientific studies done on hospital patients showed people recover more quickly in “pretty” rooms, and color therapy in decor is a valid study used in everything from homes to prisons, and even, I kid you not, mood treatments for the blind. See? You’re just healing the world one ridiculously adorable and fabulously thrifty day at a time(0: You go girl(0: I want to be like you when I grow up!ReplyCancel

  • kelsey - This is one of the cutest parties I’ve seen, seriously! And the fact you spent so little, makes it even better. I’d say, “who cares what others say or think,” but I would find it hard to do so myself. So just know that I think you did an amazing job:). You have so much artistic talent.

    And I love the comment above.ReplyCancel

  • greendoodle - I love this. in the process of planning a bow tie shower…thanks for ideas. as for “such a waste”, I think it is an insecure persons way of feeling on top. they likely felt twinges of jealousy at not going the (cheap) extra mile themselves. Chin up buttercup, you did a great job!ReplyCancel

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