Funny Faces!

Well I am hoping that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! And I hope that you all have a wonderufl New Year. Any of you have big plans? We are going down the street to a neighbors for a bit so that the kids can all play together and we can visit with other adults. :) Other than that, we are keeping it simple.

I just ahd to show you all this....Aidan lost a front tooth, hehe! He looks so cute! I love when they lose these teeth. I am trying to get him wiggling on his other front tooth so we can see what he'll lool like with no front teeth!

Merry Christmas!!!

I just wanted to take this time to wish all of my wonderful BLOG friends out there and VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! This has been such a very trying year, and I know that next year can only get better! :) And I am so blessed to have found a friend to inspire me to begin blogging, and it has brought me LOTS of wonderful new friends, THANK YOU!!!!!! I am ready to take on 2009!!

So before I go...I have to share this picture of Aidan. He fell asleep in my bed last night with Daddy, watching a movie, how sweet is this? I couldn't resist! And it didn't even wake Joe up, hehe!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!

I have been tagged! :)

Hello everyone, I hope you all are staying warm and safe. We are suppose to be getting some freezing rain headed our way. So I went today and got some groceries so I wouldn't have to get back out.

Well I have been tagged from a new blogger that I just found, and love her blog and kittys! Hehe!

I was tagged by Cat Nap Inn Primitives!

These are the rules:
Rule #1 ~ Link to the person that tagged you.
Rule #2 ~ Post the rules on your Blog.
Rule #3 ~ Write 6 random things about yourself.
Rule #4 ~ Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
Rule #5 ~ Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their Blog. Rule #6 ~ Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Well I am not a very interesting person, so bare with me. :)

1. I was a mother at 17. I was a baby having a baby. :) But with the awesome relationship that my 19 year old daughter and I have....I wouldn't change it for the world!

2. I have 2 tatoos....one on my hip and one on my right big toe. :)

3. My favorite movie is "The Breakfast Club" I have seem it so many times that I can recite it word for word. (no one likes to watch it with me anymore, hehe!)

4. I hate to cook! (told you I was pretty boring)

5. I worked in retail at JCP for 13 years, I was able to quit when my son Aidan was born, he is now 6. It was the happiest day of my life when I was able to quit...I hated my job!

6. I want ANOTHER tatoo! :)

Ok, so now I must tag 6 people, this is going to be hard to choose, hehe! But here goes...

I would like to tag:

Kay from Peddlin Treasures cause she just started blogging and I would love to hear more about her.

Sue from Oodlekadoodle Primitives...cause I LOVE her stuff and own lots of her patterns. :)

Tammy from Rock River Stitches cause I just recently found her blog and fell in love with her patterns!

Ann-Marie at The Simple Life...I just can't get enough her wonderful finds that she shares with us all!

Char from The Pickled Pepper Patch, I have learned SO MUCH from her and such awesome tutorials she has!

and

Sarah, from The Simple Country Girl...she has the sweetest looking family. :)

Ok...that is it for me...I hope you all enjoyed learning a bit more about me, if you are still awake! hehe!

Watcha Workin on Wednseday

Ok, I wanted to jump on the Wed. band-wagon. So here is what I have been up to. I got this awesome dough recipe and thought I would give it a try. I know, Valentine hearts already??? But honestly, I am tired of making snowmen and such. I just LOVE the way these have turned out! And they were soooo much fun to make. I painted 3 of them red, I think those are cool too. I may make a new batch and paint some pink and white too. But these are just for myself, I need to make some to sell. Ok, thank you for stopping by and taking a look at my goodies. Have a wonderful day!!

A day at the Reindeer Ranch!

My mother-in-law had found this place a couple of years ago, and we all finally took a trip there. The Reindeer Ranch. It was such a rainy and cold day, but we had fun none the less. They had a really cool General Store...but I forgot to take some pictures of that. But I did get some good pictures of the reindeers. I had no idea that they lose their antlers every Spring and grow them back within a 3 month span. Wow, am I the only one who didn't know that? :) These specific reindeers came from Alaska. The oldest they have is 13 years of age, I guess they only live to about 15. Such sweet animals they were! The boys were able to feed them some graham crackers and pet them. Here are the few pictures that I did get.

Gingerbread House!

Oh what fun my boys had making their gingerbread house kit that my mom got them. I really like the kits, they are sooo easy. :) It was really cute and nice to see the 2 of them working so well together and getting along. They have been really struggling lately with fighting! Giving me a huge headache some days, hehe! But I just thought I would share some pics of them, they look so darn cute. :)

Mmmm, Cake Mix Cookies

Mmmm, I was in the mood to bake something this morning and had wrote this recipe down. I do apologize because I can NOT remember WHERE I saw this recipe at. But it looked so yummy and so easy, so viola...here they are. :) And if you are anything like me and my family, you LOVE sweets! :) I am by no means a cook...but I LOVE to bake!

I even thought I would frost a few.

Do you like SURPRISES???

If you like surprises, then jump on over to Heather's Heartfelt Stitches and enter her 200th post giveaway! She has a box full of goodies for the winner!

As for me.....I am just trying to get my house organized after bringing in all of my leftovers from my last craft show of the year. We had a GREAT time as usual. As for sales, they were a bit slow. But we also had some not so nice weather, so I think that kept people from coming a bit. My boys even joined in on the fun this time. They are becoming my little entrepreneurs! :) They each made a project for the show to sell....and they did better than ME! :) It was wonderful. Unfortunatly they sold out, and the bad mom I am...I had forgotten my camera Saturday! But Jude, my 11 year old worked hard with dad making 24 paper mache ornies. And you should have seen the way those little elderly ladies just ate up their smiles, and bought their things. It was such a good feeling to see them succeed so well. And Aidan, my 6 year old...he made Magic Reindeer Food. He too sold out! They made a killing! :) So they each get $10 to spend, the rest went into a bank for them to use for supplies for their NEXT venture! :) It made them feel really good to earn their own money that way. So I told them that our next show will be in May...so they need to get their thinking caps on!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are getting finished up on that Christmas shopping! I only have a couple things left, and then I am all done! Take care and have a wonderful Monday!

Laura

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all have a woderful and blessed day!

My Thanksgiving Indian!

We are all ready for Thanksgiving here in our house! :) Aidan's class had to make either an Indian vest or a Pilgrim collar....most all of the boys picked Indians. :) Joe helped Aidan make his vest and headband, I think they did a really good job! Alot better than I could have done, hehe! But why do kids this age make the craziest faces when you are trying to get a good picture of them? He gets so embarrassed when try taking his picture, what a goofball he is. I just thought I'd share a couple of pics. I hope you all have a GREAT Thanksgiving if I don't get back on here to post!

Happy Sunday!

Hello everyone.....it's Sunday already! Where did my weekend go? I hope you all have been having a wonderful weekend. It is cold here today...I think winter is officially here! I am really getting into the Christmas shopping mood. :) Has anyone started yet? I know some people are probably already finished up. I don't actually really start until the day aftr Thanksgiving. YES...I am one of those crazy people who get up and head out for 5 in the morning. Grant you....I do NOT stand in any of those lines. There is NOTHING I need that bad to stand in those crazy lines with the others. :) We just really enjoy the hustle and bustle of things. AND....I love to go out to lunch, hehe! I worked retail for 13 years, and had NEVER had the chance to go out shopping on Black Friday. So ever since Aidan was born in 2002...I get up and go every year. :) I just love to people watch and catch a few fights here and there, hehe! So this year it will be my Mom, my cousin and myself heading out dark and early. I am getting really excited about it. So are there any other crazy people out there like me?????

Ok...I am off to get some orders done! Yes, I said orders. :) I was happy to see 3 emails this weekend of sales....I have been missing those kind of emails, hehe! So off I am to sew...since hubby has the tv all to himself watching FOOTBALL! :) I hope you all have a beautiful and wonderful Sunday!

Laura

New Etsy Items!!!!

Hello ladies....I have finally gotten a few of my new items listed on Etsy. I have been working so hard lately trying to get my 2 craft booths filled and get ready for a show in 3 weeks. I will be also adding some things to my website within the next couple of days. Here is just a couple things I have added...enjoy! :)

House guests!

Hello everyone! First of all...lets here it for our Veterans today! My Grandfather served in the Army and was in WWII, my Father served in the Army and was in Vietnam. And last but not least, my Husband! He served in the Marines and was in Desert Storm! Hooray for them!

Ok...now on to my house guest! my daughter's friend had to move out of where she was living and her mother wouldn't let her bring her 2 cats yet. So the sweet mom I am, hehe, I took them in for a couple of days. My 2 cats are NOT thrilled at all! :) But they are soooo cute. The thing is, we may be having to keep the lillte grey one, her name is Maui. And the bigger one is going for sure, she is torchering my fat cat I already have. :)

This one is Maui...she is such a little sweetheart! She will be really hard for me to let go. :)

And this is Ramona, she will be having to leave for sure. She is always chasing our other cat...and he does NOT like it at all, hehe!

Tis The Season!!

Hello all bloggers! :) My dad and I have bee so busy redecorating our booth in the Antique Mall...so I thought I'd share a few pics. We have had so much fun the past couple of days, and we have been busy! I spent tons of hours the pass couple of days getting some Christmasy items ready for the open house this weekend. I hope you enjoy. :) I will be taking some individual pics of some of the items and getting them listed in my Etsy store...so be on the lookout. I am really starting to get into the Christmas mood now. :)

My dad built this fence just for the top of our booth for display...I LOVE how it has turned out!

Here is another few!

And here is a view of the FREE hutch my brother and my dad got out of someone's garbage, hehe! Yes...I said garbage! I can't believe they were throwing out this awesome prim cupboard. It actually isn't going to stay here...my mom wants it in her kitchen. It really is one of the coolest prim items we have ever found.

Well I hope you all enjoyed my pics, I will share more of our other booth once we get over there to cheer it up a bit, hehe!

~*HaPpy NoVemBeR*~

Wow....November already!! Can you believe it? Ugh....now for the countdown to Christmas. :) My boys have already got their lists going. It will be here before we know it. I love this time of year though!

Well I have seen soooo many adorable pics of everyone's kids dressed up for Halloween. Unfortunatly my pics did not turn out....I am not sure WHAT is wrong with my camera! So I have my mom's now, if only I can get my boys to put their costumes back on for some more pictures. :) So if I can bribe them I will take some more and post them. Otherwise we had a GREAT time! The weather was just beautiful here! They didn't even have to wear a jacket. They of course got lots of goodies. I have already raided it and took MY favorites, hehe!

Well I hope you all have a pleasant week!

Take Care,
Laura

Whatcha Working on Wednseday!

Hello.....I'm back! :) And what better way to come back than to join in on the Whatcha Working on Wednseday!!! I just LOVE making these pin keeps. So simple and such a great seller for me. I made these all using a pattern from Crooked River Mercantile. I can't seem to keep these in my booth at the Antique Mall! And I LOVE going through and picking out unique material for the stars on them. I hope you all enjoy! I will be adding some of these to my website once I get everything changed up. Yes....there are going to be some new changes and a make-over on my site here hopefully SOON! :) I will post when it is all done and ready for the holidays!

I think this is so cute! I saw it on Kindra's blog and just had to make one! :)

I've been MIA for too long.

Hello all of my blogger friends! I am so sorry I have been MIA for so long. My dad and I had a craft show this past weekend to get ready for. We had so much fun....even though the show was a flop! We brought 12 year old, Jude, thinking he would have fun. He would have had it been busier. But we have fun anyhow chatting with the people and each other.

So now I have to start thinking of the next holiday and what to start creating. Hope I get some inspiration soon. :)

I hope you all have a woderful day!

New Witch Hats on Etsy

I just thought I'd drop a line today and let you all know I got a couple new Witch Hats listed on Etsy tonight. These are one of my favorite things to make! These turned out cute....I think anyway. :) Thanks for letting me share! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

An award for little ol' me! :)

I want to say THANK YOU to my dear sweet blog friend Kindra who has blessed me with this sweet award! it truly made me smile to have someone think of me for an award like this. :) Thank you!!!

The Rules for the Smile Award are as follows:
1. The recipient must link back to the awards creator (it's right on the award)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself.
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award (see below.)
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

Characteristics for the Smile Award:1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human).
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from others.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

Well I am not sure if we are suppose to be able to do this....but I HAVE to send this back to my dear sweet blog friend Kindra! Because without her awesome blog inspiration...I would never have met these other wonderful bloggers. So thank you Kindra, please except thie award from me! Kindra is one of the sweetest gals I have met in the blog world! She is a tremendous artist....and the most devoted wife and mother! You rock Kindra! :)

And next is Colleen! Another sweet dear blogging friend of mine. She is wonderful hearted person! And she has made some very beautiful children! :) A very caring person!

And I LOVE this gals blog, always has such interesting posts. Leslie from My Country Home. She always has some fasinating articles and I LOVE to see her with her children. She is just an awwww with her kids and has such a wonderful connection with them.

And to Tomatoe Creek Prims, I so enjoy seeing all of her wonderful finds! Seems like she is lucky in the craft store finds! Wonderful ideas to be found here on this blog. :)

And Kim from Simple Needs, she has such a beautiful since of decorating! I love to read her new posts! She always has such interesting tips and beautiful color decors shown. :) One of the first blogs I had found and fell inlove with!

My Boys!

Ok...I wanted to show off my boys. :) They just started school yesterday so I was able to get them to pose together for this picture. Otherwise they are off doing their own thing. They are 2 totally different people. They have way different personalities. :) Jude is my brainiac and Aidan is my "all boy". Jude is 12 and in 7th grade and Aidan is 6 and in 1st grade. I know....Aidan is almost as big as Jude. :))) Jude is my little pee-wee, hehe! Smallest one in his school. Poor thing. But we keep telling him that it will be good with the ladies, hehe! They will think he is so darn cute being so little. Thank you for letting me share my future stud-muffins. :)))

Wonderful New Giveaway!

Hello...I know it has been awhile since I have posted. Getting kids ready for school is crazy! :) And the supply list is never-ending isn't it? Well I just HAVE to tell you about this awesome new giveaway that Kindra is having. This checkerboard is just beautiful! So be sure to run on over and post a comment on her blog and you can be entered to win this piece! Ok...what are you waiting for? GO! :)

R.A.K.

Okay, this sounded like so much fun that I HAD to get involved in this. :) I am jumping on board to participate in a random act of kindness. The way it works is I send a small gift to each of the next three people who make a comment in this post. Then those three people do the same by posting about it in there blogs and sending gifts to the first three posters. It is just a super nice thing to do AND to get to know other great fellow bloggers! So please jump in and post if you are interested....I think it will be so much fun! It's doesn't have to be much , it only needs to fit into an envelope or small box. You don't have to make it although that would be cool if you can. Somebody, anybody? Won't you let me send you a gift? Thank you for participating in advance!

Laura

Never Mind! hehe!

Never mind...I decided to go back to me other setup on here. :) I had found a new blog template place and thought that they were really cute, and then I decided that it looked way too cluttered for me. Thanks though!

Can someone help me with this blog? :)

Ok, I found these new backgrounds and I LOVE them...but I can NOT figure out how to get my stuff centered in the middle so that it can be read. Can anyone out there help me, hehe!

Thanks, Laura

It's been a while! :)

Hello all...sorry it has been a while since I posted. I have been busy just trying to get my house organized a bit here before my kids go back to school. I had to go and sign them up today, makes me a bit sad that their first day of school is coming so soon. They start the 19th! Jude, my 7th grader, is NOT looking forward to it at all. :) But there is Aidan, who is in 1st grade, just can't wait! He is so excited. So I will be having orientations next week and school shoes shopping. My mother-in-law bought them the clothes that they needed to get started. And my Mom bought all of their school supplies. So that just leaves me with shoes. :) Gotta love Moms!

So let's see...what else is new with me? Well, nothing. :) I have reorganized and set up my crafting room a bit different. I have been babysitting my nephew alot. Other than that we have just been hanging out.

I am sure once the boys are back in school I will have LOTS more time to get on here...have a wonderful evening everyone! :)

Laura

More Fall/Halloween Goodies

Hello ladies! I have the best time crafting for the Fall/Halloween season, MY FAV! I just got a few things listed on Etsy last night...and I am working on more as we speak too. :) Here is just a couple of them.

And a big THANK YOU to Kindra for helping out on my photo editing. :) They look so much better!

Fall Anyone????

Hello, hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! It was very nice here, humid...but we had a great weekend. :) Well I wanted to show off my new Fall item. I made these using a pattern from Chestnut Junctions. Such a talented gal! I LOVE her patterns. :) But here is my "Mr. & Mrs. Indian" I had so much fun making these. Whatcha think? I am going to get these added to my site here pretty soon. These are being added to my tote for my next craft show. Now I just need to figure out my pricing. Am I the only one out there that has the HARDEST time deciding what to price my homemade items? Ugh....I struggle with every show. :)

Mmmmm, can you smell me?? :)

I got some YUMMY smell good items today from a WONDERFUL seller on Etsy! You ladies who love to pamper yourself now and then need to go check her out! sweetanniesscents is her name. This body frosting is just the best lotion I have ever used...an it REALLY makes your skin soft and smooth. I have the Green Apple on right now....and I just ordered some new scents. :) Really, I can not say enough GREAT things about this seller. She is new....but she has got the BEST customer service. :) And I see she has lots more scents comming soon.

I also got her Fresh Strawberry Bath Fizzies! You just pour them in the running bath water. I was getting hungry just soaking in the tub..hehe! Makes the whole bathroom even smell great. My 6 year old wanted some in HIS bath too. hehe!

Thank you for letting me share my WONDERFUL finds! Tell her Laura sent you. ;)

My new kitty!

Here's my new kitty! Her name is Tate....Joe says her middle name should be Or Tot. :) Funny huh? Hehe! She is soooo tiny and cute! I have always wanted a gray kitty...now that I am 36 I finally got one! :) My parents stray cat has had her second set of kittens and she finally had a gray one! :) Ok..I just thought I'd share a pictures.

Laura

~*Craft Show*~

Well as most of you know I had a craft show on Friday, the 4th. It went pretty well...I am really looking forward to our next one. I do them with my dad, I LOVE spending the day with him. :) I didn't get very good pictures, my camera was acting funny. So I apologize in advance on the bad pics. :) Thank you for taking the time out to check em out. Have a GREAT evening!

Laura

Ok, I was tagged by Kindra from 3 guys and girl and a prim place. :) I have never seen or done this before...so please bare with me as I give this a try..hehe!


A. Attached or single? Attached & Happily Married now for 7 years.
B. Best friend? I would have to say it is a toss up between my husband and my daughter. My hubby and I were best friends for 10 years before we had even thought about dating. And my daughter...who is 19, we talk about EVERYTHING! I love that I am a young mom, we are so close.
C. Cake or pie? Cake, white with a buttercream frosting.
D. Day of choice? Saturday.
E. Essential item? My laptop and my sewing machine.
F. Favorite color? Black and green
G. Gummy bears or worms? Ewww, neither! :)
H. Home town? Bourbonnais, IL.
I. Favorite indulgence? A day of shopping by myself. Never happens! :)
J. January or July? January, cause it's the month of my birthday. ;) But July too cause I like having the kids home from school.
K. Kids? 3, J'Lynn who is 19, Jude who is 12 and Aidan who is 6.
L. Life isn’t complete without? My family and friends and THEN my laptop..hehe!
M. Marriage date? June 30th, 2001
N. Number of brothers and sisters? 1 brother, he's 2 years older than me.
O. Oranges or Apples? Oranges.
P. Phobias? Dark open water and sharks!!!!!
Q. Quote? Hmmm, never real thought about that. But I like....There is a reason for everything.
R. Reasons to smile? My kids! And my friends, I'd be lost without you all. ;)
S. Season of choice? I love Fall!! I love decorating for it! That is also my FAVE to craft for, those shows are the best!!
T. Tag 5 people:
Honestly....I am not sure if I know 5 peoples blog names. Plus I am not sure how to add their blog sites here. HELP! :)
U. Unknown fact about me? I have 2 tatoos. :) A moon and ribbon on my right big toe, and a cross on my hip. Hmmm, I can't really think of anything else.
V. Vegetable? Corn on the cob!
W. Worst habit? Ok, not that I want to admit this....but picking at my nails. :)
X. Xray or ultrasound? Ultrasound! I think it is utterly amazing how you can see your babies through your tummy like that!
Y. Your favorite food? Steak and baked potatoe!!
Z. Zodiac sign? Aquarius

It's been a while! :)

Hello, I know it has been a few days, sorry! Hehe! I had been getting ready for a craft show, it was yesterday. It was so much fun. Unfortuantly my pictures did not come out very well, but I will try and touch them up a bit and get them posted maybe tomorrow. But I LOVE doing craft shows with my dad, we have alot of fun chatting and people watching. The show went pretty well too! Oue next one is going to be Sepatember 6th I think. I need to start ALOT earlier on getting ready for this show. :)

I also wanted to share a picture of myself. I am not too happy about doing this, as I am NOT very photogenic and I HATE having my picture taken. :) But this is me, my brother and my parents.

Thanks again to ALL of my new blog friends...I am so happy that I have met you all....and hope to meet more!

New Items Added to My Site!

And for my favorite! The bananas. ANOTHER great conversation piece. I have a bunch of the setting up on my counter in a bowl. They are life-like when you glance at them. ;) The boys are just having so much fun playing with them and trying to feed them to company.
Ok, here are my tomoatoes. These are so much fun! I think that they are going to be a GREAT conversation piece when you are having company. They were alot of fun doing. These too are added to my site. :)

Ok, I think I have got them figured out. With the thanks to Colleen on the advice for my pears...what do you all think? Thank you Colleen! :) I have gotten these added to the site just this morning.

Some New Creations!!

Here are the new bananas I made using a pattern from Becky at Mulberry Memories. She has so many awesome patterns.....I think I have most of them, hehe! Whatcha think? Look real enough? :))))


And here is Mr. Owl. I used a pattern I got from Chestnut Junction....another great pattern maker!! He is suppose to have a tag around his neck that says "Hoot" but I was all out of the round tags.

Here are some more fruit. My own red grungy pear design. What do they need? They just seem to look so plain to me, any suggestions???? :))

And my tomatos...ANOTHER Mulberry Memories pattern. These were fun to make...I am still playing around with the color though. But again, these will all be listed on my website within the next couple of days.

I just took some quick pics here....I need to take better ones tomorrow with natural daylight. I just wanted to post incase any of you very talented gals had any tips for me. :)

I also want to THANK Kindra for showing off her items she got from me.....you are too sweet girly! :) And if you have NOT checked out her AWESOME blog, please do. She has the sweetes little guys! You can find her link to the right of the page on my blog. 3 guys, a girl and a prim place. And be sure to check out her awesome sweet blocks and signs on her Etsy store!

Have a wonderful evening blogger friends! I am so glad to have met you ALL!

Laura