Monday, November 24, 2008

Napkin Rings Tutorial

Because I'm feeling like a dork and am telling myself I have nothing better to do I thought I'd share the napkin rings I made for our Thanksgiving dinner. If you will be at our Thanksgiving dinner please kindly pretend you never saw these little cuties and upon seeing them on the table on Thursday act shocked and amazed at them and most importantly forgive this horrid run-on sentence!

Here we go: You'll need some good old Elmer's (or craft glue), double sided tape and scissors (please try to find ones that are sharper than mine. I think gnawing the ribbon with my teeth would have gone faster!)

You'll also want some type of silk flowers. (These are some of the leftovers from my extravagant spending trip to Michaels. They cost me a whole 19 cents!!! And I didn't even use all of them! Lunacy!!)
There's the glue. It helps if you don't have a defective one so you won't have to use a q-tip like I did, but it actually worked pretty well.
Then jump on your 'puter and print up some cute little "give thanks" and mount them onto some card stock.
Next you'll need some rings. I used corrugated card stock for scrapbooking. I got it for 25 cents per sheet a few months ago and could have easily made 10 or 12 out of one sheet! Cut them to the size you want and lather them up with Elmer's.
I used clips to hold them still until they dried.
Go ahead and use the baby's nail clippers to remove any excess "leaves" from the flowers. I won't tell!
Next you'll notice I didn't take a picture of the ribbon before starting. Once again, I'm dork so I think it's excused. 
Cut your ribbon with enough to wrap around the ring and some to overlap. Then tape it down with double sided tape. You could use glue, but I used tape so it'll be easier to reuse these by changing out the ribbon. For these I used a yummy chocolate brown ribbon that I got for free on something we bought a few weeks ago.
Before you stick the end down tuck a flower in the front side.
Add a nice dab of glue to the ribbon on top of the flower.
Then put one of your nifty 'give thanks' cards on and clip it in place. It'll need to be clipped or you'll have to hold it while it dries since it's not a flat surface. (Don't I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about?!)
Here they all are drying. I'm a confirmed dork because I didn't take a picture of the final product, but you can see it pretty well in the last picture.

Like 'em???

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Oh the Joy of a Good (Thrift Store) Deal!! and a heartfelt confession!!

I HUMBLY CONFESS TO YOU: I'm addicted to Tweaking!!!
I just can't leave anything alone!
I've already made changes to my cheapy fall decorations. It's not a huge difference, but I'm even happier with them now than I was before.

The boys and I (the boys were reluctant companions on this trip!!) went to the thrift store today and found these little beauties. 
They're cute little wine glasses with a nice twisty type design on top. 
They're fairly sturdy little buggers (unlike the ones I had in the arrangements before) and they have perfectly flat bottoms so I couldn't resist! 
I think the budget will be ok with the purchase - just $2.90 each!! woohoo!



I used some super strong double sided tape and put them on top of some glass bowls that I had. It gave them just the right height.
My next find was this tin medallion type joby. I really like it! It too was only $2.90!! Maybe some day when I'm feeling ambitious I'll repaint it, but for now it makes a nice little background for another fall display I have on top of the entertainment center and hides the hideous speaker pretty well. Of course I forgot to take a picture. Sorry.
Let me also apologize for the dark pictures. I'm new at this photography thing! 

My other finds were toys for the boys for Christmas (assuming I can keep them away from them for that long since they already saw them)
The first one is a perfect Candy Land game which Sammy has been asking for. This one is Pooh and both boys love pooh. $1.90!!!
Lucky Ducks for $2.90!!! I've been wanting to get this for him since last Christmas!
One of Caleb's friends has this phone and he loved it so I was planning on getting it 
for him for Christmas and paid just $1.90!! So exciting!!




Fun Fryday Contest (a day late!)

One of my favorite blogs is hosting a contest. 
I've been following MckMama's blog for a while now 
and praying for their family during good and bad times that they've experienced recently.
Anyway, she's hosting a contest and this here is my fancy shmancy entry! =)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Hooray for 80% off End of Season Sales!!!!

I've never had any fall decorations and have always said that when I find good prices I need to slowly build up my collection. I love decorating my house for every season, but that normally just means a few vinyl clings on the front door!
Autumn will never be the same in our house and I'm so glad!! It all started at the Christmas Tree Shop. Hallelujah and God bless the amazing person (had to have been a woman!!) who started that amazing place!!
I bought a cute bead garland there for a couple of bucks that went on my dining room hutch. I also bought 2 pumpkins that are made of corn husks. So cute! I forgot to take a picture of them, but will try to soon. I was so excited with my finds! I think I spent about $8 for all three things!
Then I went to Michael's...two times! Lord help me I love their sales!! All of their Autumn stuff is 80% off!!! Crazy good deals!! Here's what I put together with what I got there.The berry garland is from Christmas Tree Shop ($3.29) and the pumpkin inside the cabinet I already had (FREE!! It was a leftover at church that a friend gave me!)

The 2 glass votives holders were my Grandmother's and I love using them all year round. The hurricane I bought last year at Kohl's for like $4! The rest of the things I got at Michael's ($3.76!!!) There's a leaf garland, 2 different berry/bead garlands and 2 picks with pumpkins and gourds. I also threw in some pinecones that you'll also see in the shelf decorations. They were $2.90 for a huge thing of 78 at BJ's!! The tablecloth looks somewhat Spring(y) but I'm not ready to pay for a new one right now!There's a close-up of the centerpiece. I love it!!!
It's a huge improvement over this. Don'tcha think?!?!
These are the arrangements I made for on top of my 2 shelves. I used a leaf garland, some of the pinecones and some fall flowers. The glasses I already had and I put tealights in them. I can't wait to see them lit for Thanksgiving!

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Warm Heart, Warm Cheeks

My heart is warmed because of our sweet Caleb. 
He said "I love you" for the first time tonight. 
I said it to him and he replied "Ah woo woo!" 
Made my heart sing! =)

My cheeks are warm because of Sammy. 
I seriously had tears running down them I was laughing so hard. 
He was praying at bed time and said his normal 
"Dear Jesus, thank you for this day. Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Caleb. Thank you that Caleb and Sammy can sleep good" 
(not great grammar, but cute nonetheless. 
Then he said "thank you that....." and he paused for so long I thought I should help him out and added "we could go to church today?" 
he said, "no. Thank you that the piggy banks are where they belon
g and that the books are there and that the pants and socks are where they belong. Thank you that S-A-M-M-Y spells Sammy and that C-A-L-E-B spells Caleb. In Jesus' name, Amen." 
Oh mercy! 
I was holding him and trying not to shake from stifling my laughter, but the tears were rolling down my face. 
It was so funny and so cute and sincere. 
Kids are so fun!