Charlie Brown Tree

Every year we head out to Santa's Pride Tree farm in Bruce Twp to cut down our fabulous 12-14 foot Fraser Fir!  Sam found the the of an old tree laying on the ground.  He used it as a sword and a gun while we hunted from our tree.  I thought it was the perfect specimen for a CRAFT project!  ONE YEAR LATER, it appears to be done!

Materials and Technique:

1.  Martha Stewart glitter and Mod Podge.  I LOVE both!  I painfully applied glue and glitter to the tree.  I managed to get it all over my nice granite counter tops too.  Next time, lots of newspaper!

2.  Floral Foam at the bottom of the pot.  I shoved the tree into it, but not all the way through, as it will not stand straight.  I learned that on my first attempt.  Good thing I bought 3 bricks!  (I also met the nicest Meijer employee that day!)

3.  Fish Tank gravel filled in the empty spaces around the floral foam.  It provides weight and beauty!  

4.  Pottery Barn ornaments that I got on super clearance last year!  They are perfect for the delicate tree.

5.  Hot Glue gun, LOVE that too!  Glued pine cones to the pine tree!  I think it adds a lot to it!

5.  The pot was sitting in the garage collecting dirt and dead bugs.  My husband did not like the pot and it's original off-greenish color.  I got out the SPRAY PAINT, which I also LOVE!  Rustoleum Colonial Red is it's new color.  Rustoleum is the ONLY brand to use.  Not much dripping and great coverage!  

6.  Sandpaper.  It was used to 'antique' the pot.  It brought out some of the original color.  I love making things looked aged with sandpaper and stain!  However, I knew stain would not dry fast enough (or at all?)!

7.  We put rocks, pine cones, glass stones etc inside the pot to add more fun elements!  

Time to DISPLAY!  It turned out pretty good, but not quite as I had imagined!  I think my husband thinks I am crazy!  Crafting is great therapy!

Pita Bread

Missing Photo. These are the large pitas. Some puffed better than others!

Homemade Pita Bread!

Aaron found this recipe in the Detroit News. It was so easy and fun! Catie came up with a GREAT idea the next time we make it...Cut it out w/ cute cookie cutters! I'm going to try it for sure!

Mercury Glass Votive Holders

$4 glass containers from Micheal's have been transformed with a just a few coats of mirror glass spray paint!

Merc

Terraniums

My husband saw this too! I am busy making, just got to remember to water!

Mercury Glass

My husband saw this project on www.instructables.com. I went out the next day in search of Looking Glass Mirror paint, which is spray paint. I took quite a while for me to work up the 'courage' to spray something. It was fast and it was simple! I think it looks great! I bought three medium/small glass containers today. They will get sprayed very soon!

Etching Cream is FUN! Need to make the letters a little thicker, or etch the entire glass instead of the letters!

Sam

The weather people were predicting a HUGE snow storm the night of 2/23/12. It definitely was not as GRAND as they predicted but it was certainly enough to cancel school. The kids were so happy! We haven't had much snow this winter. This snow was perfect for snowman and fort building. I got the idea when I saw two empty shoe boxes in the garage. They ended up getting too wet and fell apart. We used Sam's toy storage bins. After two hours of packing and moving heavy, damp snow, this is what we made! We came inside to dry off, have hot chocolate (with marshmellows!) and eat lunch. Not an hour later, the fort crumbled! What was perfect about this day, we all worked together SO nicely! Everyone treated each other so kind (I am referring to Catie and Max). There was not one moment of unpleasantness. I truly cherrished the few hours we all played together!

Catie's 7th Birthday

I used Sweet Treats to create the cupcakes. Even read the cartridge directions! Never would have figured it out if I did not!

Sam's 3rd Birthday

Sam's Drawings

Sam has started drawing faces, all on his own. A few weeks ago, I asked him to draw a NOSE on the face. He replied, "I don't know how to draw noses!". Today, I asked him who each 'face' is. The one on the bottom left is an alien. The one in the middle is a boy. Maybe the top left is the cupcake. He lost interest after that! I should compare them to the ones Catie and Max drew at his age. I'm sure they look very similar!

Materials used to create the AUTUMN banner:

1. Creative Memories Ovals.

2. Zig glue pen for glitter affect.

3. Martha Stewart glitter.

4. Ribbon.

5. Crop-a-dile (love it!) to add eyelets. I couldn't find the color I wanted.

6. Paper came from Michaels.

7. Cricut Expression to create the letters.

It took a long time to finish this, possibly close to 18 months. I'm not entirely sure! I will definitely put it up next fall!

Sam Likes Gourmet Dog Treats

I listed 2 Cricut cartridges on Craigslist, never having luck on this site! Late Saturday night, I received an email inquiry on one of them, asking me to meet her 1/2 way between Leonard and Rochester. I told her that I'd be happy to meet her downtown, gets me out of the house and near retail shopping!! We decided to meet on Sunday afternoon. Being the POLITE person I am, I decided to ask Aaron and the kids to join me, secretly crossing my fingers that they would decline. I also wanted to hit Rochester Village Mall. It's never a good idea to take THREE kids with you, as I have learned in the past. To my surprise, Aaron said YES!! We met SHARI in the parking lot of the RAC (Rochester Athletic Center) parking lot. She was super nice and about my age. I told Aaron that is someone I would be friends with!! Anyway, we went to Rochester Village Mall. I went to ATL (Ann Taylor Loft), my one and only store I can shop at. I had $20 bonus cash, $15 birthday card money from ATL, 20% off coupon and two HUGE giftcards to spend. I usually buy on sale, unless I absolutely LOVE it and can't live without it. Sunday, I found THREE things I could NOT live without, so I paid full TAG price, but it didn't cost ME personally. I got the BOYFRIEND JEANS, never appealed to me in the past, but had a change of heart when I saw them again. They didn't have my size, disappointed, until one of the employees told me she bought the size 4 the day before, but they did NOT fit her - YIPPPEEE...that's the pair I needed! In the meantime, Catie was FREAKING out on Aaron because she was starving to death....I did NOT get to go to Victorias Secret for a MUCH need new bra or Children's Place, just because I love to look there too! I was totall satisfied with my ATL purchase, I didn't mind missing the other stores I intended to HIT while I was supposed to be ALONE!! On the way home, we stopped at URBAN DOG, a dog store in the newer plaza at the corner of Teinken & Rochester Rd....We bought 3 gourmet treats for Dottie - pink bones, like chocolate for dogs...They are made out of things that can be consumed by humans. Sam was holding the bag on the way home. He opened it and started EATING the bones...I tried one, it was OK but I wouldn't have eaten more than a NIBBLE! Sam was memerized by TOY STORY (playing on the DVD player) and ate 2 of the bones (I had the 3rd on in my coat pocket - keeping it safe). I asked Sam, "What are we going to give Dottie now?" He said, "NUFFIN"....

Puppy Obedience Class

Fantasy: puppy obedience class would be a SINCH. Stressfree. Not much work. The kids will get along. I will be calm and happy. The MINUTE I let Dottie out of the car she went crazy! Sam went crazy! He wanted to WALK her thru the parking lot and into the store! I could barely control the dog let a lone a near 3 year old. Dottie continued to pull us through the store making my life MISERABLE. Sam was yelling at me that he is MAD AT ME for not letting him walk the dog. I was HOPING that we'd be the only ones in the class, sure would have made the hour much easier. NOPE. Another couple and their grown daughter brought in their german sheppard/coon hound. It was excited, but listed better than my dog. All my dog wanted to do was jump on top of it. I spent the hour fighting the dog and the kids who wanted to hold the leash. The couple with us, well, that was interesting. They were probably in their 60s. They sat their large ASSES on little tiny circular chairs while the daughter worked with the dog. I bet they both sit at home in worn out Lazy Boy chairs, eating and watching TV all day long. The only excercise they get is walking to and from the fridge and the bathroom. It's mind boggling that two sedintary people would get a dog that needs energetic people. Then, they started chewing up the hour with their stupid questions on how to get the dog NOT to jump their fenced in yard. The trainer goes off on little tangents about her 4 dogs. COME ON!! She told Sam to sit on a chair in the corner by himself and if he didn't get up, she'd give him a sucker. WELL, he sat their picking his nose like a good little boy. I felt bad for him, so I told him to go look at the cats with Catie. He asked her for his sucker (which she didn't have any to beging with), she said NOPE, you got up....He doesn't forget!! Home now, it's only 8:11pm and I have 2 more days as a single parent. I am going to LOSE MY MIND.

Baby Tag

A work in progress. These are going to be used to tie our hand dipped pretzel rods for my sister's baby shower.

Spring Banners

Catie and I made SPRING banners last night. Originally, wanted to cut ovals to create 6 flowers, however, the ovals are too round. The 'flowers' looked more like EGGS piled on top of each other. I used the CM Ovals, 2 sizes. I actually USED my Cricut to cut the letters. It took a few tries to get the right font size. I actually LIKED it!! It makes me want to get more font cartridges. I only have 2, but they are very exciting!!! Catie used the first letters we made with the Cricut. I think they were too big and didn't stand out on my ovals. We recut in brown. I thought the "I" did not print, so we cut a piece of scrap to make the 'I' and used the flowers to DOT it. I used Martha Stewart glitter on the edges of the circles. I bought on of those fancy glue pens, which made glittering SOOOO much easier!!! Eyelets and ribbon to string them.

Aaron's comment, after 4 hours of work, "Oh no, more banners??" It's been a long time since my last banner kick!!!!

New Punches

I like the checker board punch - Martha Stewart. I had NO idea until now that Martha's punches are made by EK Success!! The other punch is EK Success. The picture shows a small cut out or embossed cirlce that follows the zig zag. I was hoping for PUNCH OUT, but it's embossed and BARELY comes out!! I might return this one....???

New Lattice Punch - Martha Stewart

LOVE IT!!!!! Check it out. EK Success (Michael's) had some cool punches too, a few of them were miniture sizes....I'm addicted!!

Challenge 7

I am a little behind, but doing the challenges as I can. I just noticed that I made a few spelling mistakes. My handwriting is not very good either. I will go back and REDO the journaling circles in a few days. I added some popsicle facts to the page. I'm also going to try to draw/cut out some popsicles for the 2nd page. Again, I am a two page layout girl!! I have a 3rd set of pictures where Sam is enjoying cheese puffs. I'll probably do that page too!!

I bought FUN FLOCK from LLL yesterday. It is a fiberous material that gives a 3D look. Kind of like puffy paint???!!! I'm going to practice using it too. The owner of LLL said it's LOTS of fun.

I have decided to just post my layout with the mistakes and omitted embellishments, incase it takes a few more weeks to complete!!