Heading Into Spring... :)

One of the things I'm most grateful for is the great people that I'm so lucky to have around me.  Family... friends.  All of you really do influence me and make me a better person.  I would like to tell you of a seed that was planted by my dear friend Brynn.

The jar from the post right before this...  The XL Brandy glass.  After I bought it and made my super easy craft, I was talking with Brynn when she suggested changing the contents each season.  BRILLIANT!  Talk about the gears turning!  I think mine about came flying out of my head!  Thank you Brynn!  As I contemplated what I could do for each season, I found that summer was my easiest season to figure out.  I haven't thought about  Fall yet, but spring...  The hard one.  :/  I'm strange.  I don't really like pastel colors.  Mix that with baby chicks and even bright flowers..  Yeah, I was having a hard time with that.  I had no idea what I was going to do.  I looked around online to get some inspiration. I found some things that I liked but didn't love.  Hmm...  Sometimes crafting is very hard for me.

In one of my recent trips into Hobby Lobby (imagine that..) I found the perfect wooden rabbit.  I have very high expectation on what rabbits should look like.  I prefer them to look more like a Hare than a fat little bunny rabbit.  Lets say, I like them gangly.  So I will call him, my Hare instead. He may even have a name, soon enough.  Ha ha!  Anyway,  I wanted to do something with him in this jar adventure.  Then I got thinking about the rule of odds in decorating.  I needed at least 2 more containers.  So... I found some.  The brandy glass couldn't hold my Hare so of course he needed one.

Now the weird part. I had to think about how I wanted portray the seasons and I got thinking about The Nightmare Before Christmas..  Yeah totally random. In that movie Jack Skellington  stumble upon "Christmas Town"  When he returns to Halloween Town he is trying to figure out what makes Christmas what it is.  He proceeds to conduct a series of experiments to explain this Christmas thing logically to himself.    So, with that being said, I decided to fill these jars in sort of the same fashion.  I picked all the things I love about Spring.  So it's a sort of Science Experiment display.  The contents are displayed as if I was studying them.

Now, the sad part.  I have three jars.  Two are filled, but I can't think of what I want to put in the last one...  Hmm...  So I'll show you all the containers, even the empty one.

XL Brandy Glass.  I love streams and water. What lives there... Frogs.  The frog had to look somewhat real.  This is what I found. Complete!

The glass dome.  Home for my Hare, who's name I've decided is Atlas the Hare.  Complete with a fern backdrop. What would a Hare look like if he wasn't hiding in the greenery..?

And... the empty one. I can't, for the life of me figure out what to put in it.  I really need to think about it.  It was supposed to be the home of the frog, but he ended up being too tall.  Something small and simple I think...

I usually get all my epiphanies right before I go to bed.  The frog jar came to me last night.  I'm hoping this last jar's contents will come to me soon.

Anyone's Craft

Did you ever see this commercial...



Ornaments do "make good centerpieces" 


Instructions....

1. Find a clear glass container.  Whatever suits your fancy!

It made my chuckle that this vase is called "XL Brandy"  

Maybe I'm the only one that thinks that slightly comical.  Could you imagine someone drinking Brandy from this thing!?

Anyway, Then the next step....

2.  Collect an assortment of discount ornaments... 

3.  Last but not least, fill the vase.

TA DA!!! 

I present, the finished product!

Also optional, add vase filler.  In my case, I used gold curling ribbon.  Easy, cheap, and looks good. 

The End!

80's Night!!

So I had this bright idea that instead of going out to eat with the girls for my birthday, we would have a Just Dance party wearing fabulous 80's workout clothes.  You wouldn't imagine how easy it it to find this stuff. Ha ha!  One place... Forever 21 in the mall.  People actually wear leg warmers!  We bought them as a joke.  Anyway, if you have never played Just Dance, you should!  It's so much fun!  Here are some songs from the new Just Dance 3, that just came out, that we played....

I was the guy in Blue on the left.  Totally reminds me of Michael Jackson!

This one was a blast!  Can't go wrong with a little of the chicken dance.

And then of course there's our old favorite from Just Dance 2....

Anyway, here are some picture taken during this adventure that are quite comical!

Yeah, we had way too much fun doing this!  The plus is that we will always have our 80's clothes for when we want to do it again. Yay!

Christmas Decor of 2011

I don't have many new additions to my collection this year, but here are the few things I did add. The best part!  We actually have a Christmas Tree!  My mom has told me about a tree they had in the shed for the last 2 years and I always thought it would be too big for our space.  This year I gave in because I didn't want to find another make shift option.  Lucky for me, the tree fits perfectly!  It's not the prettiest tree but it looks pretty good with some time and fixing. 

Another plus is that it's pre-lit so I didn't have to mess around with lights.  We had just enough ornaments to get the job done.  I'm proud of our little tree. :)

I decided I want to start collecting nativity scenes.  My friend got our first one from us last year...

This one is a Celtic Nativity

Since we didn't get one the first year we were married, I decided I could get two this year to makeup for it. ;)  Ha ha!  I've found that the best place to go for nativities is Deseret Book.  They always have a huge selection, and they are all very interesting.  Here are the two I bought this year...

This one is called the Mandir Nativity.  It's from Bangladesh.  Very interesting, I love it!

These first two are a bit on the unique side and I wanted one that you had no problem telling what it's supposed to be.  So I got this one.  Still interesting, but very obvious. 

I love the designs in it.  So pretty!

That's pretty much it for the new stuff this year.  The ornament balls are new too, but I figure since they were in my last post I can get away with not posting them again.  I'm so happy we have an actual tree this year!  I can't wait to get my own house and buy a big fat nice one!  But for now, this one is perfect! I'll probably keep it around for future use as a second tree.

End of Crafters Block

I crafted and crafted and crafted pretty much all summer up until about the end of September.  Then it just died.  I couldn't think of anything I wanted to make.  Then for my Birthday, Troy and Scheli got me a gift card to Hobby Lobby.  Usually I have something in mind that I would use it for.  Not this time.  Then the next night my visiting teachers gave me one too. :/   I was stressing at that point.  I thought and thought and thought...  Finally I remembered that awesome site Pinterest.com!  I have a bunch of crafts and ideas on my page there.  Yesterday I took a look and found a few options.  Then I went into the store... Ah yeah.... 

Here is my project.  Of course it's Christmas related.

It's an Ornament Ball beautifully placed in a vase.  The first picture is inspiration photo.

Love the ball.  Hate the vases...  Good thing when you make things yourself, you can change as much as you want. :D

Most of the pieces... Can you tell it's a gold theme... That's not totally obvious or anything. ;)

Take a Styrofoam ball and push the ornaments with hot glue into it.  

(Remove the hanger on the ornament)

Weapon of Choice!

And the finished product.  There will be an identical twin.  I just got too excited to get it finished before I posted this. 

This has regular ornaments and small ones too.  I also bought the vases a Hobby Lobby too.  All the leaves and glitters pieces were cut apart from floral swags.  This is an awesome craft because it can be exactly how you want it to look.  I'm pretty surprised that I chose to stay with gold because usually I try to stay away from making too much like the original inspiration.  I'm slightly obsessed with gold right now so... yeah.  LOL!  I LOVE the vases.  I spent about an hour and a half in the store.  Most of that time was finding the perfect vase.  I found this one with a twin first and carried it around in my cart while I looked at other options.  If I can give anyone a bit of advice on crafting....

ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR FIRST INSTINCT!  IT'S ALWAYS THE ONE YOU'LL GO BACK TO.

At least I always do that. ;)  I love this project.  I'll have the other done soon.  ;)

Copy Cat Moment....

So, my friend Brynn made this blog post about the artists she could listen to all the time just because their voice is just that good.  I thought about all the people that their voice is just that good.  So... yeah, here is my list of people, with videos.  Hopefully you enjoy them as much as I do. :)

First and always first:

Freddie Mercury of Queen.



The rest are no particular order...

Cris Cornell formally of Soundgarden and Audioslave


Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers


Elton John


Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac


Gordon Lightfoot


Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish


Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin


Simon and Garfunkel


Alex Brown Church from Sea Wolf


I was way too excited to do this post. LOL!  How fun to listen to these people all in a row.  Hopefully some people will enjoy this. Or at least find one or two in bands to like. :)

Private

I have a few people on my blog that have private blogs.  I think I'm going to follow suit.  I've noticed that most of the views of my blog are from places that I guarantee I don't know anyone.  I noticed today that one of the pictures random people are looking at is of my nephew.  That's no good!  If you would like to continue viewing my blog, please send me your email.  I'll give it a week, so everyone will get a chance to get me their info.  I'll like it much better knowing that the people who are viewing my blog are family and friends, not unknown or crazies. :P

Get your info to me.  :)  

The Jewelry Saga continues...

So I got my other ring!  I really like it.  It's a lot different than the others I have.  Here it be!

It's called Sophia.  Love it!  It makes me love gold!

Since I have all these jewels now I have a problem...  A bunch of little boxes.  I hate that!  So, I needed something to put them in or on.  Brynn, my totally jeweled out friend made a board for her jewelry that was huge.  (she needed it huge) She has all sorts of cool pieces.  I, on the other hand, don't have a forth of what she does.  So, I needed something similar, but much smaller.  We happen to be shopping and made a trip into my favorite store (Hobby Lobby) I love brainstorming with friends!  I had an idea and with both brains at work we found a way to bring it together.  Here is what I came up with....

 It started out as being a plan wood board.  I painted it, then stenciled on the bird.  Here it is with the jewelry on it....

I think it will do just dandy!  Now I can see all the things I have without digging through a bunch of boxes.  :)

Halloween Party!

It's taken me forever but here is our Halloween.  Every year, Brynn throws an awesome Halloween party.  This year was no exception. I always have fun there!  Here are some photos of the event...

Houston and I as a scarecrow and a farmer

The makeup was a challenge, but it was good enough.  I mean really, how "good" can you do a scarecrow...?

Erin as a matador, Brynn as a fortune teller, and that weirdo in the back. ;)

Last year there was the infamous photo of me hanging myself.  This year Erin took the honors.

Rebekah came as Lois Lane and her Husband as Superm... Clark Kent.

A lot of people said later that Houston looked like the Brawny Paper Towel guy.

Justin came as a "Creep"  Him and Houston did not want to play charades, but once we got them up to do it, they were really good at it. (Minus Justin's slight verbal hints) Lol!

Had to post it!  My face looks creepy!

Brynn is AWESOME at Charades!

Melissa came as a nerd.  She is by far my favorite nerd! ;)

I already have thoughts for next years costume. I can't believe I actually kept the same idea all last year!  I don't know if that will happen this next year.  I have too many ideas in my mind at the moment.   Thanks Brynn for making Halloween so much fun every year.  You always go above and beyond!

My Swan Dive Into the World of Jewelry

About a month ago, my awesome and most stylish friend Brynn invited me to a Lia Sophia Party.  When she first asked me my text response back read something like this,  "Are you going to be mad if I have no idea what Lia Sophia is..?"  Of course she wasn't. She explained that it's a jewelry company.  Ha ha!  I wasn't sure how well a "Jewelry Party"  would go for me, considering a had only one other ring I wore regularly besides my wedding ring.  But I figured it's an awesome excuse to support a friend and look at some possibly pretty things in the process. 

At the party, of course Brynn served some very yummy refreshments. (Always a plus)  and I was very enthusiastically greeted by Liz "The Jewelry Lady"  When she found out I had no idea what the company was she gave me a catalog to look at.  The party pretty much consisted of Liz explaining the company, as well at the enormous amount of jewelry she had brought with her.  Then it was our chance to look at, try on, and admire all the jewelry we wanted to.  I pretty much stuck to my catalog.... at least for a while.  once I got up and looked at some of the things she had... That was the end.  I found some things I liked and made a small list in my brain.  Then when I remembered that all the purchases made at the party would benefit Brynn in getting great Hostess benefits, of course I wanted to do my part!  So, all in all I got 4 rings, a pendent and a chain to wear it on.

Of course I will include pictures of my plunder!

This ring is called "Wishing Well"  I call it my pirate ring!

This is "Peachy Keen"

This one is "Envy"  I'm glad you can see the green.  It looks black most of the time.

This is "Rock Candy"  I love the bubbles!

This is the Slide (pendent)  called "Greek Isle" 

 

I didn't include a picture of the chain.It's in the top of the picture above.

The one thing I saw that I really liked was not cheap... at all.  Liz told me that based on the way she did party I could get my pricy item for just a penny if I set up my own party.  It's not exactly hard to set a party up, so of course I said yes.  Here is what I received....

This is called "On The Town"  The stones in it are in a baguette cut which happens to be my favorite! :D

Now to my party, but first, I was pleased to hear that Brynn was very successful at her party and got pretty much all the things she wanted. Yay! My party was 2 weeks later.  I invited pretty much everyone I knew, but I think people are under the assumption that these parties are high pressure situations, so only a few people came.   Well, for the record there not.  Brynn was so kind and saved some of her purchases for my party so I could get some benefits too.  :)  (thanks Brynn)  Erin finally got over her never ending buyers remorse and got some pieces that she was drooling over at Brynn's party.  The person I was the most happy for was my mom.  She found some things that she was absolutely in love with.  She was not sure if she wanted to get them, but my dad told her that she never treats herself so she should get all those things she wanted.  She was so cute!  I'm so happy for her.  The necklace she loved so much actually shares the same name as her grandmother, Katie.  (It was meant to be)   Scheli and her mom came and found some things they liked.  They were quite pricy, so they set up their own joint party to get their pieces for  like $7.   The party was successful!  Yay!  Houston's mom was unable to make it but she ordered some stuff anyway.   In the end I was able to reach the higher hostess benefit bracket!  I had only picked out a few things, so I was not prepared when Liz told me that I had more free jewelry to choose.  I was so lucky!  Here are all the cool pieces I was fortunate to get....

This necklace and earrings share the same name "Beacon"

Yes, I got gold!  It's pretty dang cool!

This necklace is called "Sisters"

 

This is called "Odyssey"  Made with Mother of Pearl

 

This is the "Flux" slide

These earrings are called "Azteca"

Called "Voltage"

Called "Instinct"

Called "Expedition"

Called "Contessa"

Called "Jackie"

Called "On The Prowl"

And last but not least this necklace called "Urban Bling"

I had one other ring I ordered but to my dismay was discontinued. :(  So today I had to choose something else to take it's place.  The other ring I got I can't show you yet because I can't save the picture from the Lia Sophia site, but I will get it up here as soon as I can.  I love it too.  It looks like nothing else I  purchased. 

All of the pieces above that I got from my party, and that one ring I don't have yet, alone were over $1000 dollars at regular price.  I got all of it for $248 with my hostess benefits!  Not bad... Not bad AT ALL!  Thanks to all those people who ordered from my party!  Thanks guys!

It's pretty easy to say now that I have no lack of jewelry. Ha ha!  I have a lot of pieces that Brynn got as well.  We have a lot of the same likes apparently.  There are a lot of things that aren't the same too, so I don't feel like a total copy cat.  All in all it was a fun experience!  Scheli and her mom had their party last night and that was fun too.  My mom got some more things.  Since Scheli and her mom decided to do their party at my party I got $10 off anything at their party.  I already told Houston I was done buying, and I knew my mom wanted to buy a few other things so I let her use it. 

All I can say is that I'm a happy girl!  I like everything I got and love wearing it already!