Resolve

I've really never been one to make New Year's Resolutions but for some reason it's on my mind this year. Let's blame it on Pinterest. I think what started it was a blog post I saw about writing in a journal everyday. Next thing I know I'm buying a daily calendar at Target to write in. I'm sure I won't write in it everyday, and that's just fine. But there are a few things I'd like to work on this year.

In 2013 I want to:

*Invite more people into my home.
This one will require quite a bit of effort for me. I'll have to clean a lot more than I do. I'll have to make plans, which isn't in my nature. If it were up to me, I'd live under a rock. There are quite a few reasons this has got to happen, and I've just got to stop being lazy and do it!

*Get my children involved in more activities.
Paul said something I loved so much I wrote it in my daily calendar. We were talking about not having much time for ourselves and the things we want to do. He said something about realizing that we've just got to give that time up. We need to commit to the time it takes to do the things kids need to do. This year Eleanor is going to do more than violin and summer swim.

*Make more meals from scratch.
This will be difficult for the same reason the first one is, I don't plan. One reason I don't cook much from scratch is that I'm always missing some ingredient. But there's got to be a way, and I'm going to find it.

*Work less.
Or at least work smarter, not harder. Paul bought me a Silhouette Cameo, and I really have no excuse now not to rock my Etsy shop. As much as I love working as a dietitian, God wants me at home with my kids. I wonder, will this be the year I figure out how to stay home full time?

*Encourage people.
After the terrible thing that happened in Sandy Hook I noticed articles and Facebook posts about "random acts of kindness". I know many people have made a resolution to commit more of these. But I say there is no such thing. What I meant to say is kindness is intentional, not random. I'm going to find ways to bless people. Last year I told my AWANA commander that I want to recognize the leaders who volunteer so much time and energy to help us out. Up until now I've been doing a pretty mediocre job. I know God gave me a gift in this area, and I seldom use it.

*Pray.
How can I accomplish any of this without God's help? I used to think of prayer as something you had to do at a certain time, in certain way, with particular thoughts or feelings. Maybe having kids has changed my mind. When Henry prays before dinner, you'd think God was sitting right next to him and they were having a great conversation. Thing is, God is there!

Hopefully 2013 will also be full of fun and interesting craft projects, like these upcycled egg carton lights. I got this idea from this great post. My daughter really enjoyed cutting and painting them. They hung on our divider above our advent bags giving just the right touch during our holiday festivities.

Happy New Year, may God bless you all in 2013!

November's Charity

I was having such a hard time deciding what to do with
the proceeds from my November sales.
I couldn't get ahold of anyone at my job about matching.
Then I was considering a few organizations,
but I just felt no connection to them.
It's so hard to choose a charity.

One morning on my way into church, I knew what I wanted to do.
A group of ladies had set up an "Angel Tree" with little ornaments
representing families in our church who were having
financial difficulty this season.
It was easy to choose, you see there were quite a few for a 10 year old girl.
I thought about how easily that could be my little girl.

Shopping was fun, and I may have gone a bit overboard.
But it brings me such joy to do something special for these families.
I'm sure they'll never know where it came from and that's just fine by me.
But hopefully they'll feel God's love this Christmas
through the gifts given by my church family.

Merry Christmas friends, and God bless you!

Thanksgiving Memories

Every Thanksgiving my brother and his family come to visit which my oldest child looks forward to all year. I was lucky enough to get some great family pictures this time around.

I love having a dependable camera that takes great pictures despite my lack of talent. I love this picture because it is the picture after the picture. No one knew I'd set the camera to take multiple shots. I caught their natural expressions.

I thought about my Grandma as I set the picture up. My Mom always talks about this picture of her we took in almost the same spot when she visited us one year. She loved this picture, she loved visiting, and we loved having her.

I also thought about my Dad as I was driving to work Thanksgiving morning. Maybe it was because my husband and I had been talking about these coins we wanted to give all of the kids. My Dad was big on collecting things. When he passed away I found a little treasure chest full of half dollars.

I couldn't help but think of him again when I went paint-balling on Friday, too. This was the very first time I'd gone. I wonder what he'd think of that. He loved guns, collected those, too.

Seems like the first holiday in a long time where I really did things I wanted to do. I did crafts with my kids. I shopped. I ate at the Golden Corral. I went to bed early one night. I shot guns at my family :) Best. Thanksgiving. Ever.

Countdown to Christmas: 25 Small Gift Ideas

This change in the weather was the last kick I needed to get moving on my holiday planning. I've listed the last of the Christmas items in my shop:
Set of 25 advent bags

With each set I'll be including this list of ideas for filling them. These are appropriate for children of all ages, 3 to 103 :) (Sorry baby George, no small parts for children under 3)

Since I'm a thrifty kind of gal, you'll find many items on this list can be handmade. I've included a link to tutorials for such. I've also taken into account the size and weight. These would also makes great stocking stuffers, too!

(In photo, top to bottom, left to right)

1. Tooth brushes 

Dollar Tree

2. Scissors

$1.39 at Target

3. Stickers 

Home made with Avery Label Mailing Seals.

4. Handmade mini notebooks

These were made from old book pages. Here's a link to a tutorial similar to my method. I finished the edges with washi tape.

5. Candy Cane Pens

49 cents at Michaels

6. Magic Washclothes

Dollar Tree

7. Modeling Clay

On sale at Michaels, $1.25 each

8. Handmade Jewelry and Accessories

I made these ladybug rings with scrapbooking brads, ring backs and E-6000.

9. Hand Tattoos

Dollar bins at Michaels

(Not Shown)

10. Mini Chalkboard & Chalk

Here's a tutorial for a mini chalkboard. You can use chalkboard vinyl if you don't want to paint.

11. Washi Tape

Michaels has a good assortment, always on sale.

12. Old coins or a$2 bill

Ask for these at the bank, they always have something in their register. I'm putting mine in handmade envelopes, follow the tutorial here.

13. Pinback buttons

14. Pipe cleaners

Here's a link to fun pipe cleaner crafts.

15. Finger puppets

16. Popper fireworks or sparklers

Usually Target sells these for New Years right before Christmas.

17. Popcorn Garland Kit

I'm using a bag of microwave popcorn and red & white baker's twine. For younger children use Froot Loops. This blog has some great examples, as well as other crafty Christmas ideas.

18. A Kazoo

19. Flashilght

Harbor Freight Gives these away.

20. Silly Putty

$1 at Michaels. They even have glow-in-the-dark now!

21. Crazy Straws

My kids never tire of finding new ways to drink the same thing.

22. A Sewing Kit & Fabric Scraps

I'm not going to lie, I wish I was getting these things. Need scraps? Buy these!

23. Magnet Strips

These will keep a crafty or curious kid occupied for hours.

24. Handmade Ornaments

I just bought some clear plastic ornaments, tiny pine trees and fake snow to make "snow globe" ornaments. I'm going to try the same thing with baby food jars. Photos to come!

25. Leather notebook necklace

Because I think the grand finally ought to be awesome. This is from fullmoonn, and the price is ridiculously cheap for what it is.

Hope you find this list helpful!
Don't forget to purchase your gift bags now
to get them in time for December 1st!

Don't Sweat It

As the holidays approach my "conversations" and orders on Etsy are growing and growing. Do ya'll get those emails from Etsy with tips for improving your shop? I regularly read these, always gleaning some important little tidbit. Well a few weeks ago they had an article about getting help for the holidays. There were some great tips on there, some do's and don'ts, which I always find enlightening. I've been pondering this topic and article more and more the busier I get.

Well this last weekend I got so busy with orders that I had to put my shop on vacation status to catch up. Some of you are thinking, "Wouldn't that be nice?" But I've got to tell you, I was really sweating it. Many of those orders were small, tedious, and minimally profitable. It was my husband's birthday on Sunday, and the last thing I wanted to do was ask him for help.

I thought through that list....ask friends for help? I hate doing that....pay someone to help? Just not going to work on short notice....

It didn't take a genius to figure it out, something had to give, and I knew what it was.

For the last couple of months I've been trying to sell new products to grow my shop. Up until then I'd mostly been hand punching tags. I decided to try out wafer thin dies in my Big Shot (really an embossing tool more than anything). I tried out a couple of brands, and I was really excited about the new designs. But all along I'd been ignoring the facts. Those wafer thin dies, while they save my hands, take a ton of time and attention that I just can't spare.

So I made the big decision to veto those couple of items that were causing me the most stress. Last night as my husband and I were making these last couple batches (until 1am) he turned to me and said, "If you ever sell these again, I'm going to cut your throat." Sounds angry, but he was really just giving me a hard time (hard to convey in words). That sweet, sweet man stayed up with me to the bitter end to finish the last of these orders.

The moral of the story? Don't waste your precious time and energy just to get the sale. Work smarter, not harder! And spend that extra time with the people you love. That's what the holidays are really all about.

My Husband is Awesome - Don't Be Jealous

Remember that post where I was complaining about how hard my life is (2 jobs, Etsy, kids, etc)? Well, one thing I failed to mention is that I have a pretty amazing husband who helps me. Paul is one of those rare, gentleman like guys, who also happens to be very handy and hardworking. I don't really need to prove it, because anyone who knows Paul knows it. But I just want to make sure he knows that I know it.

This isn't some "knight on a white horse" story, just my everyday life. My tail light had been out for a week or so and yesterday Paul decided to fix it. It was a Sunday, and since I'd worked on Saturday it was really his only day off, but he wanted to get it done. I can't help but think what the average husband would have done under the circumstances...run it up to the mechanic, let someone else handle it. But even after hitting not one automotive store (with a 3 year old, by the way), but 2 stores to find the part, Paul didn't give up and let someone else deal with it. He tried one more store and found the part.

Okay, the story isn't over yet. If it were, that would be just fine. So when he got home from the store I was a bit of a mess. I admit, I'd gotten frustrated that he was gone a long time but I figured he was too. But while he was gone I noticed that I'd misplaced a ring that was really special to me. I'm not kidding, I'd spent almost an hour looking for it and already gotten to the point of "God is just trying to teach me not to value things" when he got home. He could see my frustration and insisted I go ahead and go on a bike ride with the kids like we'd planned and he'd look for the ring.

Not 10 minutes later he text me with a picture of the ring. I'm pretty sure my kids don't know it but my eyes just welled up. I know these are silly things, head lights, finding lost things. But there's so much more to what he does for me. Even though it made it more difficult, he took my son with him to the store to give me a break. Even though I was snappy when he got home, he looked for my ring. And THEN when I got back he had not only fixed the light, but he had thoroughly cleaned out the plastic that surrounds the light where it had yellowed over time.

I could actually go on and on about all the nice things he does, like packing diaper bags, waking up in the middle of the night with the babies, or helping me with my ridiculous craft projects and entrepreneurial ideas, but I'd never really be able to put into words how grateful I am for all that he does.

Recently someone had said something to me about how people will always disappoint you. There have been a lot of people in my life who have disappointed me, it's true. But I'm glad that the hopeless romantic side of me didn't give up on the idea of finding someone because I have. And by every measure, he has exceeded my expectations. 

My Etsy Christmas List .........What Happened?

I know a few of you were following my list, I appreciate the wonderful comments.

When I decided to do it, I had determined that I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of me finishing that list. Then life happened.

After spending the last month and a half preparing for a craft fair, working my heart out setting it up and tearing it down, then blogging away, frantically working on Etsy postings and orders I began to start working on my own family's Christmas presents. That was going okay, but let's just say with 3 kids and 2 "real" jobs, I wasn't making as much progress as I'd like. About a week ago I put it in overdrive and my house was instantly a giant mess. This last Monday I peeled myself out of bed after a terrible nights sleep and went to work. Work did not go well. I saw about half of my patients and decided I'd better head home.

Next thing I knew I was feverish, laying on the couch, crying about anything and everything for no apparent reason. Over the next 2 days I would get these crazy fevers that lasted about 2 hours. Tylenol did absolutely nothing to ease the pain or bring down the fevers. I missed work Tuesday, and my "day off" Wednesday, if you know what I mean. 

Finally I was free of the fever by Wednesday night, but I had to work all day Thursday and Friday. So here I am, Christmas Eve, exhausted. Needless to say, I'm not going to finish my list.

But I will share with you an adorable picture of my children!

Aren't they cute?

Merry Christmas Everyone!