My Next Sign Order

So, I have another order in to do by the 20th of Febuary. Thankfully that more than enough time for one that will only take two days to do! I'm excited for this one, for it's simplicity yet homey feel it will have and bring to her apartment.
It will be a half wall sign, stacked boards totalling 11 in all. It will be on the larger side, but it will look just awesome. For this project, I'll be falling into the practice use of webbing. Now, my husband suggested using webbing, a thich fabric much like the straps on back packs. It's sturdy, can hold a decent amount of weight, and won't add to the over all weight of my sign much.
 That is a big appeal to me right there because some of my larger signs can get pretty heavy! This way, the customers can fold up the sign when moving them and also not have to sink anchors into their walls at home to hold up the larger signs.
I'll be posting pictures of the process once I start this one so others can see how I do them!

Newest Projects

Ok, So some of you may know that I have taken up reclaiming wood and making it into awesome, hand painted signs and decor pieces. I've actually been doing well with it, making just enough to pay for supplies and a little extra from time to time.
Soon, I'll be making an Etsy store or website that I can sell and SHIP them aorund the country. I'm very excited about this but worried that I'll be spending more money than earning with this endevor.
But bear with me!

Here are some of the latest things I have done in the last few months. The bottom one is the last order I have filled and she was thrilled about it!

Today is January 16th, 2015....

Yesterday was my husbands 25 th birthday. Amazing. We married when he was freshly 17, with a baby on the way. Not your typical happily ever after I imagine, buy so far it has worked for us in our own ways.

Lately, I've been tired. Tired of cleaning, tired of picking up dirty clothes, doing dishes, vacuuming that same stupid carpet everyday. I'm burnt out. I've lost me. And km lonely. It hurts to admit it, bit I'm not the same person I was years ago, full of life and hopes. There's no exciting future ahead of me and it makes me feel ashamed. I have children, I love them both dearly. But it feel like I lost the woman I was into the mom I am now. I'm just a wife and mother. I'm no linger an individual. There's nothing unique about me, nothing stands out. When someone says, "Tell me a little about yourself," I simply would say I'm 26, have two kids and I've been married for almost 8 years now. That's it? Is that all I really am made of?
I've taken to hobbies to keep my sanity. I did nails, I make pallet signs and hand paint them. I feel good about that. But over all, my day is serving others. I'm drowning in my own home in sippy cups, dingy sink water, lame Disney Junior cartoons that make me want to chuck my flat screen.
It seems like there's nothing to me anymore, no passion, no fire lit in my heart. Every day is routine, stuck in a rut. How do you get out of it? I just don't know what to do anymore.

Parenting the Better Way??

Today, as I sit on the couch, folding laundry while my son watches Frozen for the hundredth time, I realized something.

I don't get this day back. Today is the only today I get with him.

He may get on my nerves, he may not.listen much, if at all, some days. But he's my son. He's a part of me just like my daughter who is at school currently.
I recently read an article written by a dad who seems to have the perfect grasp on how you make your child feel.
Do you want to be the parent who strikes fear to use as "respect" just to make the child cower and surrender? Or do you want to be the parent who encourages, supports and openly lobes that child?
I know I personally have a temper. I always have, especially in high school. Those hormones, man, were a bitch I tell ya. But after I had children, my maternal instinct has kicked in. I'm more mellow. I nurture and teach my children to love and treat one another with care. That doesn't always stick, its a constant battle, but its my job. I'm a mother. Its my duty as a human being to turn little people into the best that they can be, even if its not exactly what I want for them when they grow up.
I want my children to look back at their childhood and remember every happy day, every happy family memory possible. I don't want their minds clouded and poisened with angry parents and hard hands.
Some parents have had to go through the misery and grief of losing a child. I am lucky. My kids were born healthy and still have not gone through any real trama. So far, only my daughter has had any decent accident with bodily harm and its was just five stitches and a few weeks to fully recover.
One place I normally see other parents out and about is the grocery store. I don't get out much, do not go to any mommy and me groups, and I'm not very social. So the weekly trips to the store is where I see my peers. But there, you'll hear it. The angry parent yelling at their energetic child. The exhausted mom of four trying to corral her kids that are screeching and touching everything. The angry, domineering looking father with the defeated little boy in tow trying to do what he came to do and get out as quickly as possible.
It starts with a simple request. "Daddy, can I have a candy bar?" In a little voice. Then the sharp tone of the dad, telling him to be quiet and don't dare ask for anything. Then you see the sweet face of the boy fall in a shadow, not because of the no. You know its because of the way his father, who is supposed to love and support him, lashed out at him over such a little thing. And if this happens in this situation, only God knows what happens at home or when the sad little boy actually acts out and misbehaves.
I snap at my kids, I know I do. Some days, it seems that all they do is run me over and ignore everything I tell them to do or not to do. But then days like this, I have to remi d myself that its OK. I'm not perfect and my children don't need me to be. They have to forgive me just like I need to forgive them. They're children, not adults. We cannot, as parents, expect them to act like adults when all we do is treat them like children.

Today, I have decided to make a vow to my children.

I will yell less, whisper and giggle more.
 I will just shake my head instead of sighing and using attitude when my son throws a tantrum over my saying no.
 I will hugs and kiss and cuddle both my kids at least twice as much as I already do.
 I will read to my kids at bed time even if my oldest has an extremely high reading level already.
I will say yes whenever I can, but say no when needed.
 I will get on the floor more no matter how it hurts my back to play with my three year old and his cars.
Today, I want to be the best mom I can be and not just do what I think I need to do. I need to clean less to spend more time with them.
I need to turn off the cartoons and have my son help with chores during school days.
I need to give my daughter more personal space now that she's getting older.
I have so many more things in my list and I know I won't be a super mom. But I'll be the best me I can be. And maybe, just maybe, my children will grow up respecting me as well as loving me as the mom I am.
Maybe they will look back when they have kids of their own and not say that they will do everything so differently than me.
Here's to a new day, a new beginning.

A tutu for my princess

So my oldest decided to catch some weird version of the flu Sunday night. She was up four times that night, puking her little heart out, the poor thing. No momma bear enjoys her baby cub being sick.
Anyways, she was out of school two days and finally got got better Wednesday morning, so back to school my trooper went.
On Monday morning, I was trying hard to get a smile out of my pale girl so I decided to use some left over tulle I had packed away in the abyss that is her top closet shelf. I busted it out and made a way too big tutu, white and sparkly.
Now of course, there is glitter pretty much all over my house but it was fun and took only about two hours to complete.
Below I'll post pictures that I took along the way!!

 Now, the process, if you're not too familiar with it, is pretty simple. You need to measure how long you want the skirt or tutu to be and make strips of tulle TWICE that length and fold them in half.

 Then you make a loop in the top of the folded tulle strip and pull through the rest after you've tucked it under and behind whatever you're using for the waist band. Some people use ribbon to make it pretty and tied on, or elastic banding. I used a head band of hers which worked out for me who took on this project on a whim.

 After you pull the rest of the tulle through, you gently pull tight to make a knot similar looking to a men's neck tie. After you go all the way around, bunching them closely for maximum fullness, you're good to go!
Below is my finished project, before I trimmed up and evened out the bottom edges of course. I personally like the flowly, fairye look but I've been told it looks "unfinished". Ahem... Anyway, I did it, got it done and she loves it.

 My girl, all smiles and dressed up.

Now I have promised my kid to make an Elsa (Yes, from that damn Frozen movie we have seen 154,483 times) tutu dress.
You can look up Pintrest as well to get directions, with pics of course, for many adorable or fancy tutus!

The tea party was a success with the children, thank goodness.

Alex joined us as well and was very gentle with the China and his little cup, it was a blast. I do have to say though, the cakes turned out super yummy!

On a sad side note, my princess is sick! She has been throwing up all night and morning, missing Grease day at school as well. She's pretty bummed about that but my little girl is pale and frail looking.
So, she's finally asleep again, catching up on some sleep that we missed. I would have done the same but as all you other mommas know, one kids sick that other is usually well and NOT wanting to sleep in.
 Sigh.
I'm exhausted and my three year old is bouncing off the darn walls. Gaaahh!!
Haha, anyway I'll be making another tutu today I think. I'll take some pictures along the way so anyone who might read this can learn just how EASY it is and not spend a fortune on buying one from someone else.
See you later mommas, whomever you are.

disaster in my kitchen!

Well, I attempted the mini cakes, donned petite fours. They're adorable and tasty so of course I figured I'd be victorious in my endeavor.
I was sadly mistaken. Oh boy, was I wrong.
First, you bake your cake.

Then you decide on the shape. I wanted the adorable little square ones so I could decorate them like present boxes bit my daughter won the battle. Anyway the only thing small and round I had was my blender plug-thingy. So I used that to basically punch holes in my 13/9 cake after it was cool.

See? Cute right?? That's what she thought. So after those were done, I sliced them in threes and fours to make them stackable and I could layer them with sweet, sweet buttercream frosting and raspberry filling. 

so cute

So I read that Candyquik, a hardening candy coating, would work well for these like cake pops and chocolate dipped strawberry. Once again, I was wrong. They were wrong...

Yep, that's me in all my PJ morning glory haha. My kid thought it'd be funny to snap my pic while I was cussing at these little bugger's...

Any who, the Camdyquik was sticky and not as smooth rolling as I hoped. It clumped up the sides and tops of my cute little cakes.

After doing more research, I discovered I should have made up a batch of poured fondant. Good to know!! 

And this is what we finished with:

So in conclusion, if you plan in taking this terrible adventure, make poured fondant, drink caffeine, and pray for patience!!

Petit Fours!!

Today my little princess and I will be glammung up our tea party with me baking those adorable little tea cakes, so fancy! I shall take pics along the way and post a step by step tutorial on how to make these adorable scrumptious cake babies.
Last night was a good night though. We had a super duper late movie night with the kids, Alex passed out fave down in the couch cushion crack at around 10:30. But my mini me is a night owl and made it to midnight. And just an FYI, Rio 2 is an adorable movie but not as good as number one as usual.
So, I shall keep you posted on the cake goings-on. See ya soon!

September  27th, 
So the last few days have been pretty productive. My friend Angel is having a baby girl in about a month so I de ided to make her little girl a newborn tutu. It came out adorable and I was so proud! 
I did a few minutes of research on what waist sizes and length of tule to use for said itty bitty baby and was very pleased. I also did a cute yellow flower tutu for another friend who has a two month old little girl. She is just as cute as a button!!
Also, I was lucky enough for my son to take a nap yesterday!! It was a miracle, let me tell ya. So, I painted my nails on a set of clear full coverage nails I make my nail sets with. Just an FYI you can like my page on Facebook and message me to order a set of pretty much water you want. 😊 
So today, its Saturday. My hubby is home from a very, very long week of work, the poor man. I let him sleep in so he could catch on some sleep. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to use him tonight if he's awake enough ;) . We have grocery shopping to do today so I'm crossing my fingers these little monsters will cooperate and allow me to get them half way presentable for public. 
Have a fantastic day everyone. And please, leave comments if you even read this! I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, if you want to know how I made these tutus, leave a comment below and I'll make a step by step tutorial!
Peace out mamas!

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I'm Back again!

HOLY CANOLIE, I'VE BEEN GONE SO LONG!!

Well, I feel terrible. I have been away from this so long, I forgot I even HAD this blog! I was sitting here at home today, thinking that a blog would be a great idea to fill up my free time and posts on my random projects I under take.
So.....whats new?
Ok, so from a quick view of my last post, I was working at the local gas station still, my son was turning a year old and life was pretty normal.
A quick small points that have changed since then:
My son, Alex, is now a strong little man at three years old. 
My daughter, Danni, just started first grade. Yes, it hurts a little deep down inside ;).
I am now a full time stay at home mother. I partake in doing nails from my home as a huge hobby now. I can paint and shape whole cover nail sets that I sell also, through my Paypal account.
I also have a Facebook page for my nails called Nails by April that anyone can peruse at their leisure.

I also am planning on getting back up with my writing which I did pretty much non-stop throughout high school and after. i have four short stories already written, but they are under the genre of "erotica" so i shall not publicly share them unless I can have them published one day.

So, my plans for my blog now?
Sharing my every day experience with my children while I balance keeping my sanity. I will post my projects, whether it's my nail art or a sewing project, and post pictures or tutorials on anything that anyone might want to see!

Until tomorrow, see you later!

Oooh I have not been here for awhile....

So, what's new with us here in ND? Weeeelllll, let's see here. I work at the gas station down the road, Alex turns one next month, Dannika starts school in August (very excited as well) and i have been helping Shannon with her two children while she works and vise versa. I talked her into applying where I have been working since April. She got the same job as i do, so it's awesome.
Anyways, here's some new pics of our life as of late!

Mr man, a healthy 26 pounds, 30 inches tall and a few weeks away form being a year old.

Miss Danni in her new dress from her grandma D

And ME with my hair done after my birthday, on a good girl day out. i didn't get any shopping done or anything but hey, it was fun. I love my new hair and i have been up keeping the color myself.

What I have Been up To Lately

So I have done some more sewing, made curtains for the extra bedroom down stairs where tucker and shannon will be staying, made their son Tye, a blanket as well. And I did Dannika and my nails today lol. Fun fun right?

And my adorable kids these days:

Little man just turned 9 months old yesterday, he's getting so big!

So, let's see here. It has been snowing a lot. I have been trying to get things ready for our friends to arrive in a few days. they will be leaving Grants Pass tomorrow night and should be here by Sunday night, depending on the damn weather. I am just crossing my fingers and toesies that the weather will cooperate a bit more and not dump a foot of snow until then. Dannika is getting anxious about seeing them too. She really wants to play with their son Tye. She must be getting bored of her brother already then :P

Boundaries People!!

Seriously, where has all of the men's boundaries gone? If you are married, you shouldn't be flirting or talking to other women in a sexual and inappropriate manner. that's just the way it is...

If you wanted the freedom to do so, you should not have gotten married. Maybe that's old fashioned way of thinking but obviously I believe in there being a line you don't cross. It's not ok to talk to other women about their sex life if you don't know them well, or talk about how "hot" you think they are...it's just weird and awkward. So STOP IT MORON.

I am going through this problem with a new acquaintanceship myself on Facebook. And I have had to have the talk with him, explaining that if you think your wife wouldn't like to see you saying these things, that mwans you shouldn't be in the first place. Knock it off

Creative Time!! Shopping cart cover, with pics

Well, I came across this great walk through on how to make a shopping cart cover, so I wanted to make one, or two, and share my experience.

Here's a pic of the finished item: 

 Prepping the fabric:

Measure out two parts, 45X42 inches. Fold each in half from bottom to top, then again folding to the left. Round out the tops along the left top side.

Theeeen, measure from the left side 19 inches in, and about a hand's width up form the bottom and make a circle for the leg openings. You could make them square as well, or just about any other shape you want too.

After that, measure from the RIGHT side, about 7 1/2 inches in and a hands width up and form a 3 inch line, cut through, for the buckle straps.

Next, unfold both parts, lining them up together, printed fabric facing in. Pin all around the outside edge and sew with zigzag double stitch.

Make sure you leave a generous space for folding the whole thing right side in after you're done too!!

So after that, go back and make an elastic casing seam, about 3/4 wide from the  outer seam. I used my thumb as a guide. 

After you're finished with that, get your elastic ready, and grab a big sturdy safety pin! I had a flimsy crap one, so it was a bit difficult getting all the way around well. But attach the elastic end, then feed through. This takes a bit of time, and patience.

Then, once you reach the opening again, cut extra elastic off, leaving about four inches on both ends, sewing them together, twice for reinforcement. 

The, pull it all through the opening you left (right??) and then, folding the fabric parts inwards, sew along there, stretching the elastic tight. Stitch stitch....

Then, find those leg holes, pin along after lining them up and sew along the seams with the faithful zig zag stitch.

Do the same for the straps lines as well, which was a bit tricky for me lol.

 Then BAM, you are done-zo.

Cute huh?

So, there you have it. You can use two pieces of fleece, or just one with a cute print like i did. So many ideas to choose from. Enjoy

Cloth Diapers for Alex!!

SO I HAVE BEEN BUSY WITH MY SEWING MACHINE, HAVING FUN AND SAVING MONEY :) I GOT AN AWESOME SEWING MACHINE FROM MY HUBBY THROUGH JOANNS AND AM AMAZED WITH BABYVILLE NOTIONS AND PRODUCTS!


HERE ARE SOME PICS ON WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING LATELY. IF ANYONE WANTS A TUTORIAL ON HOW I MAKE THEM I CAN TAKE PICS AND DO A STEP BY STEP FOR THEM.

                                         MY AWESOME TABLE AND SEWING MACHINE

                                            REGULAR CLOTH DIAPER, POCKET STYLE

                                                     DID YA GET THE SHOT, MOMMA?

                                                      ANOTHER POCKET DIAPER

          AWESOME FABRIC FOR DIAPERS!! GOT THEM ALL CUT OUT AND READY TO GO

    MY LOCAL JOANNS HAS NOT HAD THE SNAP PLIERS IN STOCK LATELY SO IM STUCK     WITH APLIX FOR NOW. BUT IT LOOKS OK STILL. THIS IS AN ALL IN ONE DIAPER

          AND THIS ONE IS A DIAPER COVER, JUST POP A SOAKER INSIDE AND BAM DONE.


SO, THAT'S IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO. FOR ABOUT 25 DOLLARS I HAVE PURCHASED ENOUGH STUFF TO MAKE 9 DIAPERS. IT'S GOING WELL AND WILL SAVE ME AT LEAST 35 DIAPERS A WEEK! OH YEAH
SEE YOU ALL NEXT TIME!