Grand Opening!!

It's happened!!! Its's finally happened!  I've opened my Etsy store! Check it out!
As of right now, my selection is limited, if you are looking for a wider variety head over to the Walmart.
For those of you who don't know, Etsy is kind of like Ebay for the artist, without the bidding.  Here is what you will find in my store so far...

Personalized Monograms

Tuxedo bibs for your little stud muffin!

Munchkin volunteered to be my model.  People always ask if she's a boy anyways! 

There's more to come!

Thanks for stopping by Well Rounded, now head on over to Etsy!!

                 

I love you, I hate you

I have a love/hate relationship with my computer.  It's a beauty, almost an antique... Okay, maybe not quite that bad.  Vintage.  I'll call it vintage.  Circa 2004.   I purchased the 50 lb. monitor and the monstrous, coordinating black tower after I graduated from high school using my hard earned cash and some very generous monetary gifts.  It was a college freshman must-have for some very critical reasons.  Number one on the list, Facebook!

I loved my Dell.  I was so proud of my BIG purchase!  It saw me all the way through college, through 4 different apartments and 5 moves to its current home on, in, and around my desk.  It's had many kinks over the years.  CD burner chooses not to work.  Burner tray won't eject.  Dog ate keyboard. (Yes, this really happened!)  Required an external hard drive... the list goes on.  Most recently it has refused to let me upload pictures. Irritating!

So, please excuse my absence.  Blogging without pictures just doesn't appeal to me.  For all of you visual people out there, I'm holding out for images.  There is good stuff coming though so stay tuned!

Long Time, No Blog

Oh dear blog world, how I have missed you!  Its been so long, but I can explain.... 

I was busy HAVING A BABY!

  

I proudly introduce to you... Munchkin!!

No, this isn't her real name, just her blog name.  It took us forever to decide on names, and because I was 100% sure we were having a boy I wasn't super concerned with our girl choice.  Well wouldn't you know it, I had a girl, and her name has really grown on me, so much so that I just have to share.  So for the first, and only time in blogland, here they are by name, our oldest, Eleanor with her baby sister, Amelia Jane... my sleeping beauties!

 

Daddy and his girls!

 

In two short years our family has doubled in size... God is good!

   

Hope you can excuse my absence and bear with me as I get back into the swing of things!  Stop by again soon as I step up my crafting in anticipation for the grand opening of my Etsy shop!!

Have a great night!

Freebie Friday-Book Frames

It's Friday again and I'm super excited about today's freebie, it might be my favorite one to date!

  Let's get started!  Today we are making these awesome picture frames out of old books. 

  

You will need:

Old books... I found mine in the basement of the library at a local university.  They just give them away!

hot glue, utility knife, old cardboard, felt, a button, and string

WaLa!

 

Finally, insert your picture and admire!  

 

Have a great weekend and be sure to stop back tomorrow to check out the link party at Six Sisters' Stuff!

Most pregnant women go through their nesting phase by mopping floors and dusting.  I, on the other hand, have been blessed with an extreme nesting instinct and I'm not alone.  Saturday morning my husband asked what we should do this weekend.  I threw out a couple of odds and ends jobs that were on my to-do list, including moving all the baby bathroom items to the upstairs bathroom.  I mentioned how that bathroom bothered me.  It was the same vibrant periwinkle color that is was when we moved in, and the butterfly shower curtain... blah!  

Before I knew it, stepladders and tools were being toted up the steps.  Without too much though, I ran to Menards to pick up some paint and the race was on to finish the bathroom makeover before I went into labor!

Two days and a whole $34 dollars later it was complete.  Check it out...

 

I'm terrible at remembering to take before pictures.  These "before" pictures are actually "half way done" pictures, but with the missing light fixtures, switch covers, and vanity the transformation looks even more dramatic. 

 

Our costs included one gallon and two trial sizes of paint, a new paint brush, paint trays, and tape.  After redeeming an in-store rebate I spent $26.

Then, to finish the decorating I spent $7 on shower curtain hooks and a buck on a curtain rod for the window.  

I painted brown stripes down a white shower curtain that I had been hiding in the back of the linen closet.  The red curtain over the window was made from fabric left over from a previous project.  Below is the custom-made wall art that I created from my handy supply of old barn siding.  

After and whopping $34 we have a new bathroom! 

 

 So the bathroom makeover is complete and I'm still pregnant. Hopefully, for my sanity's sake, my nesting will take a step down from steroid level and I can stick to mopping and dusting. Say a prayer that Baby decides to make his/her debut soon!  Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Friday Freebies

It's Friday again, and our week was filled with all sorts of free projects to spruce up the house for fall.

 

I turned this October pantry staple into a perfect, FREE, seasonal decoration... compliments of Someday Crafts.

  

My spring grapevine wreath met with the corn field behind it and out came this fantastic corn husk wreath.  Total cost...$0.00!

 

I never know if it's necessary to include a "how-to," so if you are interested in making yourself one of these, and would like directions, just mention it in the comment section below.

 

This little guy is holding my favorite fall mix.

1 jar party peanuts

1 bag of M&M's

1 bag of candy corn

Not free, but close!

YUM!!

 

After many miserable failures at creating my own mini greenhouse, my Mom surprised me with this fantastic thing. 

  

I love changing the decor inside for each season!  Mason jars filled with a variety of nuts makes for a charming and FREE decoration.

  

Today's final freebie... this handsome scarecrow.   If you don't have a supply of old clothes to dress your scarecrow, visit a thrift store for something cheap, and if you don't have a super awesome brother who likes to deliver straw to your house, you can usually find one for less than $5.  Little Miss has been practicing how to smile for the camera.  It looks a little forced, but I think she's onto something!

 

She was a little unsure of the "scareman" at first...

  

but she slowly warmed up to him. 

 

Then she warmed up a little more...  

   

till she was hot for him!

   

I hope you can use some of these ideas decorate your home for fall!  Thanks for stopping by!

Link Love

Good morning!!  I'm spending my child-free morning catching up on some long overdue blog exploration. (Thank you for hosting a slumber party, Grandma!)  I recently found one called Six Sisters' Stuff, and this morning discovered they host a Saturday Link Party, so naturally, I linked up!  Check it out here!

Freebie Friday:Hand-me-down glam

Today marks week 38 of my pregnancy.  Baby number two seems to bake so much faster than baby number one.  My nesting phase has finally set in.  Little Miss and I spent the week shopping, organizing, and washing anything we could figure out how to take apart.  She is in heaven with all the baby seats and swings, turning them into napping places for her baby dolls.  She has grown up so much lately and says the funniest things such as "Hi Baby, I'm your big sister."  At our last doctor's appointment she told Doc "My Daddy loves this baby."  I almost cried!

Baby will have plenty of love and plenty of hand-me-downs.  So, for this week's freebie I wanted to come up with a fresh take on Little Miss' old clothes, starting with the onesies.  Every baby has them and every baby ruins them with generous doses of spit-up and massive blow-outs.  Here's my solution....

Actually, this solution is compliments of Simple Simon & Co.

Its called tea dying and you can get the tutorial by clicking on the name above.  

What you will need...

1) old stained onesies 

2) tea bags 

3) lace remnants

4) a few buttons

If you are a bit of a pack rat like myself these supplies should run you about $0.

Follow the dying tutorial then add lace and buttons wherever you see fit.  WaLa!! Vintage glam for a precious baby girl.  I'll let you know when I come up with a solution for baby boys.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Freebie Friday

 This week's freebie... admission to Fort Loramie's Fall Fest!!  Yahoo!  I'll be manning my little stand there all day Saturday.  Here are a couple of the things you can expect to find...

 

No, you can't buy my kiddo, however you can purchase this

wickedly cute tutu...

 

and this matching headband...

  

Or, how about getting yourself some candy corn that won't find its way to you hips but to your front door.  

 

This fall decoration might not taste as sweet but its sure to help your home welcome fall!

 

I hope you can all make it out to Fort Loramie's Fall Fest in the morning!  I'll be sitting with the farmer's market crew. You will find these goods and so much more!

  

Well Rounded

Why "Well Rounded" you ask?  A sculpture instructor of mine, Leesa Haapapuro, once described creativity as a well; If you constantly draw creative inspiration from your well without filling it back up, your creativity will run dry.  SO TRUE!  I'm not so sure there are many 100% absolutely original ideas out there.  I think that we all draw from life; things we see, hear, and experience.  Then, when something catches our eye we interpret it in our own way, and, BAM... creativity happens!

My favorite part of blog land is filling up my well by keeping up with other bloggers, mostly craft blogs.  Here is my short  list of blogs that are not to be missed... 

Lemon Tree Creations

 

 I am Momma Hear Me Roar

 

Someday Crafts 

 

Blue Cricket Design 

 

My old way of keeping track of fun ideas was to copy and paste an image into a Word document.  Then, I'd print them off or save them to my desktop. Both of these methods made for messy desktops.  My new way of saving and organizing pictures... Pinterest.  Check it out!

Saturday I'll be at Fall Fest in Fort Loramie with all sorts of goods.  If you are in the area you should stop by! Have a great week!

Freebie Friday, Teacher Style

Today's first freebie, and the only thing our garden successfully produced this year...

 

these beautiful peppers! YUM, except for the chili peppers, which have proven to be good for nothing!

Note to self: Next year, no chili peppers and no visiting critters such as sweet corn loving raccoons and whatever small animal loves tomatoes!

On to today's crafted freebie.  After much searching, my sister-in-law finally found a school that not only noticed her incredible teacher potential, but also had a spot for her on their payroll!  Congratulations Brooke! She is super excited about her new career but not nearly as enthusiastic about her "jail cell" looking classroom.  So, to help her brighten things up a bit, I concocted this...

 

Here's what you need...

1) a flat piece of something. I found a piece of wood that is about 6x8 inches.  

2)something to trim the finished piece with.  I used some old wood trim.

3)white, green, and black craft paint

4)hot glue

5)collection of old broken crayons

 

I started by painting the piece of wood white, letting it dry, and then sanding it a bit to give it a worn look.  Next, I drew the giant L and her name onto the white board.  Don't be fooled, I didn't freehand this.  I printed it off the computer, which also gave me a nice font selection, placed the paper onto the board and traced the letters, pressing very hard with a dull pencil. This left a light indent on the board which became super easy to follow.  Then, using a fine paint brush and black craft paint I painted in the letters of her name. 

 

Once the name had dried I began gluing on the crayons using a paring knife and a cutting board to make them the size I needed them.  Finally, I used the spare trim to make a frame around the edge.  This is really nothing fancy.  I used a miter box to cut the corners at 45 degree angles and hot glue to fix the frame together and to the finished board.  Paint the frame green and presto, you are finished!

 

I also make a better constructed, not-so-free, customizable version of this project upon request:)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

One, Two, Buckle my shoe.... ALL BY MYSELF!

We just celebrated my Little Miss' second birthday!  I can't believe it has been two years since she stole my heart!  She is growing so fast and learning new things every second.  She has had a really big month.  We moved her up to her big girl room (which is in the middle of a makeover... pictures to come) and she adores it!  She is now the master of the potty which was a ridiculously process that still has me saying the most absurd things to help her understand normal body functions.  Above all, the biggest change in the last month has been her attitude.  She is Miss Independent!  "I can do it all by myself!" I keep trying to tell myself that when baby debuts I'll appreciate her "I don't need your help" attitude, but for the time being it is solely a test of my patients.   She has also become the kid who refuses to smile at a camera simply because she knows I want her to, so this is one of the very few photos from her birthday where she is smiling.

To celebrate her big day we had a party with a carnival theme.  I whipped up these invitations in Photoshop and pieced them together with some scrapbooking paper and genuine ticket stubs. 

 

 We served a nice light dinner and lots of snacks including peanuts, Barnum's Animal Crackers, gobs of colorful candy and lollipops, and popcorn.  

 

Centerpieces were simple mason jars filled with gumballs and a homemade pinwheel.  So simple!  Check it out...Here.  

 

"Aunt Brookie" made the cupcakes. (Check her out at Cakebiz.) 

 

They were delicious, just ask the Birthday Girl!

 

Instead of traditional birthday hats we had balloon hats and clown noses.  We were so blessed to be surrounded by our family.  They were all so generous and Little Miss loves all her new toys, books, and clothes, especially the big girls panties!

 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you had a relaxing Labor Day and have a good week to follow!