Owl Be Your Valentine!

I wish these were pink! If you are lucky enough to find strawberry Moon Pies, then lucky you!! The yellow ones make me think of Tweetie Bird and/or Big Bird. But hopefully if you attach a note to them saying, "Owl Be Your Valentine", then it is self explanatory. Regardless of their color, I still think they're adorable!

I used banana Moon Pies made by Little Debbie. (But if I had a choice, I'd use pink ones!)

I used Necco wafers with M & Ms for the eyes. I attached them with basic Duncan Hines frosting in the tub.

The tricky part was finding Valentine candy corn. I finally found it at our local Hallmark store. Super cheap, by the way.

Then I inserted a lollipop stick (can be found at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or even Wal-Mart) into the bottom end, stuck it in a cellophane bag, and tied a coordinating ribbon around the bag to secure it.

I think it's a "hoot" (no pun intended!). :)

Linking to Frugal Fridays at The Shabby Nest

Valentine Jigglers

Last year I was asked to bring a snack of some type to one of the kid's Valentine party at school. So I decided to make Jell-O Jigglers. I wanted to use cookie cutters and cut them out in the shape of hearts. But of course I waited til the last minute to make these, and I could not find my heart-shaped cookie cutter anywhere. So I just cut the jello into small squares. I was disappointed in how boring they looked. Then I remembered that I had some cute picks that I could poke into them. However, the jigglers slip off the wooden skewer. So I decided to try straws and it worked! I cut the straws in half then cut 3 or 4 tiny slits into the end of each straw. The slits kind of "gripped" the jello and kept it from just sliding off the jello. It was actually cute with just the straws, but then I remembered these heart-shaped stickers and I stuck them on the tops of the straws. Then I really loved them, even more so than the original heart-shaped jigglers that I had in mind.

So last night when I decided to post this, I thought it would be fun to try different colors that could be used at times other than Valentine's Day.

I used colorful straws, cut them in half, cut slits in the end, then stuck them in the more colorful jigglers (I added green this time). I had these wooden skewers with windmills on the ends that I had purchased at World Market last year. I simply put the wooden skewer into the straw.

Here's an idea: Use them for a Girls Night out, if you know what I mean. How cute would that be?!

Here's another idea I just had. I can't wait til July! Make red and blue jigglers, put McDonald's straws in them (white straws with red striped), then insert those flag toothpicks into the straws! That sounds so cute to me! You could even add some whipped cream (in a can) to each jiggler, just to add some white to the red and blue (you patriot, you!).

If you do this for something, please let me know. I'd love to see what you come up with!

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

I've had this idea in my head for quite a while. I always thought this would be cute to use as a favor for an ice cream party. But, alas, none of my children want an ice cream party! So...I decided to turn this idea into a Valentine's gift.

It's a ball of cotton candy on a sugar cone.

I bought the cotton candy from the Dollar Tree. You could probably make 6 balls of cotton candy from one bag.

The sugar cones were from Kroger. You could also use larger waffle cones with a larger "scoop" of cotton candy. It would probably be even cuter than the ones in the regular sugar cones.

The cone-shaped bags were from Hobby Lobby. They were 1.99 for 26. Not bad!

I printed out a little saying on the computer and tied it to the ribbon around the cellophane bag.

I thought of another cheesy saying, "Valentine, My heart is like ICE CREAM. It MELTS for you."

More Valentine's Ideas to come. And most of them were inspired by findings from the Dollar Tree.

I'm linking to Frugal Fridays at The Shabby Nest

Progress...

One down (or should I say, "One UP"?), one to go.

Just wanted to show you that I AM trying to complete this project.
My youngest ("Sunshine") is with my parents today and tomorrow, so I do have some extra "free" time to devote to sewing (as soon as I return from the "100th Day of School" activities!).

Wish me luck!

P.S. When I went upstairs this morning to wake up my other three, there sat Sunshine's suitcase. Yikes!

A little before and after

Since I don't have a completed project to show you (yet), I'll leave you with a little before and after. I love a good "before and after" and I'm assuming that you do too.


This is a picture of our house taken the first day that I walked in the house, before it was even ours.

This is a picture of the house today:

Here's a picture of the foyer as it was the day I walked into the house:

The house was built in 1940. The couple who built the home had four children, all of whom their mother buried before she died in 2006. The mother had a sad life, really. Her husband died in the seventies, the same year that he retired. By the way, he was Dean of the Vet school here in Auburn. The school is now named after him. But it was really interesting walking into this house. It was like stepping into 1976. Notice the bicentennial wallpaper. I don't think that Mrs. Green touched the house after her husband's death in the seventies. In fact, the house still had no central air when we bought it.

But here it is today.


The only upgrades we made to the existing part of the house were cosmetic. The house was so well built that it required very little change. We added central heat and air, re-finished the floor, removed wallpaper, repaired the cracks in the plaster walls, and painted every square inch of the interior of the house.

It was a fun project, and I would do all over again. But it wasn't easy. I had four little ones, all under the age of 6. I'm exhausted just thinking about what all we did. But this is our "forever" house and it was well worth it.

I DIDN'T DO IT! DIDN"T EVEN COME CLOSE!

What was I thinking? Why did I do that to myself? Why, of WHY, did I try to hold myself accountable by telling you that I would complete a project???!!!



Yes, my husband was out of town, and yes, I was really productive, but I did not even begin to tackle the task of sewing my window treatments. I had high hopes and good intentions. I even made my way to Home Depot and had them cut my boards for me that I will attach the fabric to. And M even screwed the L-brackets on them for me. But, alas, there they sit, propped up against the wall of my bedroom, just waiting on me to "get around to it."

Even though I didn't sew this weekend, I did organize and clean like crazy. That in itself was really fun. I'm making progress, and that's all that counts. (Right?)

I think I need to schedule a party at myself or something. Something that will force me to complete some projects!

Hmm. Wonder what kind of blog party I could schedule that might motivate me? If you have any ideas, let me know.

Also...I have 104 followers! I had decided long ago that when I reached 100 followers, I'd have my very first La*T*Da Give Away. I just have to come up with the perfect thing to give away.

Be on the look-out for a Give Away soon. I'll be searching for 8the perfect* item to give away.

Hope you are all enjoying your new year!

I CAN DO IT! I KNOW I CAN!!

I'm only posting this right now so I'll be motivated to BE PRODUCTIVE during this cold weather that is keeping me inside!

I have had my master bedroom 90% complete for MANY months now. But I just haven't been motivated to finish that last 10%. This isn't surprising. Just about every room in my house is the same way. But it's a new year and things are going to change, dang it! I'm not allowing myself to spend another dollar on a new project until I finish each of my existing projects. (Gulp.) I'm going to go through each room with a pen and a piece of paper and make a list of every little thing that needs to be finished and then...................................deep breath...................I"M GOING TO FINISH THE THINGS ON MY LIST! Yes ma'am, I sure am. With you as my witness. So Monday morning (if not sooner!) expect to see a picture of my completed bedroom. That means that I am going to finish sewing and HANG my new window treatments. They're already pinned together - and have been for several months - so it won't take too much effort. And when I finish the window treatments, I'm going to put a poly-coat on my "new to me" dresser. And I need to scrape the paint off my mirror. I painted the frame a while back but never took the time to finish the job by cleaning up the mess.

Anyway...I'm super excited about this new resolution to FINISH ONE PROJECT BEFORE STARTING ANOTHER!

After I make my "MASTER LIST OF INCOMPLETE PROJECTS", I'll share them with you. It'll be fun to finally check things off my list!

Happy Weekend! See ya soon with some finished projects!