Wedding Gift (more vinyl!)

So I mentioned in my last post that I was planning to make a gift to take to a reception.  The invitation said 'no gifts please' but I hate to show up empty handed.  So, I decided to make something for the lovely couple.  =)  I've seen the idea of making coasters ALL over in blogland.  I could not tell you where I originally saw this idea.  I've mainly seen them mod podge with scrapbook paper and then initials or names on them.  I decided to go with a more classic look for these.  I started out with a (set of) blank tile(s) from Lowes. 

I cut out a "S" and "Est. 2010" in black vinyl and applied.  (this pic was taken before I sprayed on the gloss clear acrylic coating for protection, but they look the same)  They look like this:

I still have to run to hobby lobby tomorrow and pick up some flat round corking to stick to the back, but I played around with some ribbon and plan to present the gift like this (except my tiles will be straight, I am just that anal picky.)

Like I said, not my original idea. And frankly, I've seen them so much I have no clue whose orginal idea it is....but it's a goodie, that's fo' sho!   =)

Hope you all like them!  I am linking up to all the applicable parties on my side bar!  I love going to them for inspiration!!!

She's 3

Our Little Missy Princess is 3, make that 3 and a half actually.  She is such a sweetie pie.  She loves to sing.  When you think she isn't listening much to the music that's opening to a cartoon she has watched one time...just play that cartoon the next week and she will repeat the opening song word for word.  Sharp as a tack!  By the way, I'm referring to what has become her FAV cartoon.  Strawberry shortcake!  "That girl's so sweet just like her name Straw-b-b-b-berry Strawberry Shortcake"  Uh-hum.  Sorry, it's an addictive tune.  LOL!  So the princess, she likes to color and draw.  She often asks me to help her color in the lines now or to 'draw' her name.  And many times she will mother our lil' cupcake.  Taking care of any need or making certain I do if she *thinks* it is being over looked.  She is an awesome big sister.  BUT occasionally she gets annoyed with her "baby" as she calls her.  If the Lil' Cupcake gets to curious about some current toy that the Princess is playing with, like say, a hula-hoop.  All heck can break loose.  And we will see things like this:

    Or this:

But soon, very soon she ends up like this:

I think it must be a symptom of her age that she cries so easily.  She is ultra dramatic.  Just the other night I told her no powdered donuts because we were literally going to eat dinner in like 5 minutes.  The water works POURED down.  You'd have thought I told her she was going to bed without dinner!  LOL.   She is my sweet girl though.  She is so sensative and also takes direction fairly easily.  For punishment we send her to her room and have her sit on her bed for a while.  She typically has the waterworks dried up before we get back to her room (which is minutes).  Anyway, we are getting ready for a LONG roadtrip to get to have a vacation.  We've promised her a Pillow Pet (as seen on tv, yah, thanks Saturday morning cartoons!).  The pillow pet comes with a cost...she has to try to be on her best behavior.  I picked one up for both girls the other night at Walgreens.  Did you know they carry As seen on TV stuff?  I got this one for the Princess (it was the one she was requesting):

and this one for the Lil' Cupcake:

I think they will keep them occupied for short spurts of time during our FOURTEEN hour drive coming up.  If you disagree please just don't tell me.  LOL!   (And no we are not going to Disney World for this vacation.  But this should prepare us as to whether or not we want to fly when we do end up making that happen.  LOL) 

And here is one more set of pics from my Dad's bday week to share:

I have some crafty things coming up to show you soon.  Yes, you guessed it....more vinyl.  I picked up a little something to make for the girls to use during our upcoming roadtrip.  I also have a wedding reception to go to for a very dear friend.  The invitation says "no gifts please".  I plan to make a 'little' something to take.  I'm sure it's nothing new to those who have been around blog world but it will be my first try at it.  I hate to show up empty handed.  Anyway, I will post on those soon so stick around!  ;-)  I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!!!

Vinyl Again?

I've been using vinyl like CRAZY in my crafts for the last two weeks! I have one more post to share with yall on what I've been creating using my silhouette. I actually meant to get this post up sooner, but here goes.
I mentioned in earlier posts that my dad's bday last week!  I grabbed a shirt for him (his usual gift) and then thought I wanted to do something a little special. I decided that I'd ask him what his favorite Bible verse was and create something for him to hang on his wall. He quickly responded with Phillipians 4:3 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
So what did I come up with? I ran across ax 11x14 simple black frame at the local dollar store for less than $10. I removed the back and paper filling and replaced that with ribbon and scrapbook paper that I already had on hand. Next I used my Silhouette SD to create the words of the Bible verse using different fonts. That's the joy of a silhouette SD. Fonts cost you NOTHING, NADDA, ZIP! If it's available for free download as a font, you can have it! =) I went with black vinyl and cut out the words and applied them directly to the glass. With a little creativity using the fonts and size of the wording I wanted to emphasize, here is what I came up with:

What do you think? My dad loved it. I can't wait for him to get home and hang it up so that he can read that verse everytime he walks by. =)  Oh, and I also made him a coconut cake.  It's his favorite. 

Are you wondering if this is the end of my vinyl posting? Nah, you know it's not! I have some heat transfer vinyl ideas just brewing in the back of my head. The only thing is those projects will likely take up more time! I will have to work hard to find some so that I can get to work and show you all what kind of fun that can be 2!  Maybe after my vacation which isn't for 2 more weeks. 

I am linking to the applicable parties on my side bar this week =)

She ate what???

Thursday the Lil' Cupcake turned 19 months. 

And Thursday the Lil' Cupcake gave Mommy a BIG scare!  It was 9:15 in the morning.  I was having my mid year review with my boss.  A co-worker peeked over the window in his door as my bosses phone was ringing and said "Robin needs to take that call".  It is kind of a blur because I don't think it dawned on me that the call was for me until my boss handed me the phone. It was our daycare director.  She said "First of all, we think Lil' Cupcake is ok.  She swallowed a rock on the playground.  Her face turned red and we turned her over and patted her back.  We were unable to dislodge the rock so we immediately gave her water.  After the water she was no longer red and was breathing."  At that point she said they felt like she was a little wheezy  and wanted to know if I wanted them to call an ambulance or come to check her out or what would I like to do.  Well, that scared me to death.  I asked if she was red or purple or any signs of lack of Oxygen and they said no that the only thing was they were worried the rock might be causing her to wheeze.  I ran out of the office and sped off to check on her.  In route I called the hubby and he contacted our pediatrician to see what he recommended.  As he was calling our pediatrician I was calling my mother and crying.  My mom works near the daycare and my office so she was off and running to the daycare as well.  When I arrived they had the Lil' Cupcake in the office and were loving on her and keeping a watchful eye on her.  She was SO sleepy.  My mom met me at the daycare.  Some of the teachers later told me that she came into the parking lot on 2 wheels.  Yep, that's our Gigi.  She rode with us in route to the Pediatrician to keep an eye on the Cupcake while I drove.  Our pediatrician, Dr. Jain, checked her all out and gave us a thumbs up.  For good measure he wanted us to go to the hospital for an xray to be sure there was nothing lodged in between her esophagus and stomach (that's the smallest part of your GI tract).  A few hours later we spoke with him and got the results....everything was NORMAL!  He said she'd pass it in a day or so!  YUCK! 

So what else is Lil' Cupcake up to besides eating rocks at 19 months? 

• She loves to read.  Her favorite two books are "Berry Sweet Baby Kisses" (strawberry shortcake) and "Colors" (very colorful book with illustrations for various colors)
• She LOVES to dance and sing!  She does her very best to sing her ABC's and I believe when she can say each letter of the alphabet more clearly we will confirm she knows them all!
• She loves Barney, Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  She will break out and dance to them anytime there is a song.  She also sings along with them. She sings the Barney song (I love you) as best as she can even without the DVD playing. 
• She is eating any and everything as you can see from this post.  LOL.  She LOVES bananas! 
• She is a very loving little girl that gives lots of hugs and kisses, but only when SHE wants to give them.
• She still fights hard at bedtime.  She knew from a very early age that if she lies still for a few minutes she is zonked out!
• She loves baby dolls and stuffed animals.  She plays with them and gives them lots of love.
• She calls just about everyone Mimi!  (Except myself, her daddy and sister)  I think she misses her Mimi very much. 
• She loves to talk on the phone!  Just this week she talked for 10 minutes or longer (may have been 50% gibberish) on the phone with her Uncle Josh and her Mimi.  (That is 10 minutes each phone call)
• She loves to run from us.  If we are coming to take the phone back for instance, she will get this mischievous look in her eye and turn around and make a mad dash the opposite direction.  LOL!

I can not imagine my life without the Lil' Cupcake's beautiful smile and giggles each day. 

She and her "sissie" (as she calls her) love each other so much.  It brings me so much joy to see them playing together and taking care of one another by sharing and hugging. 

Wordless Wednesday

(disclaimer: this was daddy daughter night so I had nothing to do with the mismatched pj's, but I think the pic is 2 cute)

Vinyl Love to the Rescue!

My dad called me on Friday afternoon to tell me that my two of my cousins, who together have FOUR children, were having a joint birthday party.  Fun right?  Well, the party was SATURDAY!!!!!  They do this to me EVERY year.  And EVERY year I am so shocked and caught off guard!  You'd think I would learn by now, LOL!  So, I was frantically trying to figure out what to give these kiddos for their birthday.  Also trying to figure out was there ANYTHING in my stash of 'potential gifts' that I could use.  We were super busy getting ready for an open house on Sunday and I did not have time to go running all over town for last minute gifts.  Low and behold, my silhouette came to the rescue again!  I found some water bottles on the cheap a while back and stocked up on them.  My intention was making teachers gifts and adorning them with vinyl.  However, for ages 10ish-14ish, I figured that'd work just fine.  Feast your eyes on my finished products:

The two girlies got polka dots on theirs.  I decided after lots of thought to just leave the boys with their initial on them.  I didn't want anything to look to cheesy or girlie for them.  ;-)  My dad's bday is this week and I am hoping to get his cake made tonight and a special project for him also using my silhouette.  I will post it next!
Here are a couple of pics of the fresh flowers I put out for our open house.  I wish I could have them sitting out all the time!  =)

Hope everyone had a fun weekend!

*Added: I will link up this post to all my parties on the side bar =)

More Vinyl Love

Last week I pulled out my silhouette again!  I had three different projects I wanted to do with vinyl so got to work!

First up, I wanted to finish the citronella candles I posted about here.  While the one I showed you last week was made using a recycled pickle jar, for the remaining three I used left over supplies from my Lil Princesses birthday party.  I applied vinyl to each container which was to be for each family member.  The Lil Princess and Lil Cupcake ofcourse are self explanatory.  Hubby's is obviously the pirate.  We colored his candle red for pirate's blood.  LOL!  My Lil Princess helped me with this entire project from candle making to decisions on colors and vinyl!  Here are the pics from this project:

Next up, is coffee mugs!  I will preface this by saying I've seen many a coffee mug go vinyl in blog land.  This is a very popular idea.  The idea has been in my head since I purchased a coffee mug from Hobby Lobby for $10 in March for my mother for part of her birthday present.  I do not have a picture of it but let me tell you it looks ALOT like the cream/black combo one I made below.  I definately confirmed the project by seeing all the bloggers making similar stuff.  I  love pink and black so I decided to make myself one in those colors.  Both coffee mugs came from the dollar store!!!!  So can you believe I spent that much money on a coffee mug I could have made myself?!  (Well, I didn't have the silhouettte supplies in time....but wow!)

And finally, my favorite project is a canvas I painted and applied vinyl for my girls bathroom.  I made a similar one in this post. It was for a friend's girls.  This pic shows the finished product with ribbon and all hung up.  I think I like the rectangular version from the first project better as far as shape, but the square shape fits the space well.  I *might* eventually go back and re-do the size of some of my wording.  I think it should be a bit bigger and maybe even thicker.  But for a quick cut and paste type thing, I am content for the moment.  ;-)

My vinyl rage is not over.  I have plans to make a gift for my dad for his birthday (it's next week!) and then gifts for my cousins kiddos for their birthday.  So stay tuned for more Vinyl Love posts to come in the future.  ;-) 

I will be linking up to the linky parties listed on my side bar. 

   

Show us your Life: Single Guys/Girls

Today at Kelly's Korner it's Show us your Life Friday.  Today's post is on Single Guys or Girls.  I am going to write a post on a dear friend of mine's little sister (age 23).  She is an AWESOME catch!  She is beautiful OUTSIDE and IN!  Because let's face it, beauty is only skin deep but it helps with initial attraction ;-)  I've talked with her and she gave me permission to post so I swiped some pics off of her FB account.  LOL!  Without further wordy-ness, This is Ashley:

Enough eye candy yet?  ;-)  I told you she was a beautiful young lady!  This last pic fits her personality.  She works for a photographer.  Well, this next pic shows how much fun you can have with props!   I loved this one. 

Okay, so facts:

1. She's 23

2. She loves Jesus

3. Her family is AMAZING and God loving.

(I know this because I spent LOTS of time at her house back when I was younger)

4. She's CRAZY in love with her niece. 

(I wish I had an Aunt Ash when I was little!  They go for pedi's together!)

5. She's a college graduate

6. She just got a license to open her OWN business!

7.  She has a great personality to match her outer beauty =)

I know Ashley through her sister.  She has been a very good friend for a long long time.  That means I've known Ashley since she was a little league cheerleader!  She is a DEFINITE catch.  Want to know more or talk with her?  Leave me a comment.  If you did a single boys post, then leave me a link to show her!  =) 

Beautiful

I wanted to share a song today that is one of my fav's lately.  I hope you enjoy it!

And here's a pic of my family that I randomly got.  I took it hoping to get some sun flair.  No flair but a beautiful backdrop in the sky.  I'm lovin' it!

Hope you all are having a great week.  Mine has been super busy so far.  Looking forward to rest.  ;-)

Fix It Friday

I'm participating in Fix-it Friday at I heart Faces!

Here are the before and afters:

What do you think?  I used my favorite least time consuming editor...Picnik!  I cropped in, ran vibrance, crossprocess, and ortonish macros.  I heart you picnik.  Before I discovered you, I thought editing with Photoshop was hardly worth the effort it was so slow.  
What would you have done differently in editing the photo? 

Favorite Bible Verses

This is a post inspired by Kelly's Korner, show us your life: Favorite Bible Verses. 
I am a planner.  I like to live by a plan.  When the plan falters it is SO difficult for me.  I have trouble adjusting and may or may not show it.  My mind constantly plans out the day, the hour, the future, etc.  You get it right?  Well, SOMETIMES, I have these plans that don't pan out.  Not because I didn't give it my all or try hard enough, but that door just closed.  I find myself wondering what did I do or what didn't I do?  I can analyze anything to death.  Then I read these verses:
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)
Ever had one of those times in life when your parents wouldn't allow you to participate in something that all the kids were doing?  Now you get it right?  They had your best interest at heart.  God does too.  So I try to keep in mind as I'm planning that if it doesn't work out the way I think it should, that is just because God knows so much more than I do!  He knows that is not what's best for me or my family.  For a person who is a planner like me, the not knowing is hard.  But trusting God to know what's best...that's natural.  =)

Fourth of July Celebrating!

How was everyone's fourth of July???  We had a blast!  Watched a great fireworks show that is sure to become a family tradition.  Ofcourse the Fourth of July is this guy's favorite holiday (if you can't tell from the pic!):

He made it home with lots of fireworks to shoot for the girlies.  On the 3rd we took the Princess to the back yard and Daddy set off some fireworks.  We let Einie outside because the Lil'Cupake was in bed and when he hears fireworks he barks like crazy (always has).  This is how he handled it:

The Princess was a big help to Daddy.  She held his flashlight and shined it out in the yard so he could see to light off the bottle rockets!

On the fourth Daddy shot off fireworks for both girlies.  We all went to the front yard this time so Daddy could shoot some off in the cul-de-sac.

Played in the front yard in between the shows:

(I can not believe how tall my Lil' Cupcake looks here!!!!)

The Lil' Cupcake has been noticing air traffic all the time lately.  In the middle of the fireworks by daddy I heard her squeal with excitement!  Looked over to this:

I'm going to have to teach her to say "De plane, De plane!!!"  sometime soon, LOL! 

Here are a couple more pics of the fam getting ready to enjoy the local fireworks show!

Even our guests enjoyed it!

How was your fourth of July?  Do you have any family traditions?

Citronella Candles

I did it!  I finally did it!  I've been wanting to try out Amy's bug banishing tutorial since she posted it!  I got all my supplies about a month back and finally I just MADE the time to do this.  I am SO glad I did!  I ended up with enough soy wax for 4 candles.  I put one of them in an recycled pickle jar and we used it over the Fourth of July holiday to keep the bugs away:

These ROCK!  My girls didn't end up with ONE SINGLE BITE!  =)  Thanks Amy!!!!  Anybody interested in how it's made, check out her tutorial!  It's Positively Splendid ;-)

I will be following up this post with one filled with pictures for all our friends and family to see how we spent our fourth of July holiday! 

Fun Friday

I took the girls downtown today.  I figured since our daycare was closed and I took a vacation day we might as well do something fun!  These two ran around chasing one another and holding hands and hugging...they had the best time.  And so did mommy!