A Quick Craft

It took me 2.5 years and several scoops of Spark to discover the joy of naptime.

I mean, naptime was also nice when I was sleeping with Little Bit, but this having an hour or two to myself AND feeling good enough to do something during it?

Pretty sweet!

I didn't have any pre-set plans to accomplish during naptime. Except to go through a hamper of stuff I am purging... pulling out the "save for the consignment sale", "throw away", or "give back to someone" piles.

Then, just as the snoring began, it hit me!

A new wreath! Several years ago, I scored some wreath door hangers on clearance & this past winter, I actually hung a wreath. Which I crafted & loved. But, I was ready for something new & was hoping to sort through some stuff in my (messy) craft corner.

I had already worked on the felt flowers, so I plugged the hot glue gun in & went to town.

Here's our before wreath:

{Please ignore the slant! Yikes. And, yes, thank-you-for-asking, I HAVE lost some weight! FIFTEEN pounds to be exact, WOoHoo!}

And our after wreath:

For much less than $5 [Probably less than $3 if I break the calculator out & really figure it out], I have a brand new door wreath! I am trying to not let things like the width of the wreath not being perfectly symmetric or the bumps of the vines or flower I had to move three times bother me, because I am pretty happy I got a little crafting done today!

Now if I could only convince my husband to let me paint the door the color I want!! ;)

I still have nearly an hour of naptime left; think I will tackle that hamper now!

Recap of January

I thought I'd do some recaps of each month to share how we are prepaing, primarily, for Christmas next year! I figure doing something slowly throughout the year will avoid that stress at the end of the year! :)

Swagbucks earned me $10 in Amazon giftcards.

Participation in a Hugg.ies mommy community earned me $15 in Amazon giftcards.

A rebate from using our Mastercard during Christmas time earned me a $20 giftcard.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD:
** Purchased 6 bars of Ivory soap (money spent $1.28)
** Purchased 18 mittens, on clearance at Target (money spent $4.50)
** Various kids meal toys collected from buying Little Bit food (free! Was going to buy the meals anyways & I just save up the books or toys every other meal!)

This month, February, I hope to make some pillowcase dresses to add to the shoeboxes & possibly some Valentine clearance items (pencils, erasers, possibly?)

This is also a reminder to be on the look-out for item to add to your shoeboxes. We can provide more gifts for those sweet children if we shop ahead, buy the deals, & plan! Just like in all of the areas of our spending! :)

Painting at Library

Our local library (although still a 30 minute drive from our house) has weekly storytime meeting for the little ones. I am attempting getting out of the house more often & these meetings are perfect opportunities for me to let Elias get messy (with crafts & toys) without me having to clean it all up! :)

Unless he has painted at his Puggles/Awanas classes, this is the first time my little guy has painted. I thought he did a pretty good job & we enjoyed the outing.

He Is the Light of My Life

We were at one of E's friend's pool party (in Janaury! His mama rocked it!) & this was just too cute to not show off.

Now, how could you look at that & not smile! :)

A New Month: November

We primed & painted the room this weekend. The mural is done! Little Bit's room has been transformed & after our trip to IKEA next weekend + Daddy setting the hutch up... it will be all done! :)

If I can get Blogger to cooperate, I will post pictures! It worked, here goes!




Otherwise, I have been hanging out with other mamas in the area walking between 2-4 miles on several mornings each week! So nice... If only I could kick the cherry coke addiction...

We continue to purge the extra junk in the house & have sold three items in the last few days on Craigslist. Which is thrilling! We are getting more space in our house AND adding money to our Christmas Jar. Double whammy!

Our church participates in Samaritan's Purse Operation: Christmas Child shoeboxes. We purged some baby stuff & used the money to fund the mural cost & then had plenty left over for shoeboxes! It can be exhilarating! I asked Hubby if we could provide even more shoeboxes & he obliged happily! So, we have even more shoeboxes headed to sweet little toddler boys & girls. Pretty awesome.

Oh, we also have a girl's craft day. I didn't have too much planned, but brought a huge tub of stuff to play with. I started with painting letters & frames, then moved onto learning how to roll fabric rosettes, & making felt flowers. Was so much fun & refreshing to just hang out & be a bit creative for a while. We are hoping to do it once a month from now on. Here's a shot of the rosettes & flower I made for a baby girl's headband.


Cute, right?! :) I thought so.

Another picture to end the post. Our church had a Family Fun Day to celebrate 15 years. Little Bit loved jumping in the bouncy house. Here's the clearest & best picture I could snap of him: