Leap Year day!

It's an extra day of the year!  :) Okay, so I am embarking on my big move at 3 a.m. (Thurs) Myself, my mom, and my 3 kids are taking the train across the country to NC. We are excited!  We've been reading Harry Potter together...so  they are ready for the Hogwart's Express! Wish us luck! So my Grandpa Sperry loved trains! He had tons of model trains.   We went on a couple little train rides with him.   The kind of old time train that just goes one way down the  track...stops...and then reverses back. I feel like taking the train on this trip reminds me of him. He has his own museum at Lagoon, Pioneer Village in Farmington, UT. I pasted this from Wikipedia for my posterity's sake. David E. Sperry’s Model Train Museum   The David E. Sperry Model Train Museum contains dozens of model trains , most of which are from the collection of David E. Sperry. Sperry’s fascination with trains began in 1928 when he s...

Yard Sale List...formulating

Every year around Pre-yard sale season  (February-Aprilish) I formulate a list of things I would like to find at yard sales. These range from sensible things like the next size up  of clothes and shoes for my kids, a rice cooker, things I  can resell, supplies for projects...to weirdly specific things.   I have been very blessed and have been able to find mostly  everything I need/want at yard sales or second hand stores. This week we are moving to North Carolina, which I hear is yard sale/antique store/estate sale/furniture capital of the world... (anyone from or been to NC that can clarify this?)  So, my list has begun.  Here is the start: Some awesome vintagey chairs. Owl cookie jar...since this one is my sisters!   Ahh, how did she score this for only $1!   I can't even google images of owl cookie jars this amazing!  Silver teapot and sugarbowl...don't drink tea ever, ...

Happy Birthday!

It's my husband's birthday today! He has been doing Army training for a year... and finally we are able to move to be with him! We are leaving this week for North Carolina and will be a  family again by next Sunday!  :) Happy Birthday Honey!  Here's a little "him and me" montage...with some kissing parts.

Flower sprig barrette

 I snagged these roses and sprig thingy from a  flower arrangement on it's way to the DI.

Photograph Picture Scavenger Hunt for Kids!

Photograph Scavenger Hunt for Kids! Need a fun activity to do with the kids? One of my daughter's favorite things to do is borrow my phone and use the camera to take as many pictures as she can... We end up with stuff like this: So, I made up a game for her. It's a photo scavenger hunt...feel free  to print it off for your kiddos! (It's also a pretty fun group date...each couple splits  up and they meet back up to share photos) I print this out... put on a clipboard with a pen attached by a string (so official!)  And let her take the camera.  She is 7 and very careful. You could just let your kids go and find things and check off the boxes without the camera...that is fun too! Picture Scavenger Hunt for Kids! Right click to save off and print! Then we end up with cute pictures like this: I love how she set things up specifically for the check box.   It's cute how she set up her little squinkies! An...

Fabric Rosettes!

This is one of the first projects I took step by step  pictures of a year ago...and never posted them! You will need: Fabric for rosette Hot glue gun (I use low temp) Denim or canvas circles Begin by tearing a strip 3/4" wide. Tie a knot in the end. Begin rolling the fabric strip around the knot... Hot gluing a tiny dot every time or 2 around. Twist and turn the fabric as you wrap. Glue the end in place. Apply generous amounts of hot glue to the underside of your rosette. Do not burn yourself.  Press onto denim or canvas circle. Let cool. Cut off excess edge of denim. Adorn with pearl or other sparkly. Then, make a million. They are fun and easy! Perfect for hair bows, gift bows, pillows, headbands, cards or paper crafts, a wreath, necklaces... here are more ideas!

Candy Sushi!

We made Candy Sushi for a family night treat! Start with swedish fish, fruit roll-ups and rice crispy treats!  (we made the rice crispy treats ourselves)    Place a "log" of rice crispy treats on the fruit roll up. Lay fish on top of the rice... Roll it up tight and cut into 1 inch pieces... Then, because they look gross...top them off with a fish. Better, still weird, but better. Tastes great!

Star Bits!

I love these little paper Star Bits! These would be so fun for a Mario Brother's party... And better than CANDY in a candy dish! anyway...easy to make and uses up scraps of paper--practically free! These would be great out of magazines... newspaper...book pages...! but since I am too lazy to make my own  instructions... here's one I lifted! I am going to make a ton and fill a big glass jar! Wish me luck!  :)

Eyelashes, Kids & Latisse

To start, let me say I am not paid to say anything  on my blog...I wish I was getting a crapload of  freebies and the poster child of craftiness, but no. I just do and say what I want because I want. So, Every year or so, I get this wild hair to  take a bazillion pictures of myself. They then go into a folder titled "nats a dork" with the year. (I do it mainly in case I am abducted and my family  needs current sultry pictures of me to post on the news) Surprisingly that urge hit me last week... 3 days off of when I did it last year. I discovered something awesome. my eyelashes. All my life I have done my lashes the same way. Curly them with my squeezy eyelash curler... then mascara once...or twice if it was a  super special occasion. I had great lashes in high school  and as a young wife and mother... until I had baby number 3.   (which was 3 1/2 years ago.) And then my lashes seemed much  shorter and sparcer than before. I compensated by ...

Keys.

Keys are cool.  Vintage keys are cooler.  If I was way better organized, I would have kept our first apartment key and done something like this for decor.  I may still have all our old car keys, so I should dig them out and do something cool with them.  Here are some more great KEY ideas!