A New Toy

My husband spoiled me and suprised me with a new KitchenAid Professional Mixer. I really like it.
I have never in my life been able to make anything that contained yeast successfully. I've tried a handful of times. Many of my friends make bread and rolls and I've looked up to them for being able to do it and make non-paperweight rolls. I was finally successful!!! I made rolls and they turned out great!


Brian thought I should try cinnamon rolls today. So we worked together and we made some pretty tasty cinnamon rolls.
I told Brian that I was going to take pictures of my baking successes and he thought I was silly, but I am so happy that they are soft, tasty, and even edible! Thank you, Brian for the kind gift. I love you. Thanks for also believing in me.

This is another project I made with my friend Becky. Its a wire tree thing. I made little ghosts with old sheets and a cotton ball for fluff. Then I had some yarn and I stamped some candy corn pieces to make a candy corn garland. I got some ribbon from a gift we recieved once.

I also made some ornaments for fall. We made leaves with bakers dough and then the kids and I painted them. we hung them with ribbon. Last year I made some Easter ornaments with salt dough. I never painted them, so they are ready to paint and hang this coming Easter.

On the leafy tabletop

This I saw in another magazine I don't remember which one. It took a lot of time. But I like it. It was just cutting out and sewing buttons then glueing the side leaves together. I cut 4 leaves out of each felt piece. I didn't keep the pattern going and I am very pattern oriented so I have to decide that its ok that it is not completely uniform.
I just put a bowl of pretend gourds on top.

I was framed!

This was featured in family fun magazine Oct 2008. I thought it was cute and that it might help the kids feel good about their school work. I went to Savers and bought frames (each was $2 or $3) I took them apart and spray painted them black. Roberts has little hooks specifically for something like this, but I just used silver clips from the office supply and attached them with silver wire to the nail.
Dallin's rainbow fish from first grade.
Emma's train and purple cow from preschool.
Last week we borrowed the picture book "The Dot" by Peter H. Renyolds. I love that book! Its about a little girl who feels that she can't draw during art class. Her teacher encourages her by saying just start with a single dot. She puts a dot on her paper then her teacher tells her to sign it. The next day at school she is supprised to se her picture framed behind her teachers desk! She gains confidence. I won't tell the ending of the book. It is great. Get it from the library. It is part of my inspiration for starting this blog and it made me feel great that I had taken the time and $ to frame my kids art.

Word Blocks

Before I felt brave enough to ask Becky for help with vinyl lettering I made these blocks. I love Norman Rockwell pictures and I have a ledge with a few of his more political prints. I bought them for 50cents(I think) each at his museum in Massachussets. I got frames from Wal-mart for cheap. Then the blocks I got from the Syracuse/Clearfield free wood pile (where did that go anyway). Then I used craft paint. I modge podged letters that I cut out while visiting my mom in Illinois. It was a free little accent to my very cheap pictures. I like them a lot.
This is a series of "The Four Freedoms" I think it was Roosevelt who gave a speech on how every person deserved four freedoms...the freedom from fear, the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech and the freedom from want. It is very interesting to learn about Rockwell's struggle with painting these pictures. I know that he had divine guidance on many of his paintings. I took this off the ledge to take the picture.

Footsteps

This is a little gift for father's day. My friend helped me but the board and do the vinyl lettering. She's wonderful and much more crafty than I am. She does the vinyl lettering through her business "little tin bucket." The boys had fun doing this. Emma and I had a little control issue as with everything in our lives, so her footprints are a little more elephant like. I figure it just shows her personality.