Giving Thanks by Jonathan London

After yesterday's trip to the library we are over flowing with Fall and Thanksgiving themed books for the week! We did our first book related project yesterday to go along with Giving Thanks by Jonathan London.




Madison was a bit confused with the story the first time we read it. She wasn't sure why we would be thanking the sky, bunny rabbits and mushrooms! With a little chat about being thankful for all that we have and all that surrounds us she was more than eager to write down all the things that she was thankful for.

I have seen quite a few different styles of a Thankful Tree but I wanted to incorporate our family into the tree along with the things we are thankful for. I ended up tracing all of hand's onto a piece of brown construction paper for the top of the tree and now when ever Madison looks at it she likes to point out everyone's hands!

Then we each took a set of colored leaves; Madison chose red, I had yellow and daddy grabbed orange. Now we are able to tell apart everyone's Thankful Leaves. Now onto the good stuff!

Madison is thankful for: Mom & Dad, Maddie Mae Bear, The Playground, Friends and Milo
Daddy is thankful for: Amanda, Madison, His Job, Good Friends and Family!
Mommy is thankful for: Our Family, The US Navy, The option to be a SAHM, Our Home and Good Coffee!

I was a bit surprised at how involved Madison became in this project and at bedtime last night she was still listing off the things she was thankful for!

A snowy Christmas....gift

Fair warning right now:

If you are on my Christmas shopping list look no further unless you want to see what Madison and I made you for Christmas. If you can't resist and look...well act surprised anyways!





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I have a huge Christmas shopping list and generally I like to just make a gift for each family to keep things a little simpler for me. This year I was set on making some snowmen out of keystone pavers and let me tell you I am stubborn!

I had to search EVERYWHERE for the silly pavers but in the end it worked out well and on a budget. I ended up spending about $40 on materials to make 18 gifts! Better yet Madison and I had an activity to do together for about two weeks!

Materials: White acrylic paint, 1/4 yard fleece, sparkly pipe cleaners, 1 1/2 inch pompoms, assorted black buttons and orange puffy paint

By far the most time consuming part was the painting. Madison helped A LOT and we did two coats on each paver.

For packaging I opted for the quick and easy tissue paper method! I was also lucky enough to win some personalized holiday gift tags from the Good Day Designs Shop that matched perfectly with the theme!

Thanks again Teresa!

Hurray for Christmas shopping/crafting/wrapping being done at my house!

I did it again!

I am probably starting to feel a bit over confident but that's okay with me! Last night I stitched up an I Spy bag for Madison!

The whole project cost about $6 and that is a bargain!

Sure my lines aren't straight and my square isn't exactly a square but it still serves its purpose just the same!


Before I stuffed all the little trinkets inside I took pictures of them and then printed it on cardstock and laminated them so Madison has a cheat sheet of what is inside!

Sewing Without Injury

I did it! I practically ambushed Mr. Funny Days as he walked into the door yesterday with my excitement! While Madison napped yesterday I broke out the sewing machine and I actually made something! Like a real something!

I started off easy with a fabric bracelet from the tutorial on Sew-Fantastic. Easy peasy! Well other than the fact that the piece of fabric I had was too small so it was a Madison bracelet. I am already planning on making a few more with the fabric scraps from my next project!

Alright are you ready for my truly amazing abilities?!?!?! I made a crayon roll!

Okay, okay I know that they were the rage a while back but I was terrified of the sewing machine then. Yesterday I did it though, technically I did it twice because either the directions were not complete or I am incapable of reading properly...any who. I used the tutorial on Skip to My Lou and I am in love with my creation!

It may not be perfect, I may not know how to cut perfectly straight or even sew straight but I made it all by myself! YEAH!

A New Journey

I may not have actually made anything substantial yet but I am falling in love with my husband's my sewing machine. Over the weekend I discovered Julie at Joy's Hope would be doing a Scarf Along and readily signed up to learn a new skill. Since then I have been trolling Etsy daily for pretty fabrics and dreaming about all of the amazing things I am going to sew with my old school machine. Stay tuned - I am sure I will incur some sort of injury in the coming months!

In the meantime let me show you what I have found!


First if you haven't been by Joy's Hope you are seriously missing out! She is amazingly creative and I always love what she makes, plus her blog is super bright and colorful! What better way to start your morning than with a strong cup of coffee, a child screaming in the background and some beautiful projects on your computer screen? No? That's just my house? Okay...

Recently I also came across Sew-Fantastic, I have been intimidated to even click on her tutorials but I am feeling confident today and just may visit a few! And right now at Sew-Fantastic there is a Hawthorne Threads giveaway! Stop by before November 14th and enter to win some GORGEOUS Holiday fabric!


And that brings us to Hawthorne Threads.....fair warning- do not visit unless you want to spend money! hehehe I am in love with Wild Thyme, Studio E Holiday Magic and Girl Friday collections! I am brainstorming all of the all to ambitious projects I can do with them! There also happens to be a giveaway at Hawthrone Threads through November 16th.

Oh and did I happen to mention how freaking excited I am about the fabric I ordered from MaterialGal? So excited! How adorable is this stuff! If you happen to join in the Scarf Along you can also grab the correct and beautifully matching fabric right from MaterialGal!

Muffin Tin Monday

It's Monday and boy have I been slacking last week! We had a wonderful week with Great Grandma in town but now she is flying in the airplane back to Hannah Montana and we are back to Muffin Tin Monday! It feels like forever ago since we did a MTM so here we go:

Top: celery sticks with ranch dressing, leftover refried beans and rice, strawberry yogurt with blueberries
Bottom: Whole wheat crackers, a cheese stick sliced up, Halloween M&Ms


Stay tuned this week for a post about my handmade Christmas gifts!

and

Have you stopped by Joy's Hope lately? I have and I am super excited to announce that I will be joining in on her Scarf Along starting this week!



Last night I ordered some adorable fabric from Material Gal for the project and I am SUPER excited!

Look, Look, Look!

Did you notice?

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A new header! My own button! A new background! Pretty, pretty, pretty!

Thanks to Jessica at This, That & Your Blog I feel like a new girl this morning! I have been giddy with excitement all week and running for my BlackBerry as it vibrates off the table hoping that it was an e-mail from Jessica about new updates! I was added to her to-do list about 3 weeks ago and today my blog is officially done! I am thrilled with the new look and Jessica was so patient with me and extremely helpful!

Her turn around is incredibly fast and her prices are amazingly affordable! Are you looking for a new design? Just a header? Your own button? Head on over to This, That & Your Blog and get your name on the to-do list!

THANK YOU JESSICA!!!!