This Is The Year

I've been a busy girl! I have been wanting to do a giveaway for Fall, and when my fab friend Heidi revealed that her Monthly Craft Challenge for October would be Fall-themed crafts, I thought "YES! I will do a giveaway of Fall items - handmade by me!" So today I'm linking up with Heidi , and introducing my Handmade For Fall Giveaway as I show you what I've made for Heidi's party ! Sound good? First, a while back I showed you some coasters that I made, but it was clear back when I first started blogging, so I'm going to show you again with this new seasonal set! This idea has been floating around blog land, and I've seen several different variations. Here's how I do it. You will need: paper napkins, 4x4 ceramic tiles, 4x4 cork squares, MOD PODGE (what else?), sponge brushes (not shown), and polyurethane (not shown). Start by cutting your napkin down to a manageable size, slightly bigger than your tile. Next spread a layer of mod podg onto the t...

Welcome friends! Are you so excited? Me too! I can't wait to see what you've all come up with! But to start I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my sweet Cowgirl. I can't believe she's 9! I have a post all about her to share, but I want to have pictures from the family Birthday party on Friday! For my project, I must admit I STILL didn't finish the big project I've been hoping to show you. I keep running into problems. So I'm shooting for October's MPM to post that one! But I was able to do another project that I have actually been thinking about for a while. Since discovering all the fabulous talent in blog land, I have learned about, and fallen in love with the idea of accessorizing with books. I have a few spots around the house where I use some fun, old books in my decor. Then I thought how cool it would be to Mod Podge the books! Well, I had this idea, and then I saw it in a catalog too! I don't think they Mod Podged, but it was the same idea...

This week Amber asks us to list a few things we can NOT live without! So here goes: 1. Mod Podge! Check out how much I love this stuff by clicking on the Mod Podge Mania link in the right column....and be sure to come back on the 30th to link up YOUR projects! 2. Music! I love music. I love playing the piano, or listening to my son play the violin, or listening to my husband and daughter sing in the church choir, or just rockin' out to my favorite tunes on the ipod! Music is a HUGE part of my family life, and I don't know what we'd do without it! 3. Fabulous Earrings! I love cute earrings. I wish I had a different pair for EVERY outfit! Of course, there's all the important stuff too, like my family, friends, and faith! What can you NOT live without? Head over to Amber's to link up and make some new friends!

I told you a while back that I was participating in the fabulous Shawn at Seriously's Brithday Swap! It was so much fun. The person who had my name was Michelle and she is adorable! Go check her out. Michelle contacted me around the deadline to let me know she had special ordered an item with the funds that were allotted, but that it would be shipped straight from the company she ordered it from. Therefore I knew my package would be a little late. It was worth the wait! A few days ago this fabulousness arrived! I have always wanted a mother's necklace. I blurred it out to protect my children, but not only are their birthstones attached to the pendant, but also each of their names are engraved around the edge...isn't it beautiful? Thanks Michelle...I love it! Thanks Shawn for hosting such a fun swap! Don't forget everyone, Mod Podge Mania on the 30th, and my Handmade For Fall giveaway reavealed on the 1st!

Dear Dick Clark Productions, You guys are jerks. Really. I think it's really jerky of you to continually complain to YouTube about people posting favorite dance numbers from SYTYCD. Then YouTube yanks the videos, and suspends the users' accounts. Why? The poeple who post the videos are not making money. You are not losing money. We all just love the show so much we want to keep revisiting our favorite moments. I think I have proven time and again what a loyal fan I am of the show. I really don't appreciate logging in to watch a favorite dance I have bookmarked and getting the message "This video is no longer available due to terms of use violation". I just wanna watch the dances! Know what else is really jerky? When I have posted a video to share with all my bloggy friends, and it's there for a couple days, then BAM! Nothin' but a big blank square on my blog because you guys have yanked the video. Why? What is so wrong with us wanting to watch our favorite...

I'm tired ladies. Too many late nights. Too many Early mornings. And I'm missing all the T.V. shows I was so excited to watch! The NCIS shows premiered last night. Tuesday night is Young Womens . Besides being the secretary, I'm also the Personal Progress leader. Last night we got the girls started on putting together their family history. It will be a neat thing for them to have, and to keep. I'm working on mine as well...I'll have to tell you all about the Personal Progress program soon. I love it. For sure a lot more important than some T.V. shows! Tonight it's So You Think You Can Dance. I'll have to miss it. It's our first School Town Hall Meeting of the year. I'm sure there will be A LOT of parents there, because of the recent announcement of the resignation of our school director. We love him. We will miss him. But he recently was given the amazing opportunity to be the DEAN of a college! He obviously can not pass this opportu...

The title is meant to be said in the "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!" voice from The Brady Bunch! Did you watch last night? I think Donny did great! I mean...for a non-ballroom dancer. They raved about Aaron Carter, but honestly, I thought Donny did better. Something about the way Aaron moves bugs me. Oh wait, maybe it's just his personality that bugs me...whatever. If you missed it, check it out: Donny SMOKED everyone in the "dance relay" where they each have a 30 second spot dancing the same dance. Yeah...he did Utah proud last night! What did you guys think? Still up to my eyeballs in tutu costumes...I promise to get caught up with y'all soon!

Top 3 reasons I don't buy Ramen Noodles: 1. My kids love them. 2. My kids can fix them by themselves. 3. I'm lazy. See how these 3 things could equal trouble? If I have Ramen in the House, that's all my kids will ever have, because it's so easy to just say "yes" when they say..."Can we just fix ourselves some Ramen for dinner?" Yeah, Ramen on hand equals the end of balanced meals in this house. Top 3 reasons you should change your comment settings to remove "word verification", and enable your comments to appear in a pop-up window: 1. Word Verification takes too much time (lazy...remember?). I really like to make sure to visit all my favorite bloggers, and when I haven't been by in a while, I like to go back and get caught up a little. Having to type in the word verification every. single. time. really slows me down! 2. "spam" comments are not nearly as common as you'd think. I removed my word verification months ago and h...

The other day I ran across THE cutest craft idea for kids here . Loved this fun idea for glowing jack-o-lanterns, simple enough for ALL my kids to do, and cheap enough for me to let them!!! Here's what you'll need: glass jars (I used canning jars) orange tissue paper black paper Mod Podge (saw that one comin', didn't ya?) green paint Optional: lids and rings green tulle While the kids were busy cutting the tissue paper into strips (about 1.5 - 2 inches wide, length measured to fit the height of their jars).... I went outside and spray painted the lids and rings (glued together with a dab of hot glue) green. You can just paint the top, threaded part of the jar green with a brush...but you all know I'm a lazy crafter. So spray paint it is!! Once all the strips were cut... It was time to break out the Mod Podge. Working with a section at a time, apply a layer of MP to the jar, then smooth a strip of tissue paper over the top. Repeat all the way around, overlappin...

Dear Monkey, Something has got to change. I mean it. I'm only 33 years old...I'm not meant to have this many grey hairs. Also, I'm pretty sure the neighbors don't appreciate the yelling they hear coming from this house. So, I've been thinking about how you can be my big helper, and we can try to make the grey hairs and the yelling come to an end. Let's talk about your relationship with the dog. I'm pretty sure she doesn't appreciate being blamed when you have an accident in your pants because you're too lazy to put your toys down and go to the bathroom. So please, I don't want to hear, "Ty's a naughty dog, she peed my pants" ever again. Okay? Next, I really, really did not enjoy walking into the kitchen last week to find the floor, yourself, and the dog completely covered in flour. Dumping flour on the dog because you were, as you put it "making it snow on Ty" is not okay. I realize we're getting excited for C...

It's Wednesday! Man this week is turning into a long one! I'm sorry I haven't been by to visit these last couple of days... Ribbon Blossoms has been slammed with Halloween orders! That's a good thing...but I miss you! We have had order after order for TuTu Halloween costumes come in...I love it! It's not too late to place your order...go here if you're interested. Tell your friends! I spent last night updating our website to add some of the new products Tanielle and I have been working on. Here are a few of the products we've recently added: Bitty Bling Bows Blossom Clippies Candy Corn Korker set Applique Onesies We are also working on some new Tutu costume designs to add to the site! Go check it out if you haven't been by in a while. Also...we're gearing up for an awesome Christmas Giveaway from Ribbon Blossoms ...so stay tuned! I'll be catching up as best I can between making tutus this week! Love Ya! Miss Ya!

So today for Friend Makin ' Monday, hosted by the lovely Amber , the question is: What are some of your favorite fall shows? I am so excited for the season premiere of THIS show: Mark Harmon AND Michael Weatherly on the same screen...doesn't get better than that! And as if that weren't enough...The Powers That Be at CBS have decided to treat me with a double dose of NCIS , with their new show, NCIS : Los Angeles...with another tantalizing twosome...L.L. Cool J and Chris O'Donnel ...how cool is this?: Yes I Do watch some girly shows too: Don't tell anyone but my guilty pleasure? One Tree Hill And of course we've already been graced with the presence of the premiere of the Fall season of SYTYCD ! Check out my FAVORITE moment from last week's auditions: If you don't want to see the contestants' little bio and history with the show (well worth the watch IMO), just fast forward to 1:33. This is awesome. Make sure to hang in, past the judges comments to...

So last week I bragged about the crafty finds I scored at the Dollar Tree. Today for Amy's Round Robin I thought I'd share some of the ways that little trip has helped me get into the spirit of fall! Remember I told you about these awesome fall leaves that came in a 10 pack? They are even more awesome than I first thought! They're poseable! So you can just crinkle them a little and they look SO REAL! But that's not what I used them for first. First I rounded up a couple of sheets of scrapbook paper, this dollar store picture frame that I roughed up a little with some sand paper... And also my handy-dandy can of glitter spray. This my friends is a crafters best friend. You know my motto "Everything's better with glitter!" I sprayed the leaves with glitter, followed by a coat of clear acrylic spray to keep it from wearing off, cut the scrapbook paper down to size and glued it all how I wanted it (glue stick on the paper, and just a couple of dabs of hot gl...