Paper Ball Ornaments....

I have seen these before and tried to make them but failed, well then in my daily emails I get from Martha low and behold she had a tutorial and it made so much more sense and I LOVE them!! I can't wait to make a bunch more, I am working on some pretty toile ones that I can use all year in a bowl or big jar.

You could make them as big or as little as you want, make some out of vintage images from childrens books and hang them from the ceiling in a playroom or little girls room, How cute would that be! Mine I just made with some random paper as I wanted to make sure it would turn out, but there are lots you could do to dress these up. Add some letters or numbers too, how cute and easy! You can check out Martha's tutorial right here.

I've been filling jars with ornaments

and putting out the rest of the Christmas pretties....

And cleaning up messes....

Last night we had 8 boys plus our own, EIGHT, 6 of which stayed all night.It was seriously crazy. Our son turned 8 on Thursday and we had a sleepover last night. This guy here was great, played with them and kept them entertained until after 1am when the last one finally fell asleep. Yes ONE AM. Fun was had by all though and the Birthday boy deserved it :) But now we are wore out and there is cake and crumbs all over the floor, toys everywhere, and lots of cleaning to do all over again.

Having that many boys together, you get to see what your kids are seeing, hearing, and learning at school and let me tell you it makes me want to lock my kid up at home and never let him leave the house. It amazes me what just 7 and 8 year old boys already know, it's scary. But we can only do so much, and there is just no way to protect them from it all, just got to keep teaching them right from wrong and do our best. It's funny, things that were said, words that I heard whispered, and my son would say what's that mean? What's that mom?

Anyways, all your Christmas decorating done? What about your shopping? I can't believe Christmas is already almost here. I wish I could slow down time as it's going way to fast for me. I am not ready for it to be over yet.

Some Christmas Blocks....

I am hooked on making these blocks. Blocks were the very first thing I ever made when I started just a little under a year ago. They are simple, possibilities are endless and they are very affordable to make. They also make very cute gifts!

These I made with a 2x4 that my husband cut down for me into 4 inch and 6 inch tall blocks. I decoupaged scrapbook paper on them, and cutout stencils using my cricut expression. Super easy.

These however are my favorite. Love them.  These were made from the 6 inch blocks hubby cut from the 2x4, I painted them black, distressed them a bit,  I cut up pieces of burlap and tacked them onto the blocks with upholstery tacks, then I hot glued the old looking flashcards to the burlap.

I have a ton of these flashcards and lots more projects planned for them.

 

These were made out of 4 inch blocks cut from a 4x4. They have torn pieces of toile wrapping paper decoupaged on them. They were antiqued with an antiquing gel.

 Love the red toile!!

An easy Christmas Ornament....

Remember me? Before I get to some super easy ornaments, let me bore you with the details of my week. First my tooth, grrrrrr...I was in so much pain Monday and Tuesday because of it, seriously it hurt. Can't get the work done on it until our ins. kicks in, Great, right?

Ok so I normally don't post pics of the kids but wanted to share a couple. This little Bugaboo turned ONE on Wednesday :( Well he also had his year checkup the same day ( stupid me, I know ), I am not kidding hours after he came home from the Doc he was sick. His eyes are all messed up and yuck, he's coughing, it's so awful. I hate when the littles are sick especially when they aren't old enough to tell you what's wrong and what they need or want. You know? Anyway, he's not doing any better and will be heading to the Doc again today I am sure. His birthday party is Scheduled for Saturday and I thinking we have to cancel. Do you think anyone wants to hangout at my germ infested house?

Here's the little guy just a few days ago, isn't he precious? Ah I love this kid. It makes me so sad that he is already One, time flies.

See this Nut? That's the husband a few days ago. We were at Grams for dinner and he helped me do the dishes and of course I had to snap a picture. No he doesn't have a beard, nor does he parade around in a Santa hat, lol. I just signed up for picnik.com premium photo editor and have been playing around with it, have you tried their free version? If not do so now, as it's AMAZINGly Fun! Soooo many fun things to do with pictures. Anyway this guy is sick and has the same thing the little bugaboo above does. :(

Isn't he handsome? He's 7 and will be 8 the 3rd of December :( This kid is so Awesome, I love him. He's smart, hilarious, and so sweet. He has the biggest heart. He was actually sick a little under 2 weeks ago, he missed almost an entire week of school and guess what? He woke up tonight vomiting. Guess where he was sleeping? My bed. Yippee. Oh and guess what he said as soon as he finished? Does this mean I get to miss school tomorrow? Haha! He loves school but I guess he needed a little break, lol.

Am I sick too? Yup, not as bad as my guys though, just a cold, couch, sore throat, that kind of thing. Hopefully it stays that way.

I have two parties I am hosting this weekend, one Gabes Birthday party on Sat. the second is a Tastefully Simple/Bra party I am hosting on Sunday afternoon but it's not looking like either will happen. :(

So have I been crafting? Making anything cool? Finishing up the hundreds of projects I ramble on and on about. Nope. I just haven't had the time. Plus I feel like poo and just can't. Do you ever have soooo many ideas racing through your head and know exactly how you want to do it, what you need, you have it all, but you just can't get to it? It kills me people. I seriously lose sleep over it. It's awful. I want a vacation, but to go on vacation every single thing would need to be done and I can't see that happening.

Ok I have bored you enough, Aren't these cute? I found packages of chipboard cutouts at Big Lots in ornament shapes, you get 21 one in a package for $2, woohoo! I painted them white, brushed them with modge podge and sprinkled on the diamond dust. So easy and these are fun to do with the kiddos too. My oldest lovees to craft with me!

I love diamond dust, it's so fun! I think they would be cute with numbers on them and shabby them up a bit.

They are much prettier in person, promise.

Don't laugh. I was playing.

I tried to make one similar to this one. This was on Ballard Designs website here. No it's not near as cute but it was fun and simple. I cut out the stencil using my Cricut Expression. I love that thing.

I have been trying to coupon on the side, you know when I'm not taking care of sick people. I went to CVS and had a coupon for everything shown. I spent $19 and some change out of pocket and got back $11 in Extra Care Bucks to spend on whatever. Fun! I think I did good, 3 lip balms, 2 Covergirl makeups, batteries, and a Huge Bottle of lotion. Not bad.

Well, That's all I have, I know sad.  I won't be around for a couple of days again, as we all fight off the germs, But I have some posts scheduled for you :)