Crafting with My Chicky!

Karmindy and I had a slow Saturday afternoon one weekend while the boys were out running errands. While the boys were off shopping, I asked Karmindy if she would like to make some crafts with me. She said she wanted to and was so excited and couldn't wait to get started. I told her she could paint her own craft and she was so excited to make a "big girl" craft with me to display along with all the other crafts I have showcased around the house for Spring time. I really loved spending time with my little girl and Karmindy seemed to enjoy our crafting time with me as well. I look forward to many more years of spending time with my little girl and doing more fun activities like this. I love having a little girl. Karmindy is such a joy in my life and I am so proud to be her momma. 

A few weeks prior to our little Mom/Daughter crafting session, I made this LUCKY sign to display on my mantle in my living room for St. Patricks Day. I really love crafting and decorating my house with the creations I make.

All you Need is Love...

 I have been getting an itch to craft and make something lately so I headed to Wood Connection with my friend, Crystal Albrecht one afternoon to get some Valentine Crafts to make. I don't have very many Valentines Decorations so I thought it was about time to add some to my collection. I ended up choosing this Love Block Kit and I loved how it turned out. It is sitting on my TV Armoire for all to admire and see. I love "Love" Month!"

In other news, I am so grateful to my parents who never forget my children when the Holidays roll around. My mom is the best grandma and always remembers to send some sort of care package up for the kids along with a typed note tell them how much she loves them. The kids really look forward to receiving Grandpa & Grandma DeMille's Care Packages. Thanks Mom and Dad for always remember Kaleb and Karmindy and making the holidays special for them and letting you know that you care about them!

All Things Crafty...

Having the kids away during the afternoon has been hard for me! It has been quite an adjustment! I have tried to embrace this new chapter of my life. I know next year will be even harder when they are gone all day. To keep myself busy, I have been crafting. I have done organization crafts and some Halloween crafts. Halloween has become one of my favorite Holidays and my mantra for Halloween is that one can never have too many Halloween crafts/decor! Here are a few of the crafts/projects I have been doing to keep myself busy and to help me not miss my kids so badly!

 I saw the idea of organizing your kids school work by years and placing them in personalized bins on Pinterest. I figured I better get going on this before the kids get too many school years under their belts. It was a very therapeutic project and very rewarding! It was so fun to go through the kids school work and see what they had accomplished and what they had done over the past few years. The kids were really excited about the bins when I showed them! I hope this will end up being a great way to keep all there school years and projects in one place!

This "Out of Treats" sign I saw on....you guessed it! Pinterest!! I thought this craft was ingenious! We get a massive amount of trick or treaters around these parts and I thought this sign would be awesome to warn them when we are out of treats. I hope this door hanger will work; especially since no one seems to pay attention when we turn off the porch lights when all the candy is gone!

 I have a dead space above my fireplace and it drives me nuts when it comes to decorating it! It truly is a waste of space and I wish that the wall above the fireplace went directly up instead of having an alcove to decorate! I saw this witch silhouette on the internet and knew she would be the perfect addition to add to my Halloween mantle. I am obsessed with all things witch anyways so I knew this "little pretty" would look awesome. She was a lot of work. I distressed a white foam board with antiquing glaze and then traced the witch silhouette pattern onto the foam board and then hand painted the witch in black. I love how she turned out and I can't wait to decorate for Halloween!

These embroidered spider hangers craft, I found in a craft magazine while waiting in line at the grocery store one day. When I saw them, I knew that I wanted to make them. I made a few changes to the pattern because the embroidering knots that it required were a little over my head but I still think they turn out darling! I hate spiders typically, so while making this craft I would catch myself wanting to throw my needle work across the room as I got closer to finishing them because they looked so real. :D I am excited to get "RUN", "EEK" AND "OH, ICK" hung up on my kitchen shelf for Halloween!

These project has been a year in the making. Last year I saw these ghosts on Pinterest and after finding the link, I found out there was not really a pattern for them. So I decided to be brave and make my own pattern and sew my own ghosties! These ghosts were a lot of work and last year when I started making them, I got distracted and never came back to finishing them. This year, while cleaning out my crafting supplies, I found them again and decided to finish them. They turned out cuter than I thought they would. I am proud of myself for finding a project and making it my own.

I am excited with all my projects I have been working on and I am excited to display and use them over the upcoming years!

File Folder Games and Balance is Key!

It has been really nice to have a little bit of down time the past few weeks to recover from being in charge and executing Teacher Appreciation Week(s) at Kaleb's Elementary School this school year. I was in charge of getting in touch with all the Room Mom's to decorate doors, finding other parents to decorate additional staffs doors, teacher gifts, table decor and a huge teacher luncheon at the end of each week. It was MADNESS!!Along with being in charge of Teacher Appreciation week(s) that I was spear-heading, I also had a Primary Auxiliary Training (for my Church Stake Calling) that fell right smack dap at the end of those two weeks. For the Primary Auxiliary training, I was in charge of the food and the table decor, invites to the Primary Presidents, Reminder Emails and Programs. It seriously was the most stressful two weeks that I have experienced in a long time. I seriously didn't think I would live past those two weeks. I had a lot of panic attacks and took a lot of anti-anxiety meds that week to cope. Not Healthy. Yep, I am just keeping it real!!

So needless to say, I have really learned my stress limit and what I truly can handle. I have really had to take a step back and evaluate what is truly important and that is my kids, Mark and our family. I know that my family comes first but since I am a people pleaser, I have had to learn to say no! I have said "No" to a lot of people over the past few weeks. It makes me feel bad but It has also made me realize that I am glad that people depend/count on me but it's also good to serve others in moderation. I love helping others and delight in alleviating other's burdens because I to, have been through tough times and have always wanted to "pay it forward" especially since others have helped me through the years and still continue to help me. I just didn't want it to be at the cost of my family. Balance is definitely key and I haven't had much the past few weeks! I hated running around like a mad woman, it was not fun or healthy!!

Over the past couple of weeks that my every waking moment wasn't occupied, I have been wanting something to "look foward" to doing. I needed a project, because going from insanely busy to not much on the plate, has been an adjustment. I decided that my project would be making something for my children, because I love making things for Kaleb and Karmindy and I hadn't done anything for them besides the motherly caring duties: homework, cooking dinner, reading to them, playing with them, etc. 

For my project, I had found a link on Pinterest for these cute file folder games and I thought that it would be a "relaxing/mindless" project that would be perfect to work on. I needed something to work on that would help me unwind at nights but also help me to feel productive. Over the past few nights, I have printed out the games, cut, glued, laminated and assembled this little file folder games. I am pretty proud of my efforts. It was also a fun project to because I got the kids involved with cutting out the pieces and placing them in the folders. I finally finished them last night and I am so happy with these keepsakes for the kids. The kids have loved playing with them. Another motivation for making these file folder games was so the kids could keep busy during their month and a half summer break that is coming up. I made a few math games to keep Kaleb up to speed on his Math and made some games that would keep Karmindy up to date on her letters, colors, shapes and counting. 

It sure was a time consuming project but it was well worth it because I have loved the results. I have just had to learn that Balance is Key!